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第八篇 Why India Needs Its Dying Vultures

The vultures in question may look ugly and threatening, but the sudden sharp __1__ in three species of India’s vultures is producing alarm rather than celebration, and it presents the world with a new kind of environmental __2__ The dramatic decline in vulture numbers is causing widespread disruption to people living in the same areas as the __3__ . It is also causing serious public health problems __4__ the Indian sub-continent.

While their reputation and appearance may be unpleasant to many Indians, vultures have__5__played a very important role in keeping towns and villages all over India clean. It is__6__they feed on dead cows. In India, cows are sacred animals and are __7__ left in the open when they die in their thousands upon thousands every year.

The disappearance of the vultures has __8__ an explosion in the numbers of wild dogs feeding on the remains of these dead animals. There are fears that rabies may __9__ as a result. And this terrifying disease may ultimately affect humans in the region, since wild dogs are its main carriers. Rabies could also spread to other animal species, causing an even greater problem in the __10__.

The need for action is __11__, so an emergency project has been launched to __12__ a solution to this serious vulture problem. Scientists are trying to identify the disease causing the birds，deaths and, if possible, develop a cure.

Large-scale vulture __13__ were first noticed at the end of the 1980s in India. A population survey at that time showed that the three species of vultures had declined __14__ over 90 per cent. All three species are now listed as "critically endangered" . As most vultures lay only single eggs and __15__ about five years to reach maturity, reversing their population decline will be a long and difficult exercise.

詞匯：

vulture n.禿鷹

ultimately adv.最終地

species n.物種，種類

endanger v.危及，瀕危

disruption n.破壞，毀壞

maturity n.成熟期

rabies n.狂犬癥

注釋：

1. The vulture in question: 討論中的秀鷹（問題)。in question意為“討論中的，考慮中的”。

2. rather than: 而不是。例:Your proposal is positive rather than negative. (你的提議是積極的，而不是消極的。）

3. the Indian sub-continent: 印度次大陸

4. while: 雖然。例:While he has published many papers, he is modest. (雖然他發(fā)表了多篇論文，他還是很謙虛。）

5. thousands upon thousands:成千上萬的

6. in the open:在戶外，在野外

7. as a result:結(jié)果

8. listed as "critically endangered"：被列為極度瀕危動(dòng)物

練習(xí)：

1. A. decline B. rise C. teeth D. eyes

2. A. benefit B. debate C. problem D. solution

3. A. plants B. birds C. humans D. cows

4. A. over B. with C. through D. across

5. A. sometimes B. long C. suddenly D. hardly

6. A. who B. when C. because D. where

7. A. traditionally B. occasionally C. possibly D. finally

8. A. came from B. adjusted to C. resulted from D. led to

9. A. drop B. increase C. disappear D. change

10. A. future B. past C. villages D. mountains

11. A. recent B. urgent C. frequent D. rare

12. A. neglect B. use C. remove D. find

13. A. cures B. arrivals C. deaths D. journeys

14. A. along B. on C. in D. by

15. A. take B. adopt C. consume D. waste

答案與題解：

1. A 通篇文章都在敘述禿鷹瀕臨滅種對(duì)印度環(huán)境的負(fù)面影響，而且文章的標(biāo)題中的 "dying vultures" 也提供了線索。decline符合上下文的意思，是答案。rise與上下文的意思相反。sharp teeth和sharp eyes是禿鷹的特點(diǎn)，但文章并未提及。

2. C 禿鷹瀕臨滅亡，給環(huán)境帶來問題。上一句的 "alarm rather than celebration" 提供了解題的線索，禿鷹瀕臨滅亡對(duì)我們是一種警告，而不是一件值得慶賀的事。選problem是合適的。至于debate和solution, 文章并未涉及。

3. B 禿鷹數(shù)量的減少對(duì)當(dāng)?shù)鼐用袷且环N災(zāi)難。此外，對(duì)誰也是一種災(zāi)難呢？as引出的對(duì)象是誰呢? 這個(gè)對(duì)象不會(huì)是humans, plants或cows, 答案是birds.

4. D 作者原來的用詞一定是across the Indian sub-continent(整個(gè)印度次大陸），不可能是 over the Indian sub-continent(在印度次大陸上空)，with the Indian sub-continent(與印度次大陸一起)或 through the Indian sub-continent(穿越印度次大陸）。

5. B 本段前面的句子描述了禿鷹在保護(hù)該地區(qū)的環(huán)境上作用很大，所以禿鷹不會(huì)是時(shí)有時(shí)無(sometimes)地起作用，或突然地(suddenly)起作用，或幾乎不（hardly)起作用。只有選long(長期以來一直)起作用才合乎上下文的意思。

6. C 為什么禿鷹會(huì)起保護(hù)環(huán)境的作用呢？本段的下半段說出了其中的原因。牛在印度被視為神物，死后露尸戶外，任其腐爛。禿鷹以食牛的尸體為生，同時(shí)也清除了污染源，保護(hù)了城鎮(zhèn)和鄉(xiāng)村的環(huán)境。這些句子講的是原因，所以選擇because是對(duì)的。

7. A 文章說每年有成千上萬頭牛死亡并露尸城鎮(zhèn)和鄉(xiāng)村。既然是這樣，就不會(huì)是偶爾(occasionally)或可能(possibly)或最終(finally)露尸在城鎮(zhèn)和鄉(xiāng)村。露尸戶外是印度的傳統(tǒng)，所以traditionally是答案。

8. D 本段第一句表達(dá)的是因果關(guān)系。The disappearance of the vultures 是因，an explosion in the numbers of wild dogs feeding on the remains of these dead animals 是果。四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中只有l(wèi)ed to （導(dǎo)致）能表達(dá)這種因果關(guān)系，所以led to是答案。

9. B 野狗是狂犬病菌的主要攜帶者，野狗大量的出現(xiàn)當(dāng)然會(huì)增加狂犬病擴(kuò)散的危險(xiǎn)性，而不是相反。所以選increase是正確的，而drop是increase的反義詞，不會(huì)是答案。change或disappear都脫離了上下文的意思，所以不是答案。

10. A 狂犬病從野狗傳到人身上已經(jīng)非�？膳�，如果再傳到其他動(dòng)物身上問題就更嚴(yán)重了。 四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中，選future構(gòu)成詞組in the future（在未來）符合上下文的意思。

11. B從后面的"an emergency project has been launched(啟動(dòng)了應(yīng)急項(xiàng)目）" 可以推斷出要選的形容詞是urgent(緊迫的）。

12. D啟動(dòng)應(yīng)急項(xiàng)目是為了找到一個(gè)解決的辦法。neglect a solution, use a solution或remove a solution顯然不符合上下文的意思。find是答案。

13. C本段說禿鷹的數(shù)量急劇減少，已被列為瀕危物種。本題的選項(xiàng)cures(治療法）、arrivals(到達(dá)）或 journeys(旅程）與本段后面一句 "All three species are now listed as 'critically endangered'"所表達(dá)的意思接不上。選deaths, 全段的意思就連貫了。因此， deaths是答案。

14. D在四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中，along, on, in明顯不合適。by有“到（某事物）的程度”的意思。"...the three species of vultures had declined by over 90 per cent" 的意思是“三種秀鷹的數(shù)量減少了90%以上”。

15. A “花費(fèi)或用多少時(shí)間”英語的常用的表達(dá)法是"take... days/months, etc. ", 選take是正確的。其他三個(gè)選項(xiàng)都不合適。

參考譯文:

第八篇 印度為什么需要瀕臨滅亡的禿鷹

人們談?wù)摰亩d鷹可能看起來既丑又危險(xiǎn)，但是印度三種禿鷹瀕臨滅亡對(duì)我們是一種警告，而不是一件值得慶賀的事。它向世人明示了一個(gè)新的環(huán)境問題。禿鷹數(shù)量的急劇減少不僅是這些鳥類的災(zāi)難對(duì)當(dāng)?shù)鼐用裢瑯右彩侨绱�，它同時(shí)給整個(gè)印度次大陸帶來了公共衛(wèi)生問題。

雖然禿鷹的名聲不好，許多印度人也討厭其長相，但是長久以來，禿鷹在維護(hù)全印度的城鎮(zhèn)和鄉(xiāng)村的清潔方面扮演了非常重要的角色。因?yàn)槎d鷹是以死牛為生。在印度，每年都有成千上萬的牛死去，而牛是神圣的動(dòng)物，死后露尸戶外，任其腐爛。

禿鷹的消失使得以牛尸為生的野狗數(shù)量暴增，因此，人們擔(dān)心罹患狂犬病的病人會(huì)增加。由于野狗是狂犬病的主要攜帶者，這種可怕的疾病最終會(huì)影響當(dāng)?shù)氐木用��？袢�病也可能傳播到其他生物，未來�?huì)導(dǎo)致更大的問題。

采取行動(dòng)刻不容緩。所以，一個(gè)危機(jī)處理項(xiàng)目已經(jīng)啟動(dòng)，目的是找到解決禿鷹問題的方法�？茖W(xué)家們正試圖確認(rèn)導(dǎo)致禿鷹死亡的疾病，如果可能的話，找到治愈該病的方法。

在印度，人們注意到禿鷹的大批死亡最早是在20世紀(jì)80年代。根據(jù)當(dāng)時(shí)的物種調(diào)查顯示，三種禿鷹的數(shù)量減少了90%以上。目前，這三種禿鷹都被列為“極度瀕危動(dòng)物' 由于大部分禿鷹每次只產(chǎn)一只蛋，幼鷹需要大約5年的時(shí)間才能成熟，因此，若想遏制住禿鷹數(shù)量的下降會(huì)是一項(xiàng)長期的、艱巨的任務(wù)。