2014高考英语阅读理解训练-有详解(11)

The moth’s color changes

The Peppered Moth, a kind of insect, is found in England. It is light brown in color and likes to settle on trees which are also light brown. This makes the moth difficult to be seen and birds are less likely to notice and eat it.

But with the development of industry, smoke from factories began to reach the trees where the moth settled. It made the trees blacker. Then something very strange took place: in industrial areas, the Peppered Moth began to change color. It became darker as well. Though the change took several years, some scientists soon noticed that newly-born moths were a little darker than usual.

A scientist called Kettle well decided to make a careful study of this. He marked some of the light moths and some of the darker ones, and set them free in the woods near Birmingham, an industrial city. Later, he re-caught as many the marked moths as possible.(The results were given in the following chart.)

Kettle well’s research was done in the early 1950s. Soon afterwards Britain introduced new laws to reduce smoke and factory pollution.

Can you imagine what would happen to the Peppered Moth as the air became cleaner again?

1. The trees where the Peppered Moth settled changed their colors because _______.

A. the Peppered Moth changed its color

B. the Peppered Moth couldn’t be easily found on them

C. industry in England developed quickly

D. the smoke from factories polluted them (www.nmet168.com)

2. The Peppered Moth began to change its color in industrial areas because _______.

A. it changed its color all the time        B. it was fond of the color of its living place

C. it had to protect itself by doing so    D. it was a special sort of insect

3. From the results of Kettle well’s research, we can see that _______.

A. many more of the light moths were killed or eaten

B. more than one-fifth of the light moths escaped being killed

C. three times as many dark moths were kept safe as light ones

D. more dark moths were killed in industrial areas

4. Kettle well’s work gives us a good example of _______.

A. “Air Pollution”                               B. “Choice of Color”

C. “Laws of Nature”                           D. “Changing Insects”

5. As the air became cleaner, _______.

A. the number of the light moths increased

B. the total number of the light moths remained unchanged

C. more of the darker moths would be re-caught

D. the darker moths changed into the light ones before long

【答案与解析】本文介绍了Peppered Moth这类昆虫的生理特点与生活习性，工业化使 Peppered Moth的颜色发生变化以及科学家 Kettle 的研究发现。

1. D。细节题。由第 2 段 smoke from factories …It made the trees blacker. The peppered moth began to change color. It became darker as well 可知答案为D。

2. C。推断题。从It is light brown in color and likes to settle on trees which are also light brown. This makes the moth difficult to be seen and birds are less likely to notice and eat it(它们使自己的颜色与周围环境的颜色相似，这样有利于保护自己) 可推知答案为C。

3. A。推断题。从表格中可知再次捕到的昆虫 light moths占16%，darker moths 占34%可推知答案为A。

4. C。细节题。由Soon afterwards Britain introduced new laws to reduce smoke and factory pollution 可知答案为C。

5. A。推理判断题。从表格中可知当时污染比较严重，所以 darker moth更容易生存，若采取措施使空气更清洁，light moths 昆虫数量当然会增加，故答案为A。