托福阅读真题+题目+答案：Euglena : Ecosystem Engineers

托福阅读真题+题目+答案：Euglena : Ecosystem Engineers

In 1995 an extremophile, or organism that thrives in extreme environments, was discovered in the United States in a lake outside of Butte, Montana. The body of water where it lives, known as the Berkeley Pit, is a former open-pit copper mine that is slowly filling with groundwater that dissolves heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and aluminum from the mine's 2,000-foot-deep surface; the dissolved metals mix with the water to form a toxic (poisonous) solution. The Berkeley Pit is the largest hazardous waste site targeted for cleanup in the United States. As 2.6 million gallons of groundwater seep into the pit every day, the toxic brew edges ever closer to spilling into the Clark Fork River, which makes its way to the Columbia River and out to the ocean, representing a massive-scale ecological threat to the fisheries and communities in these areas.

1.Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A Ever-increasing toxic liquid from the Berkeley Pit site is in danger of spilling into rivers that eventually flow into the ocean, threatening the ecology of nearby fisheries and communities.

B The Clark Fork River, which is the closest river to the Berkeley Pit, empties into the ocean,causing millions of gallons of toxic liquid to spill into the ocean every day.

C The activities of fisheries and communities near the Berkeley Pit create an increasing amount of toxic groundwater, which spills into nearby rivers and then into the ocean.

D The Berkeley Pit represents a massive threat to the water quality of nearby rivers and to the fish that live in them.

In 1995 an extremophile, or organism that thrives in extreme environments, was discovered in the United States in a lake outside of Butte, Montana. The body of water where it lives, known as the Berkeley Pit, is a former open-pit copper mine that is slowly filling with groundwater that dissolves heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and aluminum from the mine's 2,000-foot-deep surface; the dissolved metals mix with the water to form a toxic (poisonous) solution. The Berkeley Pit is the largest hazardous waste site targeted for cleanup in the United States. As 2.6 million gallons of groundwater seep into the pit every day, the toxic brew edges ever closer to spilling into the Clark Fork River, which makes its way to the Columbia River and out to the ocean, representing a massive-scale ecological threat to the fisheries and communities in these areas.

2.According to paragraph 1, the Berkeley Pit is a favorable habitat for extremophiles because

A it is filling up slowly with groundwater

B it is extremely deep

C it contains a toxic solution of dissolved metals

D it once contained large amounts of copper

Though the water in the pit is as acidic as lemon juice and considered inhospitable to life, a novel species has emerged and is slowly but surely changing the lake's toxic brew to one more habitable. An analytic chemist studying the lake noticed a clump of green slime floating in the lake and brought a sample to Dr. Grant Mitman of Montana Tech. Mitman brought his colleagues Don and Andrea Stierle into the lab, and they identified the slime as a colony of Euglena mutabilis , a single-celled organism that forms algae-like mats. How Euglena came to grow in the Berkeley Pit is unknown, although some attribute its spread to a flock of 350 snow geese that landed (and subsequently died) in the lake several months prior to the discovery of the organism. The geese may have carried reproductive material of the Euglena in their feces (waste matter).

3.Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about the discovery of Euglena in the Berkeley Pit?

A It had been predicted for years by researchers at Montana Tech.

B It was originally thought to be algae.

C It was disputed by scientists who argued that the green slime was a common organism typically found in the feces of geese.

D It was a great surprise to scientists who until then did not believe that life could exist there.

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