Question 10-19% Z7 `: R4 V2 G* K* S* C F* Y
Geographers say that what defines a place are four properties: soil, climate, altitude, $ [+ V: y7 J# ~( j
and aspect, or attitude to the Sun. Florida’s ancient scrub demonstrates this principle. Its
* {- s1 B1 [- asoil is pure silica, so barren it supports only lichens as ground cover.( It does, however,
) } r) g% L9 N$ wsustain a sand-swimming lizard that cannot live where there is moisture or plant matter
7 n7 k/ U& V5 z7 w) C. n! v! U(5) the soil.) Its climate, despite more than 50 inches of annual rainfall, is blistering desert
3 _! M# J) z5 d7 Rplant life it can sustain is only the xerophytic, the quintessentially dry. Its altitude is a
7 _6 {0 s6 m! v0 F u1 U$ u4 tmere couple of hundred feet, but it is high ground on a peninsula elsewhere close to sea
2 Q+ a9 X0 [! K! h. H4 B, o) M& O. Flevel, and its drainage is so critical that a difference of inches in elevation can bring major - }% h# \! r! ~* T0 T$ d0 _
changes in its plant communities. Its aspect is flat, direct, brutal—and subtropical., C1 q" M* I4 H
Florida’s surrounding lushness cannot impinge on its desert scrubbiness.; L* d2 u9 G5 X, v0 s/ U
This does not sound like an attractive place. It does not look much like one either;6 C3 ?: M& U5 B/ i. @
Shrubby little oaks, clumps of scraggly bushes, prickly pear, thorns, and tangles. “It appear- O; Q! B4 u9 w, |! u+ J
Said one early naturalist,” to desire to display the result of the misery through which it has% Q6 [) n$ V# v% o3 K, Z0 A& }
Passed and is passing.” By our narrow standards, scrub is not beautiful; neither does it meet9 I/ O5 V5 Z, j* j, o4 ]% u6 R
our selfish utilitarian needs. Even the name is an epithet, a synonym for the stunted, the
( |, o" Z* {7 F" m( K6 m# q( \" p2 F, `scruffy, the insignificant, what is beautiful about such a place?4 s* Q7 J# Z+ E2 Y* s1 Z* f' ?
The most important remaining patches of scrub lie along the Lake Wales Ridge, a chain of paleoislands running for a hundred miles down the center of Florida, in most places less than ten miles wide. It is relict seashore, tossed up millions of years ago when ocean levels/ P: x5 Y' A& |$ T- A
(20) were higher and the rest of the peninsula was submerged. That ancient emergence is & T8 C# O$ q, f; H: y
precisely what makes Lake Wales Ridge so precious: it has remained unsubmerged, its
" q! X6 U. p: v) d! y" b$ ^ecosystems essentially undisturbed, since the Miocene era. As a result, it has gathered to 2 _1 d, k) B. c- t, U+ x, g9 J
itself one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world. Only about 75 plant, h' w2 n* [( w: {( |% ~
species survive there, but at least 30 of these are found nowhere else on Earth.1 F( p& x+ t. @) p$ c, N# T/ _
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! k$ r0 [6 B( ]
10. What does the passage mainly discuss?
" F$ V/ ]9 J% t8 C: Y: w(A) How geographers define a place
2 g' N; }0 P0 ]6 F4 s: D1 B(B) The characteristics of Florida’s ancient scrub( X% q/ s0 ^# L6 }0 \
(C) An early naturalist’s opinion of Florida; Z' |9 T5 g8 r$ @9 u
(D)The history of the Lake Wales Ridge1 ]1 x9 x' E! {: T, q
11. The author mentions all of the following as factors that define a place EXCEPT5 H2 }& [6 K, y
(A) aspect
9 q& ^5 p" z+ w% q. B5 f(B) altitude 4 o5 n' D2 C" x B+ H- D8 G0 C
(C) soil
. f1 T, T; z' J(D) life-forms6 G5 \+ V! \4 L/ z; H6 s: l+ s
12. It can be inferred from the passage that soil composed of silica
1 o3 x, x# ]! N- C(A) does not hold moisture/ Y5 e4 u: Z6 y4 M7 _
(B) is found only in Florida; D) }& a5 J! L$ g7 b4 h
(C) nourishes many kinds of ground cover
9 E8 E5 M+ V4 r(D) provides food for many kinds of lizards |
发表于 2012-8-14 22:34:35
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