Question

The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem(生態(tài)系統(tǒng)). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.

It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and under-bushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.

Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.

What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.

1.What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?

A．Improving the quality.

B．Deciding the conditions.

C．Fixing the time.

D．Worsening the state.

2.The passage is developed mainly by_________.

A．giving examples

B．showing the effect and then explaining the causes

C．pointing out similarities and differences

D．describing the changes in space order

3.What is the passage mainly about?

A．Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.

B．The eating habit of African elephants.

C．Disappearance of African elephants

D．The effect of African elephants’ search for food

4.What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?

A．They are home to many endangered animals.

B．They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds.

C．They result from the destruction of rain forests.

D．They provide food mainly for African elephants.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.B

2.B

3.D

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：本文介紹大象對環(huán)境的影響，這主要是因為大象對食物的需求，對野生動植物都是有好處的，但科學家擔心近些年大象的數(shù)量在減少，可能也會影響到周圍的環(huán)境。

1.猜詞題：從前面的句子：it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives,可知是“決定周圍的環(huán)境”的意思，選B

2.文章結(jié)構(gòu)題：文章第一段講的是大象對環(huán)境的影響，后面解釋的是原因。選B

3.主旨題：從第二段的句子：It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat.可知這篇文章講的是大象對食物的需求對環(huán)境造成的影響。選D

4.細節(jié)題：從第三段的句子：In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.可知開闊的空間吸引了很多食草的動物。選B。

考點：考查科普環(huán)保類短文

點評：科普類短文中對學生的推理能力，推測下文題應(yīng)通過對文字表面的認識，把握住推理范圍，利用相關(guān)部分提供的事實、背景知識和自己固有的綜合知識，保持正確的思維過程和遵循嚴格的邏輯規(guī)律，做出正確的推斷。還需要把上下文的意思聯(lián)系起來，弄懂前后句之間的邏輯關(guān)系。同時也要注意句子間或段落間的上下過渡，或呼應(yīng)的承接詞語的作用，包括連接詞、某些副詞及介詞短語等等。這些承接詞語往往被用來表示主題思想與輔助論點之間、輔助論點本身之間的聯(lián)系。我們可把它們看作信號詞，對我們的思維起著指示方向的作用。借助它們的提示，才可以準確地分析句子結(jié)構(gòu)和段落結(jié)構(gòu)，分清層次，確定文章的主題思想和細節(jié)等等，然后推測出在這篇短文之后再需寫什么與上文有關(guān)的內(nèi)容。