第三部分阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Soon
it may be harder to stop and smell the roses.
Growing
levels of air pollution from power plants and automobiles have reduced flower
fragrances (芬芳) by
up to 90 percent in the US.That is compared with pre-industrial levels,a new
study has found.
The
trend is unpleasant for human noses,but may be life - threatening for bees and
butterflies.
"Many
insects find flowers by folowing the scent(香味) produced by those flowers," said the
studies lead author Jose D.Fuentes,an environmental scientist at the University
of Virginia.
"The
increasing pollution makes it difficult for them to locate the flowers and feed
on their nectar(花蜜)."
Scientists
have alrady known that flowers produce scent molecules(分子) that bond with
pollutants.The process breaks down the plants' sweet smell.
With
more pollution in the air,the scent molecules don't remain effective as long
and travel shorter distances on the wind.
The
new study suggests that in the mid - 19th century,when pollution levels were
first recorded,scent molecules would have been able to travel some 1,000 to
1,200 meters.
Today,in
the polluted air found downwind of large cities,scentst may only make it some
200 to 300 meters.
The
report was recently published in the journal,Atmospheric Environment.
Bee
farmers have reported that bee populations are dropping dramatically in many
parts of the world in recent years. Could these missing scents be a factor?
Scientists
trying to hind the cause of bee population declines have blamed bacteria,pesticides,and
even cellphone radiation.
Jay
Evans,an entomologist(昆虫学者) at the US Department of Agriculture's bee research laboratory,was
interested in the new study.But he says he hasn't seen bee behavior that
suggests trouble with scents.
"Over
the last couple of summers I don't think the bees in this area were bringing in
much less food,"he said.
"It
might be that they had to work harder,but it seems like as long as there were
bees to collect food they were finding flowers somewhere."
But
Fuentes fears that the fading smell of flowers may stress insects that are
already faced with other threats.
"The
effects shown in these studies will simply exacerbate whatever the bees are
going through right now,"he said.
"It's
something that is really worthwhile paying attention to."
56.What's
the passage mainly about?
A.How
greatly air plooution affects our lives.
B.Effects
of air pollution on bee populations.
C.Measures
to fight air pollution.
D.The
rapid decline of bee populations in the world.
57.According
to the passage,Jay Evans probably agrees that ______ .
A.bees
are the insect that suffers most from air pollution
B.bees
are at risk of dying out owing to air pollution
C.the
fading smell of flowers doesn't affect bees so greatly as was thought
D.as
is often the case,bees fail to locate the flowers because of the missing scents
58.The
word"exacerbate" in the last paragraph but one probably means ______.
A.worsen
B.improve C.get rid of D.decrease
59.Which
of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A.The
more air pollution there is in a region,the greater the destruction of the
flower scents.
B.Bacteria,pesticides,and
cellphone radiation are blamed for causing the decline of bees.
C.The
scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment oculd travel
longer and farther.
D.Air
pollution does more harm to insects such as bees and butterflies than human
beings.
