Unit 3 Under the sea
阅读理解组块专练——练速度
(限时：30分钟)
Ⅰ.阅读理解
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The amount of fish caught worldwide is much larger than has been reported. And that could mean serious problems for the environment and nations that depend on fisheries (渔业). A new estimate shows that it is 32 million tons higher than countries have been reporting yearly.
The same report notes that the world's fish catch has been declining since the late 1990s. Countries report their industrial catches to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. But they do not report other kinds of fishing. This includes the catches of small commercial fisheries, which are called artisanal fisheries, and fishing for recreation and individual food.
Daniel Pauly at the University of British Columbia in Canada led the study. He noted that a huge amount of some catches is thrown away. “For example, shrimp trawlers (拖网渔船) keep only the shrimp and the fish that they catch — often eight to ten times as much as the shrimp — gets thrown away.”
Pauly told VOA that better estimates of the actual global catch will help ensure there will be enough fish in the future. “But our figures suggest that since 1996 a rapid decrease is happening. And if you project this forward you end up in a few decades having much less catch, literally no catch. So that is potentially dangerous.”
Researchers also found ways the world's fisheries are changing. They found that fishing fleets of larger nations are catching fish in the waters of developing countries more and more.
Pauly said he was surprised by the amount of fishing done by foreign fleets in competition with local fishers. “In West Africa, the figure that was most astonishing is the enormous role of foreign fishing — of European and Asian vessels fishing legally or illegally and competing against local fishermen. On the other hand for the US, Australia and some developing countries, such as the Bahamas, what was apparent is the enormous contribution of recreational fisheries, which also never get reported to the FAO.”
Researchers say inaccurate data also harms the development and supervision (监
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管) of effective policy and management measures.
语篇解读：世界范围内捕鱼的数量比报告中的数量要多很多，而这些虚假报告对经济和环境都造成了不好的影响。 1．What's the main idea of the passage? A．False amount of fish caught worldwide harms economy environment. B．The world's fish catch has been declining. C．The global fishing competition is serious. D．The management of global fishing needs improving.
解析：选A 主旨大意题。根据文章第一段第一、二句“The amount of fish caught worldwide is much larger than has been reported. And that could mean serious problems for the environment and nations that depend on fisheries(渔业)．”可知，本文主要阐述了关于捕鱼数量的虚假报告对环境造成了不好的影响。故选A项。
2．What does the underlined word “it” (in Para.1) refer to? A．The amount of foreign fishing. B．The amount of local fishing. C．The amount of recreational fishing. D．The amount of all fish caught worldwide.
解析：选D 代词指代题。it为代词，指代前文，又根据32 million这个数字可推断出it指代第一句中的“The amount of fish caught worldwide”，由此可知选D项。
3．Which kind of fishing has been reported to the FAO? A．Industrial fish catches. B．Commercial fishing. C．Fishing for entertainment. D．Fishing for individual food.
解析：选A 细节理解题。根据第二段二、三句“Countries report their industrial catches to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. But they do not report other kinds of fishing.”可知，各国向联合国粮食及农业组织报告了他们的工业捕鱼量，但没有报告其他形式的捕鱼数量。故选A项。
B
Since English biologist Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, scientists have vastly improved their knowledge of natural history.However, a lot of information is still the subject of speculation, and scientists can still only make educated guesses at certain things.
One subject that they guess at is why some 400 million years ago, animals in
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the sea developed limbs that allowed them to move onto and live on land.
Recently, an idea that occurred to the US paleontologist (古生物学家) Alfred Romer a century ago became a hot topic once again.
Romer thought that tide pools might have led to fish gaining limbs.Sea animals would have been forced into these pools by strong tides.Then, they would have been made either to adapt to their new environment close to land or die.The fittest among them grew to accomplish the transition from sea to land.
Romer called these earliest four-footed animals “tetrapods”．Science has always thought that this was a credible theory, but only recently has there been strong enough evidence to support it.
Hannah Byrne is an oceanographer (海洋学家) at Uppsala University in Sweden.She announced at the 2018 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Oregon, US, that by using computer software, her team had managed to link Romer's theory to places where fossil deposits of the earliest tetrapods (四足动物) were found.
According to the magazine Science, in 2014, Steven Balbus, a scientist at the University of Oxford in the UK, calculated that 400 million years ago, when the move from land to sea was achieved, tides were stronger than they are today.This is because the planet was 10 percent closer to the moon than it is now.
The creatures stranded in the pools would have been under the pressure of “survival of the fittest”， explained Mattias Green, an ocean scientist at the UK's Bangor University.As he told Science, “After a few days in these pools, you become food or you run out of food ...The fish that had large limbs had an advantage because they could flip (快速翻转) themselves back in the water.”
语篇解读：本文是一篇说明文。文章就“大约4亿年前，为什么海里的动物长出了可以使它们迁移到并生活在陆地上的四肢？”这一问题列出了不同的科学家提供的不同证据。 4．Who first proposed the theory that fish might have gained limbs because of tidal pools?
A．Alfred Romer. B．Charles Darwin. C．Hannah Byrne.
D．Steven Balbus.
解析：选A 细节理解题。根据文章第三段及第四段第一句可知，最先提出潮水潭导致鱼类长出四肢这一观点的是美国的古生物学家Alfred Romer，故本题选A。
5．Why were tides stronger 400 million years ago than they are today according to Steven Balbus?
A．There were larger oceans.
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B．Earth was closer to the moon. C．The moon gave off more energy. D．Earth was under greater pressure.
解析：选B 细节理解题。根据第七段最后一句“This is because the planet was 10 percent closer to the moon than it is now.”可知，4亿年前，潮汐比现在更强劲，这是因为地球离月球比现在近了10%。本题答案为B。
6．The underlined word “stranded” in the last paragraph probably means “________”．
A．found C．abandoned
B．settled D．trapped
解析：选D 词义猜测题。根据最后一段中的“After a few days in these pools, you become food or you run out of food”可知，“The creatures stranded in the pools would have been under the pressure of ‘survival of the fittest’”表示被困在潮水潭的生物将会受到“适者生存”的压力。第四段第三句也是信息提示。故本题答案为D。trap“使落入险境，使陷入困境”。
7．What is the focus of the article? A．The arguments over a scientific theory. B．The proposal of a new scientific theory. C．Some new evidence to support a previous theory. D．A new discovery that questions a previous theory.
解析：选C 主旨大意题。根据第三段可知，最近美国古生物学家Alfred Romer一个世纪前的想法再次成为一个热门话题。根据第二段可知，这个想法正是对“大约4亿年前，为什么海里的动物长出了可以使它们迁移到并生活在陆地上的四肢？”这一问题的思考，故这个问题是以前的问题，且文章给出了不同的科学家最近提供的不同证据。故选C。
C
What's more exciting than having a fresh hot pizza delivered to your door? How about having it brought to you by a robot? Thanks to Domino's Robotic Unit, that just became a reality. On March 8, the three-foot tall robot made its first delivery to some lucky residents in Brisbane, Australia.
The autonomous DRU is the result of a cooperation between Domino's Pizza Australia and Marathon Robotics. The machine can cover a distance of up to 12 miles and back before requiring a battery recharge. Equipped with Google Maps and GPS guidance, DRU can go along bike paths and sidewalks and also find the most efficient way to its destination. LIDAR, a laser-based sensor technology similar to the one
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used in self-driving cars, enables DRU to detect and avoid obstacles, while traditional sensors ensure its path to its destination is safe. DRU's plastic shell protects the food from the bad weather, while its aluminum and steel container ensures that the pies remain hot.
The robot can fit up to ten pizzas and even has a separate cold area to accommodate drink orders. To access their food, customers have to enter the unique code provided by the company. This not only ensures that they pick up the right pizza, but also prevents the pies from getting stolen.
Domino's expects additional DRU to be ready for service in its various Queensland locations within the next six months. But don't expect these super cute robots to replace humans anytime soon. According to Domino's, the DRU still needs much testing, which the company believes could take up to two years. There is also the issue of regulations. The public use of autonomous vehicles is still banned in most countries. But Don Meij, the CEO of Domino's Pizza, is not worried. He believes that one day DRU will become a necessary part of the Domino's family.
语篇解读：本文是一篇科普类说明文，主要介绍了一种可以上门为顾客送比萨的机器人。 8．What's the function of LIDAR? A．Keeping DRU free of obstacles. B．Recharging DRU's battery. C．Helping DRU find its destination. D．Protecting DRU from bad weather.
解析：选A 细节理解题。根据第二段中的“LIDAR, a laser-based sensor technology similar to the one used in self-driving cars, enables DRU to detect and avoid obstacles ...”可知，LIDAR的功能是使DRU察觉并避开障碍物。故A项正确。
9．Why does the company provide codes for its customers? A．To fit up more pizzas.
B．To prevent the pizza being taken by mistake. C．To keep the pizza warm. D．To get the pizza paid in time.
解析：选B 细节理解题。根据第三段最后一句“This not only ensures that they pick up the right pizza, but also prevents the pies from getting stolen.”可知，这是为了防止顾客拿错比萨。故B项正确。
10．What can we infer about the future of DRU? A．It may need some improvements.
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