四级真题2024年12月第二套 Passage Two
四级真题2024年12月第二套 Passage Two


①　Chocolates save us from many things, especially emotional distress. They comfort us in times of trouble, calming down a racing heart by channelling happy calories inside us. We all have faith in chocolates to delight us in an instant!

②　Recently, chocolate lovers were heartbroken as scientists claimed that they can become extinct by 2050! But hey, we have some happy news for you. Scientists can still help save chocolates from dying out! If you are not aware as to why scientists made the statement about the death of this wonderful thing, let us tell you the facts. Chocolate trees, whose seeds are used to make chocolate, grow in the tropical plant world and require very specific weather conditions to prosper.
③　Now, fifty percent of the world’s cocoa (可可) beans come from two countries in West Africa: Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Scientists believe that both of these countries will experience a 3.8°F temperature increase by 2050 due to global warming, endangering the cacao (可可树) farms in the rainforests. These farms will then have to be shifted to cooler mountainous areas, which are the natural habitat of wildlife. This will lead to some tough decisions: whether to grow chocolate or save wildlife.
④　Unfortunately, the crisis of global warming has already had a serious negative impact on cacao farms’ yields, leading to the prices of chocolates skyrocketing.
⑤　Scientists, however, are trying to find a long-term and eco-friendly solution to this problem! They are trying to modify the species with a gene-editing technology, which will transform the  seedlings into a species that survives even in a drier and warmer climate.
⑥　According to a report by The Business Insider, in the University of California’s new bio- sciences building, tiny green cacao seedlings are lined up in refrigerated greenhouses for a new  experiment by using a technology called CRISPR. By manipulating the DNA of plants, this  technology is already being used across the world to make plants tougher and cheaper. Similarly, in this unconventional experiment, scientists will make tiny, precise changes to the DNA of the seedlings to make the cocoa crops survive in warmer and drier climates.

1.1. What do people believe chocolates can do?

A Cheer them up instantly.

B Create happy calories.

C Conceal emotional distress.

D Relieve them of heart trouble.

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。文章第一段指出，巧克力能让我们摆脱很多东西，尤其是情绪上的痛苦。在我们遇到困难时，巧克力会安慰我们，让我们心跳平复，并且我们都相信巧克力能让我们瞬间快乐，也就是能立刻使我们开心起来。A选项的内容是原文的同义转述，故为答案。文章中提到巧克力向我们体内输送快乐的卡路里，而不是制造快乐卡路里，B项与原文不符，可排除。文章中提到巧克力是缓解情绪困扰，而非隐藏情绪困扰，C项与原文不符，可排除。D项内容原文未提及。

2.2. What was scientists’ recent assertion about chocolates?

A They could become a rare treat in the near future.

B They could calm people down a bit in times of crisis.

C They could prevent people from getting heartbroken.

D They could become unavailable in less than 30 years.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。文章第二段第一句提到，科学家们声称巧克力可能在2050年之前不复存在，也就是说巧克力在不到30年时间里可能就无法获取了。D项概括了科学家们宣称的内容，与原文含义一致，故选D。A项本身虽有一定道理，但并非科学家们声称的内容，可排除。B项和C项是利用原文个别词汇杜撰的信息，可排除。

3.3. What would happen if the cacao farms were shifted to cooler mountainous areas?

A The natural habitat of wildlife there would be ruined.

B The cacao farmers would have a tough time to adapt.

C The rainforests would be shrinking dramatically.

D The quality of cocoa beans would suffer greatly.

解析：选A。A 推理判断题。文章第三段第三句指出，可可树农场将不得不转移到凉爽的山区，而那里是野生动物的自然栖息地，而第四句紧接着指出，这将导致一些艰难的决定:是种植巧克力还是拯救野生动物。也就是说，此举可能会破坏野生动物自然栖息地，选项A的内容是对原文的同义转述，故为答案。选项B、C和D的内容文章中未提及，可排除。

4.4. What do we learn about the cacao farms in the crisis of global warming?

A They try to seek help from gene-editing scientists.

B They decide to move to cooler mountainous areas.

C They have suffered a lot due to a decrease in produce.

D They have benefited by raising prices of cocoa beans.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。文章第四段提到，全球变暖的危机已经对可可农场的产量产生了严重的负面影响，导致巧克力价格飞涨。也就是说，全球变暖使可可农场遭受了巨大损失，选项C与原文一致，故为答案。A、B和D项内容均与原文不符，可排除。

5.5. What are scientists trying to do in the University of California’s new bio-sciences building?

A Build rows of refrigerated greenhouses for research on cacao seedlings.

B Gene-edit cacao seedlings for them to withstand a drier, warmer climate.

C Produce chocolates with the latest gene-editing technology.

D Transplant the genes of tougher plants to cacao seedlings.

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。文章最后一段指出，在加州大学的新生物科学大楼里，科学家们正利用CRISPR技术对可可树幼苗进行新实验，通过操纵植物的DNA，让可可作物能在更温暖、更干燥的气候中存活下来。B项准确概括了原文内容，故为答案。建造一排排冷藏温室只是实验的设施，不是科学家们重点要做的事，可排除A项;文章中提到的是对幼苗做基因编辑让其能在更温暖、更干燥的气候生长，而不是直接用技术生产巧克力，可排除C;文章中提到通过编辑可可树幼苗自身基因来改变其适应性，而不是移植更强韧植物的基因到可可树幼苗，可排除D。