2017年12月英语四级阅读练习（二）
One thing the tour books don‘t tell you about London is that 2,000 of itsresidents are foxes. As native as the royal family, they fled the city about
centuries ago after developers and pollution moved in. But now that the
environment is cleaner, the foxes have come home, one of the many wild animals
that have moved into urban areas around the world. ―The number and variety of
wild animals in urban areas is increasing,‖ says Gomer Jones, president of the
National Institute for Urban Wildlife, in Columbia, Maryland. A survey of the
wildlife in New York‘s Central Park last year tallied the species of mammals,
including muskrats, shrews and flying squirrels. A similar survey conducted in
the 1890s counted only five species. One of the country‘s largest populations of
raccoons(浣熊)now lives in Washington D.C., and moose(驼鹿)are regularly seen
wandering into Maine towns. Peregrine falcons(游隼)dive from the window ledges of
buildings in the largest U.S. cities to prey on pigeons. Several changes have
brought wild animals to the cities. Foremost is that air and water quality in
many cities has improved as a result of the 1970s‘ pollution-control efforts.
Meanwhile, rural areas have been built up, leaving many animals on the edges of
suburbia. In addition, conservationists have created urban wildlife refuges. The
Greater London Council last year spent $750,000 to buy land and build 10
permanent wildlife refuges in the city. Over 1,000 volunteers have donated money
and cleared rubble from derelict lots. As a result, pheasants now strut in the
East End and badgers scuttle across lawns near the center of town. A colony of
rare house martins nests on a window ledge beside Harrods, and one evening last
year a fox was seen on Westminster Bridge looking up at Big Ben.
For peregrine falcons, cities are actually safer than rural cliff
dwellings. By 1970 the birds were extinct east of the Mississippi because the
DDT had made their eggs too thin to support life. That year, ornithologist Tom
Cade of Cornell University began rising the birds for release in cities, for
cities afforded abundant food and contained none of the peregrine‘s natural
predators. "Before they were exterminated, some migrated to cities on their own
because they had run out of cliff space," Cade says. ―To peregrines, buildings
are just like cliffs.‖ He has released about 30 birds since 1975 in New York,
Baltimore, Philadelphia and Norfolk, and of the 20 pairs now living in the East,
half are urbanites. ―A few of the young ones have gotten into trouble by falling
down chimneys and crashing into window-glass, but overall their adjustment has
been successful.‖
62. The first paragraph suggests that ________.
environment is crucial for wildlife
tour books are not always a reliable source of information
London is a city of fox
foxes are highly adaptable to environment
63. The selection is primarily concerned with ________.
wildlife of all kinds returning to large cities to live
falcons in New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Norfolk
moose stumbling into plate-glass storefronts
foxes returning to London
64. In the 4th paragraph the pheasants, badgers, and martins etc. are
mentioned to ________.
explain their living habit
make known their habitat
show the endeavors of Londoners to make the city habitable for
wildlife
encourage volunteers to do something for the species
65. The main idea of paragraph 3 is ________.
that air and water quality has improved in the cities
why wildlife likes the noise and commotion in the cities
that wildlife refuges have been built in the cities
why wildlife is returning to cities
66. Cities make good homes for peregrine falcons because they provide
________.
bountiful nesting areas, abundant food, and rainwater control
basins
abundant food, buildings that resemble cliffs, and no natural
predators
large buildings with chimneys other wildlife, and well-lighted nesting
areas
abundant food, chimneys, rubble, and window sills
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