考研英语历年真题阅读理解精读笔记。
TEXT 3
When prehistoric man arrived in new parts of the world, something strange happened to the large animals. They suddenly became extinct. Smaller species survived. The large, slow growing animals were easy game, and were quickly hunted to extinction.Now something similar could be happening in the oceans.
That the seas are being overfished has been known for years. What researchers such as Ransom Myers and Boris Worm have shown is just how fast things are changing. They have looked at half a century of data from fisheries around the world. Their methods do not attempt to estimate the actual biomass (the amount of living biological matter) of fish species in particular parts of the ocean, but rather changes in that biomass over time. According to their latest paper published in Nature, the biomass of large predators (animals that kill and eat other animals) in a new fishery is reduced on average by 80% within 15 years of the start of exploitation. In some long fished areas, it has halved again since then.
Dr. Worm acknowledges that these figures are conservative. One reason for this is that fishing technology has improved. Today’s vessels can find their prey using satellites and sonar, which were not available 50 years ago. That means a higher proportion of what is in the sea is being caught, so the real difference between present and past is likely to be worse than the one recorded by changes in catch sizes. In the early days, too, longlines would have been more saturated with fish. Some individuals would therefore not have been caught, since no baited hooks would have been available to trap them, leading to an underestimate of fish stocks in the past. Furthermore, in the early days of longline fishing, a lot of fish were lost to sharks after they had been hooked. That is no longer a problem, because there are fewer sharks around now.
Dr. Myers and Dr. Worm argue that their work gives a correct baseline, which future management efforts must take into account. They believe the data support an idea current among marine biologists, that of the "shifting baseline". The notion is that people have failed to detect the massive changes which have happened in the ocean because they have been looking back only a relatively short time into the past. That matters because theory suggests that the maximum sustainable yield that can be cropped from a fishery comes when the biomass of a target species is about 50% of its original levels. Most fisheries are well below that, which is a bad way to do business.
31. The extinction of large prehistoric animals is noted to suggest that .
［A］ large animals were vulnerable to the changing environment
［B］ small species survived as large animals disappeared
［C］ large sea animals may face the same threat today
［D］ slow growing fish outlive fast growing ones
32. We can infer from Dr. Myers and Dr. Worm’s paper that .
［A］ the stock of large predators in some old fisheries has reduced by 90%
［B］ there are only half as many fisheries as there were 15 years ago
［C］ the catch sizes in new fisheries are only 20% of the original amount
［D］ the number of larger predators dropped faster in new fisheries than in the old
33. By saying "these figures are conservative"(line 1, paragraph 3), Dr. worm means that .
［A］ fishing technology has improved rapidly
［B］ the catch sizes are actually smaller than recorded
［C］ the marine biomass has suffered a greater loss
［D］ the data collected so far are out of date
34. Dr. Myers and other researchers hold that .
［A］ people should look for a baseline that can work for a longer time
［B］ fisheries should keep the yields below 50% of the biomass
［C］ the ocean biomass should be restored to its original level
［D］ people should adjust the fishing baseline to changing situation.
35. The author seems to be mainly concerned with most fisheries .
［A］ management efficiency
［B］ biomass level
［C］ catch size limits
［D］ technological application
account22 n.①账（目，户）；②叙述，说明；③价值，地位；v.（for）①说明，解释；②占；③（take into）考虑；顾及
acknowledge4 v.①承认，认为；②致谢；③确认
amount10 n.数量，总额；v.（to）合计，总共达，等于
application4 n.①请求，申请（书，表）；②应用，运用；③施用，敷用
argue19 v.①争论，辩论；②认为，主张，论证；③说服
attempt6 v.（to）尝试，试图；n.（at）企图，努力
author69 n.①作者；②创始人
available18 a.①可用的，可得到的；②可以见到的，随时可来的
average17 n.平均（数）；a.①平均的；②普通的，一般的；v.平均，均分
bait1 n.诱饵；vt.引诱
business36 n.①商业，生意；②事务，业务，职责；③企业；④贸易量；⑤行业，业务
concern20 v.①涉及，关系到；②（常与with，about，in连用）关心，挂念；③担心，担忧；n.①（利害）关系；②关心，挂念；③担心，担忧
conservative5 a.保守的，守旧的；n.保守主义者
current7 n.①电流，水流，气流；②潮流，趋势；a.①当前的，现在的；②通用的，流行的，最近的
data22 n.（datum的复数）资料，数据
detect4 v.察觉，发觉，侦察，探测
disappear4 v.不见，消失
efficiency5 n.①效率；②功效
environment12 n.环境，外界
estimate5 v./n.估计，估价
extinct1 a.①灭绝的；②熄灭了的
figure10 n.①体形；②数字；③图形；④人物；v.（out）算出，估计，推测
furthermore5 ad.而且，此外
hook2 n.钩，吊钩，钩状物；v.钩住
hunt4 v./n.①打猎，猎取；②（for）搜索；③寻找
individual21 a.①个人的，单独的；②独特的；n.个人，个体
infer21 v.推论，推断
lead21 v.①领导，引导；②领先，占首位；③（to）通向，导致，引起；④经验，过（生活）；n.带领，引导；n.铅
management11 n.①经营，管理；②管理部门
marine1 a.①海的，海生的；②船舶的，航海的
massive3 a.①巨大的；大规模的；②严重的
maximum2 n.最大值，极限；a.最大的，最高的
nature14 n.①自然界，大自然；②性质，本性，天性
note9 n.①笔记，记录；②按语，注释；③便条，短笺；④钞票，纸币；⑤暗示，建议v.①记下，摘下；②表明，认为
notion7 n.概念，想法，意念，看法，观点
original3 a.①最初的，原始的，原文的；②新颖的，有独创性的；n.原物，原作，原文
present16 a.①出席的，到场的；②现在的，目前的；n.①现在，目前；②礼物，赠品；v.①赠（送），呈献；②介绍，陈述；③提出，呈交；④上演
prey1 n.①被捕食的动物，捕获物；②受害者；v.猎取食物
proportion3 n.①比例；②部分，份儿；③均衡，相称
publish3 v.①出版，刊印；②公布，发表
reason26 n.①理由，原因；②理性，理智；v.①推论，推理；②说服，评理；③讨论，辩论
restore3 v.①恢复，使回复；②归还，交还；③修复，重建
satellite4 n.卫星，人造卫星
saturate1 v.使饱和，浸透，使充满
shark2 n.鲨鱼
shift12 v.①替换，转移；②移动；n.①转换，转变；②（轮）班，（换）班
species7 n.（物）种，种类
stock9 n.①备料，库存，现货；②股票，公债；③无生命之物；④群，家庭，家系；v.储存
suffer4 v.①（from）受痛苦，患病；②受损失；③遭受；④忍受，忍耐
survive11 v.①幸免于，幸存；②比...长命
target5 n.目标，对象，靶子；vt.以...为目标
technology27 n.工艺，技术
theory20 n.①理论，原理；②学说，见解，看法；③看法，观点
threat9 n.①恐吓，威胁；②坏兆头，危险迹象
trap2 n.陷阱，圈套；v.诱捕，使中圈套
underestimate2 v.低估
vessel2 n.①容器，器皿；②船，舰；③管，血管
vulnerable3 a.易受攻击的，易受...的攻击
yield3 v.①出产，生长；②（to）屈服，服从；n.产量，收获
according47 ad.依照，根据
adjust3 v.调节，调整，校正
baseline2 n.基准线
biological3 a.生物学的
biologist3 n.生物学家
biomass3 n.生物量
exploitation2 n.①开发，开采；②剥削，利用
extinction1 n.灭绝，消失
fishery4 n.渔业，渔场
halve1 v.平分，减半
latest8 a.最近的
longline2 n.多钩长线
outlive2 vt.比...长寿
overfish1 vt.捕捞过度
predator1 n.食肉动物
prehistoric1 a.史前的，陈旧的
relatively4 ad.相关地
sonar1 n.声纳
sustainable1 a.可以忍受的，养得起的
technological9 a.科技的
