Part III Reading Comprehension (40 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
Questions 26 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Just because they can’t sing opera or ride a bicycle doesn’t mean that animals don’t have culture. There’s no better example of this than killer whales. As one of the most __26__ predators(食肉动物)，killer whales may not fit the __27__ of a cultured creature. However, these beasts of the sea do display a vast range of highly __28__ behaviors that appear to be driving their genetic development.
The word “culture” comes from the Latin “colere,” which __29__ means “to cultivate.” In other words, it refers to anything that is __30__ or learnt, rather than instinctive or natural. Among human populations, culture not only affects the way we live, but also writes itself into our genes, affecting who we are. For instance, having spent many generations hunting the fat marine mammals of the Arctic, the Eskimos of Greenland have developed certain genetic __31__ that help them digest and utilize this fat-rich diet, thereby allowing them to __32__ in their cold climate.
Like humans, killer whales have colonized a range of different __33__ across the globe, occupying every ocean basin on the planet, with an empire that __34__ from pole to pole. As such, different populations of killer whales have had to learn different hunting techniques in order to gain the upper hand over their local prey(猎物). This, in turn, has a major effect on their diet, leading scientists to __35__ that the ability to learn population-specific hunting methods could be driving the animals’ genetic development.
A) acquiredI) image
B) adaptationsJ) litereally
C) brutalK) refined
D) deliberatelyL) revolves
E) expressedM) speculate
F) extendsN) structure
G) habitatsO) thrive
H) humble
答案解析：
26. 根据“As one of the most...predators”可知此处需要一个形容词来描述虎鲸作为食肉动物的特征，brutal(残忍的)符合语境，所以选C。
27. 根据“killer whales may not fit the...of a cultured creature”可知此处需要一个名词，表示虎鲸可能不符合某种形象或观念，image(形象)符合语境，所以选I。
28. 根据“these beasts of the sea do display a vast range of highly...behaviors”可知此处需要一个形容词来描述虎鲸的行为特征，refined(精细的、高雅的)在此处可引申为“复杂的”，符合语境，所以选K。
29. 根据“The word ‘culture’ comes from the Latin ‘colere,’ which...means ‘to cultivate.’”可知此处需要一个副词来修饰means，literally(字面上地)符合语境，表示“文化”这个词字面上的意思是“培育”，所以选J。
30. 根据“it refers to anything that is...or learnt”可知此处需要一个与learnt并列的过去分词，acquired(获得、习得)符合语境，所以选A。
31. 根据“the Eskimos of Greenland have developed certain genetic...that help them digest and utilize this fat-rich diet”可知此处需要一个名词，表示因纽特人发展出的某种遗传特性或适应能力，adaptations(适应)符合语境，所以选B。
32. 根据“thereby allowing them to...in their cold climate”可知此处需要一个动词，表示因纽特人能够在寒冷的气候中生存或繁荣，thrive(繁荣、兴旺)符合语境，所以选O。
33. 根据“killer whales have colonized a range of different...across the globe”可知此处需要一个名词，表示虎鲸在全球范围内占领了不同的栖息地或环境，habitats(栖息地)符合语境，所以选G。
34. 根据“with an empire that...from pole to pole”可知此处需要一个动词，表示虎鲸的领地范围从一极延伸到另一极，extends(延伸)符合语境，所以选F。
35. 根据“leading scientists to...that the ability to learn population-specific hunting methods could be driving the animals’ genetic development”可知此处需要一个动词，表示科学家们对此进行推测或猜测，speculate(推测)符合语境，所以选M。
