We Should Protect Insects

昆蟲種類繁多，形態(tài)各異，它們的蹤跡幾乎遍布世界的每個(gè)角落。它們也是生態(tài)系統(tǒng)中的一分子，保護(hù)它們就是在維護(hù)生態(tài)平衡。如今，昆蟲的種類和數(shù)量正在逐年減少。這種趨勢對人類有哪些害處？減少的原因又是什么？我們應(yīng)該采取哪些必要措施保護(hù)昆蟲呢？請大家閱讀下面短文，了解一下昆蟲面臨著哪些危機(jī)。

Can you imagine a world without insects？ Without ants or flies in your house， it might sound great. However， the results may be out of imagination.

The number of insects has dropped by half in the past few years， according to a British biologist Dave Coulson. You may think small insects are not important. But in fact they are the main part of the species on Earth.

Insects are really on the way to extinction， according to the first review of insect population. The researchers say the main reason for this is the use of pesticides （殺蟲劑） because they destroy insects’ living areas. Also， weather change is another important cause.

“Unless we change our ways of producing food， insects will go down the way to extinction in a few years，” the researchers wrote in the review. “This will have huge， influences on the planet’s ecosystem （生態(tài)系統(tǒng)）.”

We need insects to pollinate （授粉） crops. They also break down dead plants and animals， which can keep the soil healthy. Without insects， many animals would have nothing to eat and die of hunger. Then， the ecosystem would be off balance.

“If the number of insect species keep dropping， this will have bad influences on both Earth’s ecosystem and the living of us humans，” said one of the writers of the review.

“The first step to stop this is to let more people understand the values of the natural world，” he suggests. “The best place to start is from our children， who should realize environmental protection from an early age.”

（ ） 1. Why has the number of insects dropped in the past few years？

A. Because people use lots of pesticides.

B. Because the land becomes less and less.

C. Because they break down dead plants and animals.

D. Because people catch and sell many insects every year.

（ ） 2. What does the underlined word “extinction” mean in Chinese？

A. 保護(hù) " " B. 傷害

C. 損傷 " D. 滅絕

（ ） 3. What does the last paragraph tell us？

A. Choose the best place for insects.

B. Keep the values of the natural plant.

C. Protect the environment from children.

D. Feed more insects in some good places.

（ ） 4. We can infer from the passage that _________.

A. weather change has little influence on insects

B. humans’ actions influence the number of insects

C. insects may destroy the balance of the ecosystem

D. ants and flies are the main part of the species on Earth

【主旨大意】本文是一篇說明文。介紹了昆蟲減少帶來的危害以及如何保護(hù)昆蟲。

1. 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)“The researchers say the main reason for this is the use of pesticides （殺蟲劑） because they destroy insects’ living areas.”可知?dú)⑾x劑的使用破壞了昆蟲的生存環(huán)境，使得昆蟲數(shù)量下降。故選A。

2. 詞義猜測題。根據(jù)后句“The researchers say the main reason for this is the use of pesticides （殺蟲劑） because they destroy insects’ living areas.”可知?dú)⑾x劑的使用破壞了昆蟲的生存環(huán)境，使得昆蟲數(shù)量下降。再結(jié)合“Insects are really on the way to"_________.”可推知應(yīng)該是在走向滅絕的路上。故選D。

3. 主旨大意題。通讀最后一段可知是在給我們提出如何保護(hù)昆蟲的建議，根據(jù)“The best place to start is from our children， who should realize environmental protection from an early age.”可知保護(hù)環(huán)境要從孩子抓起。故選C。

4. 推理判斷題。通讀全文，根據(jù)“The researchers say the main reason for this is the use of pesticides （殺蟲劑） because they destroy insects’ living areas.”說明人們使用殺蟲劑對昆蟲造成巨大影響；“‘Unless we change our ways of producing food， insects will go down the way to extinction in a few years，’ the researchers wrote in the review. ‘This will have huge， influences on the planet’s ecosystem （生態(tài)系統(tǒng)）.’”可知除非我們改變生產(chǎn)食物的方式，否則昆蟲將在一些年內(nèi)走向滅絕，這將對地球的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)產(chǎn)生巨大影響，說明人類的行為會影響昆蟲數(shù)量。故選B。