1、雅思（阅读）模拟试卷 7及答案与解析 一、 Reading Module (60 minutes) 1 READING PASSAGE 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below. A Remarkable Beetle Some of the most remarkable beetles are the dung beetles, which spend almost their whole lives eating and breeding
2、 in dung1. More than 4,000 species of these remarkable creatures have evolved and adapted to the worlds different climates and the dung of its many animals. Australias native dung beetles are scrub and woodland dwellers, specialising in coarse marsupial droppings and avoiding the soft cattle dung in
3、 which bush flies and buffalo flies breed. In the early 1960s George Bornemissza, then a scientist at the Australian Governments premier research organisation, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), suggested that dung beetles should be introduced to Australia to c
4、ontrol dung-breeding flies. Between 1968 and 1982, the CSIRO imported insects from about 50 different species of dung beetle, from Asia, Europe and Africa, aiming to match them to different climatic zones in Australia. Of the 26 species that are known to have become successfully integrated into the
5、local environment, only one, an African species released in northern Australia, has reached its natural boundary. Introducing dung beetles into a pasture is a simple process: approximately 1,500 beetles are released, a handful at a time, into fresh cow pats2 in the cow pasture. The beetles immediate
6、ly disappear beneath the pats digging and tunnelling and, if they successfully adapt to their new environment, soon become a permanent, self- sustaining part of the local ecology. In time they multiply and within three or four years the benefits to the pasture are obvious. Dung beetles work from the
7、 inside of the pat so they are sheltered from predators such as birds and foxes. Most species burrow into the soil and bury dung in tunnels directly underneath the pats, which are hollowed out from within. Some large species originating from France excavate tunnels to a depth of approximately 30 cm
8、below the dung pat. These beetles make sausage-shaped brood chambers along the tunnels. The shallowest tunnels belong to a much smaller Spanish species that buries dung in chambers that hang like fruit from the branches of a pear tree. South African beetles dig narrow tunnels of approximately 20 cm
9、below the surface of the pat. Some surface-dwelling beetles, including a South African species, cut perfectly- shaped balls from the pat, which are rolled away and attached to the bases of plants. For maximum dung burial in spring, summer and autumn, farmers require a variety of species with overlap
10、ping periods of activity. In the cooler environments of the state of Victoria, the large French species (2.5 cms long) is matched with smaller (half this size), temperate-climate Spanish species. The former are slow to recover from the winter cold and produce only one or two generations of offspring
11、 from late spring until autumn. The latter, which multiply rapidly in early spring, produce two to five generations annually. The South African ball-rolling species, being a sub- tropical beetle, prefers the climate of northern and coastal New South Wales where it commonly works with the South Afric
12、an turning species. In warmer climates, many species are active for longer periods of the year. Dung beetles were initially introduced in the late 1960s with a view to controlling buffalo flies by removing the dung within a day or two and so preventing flies from breeding. However, other benefits ha
13、ve become evident. Once the beetle larvae have finished pupation, the residue is a first-rate source of fertiliser. The tunnels abandoned by the beetles provide excellent aeration and water channels for root systems. In addition, when the new generation of beetles has left the nest the abandoned bur
14、rows are an attractive habitat for soil-enriching earthworms. The digested dung in these burrows is an excellent food supply for the earthworms, which decompose it further to provide essential soil nutrients. If it were not for the dung beetle, chemical fertiliser and dung would be washed by rain in
15、to streams and rivers before it could be absorbed into the hard earth, polluting water courses and causing blooms of blue-green algae. Without the beetles to dispose of the dung, cow pats would litter pastures making grass inedible to cattle and depriving the soil of sunlight. Australias 30 million
16、cattle each produce 10-12 cow pats a day. This amounts to 1.7 billion tonnes a year, enough to smother about 110,000 sq km of pasture, half the area of Victoria. Dung beetles have become an integral part of the successful management of dairy farms in Australia over the past few decades. A number of
17、species are available from the CSIRO or through a small number of private breeders, most of whom were entomologists with the CSIROs dung beetle unit who have taken their specialised knowledge of the insect and opened small businesses in direct competition with their former employer. 1 Questions 1-5
18、Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet write YES if the statement reflects the claims of the writer NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about
19、 this 1 Bush flies are easier to control than buffalo flies. （ A） YES （ B） NO （ C） NOT GIVEN 2 Four thousand species of dung beetle were initially brought to Australia by the CSIRO. （ A） YES （ B） NO （ C） NOT GIVEN 3 Dung beetles were brought to Australia by the CSIRO over a fourteen-year period. （ A
20、） YES （ B） NO （ C） NOT GIVEN 4 At least twenty-six of the introduced species have become established in Australia. （ A） YES （ B） NO （ C） NOT GIVEN 5 The dung beetles cause an immediate improvement to the quality of a cow pasture. （ A） YES （ B） NO （ C） NOT GIVEN 6 Questions 6-8Label the tunnels on th
21、e diagram below. Choose your labels from the box below the diagram.Write your answers in boxes 6-8 on your answer sheet. Dung Beetle Types French Spanish Mediterranean South African tralian native South African ball roller 6 【 6】 7 【 7】 8 【 8】 9 Question 9-13Complete the table below.Choose NO MORE T
22、HAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER from Reading Passage 1 for each answer.Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.9 【 9】 10 【 10】 11 【 11】 12 【 12】 13 【 13】 14 READING PASSAGE 2 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-28 which are based on Reading Passage 2 on the following pages. S
23、ection A The role of governments in environmental management is difficult but inescapable Sometimes, the state tries to manage the resources it owns, and does so badly. Often however, governments act in an even more harmful way. They actually subsidise the exploitation and consumption of natural res
24、ources A whole range of policies, from farm- price support to protection for coal-mining do, environmental damage and (often) make no economic sense. Scrapping them offers a two-fold bonus: a cleaner environment and a more efficient economy. Growth and environmentalism can actually go hand in hand,
25、if politicians have the courage to confront the vested interest that subsidies create. Section B No activity affects more of the earths surface than farming. It shapes a third of the plants land area, not counting Antarctica, and the proportion is rising. World food output per head has risen by 4 pe
26、rcent between the 1970s and 1980s mainly as a result of increases increases in yields from land already in cultivation, but also because more land has been brought under the plough. Higher yields have been achieved by increased Irrigation , better crop breeding, and a doubling in the use of pesticid
27、es and chemical fertillsers in the 1970s and 1980s. Section C All these activities may have damaging environmental impacts, For example, land clearing for agriculture is the largest single cause of deforestation; chemical fertillsers and pesticides may contaminate water supplies; more intensive farm
28、ing and the abandonment of fallow periods tend to exacerbate soil erosion; and the spread of mono- culture and use of high-yielding varieties of crops have been accompanied by the disappearance of old varieties of food plants which might have provided, some insurance against pests or diseases in fut
29、ure. Soil erosion threatens the productivity of land in both rich and poor countries. The United States, where the most careful measurements have been done, discovered in 1982 that about one-fifth of its farmland was losing topsoil at a rate likely to diminish the soils productivity. The countrys su
30、bsequently embarked upon a program to convert 11 per cent of its cropped land to meadow or forest. Topsoil in India and China is vanishing much faster than in America Section D Government policies have frequently compounded the environmental damage that farming can cause. In the rich countries, subs
31、idies for growing crops and price supports for farm output drive up the price of land. The annual value of these subsidies is immense; about 250 billion, or more than all World Bank lending in the 1980s. To increase the output of crops per acre, a farmers easiest option is to use more of the most re
32、adily available Inputs: fertilisers and pesticides. Fertiliser use doubled in Denmark in the period 1960-1985 and increased in The Netherlands by 150 per cent. The quantity, of pesticides applied. has risen too: by 69 per centin 1975-1984 in Denmark, for example, with a rise of 115 per cent in the f
33、requency of application in the three years from 1981. In the late 1980s and early 1990s some efforts were made to reduce farm subsidies The most dramatic example was that of New Zealand, which scrapped most farm support in 1984 A study of the environmental effects, conducted in 1993, found that the
34、end of fertiliser subsidies had been followed by a fall in fertiliser use (a fall compounded by the decline in world commodity prices, which cut farm incomes), The removal of subsidies also stopped land-clearing and over-stocking, which in the past had been the principal causes of erosion, Farms beg
35、an to diversify, The one kind of subsidy whose removal appeared to have been bad for the environment was the subsidy to manage soil erosion, In less enlightened countries, and in the European Union, the trend has been to reduce rather than eliminate subsidies, and to introduce new payments to encour
36、age farmers to treat their land in environmentally friendlier ways, or to leave it fallow, It may sound strange but such payments need to be higher than the existing incentives for farmers to grow food crops, Farmers, however, dislike being paid to do nothing. In several countries they have become i
37、nterested in the possibility of using fuel produced from crop residues either as a replacement for petrol (as ethanol) or as fuel for power stations (as biomass), Such fuels produce far less carbon dioxide than coal or oil, and absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. They are therefore less likely to co
38、ntribute to the greenhouse effect. But they are rarely competitive with fossil fuels unless subsidised - and growing them does no environmental harm than other crops Section E In poor countries, governments aggravate other sorts of damage. Subsidies for pesticides and artificial fertilisers encourag
39、e farmers to use greater quantities than are needed to get the highest economic crop yield. A study by the International Rice Research Institute of pesticide use by farmers in South East Asia found that, with pest-resistant varieties of rice, even moderate applications of pesticide frequently cost f
40、armers more than they saved. Such waste puts farmers on a chemical treadmill: bugs and weeds become resistant to poisons, so next years poisons must be more lethal. One cost is to human health, Every year some 10,000 people die from pesticide poisoning, almost all of them in the developing countries
41、, and another 400,000 become seriously ill. As for artificial fertilisers, their use world-wide increased by 40 per cent per unit of farmed land between the mid 1970s and late 1980s, mostly in the developing countries. Overuse of fertilisers may cause farmers to stop rotating crops or leaving their
42、land fallow, That, in turn, may make soil erosion worse. Section F A result of the Uruguay Round of world trade negotiations is likely to be a reduction of 36 per cent in the average levels of farm subsidies paid by the rich countries in 1986-1990, Some of the worlds food production will move from W
43、estern Europe to regions where subsidies are lower or non-existent, such as the former communist countries and parts of the developing world. Some environmentalists worry about this outcome. It will undoubtedly mean more pressure to convert natural habitat into farmland. But it will also have many d
44、esirable environmental effects, The intensity of farming in the rich world should decline, and the use of chemical inputs will diminish, Crops are more likely to be grown In the environments to which they are naturally suited. And more farmers in poor countries will have the money and the incentive
45、to manage their land in ways that are sustainable in the long run. That is important, To feed an increasingly hungry world, farmers need every incentive to use their soil and water effectively and efficiently. 14 Questions 14-18 Reading Passage 2 has six sections A-F. Choose the most suitable headin
46、gs for sections A-D and F from the list of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers i-ix in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet. List of Headings The probable effects of the new international trade agreement The environmental impact of modern farming Farming and soil erosion The effects of governm
47、ent policy in rich countries Governments and management of the environment The effects of government policy in poor countries Farming and food output The effects of government policy on food output The new prospects for world trade 14 Section A 15 Section B 16 Section C 17 Section D 18 Section F 19
48、Questions 19-22Complete the table below using the information in sections B and C of Reading Passage 2.Choose your answers A-G from the box below the table and write them in boxes 19-22 on your answer sheet.A Abandonment of fallow periodB Disappearance of old plant varietiesC Increased use of chemic
49、al inputsD Increased irrigationE Insurance against pests and diseasesF Soil erosionG Clearing land for cultivation 19 【 19】 20 【 20】 21 【 21】 22 【 22】 23 Questions 23-27 Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 23-27 on your answer sheet. 23 Research completed in 1982 found that in the United States soil erosion _. （ A） reduced the productivity of farmland by 20 per cent. （ B） was almost as severe as in India and China. （ C） was causing significant damage to 20 per cent of farmland. （ D） coul
