Question

If a noisy neighbor is blasting music at all hours of the day and night, drowning out your phone conversations and interrupting your sleep, you can call the police. But what is a whale to do?

Natural noise from  waves, wind,  rain and even earthquakes is common in oceans. Unfortunately, man­made noise from oil and gas drilling, sonar, and ships is also present.

Low frequency noise has doubled off the California coast every decade since the nineteen sixties.  The  main  reasons  are ships' propellers (螺旋桨). They not only generate continuous low frequency sound, some propellers  cavitate(形成气穴), which means they create air bubbles that collapse, creating loud popping sounds.

Whales  use  low  frequency  calls  to communicate across thousands of miles of ocean. They are threatened by noise pollution because it can prevent them from contacting each other and from locating their foods.  Endangered  humpback  and  right  whales, which use fibrous baleen to strain  food from the water, are the most at risk.

Scientists studying right whales off Canada's east coast have discovered that whales are sending louder calls through the water to make themselves heard.  Because they invest more energy in making calls, they have less energy available for finding food and mating. Other scientists measuring whale calls against background noise pollution have discovered that right whales have lost about eighty percent of their normal communication area.  This could seriously affect survival of this already threatened species.

Scientists don't have badges and guns, but they are trying to correct the noise pollution problem. By tracking ships and marine mammals and understanding how noise travels,  they  are  creating  sound  maps. They hope to get shipping lanes moved so  that the noise pollution ships create will not overlap with areas most important to the whales.

1.What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. Whales are in danger because of the noise.

B. Noise pollution is affecting whales.

C. Natural noise is good for whales.

D. How to protect whales endangered.

2.The following statements are true EXCEPT ________.

A. You can call the police if you are disturbed by a noisy neighbor.

B. Low frequency noise has doubled off the Canadian coast every decade since the 1960s.

C. Noise pollution can prevent whales from contacting each other and from locating prey.

D. Endangered humpback and right whales are the most at risk.

3.We can infer from the last paragraph that ________.

A. some areas important to whales are overlapped with the ship lanes

B. scientists are creating the sound maps by tracking ships and marine mammals

C. if scientists have guns, they can correct the noise pollution

D. scientists have worked out a plan to protect the whales

4.According to scientists，________.

A. right whales off the Californian coast have been in danger because of the loss of the energy

B. right whales cannot find food and mate for they lose a lot of living area

C. there are about 20% of the normal communication areas still available for the right whales

D. the right whales always invest most of their energy for making calls

Answer

1.B

2.B

3.A

4.C

【解析】文章主要介绍科学家们研究在远离加利福尼亚海滨的海洋里，轮船螺旋桨形成的噪音现在正影响着鲸鱼之间进行交流和他们寻找食物的问题。

1.B主旨大意题。全文在讲述在远离加利福尼亚海滨的海洋里，轮船螺旋桨形成的噪音现在正影响着鲸鱼之间进行交流和他们寻找食物的问题。从文章第三段第一句和第四段第二句可知答案为B。

2.B细节理解题。从第一段第一句看出选项A是正确的；从第三段第一句看出B项不正确，是加利福尼亚而不是加拿大；从第四段第二句看出C是正确的；从第四段第三句看出D是正确的。

3.A推理判断题。根据文章的最后一句可知，鲸鱼的领地被轮船的航线占领了。故选A。

4.C细节理解题。根据文章第五段的第三句知露脊鲸在他们正常的交际中失去了80%的能量，能利用的有20%。古县C。