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 andadult 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 ______.
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.
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】[分析] 细节题型
见第三段第一句: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. 在葡萄牙人抵达巴西后开始砍伐森林以腾出空地来修建定居地和开垦农田以后,不幸的是绢毛猴赖以生存的生活环境就开始消失。因此B为答案。
单选题
The breakup of the habitats resulted in the following EXCEPT ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[分析] 是非题型
见第三段第二句: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. (正如许许多多濒危物种一样,绢毛猴们赖以生存的生活环境的崩溃为他们敲响了丧钟,任何一块聚居地的潜在威胁也剥夺了他们保持大量种群和安全所需的连片的森林);因此选项A,B,C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原因,因此D为答案。
单选题
What did the researchers learn from the second step?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[分析] 细节题型
见第五段最后一句: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. 这句主要讲得是动物们可以适应新的生活环境;even if 后面的两个让步状语从句分别为选项A、B中的内容,因此答案为C。
单选题
The advice the author missed giving in saving wild species is ______.
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】[分析] 细节题型
见第六段最后一句:Ultimately,as in all challenges,knowledge is power to save wild species from extinction. (从根本上来讲,在所有的挑战中知识是挽救野生物种免遭灭绝的力量);因此答案为A。