Naturally, a group of animals as diverse as the snakes, and with so many varied enemies. there are numerous defensive reactions and devices. There is. however, one general pattern of behavior. In the presence of suspected enemy the first reaction is to try to escape observation; if this fails, the next resort is the flight co some inaccessible retreat, but if this is not possible, or is circumvented. various kinds of intimidatory gestures and warning devices are brought into play; in the last resort the snake attacks. This pattern vanes with the circumstances; some stages may be omitted or combined unpredictably whilst all some notoriously irascible species may dispense with all the preliminaries and attack almost at once. though seldom or never without some provocation.
Amongst the factors that increase aggressiveness are hunger, the mating season and surprise, with the last mentioned the commonest; when hunting for food or for mate. activity and the aggressive instinct are both at their peak. Owing to their poor sense of hearing snakes are very liable to be, quite literally, caught napping and a similar situation arises during their periods of temporary blindness just before sloughing (蜕皮)begins. By far the greatest number of snake-bit accidents result from the unwitting disturbance of resting snakes. and this hazard is much increased with species that are well disguised and whose natural instinct is to trust to this concealment as their principal defense. As well as differences in aggressiveness between individuals of the same species according to the circumstances and conditions, there are also notable differences between species, even closely allied species; and the reports of those who have been attacked may understandably be lacking in objectivity. So it is impossible to forecast. even in outline, how any encounter will develop.
The Hamadryad, for example, is usually credited with being amongst the most aggressive of snakes. and there are many accounts of unprovoked attacks, yet on one occasion fourteen men and seven dogs passed and returned within two yards from a nest and no snake was seen although the female. which guards the nest, could not have been far away.
1.When a snake meets a potential enemy, its primary device is______________.
A) avoiding any observation
B) Finding a safe shelter
C) giving a warning threat
D) starting a quick attack
2.The underlined phrase "dispense with all the preliminaries" in Paragraph I most probably means________________.
A) the snakes combine all the previous three steps
B) the snakes give up all the previous three steps
C) che snakes follow all the previous steps one by one
D) the snakes reverse the order of all the previous steps
3.A snake is most aggressive when_______________.
A) it meets a possible enemy
B) it is caught when it is sleeping or sloughing
C) it is disturbed unknowingly
D) it seeks a partner in che mating season
4.It is difficult to predict what would happen when a snake meets a man because____________.
A) no one bas ever clearly known how he himself was bit
B) man tends to be subjective when he describes his encounter with a snake
C) the aggressiveness of the snakes differs according to diverse situations
D) a snake does not begin co attack without provocation
5. The author uses the example in the last paragraph m support his idea that___________.
A) snakes do not begin the aggressive act if it is not disturbed
B) some snakes are more aggressive and more ready to attack
C) it is hard to forecast whether and how snakes would attack
D) snakes often conceal themselves as their principal defense
参考答案与解析：
1.当蛇遇到了潜在的敌人，它主要的做法会是______________。
A)避开任何监视
B)找一个安全的庇护场所
C)给出一个警告威胁
D)开始快速攻击
[A]首段第3句提到了蛇遇到可疑敌人时的行为模式：首先躲开对方的监视，第二步是寻找安全藏身处，第三是向对方发出警告，最后实施攻击，因此选项A为本题答案。选项B、C和D分别是对第二、第三和最后一步的近义替换，因此都不是正确答案。
2.第1段里含有下划线的短语“dispense with all the preliminaries"的意思最可能是_________。
A)蛇结合了所有之前的三个步骤
B)蛇会放弃所有之前的三个步骤
C)蛇会依据之前的步骤一步一步进行
D)蛇会保留所有之前步骤的顺序
[B]首段最后一句中dispense with的前面提到过some stages may be omitted or combined，而下文提到attack almost at once,这税明dispense with应表示有些蛇不做前几个步骤，而立刻展开进攻，因此它的意思应等同于omit“免除，省略”，也即选项B中的give up。其他选项语法上都说得通，但是与下文的attack almost at once不一致，因此都不是正确答案。
3.蛇最有攻击性的时候是______________。
A)遇到了可能是敌人的动物
B)在睡觉或蜕皮的时候给提住
C)在其没有防备的情况下受到干扰
D)在交配季节求偶的时候
[D]第2段首句中第2个分句的mate一词与选项D同义，因此选项D为本题答案。其他选项都在文中提到过，也是蛇会对敌人实施还击的情况，但是这三个干扰项和正确选项之间的区别就在于，文中没有提到在这些情况下“A snake is most aggressiv。(蛇最 具有攻击性)”，因此本题要紧扣第2段首句和其中的peak这个单词。
4.很难预测当蛇遇到人的时候会发生什么事情，因为________________。
A)从来就没有人知道是怎么被蛇攻击的
B)在形容与蛇遭遇的情形时，人们总是主观性较强
C)在不同的情况下蛇的攻击性程度都不一样
D)没有遭到挑衅的话，蛇是不会攻击人的
[C]第2段最后两句由So连接，显示倒数第2句是原因，最后一句是结果。选项C是对倒数第2句的概括，为本题答案。选项A和选项D与题干之间没什么关联，易排除;选项B虽然与该段倒数第2句的后一个分句意思相符，但它只是作为附加信息以说明蛇的个体行为差异很大，故也可排除。
5.在最后一个段落中，作者使用了例子来支持他的观点：
A)如果不受干扰的话，蛇是不会率先发起攻击行为的。
B)一些蛇更具攻击性，也更趋向随时进行攻击。
C)很难预测蛇是否会做出攻击，会怎样做出攻击。
D)蛇主要的防卫方式就是隐藏自己。
[C]第3段开头就有for example这个标志性的词组，表明这一句是为了支持上文的例子。结合第2段末句可知，第3段是为了证明其不可预测性的，故C正确。
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