练习一 听力原文及解析
Section C
Now listen to the following recording and answer questions 16 to 19.
One consequence of global warming is extinction.There’s compelling evidence that global warming will be a significant driver of many plant and animal extinctions in this century.So we are considering various strategies to help some threatened species survive this unprecedented，this warming trend which，as you know，is caused mainly by greenhouse gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels.
Um… the most radical strategy being debated among conservation biologists is Assisted Migration.Assisted migration means picking up members of a species，or members of a group of interdependent species and physically moving or translocating them.Um… translocating threatened species to a cooler place，to higher latitudes or higher elevations，for example.
Now，migration is a natural survival strategy.Over the past two million years，colder glacial periods have alternated with warmer interglacial periods.And so，um，in response to these gradual climatic swings，some species have shifted their ranges hundreds of kilometers.So perhaps you are wondering why not let nature take its course now/Well，we can’t.The main problem is today’s fragmented habitats.During previous interglacial periods，when glaciers retreated，they left behind open land in their wakes.Today human development has paved over much of the natural world.Ecosystems are fragmented.Housing developments，highways and cities have replaced or sliced through forests and prairies.There are a few quarters left for species to migrate through without help.So conservationists are trying to save as many species as possible.
Now，assisted migration could become a viable part of our rescue strategy，but there are a number of uncertainties and risks.Without more research，we can’t predict if Assisted Migration will work for any given species.A translocated species could die out from lack of food，for example.At the other extreme，we might successfully translocate the species，but within five or ten years that species could proliferate and become an invasive species.Like a non-native plant that chokes out native plants by hogging the nutrients in the soil.Translocated animals can become invasive too.It happened in Australia.The cane toad was introduced back in 1935 to control an insect pest that was destroying Australia’s sugarcane plantations.But the cane toad itself became a pest and has destroyed much of the wildlife on that continent.
Also，many species are interdependent，intimately connected to one another.Like animals that eat a certain plant and that plant relies on a certain fungus to help it get nutrients from soil and on a certain insect for pollination.We probably have to translocate entire networks of species and it’s hard to know where to draw the line.
16.What is the main purpose of the lecture?
A.To explain the government’s role in the regulating assisted migration.
B.To discuss ways in which plants and animals adapt to climate change.
C.Todiscussanapproachtoconservingplantandanimalspecies.
D.To describe a recently discovered consequence of global warming.
17.According to the professor，what problem is assisted migration intended to overcome?
A.thediminishingamountofundevelopedlandthatspeciescanmigratethrough
B.the relative lack of nutrients available in cooler latitudes and higher elevations
C.the increase in alternations between cool and warm periods
D.competition from other species in certain native habitats
18.What point does the professor make when she discusses the cane toad?
A.Translocated species sometimes die out from lack of food.
B.Translocatedspeciesmayspreadtooquicklyintheirnewenvironment.
C.Several techniques are available to achieve assisted migration.
D.Animal species are often easier to translocate than plant species are.
19.What does the professor imply when she mentions translocating networking of species?
A.Thereareaspectsofinterdependencythatareunknown.
B.Some species evolve in ways that help them survive in new habitats.
C.It is difficult to know how far to move a network of species from its native habitat.
D.Many assisted-migration plans should involve the translocation of just one species.
【解析】四道题考点分布均匀，选项和原文基本一致。第一题是目的主旨题。开头教授讲述了大灭绝的背景后，总结了今天的题目：通过辅助迁徙帮助动物生存。所以正确答案为C。第二题是细节题，在文本第三段教授通过设问的方式引出人类破坏了很多自然界领域这一事实，而这就是辅助迁徙所要解决的问题。所以正确答案为A。第三题正确答案为B，这也是一道细节题。教授通过甘蔗蟾蜍在澳大利亚繁殖过剩的案例说明了本段主要观点，这些迁徙的物种的另一个极端结果是繁殖过快，变成入侵物种。第四题是推理推断题。辅助迁徙的第二大问题是物种之间相互依存性的问题，所以辅助迁徙要迁徙整个网络，然而很难划分网络的界限。A选项是对这句话的同义改写：物种相互依存性的一些方面还是未知的。所以正确答案为A。
Now listen to the following recording and answer questions 20 to 22.
Eric Schmidt made a move that surprised many in dot-com circles when he became the chief executive officer of Google，the phenomenally successful web search engine.Google had quickly garnered a cult following for its clean interface and speedy results，and was set to become the high-tech industry’s next stellar financial success.Schmidt，a veteran of computer manufacturer Sun Microsystems and Novell，the software maker，was considered the ideal visionary to guide Google into a period of growth and maturation as a business.
Schmidt was born in 1955 and graduated from Princeton University in 1976 with a degree in electrical engineering.He then earned a graduate degree in engineering from the University of California at Berkeley，and a doctorate in computer science from there as well.In 1983 he was hired at Sun Microsystems，a Silicon Valley computer maker that was still a very young company.Sun quickly emerged as an industry leader.Schmidt began there as a software manager，and in 1991，he was named head of Sun Technology Enterprises，an arm of the company charged with exploring future directions in new technologies.He returned to Sun proper in 1994 as its chief technology officer，and as such Schmidt has been credited with helping make the Java programming language ubiquitous to the web in the late 1990s.
Schmidt left Sun to take a job at Novell in 1997.Hired as its new chief executive officer，Schmidt faced a formidable task：to reverse the declining fortunes of this software manufacturer.When Schmidt arrived at Novell in March of 1997，its stock price was sinking，but he felt that the core leadership and vision was still there.“I’ve done my due diligence and concluded there’s tremendous technology inside the company and we need to get it out as fast as we can，”he said.“This is the opportunity of a lifetime for me.”Schmidt liked to sell Novell software himself personally to CEOs around the world，and during his first year on the job logged more than 250，000 air miles.By mid-1998，Novell’s fortunes had improved after Schmidt helped it renew focus on its core business.
In March of 2001，Schmidt surprised many when he became board chair of Google，Inc.，the California-based Internet search engine.“I just liked the company，”Schmidt recalled.“It’s as simple as that.”Five months later，he was made Google’s new CEO.
20.Why has Google quickly garnered a cult following？
A.foritscleaninterfaceandspeedyresults
B.for its business potential
C.for its executive officer
D.for its support from Sun Microsystems and Novell
21.Where did Schmidt get his doctorate degree in computer science？
A.Princeton University
B.Stanford University
C.Sun Technology University
D.theUniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeley
22.How many years did Eric Schmidt work in Novell？
A.3 B.4 C.5 D.6
【解析】三道题考点均匀地分布在原文中，而且选项和原文基本一致。第一题正确答案是A，考查的是Google为何能吸引众多用户。第二题是细节题，答案为D，考查的是Schmidt取得博士学位的大学，Schmidt在加州大学伯克利分校取得工程硕士学位以及计算机科学博士学位。第三题是时间运算题，可根据Schmidt离开进入Sun（1997）和Google（2001）公司的时间差得出他在Novell工作的年限，即4年，答案是B。
Now listen to the following recording and answer questions 23 to 25.
I’m an underwater explorer，more specifically a cave diver.I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a little kid，but growing up in Canada as a young girl，that wasn’t really available to me.But as it turns out，we know a lot more about space than we do about the underground waterways coursing through our planet，the very lifeblood of Mother Earth.So I decided to do something that was even more remarkable.Instead of exploring outer space，I wanted to explore the wonders of inner space.
Now，a lot of people will tell you that cave diving is perhaps one of the most dangerous endeavors.I mean，imagine yourself here in this room，if you were suddenly plunged into blackness，with your only job to find the exit，sometimes swimming through these large spaces，and at other times crawling beneath the seats，following a thin guideline，just waiting for the life support to provide your very next breath.Well，that’s my workplace.But what I want to teach you today is that our world is not one big solid rock.It’s a whole lot more like a sponge.I can swim through a lot of the pores in our earth’s sponge，but where I can’t，other life-forms and other materials can make that journey without me.And my voice is the one that’s going to teach you about the inside of Mother Earth.
There was no guidebook available to me when I decided to be the first person to cave dive inside Antarctic icebergs.In 2000，this was the largest moving object on the planet.It calved off the Ross Ice Shelf，and we went down there to explore ice edge ecology and search for life-forms beneath the ice.We use a technology called rebreathers.It’s an awful lot like the same technology that is used for space walks.This technology enables us to go deeper than we could’ve imagined even 10 years ago.We use exotic gases，and we can make missions even up to 20 hours long underwater.
I work with biologists.It turns out that caves are repositories of amazing life-forms，species that we never knew existed before.Many of these life-forms live in unusual ways.They have no pigment and no eyes in many cases and these animals are also extremely long-lived.In fact，animals swimming in these caves today are identical in the fossil record that predates the extinction of the dinosaurs.
23.What is the lecture mainly about？
A.the experience of exploring outer space
B.theexperienceofexploringundergroundwaterways
C.the experience of exploring the truth of life
D.the experience of exploring Amazon jungle
24.What was the purpose of exploring inside Antarctic icebergs?
A.toexploreiceedgeecologyandsearchforlife-formsbeneaththeice
B.to test technology named re-breathers
C.to search for fortunes beneath the ice
D.to make the guidebook available
25.Who do the speaker work with?
A.explorers B.environmentalists
C.physicists D.biologists
【解析】第一题是内容主旨题。本文是主要是演讲者介绍水下探索的经历，正确答案B。第二题是细节题。演说者说明了潜水南极冰山下的目的是为了探索冰缘生态，在冰下寻找生命形态，答案是A。第三题同样是细节题，和演讲者一起工作的人是生物学家，她们共同去发现生命的多样性，答案为D。