Question

【題目】The snow cap of Mount Kilimanjaro, famous in literature and beloved by tourists, initially formed some 11,000 years ago, but will be gone in two decades, according to researchers who say the ice fields on Africa’s highest mountain shrank by 80 percent in the past century.

Lonnie G. Thompson,one professor from Ohio State University, said measurements using modern navigation satellites show that the oldest ice layers on the famous mountain were deposited during an extremely wet period starting about 11,700 years ago.The mountain appears in literature, most notably Ernest Hemingway’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” and some ancient beliefs in Africa hold the mountain to be a sacred place.

But a temperature rise in recent years is destroying the 150-foot-high blocks of ice that gave Kilimanjaro its unique white cap.“The ice will be gone by about 2030,” said Thompson. The disappearing ice already has reduced the amount of water in some Tanzanian rivers and the government fears that when Kilimanjaro is bald of snow the tourists will stop coming.

“Kilimanjaro is the number one foreign currency earner for the government of Tanzania,” said Thompson. “It has its own international airport and some 20,000 tourists every year. The question is how many will come if there are no ice fields on the mountain.”

Africa was not alone in the global drought. Thompson said other records show that civilizations during this period collapsed in India, the Middle East and South America.

Researchers put markers on the ice field blocks in 1962 and Thompson said measurements using satellites show the summit of the ice has been lowered by about 56 feet in 40 years. The____of the ice also has moved back more than six feet in the past two years, much smaller than before.

“That’s more than two meter’s worth of ice lost from a wall 164 feet (50 meters) high,” said Thompson. “That’s an enormous amount of ice.”

【1】The snow cap of Mount Kilimanjaro ________.

A. will disappear in two centuries

B. first developed some 11,000 years ago

C. resulted in a temperature rise in recent years

D. has decreased to 80 percent over the past century

【2】According to Thompson, the disappearing of the snow may mainly influence________.

A. the local water supply

B. the local tourism

C. the weather in the surrounding areas

D. the government foreign currency exchange

【3】The underlined word “margin”inParagraph6 means__________.

A. center B. Top C. edge D. back

【4】The writer’s tone in this article is___________.

A. concerned B. casual

C. doubtful D. angry

【5】Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

A. Risks of Visiting Mount Kilimanjaro

B. ASacred Place— Kilimanjaro

C. Africa’s Highest Mountain

D. Kilimanjaro Snow Cap May Melt Soon

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】B

【3】C

【4】A

【5】D

【解析】試題分析：本文主要介紹了Mount Kilimanjaro這個(gè)有這古老歷史文化，在文學(xué)和旅游業(yè)上有名的山將在二十多年后消失，由此將給旅游業(yè)到來很大的影響。冰層的高度越來越低，面積越來越小，冰層的融化講帶來不可估量的損失和危害。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第一段The snow cap of Mount Kilimanjaro, famous in literature and beloved by tourists, initially formed some 11,000 years ago.”乞力馬扎羅山的雪冠在文學(xué)上十分著名且被游客喜愛，最初在11,000年以前形成。故選 B。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)題。從文中第三最后一句The disappearing ice already has reduced the amount of water in some Tanzanian rivers and the government fears that when Kilimanjaro is bald of snow the tourists will stop coming. ”冰層的消融已經(jīng)使一些坦桑尼亞河流的水量減少，政府擔(dān)心當(dāng)乞力馬扎羅山?jīng)]有雪的時(shí)候，他們的游客將停止前往。“The question is how many will come if there are no ice fields on the mountain.”問題是如果這座山?jīng)]有冰層覆蓋了，有多少人會(huì)前來。故選B。

【3】分析推斷題。Thompson said measurements using satellites show the summit of the ice has been lowered by about 56 feet in 40 years. The margin of the ice also has moved back more than six feet in the past two years, much smaller than before托馬斯說使用衛(wèi)星展示出冰層的頂端已經(jīng)在40年內(nèi)下降了大約56英尺。冰層的margin也在過去的兩年間后退了6英尺多，比以前大幅減小。前文講的是冰層總體高度減少的情況，則下面就是介紹冰層水平層面上范圍縮小的情況。“margin”是指邊緣，范圍。故選C。

【4】分析推斷題。本文開篇介紹乞力馬扎羅山這個(gè)在文學(xué)和旅游業(yè)上有名的山，將在二十多年后消失，接著又講述了政府對(duì)旅游業(yè)的擔(dān)心，可知作者在整篇文章中的感情基調(diào)是十分擔(dān)心、憂慮的，故選A。

【5】文章主旨題。本文首段就介紹乞力馬扎羅山在文學(xué)上十分著名，深受旅客青睞，，且以“Kilimanjaro Snow Cap May Melt Soon”為題，既具有代表性，又有吸引力，故選D。