4. A。推断题。从文章内容来看，文中不仅提到了鸟的一些习性，而且对雄鸟如何吸引雌鸟入巢了解得很清楚，可见作者可能是一位研究鸟类的专家。
(2)
Although
man has known asbestos for many hundreds of years, it was not until 160 years
ago that it was mined for the first time on the North American continent. H. W.
Johns, owner of a New York City Supply Shop for roofers, was responsible for(对…负责) the opening of that first mine.
Mr.
Johns was given a piece of asbestos which had been found in Italy. He
experimented with the material and then showed its surprising powers to his
customers. After putting on a pair of asbestos gloves, which looked much like
ordinary work gloves, he took red-hot coals from the fireplace and played with
them in his hands. How astonished the customers were to discover that he was
not burned at all. You can well imagine that he had increasing business in
asbestos roofing materials. However, because it was very expensive to transport
(carry) them from Italy to
the United States,
Mr. Johns sent out a young scientist to seek a source nearer home. This young
man found great vein(岩脉), in the province of Quebec
in Canada.
Ever
since 1881 Quebec
has led the world in the production of this unusual mineral, which is made up
of magnesium, silicon, iron, and oxygen. When it is mined, the asbestos is
heavy, just as you would expect a mineral to be. When it is separated, a
strange thing happens; the rock breaks down into fine, soft, soapy fibres(纤维).
Scientists
do not know why the rock can be separated easily into threads(线), but they have found thousands of uses
of this fireproof material, of the so-called “cloth of stone”.
