Question

The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统). 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.
【小题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.

【小题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

【小题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

【小题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

【小题1】B
【小题2】B
【小题3】D
【小题4】B

解析试题分析：本文介绍大象对环境的影响，这主要是因为大象对食物的需求，对野生动植物都是有好处的，但科学家担心近些年大象的数量在减少，可能也会影响到周围的环境。
【小题1】猜词题：从前面的句子：it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives,可知是“决定周围的环境”的意思，选B
【小题2】文章结构题：文章第一段讲的是大象对环境的影响，后面解释的是原因。选B
【小题3】主旨题：从第二段的句子：It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat.可知这篇文章讲的是大象对食物的需求对环境造成的影响。选D
【小题4】细节题：从第三段的句子：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.可知开阔的空间吸引了很多食草的动物。选B。
考点：考查科普环保类短文
点评：科普类短文中对学生的推理能力，推测下文题应通过对文字表面的认识，把握住推理范围，利用相关部分提供的事实、背景知识和自己固有的综合知识，保持正确的思维过程和遵循严格的逻辑规律，做出正确的推断。还需要把上下文的意思联系起来，弄懂前后句之间的逻辑关系。同时也要注意句子间或段落间的上下过渡，或呼应的承接词语的作用，包括连接词、某些副词及介词短语等等。这些承接词语往往被用来表示主题思想与辅助论点之间、辅助论点本身之间的联系。我们可把它们看作信号词，对我们的思维起着指示方向的作用。借助它们的提示，才可以准确地分析句子结构和段落结构，分清层次，确定文章的主题思想和细节等等，然后推测出在这篇短文之后再需写什么与上文有关的内容。