1、雅思（阅读）模拟试卷 103及答案解析(总分：80.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Module(总题数：9，分数：80.00)1.Reading Module (60 minutes)_You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below. The “Extinct“ Grass in BritainA The British grass interrupted brome was said to be extinct, just like
2、 the Dodo. Called interrupted brome because of its gappy seed-head, this unprepossessing grass was found nowhere else in the world. Gardening experts from the Victorian Era were first to record it. In the early 20th century, it grew far and wide across southern England. But it quickly vanished and b
3、y 1972 was nowhere to be found. Even the seeds stored at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden as an insurance policywere dead, having been mistakenly kept at room temperature. Fans of the grass were devastated.B However, reports of his decline were not entirely correct. Interrupted brome has enjo
4、yed a revival, one thats not due to science. Because of the work of one gardening enthusiast, interrupted brome is thriving as a pot plaht. The relaunching into the wild of Britains almost extinct plant has excited conservationists everywhere.C Originally, Philip Smith didnt know that he had the ver
5、y unusual grass at his own home. When he heard about the grass becoming extinct, he wanted to do something surprising. He attended a meeting of the British Botanical Society in Manchester in 1979, and seized his opportunity. He said that it was so disappointing to hear about the demise of the interr
6、upted brome. “What a pity we didnt research it farther!“ he added. Then, ail of a sudden he displayed his pots with so called “extinct grass“ for all to see.D Smith had kept the seeds from the last stronghold of the grass, Pamisford in 1963. It was then when the grass started to disappear from the w
7、ild. Smith cultivated the grass, year after year. Ultimately, it was his curiosity in the plant that saved it, not scientific or technological projects that aim to conserve plants.E For now, the bromes future is guaranteed. The seeds from Smiths plants have been securely stored in the cutting edge f
8、acilities of Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place in Sussex. And living plants thrive at me botanic gardens at Kew, Edinburgh and Cambridge. This year, seeds are also saved at sites all across the country and the grass now flourishes at several public gardens too.F The grass will now be reintrodu
9、ced to the British countryside. As a part of the Species Recovery Project, the organisation English Nature will re-introduce interrupted brome into the agricultural landscape, provided willing farmers are found. Alas, die grass is neither beautiful nor practical, it is undoubtedly a weed, a weed tha
10、t nobody cares for these days. The brome was probably never widespread enough to annoy farmers and today, no one would appreciate its productivity or nutritious qualities. As a grass, it leaves a lot to be desired by agriculturalists.G Smiths research has attempted to answer the question of where th
11、e grass came from. His research points to mutations from other weedy grasses as the most likely source. So close is the relationship that interrupted brome was originally deemed to be a mere variety of soft brome by the great Victorian taxonomist Professor Hackel. A botanist from the 19th century, D
12、ruce, had taken notes on the grass and convinced his peers that the grass deserved its own status as a species. Despite Druce growing up in poverty and his self-taught profession, he became the leading botanist of his time.H Where the grass came from may be clear, but the timing of its birth may be
13、tougher to find out. A clue lies in its penchant for growing as a weed in fields shared with a fodder crop, in particular nitrogen-fixing legumes such as sainfoin, lucerne or clover. According to agricultural historian Joan Thirsk, the humble sainfoin and its company were first noticed in Britain in
14、 the early 17th century. Seeds brought in from the Continent were sown in pastures to feed horses and other livestock. However, back then, only a few enthusiastic gentlemen were willing to use the new crops for their prized horses.I Not before too long though, the need to feed the parliamentary armi
15、es in Scotland, England and Ireland was more pressing than ever. Farmers were forced to produce more bread, cheese and beer. And by 1650 the legumes were increasingly introduced into arable rotations, to serve as green nature to boost grain yields. A bestseller of its day, Nathaniel Fienness Sainfoi
16、n Improved, published in 1671, helped to spread the word. With the advent of sainfoin, clover and lucerne, Britains very own rogue grass had suddenly arrived.J Although the credit for the discovery of interrupted brome goes to a Miss A. M. Barnard, who collected the first specimens at Odsey, Bedford
17、shire, in 1849, the grass had probably lurked undetected in the English countryside for at least a hundred years. Smith thinks the plantthe worlds version of the Dodoprobably evolved in the late 17th or early 18th century, once sainfoin became established. Due mainly to the development of the motor
18、car and subsequent decline of fodder crops for horses, the brome declined rapidly over the 20th century. Today, sainfoin has almost disappeared from the countryside, though occasionally its colourful flowers are spotted in lowland nature reserves. More recently artificial fertilizers have made legum
19、e rotations unnecessary.K The close relationship with out-of-fashion crops spells trouble for those seeking to re-establish interrupted brome in todays countryside. Much like the once common arable weeds, such as the corncockle, its seeds cannot survive long in the soil. Each spring, the brome relie
20、d on farmers to resow its seeds; in the days before weed killers and advanced seed sieves, an ample supply would have contaminated supplies of crop seed. However fragile seeds are not the bromes only problem: this species is also unwilling to release its seeds as they ripen. According to Smith, the
21、grass will struggle to survive even in optimal conditions. It would be very difficult to thrive amongst its more resilient competitors found in todays improved agricultural landscape.L Nonetheless, interrupted bromes reluctance to thrive independently may have some benefits. Any farmer willing to fo
22、ster this unique contribution to the worlds flora can rest assured that the grass will never become an invasive pest. Restoring interrupted brome to its rightful home could bring other benefits too, particularly if this strange species is granted recognition as a national treasure. Thanks to British
23、 farmers, interrupted brome was given the chance to evolve in the first place. Conservationists would like to see the grass grow once again in its natural habitat and perhaps, one day, seeing the grass become a badge of honour for a new generation of environmentally conscious farmers.Questions 1-8Do
24、 the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?In boxes 1-8 on you answer sheet, writeTRUE if the statement agrees with the informationFALSE if the statement contradicts with the informationNOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.（分数：16.00）(1).The name of interr
25、upted brome came from the unprepossessing grass disappeared from places in the world for a period.（分数：2.00）A.TRUEB.FALSEC.NOT GIVEN(2).Interrupted brome became extinct because they were kept accidentally in room temperature.（分数：2.00）A.TRUEB.FALSEC.NOT GIVEN(3).Philip Smith works at University of Man
26、chester.（分数：2.00）A.TRUEB.FALSEC.NOT GIVEN(4).Kew Botanic Gardens will operate English Nature.（分数：2.00）A.TRUEB.FALSEC.NOT GIVEN(5).Interrupted brome grew poorly at the sides of sainfoin.（分数：2.00）A.TRUEB.FALSEC.NOT GIVEN(6).Legumes were used for feeding livestock and enriching the soil.（分数：2.00）A.TRUE
27、B.FALSEC.NOT GIVEN(7).The spread of seeds of interrupted brome depends on the harvesting of the farmers.（分数：2.00）A.TRUEB.FALSEC.NOT GIVEN(8).Only the weed killers can stop interrupted brome from becoming an invasive pest.（分数：2.00）A.TRUEB.FALSEC.NOT GIVENLook at the following opinions or deeds (Quest
28、ions 9-13) and the list of people below.Match each opinion or deed with the correct person, A-F.Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.A A. M. BarnardB Philip SmithC George Claridge DruceD Joan ThirskE Professor HackelF Nathaniel Fiennes（分数：10.00）(1).identified interrupted
29、 brome as another species of brome.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_(2).convinced others about the status of interrupted brome in the botanic world.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_(3).found interrupted brome together with sainfoin.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_(4).helped farmers know that sainfoin is useful for enriching the soil.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:
30、_(5).collected the first sample of interrupted brome.（分数：2.00）填空项 1:_You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below. Keep the Water AwayA Last winters floods on the rivers of central Europe were among the worst since the Middle Ages, and as winter st
31、orms return, the spectre of floods is returning too. Just weeks ago, the river Rhone in south-east France burst its banks, driving 15,000 people from their homes, and worse could be on the way. Traditionally, river engineers have gone for Plan A: get rid of the water fast, draining it off the land a
32、nd down to the sea in tall-sided rivers re-engineered as high-performance drains. But however big they dug city drains, however wide and straight they made the rivers, and however high they built the banks, the floods kept coming back to taunt them, from the Mississippi to the Danube. And when the f
33、loods came, they seemed to be worse than ever. No wonder engineers are turning to Plan B: sap the waters destructive strength by dispersing it into fields, forgotten lakes, flood plains and aquifers.B Back in the days when rivers took a more tortuous path to the sea, flood waters lost impetus and vo
34、lume while meandering across flood plains and idling through wetlands and inland deltas. But today the water tends to have an unimpeded journey to the sea. And this means that when it rains in the uplands, the water comes down all at once. Worse, whenever we close off more flood plains, the rivers f
35、low farther downstream becomes more violent and uncontrollable. Dykes are only as good as their weakest linkand the water will unerringly find it. By trying to turn the complex hydrology of rivers into the simple mechanics of a water pipe, engineers have often created danger where they promised safe
36、ty, and intensified the floods they meant to end. Take the Rhine, Europes most engineered river. For two centuries, German engineers have erased its backwaters and cut it off from its flood plain.C Today, the river has lost 7 percent of its original length and runs up to a third faster. When it rain
37、s hard in the Alps, the peak flows from several tributaries coincide in the main river, where once they arrived separately. And with four-fifths of the lower Rhines flood plain barricaded off, the waters rise ever higher. The result is more frequent flooding that does ever-greater damage to the home
38、s, offices and roads that sit on the flood plain. Much the same has happened in the US on the mighty Mississippi, which drains the worlds second largest river catchment into the Gulf of Mexico.D The European Union is trying to improve rain forecasts and more accurately model how intense rains swell
39、rivers. That may help cities prepare, but it wont stop the floods. To do that, say hydrologists, you need a new approach to engineering not just rivers, but the whole landscape. The UKs Environment Agencywhich has been granted an extra 150 million a year to spend in the wake of floods in 2000 that c
40、ost the country 1 billionputs it like this: “The focus is now on working with the forces of nature. Towering concrete walls are out, and new wetlands are in.“ To help keep Londons feet dry, the agency is breaking the Thamess banks upstream and reflooding 10 square kilometres of ancient flood plain a
41、t Otmoor outside Oxford. Nearer to London it has spent 100 million creating new wetlands and a relief channel across 16 kilometres of flood plain to protect the town of Maidenhead, as well as the ancient playing fields of Eton College. And near the south coast, the agency is digging out channels to
42、reconnect old meanders on the river Cuckmere in East Sussex that were cut off by flood banks 150 years ago.E The same is taking place on a much grander scale in Austria, in one of Europes largest river restorations to date. Engineers are regenerating flood plains along 60 kilometres of the river Dra
43、va as it exits the Alps. They are also widening the river bed and channelling it back into abandoned meanders, oxbow lakes and backwaters overhung with willows. The engineers calculate that the restored flood plain can now store up to 10 million cubic metres of flood waters and slow storm surges com
44、ing out of the Alps by more than an hour, protecting towns as far downstream as Slovenia and Croatia.F “Rivers have to be allowed to take more space. They have to be turned from flood-chutes into flood-foilers,“ says Nienhuis. And the Dutch, for whom preventing floods is a matter of survival, have g
45、one furthest. A nation built largely on drained marshes and seabed had the fright of its life in 1993 when the Rhine almost overwhelmed it. The same happened again in 1995, when a quarter of a million people were evacuated from the Netherlands. But a new breed of “soft engineers“ wants our cities to
46、 become porous, and Berlin is their shining example. Since reunification, the citys massive redevelopment has been governed by tough new rules to prevent its drains becoming overloaded after heavy rains. Harald Kraft, an architect working in the city, says: “We now see rainwater as a resource to be
47、kept rather than got rid of at great cost.“ A good illustration is the giant Potsdamer Platz, a huge new commercial redevelopment by Daimler Chrysler in the heart of the city.G Los Angeles has spent billions of dollars digging huge drains and concreting river beds to carry away the water from occasi
48、onal intense storms. The latest plan is to spend a cool $280 million raising the concrete walls on the Los Angeles river by another 2 metres. Yet many communities still flood regularly. Meanwhile this desert city is shipping in water from hundreds of kilometres away in northern California and from t
49、he Colorado river in Arizona to fill its taps and swimming pools, and irrigate its green spaces. It all sounds like bad planning. “In LA we receive half the water we need in rainfall, and we throw it away. Then we spend hundreds of millions to import water,“ says Andy Lipkis, an LA environmentalist, along with citizen groups like Friends of the Los Angeles River and Unpaved LA, want to bea
