Here in the United States, before agricultural activities destroyed the natural balance, there were great migrations of Rocky Mo

admin2014-04-23  26

问题     Here in the United States, before agricultural activities destroyed the natural balance, there were great migrations of Rocky Mountain locusts (Melanoplus spretus). Great migrating hordes of these insects once darkened the skies on the plains east of the Rockies where crops were often destroyed; the worst years were those from 1874 to 1877. One of these migrating swarms was estimated to contain 124 billion locusts. During another migration in Nebraska it was estimated that the swarm of locusts averaged half a mile high and was 100 miles wide and 300 miles long. Usually, these swarms take off from the ground against the wind, but, once airborne, they turn and fly with it. Warm convection (对流) currents help to lift them, often to great heights. During the great locust plagues the situation in Nebraska became so serious that the original state constitution had to be rewritten to take care of the economic problems. The new document was known as "The Grasshopper Constitution". It is now believed that these locusts were a migratory form or phase of the lesser migratory locust, which is still common there. In this respect, the North American migratory locusts resemble their African relatives. In both regions the migratory forms arise as a result of crowding and climatic factors. Migratory forms are apparently natural adaptations which bring about dispersal when locust populations become too crowded.
    Fortunately for our farmers, the migratory form—the so called spretus species—no longer seems to occur regularly, although there was a serious outbreak as late as 1938 in midwestern United States and Canada. Actually, there is no reason why the destructive migratory form might not again appear if circumstances should become favorable.
It can be inferred from the passage that the state constitution of Nebraska was rewritten in order to______.

选项 A、make the constitution more understandable to the public
B、encourage farmers to leave the state
C、solve difficulties that resulted from loss of crops
D、provide for a regular census of the locust population

答案C

解析 文中第七句说:“在蝗灾严重期间,内布拉斯加州的情况变得非常糟糕,以至于为了解决经济问题,原来的州宪法不得不被修改。”这里所指的经济问题显然是由蝗灾造成的庄稼的损失引起的,所以答案应为C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/sbWO777K
0

最新回复(0)