[ 2204阅读 ] 真题 - 4

Posted 2023-01-11 we1less

Temporary Pools

Paragraph 1: Temporary pools are freshwater habitats that retain water for only three to four months of the year or even shorter periods: typically for some eight or nine months they are dry basins without surface water. At the latitude of Canada’s southern Ontario, for example, the basin of a typical temporary pool fills with water when snow melts in March and April. Because temporary pools (by definition) have neither a surface inlet nor outlet, the water steadily recedes through evaporation and seepage into the surrounding soil, disappearing altogether from the surface in June or July. Most of the animal residents one sees in temporary pools are aquatic insects such as caddis flies, whose larvae (wingless, immature insects) are sometimes the most conspicuous animals in these communities.

1.The word “conspicuous” in the passage is closest in meaning to 

        conspicuous  adj. 引人注目的;明显的;易见的;惹人注意的

A. active

B. destructive 

C. long-lived 

D. noticeable

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Paragraph 2: At least two advantages to living in this type of habitat can be recognized. One involves predation. Fish are major predators of aquatic insects and other small freshwater creatures; however fish, at least in temperate regions over much of North America, are unable to survive the dry phase, and hence are eliminated from temporary pools. Predatory insects such as aquatic beetles and bugs and dragonfly nymphs do live in temporary pools, but there are far fewer species, and therefore a less efficient predator population than in permanent waters. Moreover, populations of the invertebrate predators in temporary pools have to develop anew every yearfrom colonizing adults or from drought-resistant eggs. All of this means that the impact of predation is reduced for aquatic animals that have adaptations to survive the dry phase of temporary pools.

        aquatic  adj. 水生的;水栖的;水的;水中的;水上的

        over much  大部分

2.Why does the author mention that fish “are unable to survive the dry phase” in temporary pools over much of NorthAmerica?

A. To explain why predatory insects such as aquatic beetles and bugs and dragonfly nymphs are attracted to temporary pools

B. To make the point that temporary ponds are more advantageous for predatory insects than for fish

C. To explain why the population of fish in temporary pools must be replaced each year

D. To give one reason why small creatures in temporary pools experience relatively little predation

        predation  n. 捕食;(动物的)捕猎行为

S：why author 目的题

D：阴影

S：阴影标红

G：答案标红