题目内容
7．Passenger pigeons once flew over much of the United States in unbelievable numbers．Written accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries described flocks（群） so large that they darkened the sky for hours．It was calculated that when its population reached its highest point，there were more than 3billion passenger pigeons-a number equal to 24to 40percent of the total bird population in the United States，making it perhaps the most abundant bird in the world．Even as late as 1870when their numbers had already become smaller，a flock believed to be a mile wide and 320miles （about 515kilometers） long was seen near Cincinnati．
Sadly，the abundance of passenger pigeons may have been their undoing．Where the birds were most abundant，people believed there was an ever-lasting supply and killed them by the thousands．Commercial hunters attracted them to small clearings with grain，waited until pigeons had settled to feed，then threw large nets over them，taking hundreds at a time．The birds were shipped to large cities and sold in restaurants．
By the closing decades of the 19th century，the hardwood forests where passenger pigeons nested had been damaged by Americans'need for wood，which scattered （驱散） the flocks and forced the birds to go farther north，where cold temperatures and spring storms contributed to their decline．Soon the great flocks were gone，never to be seen again．
In 1897，the state of Michigan passed a law prohibiting the killing of passenger pigeons，but by then，no sizable flocks had been seen in the state for 10years．The last confirmed wild pigeon in the United States was shot by a boy in Pike County，Ohio，in 1900．For a time，a few birds survived under human care．The last of them，known affectionately as Martha，died at the Cincinnati Zoological Garden on September 1，1914．
24．In the 18th and early 19th centuries，passenger pigeonsD．
A．were the biggest bird in the world
B．lived mainly in the south of America
C．did great harm to the natural environment
D．were the largest bird population in the US
25．The underlined word"undoing"probably refers to the pigeons'B．
A．escape
B．ruin
C．liberation
D．evolution
26．What was the main reason for people to kill passenger pigeons？C
A．To seek pleasure．
B．To save other birds．
C．To make money．
D．To protect crops．
27．What can we infer about the law passed in Michigan？B
A．It was ignored by the public．
B．It was declared too late．
C．It was unfair．
D．It was strict．
分析 本文是一篇记叙文．叙述了旅鸽逐渐消失的过程．在美国，18世纪和19世纪旅鸽的数量很大．人们认为旅鸽数量多，会永恒的供应，于是成千的人杀害了旅鸽．19世纪末，美国人是为了需要木材而驱赶旅鸽．在1897年，到密歇根州通过禁止屠杀旅鸽的法律时，在美国已经10年没有见过大的旅鸽群．最后一批旅鸽，于1914年，在辛辛那提动物园死去．
解答 24．D 细节理解题．在18世纪和19世纪初期，旅鸽的数量怎么样？根据Passenger pigeons（旅鸽）once flew over much of the United States in unbelievable numbers．Written accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries described flocks（群）so large that they darkened the sky for hours．可知在美国，18世纪和19世纪旅鸽的数量很大．故选D．
25．B 词义猜测题．划线单词undoing可能指的是旅鸽发生了什么情况？根据Where the birds were abundant，people believed there was an ever-lasting supply and killed them by the thousands．可知人们认为旅鸽数量多会永恒的供应，于是成千的人杀害了旅鸽．因此判断此处undoing的意思是死亡，毁灭．故选B．
26．C 细节理解题．人们杀死旅鸽的主要原因是什么？根据Commercial hunters attracted them to small clearings with grain，waited until pigeons had settled to feed，then threw large nets over them，taking hundreds at a time．The birds were shipped to large cities and sold in restaurants．可知商业猎人捕捉了大量的旅鸽，把他们卖到大城市的餐馆里，因此推测人们杀死旅鸽的主要原因是为了赚钱．故选C．选项A的意思是寻开心．文中没有提到让人们高兴的内容，故不符合文章的意思．选项B，为了挽救其他鸟类．在文中没有提到其他鸟类，故不符合原文，故排除B项．选项D，为了保护庄稼．根据the hardwood forests where passenger pigeons nested had been damaged by Americans'need for wood，which scattered（驱散）the flocks and forced the birds to go farther north，可知美国人是为了需要木材而驱赶旅鸽，而不是为了保护庄稼，故排除D项．
27．B 推理判断题．关于密歇根州通过得法律我们可以推断出什么？根据In 1897，the state of Michigan passed a law prohibiting the killing of passenger pigeons，but by then，no sizable flocks had been seen in the state for 10 years．可知到密歇根州通过禁止屠杀旅鸽的法律时，在美国已经10年没有见过大的旅鸽群，这可推断旅鸽数量已经很少了，因此这项法律通过得太晚了．故选B．
点评 本文考查细节题为主，细节题可以在文章中直接找到与答案有关的信息？或是其变体．搜查信息在阅读中非常重要它包括理解作者在叙述某事时使用的具体事实、数据、图表等细节信息．在一篇短文里大部分篇幅都属于这类围绕主体展开的细节．做这类题一般采用寻读法？即先读题，然后带着问题快速阅读短文，找出与问题有关的词语或句子，再对相关部分进行分析对比，找出答案．
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