1、专业英语八级（阅读）练习试卷 18及答案与解析 0 There can be few more depressing stories in the entire history of mans exploitation of nature than the destruction of the unfortunate great whales. The whales have not only suffered untold cruelty but now face total extermination. Already entire populations have been wiped
2、out, and the only reason why no species has yet been finished off is due to the vastness and inaccessibility of the oceans; a pocket or two somewhere has always managed to escape. How ironic of biological extinction were to complete the job. The basic rule of extinction is very simple: it occurs whe
3、n a species mortality is continually greater than its recruitment. There are though, some very special additional factors in the case of whales. Man does not actually have to kill the last whales of a species with his own hands, as it were, to cause its disappearance. Biological extinction will quic
4、kly follow the end of commercial whaling, should that end be due to a shortage of raw material, i. e. of whales. Whalers have long sought to defend their wretched trade by insisting that whales are automatically protected: as soon as they become rare, and therefore uneconomic to pursue, man will hav
5、e no choice but to stop the bunting. That is a very nice theory, but it is the theory of an accountant and not of a biologist; only an accountant could apply commercial economics to complex biological systems. The reasons for its absurdity are many and varied. In the case of whaling it can be summed
6、 up in the following way. When the stock has been reduced below a critical level, a natural, possibly unstoppable downward spiral begins because of three main factors. First, the animals lucky enough to survive the slaughter will be too scattered to locate one another owing to the vastness of the oc
7、eans. Secondly, whales being sociable animals probably need the stimulus of sizeable gatherings to induce reproductive behaviour (which has social inferences as well as sexual). It is quite likely that two individuals meeting through chance will not be compatible. (They can hardly be expected to be
8、aware of their own rarity or to realize any need for adjusting their natural inclinations.) This is especially so with polygamous species like the Sperm Whale. Thirdly, and perhaps most important in the long term, even allowing that the whales might still be able to band together in socially accepta
9、ble groups (thanks to their undeniably excellent communicative systems), there is a real danger, possibly even a probability, that the whales gene pools would by then have sunk so low as to be biologically unviable. That is to say, the characteristics possessed by the original population would be wh
10、ittled down to those characters possessed by only the few remaining individuals. The result of such a biological calamity is inbreeding, less ability to adapt to new conditions, and less individual variety. Three words can sum it up: protracted biological extinction. The future “hopes“ of these anim
11、als are further discussed in the final chapter. 1 Whalers argue that whales will not become extinct _. （ A） because they are not self-protected （ B） because they are not worth pursuing （ C） because the oceans are so vast （ D） because hunting will stop when whales become rare 2 Many species of whales
12、 will not breed unless _. （ A） they are in the same group for a long term （ B） they are isolated from other species （ C） they are in the company of many other whales （ D） there are enough genes available 2 If you are interested in unusual exports, North Carolina will appeal to you. More than 200 peo
13、ple convicted in the states courts are now incarcerated in Rhode Island or Oklahoma. The governor of North Carolina, James Hunt, has asked the legislature to authorize the housing of a total of 1,000 convicts in other states prisons. A temporary measure, explain state officials, until the pressure o
14、n their own prisons eases. Yet the mind turns to 18th century Britains shipping of convicts to Australia, and to James Oglethorpes establishment of the colonys Georgia in part as a refuge for people released from debtors prisons. Todays America is dotted with prisons recently built either as private
15、 profit-making companies or by governments as “economic-development enterprises“. Since December, North Carolina has signed two contracts in Rhode Island, one for housing 75 convicts at the Adult Correctional Institution in Cranston, the other for 230 at the Detention Facility Corporation in Central
16、 Falls. It has another contract for 240 convicts with the town of Hinton, Oklahoma, and the Hinton Economic Development authority, and it is negotiating a deal with a private prison near Memphis, Tennessee. The exporting of prisoners, says Franklin Freeman, head of the states Department of Correctio
17、n, “is accomplishing our purpose that is, to get more space quickly.“ This dates back to an agreement the state made in 1988, to settle a federal court suit brought by inmates who complained that North Carolinas prisons were so crowded as to be unconstitutionally inhumane. The state which had been s
18、tacking prisoners into three-tier banks, agreed to provide dormitories with 50 square feet per inmate. But this meant keeping the prison population below a total of 21,400 by releasing on parole any number in excess of that. Over the past seven years the average time served by North Carolinas prison
19、ers has dropped from 40% of the original sentences to 18.5%. Since June, 42 people on parole have been charged with murder. All this has led to the policy of exporting prisoners, as well as to a zealous attempt to reduce the amount of crime in the state. Governor Hunt has summoned the legislature in
20、to special session to consider his 36-point anti-crime plan, which ranges from more activity after school for adolescents, to stop them getting into trouble on the streets, to stiffer penalties for serious offenders. A new sentencing scheme is already designed, from next year, to provide longer sent
21、ences for major crimes. But this. of course, does not thin out the prison population. North Carolina expects to expand its prison capacity to 26,200 by 1996. Meanwhile Michael Easley, the attorney-general, has asked the federal courts to let him cut the prisoners space ration to 35 square feet apiec
22、e, which would give room for an extra 4,000 inmates. The export policy is expensive, it costs North Carolina more to send convicts to other states than to house them in its own prisons. It pays just under $71 a prisoner a day for those at Central Falls in Rhode island, compared with $64 for its own
23、medium-security inmates and $47 for its minimum-security ones. Only those two categories are transported, not the most hardened criminals. Even so, there are jitters in Rhode Island. Ten troublemakers have just been sent back from Central Falls. 3 All the following statements are true about North Ca
24、rolinas exporting prisoners EXCEPT _. （ A） It has signed four contracts for sending prisoners to other states （ B） It wants to find more space quickly for prisoners （ C） Many prisoners on parole have committed crimes again （ D） It is eager to reduce crimes in the state 4 Why did the people in North
25、Carolina want to export prisoners to other states and reduce the prisoners in this state? （ A） Because they want to keep the prison population below a total number of 21,400. （ B） Because there are more people on parole charged with murder. （ C） Because they want to reduce the amount of crime in tha
26、t state. （ D） All of the above. 5 The export policy in this passage means _. （ A） to send prisoners to other counties （ B） to send prisoners to other countries （ C） to send prisoners to other islands （ D） to send prisoners to other states 专业英语八级（阅读）练习试卷 18答案与解析 【知识模块】 阅读 1 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 作者在文章的第三段介
27、绍了 Whalers的观点：鲸鱼是根据其数量多寡自然得到发展或减少的，即数量多，人们自然就会去捕捉，数量减少濒临灭绝状况时，人们就会自然停止对其的捕捉。 (Whalers have long sought to defend their wretched trade by insisting that whales are automatically protected: as soon as they become rare, and therefore uneconomic to pursue, man will have no choice but to stop the hunting
28、. )本题属于主旨理解题。因此，选项 D为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读 2 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 该题属于推论题。在文章的后半段，作者介绍了鲸鱼所面临的日益减少的困境：除非 鲸鱼能够生活在群体之中，对于喜欢群体生活的鲸鱼来说这当然是比较理想的，但事实上这种情况却可能越来越少，因为它们很难与其他鲸鱼群谋面，因为数量在急剧减少，因此其繁衍的机会就不可避免地越来越少。因此选项 C应为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读 【知识模块】 阅读 3 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 从文中第二段可知，北卡罗来纳为将囚犯遣送到其他州而签了三份合约，另有一份合约仍在商议当中。选项 A应为正确答案。 【知识
29、模块】 阅读 4 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 该题属 于推导题。要求读者明白文章第四段的中心含义。人们为什么要减少在北卡罗来纳的服刑人员，原因比较复杂，肯定不是单一的。问题 A、B、 C各列举了一种，这几种原因在文章中都有体现。因此选择 D应为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读 5 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 该题属于主旨题。作者在此处讲到了州长召集特别立法会议，在该会议上他提出了一项特别计划。计划主要内容包括为青年人安排更多的娱乐活动，采取更加严厉的惩罚措施，防止青年人在大街上犯罪等等。所有这些的目的就是为了减少在该州的犯罪率，把在监狱的服刑人 员减少到一定的范围内。因此选项 D应为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读
