It's perhaps the world's most famous underwater attraction that remained in film and in legend：the Titanic.But now experts say the ocean liner，once a wonder of the high seas，is falling to pieces.
Capt.Alfred McLaren，the scientist who in July led the most recent expedition to the ship's underwater grave，said his team saw clear signs of the accelerating damage of the wreck （殘?。?There was damage likely caused by rust and sea life，and the captain's cabin had collapsed.
"I was absolutely astonished，" McLaren said.
Worse still，the fallen mast （桅桿） that crushed the ship's deck is believed by many to be the result of an unapproved salvage （打撈） operation. "It was almost depressing to see how quickly she was getting worse，" McLaren says. "I would be really surprised if there's very much standing up from the bottom，two decades from now."
Ed Kamuda，who runs the Titanic Historical Society in Springfield，Mass.，says adventure tourists ― who pay ＄36，000 each to visit the wreck ― are also contributing to the destruction of it.
"This is something I expected.I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly，" Kamuda said. "People are going down just as an ego trip to say 'I was there.' All this takes a fare on the ship."
The Titanic has sat at the bottom of the Atlantic since it sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage on April 14，1912.More than 1，500 people died that night.The ship came to rest at the bottom of the freezing North Atlantic，more than 2 miles beneath the waves.The wreck was discovered in 1985，and since then it has been repeatedly visited by treasure hunters.
But still some scientists say those divers，and other thrill seekers are not necessarily to blame for the Titanic's current problems.
Capt.Craig McLean of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration went on an expedition to the Titanic in June as part of a government study that is monitoring the condition of the ship.He says it's unclear what part of the damage is from Mother Nature and which is from human nature.
"It's too early and there isn't enough evidence to put our fingers on anything，" McLean said.
Regardless，most agree there's little that can be done for this most famous of wrecks.And soon，the mighty Titanic could well be lost again.
（1）McLaren expected that in twenty years AA.
A.Only a minor part of the wreck would remain as it is
B.The wreck would be getting worse at a faster speed
C.Only salvage operation with the purpose of research would be approved
D.The wreck would be completely destroyed by unapproved treasure hunters
（2）What is the tourist's purpose of visiting the wreck，according to Kamuda？ CC
A.To contribute to the breaking down of the Titanic.
B.To help finance the preservation of the Titanic.
C.To satisfy their curiosity and adventurousness.
D.To better understand the history of the Titanic.
（3）Craig McLean is one of the scientists who believe DD.
A.Visitors should not be prohibited from the Titanic and other famous wrecks
B.The influence of the thrill seekers on the wreck will finally be determined
C.The government should contribute more to the monitoring of the Titanic
D.The damage of the Titanic is not necessarily attributed to the adventure tourists
（4）The author is most likely to agree that the future of the Titanic is BB.
A.promising
B.discouraging
C.controllable
D.vague
【考點】說明文；傳統(tǒng)習(xí)俗與文化．
【答案】A；C；D；B
【解答】
【點評】
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發(fā)布：2024/10/21 5:0:2組卷：6引用：2難度：0.5
相似題
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1．If you see a group of people dancing and singing on the street or in the railway station，you don't need to feel surprised.They are a flash mob（快閃族），which is a group of people who come together suddenly in a public place，do something unusual for a brief period of time，and then quickly break up.They are usually organized with the help of the Internet or other digital communication network.
At a predetermined time，they gather and perform some distractions（消遣）such as waving their hands and exchanging books.Then，they quickly break up before the police can arrive.Using mobile phones the flash mob can change its location if the first one has been replaced for any reason.
Bill Lasik，senior editor of Harper's Magazine，organized the first flash mob in Manhattan in May 2003 and the first successful flash mob came together on June 3，2003--after the first attempt was foiled at Macy's department store.Lasik claimed that the activity was designed to make fun of hipsters（時髦的人），and call attention to the cultural atmosphere.
Flash mob gatherings can sometimes shock people.Such an activity might seem amusing and untrue，but it also might frighten people who are not aware of what is taking place.Undoubtedly，flash mobs can serve as good political tools in any direction.They also have great economic potential，such as using flash mobs to advertise a product.
The flash mob is now becoming more and more popular.People use it to do many things.For example，in 2009，Michael Jackson's fans took part in a flash mob to remember him.Hundreds of his fans gathered singing and dancing Michael's famous song Beat It together.Flash mobs give people from all walks of life an opportunity to come together to create a memory.
（1）The underlined word "foiled" in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by "".
A．forgotten
B．prevented
C．a(chǎn)nnounced
D．confirmed
（2）What can you learn about the flash mob from the passage？
A．The flash mob usually breaks up quickly for lacking enough time.
B．Once the place for the activity is determined，it can't be changed.
C．The flash mob can be made use of in many fields for fun.
D．It gives people the chance to come together to do something unusual.
（3）The main purpose of the passage is to.
A．entertain
B．encourage
C．inform
D．persuade
（4）The writers attitude towards the flash mob is.
A．negative
B．objective
C．favorable
D．doubtful發(fā)布：2024/12/20 8:0:13組卷：17引用：2難度：0.5 -
2．Our dog Sandy is a golden retriever（尋回犬）.Once we performed an experiment to see how keen his nose was.There was one particular pile that must have had hundreds of sticks.We picked up one stick carved an X on it，walked away from the pile and then threw it back into the pile，not once but a dozen times into the pile.It was impossible for us to tell with any certainty which slick we had originally chosen.Each time he brought back that stick，It wasn't the shape or the size or the look of the stick that he used to pick it out from all the others.It was the smell we left on the stick.It is hard to imagine，hut for dogs every living creature has its own distinctive smell.
The noses of people have about 5 million cells that sense smell.Dogs' noses have anywhere from 125 to 300 million cells.Moreover，these cells are closer to the surface than cells in our noses，and more active.It has been estimated that dogs such as Sandy have noses that are a million times more sensitive than ours.Clothes that we haven't worn for weeks，and places we've only touched lightly indicate our presence to dogs.
His ears are also remarkable.He can hear sounds that humans can't and at distances which are astonishing.It is over our head to know and understand that world.Yet we have the advantage of being able to imagine what his experience is like，though he probably doesn't think too much about how we see the world.
The environment is the world that all living things share.Living creatures are born into the environment and are part of it.Yet there is no creature who perceives（感知到）all of what is and what happens.For a dog like Sandy a book isn't much different than a stick，whereas for us one stick is pretty much like every other stick.There is no one world experienced by all living creatures.
（1）Why did the author conduct the experiment？
A．To train Sandy to pick out sticks.
B．To show how fast Sandy found sticks.
C．To prove sensitivity of Sandy's nose.
D．To teach Sandy to tell different smells.
（2）What does the author intend to do in paragraph 2？
A．Support the conclusion with numbers.
B．Summarize the previous paragraph.
C．Provide some advice for the readers.
D．Introduce a new topic for discussion.
（3）What does the underlined idiom in paragraph 3 mean？
A．Amazing.
B．Difficult.
C．Reasonable.
D．Inconvenient.
（4）Which of the following best expresses the authors opinion in the last paragraph？
A．Worlds to experience.
B．An environment to share.
C．No environment，no creatures.
D．One environment，many worlds.發(fā)布：2024/12/18 14:30:1組卷：5引用：2難度：0.5 -
3．The world is a greener place than it was 20 years ago．Recent NASA satellites data（2000-2017）have shown that human activities in China and India dominate this greening of the planet，thanks to ambitious tree-planting programmes in China and intensive agriculture in both countries．
The researchers from Boston University found that global green leaf area has increased by 5 percent in the new century，an area equal to all of the Amazon rainforest．China alone accounts for 25% of the global net increase in leaf area with only 6.6% of global vegetated area．China's contribution comes in large part from its programmes to conserve and expand forests，taking up about 42 percent of the greening．The greening from farmlands in China is about 32%，but that in India is about 82%．
Rama Nemani，a research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Centre and a co-author of the study said， "When the greening of the Earth was first observed，we thought it was due to a warmer，wetter climate and fertilization from the added carbon dioxide in the atmosphere．But with data from NASA satellites，scientists realized that humans are also contributing，which was all against our expectations．"
Nemani sees a positive message in the new findings． "Once people realize there is a problem，they tend to fix it，" he said． "In the 1970s and 1980s in India and China，the situation around vegetation loss was not good．In the 1990s，people realized it，and today things have improved．Humans are incredibly resilient．That is what we see in the satellite data．"
However，the researchers rang bells as well．They said that the gain in global greenness did not necessarily make up for the loss of natural vegetation in regions like Brazil and Indonesia．
（1）What is the second paragraph mainly about？
A．The decreasing size of the Amazon rainforest．
B．China's bigger contribution to global greening．
C．Total global green leaf area in the new century．
D．China's programmes to conserve and expand forests．
（2）What surprised scientists regarding global greening？
A．Human activities．
B．Suitable for analyzing data．
C．A warmer and wetter climate．
D．Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere．
（3）What does the underlined word "resilient" probably mean？
A．Good at making programmes．
B．Suitable for analyzing data．
C．Able to make corrections．
D．Active in planting trees．
（4）What does the last paragraph imply？
A．It is urgent to protect global natural resources．
B．Much remains to be done for global greenness．
C．Brazil and Indonesia lose most of their vegetation．
D．Global greenness needs all countries to work together．發(fā)布：2024/12/20 5:0:3組卷：7引用：1難度：0.6
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