【题目】Every year seals would crowd ashore in Farne Island and give birth to their pups. Between early October and early December, 1,500 seal pups will be born. Almost half of them will not make it past the first three weeks of life.

“The pups have to stay out of the water for the first three weeks, when they have their white coat, which is not very waterproof,” explains the warden (监察员)who spends nine months on the Island.

“But when you’re born in November on a rock in the North Sea, it’s a tough start to life,” he said. Storms often wash young pups into the water. And occasionally, young, inexperienced mothers abandon their pups and head out to sea.

“We lost 41% last year,” said David Steel, the National Trust’s head warden on the Farne Islands. “Mother Nature certainly keeps them in check.”

Despite the early challenges for every newborn seal, the population is healthily and slowly and steadily growing. There are almost 4,000 seals on a set of islands, which is named a Special Area of Conservation(SAC), meaning it is protected under EU regulations. This successful human safeguarding of the seals’ habitat is huge turnaround(转机).

Just a few decades ago, the seal population was deliberately_____The animals used to be thought of as a threat to local fish stocks. During the late 1960s and 1970s, thousands of seals were shot in a cull(剔除)that aimed to protect the local fishing industry. According to the National Trust, between 1962 and 1983 approximately 2,000 adult females and 3,000 pups were shot.

But, as the fishing industry collapsed, it was gradually replaced by tourism. Today, several companies use fishing boats to take groups of people to visit the islands and admire the scenery, seabirds and, of course, the seals that make their homes in this bleakly beautiful place.

1In the first three weeks after they were born, almost half of the seal pups _______.

A. would be abandoned by their mothers

B. would be protected by the wardens

C. couldn’t live independently

D. would die mostly in the sea water.

2According to David Steel, death of so many pups________.

A. is a normal and natural phenomenon

B. is mainly caused by farmers’ killing

C. can be prevented efficiently by man

D. will be controlled by Mother Nature

3The underlined word “decimate” in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to ____.

A. increase B. kill C. reduce D. control

4What’s the best title for the passage?

A. The Beautiful Farne Island

B. A Tough Beginning

C. How to Protect Grey Seals

D. Tourism or Fishing Industry

【题目】 The man sitting opposite Robert was the Financial Controller. Everybody called him “the FC” for short. He made all the decisions about money. Robert needed some more. That was why he had to see him. The two men did not get on very well. In fact, they had always disliked each other.

“Your request is out of the question,” the FC said. Robert had difficulty in controlling himself, but he managed somehow. He explained that he wanted the money in order to make more programmes.

“And why do you want to do that?” the FC asked sharply. Again, Robert almost lost his temper. “Because more and more people are listening to my department’s programmes. There’s great demand for them,” he answered.

The FC did not seem to believe him. But Robert had a report on the numbers of listeners to all EBC programmes. The FC became less confident. Robert threw the report down on the table and told him to read it.

The FC looked at it in silence. The figures proved that he had been wrong, but he did not want to admit it. “Well,”he finally said, “I may have made a small mistake.”Robert noticed the word “may.” He got up to leave. But he had the feeling that he would get the money after all.

【1】 “Your request is out of the question.”Here “out of the question”means______.

A. without any question B. with some question.

C. impossible. D. possible.

【2】Robert decided to make more programmes because________.

A. he wanted to meet the needs of the listeners.

B. /span>“the FC”disliked him

C. the members of his department wanted him to do so.

D. he wanted to show himself off.

【3】Why were more and more people listening to Robert’s programmes?

A. Because he always lost his temper.

B. Because he disliked “the FC.”

C. Because the programmes were rich and to the taste of the listeners.

D. It isn’t mentioned directly in the text..

【4】Who do you think won the argument in the end?

A. The Financial Controller. B. Robert.

C. Nobody. D. The listeners.

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