THE ivory-billed woodpecker is not
large, as birds go: It is about the size of a crow, but flashier, its claim to
fame is that, though it had been thought extinct since 1944, a lone kayaker
spotted it about two years ago, flying around among the cypress trees in the
Cache River National Wildlife Refuge. And that sighting may prove the death-blow
to a $319m irrigation project in the Arkansas corner of the Delta.
The Grand Prairie Area Demonstration Project seemed, at first, a fine
idea. The Grand Prairie is the fourth-largest rice-bowl in the world, with 363
000 acres under paddies. But it is running out of water, with farmers driving
wells deeper and deeper into the underlying aquifer. The new project, dreamed up
around a decade ago, would tap excess water from the White river when it floods
and pumps it, at the rate of about one billion gallons a day, to storage tanks
on around 1000 rice farms. Unfortunately, it would also divert
water from the region's huge, swampy wildlife refuges, home to black bears and
alligators and the pallid sturgeon. Tiny swamp towns like Clarendon and
Brinkley, which are heavily black and almost destitute, rely on nature tourism
for the little economic activity they have. In Brinkley, the barber offers an
"ivorybill" haircut that makes you look like one. The project
has some powerful local backers. They include Blanche Lincoln, the state's
senior senator, who grew up on a rice farm in Helena, and Dale Bumpers, a former
four-term senator and governor of Arkansas. Mr. Bumpers, long an icon of the
environmental movement and prominent in the efforts to establish the refuges,
now believes the water project is important for national security in food and
trade, and that it will not damage the forests he has worked to
protect. Opponents worry that the project, apart from its
environmental risks, will overwhelm the innovative water conservation methods
that rice-farmers are already using, and give the biggest water users an unfair
advantage. They also object that it means using subsidised pumps to provide
subsidised water for a crop that doesn't pay. Rice is one of the most heavily
assisted crops in America; rice payments cost taxpayers almost $10 billion
between 1995 and 2004, and rich farmers round Stuttgart in Arkansas County (an
efficient and politically shrewd group) took in $21.2m in subsidies in 2004
alone.
单选题
It can be inferred from the first paragraph that
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 第一段：Its claim to fame is that, ... a lone kayaker spotted it about two years ago, flying around ... And that sighting may prove the death-blow to a $319m irrigation project...
[深层剖析] 本题主要考查对重点单词和词组的理解，spotted是spot的完成时态，在此理解为“被发现”，而 death-blow为“致命打击”，文中用这个词是为了说明程度颇深，足以使整个工程完全“终止”，而不是使工程仅仅处于简单的“中止停顿”状态，所以此处要把握好程度问题。因此[D]正确。
[主干扰项分析] 判断[C]的关键在于如何理解death-blow的含义，文中指的是灌溉项目可能会因为象牙喙啄木鸟的出现而彻底停止，而不是暂时中止、日后再继续。◆谨记：结合上下文去猜测单词或词组的含义，着重观察含义近似项的不同之处。
[次干扰项分析] 文中说两年前一个独行客在柏树林中发现了一只象牙喙啄木鸟，并未提及他是否猎杀了它及它是否习惯于生活在柏树林中，故[A]和[D]]均不对。
单选题
According to the second and third paragraph, which statement is true?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 第二段开头：The Grand Prairie Area Demonstration Project ... dreamed up around a decade ago, ...及第三段第二句Tiny swamp towns like Clarendon and Brinkley, which are heavily black and almost destitute, rely on nature tourism for the little economic activity they have．及第三段。
[深层剖析] 本题主要考查段落大意以及对个别语句的理解，这两段主要是讲述此项工程似乎是条解决人民生活困苦、给苍生万物带来幸福的道路，但是从个别地区的角度来分析，这简直就是灭顶之灾，他们赖以生存的环境将被毁坏。little一词表明这两个贫困的小城除了依靠旅游业，几乎没有其他的生财之道。在充分了解了文章大意之后，不难看出[B]是对文章内容的正确总结。
[主干扰项分析] 通过对上下文的理解得知，此灌溉工程并不能很好帮助人们摆脱贫困，尤其是克拉林顿和布林克利会因为此项目的实施更加贫穷；seemed一词起到了警示作用，意为“看上去，似乎”，所以[A]不正确。此题应通过上下文内容进行推测，并给重点词以特别留意。文中说此类工程是人们心中一直盼望的诺亚方舟，但是并没有表明有人曾经精细地计划过类似的水利工程，dreamed up意为“空想出”，故[C]不对。◆谨记：一定要注意重点词，尤其是一些转折词和带有否定含义的词。
[次干扰项分析] 文中只说The barber offers an "ivorybill" haircut that makes you look like one．“在布林克利，理发师会剪一种‘象牙喙’发型，让每个人看上去都毫无二致。”至于发型是否和小镇的象征有关，文中并没有明确阐释，故[D]不正确。
单选题
What can we learn front this passage?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 第四段第三句：Mr. Bumpers, long an icon of the environmental movement and prominent in the efforts to establish the refuges, now believes the water project is important for national security in food and trade, and that it will not damage the forests he has worked to protect．
[深层剖析] 本题比较难，既考查学生对生僻词组的理解能力，又考查以文章中提供的时间状语为线索进行逆向推理的能力。文章中谈到邦姆珀斯先生一直以来都是环境保护运动的领军人物，为建立野生物保护区做出过卓越贡献，如今他认为，这项灌溉工程对国家食品与贸易安全具有重要意义，并不会破坏他曾经致力于保护的森林，通过推断说明，邦姆珀斯先生可能在作出此结论之前曾经怀疑过这种工程是否会对自然环境造成破坏，如第三段所述的那两个贫困的小镇所要遭受的毁灭性打击，所以[C]正确。◆注意：这样的题型干扰项较多，而且干扰程度较深，属于“狠角色”的题型，应该利用“排除法”来答题，首先过滤明显错误的选项，然后再集中精力解决“混沌”程度较深的选项。
[主干扰项分析] [B]如果不能正确理解long an icon，此题很难答对，它的含义是“作为领军人物”，而选项中说的是extended his influence“扩大他的势力范围”，两者不能等同；[D]选项说邦姆珀斯自己已经建立了多个野生动物保护区，但是原文中的Mr. Bumpers, long an icon of the environmental movement and prominent in the efforts to establish the refuges说明他为建立保护区作出了卓越贡献，并未明确说此人以一己之力完成了许多保护区的建设。
[次干扰项分析] 布兰彻·林肯究竟是否十分热衷于保护自然环境，作者并没有在文章中明确说明，文章只是指出此人有权有势，并且强烈支持这个工程，但是是否是出于对自然的热爱我们不得而知，也许是经济利益的驱使，故[A]不对。
单选题
People are arguing against this project, mainly because
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 最后一段：Opponents worry that ... give the biggest water users an unfair advantage. ..., and rich farmers... took in $21.2m in subsidies in 2004 alone．
[深层剖析] 本题是对文章最后一段的综合考查，主要是要弄清这项工程树敌颇多的原因，文章中提到了rice-farmers将从灌溉工程中获取巨大利润，因为这样的情况先前也发生过，但是富农引起大家的义愤填膺是不是真正的原因?通过对文章的理解，可以得知这仅仅是表面现象，造成这种现象主要是由于政府不公正的政策，unfair一词可以清楚说明。◆注意：做这样的题型时，一定要采用“刨根问底”的方法，不能被眼前的现象所迷惑，要深刻揣摩作者的心态，以“拟其心态然自身之意”。
[主干扰项分析] rich farmers获得暴利的原因一定是有其他势力给其撑腰，可以很轻易地联想到政府才是最大的祸根，故[A]不对。对于选项[B]，事实情况正好与此相反，政府不是不愿干预此项目，而是起到了最大的干预作用，它的不合理、不公平的政策使得人们怨声载道。所以应该很轻易地排除此选项。
[次干扰项分析] [C]项中的wear tinted glasses意为“戴上有色眼镜”，这里表示“存有偏见”。虽然人们一向对赚大钱的团体都以“红眼”看待，但这只是人之常情，并不是文中提到的客观原因，做题不能从主观意愿出发，应从客观事实思考。
单选题
What is the author's attitude towards The Grand Prairie Area Demonstration Project?