2016考研英语二阅读真题及答案

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　　Biologists estimate that as many as 2 million lesser prairie chickens---a kind of bird living on stretching grasslands—once lent red to the often gray landscape of the midwestern and southwestern United States. But just some 22,000 birds remain today, occupying about 16% of the species’ historic range.

　　The crash was a major reason the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)decided to formally list the bird as threatened. “The lesser prairie chicken is in a desperate situation,” said USFWS Director Daniel Ashe. Some environmentalists, however, were disappointed. They had pushed the agency to designate the bird as “endangered,” a status that gives federal officials greater regulatory power to crack down on threats. But Ashe and others argued that the“threatened” tag gave the federal government flexibility to try out new, potentially less confrontational conservations approaches. In particular, they called for forging closer collaborations with western state governments, which are often uneasy with federal action and with the private landowners who control an estimated 95% of the prairie chicken’s habitat.

　　Under the plan, for example, the agency said it would not prosecute landowner or businesses that unintentionally kill, harm, or disturb the bird, as long as they had signed a range—wide management plan to restore prairie chicken habitat. Negotiated by USFWS and the states, the plan requires individuals and businesses that damage habitat as part of their operations to pay into a fund to replace every acre destroyed with 2 new acres of suitable habitat. The fund will also be used to compensate landowners who set aside habitat, USFWS also set an interim goal of restoring prairie chicken populations to an annual average of 67,000 birds over the next 10 years. And it gives the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA), a coalition of state agencies, the job of monitoring progress. Overall, the idea is to let “states” remain in the driver’s seat for managing the species,” Ashe said.

　　Not everyone buys the win-win rhetoric Some Congress members are trying to block the plan, and at least a dozen industry groups, four states, and three environmental groups are challenging it in federal court Not surprisingly, doesn’t go far enough “The federal government is giving responsibility for managing the bird to the same industries that are pushing it to extinction,” says biologist Jay Lininger.

　　26. The major reason for listing the lesser prairie as threatened is____

　　[A]its drastically decreased population

　　[B]the underestimate of the grassland acreage

　　[C]a desperate appeal from some biologists

　　[D]the insistence of private landowners

　　27.The “threatened” tag disappointed some environmentalists in that it_____

　　[A]was a give-in to governmental pressure

　　[B]would involve fewer agencies in action

　　[C]granted less federal regulatory power

　　[D]went against conservation policies

　　28.It can be learned from Paragraph3 that unintentional harm-doers will not be prosecuted if they_____

　　[A]agree to pay a sum for compensation

　　[B]volunteer to set up an equally big habitat

　　[C]offer to support the WAFWA monitoring job

　　[D]promise to raise funds for USFWS operations

　　29.According to Ashe， the leading role in managing the species in______

　　[A]the federal government

　　[B]the wildlife agencies

　　[C]the landowners

　　[D]the states

　　30.Jay Lininger would most likely support_______

　　[A]industry groups

　　[B]the win-win rhetoric

　　[C]environmental groups

　　[D]the plan under challenge

　　【参考答案】

　　26、 [A] its drastically decreased population

　　首段通过数据对比2million和22000，同But连接突出数量变化，二段用crash继续总结，本题其实考查了对crash一词多义的理解(n. 碰撞; 暴跌)，同时也考查了通过上下段的逻辑联系，来确定“数量减少”这一核心概念，而Adrastically decreased populatio即为对这一意思的同义改写

　　27、[C]granted less federal regulatory power

　　根据题干信息The “threatened” tag和 disappointed some environmentalists定位到第二段的第三句。(题干是对2段1句和3句的概括)，同时注意提问方式in that问及原因，在考研文章中，除了明确表示因果的关联词以外，句子本身的前后顺序即可构成因果关系。接下来第四句马上解释 hey had pushed the agency to designate the bird as “endangered,” a status that gives federal officials greater regulatory power to crack down on threats.他们希望能将prairie chickens归为“endangered”(濒临灭绝)这一类型，该类型将会让官方的保护力度(crack down制裁力度)更加严格。而目前这一期望落空，故反话正说，对应C less federal regulatory power(力度削弱)，同时又是典型的比较级考点。

　　28、[答案][A]agree to pay a sum for compensation

　　根据题干 unintentional harm-doers will not be prosecuted 定位在3段1句，同时提问if则对应首句as long as之后的内容they had signed a range-wide management plan to restore prairie chicken habitat。 “签订一系列管理计划去恢复草原鸡的栖息地”，但个选项没有特别明确的改写，特别是B (volunteer to set up an equally big habitat 修建同样大小的栖息地)是强干扰，原文只说明要恢复栖息地，不能等同于修建同样大小的栖息地(栖息地的性质除了大小，还有许多其他因素)，而第2句则谈到the plan的要求： individuals and businesses that damage habitat as part of their operations to pay into a fund to replace every acre destroyed with 2 new acres of suitable habitat. (因经营而损害栖息地的个人或企业需要pay into a fund 对应选项pay a sum ，同时compensation 是对o replace every acre destroyed with 2 new acres of suitable habitat. 的概况总结(而且接下来的3句再次强调这个fund的另一个作用是用来补偿土地所有者，再一次体现了正确答案的反复原则)

　　29、[答案][D] the states

　　根据题干 managing the species定位在文章第三段最后一句，“states remain in the driver’s seat for managing the species”可以得出，选项D the states在管理物种方面起着领导作用。

　　30、[答案][B] the win-win rhetoric

　　根据最后一段，首句谈Not everyone buys the win-win rhetoric 不是所有人认同win-win rhetoric，2句继续谈到不赞同的人的具体表现，最后Jay Lininger所说的话中，是再一次对不认同者的否定，既双重否定，，因此他最可能支持本段开头所提出的双赢的说法。