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.

1.What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?

A．Improving the quality.

B．Worsening the state.

C．Fixing the time.

D．Deciding the conditions.

2.The passage is developed mainly by_________.

A．showing the effect and then explaining the causes

B．giving examples

C．pointing out similarities and differences

D．describing the changes in space order

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.

4.What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?

A．They are home to many endangered animals.

B．They result from the destruction of rain forests.

C．They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds.

D．They provide food mainly for African elephants.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.D

2.A

3.D

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：本文叙述了非洲大象的食物链对周围环境的影响。它成为一个环境的打扰者和建设者的重要栖息地。科学家们现在担心的是,非洲象已成为濒临灭绝的物种。如果大象消失,科学家说,许多其他动物也将消失在大面积的森林和稀树大草原,大大改变,将会带来整个生态系统的恶化。

1.词义猜测题。根据根据上半句和下文existence for millions of other animals可知选D。

2.推理判断题。根据通读后发现，这篇文章是先讲述大象寻找食物所带来的影响，然后解释原因的，所以要选择A。

3.主旨大意题。根据文章的第一段和最后一段都是透漏文章主旨的地方。我们从这两段可以读出，这篇文章是关于非洲象寻找食物所带来的影响的，所以应该选D。

4.细节理解题。根据Open space出现在文中的第二段的第三句和第四句。从第四句中我们可以得知这样的空地很容易吸引各种各样的食草动物，所以选择C。

考点：环保类短文阅读。

点评：解主旨大意题时，要站在整篇文章的高度分析问题，切忌犯以偏概全、以点代面的错误。文章的标题是段落中心思想最精炼的表达形式，它的特点是：短小精炼，涵盖性强，一般要求能覆盖全文，其确定的范围要恰当，既不能太大，也不能太小。