Question

Passenger pigeons(旅鴿) 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 darkened the sky for hours.

It was calculated that when its population reached its highest point, there were more than 3 billion 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. 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 had been damaged by Americans’ need for wood, which scattered (驅散) the flocks and forced the birds to go farther north, where cold temperatures and spring 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 wild 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.

1.In the 18th and early 19th centuries, passenger pigeons________.

A. were the largest bird population in the Us

B. lived mainly in the south of America

C. did great harm to the natural environment

D. were the biggest bird in the world

2.The underlined word “ undoing” probably refers to the pigeons’ ________.

A. escape B. liberation

C. ruin D. evolution

3.What was the main reason for people to kill passenger pigeons?

A. To seek pleasure. B. To save other birds.

C. To make money. D. To protect crops.

4.What can we infer about the law passed in Michigan?

A. It was ignored by the public.

B. It was declared too late.

C. It was unfair.

D. It was strict.

Answer 1

1.A

2.C

3.C

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：文章主要介紹了美國的旅鴿。旅鴿曾成群地出現在美國的大部分地區，有記錄顯示，在十九世紀和二十世紀初，旅鴿成群飛翔，能夠讓天空變暗幾個小時。不幸的是，人們大量地捕獵旅鴿來牟取商業利益，這也成了旅鴿毀滅的主要原因。

1.making it perhaps the most abundant bird in the world”排除D；根據第一段“Written accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries described flocks(群) so large that they darkened the sky for hours.”和第二段“there were more than 3 billion passenger pigeons--a number equal to 24 to 40 percent of the total bird population in the United States”可知，旅鴿當時的數量達到了30多億只，相當于美國鳥類總數的24%到40%，說明旅鴿的數量在當時是最多的，故選A。

2.killed them by the thousands...The birds were shipped to large cities and sold in restaurants.”可知，人們捕獵旅鴿并把它們賣給大城市的餐館，由此可知，大量的旅鴿給人們帶來了“商機”，也導致了它們自身的毀滅，故選C。

3.Commercial hunters...The birds were shipped to large cities and sold in restaurants.”可知，人們捕獵旅鴿是出于商業買賣的目的，故選C。

4.but by then, no sizable flocks had been seen in the state for 10 years”可知，密歇根出臺的禁止獵殺旅鴿的法律未起到應有的作用，因為截至當時，密歇根已經有10年未出現過大規模的鴿群了，故選B。

考點：自然類短文閱讀