Question

Most penguins died after a huge iceberg grounded near their habitat in Antarctica，forcing them to make a long way to find food, scientists say in a newly published study. The B09B iceberg, measuring about 100 square kilometers, grounded in Commonwealth Bay in East Antarctica in December 2010, the researchers from Australia and New Zealand wrote in the “Antarctic Science” journal.

The Adelie penguin population at the bay’s Cape Denison was measured to be about 160,000 in February 2011 but by December 2013 it had decreased to about 10,000, they said. The iceberg’s grounding meant the penguins had to walk more than 60 kilometers to find food, preventing their breeding attempts, said the researchers from the University of New South Wales’ ( UNSW) Climate Change Research Centre and New Zealand’s West Penguin Trust.

“The Cape Denison population could disappear completely within 20 years unless B09B relocates or the fast ice within the bay breaks out,”they wrote in the research published in. Fast ice is sea ice which forms and stays along the coast. During their survey in December 2013 , the researchers said “hundreds of abandoned eggs were noted, and the freeze-dried dead bodies of previous season’s little penguins lay everywhere on the ground.”

“It’s strangely silent,”UNSW’s Chris Turney , who led the 2013 exploration , told the“Sydney Morning Herald Friday”.“The ones that we saw at Cape Denison were terribly low-spirited , almost unaware of your existence . The ones that are surviving are clearly struggling. They can hardly survive themselves , let alone give birth to the next generation. We saw lots of dead birds on the ground.”

In contrast, penguins living on the eastern edge of the bay just 8 kilometers from the fast ice edge were full of vigour, the scientists said. The researchers said the study had important influence on the wider East Antarctic if the current situation of increasing sea ice continued. Sea ice around Antarctica is increasing, in contrast to the Arctic where global warming is causing ice to melt and icebergs to decrease. Scientists believe the growth in Antarctic sea ice is likely to be driven by changes in wind and local conditions before long.

1. What’s the main reason why the Adelie penguin population decreased?

A. Many Adelie penguins died from the cold weather in Antanctic.

B. They didn’t have enough time to give birth to and raise babies.

C. The iceberg’s grounding killed a number of Adelie penguins.

D. Adelie penguins lost their habitats so they couldn’t breed.

2.Which statement is correct according to the passage ?

A. The life of penguins in Cape Denison was very hard.

B. Penguins in Cape Denison were afraid of humans .

C. The sea ice in Antarctica is decreasing faster than before.

D. Human activities caused much damage to Cape Denison.

3. What does the underlined word “vigour”in the last paragraph mean ?

A. Trouble.   B. Food.   C. Energy.    D. Joy.

4. What’s the main idea of the passage ?

A. Global warming caused penguins’ death.

B. Iceberg harmed penguins’ life.

C. Penguins need more habitats.

D. Antarctic extreme weather caused penguins’ death.

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.C

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文主要是讲述了冰山如果坠落与企鹅的栖息地，这个地方企鹅的数量就会慢慢下降，因为企鹅已经不能再在这个坠落了冰山的地方觅食，更不要提繁衍后代。

1.B推理判断题。根据第二段The iceberg’s grounding meant the penguins had to walk more than 60 kilometers to find food, preventing their breeding attempts,可知企鹅得花更多的时间去觅食，因而没有时间去繁衍后代，故选B。

2.A推理判断题。根据倒数第二段The ones that we saw at Cape Denison were terribly low-spirited , almost unaware of your existence . The ones that are surviving are clearly struggling. They can hardly survive themselves , let alone give birth to the next generation.可知企鹅的生存很艰难，选A。

3.C词义猜测题。根据In contrast,是把两个不同地方的企鹅进行对比，后者生活好，因而企鹅们充满活力，energy，精力，活力，故选C。

4.主旨大意题。本文主要是讲述冰山给企鹅带来的负面作用，选B。

【名师点睛】

下面介绍一些词义猜测题的解题技巧。

1.根据定义或上下文解释进行猜测

有时短文中出现一个需要猜测其意义的词或短语，下面接着出现其定义或解释，这就是判断该词或短语意义的主要依据。例如：It will be very hard but also very brittle—that is, it will break easily.从后面that is(也就是说)的解释中我们可以了解到brittle 是“脆”的意思。

2.根据同位关系进行猜测

阅读中出现的难词有时后面紧跟一个同位语，对前面的词进行解释，这时可利用同位关系对前面或后面的词义或句意进行猜测。例如：The “Chunnel”, a tunnel(隧道) connecting England and France, is now complete.此句中a tunnel connecting England and France是Chunnel的同位语。因此，The “Chunnel”就是英法之间的海底隧道。

3.根据构词法(前缀、后缀、复合、派生等)进行猜测

在英语中，有很多词可以在前面加前缀，在后面加后缀，从而构成一个词，乍看起来，这个词可能是新词，但掌握了一定的构词知识，就不难猜出它的词义。例如：“Our parties are aimed for children 2 to 10,” Anaclerio said, “and they’re very interactive and creative in that they built a sense of drama based on a subject.”文中interactive是由前缀inter-(相互的)和active(活动的，活跃的)而构成的，同时根据上下文的意思可以判断，该词的含义应是“互动的”。

4.根据转折或对比关系进行猜测

根据上下句的连接词，如but, however, otherwise等就可以看到前后句在意义上的差别，从而依据某一句的含义，来确定另一句的含义。另外，分号也可以表示转折、对比或不相干的意义。例如：A child’s birthday party doesn’t have to be a hassle; it can be a basket of fun.从前后两句的意思可以看出，hassle和a basket of fun肯定是近乎相反的意义。所以不难判断hassle的意思是“困难，麻烦”。

考点：考查环保类短文阅读。