Few creatures on earth are as cute as the black lion tamarin, and few have as dramatic a story line. Pug-nosed and diminutive, with a comic fringe of hair, these monkeys dwell in trees in small tracts of forest in southeastern Brazil. Or they did until 1905, when they were declared extinct. No one saw a black lion tamarin again in the wild until 1970. Later, in the 1990s, some Brazilian researchers turned up a small set of isolated, inbred populations scattered over a wide region.  Since that time, they have been engineering tamarin migration, doing everything they can to save the world’s most distinctive primates.
Although they are no larger than house cats, tamarins have brains big for their size and a family life organized like our own. They live in groups anchored by an adult male and adult female, along with their offspring. When a mother bears young, she usually produces twins, and although members of the group share in their upbringing, it is most often the father who carries them around in the trees, where the families feed on fruits, insects and bird’s eggs.
Unhappily for the lion tamarins, their tree-bound niche began to disappear after the Portuguese landed in Brazil and began clearing forest to make room for Rio de Janeiro, the settlements and farms. As is the case for so many threatened species, the breakup of their habitat sounded the death knell for tamarins, depriving them of the continuity of forest they require to remain abundant and safe from potential threats in any single vicinity. The animals avoid predators by hardly ever coming down from the trees, so even a narrow logging road through a forest can begin the breakup by preventing them from moving from one patch of forest to another.
A simple solution was to build bridges across roads, allowing the monkeys to move from one forest to another. With some lumber and the researchers’ work, habitats that had been separated became continuous again, improving opportunities for migrating and mating.
The next step was to broaden the distribution of the population. The researchers captured two families of black lion tamarins and moved them to a new forest. After a year, the moves were declared a success: Not only had 80 percent of the tamarins survived, but they had also produced new offspring. So far, so good. The researchers had learned the animals could adjust to the new habitats, even if the insects there tasted a little different or the trees were a slightly different size.
The techniques for saving species in the wild vary. Species with less stringent habitat requirements, like wild turkeys, have been rescued by moving them into new settings as well as outlawing their killing. More challenging to preserve are species that require a lot of land, like elephants, and species that have highly specific requirements for habitat and prey — like black-footed ferrets. Ultimately, as in all challenges, knowledge is power to save wild species from extinction.  

单选题

A tamarin can be called any of the following except

【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】

本题是是非题。第一段第二句中提及选项A的内容,也即是绢毛猴也可以叫做猴子;第一段最后一句提到选项B,即“灵长类的动物”;第一段第一行中提及选项D“the black lion tamarin”(黑脸狮狨猴);因此答案为C。

单选题

According to Paragraph 1, the tamarin story can be retold chronologically as follows:

Ⅰ. Tamarins were declared extinct.

Ⅱ. No one saw a tamarin in the wild.

Ⅲ. Tamarins used to live in forests in southern Brazil.

Ⅳ. The researchers have been doing everything they can to save tamarins.

Ⅴ. Some researchers found by chance a small set of tamarins.

【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】

本题是细节题。题干中的chronologically意为“按年代顺序排列”。第一段第三句提及Ⅰ.的内容,这是在1905年——l905年宣称他们(这里指绢毛猴)已灭绝;第四句提及Ⅱ.的内容,这是在1970年,直到l970年没有人再在野外见过黑脸狮狨猴;第三句提及Ⅲ.的内容,这是在1905年前,这些猴栖息在巴西东南部小片森林里的树上;最后一句提及Ⅳ.的内容,这是在Since that time,也即是二十世纪九十年代后,从那时起巴西的一些研究人员就设计绢毛猴的移民,尽他们的一切能力来挽救世界上最与众不同的灵长类;第五句提及Ⅴ.的内容,这是在二十世纪九十年代,一些巴西的研究人员发现了一小群与世隔离的天生绢毛猴散落在广阔的地域;所以按时间顺序分,Ⅲ—Ⅰ—Ⅱ—Ⅴ—Ⅳ应是正确答案,故选B。

单选题

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of a tamadn family?

【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】

本题是是非题。这里需要注意a tamadn family。第三段第一句话提到“a family life organized like our own.”而且后面也讲述了绢毛猴的家庭生活,所以A、B选项的内容在文中提及;文中也提到“members of the group share in their upbringing”,所以C项也正确。选项D的内容在文中也有提及,但是不属于绢毛猴的家庭生活特性,因此答案为D。

单选题

Tamarins lost the paradise of their tree-bound niche mainly because the Portuguese __________.

【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】

本题是细节题。第三段第一句讲到:不幸的是,葡萄牙人抵达巴西后开始清除森林以便能够腾出空地修建里约热内卢(巴西的城市)、定居地和农田,绢毛猴赖以生存的生活环境就开始消失了。(Unhappily for the lion tamarins,their tree-bound niche began to disappear after the Portuguese landed in Brazil and began clearing forest to make room for Rio de Janeiro,the settlements and farms.),因此答案为B。

单选题

The breakup of the habitats resulted in the following except __________.

【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】

本题是是非题。第三段第二句提到:正如许许多多的濒危物种一样,绢毛猴们栖息地的破坏为他们敲响了丧钟,也剥夺他们所需的连片的森林,这些森林可以让他们保持大量种群和免于附近潜在威胁(to remain abundant and safe from potential threats in any single vicinity.);因此A项,B项和C项中提到的食物短缺、潜在威胁的逼近及原本为逃避那些食肉动物在树上生活所需的连片森林都是结果,因此答案为D。The lumber bridges were devised to __________.

单选题

The lumber bridges were devised to __________.

【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】

本题是细节题。第四段:一个简单的解决办法就是建造横跨大路的大桥,可以使这些猴子们从一片森林移向另一片森林。有了由这些伐木做的桥和研究者的工作,原先被分隔开的栖息地又连在一起了,这提高了猴子们移居和交配的机率。所以答案为A“提高了绢丝候相遇和交配的机会”。What did the researchers learn from the second step?

单选题

What did the researchers learn from the second step?

【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】

本题是细节题。倒数第二段最后一句提到:The researchers had learned the animals could adjust to the new habitats,even if the insects there tasted a little different or the trees were a slightly different size.。这句话讲的是研究者了解到动物们可以适应新的生活环境;选项A、B中的内容分别是even if后面的两个让步状语从句,因此C为答案。

单选题

The advice the author missed giving in saving wild species is __________.

【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】

本题是是非题。第六段最后一句提及A的内容;第六段第二句提及C项的内容;第六段第一句提及D的内容;因此答案为B。

单选题

To save the wild species from extinction, the author put the stress on __________.

【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】

本题是细节题。文中最后一句提到:Ultimately,as in all challenges,knowledge is power to save wild species from extinction. (从根本上来说,在所有的挑战中知识是挽救野生物种免遭绝种的力量);因此可以推断作者比较强调知识,所以选A。

单选题

The author wants to tell us that __________.

【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】

本题是推断题。纵观全文可知,文章先从tamarins其中一种濒危物种说起,然后讲到它们的遭遇,研究工作者们的努力;由此可推断出作者想要告诉我们的是这些研究工作者们,也即是灵长类动物学家们,想尽办法来挽救这些濒危的绢丝猴。因此A为答案。