A
(绵阳中学模拟考试)
When I was little, I saw tons of bats flying around streetlights at night in my neighborhood in upstate New York.
By the time I turned 7, I noticed something strange: All the bats in my neighborhood had vanished,_and I wondered why. Later I learned what had happened to my town's bats. A disease called “white nose syndrome (白鼻综合征)” had killed 93 percent of New York State's bats (and about 6 million bats across the country)! I was shocked. I asked the bat biologist what I could do to help, and she said, “Tell others what's been happening. Help people understand that bats are important to our environment and need to be protected.”
I thought I must teach people about bats. My first stop? The library, where I eventually checked out every book on bats they had. Next, I started a Facebook page called Buddies for Bats and posted any photos, facts, and videos that I could find. Then I wrote a letter to the host of an environmental program on my local radio station, asking if they'd do a show on bats. (They did！)
But I still wanted to find a way to educate people face to face. I managed to make a presentation to a school. I also used tools to describe how bats help farmers (and protect our food supply) by eating cropdamaging insects.
I practiced my presentation until it shone like a polished stone. It went over so well that other teachers started requesting me. Over the past three years, I've talked in front of everyone from 5yearolds to senior citizens! The more I present, the more I notice that I am changing minds. I have watched people go from dismissing bats as “disgusting (令人厌恶的)” to truly understanding them and advocating their protection.
Right now, I'm thinking of becoming a marine biologist (海洋生物学家) someday. As long as I'm helping animals, I'll be happy.
本文是一篇记叙文。文章主要讲述了作者帮助保护蝙蝠的故事。
1．When the author was little, bats ________.
A．lived mainly in the south of America
B．were well protected in upstate New York
C．did great harm to the natural environment
D．existed in large quantities in upstate New York
答案：D
解析：细节理解题。由第一段中的“...tons of bats flying around streetlights at night in my neighborhood in upstate New York”可知，作者小时候，晚上能看到成群的蝙蝠，由此可知，那时纽约北部的蝙蝠数目极多。
2．The underlined word “vanished” in Paragraph 2 can best be replaced by “________”．
A．reproduced B．disappeared
C．starved D．expanded
答案：B
解析：词义猜测题。由第二段中的“A disease called ‘white nose syndrome (白鼻综合征)’ had killed 93 percent of New York State's bats (and about 6 million bats across the country)！”可知，一种被称为“白鼻综合征”的疾病杀死了纽约州93%的蝙蝠(全美约六百万只蝙蝠死亡)。由此推断，作者看到蝙蝠都消失了。
3．Paragraphs 3 and 4 mainly talk about ________.
A．the author's efforts to help protect bats
B．how the author started Buddies for Bats
C．why the author did a radio show on bats
D．the difficulty the author had in educating people
答案：A
解析：段落大意题。由第三、四段的段首句及其后的细节展开可知，这两段主要讲述了作者为帮助人们了解蝙蝠对环境的重要性所做出的努力。
4．What can we infer about the author's presentation?
A．It was ignored by the audience.
B．It was far from satisfactory.
C．It was effective.
D．It was boring.
答案：C
解析：推理判断题。由倒数第二段中的“The more I present...and advocating their protection.”可知，作者的演讲慢慢地改变了人们的想法，人们不那么讨厌蝙蝠了，开始认识到蝙蝠的重要性，并且倡导大家保护蝙蝠。由此可推知，作者的演讲很有效。
