Question

【題目】

In 1845, a deadly disease struck the farms of Ireland, killing all the Lumper potato plants. In another place or time, the death of single crop species (物種) might not have been so important. But in Ireland, in 1845, people depended almost solely on the patato for food. The death of one species caused a terrible famine(饑荒). Now, some scientists are worried that such a famine could happen again, but on a much wider scale.

Over the centuries, farmers have discovered thousands of different species of food crops. Each species has special qualities. Some can be grown in very hot or cold climates. Others are not affected by certain diseases. However, you won’t find many of these species in your local supermarket. To feed the seven billion people on Earth, most farmers today are growing only species of plants and farming only species of animals that are easy to produce in large numbers.

For example, in the Philippines, there were once thousands of varieties of rice: now fewer than 100 are grown there. In China, 90 percent of the wheat varieties grown just a century ago have disappeared. Scientists believe that over the past century, we have allowed more than half of the world’s food varieties to disappear.

One solution to this problem is to collect and store the seeds (種子) as many different plant varieties as we can before they disappear. The idea was first suggested by Russian scientist Nikolay Vavilov. In the 1920s and 1930s, he collected around 400,000 seeds from five contients. More recently, others are continuing the work he began.

In the U.S. state of Iowa, Diane Ott Whealy wanted to protect historic plant varieties, like the seeds her great –grandfather brought to the U.S. from Germany more than a hundred years ago. She and her husband started a place called Heritage Farm, where people can store and trade seeds.

More importantly, the people at Heritage Farm don’t just store the seeds; they plant them. By doing this, they are reintroducing foods into the marketplace that haven’t been grown for years. These food species are not just special in terms of appearance or taste. They also offer farmers food solutions for the future, from the past.

【1】What is this passage mainly about?

A. The need to protect different food species.

B. How to increase the number of food species.

C. The fact that many food species are dying out.

D. How to prevent food species from disappearing.

【2】Why are some scientists worried that such a famine could happen again?

A. Because people depend on certain species of food crops.

B. Because the same deadly disease may attack crops again.

C. Because the world’s population is larger than that in 1845.

D. Because farmers grow the same potatoes as those in the past.

【3】The following sentence would best be placed at the end of _______________.Meanwhile, thousands of other species are dying out.

A. Paragraph 1B. Paragraph 2C. Paragraph 3D. Paragraph 4

【4】What can we learn from the passage?

A. The disease spread very quickly and killed thousands of people in Ireland.

B. Around 80 percent of the rice varieties in the Philippines have disappeared.

C. People have been storing seeds to save plane varieties for less than 100 years.

D. Heritage Farm is the first place in the U.S. for people to store and trade seeds.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】A

【3】B

【4】A

【解析】

本文介紹了如何防止食物種類的消失。文章介紹了一個物種的死亡可能會導(dǎo)致一場可怕的饑荒（愛爾蘭農(nóng)場的塊莖馬鈴薯植株的滅絕）。文章提到幾個世紀(jì)以來，農(nóng)民們發(fā)現(xiàn)了數(shù)千種不同種類的糧食作物。但是在過去的一個世紀(jì)里，世界上一半以上的食物品種已經(jīng)消失。解決這個問題的一個辦法是盡可能多地收集和儲存種子，以免它們消失�；�于此美國愛荷華州，的黛安·奧特·惠利（DianeOtt-Whealy）和丈夫創(chuàng)辦了一個名為傳統(tǒng)農(nóng)場的地方，人們可以在那里儲存和交易種子。這樣就會防止食物種類的消失了。

【1】主旨大意題。根據(jù)Scientists believe that over the past century, we have allowed more than half of the world’s food varieties to disappear. 科學(xué)家相信，在過去的一個世紀(jì)里，我們已經(jīng)讓世界上一半以上的食物品種消失。以及句子One solution to this problem is to collect and store the seeds (種子) as many different plant varieties as we can before they disappear. 解決這個問題的一個辦法是盡可能多地收集和儲存種子（種子），以免它們消失。可以推知這篇文章主要講如何防止食物種類的消失。故選D。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)most farmers today are growing only species of plants and farming only species of animals that are easy to produce in large numbers. 今天的大多數(shù)農(nóng)民只種植植物品種，只養(yǎng)殖易于大量繁殖的動物品種�？芍�，科學(xué)家擔(dān)心這樣的饑荒會再次發(fā)生是因?yàn)槿藗円蕾嚹承┓N類的糧食作物。故選A。

【3】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段的舉例：For example, in the Philippines, there were once thousands of varieties of rice: now fewer than 100 are grown there. In China, 90 percent of the wheat varieties grown just a century ago have disappeared. Scientists believe that over the past century, we have allowed more than half of the world’s food varieties to disappear. 例如，在菲律賓，曾經(jīng)有數(shù)千種水稻品種：現(xiàn)在在那里種植的水稻不到100種。在中國，一個世紀(jì)前種植的小麥品種中有90%已經(jīng)消失。科學(xué)家相信，在過去的一個世紀(jì)里，我們已經(jīng)讓世界上一半以上的食物品種消失�？芍�，這一段是對上文的解釋，就是為了證明：與此同時，成千上萬的其他物種正在滅絕。因此句子Meanwhile, thousands of other species are dying out.放在第二段的最后較好。這樣銜接連貫。故選B。

【4】推理判斷題。根據(jù)In 1845, a deadly disease struck the farms of Ireland, killing all the Lumper potato plants. 1845年，一種致命的疾病襲擊了愛爾蘭的農(nóng)場，殺死了所有的塊莖馬鈴薯植株�？芍�，這是一個物種的死亡導(dǎo)致了一場可怕的饑荒，可能會給愛爾蘭造成數(shù)千人的死亡。所以A正確。根據(jù)For example, in the Philippines, there were once thousands of varieties of rice: now fewer than 100 are grown there. 例如，在菲律賓，曾經(jīng)有數(shù)千種水稻品種：現(xiàn)在在那里種植的水稻不到100種�？芍�，菲律賓大約80%的水稻品種已經(jīng)消失。是不對的，應(yīng)該遠(yuǎn)大于80%。所以B不對。根據(jù)In the U.S. state of Iowa, Diane Ott Whealy wanted to protect historic plant varieties, like the seeds her great –grandfather brought to the U.S. from Germany more than a hundred years ago. 在美國愛荷華州，黛安·奧特·惠利（Diane Ott-Whealy）希望保護(hù)歷史悠久的植物品種，比如她曾祖父100多年前從德國帶到美國的種子�？芍�，儲存種子的時間大于100年。所以選項(xiàng)C不對。根據(jù)She and her husband started a place called Heritage Farm, where people can store and trade seeds. 她和丈夫創(chuàng)辦了一個名為傳統(tǒng)農(nóng)場的地方，人們可以在那里儲存和交易種子。可知，在美國，傳統(tǒng)農(nóng)場是人們儲存和交易種子的地方。是不是第一個，短文沒有提及。故選項(xiàng)D是不正確的。故選A。

用細(xì)節(jié)定位法來做細(xì)節(jié)理解題。

細(xì)節(jié)理解題屬直接解答性問題，是閱讀理解題中最簡單的一種，多數(shù)屬中低難度的送分題。但由于中考所占的比例很大，應(yīng)特別引起注意。

事實(shí)和細(xì)節(jié)題的命題特點(diǎn)是：把某詞語、某個句子或某具體事實(shí)用不同于原文的另一方式或句型表達(dá)，即同義改寫。解答這類題的竅門是：A)注意掌握英語的多種表達(dá)法；B）正確分析詞語在句中的作用；C）熟練運(yùn)用英語的句型轉(zhuǎn)換；D）讀懂題干所提出的問題，并準(zhǔn)確地找到文中涉及該問題的句子。

做細(xì)節(jié)題具體方法與步驟如下：

略讀材料,大概了解原文，掌握中心或主旨。

按文章的體裁，作者寫作的組織模式及有關(guān)的信息詞，如for example，first，second…等預(yù)測應(yīng)該到何處尋找自己所需要的事實(shí)。

將自己精力放在尋找你所需要的細(xì)節(jié)上，快速通篇跳讀，眼睛自左至右，自上而下呈Z形掃視，直到找到細(xì)節(jié)出處，待找到含細(xì)節(jié)句子時，放慢速度，仔細(xì)核對比較內(nèi)容，直至找到答案。