Question

【題目】 The sixth mass extinction is not a worry for the future. It’s happening now，much faster than previously expected，and it's entirely our fault，according to a study puhlished Mooday.

Humans have already wiped out hundreds of species and pushed many more to the brink of extinction through wildlife trade，pollution，habitat loss and the use of toxic substances. The findings published in the scientific Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences( PNAS)show that the rate at which species are dying out has accelerated in recent decades.

Gerardo Ceballos González，a professor of ecology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and one of the authors of the study，said approximately 173 species went extinct between 2001 and 2014. “173 species is 25 times more extinct species than you would expect under the normal extinction rate. ”he told CNN in an email. He and his team found that in the past 100 years，more than 400 vertebrate(脊椎動物的)species went extinct. In the normal course of evolution，such extinctions would have taken up to 10，000 years，they said.

Mass extinctions are just as severe as their name suggests. There have been five mass extinction events in the Earth’s history，each wiping out between 70％and 95％of the species of plants，animals and microorganisms. The most recent，66 million years ago，saw dinosaurs disappear. The past events were caused by catastrophic changes of the environment，including massive volcanic eruptions or collision with an asteroid.

The sixth mass extinction the one happening now—is different：scientists say it’s caused by humans. The researchers also said the current coronavirus(冠狀病毒)crisis shows people’s recklessness(魯莽)towards nature can seriously hurt themselves. Many endangered species are dying in large numbers due to the trade in wild animals and plants.

【1】What does the underlined word“toxic”in Para. 2 mean?

A.PoisonousB.Useful

C.AlternativeD.Environment-friendly

【2】How does the writer convince readers of the seriousness of the mass extinctions?

A.By listing reliable statistics.

B.By imagining a picture of the extinctions.

C.By mentioning some news from CNN.

D.By explaining the history of the extinctions.

【3】What is the purpose of the last paragraph?

A.To tell the difference between the fifth and sixth extinction.

B.To explain the cause of the coronavirus crisis.

C.To warn humans to get rid of their wrong actions.

D.To show the writer’s concern about the endangered species.

【4】What does this article mainly talk about?

A.The changes of the environment do harm to wildlife.

B.The sixth mass extinction is much faster than expected.

C.Mass extinctions are just as severe as their name suggests.

D.The current coronavirus has arisen from the illegal trade.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】A

【3】C

【4】B

【解析】

這是一篇說明文。文章講述了第六次大滅絕正在到來，且比我們想象的來得快。同時文章分析了產(chǎn)生第六次大滅絕的原因，即人類的行為。

【1】

詞義猜測題。根據(jù)第二段第一句話，人類已經(jīng)使數(shù)百種物種滅絕，并將更多物種推向滅絕的邊緣的方式是通過野生動物貿(mào)易、污染、毀掉棲息地和toxic substances的使用。根據(jù)句意，此處應(yīng)表示“有毒物質(zhì)”的使用。A. Poisonous 有毒的；B. Useful 有用的；C. Alternative 供選擇的D. Environment-friendly 環(huán)保的。通過分析，故選A項。

【2】

細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段Gerardo Ceballos González，a professor of ecology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and one of the authors of the study，said approximately 173 species went extinct between 2001 and 2014. “173 species is 25 times more extinct species than you would expect under the normal extinction rate. ”he told CNN in an email. He and his team found that in the past 100 years，more than 400 vertebrate species went extinct. In the normal course of evolution，such extinctions would have taken up to 10，000 years，they said（墨西哥國立自治大學(xué)的生態(tài)學(xué)教授、該研究的作者之一Gerardo Ceballos Gonzalez表示，2001年至2014年間，大約有173個物種滅絕。173個物種的滅絕數(shù)量是正常滅絕率下的25倍。他在電子郵件中告訴CNN。他和他的團隊發(fā)現(xiàn),在過去的100年里,超過400種的脊椎動物物種滅絕。他們說，在正常的進化過程中，這樣的滅絕會持續(xù)一萬年之久）可知，作者通過列出可靠的統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)，使讀者相信大規(guī)模滅絕的嚴重性。故選A項。

【3】

推理判斷題。根據(jù)最后一段The sixth mass extinction the one happening now—is different：Scientists say it’s caused by humans. The researchers also said the current coronavirus crisis shows people’s recklessness towards nature can seriously hurt themselves. Many endangered species are dying in large numbers due to the trade in wild animals and plants（現(xiàn)在正在發(fā)生的第六次大滅絕是不同的:科學(xué)家說它是由人類引起的。研究人員還表示,目前冠狀病毒危機顯示了人類對自然的魯莽會嚴重傷害自己。由于野生動植物貿(mào)易，許多瀕危物種正在大量死亡）可知，現(xiàn)在正在進行的第六次大滅絕和人類的錯誤行為有關(guān)。人類的活動導(dǎo)致了許多瀕危物種正在大量死亡。最終人類也會傷害到自己。綜合分析，最后一段的目的是警告人類去除他們的錯誤行為。故選C項。

【4】

主旨大意題。根據(jù)文章第一段The sixth mass extinction is not a worry for the future. It’s happening now，much faster than previously expected，and it's entirely our fault（第六次大滅絕并不是未來的擔(dān)憂。它現(xiàn)在發(fā)生了，比之前預(yù)期的要快得多，完全是我們的錯）可知，第六次大滅絕正在到來，而且比我們預(yù)期的還要快。再根據(jù)文章最后一段可知，第六次大滅絕是由人類造成的，并且最終會危害到人類。綜合分析，本篇文章講述的是由于人類行為導(dǎo)致的第六次大滅絕的到來，且比我們預(yù)期來的快。故選B項。