单选题 Thousands of years ago, in the middle of an ocean, miles from the nearest island, an undersea volcano broke out. The hot liquid piled higher and higher and spread wider and wider. In this way, an island rose up in the sea.
As time went on, hot sun and cool rains made the rock split and break to pieces. Sea waves dashed against the rock. In this way, soil and sand came into being.
Nothing lived on the naked soil. And then the wind and birds brought plant seeds, spiders and other little creatures there. Only plants could grow first. Only they, in sunlight, could produce food from the minerals of the soil, water and air. While many animals landed on the island, they could find no food. A spider spun its web in vain, because there were no insects for its web to catch. Insects couldn't stay until there were plants for them to eat. So plants had to be the pioneer life on this new island.
单选题 The passage centers on ______.
  • A. how an undersea volcano broke out
  • B. how an island rose up in the sea
  • C. how soil was formed on a new island
  • D. how life began on a volcano-produced island
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨题。文章第一段讲的是火山岛的形成；接下来，提到风和鸟带来了植物种子，植物开始生长；植物为动物提供食物，动物才开始在岛上出现。可见，本文主要是讲生命在这个火山岛上的形成过程。
单选题 According to the passage, the island got its first soil from ______.
  • A. sea waves
  • B. its own rock
  • C. the sand brought by the wind
  • D. cool rains
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。由第二段As time went on，hot sun and cool rains made the rock split and break to pieces，sea waves dashed against the rock．In this way，soil and sand came into being．可知，岛上的土壤来自于自身的岩石。
单选题 The word "naked" (in Para. 3) could be replaced by which of the following?
  • A. hidden
  • B. new
  • C. mysterious
  • D. bare
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 词汇题。Nothing lived on the naked soil．根据文章的介绍，这个火山岛是由火山岩堆积而成，之后有了土壤，但土壤上什么也没有。据此可以判断，该词的意思是“光秃秃的”，D就是它的同义词。
单选题 The order of coming into being on the island is ______.
  • A. soil, plants and animals
  • B. soil, little creatures and plants
  • C. soil, birds and plants
  • D. soil, human beings and animals
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。文章最后说：So plants had to be the pioneer life on this new island．植物是岛上最早的生命，因此A的排序正确。
单选题 According to the passage, which of the following is true?
  • A. Spiders were the first life that could live on the island.
  • B. The island is far away from any piece of land.
  • C. Insects could not live on the island without plants.
  • D. Plants were brought to the island by human beings.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。文章倒数第二句说：Insects couldn’t stay until there were plants for them to eat．没有植物作食物，昆虫是不能在岛上存活的。