18.Almost anyone who has read a travel brochure about Africa has heard of a story-----that elephants can get drunk by eating the fermented (发酵) marula fruit rotting (腐烂) on the ground.Books have even been written to prove the truth of the phenomenon.
But a study published in the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology tells a very different story.
Steve Morris,a biologist at the University of Bristol in England and an author of the study,says there is nothing in the biology of either the African elephant or the marula fruit to support the stories.Morris says,"People just want to believe in drunken elephants."
The marula tree,a member of the same family as the mango (芒果),grows widely in Africa.Its sweet,yellow fruit is used for making jam,wine and beer."The first mistake of the drunken-elephant theory is that it's unlikely that an elephant would eat the fruit if it were rotten,"Morris says."Elephants eat the fruit right off the tree,not when it's rotten on the ground,"he explains.
Other experts add that if an elephant were to eat the fruit on the ground,it wouldn't wait for the fruit to ferment.Michelle Gadd,an African wildlife specialist,says that elephants and many other animals,including birds and monkeys,are too fond of marula fruit to let it rot.
If fermented fruit on the ground is out of the question,so is the concept that the fruit could ferment in the stomach of elephants,according to the study authors.Food takes between 12and 46hours to pass through an elephant's digestive(消化的) system,the authors point out,which is not enough for the fruit to ferment.
Supposing that this happened,it's still highly improbable that the food would produce enough alcohol to make an elephant drunk.Through calculations of body weight,elephant digestion rates,and other factors,the authors conclude that it would take about 1.9litres of alcohol to make an elephant drunk.
32.We can learn from the text thatD.
A.African elephants don't like to eat marula fruit at all
B.it is not easy to find marula fruit in the wild in Africa
C.birds and monkeys in Africa like to eat rotten marula fruit
D.marula fruit can be made into food or drinks consumed by people
33.According to Paragraph 6,marula fruit probably takesC to ferment.
A.about 12hours
B.about 34hours
C.more than 46hours
D.between 12to 46hours
34.Which of the following is Mr.Morris's opinion?B
A.Elephants prefer mangoes to the marula fruit.
B.Elephants will not eat the marula fruit if it is rotten.
C.The marula tree and the mango belong to different families.
D.There are several connections between elephants and the marula fruit.
35.What does the underlined word"this"in the last paragraph probably refer to?D
A.Elephants getting drunk
B.Elephants eating rotten marula fruit
C.Elephants eating marula trees directly
D.Marula fruit fermenting in elephants'stomachs.
分析 本文属于说明文阅读,作者通过这篇文章主要向我们描述了大象吃多了马鲁拉果会出现喝醉的现象,科学家么对此的说法不一,但是马鲁拉果确实可以制成食品或饮料消费.
解答 32.D.推理判断题.根据第五段says that elephants and many other animals,including birds and monkeys,are too fond of marula fruit to let it rot可知马鲁拉果可以制成食品或饮料消费;故选D.
33.C.细节理解题.根据倒数第二段Food takes between 12and 46hours to pass through an elephant's digestive(消化的) system,the authors point out,which is not enough for the fruit to ferment可知马鲁拉果发酵需要超过46小时;故选C.
34.B.细节理解题.根据第四段The first mistake of the drunken-elephant theory is that it's unlikely that an elephant would eat the fruit if it were rotten可知如果马鲁拉果腐烂了大象是不会吃的;故选B.
35.D.词义猜测题.根据最后一段Supposing that this happened,it's still highly improbable that the food would produce enough alcohol to make an elephant drunk如果发生这种情况,它仍然是极不可能的食物会产生足够的酒精让大象喝;可知意为马鲁拉果发酵在大象的肚子;故选D.
点评 考察学生的细节理解和推理判断能力,做细节理解题时一定要找到文章中的原句,和题干进行比较,再做出正确的选择.在做推理判断题不要以个人的主观想象代替文章的事实,要根据文章事实进行合乎逻辑的推理判断.