📖 原文
(1) Coincident with concerns about the accelerating loss of species and habitats has been (2) a growing appreciation of the importance of biological diversity, the number of species (3) in a particular ecosystem, to the health of the Earth and human well-being. Much has (4) been written about the diversity of terrestrial organisms, particularly the exceptionally (5) rich life associated with tropical rain-forest habitats. Relatively little has been said, however, about diversity of life in the sea even though coral reef systems are comparable to rain forests in terms of richness of life. (8) An alien exploring Earth would probably give priority to the planet's dominant, most- (9) distinctive feature - the ocean. Humans have a bias toward land that sometimes gets in (10) the way of truly examining global issues. Seen from far away, it is easy to realize that (11) landmasses occupy only one-third of the Earth's surface. Given that two-thirds of the (12) Earth's surface is water and that marine life lives at all levels of the ocean, the total (13) three-dimensional living space of the ocean is perhaps 100 times greater than that of (14) land and contains more than 90 percent of all life on Earth even though the ocean has (15) fewer distinct species. (16) The fact that half of the known species are thought to inhabit the world's rain forests (17) does not seem surprising, considering the huge numbers of insects that comprise the bulk of the species. One scientist found many different species of ants in just one tree (19) from a rain forest. While every species is different from every other species, their (20) genetic makeup constrains them to be insects and to share similar characteristics with (21) 750,000 species of insects. If basic, broad categories such as phyla and classes are given more emphasis than differentiating between species, then the greatest diversity of life is unquestionably the sea. Nearly every major type of plant and animal has some representation there. (25) To appreciate fully the diversity and abundance of life in the sea, it helps to think (26) small. Every spoonful of ocean water contains life, on the order of 100 to 100,000 (27) bacterial cells plus assorted microscopic plants and animals, including larvae of organisms ranging from sponges and corals to starfish and clams and much more.
❓ 试题解析
问题 31： What is the main point of the passage?
A. Humans are destroying thousands of species.
B. There are thousands of insect species.
C. The sea is even richer in life than the rain forests.
D. Coral reefs are similar to rain forests.
✅ 正确答案： C）The sea is even richer in life than the rain forests.
📝 解析： 全文强调海洋生物多样性被忽视，实际上海洋在高级分类级别上比雨林更丰富。
💡 解题技巧： 主旨题看各段论点：海洋三维空间更大、高级分类多样性更高。
问题 32： The word “appreciation” in line 2 is closest in meaning to
A. ignorance
B. recognition
C. tolerance
D. forgiveness
✅ 正确答案： B）recognition
📝 解析： “a growing appreciation of the importance of biological diversity” — appreciation = 认识/理解。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：appreciation = recognition = understanding。
问题 33： Why does the author compare rain forests and coral reefs (lines 3-7)?
A. They are approximately the same size.
B. They share many similar species.
C. Most of their inhabitants require water.
D. Both have many different forms of life.
✅ 正确答案： D）Both have many different forms of life.
📝 解析： “coral reef systems are comparable to rain forests in terms of richness of life” — 两者生命丰富度相似。
💡 解题技巧： 例证题定位“in terms of richness of life”。
问题 34： The word “bias” in line 9 is closest in meaning to
A. concern
B. disadvantage
C. attitude
D. prejudice
✅ 正确答案： D）prejudice
📝 解析： “Humans have a bias toward land” — bias = 偏见/偏向。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：bias = prejudice = partiality。
问题 35： The passage suggests that most rain forest species are
A. insects
B. bacteria
C. mammals
D. birds
✅ 正确答案： A）insects
📝 解析： “half of the known species ... considering the huge numbers of insects that comprise the bulk of the species” — 昆虫占雨林物种的大部分。
💡 解题技巧： 细节题定位“huge numbers of insects”。
问题 36： The word “there” in line 23 refers to
A. the sea
B. the rain forests
C. a tree
D. the Earth's surface
✅ 正确答案： A）the sea
📝 解析： “Nearly every major type of plant and animal has some representation there” — there 指前文的 sea。
💡 解题技巧： 代词题找前文地点名词。
问题 37： The author argues that there is more diversity of life in the sea than in the rain forests because
A. more phyla and classes of life are represented in the sea
B. there are too many insects to make meaningful distinctions
C. many insect species are too small to divide into categories
D. marine life-forms reproduce at a faster rate
✅ 正确答案： A）more phyla and classes of life are represented in the sea
📝 解析： “If basic, broad categories such as phyla and classes are given more emphasis ... then the greatest diversity of life is unquestionably the sea” — 海洋包含更多高级分类门类。
💡 解题技巧： 因果细节题定位“phyla and classes”。
问题 38： Which of the following is NOT mentioned as an example of microscopic sea life?
A. Sponges
B. Coral
C. Starfish
D. Shrimp
✅ 正确答案： D）Shrimp
📝 解析： 文中提到 sponges, corals, starfish, clams 的 larvae，未提到 shrimp。
💡 解题技巧： “NOT”题逐项核对最后一句列举的微小生物。
问题 39： Which of the following conclusions is supported by the passage?
A. Ocean life is highly adaptive.
B. More attention needs to be paid to preserving ocean species and habitats.
C. Ocean life is primarily composed of plants.
D. The sea is highly resistant to the damage done by pollutants.
✅ 正确答案： B）More attention needs to be paid to preserving ocean species and habitats.
📝 解析： 作者指出海洋生物多样性被相对忽视（relatively little has been said），暗示需要更多关注。
💡 解题技巧： 推理题结合“relatively little has been said”和人类 bias toward land。
🌐 中文翻译
与对物种和栖息地加速丧失的担忧同时发生的，是人们越来越认识到生物多样性——特定生态系统中物种的数量——对地球健康和人类福祉的重要性。关于陆地生物多样性，特别是与热带雨林栖息地相关的异常丰富的生命，已经有很多著述。然而，关于海洋生命的多样性却相对很少被提及，尽管珊瑚礁系统在生命丰富度方面可与雨林相媲美。 一个探索地球的外星人可能会优先考虑这个星球上占主导地位、最独特的特征——海洋。人类对陆地有一种 bias，这有时会妨碍真正审视全球问题。从远处看，很容易意识到陆地只占地球表面的三分之一。考虑到地球表面的三分之二是水，而且海洋生物生活在海洋的所有层面，海洋的总三维生存空间可能是陆地的100倍，并且包含了地球上90%以上的生命，尽管海洋中 distinct 物种较少。 已知物种中有一半被认为栖息在世界雨林中，考虑到构成物种主体的昆虫数量巨大，这似乎并不令人惊讶。一位科学家仅在一棵雨林树上就发现了许多不同种类的蚂蚁。虽然每个物种都不同，但它们的 genetic makeup 将它们限制为昆虫，并与75万种昆虫 share similar characteristics。如果对 phyla 和 class 等基础的、广泛的分类给予比区分物种更多的 emphasis，那么生命最大的多样性无疑是在海洋中。几乎每一种主要类型的植物和动物都在那里有一些代表。 要充分理解海洋生命的多样和 abundance，有助于 think small。每一勺海水中都含有生命，大约有100到10万个细菌细胞，再加上各种 microscopic 植物和动物，包括从海绵、珊瑚到海星、蛤蜊等生物的幼虫，等等。
🏷️ 标签：#托福阅读 #真题解析 #备考资料
