2014年5月25日托福阅读真题P1+题目+答案：The Long History of Overexploitation

2014年5月25日托福阅读真题P1+题目+答案：The Long History of Overexploitation

Overexploitation is the overuse by humans of a population of organisms to an extent that threatens the viability of the population or radically alters the natural community in which it lives. There is a tendency to think that overexploitation is a relatively new phenomenon. However, that view is a bit naïve, as we will see in some examples of past overexploitation.

1. The word ”viability” in the passage is closet in meaning to

A.ability to exist

B.mobility

C.rate of growth

D.ability to change

After the most recent glaciation, which was at its height between about 20,000 and 14,000 years ago, the grasslands in central North America harbored an extraordinary array of large animals. The diversity of antelope, horses, cheetahs, giant ground sloths, mammoths, mastodons, and other animals easily rivaled that of the large animal fauna of Africa today. However, about 11,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene epoch, many disappeared; 34 genera of large mammals became extinct in fewer than 1,000 years, while 40 more became extinct in South America. This was a massive die-off when you consider that only 20 large mammal genera had become extinct in North America over the previous three million years.

Is it a coincidence that so many large mammals became extinct shortly after the time that humans, crossing from Siberia to Alaska, probably first arrived in the Western Hemisphere? Paul Martin, an anthropologist, thinks not and has argued in many articles and books that overhunting was primarily responsible for the extinctions. Martin’s critics have argued that the extinctions were primarily the result of significant climate change. If climate change was responsible, we would expect many small mammals, primarily rodents, to have become extinct in the region, too; however, only four North American genera of small animals became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene, compared with 46 genera over the preceding three million years. On the other hand, perhaps small mammals are less susceptible to climate change than large mammals are. We cannot definitely say which answer is correct, and the truth may lie in the middle, but many scientists believe that the end of the Pleistocene saw a massive overkill by the first human inhabitants of the Americas.

2. According to paragraphs 2 and 3, all of the following are true of the diversity of large mammals in the North American grasslands after the most recent glaciation EXCEPT:

A.It was easily as great as the diversity of large animals in Africa today.

B.It diminished significantly over a period of fewer than 1,000 years.

C.It was probably reduced by both climate change and hunting at the end of the Pleistocene epoch.

D.It was much greater than the diversity of small animal populations during the Pleistocene epoch.

3. Why does the author mention that “20 large mammal genera had become extinct in North America over the previous three million years”?

A.To give an example of extinction that was caused by overexploitation by humans

B.To cast doubt on the idea that the extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene epoch were unique or notable

C.To provide evidence for the idea that large mammal species were able to flourish in central North America after the glaciation

D.To emphasize the significance of the number of extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene epoch

4. Which of the following statements best describes anthropologist Paul Martin’s views on Pleistocene extinction as explained in paragraph 3?

A.It is a coincidence that so many large mammals became extinct shortly after humans first arrived in the Western Hemisphere.

B.Overhunting was primarily responsible for the extinction of large mammals after the arrival of humans in the Western Hemisphere.

C.The massive extinction of large animal species was due to the severe climate changes at the end of the Pleistocene epoch.

D.The extinction of large mammals was caused by the extinction of small rodents that large animals hunted for food.

5. 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.We cannot definitely say whether or not a massive overkill happened at the end of the Pleistocene, despite what many scientists believe.

B.We cannot definitely say whether the massive overkill by the first human inhabitants of the Americas occurred in the middle of the end of the Pleistocene.

C.Although it is difficult to know for sure, many scientists believe that the first human inhabitants were responsible for an overkill of mammals at the end of the Pleistocene.

D.Many scientists believe that many of the first human inhabitants of the Americas did not survive the climate changes at the end of the Pleistocene.

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