阅读试题

Passenger pigeons (旅鸽) once flew over much of the United States in unbelievable numbers. Written accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries described flocks (群) so large that they darkened the sky for hours.

It was calculated that when its population reached its highest point ,they were more than 3 billion passenger pigeons—a number equal to 24 to 40 percent of the total bird population in the United States, making it perhaps the most abundant bird in the world. Even as late as 1870 when their numbers had already becomesmaller, a flock believed to be 1 mile wide and 320 miles (about 515 kilometers) long was seen near Cincinnati.

Sadly the abundance of passenger pigeons may have been their undoing. Where the birds were most abundant, people believed there was an ever-lasting supply and killed them by the thousands. Commercial hunters attracted them to small clearings with grain, waited until pigeons had settled to feed, then threw large nets over them, taking hundreds at a time. The birds were shipped to large cities and sold in restaurants.

By the closing decades of the 19th century ,the hardwood forests where passenger pigeons nested had been damaged by American's need for wood, which scattered (驱散) the flocks and forced the birds to go farther north, where cold temperatures and spring storms contributed to their decline. Soon the great flocks were gone, never to be seen again.

In 1897, the state of Michigan passed a law prohibiting the killing of passenger pigeons, but by then, no sizable flocks had been seen in the state for 10 years. The last confirmed wild pigeon in the United States was shot by a boy in Pike County, Ohio, in 1900. For a time , a few birds survived under human care. Thelast of them, known affectionately as Martha, died at the Cincinnati Zoological Garden on September 1, 1914.

阅读试题

24. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, passenger pigeons____.

A. were the biggest bird in the world

B. lived mainly in the south of America

C. did great harm to the natural environment

D. were the largest bird population in the Us

25. The underlined word "undoing" probably refers to the pigeons' ____.

A. escape

B. ruin

C. liberation

D. evolution

26. What was the main reason for people to kill passenger pigeons?

A. To seek pleasure.

B. To save other birds.

C. To make money.

D. To protect crops.

27. What can we infer about the law passed in Michigan?

A. It was ignored by the public.

B. It was declared too late.

C. It was unfair. 　　　　

D. It was strict.

参考译文

曾有数量庞大的旅鸽飞越美国。据18世纪和19世纪的记载，大群的旅鸽经过时，当地的天空曾暗了几个小时。

据计算，当它们的数量达到最高点时，大约有30多亿只，占美国鸟类总量的24%到40%，是世界上数量最多的鸟。甚至到了1870年后期，当它们的数量已经开始有所减少时，我们还是在辛辛那提附近看到了1·320英里（约515公里）的鸟群。

可悲地是，旅鸽的富足导致了它们的毁灭。当旅鸽数量多的时候，人们认为会有源源不断地鸟供给，因而成千地捕杀。以盈利为目的的猎人用谷物将它们引至林间的小空地，等待着，直到旅鸽下来觅食，再用大网将它们网住，一次能逮住几百只。这些鸟被运送到大城市，出售给餐馆。

19世纪的后几十年，旅鸽筑巢的硬木树林随着美国对木材的需求而毁坏，这迫使鸟儿向更北的地方迁徙，而北部的低温和春季的风暴导致了鸟儿数量的减少。不久，成群的鸟儿消失了，再也没有出现过。

1897年，密歇根州颁布了一项法律，禁止捕杀旅鸽，但到那时，已经有十年没有看到颇具规模的鸽群了。后来证实美国的旅鸽在1990年被俄亥俄州派克县的一个小男孩捕杀了。有一段时间，一些鸟儿在人类的保护下存活了下来。但是它们中的最后一只，我们亲切地称它为玛莎的鸟儿，却于1914年9月1日死在了辛辛那提动物园。

答案解析

24. D 细节理解题。根据文中前两段可知，18到19世纪之间美国的天空到处飞翔着旅鸽，因此旅鸽是当时美国数量最多的鸟类。

25. B 词义推测题。根据下文可知，人们的捕杀使得旅鸽的数量急剧下降。再根据前面的Sadly可知，此处是指旅鸽的"毁灭"。

26. C 细节理解题。根据文中第三段最后一句可知，人们捕杀旅鸽的主要是为了出售赚取钱财。

27. B 推理判断题。由文中最后一段中的"but by then, no sizable flocks had been seen in the state for 10 years"可知，密歇根州在1897年颁布禁止捕杀旅鸽的法律为时已晚。