首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
We don’t see or hear them, but every day they quietly go about their work--filtering and cleansing our rivers and streams. And i
We don’t see or hear them, but every day they quietly go about their work--filtering and cleansing our rivers and streams. And i
admin
2011-03-11
33
问题
We don’t see or hear them, but every day they quietly go about their work--filtering and cleansing our rivers and streams. And if we don’t act soon, they’ll disappear from the workforce just when we need them most. I am talking about pigtoes, monkeyface, pink heelsplitter and purple wartyback--freshwater mussels (贻贝) with funny names that belie the seriousness of their labors. (41) .
One mussel alone can cleanse as much as a gallon of water per hour. Add up the work of a whole mussel community, and you get a virtual water treatment plant. According to Ethan Nedeau, an expert on the freshwater mussels of New England, even half the population of mussels at work in a one-half mile segment of New Hampshire’s Ashuelot River can help cleanse more than 11.2 million gallons of water a day--roughly the quantity of household water used by 112 000 people.
(42) . Today 69 percent of US freshwater mussel species are to some degree at risk of extinction or already extinct. The most diverse assemblage of freshwater mussels ever known was located in the middle stretch of the Tennessee River in northern Alabama. Before the damming of the river in the early 1900s, 69 mussel species had been spotted in this reach; 32 of them have apparently disappeared, with no recording sightings in nearly a century.
(43) . Like many freshwater mussels, the orange-nacre mucket has a fascinating life cycle and exhibits some of the most sophisticated mimicry in the animal kingdom. The females essentially use their offspring to lure fish into helping them colonize new stream bottoms. They package their larvae (幼虫) at the end of jelly--like tubes that can extend eight feet out into the water. To fish swimming by, the larvae dancing in the riffles of the river current looks like a tasty minnow. When the fish bites, the tube breaks, releasing the larvae into the stream. A few of the offspring attach to the fish’s gills and hitchhike around with their firmed host for a week or two, absorbing nutrients and growing along the way. (44) .
Along with 16 other threatened or endangered mussel species in the Mobile watershed, the orange-nacre mucket is at risk of extinction--in large part due to excessive pollution and dams that have diminished the river habitat they need to survive. To me, the loss of such industrious, fascinating creatures diminishes more than our water quality-- it diminishes our natural heritage and our world.
(45) . So as we celebrate World Water Day, I hope we also celebrate the freshwater mussels that help keep our waters clean and healthy--and commit to efforts to conserve them.
[A] My favorite freshwater mussel is the orange-nacre mucket, found only in the rivers and streams of Alabama’s Mobile River basin.
[B] The United States ranks first in the world in the number of known species of freshwater mussels 292, com- pared with just 10 in all of Europe. But we’re losing these "living filters" all too fast.
[C] Only habitat improvements, in some cases combined with mussel breeding and release efforts, can save these and the other 200 freshwater mussel species at risk nationwide.
[D] Because I bet we’ll miss these little creatures with the whimsical names when they’re gone.
[E] They suck water in, filter out bits of algae, bacteria and other tiny particles, and then release it back to the river cleaner than before.
[F] Finally, the young mussels drop off, float to the river bottom, and colonize new territory--and before long begin their vital task of water purification.
[G] It is our responsibility to take actions to protect the freshwater mussels, otherwise they will disappear in the future and the water will not be refreshed.
选项
答案
F
解析
本题位于整段结尾处,上文介绍了橙色珍珠母的繁殖过程,下一段讲的仍是橙色珍珠母,故此处也应与橙色珍珠母繁殖生长有关,所剩的选项中,[C]和[G]讲的都是我们要保护淡水贻贝及采取的措施。[D]说明如果淡水贻贝消失了,我们会怀念它们。通过排除只剩下[F]。[F]中Finally“最后地”用来表示某项任务进程的最后一步,符合题意,故[F]正确。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/KBp4777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
InthenineteenthcenturyCharlesDickens,theEnglishnovelist,wroteexcitedly(1)_____astage-coach,pulledalongbyateam
InthenineteenthcenturyCharlesDickens,theEnglishnovelist,wroteexcitedly(1)_____astage-coach,pulledalongbyateam
InthenineteenthcenturyCharlesDickens,theEnglishnovelist,wroteexcitedly(1)_____astage-coach,pulledalongbyateam
ReadthefollowingtextcarefullyandthentranslatetheunderlinedsegmentsintoChinese.Yourtranslationshouldbewrittencl
ReadthefollowingtextcarefullyandthentranslatetheunderlinedsegmentsintoChinese.Yourtranslationshouldbewrittencl
ThefirstwhitementovisitSamoafoundpeoplewho______.Fromthefirstparagraphwecanlearnthat______.
Mostpeoplehaterockmusic.WhileIamnotan(1)_____orbiasedpersonbynature,two(2)_____andstrikingpersonalexperienc
Whichoneofthefollowingstatementswouldsupportersofthe"nature"theoryagreewith?IntheUnitedStates,Blackpeopleof
Cigarettescanseriouslydamageyourcountryside.Fannedby112km/hSantaAnawinds,firesweptacross4,250hectaresnearthem
Wedon’tseeorhearthem,buteverydaytheyquietlygoabouttheirwork--filteringandcleansingourriversandstreams.Andi
随机试题
投资谈判
碱性最强的生物碱类型是
关于项目总投资,说法正确的有()。
根据《全国土地利用总体规划纲要》,土地利用与管理要遵循的基本原则有()
从事货物生产或提供应税劳务以外的纳税人,年应税销售额在()万元以下的为增值税小规模纳税人。
会员制期货交易所理事因故不能出席理事会会议的,应当以书面形式委托其他理事代为出席,每位理事只能接受一位理事的委托。()
宋代把未缴纳契税未加盖官印的契约称为()(2012年一综一第39题)
设某静态RAM芯片容量为8K×8位,若用它组成32K×8位的存储器,所用芯片数以及这种芯片的片内地址线数目是( )。
Mostpeoplehavenoideaofthehardworkandworrythatgointothecollectingofthosefascinatingbirdsandanimalsthatthey
Lookatthechartcarefullyandwriteyourresponseinabout200words,inwhichyoushouldstartwithabriefdescriptionofth
最新回复
(
0
)