Question

【题目】 Humans and elephants don’t always get along. In Africa and Asia, elephants damage infrastructure (基础设施), farmers’ crops, and natural habitat critical for other species. If an elephant becomes a problem, humans may kill it. So local people and conservationists are trying to find better ways to keep elephants away from sensitive places. Now, researchers think they have a good tool to stop elephants: honeybee pheromones (信息素).

“Elephants hate being stung (刺) in the trunk, so it’s an extremely sensitive organ. Imagine being stung in your nose by a bee, and multiply that a few thousand times.” said Mark Wright, a professor of entomology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Kenyan farmers have long known that if they hang live beehives around their farms, they will repel elephants. “The problem is logistical, how do you manage hundreds of thousands of hives, if you have a huge area to protect? And then the idea came up to look at the alarm pheromones, which are chemicals that the bee release to launch an attack on something that’s damaging the hive.” Because elephants have a highly developed sense of smell, Wright and his team thought they might be able to use the bees’ alarm signal to affect elephant behavior.

So the researchers tested out a synthetic blend (合成混合物) of chemicals that imitates honeybees’ alarm pheromones. In Greater Kruger National Park in South Africa, the team hung white socks treated with the synthetic mixture as well as untreated control socks around an elephant watering hole, and then observed the animals’ behavior. “Elephants are really curious organisms, they’ll walk along and see something like a sock hanging on a branch in the environment, and they’ll inspect it. And if it’s not treated with the alarm pheromones, they’ll pick it up, throw it around, try to taste it, things like that. And in the case of the treated ones, we found that they would show immediate signs of unease or uncertainty, and they’d eventually back off from them. Very seldom would they go to pick them up and play with them.” The study is in the journal Current Biology.

【1】What will the researchers do to prevent elephants from damaging human’s habitat?

A.Kill them.B.Scare them away.

C.Apply honeybee pheromones.D.Rebuild a new ecosystem.

【2】What does Mr. Wright think of Kenyan farmers’ method if it’s applied to a huge area?

A.Scientific.B.Flexible.C.Awesome.D.Impractical.

【3】Why did the researcher conduct the study?

A.To confirm what they thought.

B.To attract the elephants’ attention.

C.To preserve the elephants’ habitat.

D.To test out honeybee’s alarm pheromones.

【4】What’s the main idea of the text?

A.Elephants and humans don’t get along well.

B.Honeybee pheromones can keep elephants away.

C.Elephants have a highly developed sense of smell.

D.Honeybees release pheromones to launch attacks.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】D

【3】A

【4】B

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。人类和大象并不总是和睦相处。在非洲和亚洲，大象破坏了基础设施、农民的庄稼和对其他物种至关重要的自然栖息地。如果大象成为一个问题，人类可能会杀死它。为了让大象远离敏感区域，研究人员发明了蜜蜂信息素。

【1】推理判断题。由第一段中的researchers think they have a good tool to stop elephants: honeybee pheromones(科学家认为他们有好的工具来阻止大象：信息素)与最后一段中科学家们进行的实验(大象遇到被信息素处理过的袜子，它们会立即表现出不安或不确定的迹象，最终他们会退出）可知，科学家们发现的信息素在驱逐大象方面很有用，所以可以推知科学家们将用这种信息素来驱逐大象。故选C。

【2】细节理解题。由文章第三段中的The problem is logistical, how do you manage hundreds of thousands of hives, if you have a huge area to protect?(问题是在组织管理上，如果你要保护一个很大的区域，你该如何管理成千上万的蜂巢？)可知，Mr. Wright认为农民的这个办法是不太实用的。A. Scientific科学的；B. Flexible灵活的；C. Awesome很棒的；D. Impractical不实用的。故选D。

【3】推理判断题。由文中的Because elephants have a highly developed sense of smell, Wright and his team thought they might be able to use the bees’ alarm signal to affect elephant behavior. So the researchers tested out a synthetic blend of chemicals that imitates honeybees’ alarm pheromones.(因为大象有高度发达的嗅觉，Wright和他的团队认为，他们可以利用蜜蜂的化学警报信号，来影响大象的行为。因此，研究人员测试了一种合成混合物，这种混合物可以模仿蜜蜂的报警信息素)可知，研究人员进行实验的目的是来验证他们的想法。故选A。

【4】主旨大意题。这是一篇说明文，文章第一段最后一句就提出了本文的说明对象：为了让大象远离敏感区域，研究人员发明了蜜蜂信息素。其后的段落都是针对信息素这个想法是如何产生的，以及它的实验效果如何展开的。所以本文的中心内容就是：信息素的确可以驱赶大象。故选B。

主旨大意题是篇章阅读一个主要的考察方式，文章中心题是其一种典型的考察形式。文章中心题的解题技巧是不要被文章细节所干扰。一般有两种方式解题：一是看首尾段，根据首尾段内容总结文章中心；二是看每段段首句，根据所有段首句总结文章中心。本题中的第四题就是文章中心题，由于这是一篇说明文，所以从第一段就可以找到本文的说明对象：为了驱赶大象，科学家发明了信息素。然后其余段落都是对信息素这个想法是如何产生的，以及它的实验效果如何的详细论述。所以在找文章中心时，记得借助篇章结构的知识。