Question

Passenger pigeons(旅鸽) once flew over much of the United States in unbelievable numbers. Written accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries described flocks(群) so large that they darkened the sky for hours.

It was calculated that when its population reached its highest point, there were more than 3 billion passenger pigeons--a number equal to 24 to 40 percent of the total bird population in the United States, making it perhaps the most abundant bird in the world. Even as late as 1870 when their numbers had already become smaller, a flock believed to be 1 mile wide and 320 miles (about 515 kilometers) long was seen near Cincinnati.

Sadly, the abundance of passenger pigeons may have been their undoing. Where the birds were most abundant, people believed there was an ever-lasting supply and killed them by the thousands. Commercial hunters attracted them to small clearings with grain, waited until pigeons had settled to feed, then threw large nets over them, taking hundreds at a time. The birds were shipped to large cities and sold in restaurants.

By the closing decades of the 19th century, the hardwood forests where passenger pigeons nested had been damaged by Americans’ need for wood, which scattered (驱散) the flocks and forced the birds to go farther north, where cold temperatures and spring storms contributed to their decline. Soon the great flocks were gone, never to be seen again.

In 1897, the state of Michigan passed a law prohibiting the killing of passenger pigeons, but by then, no sizable flocks had been seen in the state for 10 years. The last confirmed wild pigeon in the United States was shot by a boy in Pike County, Ohio, in 1900. For a time, a few birds survived under human care. The last of them, known affectionately as Martha, died at the Cincinnati Zoological Garden on September 1, 1914.

1.In the 18th and early 19th centuries, passenger pigeons________.

A. were the largest bird population in the Us

B. lived mainly in the south of America

C. did great harm to the natural environment

D. were the biggest bird in the world

2.The underlined word “ undoing” probably refers to the pigeons’ ________.

A. escape B. liberation

C. ruin D. evolution

3.What was the main reason for people to kill passenger pigeons?

A. To seek pleasure. B. To save other birds.

C. To make money. D. To protect crops.

4.What can we infer about the law passed in Michigan?

A. It was ignored by the public.

B. It was declared too late.

C. It was unfair.

D. It was strict.

Answer 1

1.A

2.C

3.C

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：文章主要介绍了美国的旅鸽。旅鸽曾成群地出现在美国的大部分地区，有记录显示，在十九世纪和二十世纪初，旅鸽成群飞翔，能够让天空变暗几个小时。不幸的是，人们大量地捕猎旅鸽来牟取商业利益，这也成了旅鸽毁灭的主要原因。

1.making it perhaps the most abundant bird in the world”排除D；根据第一段“Written accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries described flocks(群) so large that they darkened the sky for hours.”和第二段“there were more than 3 billion passenger pigeons--a number equal to 24 to 40 percent of the total bird population in the United States”可知，旅鸽当时的数量达到了30多亿只，相当于美国鸟类总数的24%到40%，说明旅鸽的数量在当时是最多的，故选A。

2.killed them by the thousands...The birds were shipped to large cities and sold in restaurants.”可知，人们捕猎旅鸽并把它们卖给大城市的餐馆，由此可知，大量的旅鸽给人们带来了“商机”，也导致了它们自身的毁灭，故选C。

3.Commercial hunters...The birds were shipped to large cities and sold in restaurants.”可知，人们捕猎旅鸽是出于商业买卖的目的，故选C。

4.but by then, no sizable flocks had been seen in the state for 10 years”可知，密歇根出台的禁止猎杀旅鸽的法律未起到应有的作用，因为截至当时，密歇根已经有10年未出现过大规模的鸽群了，故选B。

考点：自然类短文阅读