单选题
Preserving Nature for Future

Demands for stronger protection for wildlife in Britain sometimes hide the fact that similar needs are felt in the rest of Europe. Studies by the Council of Europe, of which 21 countries are members, have shown that 45 per cent of reptile species and 24 per cent of butterflies are in danger of dying out.
European concern for wildlife was outlined by Dr. Peter Baum, an expert in the environment and natural resources division of the council, when he spoke at a conference arranged by the administrators of a British national park. The park is one of the few areas in Europe to hold the council"s diploma for nature reserves of the highest quality, and Dr. Peter Baum had come to present it to the park once again. He was afraid that public opinion was turning against national parks, and that those set up in the 1960s and 1970s could not be set up today. But Dr. Baum clearly remained a strong supporter of the view that natural environments needed to be allowed to survive in peace in their own right.
"No area could be expected to survive both as a true nature reserve and as a tourist attraction," he went on. "The short-sighted view that reserves had to serve immediate human demands for outdoor recreation should be replaced by full acceptance of their importance as places to preserve nature for the future."
"We forget that they are the guarantee of life systems, on which any built-up area ultimately depends," Dr. Baum went on. "We could manage without most industrial products, but we could not manage without nature. However, our natural environment areas, which are the original parts of our countryside, have shrunk to become mere islands in a spoiled and highly polluted land mass."
单选题 Recent studies by the Council of Europe have indicated that ______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 文章第一段讲到,在英国,对强烈保护野生动物的要求有时隐瞒了事实,即欧洲其他国家有着类似的要求;拥有21个成员国的欧洲委员会调查发现,欧洲地区有45%的爬行类动物和24%的蝴蝶类动物正在濒临灭绝。这些内容暗示着欧洲的爬行动物和蝴蝶急需强力保护。故选D。
单选题 Why did Dr. Baum come to a British national park?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 文章第二段第二句话讲到,这个英国国家公园是欧洲为数不多的拥有最高级别的自然保护区证书的地方之一,Dr. Baum此行的目的就是再次向公园颁发这项证书。故选A。
单选题 The last sentence in the second paragraph implies that ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 文章第二段最后一句话讲到,Dr. Baum坚决支持自然环境应当在不受人类干扰和破坏的情况下自由发展。由此可知,他希望人类不要强行打扰环境之间的共存,尽量完好无损地保留应该保留的自然环境。故选C。
单选题 In Dr. Baum"s opinion, the view that a nature reserve should serve as a tourist attraction is ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 由文章第三段可知,Dr. Baum认为没有一个旅游胜地可以成为一个真正的自然保护区;让自然保护区服务于人类当前的户外休闲需求这个做法是目光短浅的,人们应该意识到自然保护区的存在对未来的重要性。故选C。
单选题 Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 文章最后一段最后一句话讲到,我们的自然环境区域,曾经是我们乡村的原始区域,如今已经萎缩成了一片污染严重的陆地中的孤岛。由此可知,我们是在以牺牲环境为代价来发展工业。故选A。