阅读理解 Next to snakes and crocs, Australians imagine sharks to be the country's most dangerous creature. Tim Winton, an author, calls sharks "substitute for the Devil". Seven swimmers in three years have died from shark attacks in Mr Winton's home state of Western Australia. The state's government, led by Colin Barnett, is now taking revenge.
In late November a skilled surfer died from a shark attack. A week later a shark killed a 19-year-old in New South Wales. The tragedies fed public anxieties. Mr Barnett ordered no-go zones for sharks to be set up offshore, marked by lines of baited hooks. Any shark caught on them more than three metres long was to be shot. The first shark caught in this strategy was shot on January 26th. Mr Barnett says he has to "protect the people of Western Australia".
But previously hostile popular attitudes towards sharks are shifting. Plenty of Western Australians, along with environmentalists and shark experts, deplore the new policy. In early January, at the height of the summer holiday season, more than 4,000 protesters swamped Cottesloe Beach in Perth, with signs reading "Save Our Sharks"and "Science Not Slaughter".
Of Australia's 180 or so shark species, only a few are dangerous to humans: chiefly, bull sharks, tiger sharks and great whites, which are protected under federal law. Their numbers have suffered from the trade in shark fins for soup in Asia, which Australia and others have banned. Nonetheless, the federal government has given its conservative counterpart in Western Australia an exemption from protecting great whites under its "catch-and-kill" policy.
Despite the recent attacks, deaths from sharks are rare—an average of just one person a year for the past half-century around Australia's vast coastline, says the Australian Shark Attack File, a research outfit at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. By contrast, an average of 120 people drown each year off beaches and in harbours and rivers. There has been no fatal shark attack at Bondi beach in Sydney, Australia's most popular strand, since 1929.

单选题 21.Tim Winton calls sharks "substitute for the Devil" because______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】根据“substitute for the Devil”可以定位到第一段。答案就在本句话的前后。前面提到：Next to snakes and crocs，Australians imagine sharks to be the country’s most dangerous crea—ture．根据本句话容易误选[C]。上文提到next to snakes and crocs(仅次于蛇和鳄鱼)，故可以判断[C]和[D]两项都是错误的。[A]项属于无中生有。文章提到：Seven swimmers in threeyears have died from shark attacks in Mr Winton’s home state of Western Australia．可见Tim Win-ton把鲨鱼称作“恶魔的代名词”是因为鲨鱼夺去了很多人的生命，因此[B]项正确。

单选题 22.Mr Barnett's policy includes______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】根据Mr Barnett定位到第二段。选项[A]对应该段第三行：Any shark caught onthem(指代no—go zones)more than three metres long was to be shot．大意为：任何在“鲨鱼禁区”捕获的体长超过三米的鲨鱼将会遭到射杀。由此可见[A]项的any shark是不准确的，故该项错误。选项[B]是对“Mr Barnett ordered no-go zones for sharks to be set up offshore”一句的曲解，原文说的禁区是针对鲨鱼(for sharks)，而不是针对游泳者，该项的for swimmers与原文forsharks不符，属于偷换概念，故错误。选项[C]对应最后一句：Mr Barnett says he has to“protectthe people of Western Australia”．该项正确。选项[D]中的ensuring safety of human beings这部分是没错的，但是and animals错了，因为Barnett提倡猎杀鲨鱼，而不是保护。综上所述，答案为选项[C]。

单选题 23.Many Australians' attitude towards the new policy is______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】根据Many Australians，new policy等词定位到第三段。该段第一、二句指出：Butpreviously hostile popular attitudes towards sharks are shifting．Plenty of Western Australians，alongwith environmentalists and shark experts，deplore the new policy．大意为：但是之前人们普遍敌对鲨鱼的态度发生了转变。大量澳大利亚西部居民、环保主义者和鲨鱼专家强烈反对这项新政策。其中deplore这个词明确体现出许多澳大利亚人的态度，如果看不懂这个词，可以根据上下文进行猜测。上文提到人们敌对鲨鱼的观点正在转变，下文提到人们不敌对鲨鱼，反而反对“杀戮鲨鱼的新政策”，由此可见deplore这个词和上文的hostile(敌对的)一词是接近的，故答案为[D]opponent(反对的)。

单选题 24.According to Paragraph 4, which one is true?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】选项[A]意为：大白鲨在澳大利亚西部受到保护。原文第四段第四行指出：None-theless，the federal government has given its conservative counterpart in Western Australia an ex—emption from protecting great whites under its“catch—and-kill”policy．其中关键的是an exemptionfrom protecting great whites一句，大意为“免于保护大白鲨”，也就是说Western Australia可以不用保护大白鲨，与该项表述完全相反，故该项错误。选项[B]意为：鱼翅在亚洲和澳大利亚都是一道美味佳肴。该段第二句明确指出：Their numbers have suffered from the trade in shark finsfor soup in Asia，which Australia and others have banned．其中“Australia and others have banned澳大利亚和其他地区禁止贩卖鱼翅"告诉我们，该项表述错误。选项[C]意为：一些危险的鲨鱼种类受到联邦法律的保护。该项对应该段首句：Of Australia’s 180 or so shark species，only afew are dangerous to humans：chiefly，bull sharks，tiger sharks and great whites，which are protec—ted under federal law．由此可见，该项表述正确。选项[D]意为：过去几年澳大利亚鲨鱼的数量有所增长。该项对应该段第二句：Their numbers have suffered from the trade in shark fins forsoup in Asia…由此可见鲨鱼被贩卖，数量减少，故该项错误。

单选题 25.We can infer from the last paragraph that______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】根据最后一段的“deaths from sharks are rare一an average of just one person a year”和“an average of 120 people drown each year”我们可以判断[A]项的表述正确。选项[B]中的“not been any shark attack没有任何鲨鱼袭击事件”和原文最后一句的“no fatal shark attack没有致命的鲨鱼袭击事件”不一致，故错误。选项[C]“attacks from sharks are rare鲨鱼袭击事件是很少见的”与原文第一句“deaths from sharks are rare因鲨鱼袭击而死亡的事件是很少见的”看似接近，但该项把death换成了attack，属于偷换概念，因此也是错误的。选项[D]原文没有提到，属于无中生有。