阅读理解 B Passenger pigeons (旅鸽)once flew over much of the United States in unbelievable numbers.Written accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries described flocks (群)so large that they the sky for hours. It was calculated that when it populationzxxk reached its highest point ,they were more than 3billlionpassenger pigeons—a number equal to 24 to 40 percent of the total bird population in the United States, making it perhaps the most abundant bird in the world. Even as late as 1870 when their numbers had already become smaller, a flock believed to be 1 mile wide and 320 miles (about 515 kilometers) long was seen near Cincinnati. Sadly the abundance of passenger pigeons may have been their undoing. Where the birds were most abundant, people believed there was an ever-lasting supply and killed them by the thousands,Commercial hunters attracted them to small clearings with grain, waited until pigeons had settled to feed, then threw large nets over them, taking hundreds at a time. The birds were shipped to large cities and sold in restaurants. By the closing decades of the 19th century ,the hardwood forests where passenger pigeons nested hadbeen damaged by American’s need for wood, which scattered (驱散) the flocks and forced the birds to go farther north, where cold temperatures and storms contributed to their decline. Soon the great flocks were gone, never to be seen again. In 1897, the state of Michigan passed a law prohibiting the killing of passenger pigeons but by then,no sizable flocks had been seen in the state for 10 years. The last confirmed wi pigeon in the United States was shot by a boy in Pike County, Ohio, in 1900. For a time , a few birds survived under human care. The last of them, known affectionately as Martha, died at the Cincinnati Zoological Garden on September 1, 1914.

单选题 In the 18th and early 19teh centuries, passenger pigeons____.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】【试题解析】细节题。根据文章第一段3,4行It was calculated that when it population reached its highest point ,they were more than 3billlion passenger pigeons—a number equal to 24 to 40 percent of the total bird population in the United States, making it perhaps the most abundant bird in the world.可知鸽子在当时是美国数量最多的鸟类。故D正确。

单选题 The underlined word “ undoing” probably refers to the pigeons’ ____.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】【试题解析】推理题。根据文章第二段3,4行there was an ever-lasting supply and killed them by the thousands, Commercial hunters attracted them to small clearings with grain, waited until pigeons had settled to feed, then threw large nets over them, taking hundreds at a time.可知很多鸽子都被捕捉并杀死卖往餐厅。所以该词应该是指鸽子遇见了毁灭性的打击。故B正确。

单选题 What was the main reason for people to kill passenger pigeons?

单选题 What can we infer about the law passed in Michigan?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】【试题解析】推理题。根据本段第二行but by then, no sizable flocks had been seen in the state for 10 years. The last confirmed wi pigeon in the United States was shot by a boy in Pike County, Ohio, in 1900.可知虽然制定了法律，但是十年以后还没有看见成规模的很多的鸽子，说明这部法律的发行已经晚了。故B正确。