奇速英语官网—英语在线学习平台_让学英语更快乐_更快速

They called it the “Goddess of the Yangtze”—a creature so rare that it is believed to bring fortune and protection to local fishermen and all those lucky enough to see it. But overfishing and human activity are driving it to the edge of extinction.

“The baiji, or Yangtze River dolphin, is a unique and beautiful creature—there is nothing quite like it,” said Samuel Turvey, a British zoologist and conservationist who spent more than two decades in China trying to track the animal down. “It’s around for tens of millions of years and is in its own mammal(哺乳动物) family. There are other river dolphins in the world but this one is very different, so unrelated to anything else,” Turvey said. “Its extinction will be more than just another species tragedy—it will be a huge loss of river diversity in terms of how unique it is and will leave huge holes in the ecosystem.”

Experts have expressed concern that other rare native Yangtze animal and plant species are likely to suffer a similar fate to the baiji river dolphin as worsening climate change and extreme weather conditions take their toll on Asia’s longest river.

China has been fighting with its worst heat wave on record and the Yangtze is drying up. The drought has already had a devastating effect on China’s most important river, which provides water, food, transport and hydroelectric power to more than 400 million people. The human impact has been enormous. Factories were shut to preserve electricity and water supplies for tens of thousands of people have been affected.

Less talked about, experts say, is the environmental impact that climate change and associated extreme weather events have had on the hundreds of protected and threatened wildlife and plant species living in and around the river.

“The Yangtze is one of the world’s most ecologically critical rivers for biodiversity and freshwater ecosystems,” said conservation ecologist Hua Fangyuan, an assistant professor from Peking University. “Many of the little known and unknown fish and other aquatic species are most likely facing extinction risks silently and we simply do not know enough.”

1.What made Yangtze River dolphin close to dying out?

A Shortage of food.

B Frequent heat wave.

C Lack of proper protection.

D Pollution of the Yangtze River.

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据第一段第二句的“But overfishing and human activity are driving it to the edge of extinction.”可知，过度捕捞和人类活动使白鳍豚处于灭绝边缘，而“过度捕捞”和“人类活动”可以通过保护措施避免。故选C。

2.What can we know about Turvey?

A He is a zoologist from the United States.

B He has been living in China for 24 years.

C He thinks dolphins similar to the baiji still exist.

D He is sorry for the possible loss of Yangtze River dolphin.

解析：选D。D推理判断题。根据第二段Turvey所说的话可知，他认为白鳍豚非常独特，与世界上的其它河豚不一样，白鳍豚的灭绝将不仅是一个物种的悲剧，更会是河流物种多样性的损失和留给生态系统的空白，由此可推断Turvey对于白鳍豚面临灭绝感到遗憾。故选D。

3.Which can replace the underlined phrase “take their toll on” in Paragraph 3?

A Have a bad effect on.

B Have a positive impact on.

C Have nothing to do with.

D Have a connection with.

解析：选A。A词义猜测题。根据划线部分句意可知，专家担心长江流域的其他珍稀动植物会遭受白鳍豚类似的命运，因为气候的改变和极端的天气对亚洲最长的河(即长江)有不好的影响。故选A。

4. Why the impact of drought is mentioned in Paragraph 4?

A To prove that the Yangtze River is one of the most important river in China.

B To call for more reasonable distribution of electricity and water.

C To appeal factories and citizens to save electricity and water in the future.

D To illustrate lack of attention to environmental influence on wild creatures.

解析：选D。D推理判断题。全文主要讲的是白鳍豚面临灭绝以及由此敲响的保护更多珍稀动植物的警钟，再根据第五段内容“人们很少讨论气候变化及极端天气对珍稀动植物的影响”可知，第四段是为了说明这种现象。故选D。