Question

The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place. Now it is an ecological（生態(tài)的） disaster area. Nauru’s heartbreaking story could have one good consequence — other countries might learn from its mistakes.

For thousands of years, Polynesian people lived the remote island of Nauru, far from western civilization. The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798. He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship. He called the island Pleasant Island.

However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first. The whaling ships and other traders began to visit, bringing guns and alcohol. These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island. A ten-year civil war started, which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900.

Nauru’s real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate (磷酸鹽)on the island. In fact, it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate, which a very important fertilizer for farming. The company began mining the phosphate.

A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground; it is a strip mine（帶狀礦）. When a company strip-mines, it removes the top layer（層） of soil. Then it takes away the material it wants. Strip mining totally destroys the land. Gradually, the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon.

In 1968, Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world. Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate.

Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars. In addition, they used millions more dollars for personal expenses. Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem — their phosphate was running out. Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing. By 2000, Nauru was financially ruined. Experts say that it would take approximately $433,600,000 and more than 20 years to repair the island. This will probably never happen.

1.What might be the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A. To seek help for Nauru’s problems.            B. To give a warning to other countries.

C. To show the importance of money.            D. To tell a heartbreaking story of a war.

2.What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?

A. Rich and powerful.                        B. Modern and open.

C. Peaceful and attractive.               D. Greedy and aggressive.

3.The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from           .

A. soil pollution                                B. phosphate over mining

C. farming activity                        D. whale hunting

4.Which of the following was a cause of Nauru’s financial problem?

A. Its leaders misused the money.           B. It spent too much repairing the island.

C. Its phosphate mining cost much money.    D. It lost millions of dollars in the civil war.

5.What can we learn about Nauru from the last paragraph?

A. The phosphate mines were destroyed.          B. The leaders will take the experts’ words seriously.

C. The island was abandoned by the Nauruans.     D. The ecological damage is difficult to repair.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.B

2.C

3.B

4.A

5.D

【解析】

試題分析：瑙魯在歐洲人到來(lái)之前是一個(gè)安定而美麗的地方。現(xiàn)在卻變成了生態(tài)災(zāi)區(qū)。因?yàn)楹�有磷酸鹽使得瑙魯曾經(jīng)富甲一方，但是領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人使用資金不當(dāng)使瑙魯陷入財(cái)政困難。專家說(shuō)修復(fù)瑙魯（島）需要花$433,600,000的錢(qián)、20年的時(shí)間。而這幾乎不可能�！�

1.主旨大意題。文章第一段提到瑙魯前后的變化以及該段最后一句“...other countries might learn from its mistakes.”可知，作者的寫(xiě)作目的是為了引起其他國(guó)家的重視，以示警告。故選B項(xiàng)。

2.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段第一句“...used to be a beautiful place.”以及第二段第一句“...lived on the remote island of Nauru，far from western civilization.”可知，瑙魯在歐洲人到來(lái)之前是一個(gè)安定而美麗的地方。

3.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。文章第四段提到一家英國(guó)礦業(yè)公司發(fā)現(xiàn)瑙魯含有豐富的磷酸鹽后開(kāi)始開(kāi)采，第五段又說(shuō)明了其實(shí)這種露天礦的開(kāi)采破壞了土壤的表層，最終使得“the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon”。因此可以看出其生態(tài)災(zāi)難是由過(guò)度的采礦引起的，故B項(xiàng)正確。

4.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)最后一段前兩句“...the leader invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars.In addition，they used millions more dollars for personal expenses.”可知，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人使用資金不當(dāng)，致使瑙魯陷入財(cái)政困難。故選A項(xiàng)。

5.推理判斷題。結(jié)合文章最后一段倒數(shù)第二句專家所說(shuō)的修復(fù)瑙魯（島）需要花的錢(qián)和時(shí)間，以及最后一句“This will probably never happen.”可以推斷一旦造成生態(tài)破壞，是很難修復(fù)的。故選D項(xiàng)。

考點(diǎn)：環(huán)保類短文閱讀。