埃博拉危害的不仅是人类,也威胁着野生动植物
埃博拉危害的不仅是人类,也威胁着野生动植物


The Ebola virus has killed more than 1,000 people in West Africa. And it also threatens wildlife. 

One day in 1996, boys from a village in northern Gabon found a dead gorilla in the forest. They took it home, and the villagers prepared the animal for food. The World Health Organization says this started an Ebola outbreak that killed 21 people.

Years later, writer David Quammen made a reporting trip to Gabon. He met two men from that village who were there during the Ebola outbreak. They said their families were not the only ones affected. “At the time Ebola was hitting their village, they saw something strange. Nearby in the forest, they saw a pile of 13 dead gorillas.” The killer was Ebola. The story of the 13 dead gorillas outside the Gabon village shows how new infectious diseases connect humans and animals. Mr. Quammen wrote a book called Spillover: This book describes how these diseases jump, or move, from animals to people at an increasing rate.

David Quammen says many new diseases, especially viruses, seem to be developing. He says one reason is that the human population is going deeper and deeper into living areas -- where humans are finding new creatures. We’re coming in contact with these animals. And we’re giving the viruses those animals carry the opportunity to spill over into human populations.”


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1.The underlined word “threaten” means _______ in Chinese.

A 保护

B 威胁

C 维护

D 破坏

解析:选B。B 猜测词义题。结合本段意思“埃博拉害死了西部非洲1000多人,而且也威胁着野生动植物”。猜测这里答案应为B。

2.The first Ebola outbreak killed _________ people.

A 1000

B 1996

C 21

D 13

解析:选C。C 细节理解题。依据第二段的“The World Health Organization says this started an Ebola outbreak that killed 21 people.”可知埃博拉第一次爆发死了21人。故选C。

3.The book Spillover mainly talks about _________.

A how gorillas were killed in the forest by people

B a story about Ebola hit a village called Gabon

C what the writer saw during the trip to Gabon

D how infectious diseases jump, or move, from animals to people

解析:选D。D 细节理解题。由第三段的“This book describes how these diseases jump, or move, from animals to people at an increasing rate.”可知本书主要讲了这些疾病是怎样以飞快的速度从动物传到人类的。故选D。

4.From the passage, we know that viruses are developing because _______.

A people are hunting more and more animals for food

B people are going deeper and deeper into the new creatures’ living areas

C people can’t find any medicine to fight against the viruses

D human beings don’t know much about the infectious viruses

解析:选B。B 细节理解题。由第四段的“especially viruses, seem to be developing. He says one reason is that the human population is going deeper and deeper into living areas -- where humans are finding new creatures.”可知病毒在发展的原因是因为人类越来越深地进入一些新的生物的栖息地。故选B。

5.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT TRUE?

A Eating a dead gorilla’s meat causes the first Ebola outbreak.

B Boys from Gabon village found a dead gorilla in the forest.

C Less than 1,000 people in West Africa died of the Ebola virus.

D The 13 gorillas’ death shows how new infectious diseases connect humans and animals.

解析:选C。C 综合性判断题。第二段主要谈了第一次埃博拉病毒爆发的原因,因此判断A、B与原文相符;文章开头就讲了西非由于埃博拉病毒死了1000多人,判断C与原文不符,故选C。