Question

【题目】The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place. Now it is an ecological disaster area. Nauru's heartbreaking story could have one good consequence-other countries might learn from its mistakes.

For thousands of years, Polynesian people lived on the remote island of Nauru, far from western civilization. The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798. He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship. He called the island Pleasant Island.

However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first. Then whaling ships and other traders began to visit, bringing guns and alcohol. These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island. A ten-year civil war started, which reduced the population from 1，400 to 900.

Nauru's real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate（磷酸盐）on the island. In fact, it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate, which is a very important fertilizer for farming. The company began mining the phosphate.

A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground; it is a strip mine. When a company strip-mines, it removes the top layer of soil. Then it takes away the material it wants. Strip-mining totally destroys the land. Gradually, the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon.

In 1968，Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world. Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate.

Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars. In addition, they used millions more dollars for personal expenses. Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem-their phosphate was running out. Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing. By 2000，Nauru was al-most financially ruined. Experts say that it would take approximately$433，600，000 and more than 20 years to repair the island. This will probably never happen.

【1】What might be the author's purpose in writing the text?

A. To seek help for Nauru's problems.

B. To give a warning to other countries.

C. To show the importance of money.

D. To tell a heartbreaking story of a war.

【2】What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?

A. Rich and powerful.

B. Modern and open.

C. Peaceful and attractive.

D. Greedy and aggressive.

【3】The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from __________.

A. soil pollution

B. phosphate overmining

C. farming activity

D. whale hunting

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】C

【3】B

【解析】

【1】B主旨大意题。根据文章第一段最后一句可知答案。

【2】C推理判断题。由文章前两段可知，Nauru是一个 "beautiful"且"remote" 的国家，再根据第五段的 lovely island，可以推断出答案。

【3】B细节理解题。根据文章第五及第七段可知，磷酸盐矿是露天矿，开采时要去除表层土壤，取走想要的材料，完全破坏了土地。90%的土地被破坏了，他们变得一无所有。