Question

Dan Bebber is a senior research fellow at the University of Exeter in Britain. He says research has shown that wild plants and animals are moving toward Earth's North and South poles as the planet warms.

Mr Bebber wanted to know if the same thing was happening with organisms that attack agricultural crops. He examined reports of first sightings of new insects and diseases around the world. The records came from CABI - the Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International. He says the group began collecting information from developing and industrialized countries years ago.

Dan Bebber and his research team studied 612 different organisms - from viruses and bacteria to insects like beetles and butterflies. They found that since 1960, crop pests and diseases have been moving toward the poles at an average rate of about 3 kilometers each year. Mr Bebber says this puts the most productive farmland in the world in danger.

"As new species of pests and diseases evolve and potentially the environment for them becomes more amenable at higher latitudes, the pressure on the breadbaskets of the world is going to increase."

Farmers face other threats. Invasive species passed through trade are also causing problems. Gene Kritsky is an Entomologist at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Ohio. He specialises in the study of insects. He says climate change may improve conditions for some invasive species.

“It means that species in other parts of the world that might do well in warmer temperatures can now do well in the breadbasket of America.”

Another Entomologist Christian Krupke of Purdue University says the effects of these changes will depend very much on the crop, the insect and the disease. But he says the research is a warning sign that people should care about climate change and do something about it.

1.The purpose of Dan Bebber’s research was to find ______.

A. if farmland could be moved to colder places thanks to global warming

B. if diseases and insects harmful to crops were going towards colder areas

C. if organisms were moving to the north and south poles

D. if the number of crop pests was increasing

2.According to Dan Bebber, if crop pests keep moving towards the poles, ______.

A. it will be hard for farmers to kill them

B. the most productive farmland will produce more crops

C. the earth will not produce enough food to support the world

D. the conditions for some crops may be improved

3.Which of the following is not a threat that farmers have to face?

A. Climate change helps crop pests to adapt to new environment.

B. Foreign species are brought in by trade.

C. Invasive species doing well in warmer places might do well in America.

D. The impacts of the climate and species changes on crops are not easy to determine.

4.The underlined word “amenable” in the fourth paragraph most probably means ______.

A. agreeable     B. terrible      C. unfriendly     D. changeable 

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.B

2.C

3.D

4.A

【解析】

試題分析：本文講述的是隨著全球變暖，很多植物都在向兩級地區移動，科學家對這種現象進行了仔細地研究。本文介紹了這些研究的有關情況。

1.B 細節題。根據文章第二段第一行Mr Bebber wanted to know if the same thing was happening with organisms that attack agricultural crops可知他想知道這些對動物和昆蟲有害的疾病是不是和那些植物一樣會向南極和北極移動。故B正確。

2.C 推理題。根據文章第三段最后一句Mr Bebber says this puts the most productive farmland in the world in danger.可知這種情況會讓地球上物產豐富的土地不再能夠生產出產品來滿足人們的需要。故C項正確。

3.D 細節題。根據"As new species of pests and diseases evolve and potentially the environment for them 和Farmers face other threats. Invasive species passed through trade are also causing problems.以及He says climate change may improve conditions for some invasive species.說明ABC三項都是面臨的威脅。只有D項文章沒有涉及到。

4.A 猜測詞義題。根據本句"As new species of pests and diseases evolve and potentially the environment for them becomes more amenable at higher latitudes,在高緯度地區新的昆蟲和疾病以及他們與環境之間越來越協調一致。故A正確。

考點：考察科普說明文