2019年PETS二级阅读理解练习题（13）

　　As we enjoy the summer ocean waves along the beaches, we may think nervously about Steven Spielberg's Jaws and the great fear that sharks inspire in us. Yet we are happy to see global efforts to protect the declining number of sharks. The world has realized that we need the species, like sharks, to keep a balanced ecosystem.

　　Sharks, in particular, are “in” these days. Thanks to good public policy and famous stars such as Jackie Chan and Ang Lee, killing sharks for fin soup is no longer cool.

　　The demand for shark fins has been rising for decades, threatening sharks with extinction(灭绝)—up to 100 million sharks are killed each year just for their fins. But we have started to reverse the trend, particularly in many areas of the United States and overseas where restaurants once proudly provided delicious shark fins on the menu.

　　In California, a ban on the sale and possession of shark fin soup has gone into effect this year through the efforts of Wild Aid and other organizations.

　　Overseas marketing and public efforts featuring posters on public transportation systems and TV ads have been underway for the past few years. These efforts all show signs of success, on both the supply side and the demand side of trade in shark fins.

　　Actually, stopping the killing of sharks is part of a broader movement to stop the killing of wild animals and the buying and selling of wildlife products. These products come from hunting elephants, tigers and rhinos, besides killing marine life.

　　Whether it is shark fin soup or ivory piano keys, killing animals is big business. The hunting of elephants in search of ivory tusks for luxury(奢侈的)goods has become a full­scale war. The decrease of African elephant populations is alarming. Together with international partners, the United States is leading the worldwide effort to reduce demand for high­end products that rely on killing animals.

　　小题1:The underlined word “reverse” in Paragraph 3 probably means ________.A.showB.keep

　　C.followD.change

　　小题2:From the passage, we know ________.A.Jackie Chan and Ang Lee make fin soup popular

　　B.a lot of wild animals have been killed for products

　　C.Steven Spielberg's Jaws inspires us to protect sharks

　　D.the number of African elephants has been increased

　　小题3:.What can we infer from the passage?A.More animals for high­end products will be saved.

　　B.People have kicked the habit of having shark fin soup.

　　C.Shark fins will not be available any more in restaurants.

　　D.Global efforts have succeeded in stopping killing wild animals.

　　参考答案及解析

　　小题1:D

　　小题2:B

　　小题3:A

　　文章大意：对野生动物的保护正在进行中。

　　小题1:D　猜测词义题。由转折词But可知，所在句意为：我们已经开始“扭转”这一趋势。

　　小题2:B　细节理解题。由第二段第二句话“Thanks to good public policy and famous stars such as Jackie Chan and Ang Lee, killing sharks for fin soup is no longer cool.”可知，成龙和李安使鱼翅汤不再流行，所以A项错误;由第一段第一句话“As we enjoy the summer ocean waves along the beaches, we may think nervously about Steven Spielberg's Jaws and the great fear that sharks inspire in us.”可知，斯皮尔伯格的《大白鲨》使人们产生了对鲨鱼的恐怖，所以C项正确;由最后一段第三句话“The decrease of African elephant populations is alarming.”可知，D项错误;由倒数第二段可知，B项正确。

　　小题3:A　推理判断题。由最后一段最后一句话“Together with international partners, the United States is leading the worldwide effort to reduce demand for high­end products that rely on killing animals.”可推知，在全世界人们的努力下，更多的动物会受到保护。所以A项正确;其他三项都不对。