2001年5月阅读解析第二篇

2001年5月第二篇

Questions 11-20

Molting is one of the most involved processes of a bird’s annual life cycle.

Notwithstanding preening and constant care, the marvelously intricate structure of a bird’s Feather inevitably wears out. All adult birds molt their feathers at least once a year, and

Line upon close observation, one can recognize the frayed, ragged appearance of feathers that

5) are nearing the end of their useful life. Two distinct processes are involved in molting.

The first step is when the old, worn feather is dropped, or shed. The second is when a new

feather grows in its place. When each feather has been shed and replaced, then the molt

can be said to be complete. This, however, is an abstraction that often does not happen:

incomplete, overlapping, and arrested molts are quite common.

10) Molt requires that a bird find and process enough protein to rebuild approximately

one-third of its body weight. It is not surprising that a bird in heavy molt often seems

listless and unwell. But far from being random, molt is controlled by strong evolutionary

forces that have established an optimal time and duration. Generally, molt occurs at the

time of least stress on the bird. Many songbirds, for instance, molt in late summer, when

15) the hard work of breeding is done but the weather is still warm and food still plentiful.

This is why the woods in late summer often seem so quiet, when compared with the

Exuberant choruses of spring.

题目解析：

11. The passage mainly discusses how

(A) birds prepare for breeding

(B) bird feathers differ from species

(C) birds shed and replace their feathers

(D) birds are affected by seasonal changes

解析：由原文每段topic sentence可知，本文主要讲述的是有关鸟类换羽过程。正确选项为C。

12. The word “Notwithstanding” in line 2 is closest in meaning to

(A) despite

(B) because of

(C) instead of

(D) regarding

解析：despite，尽管；because of，因为；instead of，取而代之；regarding关于。notwithstanding本意为“尽管”，故与despite语意相近。正确选项为A。

13. The word “intricate” in line 2 is closest in meaning to

(A) regular

(B) complex

(C) interesting

(D) important

解析：regular，规律的；complex，复杂的；interesting，有趣的；important，重要的。intricate本意为“错综复杂的”，故正确选项为B。

14. The word “random” in line 12 is closest in meaning to

(A) unfortunate

(B) unusual

(C) unobservable

(D) unpredictable

解析：unfortunate，不幸的；unusual，不寻常的；unobservable，注意不到的；unpredictable，无法预测的。random本意为“随机的”的，故正确选项为D。