Passage 3
Cheetah Breeding (猎豹繁殖）
The Cheetah...It is the fastest mammal on earth. Experts believe it can run
mere than 100 kilometers an hour. The cheetah is also an endangered species. Loss
of natural habitat（栖息地）and severe reproductive problems have reduced its
numbers in the wild to about 2,000.
However intense efforts are under way to save the animal. The national zoo in
Washington, D.C. opened a new cheetah exhibit in the summer of 1992.
The exhibit was designed to recreate the animals’ natural habitat in Africa
so that the cheetahs will behave as they do in the wild, and trained volunteers
can observe those behaviors. Exhibit manager Stuart Wells says they will use the
data to determine the best times to breed them.
"The behavior study that we are doing on the cheetahs is unique in the sense
that we are trying to pick up subtle behavior changes in the cheetah. And when
those changes occur, are they occurring when the female is in estrus（发情）.
And based on those changes, based on the data that we have gathered, we construct
a management plan that is designed to create those circumstances where the female
is most receptive to breeding. So they are watching behaviors like treading and
urine marking and rolling."
Scientists at the National Zoo also are studying ways to improve cheetah
reproduction through the use of techniques such as artificial insemination. It
is a difficult task because nearly all male cheetahs have low sperm counts and
a high frequency of abnormal sperm.
Despite the problems, Dr. Jogayle Howard says they are beginning to make real
progress in breeding cheetahs and other endangered animals.
"We have found that after about 10 years of working on it and not giving up,
we finally have developed the right way to collect semen, to process it, to even
freeze the semen for long-term storage, and then just recently, after many years
of research, we finally have had the artificial insemination （人工受精）technique
successful in the cats, and including the cheetahs."
Three cheetahs at two zoos in the southern state of Texas have given birth to
healthy cubs after being artificially inseminated by Dr. Howard. Such successes
may play an important role in ensuring that animals like the cheetah do not become
extinct.
27. The Cheetah would not disappear from the Earth because ________.
A. they are tough animals
B. they have 1earned to survive by themselves
C. scientists are doing research
D. of the successes of artificial insemination on Cheetahs
28. Cheetahs are naturally found in _________.
A. South America
B. North America
C. Asia
D. Africa
29. What is Unique about the behavior study on the Cheetah lies in the sense that
observers _________.
A. are trying to find the best time for the female Cheetah to become pregnant
B. want to know how the Cheetah urinate
C. are making efforts to find the treading of Cheetahs
D. are keen on how Cheetahs roll
30. The difficulty for making Cheetahs to breed also lies in the fact that ________.
A. there are not many Cheetahs left in the world
B. both male and female Cheetahs do not mate at all
C. the female does not produce eggs easily
D. the male does not produce a lot of normal sperms
四、完形填空，并将所选答案之字母在答题卡的相应位置上涂黑。(10%)
Abstract Writing
Abstraction is the act of leaving characteristics out in order to include more
items in a group.For example, ___31____ writing of a town in which no two houses
are exactly ____32____, each house may
be ____33____ by a different word. The corner house maybe called a cottage, the
next a split-level, the third a duplex, and so forth. If, ____34____, the writer
wants to describe the common characteristics of
the things in which families live, he must use a more inclusive (包括的、包含
的) word, such as a house. ___35____ he will have to do a lot of repeating and
explaining.
____36____ then that the writer wants to indicate how many houses, office
structures, stores and factories there are in the entire town. To do this
economically, he ___37____ need another word-buildings.
If he wants to talk about all the buildings, bridges, fences, dams, and so forth,
he uses still another word-____38____. This is what is meant ___39_____
abstracting. Each of these words is more abstract than
the one before it.
The more abstract a writer is, the more words he can save. The less abstract
he is, or the more concrete he is, the surer he is ___40____ being understood.
31. A. by B. in C. on D. at
32. A. alike B. like C. likely D. likewise
33. A. referred to B. dealt with C. looked D. spoken as
34. A. therefore B. however C. nevertheless D. furthermore
35. A. Thus B. Then C. Therefore D. Otherwise
36. A. Imagine B. Provide C. Suppose D. Notice
37. A. will B. must C. can D. should
38. A. structures B. works C. designs D. devices
39. A. at B. by C. for D. in
40. A. in B. on C. at D. of
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