阅读试题

The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place. Now it is an ecological disaster area. Nauru's heartbreaking story could have one good consequence — other countries might learn from its mistakes.

For thousands of years, Polynesian people lived on the remote island of Nauru, far from western civilization. The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798. He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship. He called the island Pleasant Island.

However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first. Then whaling ships and other traders began to visit, bringing guns and alcohol. These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island. A ten-year civil war started, which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900.

Nauru's real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate (磷酸盐) on the island. In fact, it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate, which is a very important fertilizer for farming. The company began mining the phosphate.

A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground; it is a strip mine. When a company strip-mines, it removes the top layer of soil. Then it takes away the material it wants. Strip mining totally destroys the land. Gradually, the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon.

In 1968, Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world. Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate.

Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars. In addition, they used millions more dollars for personal expenses. Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem — their phosphate was running out. Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing. By 2000, Nauru was financially ruined. Experts say that it would take approximately $433,600,000 and more than 20 years to repair the island. This will probably never happen.

阅读试题

56. What might be the author's purpose in writing the text?

A. To seek help for Nauru's problems.

B. To give a warning to other countries

C. To show the importance of money

D. To tell a heartbreaking story of a war.

57. What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?

A. Rich and powerful 　　　　

B. Modern and open　

C. Peaceful and attractive　 　

D. Greedy and aggressive

58. The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from _______.

A. soil pollution 　

B. phosphate over-mining 　

C. farming activity　

D. whale hunting

59. Which of the following was a cause of Nauru's financial problem?

A. Its leaders misused the money 　　　　　

B. It spent too much repairing the island

C. Its phosphate mining cost much money 　

D. It lost millions of dollars in the civil war.

60. What can we learn about Nauru from the last paragraph?

A. The ecological damage is difficult to repair.　

B. The leaders will take the experts' words seriously.

C. The island was abandoned by the Nauruans 　

D. The phosphate mines were destroyed

参考译文

太平洋岛国瑙鲁曾是一个美丽的地方。而现在它是一个生态灾难区。瑙鲁令人心碎的故事有一个好的结果，那就是其他国家可以从它的错误中吸取教训。

数千年来，波利尼亚人都居住在瑙鲁最遥远的岛上，远离西方文明。1798年，第一个到达的欧洲人是约翰·费尔纳。他是捕鲸船“猎手号”上的英国船长。他称这个岛为“快乐岛”。

然而，因为它很遥远，所以最初瑙鲁人和欧洲人的交流很少。随后，捕鲸船和其他的贸易者们开始拜访此地，并带来了枪支和酒。这些因素破坏了岛上12个族群的社交平衡。一场长达十年的内战开始了，这场内战使得岛上的人口由1400骤降到900。

1899年，当一家英国的矿产公司在岛上发现磷酸盐时，瑙鲁真正的麻烦开始了。实际上，他们发现瑙鲁岛上几乎都是磷酸盐，而磷酸盐是农场里的一种重要的肥料。这家公司开始开采磷酸盐。

一个磷酸盐矿不是地表上的一个洞，它是一个露天矿。当一个公司露天开采时，它移动了最上面的表层土壤。然后它带走了它想要的材料。露天开采彻底地破坏了陆地。渐渐地，可爱的秘鲁岛开始看起来像月球。

1968年，秘鲁成为了世界上最富裕的国家之一。每年政府都因其磷酸盐而获得千百万美元。

不幸地是，领导人不明智地投入资金，损失了数百万美元。此外，他们把数百万有余的钱用于个人花销。不久，人们就意识到他们有一个非常严重的问题，那就是他们的磷酸盐用光了。岛上90%都被破环了而他们一无所有。到2000年，秘鲁的财务陷入困境。专家说大约要花费四亿三千三百六十万美元，用20多年的时间才能修复秘鲁岛。这可能永远都不会出现。

答案解析

56. B 考查写作目的。根据第一段中的"other countries might learn from its mistakes"可知，作者写这篇文章的目的是给其他国家一个警示。

57. C 考查细节理解。由第一段第一句"The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place." 和第二段第一句"For thousands of years, Polynesian people lived on the remote island of Nauru, far from western civilization."可知，答案选C。

58. B 考查细节理解。根据最后一段中的"Soon people realized that they...Ninety percent of...nothing."，再结合全文内容可知，瑙鲁出现生态灾难的原因是过度开采磷酸盐矿，因此B项正确。

59. A 考查细节理解。根据最后一段第一句"Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars."可知，A项正确。

60. A 考查推理判断。根据最后一段最后两句"Experts say that it would take approximately $ 433,600,000 and more than 20 years to repair the island. This will probably never happen."可推知，A项正确。