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《考研英语阅读理解100篇 基础版》第4章 科学研究类 Unit 51

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2019年01月14日

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Nouabalé-Ndoki national park,in the Republic of Congo,is 4,200 square kilometres of virgin tropical forest that is as densely populated with elephants and great apes as it is sparsely populated with rangers.There are 14 of them,and they have failed to catch a single poacher for more than a year.That is not for lack of illegal hunting in the park.Demand for ivory is up,driven largely by consumers in Japan and an increasingly wealthy China.The value of meat from elephants,apes and other animals has also risen as loggers and miners move deeper into the country's forests.Nor is this a problem confined to Congo.Last year poachers are estimated to have killed more than 23,000 African elephants.According to a study by the University of Washington,that is about one in 17 of the continent's total. 
Nouabalé-Ndoki's rangers are,however,about to get some high-tech help in the form of TrailGuard,a system of small and easily hidden electronic detection and communication devices.They will soon begin burying radio-transmitting metal detectors alongside elephant trails leading into the park.Authorised travelers through the park will be given transponders that tell the detectors who they are,as with the“identification friend-or-foe” systems on military aircraft.But when poachers carrying rifles walk by a detector,it will send a radio signal to a treetop antenna.Seconds later the rangers will receive the intruder's co-ordinates on their satellite phones.They will then be able to respond precisely,rather than running around on fruitless and demoralising patrols on the small chance of catching a poacher up to no good. 
TrailGuard is the brainchild of Steve Gulick,an electrical engineer turned biologist who recently left the State University of New York(SUNY)to set up a not-for-profit organisation called Wildland Security,to promote his idea. Besides catching more(or,indeed,any)poachers,he hopes his invention will also prove to be an example of an idea from another one-time electrical engineer,Arthur C.Clarke.Clarke's Third Law,as it is known to fans of his science-fiction writing,is that“any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”.Many people in Congo do believe in magic and Mr.Gulick does not propose to disabuse them of the notion.Local people will receive no explanation for the rangers' new powers.That,Mr.Gulick hopes,will discourage potential poachers from turning thought into deed. 
Nor are metal detectors the only magic to be deployed.Small fire detectors hidden in trees should add to the anti-poaching unit's reputation for detection.Poachers frequently smoke meat from their kills to preserve it during transport to market.Like the metal detectors,the fire detectors will alert the rangers by satellite phone,allowing them to swoop as from nowhere. 
注(1):本文选自Economist; 
注(2):本文习题命题模仿对象为1998年真题Text 2和1997年真题Text 3第4题。 
1.According to the author,illegal hunting is _______. 
A) a shared problem in some tropical countries in Africa 
B) not as serious as it seems because the number of poachers is declining 
C) becoming less and less eyecatching due to the increased supply of ivory 
D) already effectively controlled due to the rangers’ efforts 
2.What is the author's attitude towards the technology of TrailGuard? 
A) supportive 
B) objective 
C) indifferent 
D) worried 
3.Local people's reaction to the rangers’ new power is probably that _______. 
A) they become keen of advanced technologies 
B) they fear it is some kind of magical power 
C) they tend to challenge the new technological equipment 
D) they are not concerned about the issue at all 
4.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage? 
A) Steve Gulick's invention is from Arthur C.Clarke's idea. 
B) The radio-transmitting metal detectors can distinguish between travelers and poachers. 
C) Arthur C.Clarke is known as a writer of science fictions. 
D) There are various kinds of detectors buried across the national park. 
5.It can be inferred from the passage that _______. 
A) before adopting the new technology,the rangers could not catch any poacher 
B) TrailGuard has already achieved significant success in fighting against illegal hunting 
C) poachers use fire to smoke meat of their preys so as to make food 
D) the fact that both Guilick and Clarke were electrical engineers has great influence on the invention of TrailGuard 

位于刚果共和国的诺娃贝尔多基国家公园是一片面积达4200平方公里的热带雨林处女地,林中居住着大量大象和大猩猩,而护林员的数目却相对非常少。14名护林员在过去的一年多时间内没有抓到一个偷猎者。这不是因为森林中偷猎的人很少。在日本和越来越富有的中国,消费者对于象牙的需求量很大,并且不断上升。此外,随着伐木工和矿工们不断深入这个国家的森林,大象、猩猩和其他动物的食用价值也变得越来越高。这个问题并不仅限于刚果。有数据显示去年偷猎者们猎杀了23000多头非洲象。华盛顿大学的一项调查表明,这个数字相当于非洲大陆大象总数的1/17。 
但是现在诺娃贝尔多基公园的护林员们将要开始使用一项名为“行踪警卫”的高科技手段,该系统是一个微型、易隐蔽的电子探测通讯工具。护林员们很快就会沿着大象通向国家公园的行踪埋下传播无线电的金属探测器。经过批准的森林旅游者们可以领到一个脉冲转发器,这个脉冲转发器可以使探测器确认旅游者的身份,就像战机上配备的“敌友认证”系统一样。但是当偷猎者们举着步枪经过探测器的时候,探测器就会向树顶上的天线发出无线电信号。几秒钟后护林员们就可以通过卫星电话收到入侵者们的坐标。这样他们就可以准确地作出反应,而不是盲目地在森林中进行没有成效且降低士气的巡逻(因为用这种方式抓到偷猎者的几率非常小)。 
“行踪警卫”由史蒂夫·固利克发明。固利克先生从电子工程师转行成为生物学家,他最近离开了美国纽约州立大学并创建了一个名为“野外安全”的非盈利组织,以推广他的构想。固利克先生除了通过该系统抓获更多的(或实际上是每一个)非法偷猎者,他还希望他的发明能证明另一位曾经担任过电子工程师的名叫亚瑟·克拉克的人的想法。克拉克的“第三法则”是其科幻小说读者都非常熟悉的,该法则指出“任何一种高科技都无法与魔法相区别”。许多刚果人都迷信魔法,而固利克先生并不打算破除他们的迷信。对于护林员的新能力,本地人不会得到任何解释。固利克先生希望这样能打击潜在的偷猎者,使他们(在魔力的震慑下)不会把想法变为行动。 
金属探测器并不是在林区使用的唯一魔法。隐藏在树木中的小型火事探测器也增强了护林员的侦查能力。非法偷猎者经常会在林区烟熏猎物,从而保证猎物在被运送到市场的过程中不会变质。火事探测器与金属探测器一样,发送信号到护林军的卫星电话上,使他们能够对偷猎者们进行突袭。 
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