Question

Australia’s koalas could die out within 30 years unless immediate action is taken to stop the losing in population, according to researchers. They say development, climate change and bushfires have all combined to reduce the number of wild koalas sharply.

The Australian Koala Foundation said a recent survey showed the population could have dropped by more than half in the past six years. The number of koalas was once estimated to be more than 100,000, but now is as few as 43,000.

The foundation collected field data from 1,800 sites and 80,000 trees to calculate the numbers. In one area in northern Queensland estimated to have 20,000 koalas a decade ago, a team of eight people could not find a single animal in four days of searching.

The foundation said besides problems caused by cutting down forests, hotter and drier conditions because of global warming had reduced the nutritional value of their main food, eucalyptus (桉树) leaves, leading to poor nutrition for them. Koalas, which live in the forests in Australia’s east and south, are very picky about what types of the leaves they eat.

Foundation chief Deborah Tabart said: “The koalas are missing everywhere we look. It’s really no tree, no me. If you keep cutting down trees you don’t have any koalas.”She is hoping the new figures will persuade the government’s Threatened Species Steering Committee (TSSC) to list the koala as threatened. But committee chairman Bob Beeton said a decision was not likely recently and the koala’s status as one of the country’s favorite animals would not be a factor. “There’s a number of species which are attractive and people have special feelings towards them. We don’t consider that,” Mr Beeton said.

1.The writer gives the example of the area in northern Queensland in Paragraph 3 to show that _____.

A. the forests are being damaged heavily

B. the environment is being polluted seriously

C. koalas usually live in wild mountainous areas

D. the number of koalas is dropping quickly

2.Global warming is an important cause of koalas’ reduction because _____.

A. koalas can hardly stand the hot weather

B. the leaves koalas eat are losing nutritional value

C. koalas cannot get enough water to drink

D. the leaves koalas eat cannot grow in hotter and drier weather

3.According to Bob Beeton, _____.

A. the koala is one of his favorite animals

B. a decision will be made to protect koalas in the future

C. they needn’t pay special attention to koalas

D. koalas needn’t be protected at all

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.C

【解析】

试题分析:本文倡导人们保护考拉。澳大利亚的考拉面临灭绝的危险，除非人们马上采取措施。社会的发展、气候的变化以及丛林大火都是导致考拉数量急剧减少的原因。

1.D细节理解题。根据文章In one area in northern Queensland estimated to have 20,000 koalas a decade ago, a team of eight people could not find a single animal in four days of searching.可知原来在北昆士兰有很多考拉，但是现在人们很难再找到了，考拉的数量减少了很多，故选D。

2.B细节理解题。根据文章hotter and drier conditions because of global warming had reduced the nutritional value of their staple food, eucalyptus leaves, leading to poor nutrition for them. 可知气候的变化使得考拉吃的树叶的营养变少了，故选B。

3.C推理判断题。根据最后一段“There’s a number of species which are attractive and people have special feelings towards them. We don’t consider that,” Mr Beeton said.可知不需要对考拉考虑特殊的对待。故选C。

考点：考查社会现象类阅读

【名师点睛】

社会现象类阅读解题技巧：

这类文章通过写人记事来揭示文章的主题，显示其社会意义，一般采用顺序或倒叙来叙述。题目经常是一些细节问题。考查的方面可以是原因和其中引发的思考。阅读这类文章要理清思路。

1、浏览试题，明确要求。

在阅读文章前，最好先浏览一下文章后面的题干和选项。知道了问题后再去看文章，可使思路更敏捷，而且也便于阅读时留意文中出现的与选项有关的信息。

2、通读全文，抓住主要内容。

在不影响理解的前提下，尽可能地阅读以便在尽可能短的时间内理解文章或段落的内容。阅读时，如遇到不熟悉的单词、词组或一时看不懂的句子，不要停下来苦思冥想，继续读下去，通过上下文的词语和句子可能就理解了。

3、抓住中心思想和段落大意。

通读全文时，要特别注意主题句。每篇文章或每个段落都有与文章有关的句子，尤其是科技、政论性文章的主题句一般都在文章的开头或结尾，插在中间的很少。所以，文章的第一段或开头的第一、二个句子往往包含着文章的中心思想、作者的意图或全文的概述，因此要特别注意，彻底理解。 比如第15题：推理判断题。根据最后一段“There’s a number of species which are attractive and people have special feelings towards them. We don’t consider that,” Mr Beeton said.可知不需要对考拉考虑特殊的对待。故选C。

4、有针对性地仔细阅读，找寻所需信息。

在前面的基础上，可进行有针对性地阅读了。把与问题无关的内容一扫而过，而对于和问题有关的内容认真阅读，还可以用笔在下面做出记号。再把这些信息与问题的要求结合起来，逐条分析，综合判断，找出正确答案。比如第13题：细节理解题。根据文章In one area in northern Queensland estimated to have 20,000 koalas a decade ago, a team of eight people could not find a single animal in four days of searching.可知原来在北昆士兰有很多考拉，但是现在人们很难再找到了，考拉的数量减少了很多，故选D。

5、进行合理的推理判断。

对文章有了全面的了解之后，可以按照文章要求以及上下文之间的关系，做出推理判断。在进行推理判断的时候，需要综合考虑句型、语法、句子之间的逻辑关系、文化背景等方面的因素。

6、认真复读，验证答案。

要用全文的中心思想统帅各个题目，研究其内在联系和逻辑关系，并依次审核那些还未打上的题目，确保理解无误。