单选题 The Scottish countryside will soon be home to creatures which is strange to Britain. This spring, 17 beavers (海狸) will be released into a remote area of rivers and forests. Hunted to extinction throughout Europe, beavers haven"t roamed Britain"s wilderness for almost 500 years. Ecologists would like to invite back other long-lost species to help restore the natural balance. To save the country"s plants from deer, which have doubled to 2 million since the start of this decade, an Oxford University biologist late last year called for reintroducing the lynx (猞猁)—a wildcat that died out in Britain 1,300 years ago.
Nature has long been a popular cause in Europe. British people love their countryside of fences and fields, the French their vineyards (葡萄园) and the Germans their hiking forests. But in recent years conservationists have set their sights on the more distant past, when Europe"s forests and meadows were full of elephants, hippo-potamuses (河马), rhinoceroses(犀牛) and big cats. Some ambitious conservationists are now advocating a return to norms of wilderness that date back to 11,000 years ago when the biggest mammals were at the top of the food chain.
Nobody is advocating allowing elephants and lions to run crazily in this densely populated region. But wilding supporters would give free control to a long list of lesser mammals, including the beaver and the lynx, which some people fear could be destructive. Some landowners withdraw at the thought of beavers cutting down trees with their teeth and flooding their property; the Scottish Parliament rejected several earlier efforts to reintroduce the mammal. Proposals to set loose wolves and bears in Britain have also encountered resistance.
Although rhinos and hippos thrived in Europe thousands of years ago, no one is sure what effect they would have on ecosystems now. "The idea of bringing back big mammals is interesting, but when you get down to the nuts and bolts, there"s a lot of questions," say some biologists. For example, elephants could destroy what little forest and grassland Europe has left.
The beavers of Tierra del Fuego provide a cautionary tale. When a failed commercial fur farm released its few remaining beavers into the wild 60 years ago, the population exploded, and they are still revenging the local people. Is this Britain"s future? Supporters say no, the beaver will fit right in. Destroying nature is not a job for the mild.

单选题 The word "roamed" (Line 3, Para. 1) most probably means ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[考点] 语义理解题
由题干中roamed定位到第一段第三句。由前半句可知，海狸在整个欧洲大陆都被猎杀殆尽，因此推断后半句意思可能为：海狸大概有500年的时间没有出现在英国的野外了。roam一词应有近似“出现”的意思。A“徘徊，漫步”，可以理解为：海狸有500年没有在英国的野外漫步了，故与句子意思相符。B“释放”，既然海狸在英国灭绝了，而不是被人工饲养，也就谈不上释放了，故排除；C“培养，耕作”，与本句意思不符，故排除；D“爆炸；迅速增长”，与句子的意思也不相符，故排除。

单选题 Why did the Oxford University biologist called for reintroducing the lynx late last year?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[考点] 事实细节题
由题干中的the Oxford University biologist定位到第一段末句可知，这位生物学家是为了防止数量迅猛增长的鹿群毁掉国家的植被才发出了这样的号召。B“山猫可以防止植被遭到鹿的破坏”与文章中提到的原因相符。A“因为山猫1300年前在英国灭绝了”，这并不是最直接的原因，故排除；C “因为英国的鹿数量太多了”，这是其中的一个原因，但并不是最直接的原因，故排除；D“因为这位生物学家想要把灭绝了很久的物种再请回英国”，这也不是最直接的原因，故排除。

单选题 What can we learn from Para. 3?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[考点] 判断推理题
根据题干定位到第三段可知，英国人民都不赞成在国内散养哺乳动物，国会也一再地否决关于重新引进大型动物以及散养的提议。但是动物保护主义者们还是坚持认为对小型的动物可以放松限制。本段提到海狸会咬断树木，造成水灾，故C“土地所有者不喜欢海狸是因为它们可能造成灾难”正确。A“并不是所有的人都支持在英国散养动物”，文意是说没有人会主张这样做，与文意不符，排除；B“英国的一些小型哺乳动物将失去控制”，与文意不符，文中是指人们对小动物放开限制，故排除；而D“英国政府曾几次提出要把海狸重新引进的建议”，与文意相悖，排除。

单选题 What is the opinion of the biologists about bringing back the mammals?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[考点] 观点态度题
由题干中的the opinion of the biologists定位到第四段第二句可知，生物学家们认为找回大型哺乳动物的想法是很有意思的，但是当开始认真考虑具体实施的细节时，又会发现实现这个想法需要解决许多问题。B“他们认为重新引入大型哺乳动物绝不是一件容易的事”与文意相符，故正确。A“他们认为重新引入大型哺乳动物的想法好极了”，本段第二句是说这个想法很有意思，但更重要的是强调实现想法所面对的困难，故排除；C“他们确定地知道重新引入大型哺乳动物的后果”，本段第一句说明，没有人确定结果会如何，故排除；D“他们认为这些哺乳动物会毁掉生态系统”，这只是本段最后一句可能的假设，并不确定，故排除。

单选题 What can be inferred from the passage?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[考点] 推理判断题
解答此题需在文章中分别找到与四个选项相关的句子。B“跟老虎相比，山猫在英国可以获得更多的自由”，根据第三段第二句可知，野生动物保护者们对体形较小的哺乳动物会放松限制，其中包括山猫和海狸。而老虎是大型哺乳动物，可以推断出它们不会像山猫那样自由。故为答案。A“海狸是最有助于恢复英国自然平衡的哺乳动物”，文章当中并没有提到哪种动物最有效，故排除；C“英国的生态系统不需要任何的改变”，若真的不需要改变，就没有必要引进海狸了，故排除；D“在英国放生的海狸将会像火地岛上的同胞们一样去破坏自然环境”，全文最后两句指出海狸性情温顺，故不会破坏环境，故排除。