A
Visitors to the dry, hot Sonoran Desert of the southern Arizona and northern Mexico are amazed at the manyarmed giants. They are the saguaro cacti (樹(shù)形仙人掌), a giant which gives the landscape its __1__ appearance. In the dry desert the saguaro cacti can live for more than 200 years, grow to a __2__ of 60 feet, and have as many as 50 arms.
More __3__ , the saguaro cacti still persist despite the unbearable desert climate. Those that have grown to old age have __4__ droughts, freezes, flash floods, and bush fires as well as the __5__ caused by groups of rats that eat their seedlings(秧苗). Like all other desert __6__ , these leafless giants can store water for use during the desert's long dry seasons by __7__ water through their long roots.
Naturally, the great saguaro cacti are a(n) __8__ part of the desert life. Actually the giants may be __9__ to many animals, including woodpeckers, owls, doves, bats and insects. In addition, after a saguaro __10__ the age of 50 or so, coldresistant flowers __11__ at the top of the plants once a year. These flowers __12__ birds, bats and bees, which come for the honey and for the tasty flowers with their black seeds.
__13__ the splendid saguaros are plentiful in the Southwest, they are unfortunately __14__ . These giant cacti have great value in landscape gardening, and the thieves can earn thousands of dollars by uprooting and __15__ them to nurseries (苗圃). To protect these southwestern __16__ , agents for the Arizona Department of Agriculture go around and __17__ the desert. It's a most important job though a hard one. But without the saguaro cacti, many desert animals would suffer a lack of __18__ and loss of nesting sites. The Southwest, too, would __19__ something of unique importance, since these desert giants have become a __20__ of the dry region.
1. A. general B. basic
C. unique D. lovely
2. A. length B. height
C. size D. width
3. A. pleasingly B. inspiringly
C. interestingly D. amazingly
4. A. lived through B. broken through
C. cut through D. got through
5. A. crisis B. damage
C. destruction D. load
6. A. plants B. lives
C. animals D. creatures
7. A. pouring B. squeezing
C. pumping D. absorbing
8. A. independent B. vital
C. original D. mysterious
9. A. spot B. field
C. home D. camp
10. A. turns B. takes
C. meets D. gains
11. A. come up B. come out
C. show off D. show up
12. A. call B. trap
C. fascinate D. stick
13. A. As B. But
C. Although D. Yet
14. A. in danger B. in demand
C. in need D. in control
15. A. exchanging B. trading
C. offering D. selling
16. A. treasures B. decorations
C. possessions D. creations
17. A. look over B. hand over
C. watch over D. turn over
18. A. food B. scenery
C. water D. flavor
19. A. affect B. abandon
C. increase D. lose
20. A. signal B. sign
C. mark D. symbol
【語(yǔ)篇解讀】 本文是一篇環(huán)境類的說(shuō)明文。文章從奇特的形狀、生活特性、經(jīng)濟(jì)價(jià)值等方面介紹了Sonoran Desert(索諾蘭沙漠)的標(biāo)志性植物——樹(shù)形仙人掌。
1.解析：根據(jù)下文可知，樹(shù)形仙人掌有多達(dá)50個(gè)分枝，所以形狀“獨(dú)特”，故選unique“獨(dú)特的”。general“普通的”;basic“基本的”;lovely“可愛(ài)的”。
答案：C
2.解析：根據(jù)前面的“giant”及后面的“60 feet”可知，此處表示的是“高度”，因此選height。length“長(zhǎng)度”;size“尺寸”;width“寬度”。
答案：B
3.解析：根據(jù)上文可知，游客對(duì)樹(shù)形仙人掌的形狀會(huì)感到非常驚訝，故此處指更令人驚訝的是它們的適應(yīng)能力，因此選amazingly。pleasingly“令人愉快地”;inspiringly“鼓舞人心地”;interestingly“有趣地”。
答案：D
4.解析：根據(jù)上下文可知，樹(shù)形仙人掌“經(jīng)歷”了惡劣環(huán)境的考驗(yàn)，live through“經(jīng)歷”符合語(yǔ)境。break through“突破”;cut through“抄近路穿過(guò)，走近路”;get through“接通電話，通過(guò)考試”。
答案：A
5.解析：除了惡劣的氣候外，樹(shù)形仙人掌還要遭受老鼠的“破壞”，因此選damage。crisis“危機(jī)”;destruction“毀滅”;load“負(fù)擔(dān)”。
答案：B
6.解析：此處指像沙漠里其他所有的“植物”一樣，因此選plants。life“生命”;animal“動(dòng)物”;creature“生物”。
答案：A
7.解析：樹(shù)形仙人掌通過(guò)它們的長(zhǎng)根莖吸收水。absorb“吸收”，符合語(yǔ)境。pour“倒，灌”;squeeze“擠壓”;pump“抽出”。
答案：D
8.解析：根據(jù)下文可知，作為許多動(dòng)物賴以生存的食物和家園，樹(shù)形仙人掌是沙漠“極為重要的”部分，因此選vital“極重要的”。independent“獨(dú)立的”;original“原始的”;mysterious“神秘的”。
答案：B
9.解析：根據(jù)最后一段的倒數(shù)第二句“But without the saguaro cacti... loss of nesting sites”可知，樹(shù)形仙人掌可能是許多動(dòng)物的棲息地。因此選home“棲息地”。spot“地點(diǎn)”;field“田地”;camp“營(yíng)地”。
答案：C
10.解析：此處指在樹(shù)形仙人掌長(zhǎng)到50歲左右之后，故此處選turn意為“到(某年齡或某個(gè)時(shí)間)”，其后直接跟數(shù)字。take“帶走”;meet“遇到”;gain“獲得”。
答案：A
11.解析：根據(jù)上下文可知，這里指樹(shù)形仙人掌在長(zhǎng)到50歲左右以后每年開(kāi)一次花，因此選come out“(花朵)開(kāi)放”。come up“走近，被提到”;show off“炫耀”;show up“露面，到達(dá)”。
答案：B
12.解析：根據(jù)下文中的“which come for the honey”可知，樹(shù)形仙人掌的花吸引了一些動(dòng)物，因此此處選fascinate“迷住，深深吸引”。call“召集”;trap“困住”;stick“粘”。
答案：C
13.解析：盡管在西南這壯觀的樹(shù)形仙人掌很多，但它們卻不幸地面臨著危險(xiǎn)。逗號(hào)前后表示讓步關(guān)系，although“盡管”，符合語(yǔ)境。as“因?yàn)椤?but“但是”;yet“然而”。
答案：C
14.解析：參見(jiàn)上題解析。in danger“處于危險(xiǎn)之中”，符合語(yǔ)境。in demand“需求大，受歡迎”;in need“生活貧困”;in control“掌管”。
答案：A
15.解析：根據(jù)空格前的“These giant cacti have great value in landscape gardening, and the thieves can earn thousands of dollars”可知，樹(shù)形仙人掌被偷去賣(mài)錢(qián)，sell“賣(mài)”，符合語(yǔ)境。exchange“交換”;trade“從事貿(mào)易，以物易物”;offer“提供”。
答案：D
16.解析：根據(jù)全文可知，樹(shù)形仙人掌是應(yīng)該受到保護(hù)的沙漠珍寶，treasure“珍寶”，符合語(yǔ)境。decoration“裝飾品”;possession“個(gè)人財(cái)產(chǎn)，私人物品”;creation“作品，創(chuàng)作”。
答案：A
17.解析：為了保護(hù)這些珍寶，Arizona農(nóng)業(yè)部派代理人保護(hù)沙漠。因此選watch over“監(jiān)督，保護(hù)”。look over“瀏覽，迅速地檢查”;hand over“移交”;turn over“翻轉(zhuǎn)”。
答案：C
18.解析：根據(jù)第三段的最后一句可知，樹(shù)形仙人掌還是動(dòng)物們的食物。沒(méi)有了它們，就意味著“食物”的短缺，因此此處選food。scenery“風(fēng)景”;water“水”;flavor“味道”。
答案：A
19.解析：西南部也將失去這些極具重要性的東西，因此此處選lose。affect“影響”;abandon“遺棄，放棄”;increase“增加”。
答案：D
20.解析：這些沙漠巨型植物已經(jīng)變成了這個(gè)干燥區(qū)域的標(biāo)志。根據(jù)句意可知，此處選symbol“標(biāo)志”。signal“信號(hào)”;sign“征兆”;mark“記號(hào)”。
答案：D
