A
Visitors to the dry, hot Sonoran Desert of the southern Arizona and northern Mexico are amazed at the manyarmed giants. They are the saguaro cacti (树形仙人掌), a giant which gives the landscape its __1__ appearance. In the dry desert the saguaro cacti can live for more than 200 years, grow to a __2__ of 60 feet, and have as many as 50 arms.
More __3__ , the saguaro cacti still persist despite the unbearable desert climate. Those that have grown to old age have __4__ droughts, freezes, flash floods, and bush fires as well as the __5__ caused by groups of rats that eat their seedlings(秧苗). Like all other desert __6__ , these leafless giants can store water for use during the desert's long dry seasons by __7__ water through their long roots.
Naturally, the great saguaro cacti are a(n) __8__ part of the desert life. Actually the giants may be __9__ to many animals, including woodpeckers, owls, doves, bats and insects. In addition, after a saguaro __10__ the age of 50 or so, coldresistant flowers __11__ at the top of the plants once a year. These flowers __12__ birds, bats and bees, which come for the honey and for the tasty flowers with their black seeds.
__13__ the splendid saguaros are plentiful in the Southwest, they are unfortunately __14__ . These giant cacti have great value in landscape gardening, and the thieves can earn thousands of dollars by uprooting and __15__ them to nurseries (苗圃). To protect these southwestern __16__ , agents for the Arizona Department of Agriculture go around and __17__ the desert. It's a most important job though a hard one. But without the saguaro cacti, many desert animals would suffer a lack of __18__ and loss of nesting sites. The Southwest, too, would __19__ something of unique importance, since these desert giants have become a __20__ of the dry region.
1. A. general B. basic
C. unique D. lovely
2. A. length B. height
C. size D. width
3. A. pleasingly B. inspiringly
C. interestingly D. amazingly
4. A. lived through B. broken through
C. cut through D. got through
5. A. crisis B. damage
C. destruction D. load
6. A. plants B. lives
C. animals D. creatures
7. A. pouring B. squeezing
C. pumping D. absorbing
8. A. independent B. vital
C. original D. mysterious
9. A. spot B. field
C. home D. camp
10. A. turns B. takes
C. meets D. gains
11. A. come up B. come out
C. show off D. show up
12. A. call B. trap
C. fascinate D. stick
13. A. As B. But
C. Although D. Yet
14. A. in danger B. in demand
C. in need D. in control
15. A. exchanging B. trading
C. offering D. selling
16. A. treasures B. decorations
C. possessions D. creations
17. A. look over B. hand over
C. watch over D. turn over
18. A. food B. scenery
C. water D. flavor
19. A. affect B. abandon
C. increase D. lose
20. A. signal B. sign
C. mark D. symbol
【语篇解读】 本文是一篇环境类的说明文。文章从奇特的形状、生活特性、经济价值等方面介绍了Sonoran Desert(索诺兰沙漠)的标志性植物——树形仙人掌。
1.解析：根据下文可知，树形仙人掌有多达50个分枝，所以形状“独特”，故选unique“独特的”。general“普通的”;basic“基本的”;lovely“可爱的”。
答案：C
2.解析：根据前面的“giant”及后面的“60 feet”可知，此处表示的是“高度”，因此选height。length“长度”;size“尺寸”;width“宽度”。
答案：B
3.解析：根据上文可知，游客对树形仙人掌的形状会感到非常惊讶，故此处指更令人惊讶的是它们的适应能力，因此选amazingly。pleasingly“令人愉快地”;inspiringly“鼓舞人心地”;interestingly“有趣地”。
答案：D
4.解析：根据上下文可知，树形仙人掌“经历”了恶劣环境的考验，live through“经历”符合语境。break through“突破”;cut through“抄近路穿过，走近路”;get through“接通电话，通过考试”。
答案：A
5.解析：除了恶劣的气候外，树形仙人掌还要遭受老鼠的“破坏”，因此选damage。crisis“危机”;destruction“毁灭”;load“负担”。
答案：B
6.解析：此处指像沙漠里其他所有的“植物”一样，因此选plants。life“生命”;animal“动物”;creature“生物”。
答案：A
7.解析：树形仙人掌通过它们的长根茎吸收水。absorb“吸收”，符合语境。pour“倒，灌”;squeeze“挤压”;pump“抽出”。
答案：D
8.解析：根据下文可知，作为许多动物赖以生存的食物和家园，树形仙人掌是沙漠“极为重要的”部分，因此选vital“极重要的”。independent“独立的”;original“原始的”;mysterious“神秘的”。
答案：B
9.解析：根据最后一段的倒数第二句“But without the saguaro cacti... loss of nesting sites”可知，树形仙人掌可能是许多动物的栖息地。因此选home“栖息地”。spot“地点”;field“田地”;camp“营地”。
答案：C
10.解析：此处指在树形仙人掌长到50岁左右之后，故此处选turn意为“到(某年龄或某个时间)”，其后直接跟数字。take“带走”;meet“遇到”;gain“获得”。
答案：A
11.解析：根据上下文可知，这里指树形仙人掌在长到50岁左右以后每年开一次花，因此选come out“(花朵)开放”。come up“走近，被提到”;show off“炫耀”;show up“露面，到达”。
答案：B
12.解析：根据下文中的“which come for the honey”可知，树形仙人掌的花吸引了一些动物，因此此处选fascinate“迷住，深深吸引”。call“召集”;trap“困住”;stick“粘”。
答案：C
13.解析：尽管在西南这壮观的树形仙人掌很多，但它们却不幸地面临着危险。逗号前后表示让步关系，although“尽管”，符合语境。as“因为”;but“但是”;yet“然而”。
答案：C
14.解析：参见上题解析。in danger“处于危险之中”，符合语境。in demand“需求大，受欢迎”;in need“生活贫困”;in control“掌管”。
答案：A
15.解析：根据空格前的“These giant cacti have great value in landscape gardening, and the thieves can earn thousands of dollars”可知，树形仙人掌被偷去卖钱，sell“卖”，符合语境。exchange“交换”;trade“从事贸易，以物易物”;offer“提供”。
答案：D
16.解析：根据全文可知，树形仙人掌是应该受到保护的沙漠珍宝，treasure“珍宝”，符合语境。decoration“装饰品”;possession“个人财产，私人物品”;creation“作品，创作”。
答案：A
17.解析：为了保护这些珍宝，Arizona农业部派代理人保护沙漠。因此选watch over“监督，保护”。look over“浏览，迅速地检查”;hand over“移交”;turn over“翻转”。
答案：C
18.解析：根据第三段的最后一句可知，树形仙人掌还是动物们的食物。没有了它们，就意味着“食物”的短缺，因此此处选food。scenery“风景”;water“水”;flavor“味道”。
答案：A
19.解析：西南部也将失去这些极具重要性的东西，因此此处选lose。affect“影响”;abandon“遗弃，放弃”;increase“增加”。
答案：D
20.解析：这些沙漠巨型植物已经变成了这个干燥区域的标志。根据句意可知，此处选symbol“标志”。signal“信号”;sign“征兆”;mark“记号”。
答案：D
