试卷一
Part ⅡReading Comprehension(35 minutes)
Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
One pertinent question in the wake of the earthquake near Aceh (亚齐省) and the tsunami (海啸) it generated is how much notice of an approaching wave can be given to vulnerable people without the risk of crying “wolf” too often. Earthquakes themselves are unpredictable, and likely to remain so. But detecting them when they happen is a routine technology. That was not the problem in this case, which was observed by monitoring stations all over the world. Unfortunately for the forecasters, although any powerful submarine earthquake brings the risk of a dangerous tsunami, not all such earthquakes actually result in a big wave, and false alarms cost money and breed cynicism.
On top of that, most “tsunamigenic” earthquakes, which are caused when the processes of plate tectonics force heavy, oceanic crustal rock below lighter, continental rock to create a deep trench at the bottom of the sea, occur in the Pacific, which is almost surrounded by such trenches. In the Indian Ocean, deep trenches are confined to the southern coast of Indonesia, and tsunamis are rare. Since most of the countries affected by this tsunami are poor, or middleincome at best, and monitoring costs money, this might suggest that a fatalistic approach to the question is reasonable. But American and Japanese experience suggests that effective monitoring need not be that expensive.
These two countries have networks of seabed pressuredetectors that can monitor tsunamis and indicate whether and where evacuation is necessarydata they share with their Pacific neighbours. A system of seven detectors, run from Hawaii, cost about $18m to develop, and the experience gained doing so means a similar system might now be had for as little as $2m. So, to the sound of stable doors being bolted firmly shut, politicians in SouthEast Asia and Australia are proposing one for the Indian Ocean.
Even if you have an effective detection system, though, it is useless if you cannot evacuate a threatened area. Here, speed is of the essence. Computer modelling can help show which areas are likely to be safest, but common sense is often the best guiderun like the wind, away from the sea. Evacuation warnings, too, should be easy to give as long as people are awake. Radios are ubiquitous, even in most poor places. It is just a matter of having systems in place to tell the radio stations to tell people to run. The problem was that no one did.
21. An important question raised after the Tsunami is that .
A) how to help those helpless people
B) how to detect the happening of tsunami
C) how to predict tsunamigenic earthquakes
D) how people should be cautiously warned
22. To the forecasters, the troublesome problem is .
A) it’s hard to tell disastrous submarine earthquake
B) people don’t take much notice of their warning
C) tsunamis are rare
D) where to get money for the false alarms
23. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A) Big waves depend on the intensity of earthquake.
B) Most earthquakes that cause tsunamis happen in the Pacific.
C) Tsunamis often occur along the coast of Indonesia.
D) Trenches at the bottom of the sea create tsunamis.
24. To the countries in SouthEast Asia, building a tsunami monitoring system .
A) is what they can not affordB) is not a practical solution
C) won’t cost a lot of moneyD) is effective but expensive
25. It is implied in the last paragraph that .
A) people should be taught how to escape the tsunami
B) a sound detection system could have saved the disaster
C) radio stations neglected their responsibilities
D) the heavy loss in the SouthEast tsunami could have been less
Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
Ever since Darwin’s theory of evolution, biologists have assumed that environments teeming with complex forms of life served as the nurseries of evolution. But two recent papers in Science magazine have turned that notion on its head. Last month some biologists reported that in the ocean it is the relatively barren areas that serve as “evolutionary crucibles(熔炉),” not regions with great diversity of species. Other researchers announced this summer that the Arctic, not the rain forest, spawned many plants and animals that later migrated to North America. Says John Sepkoski of the University of Chicago, “Harsh environments may be producing the major changes in the history of life.”
These “changes” do not result merely in a longer tail or a bigger claw for an existing species but, rather, in dramatic leaps up the evolutionary ladder—a rare innovation that comes along once in a million years. In the Arctic, reports Leo Hickey of Yale University, the innovations ran to forms never before seen on earth. By dating fossils from many geologic layers, he concluded that large grazing animals first appeared in the Arctic and migrated to temperate places a couple of million years or so later. Among plants, species of redwood and birch originated in polar regions some 18 millions years before they showed up in the south. Examining fossils as old as 570 million years, Chicago’s Sepkoski found that shell-less, soft-bodied creatures were suddenly replaced by trilobites（三叶虫）, then by the more advanced clam-like animals. These changes, he notes, “first become common near shore.” That surprised him—an environment with as few species as exist in the near shore, and with such a poor record of producing new species, seems an unlikely place for biological innovation. But when Jablonski dated fossils of 100 million years ago, he found that during this era, too, the near shore spawned biological breakthroughs—more sophisticated sea creatures that move and find food in ocean sediments instead of passively filtering whatever floats by.
The findings are too new to apply to human evolution, but at first glance they seem to fit the facts. Anthropologists believe that our ancestors became fully human only after they left their secure life in the trees for the harsh world of savanna(plain without trees). There, the demanding conditions triggered that most human of traits, the large brain, and the most profound evolutionary step of all was taken.
26. Two recent papers in Science magazine claim to have found evidence which contradicts the traditional notion that .
A) relatively harsh environments are the nurseries of evolution
B) evolution occurred in regions with biological diversity
C) new forms of life come into being in near-shore areas
D) species of birch and redwood originated in the south
27. According to Leo Hickey of Yale University, which of the following may have spawned more advanced species of land animals?
A) The barren ocean floor.B) The Arctic.
C) The rain forest.D) Temperate Zones.
28. The word “innovations” in the second paragraph means .
A) new theoryB) new phenomenonC) changesD) new inventions
29. How would anthropologists take the new findings?
A) They would look at them dubiously.
B) They would eagerly apply them to the study of human evolution.
C) They would challenge them, though at first glance they tend to look at them favorably.
D) They would most probably think the new findings fit well into their theory.
30. Which of the following may be an appropriate title of the passage?
A) Darwin’s Theory Modified.B) How Animals Evolve.
C) Evolution in Hard Places.D) Where Did Large Sea Animals Originate.
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