【生态环保、自然灾害类】话题阅读练习（一） （阅读理解10篇） Passage 1 Earth is in the middle of an insect crisis, with thousands of species declining over the past several decades. Scientists have often blamed this on habitat loss or pesticide （杀虫剂）use. But a new study of butterflies in the western United States has found that warmer fall weather may be an equal, if not more, of a factor. Over the past four decades, more than 450 butterfly species have declined at an average rate of nearly 2 percent a year, according to a study published in Science. It’s already known that the western monarch butterfly has plummeted in population by 99.9 percent and was recently denied protection by Endangered Species Act in the U. S. But the study revealed lesser-known species, like the Boisduval’s blue and California’s state insect, the California dogface butterfly, are heading toward extinction. "The influence of climate change is driving those declines, which makes sense because they’re so widespread," says study leader Mathew Forister. To reach their troubling findings, the researchers combined databases of the butterfly count conducted by scientists and amateur insect enthusiasts at 72 locations in the western U. S. To focus on the contribution of climate change, the researchers made sure to include locations that were relatively undisturbed by agriculture and human development to limit the influence of other threats to butterflies such as habitat loss and pesticides. More than 200 cities across the U.S. are experiencing warmer fall seasons. In Arizona, for instance, fall temperatures have risen by 0. 2 degree Fahrenheit every decade since 1895. As for why warming falls are so harmful, it may be connected to butterflies’ hibernation-like diapause (滞育）in the fall. Warmer temperatures could be forcing the insects, most of which live around a year, to stay awake longer and starve. In other words, they’re "getting old and fragile and dying sooner". Given that butterflies are key pollinators（传花粉者),such declines predict bigger problems for plants and even whole ecosystems. Forister adds, " The climate effects will almost certainly affect many other insects; including bees. " And these effects will " damage" efforts to protect and restore butterfly habitat. 1.What does the underlined word " plummeted" mean in Paragraph 2 A. Recovered slowly. B. Decreased sharply. C. Escaped suddenly. D. Evolved rapidly. 2. What did the researchers do in Paragraph 3 A. They ruled out the effects of human activities. B. They tried to protect the habitat of butterflies. C. They refused to use amateurs’ science data. D. They identified other threats to butterflies. 3. How do warming falls affect butterflies A. They affect butterflies’ natural life cycle. B. They slow down butterflies’ aging process. C. They cause butterflies to lose more habitats. D. They force butterflies to compete for survival. 4. What is the main purpose of the text A. To discuss the importan ... ...
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