2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 51

Unit 51

Nouabalé-Ndoki national park, in the Republic of Congo, is 4,200 square kilometres of virgin tropical forest that is as densely populated with elephants and great apes as it is sparsely populated with rangers. There are 14 of them, and they have failed to catch a single poacher for more than a year. That is not for lack of illegal hunting in the park. Demand for ivory is up, driven largely by consumers in Japan and an increasingly wealthy China. The value of meat from elephants, apes and other animals has also risen as loggers and miners move deeper into the country’s forests. Nor is this a problem confined to Congo. Last year poachers are estimated to have killed more than 23,000 African elephants. According to a study by the University of Washington, that is about one in 17 of the continent’s total.

Nouabalé-Ndoki’s rangers are, however, about to get some high-tech help in the form of TrailGuard, a system of small and easily hidden electronic detection and communication devices. They will soon begin burying radio-transmitting metal detectors alongside elephant trails leading into the park. Authorised travelers through the park will be given transponders that tell the detectors who they are, as with the “identification friend-or-foe” systems on military aircraft. But when poachers carrying rifles walk by a detector, it will send a radio signal to a treetop antenna. Seconds later the rangers will receive the intruder’s co-ordinates on their satellite phones. They will then be able to respond precisely, rather than running around on fruitless and demoralising patrols on the small chance of catching a poacher up to no good.

TrailGuard is the brainchild of Steve Gulick, an electrical engineer turned biologist who recently left the State University of New York（SUNY）to set up a not-for-profit organisation called Wildland Security, to promote his idea. Besides catching more（or, indeed, any）poachers, he hopes his invention will also prove to be an example of an idea from another one-time electrical engineer, Arthur C. Clarke. Clarke’s Third Law, as it is known to fans of his science-fiction writing, is that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Many people in Congo do believe in magic and Mr. Gulick does not propose to disabuse them of the notion. Local people will receive no explanation for the rangers’ new powers. That, Mr. Gulick hopes, will discourage potential poachers from turning thought into deed.

Nor are metal detectors the only magic to be deployed. Small fire detectors hidden in trees should add to the anti-poaching unit’s reputation for detection. Poachers frequently smoke meat from their kills to preserve it during transport to market. Like the metal detectors, the fire detectors will alert the rangers by satellite phone, allowing them to swoop as from nowhere.

注（1）：本文選自Economist；

注（2）：本文習題命題模仿對象為1998年真題Text 2和1997年真題Text 3第4題。

1. According to the author, illegal hunting is _______.

A) a shared problem in some tropical countries in Africa

B) not as serious as it seems because the number of poachers is declining

C) becoming less and less eyecatching due to the increased supply of ivory

D) already effectively controlled due to the rangers’ efforts

2. What is the author’s attitude towards the technology of TrailGuard?

A) supportive

B) objective

C) indifferent

D) worried

3. Local people’s reaction to the rangers’ new power is probably that _______.

A) they become keen of advanced technologies

B) they fear it is some kind of magical power

C) they tend to challenge the new technological equipment

D) they are not concerned about the issue at all

4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A) Steve Gulick’s invention is from Arthur C. Clarke’s idea.

B) The radio-transmitting metal detectors can distinguish between travelers and poachers.

C) Arthur C. Clarke is known as a writer of science fictions.

D) There are various kinds of detectors buried across the national park.

5. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

A) before adopting the new technology, the rangers could not catch any poacher

B) TrailGuard will be expected to achieve significant success in fighting against illegal hunting

C) poachers use fire to smoke meat of their preys so as to make food

D) the fact that both Guilick and Clarke were electrical engineers has great influence on the invention of TrailGuard

篇章剖析

本文是一篇說明文，介紹諾娃貝爾多基國家公園如何通過高科技手段來提高與偷獵者作斗爭的效率。第一段先說明了國家公園里存在著嚴重偷獵問題，而傳統(tǒng)的守林方式已經(jīng)無法繼續(xù)對公園里的生物進行有效的保護；第二段介紹了一種電子探測通訊工具的特點和功能；第三段介紹了這種工具的發(fā)明者；最后一段則簡要介紹了另一種高科技工具。

詞匯注釋

ranger /?re?nd??/ n. 巡邏騎兵；護林員

poacher /?p??t??/ n. 偷獵者

detection /d??tek??n/ n. 探測

trail /tre?l/ n. 蹤跡，痕跡，形跡

transponder /tr?n?sp?nd?/ n. 【無】脈沖轉發(fā)器

foe /f??/ n. 反對者，敵人

rifle /?ra?fl/ n. 來復槍，步槍

antenna /?n?ten?/ n. 天線

intruder /?n?tru?d?/ n. 入侵者

demoralise /d??m?r?la?z/ v. 士氣受挫

patrol /p??tr??l/ n. 巡邏

難句突破

TrailGuard is the brainchild of Steve Gulick, an electrical engineer turned biologist who recently left the State University of New York（SUNY）to set up a not-for-profit organisation called Wildland Security, to promote his idea.

主體句式：TrailGuard is the brainchild of Steve Gulick.

結構分析：這個長句看上去結構復雜，其實其主句非常短，而后面部分都是Steve Gulick的同位語，用來補充說明Steve Gulick這個人物。同位語中包括了一個定語從句，而最后的不定式結構是對前面“建立非營利組織”的補充。

句子譯文：“行蹤警衛(wèi)”由史蒂夫·固利克發(fā)明。固利克先生從電子工程師轉行成為生物學家，他最近離開了美國紐約州立大學并創(chuàng)建了一個名為“野外安全”的非盈利組織，以推廣他的構想。

題目分析

1. A 細節(jié)題。文章第一段提到偷獵并不是剛果一個國家的問題，可見這一問題存在于非洲的一些熱帶國家，是他們共有的問題。而B、C和D選項的表述均與第一段的文意相反。

2. B 情感態(tài)度題。本文作者自始至終都以非?？陀^的角度介紹“行蹤警衛(wèi)”技術，沒有加入個人的觀點，即使是對該技術一些成果的表述也不是作者自己的看法，而是引用事實或者他人的評價。

3. B 細節(jié)題。文章第三段指出固利克先生不會向本地人解釋這種科技產(chǎn)品的原理和能力，從而利用當?shù)厝诵欧钅Хǖ男睦韥頊p少偷獵行為，由此可以推出當?shù)厝藢@種未知的“魔力”會產(chǎn)生恐懼感。

4. A 細節(jié)題。文章第三段中指出固利克從亞瑟·克拉克那里學到的是讓人們以為科技是魔力的想法，而不是他的發(fā)明靈感，因此A選項的意思不正確。

5. B 推理題。文章第三段提到這項技術幾乎幫助抓獲了每一個偷獵者，因此是非常成功的。A選項的錯誤原因在于，采用新技術之前護林員們抓獲偷獵者的幾率很低，但并不是完全抓不到。C選項的錯誤原因在于偷獵者們熏肉主要是為了能夠長時間地保存動物尸體。D選項的錯誤原因在于兩個人的背景對于“行蹤警衛(wèi)”的發(fā)明沒有直接影響。

參考譯文

位于剛果共和國的諾娃貝爾多基國家公園是一片面積達4200平方公里的熱帶雨林處女地，林中居住著大量大象和大猩猩，而護林員的數(shù)目卻相對非常少。14名護林員在過去的一年多時間內(nèi)沒有抓到一個偷獵者。這不是因為森林中偷獵的人很少。在日本和越來越富有的中國，消費者對于象牙的需求量很大，并且不斷上升。此外，隨著伐木工和礦工們不斷深入這個國家的森林，大象、猩猩和其他動物的食用價值也變得越來越高。這個問題并不僅限于剛果。有數(shù)據(jù)顯示去年偷獵者們獵殺了23000多頭非洲象。華盛頓大學的一項調查表明，這個數(shù)字相當于非洲大陸大象總數(shù)的1/17。

但是現(xiàn)在諾娃貝爾多基公園的護林員們將要開始使用一項名為“行蹤警衛(wèi)”的高科技手段，該系統(tǒng)是一個微型、易隱蔽的電子探測通訊工具。護林員們很快就會沿著大象通向國家公園的行蹤埋下傳播無線電的金屬探測器。經(jīng)過批準的森林旅游者們可以領到一個脈沖轉發(fā)器，這個脈沖轉發(fā)器可以使探測器確認旅游者的身份，就像戰(zhàn)機上配備的“敵友認證”系統(tǒng)一樣。但是當偷獵者們舉著步槍經(jīng)過探測器的時候，探測器就會向樹頂上的天線發(fā)出無線電信號。幾秒鐘后護林員們就可以通過衛(wèi)星電話收到入侵者們的坐標。這樣他們就可以準確地作出反應，而不是盲目地在森林中進行沒有成效且降低士氣的巡邏（因為用這種方式抓到偷獵者的幾率非常?。?

“行蹤警衛(wèi)”由史蒂夫·固利克發(fā)明。固利克先生從電子工程師轉行成為生物學家，他最近離開了美國紐約州立大學并創(chuàng)建了一個名為“野外安全”的非盈利組織，以推廣他的構想。固利克先生除了通過該系統(tǒng)抓獲更多的（或實際上是每一個）非法偷獵者，他還希望他的發(fā)明能證明另一位曾經(jīng)擔任過電子工程師的名叫亞瑟·克拉克的人的想法?？死说摹暗谌▌t”是其科幻小說讀者都非常熟悉的，該法則指出“任何一種高科技都無法與魔法相區(qū)別”。許多剛果人都迷信魔法，而固利克先生并不打算破除他們的迷信。對于護林員的新能力，本地人不會得到任何解釋。固利克先生希望這樣能打擊潛在的偷獵者，使他們（在魔力的震懾下）不會把想法變?yōu)樾袆印?

金屬探測器并不是在林區(qū)使用的唯一魔法。隱藏在樹木中的小型火事探測器也增強了護林員的偵查能力。非法偷獵者經(jīng)常會在林區(qū)煙熏獵物，從而保證獵物在被運送到市場的過程中不會變質?；鹗绿綔y器與金屬探測器一樣，發(fā)送信號到護林軍的衛(wèi)星電話上，使他們能夠對偷獵者們進行突襲。