2009年职称英语等级考试综合AB级模拟试题(五)

　　19、 第四部分：阅读理解
　　Egypt felled byfamine来源：和谐英语
　　Even ancient Egypts mighty pyramid builders were powerless in theface of the famine that helped bring down their civilian around 2180BC. Nowevidence gleaned from mud deposited by the River Nile suggests that a shift inclimate thousands of kilometers to the south was ultimately to blem -- and thesame or worse could happen today.
　　The ancient Egyptians depended on theNiles annual floods to irrigate their crops. But any change in climate thatpushed the African monsoons southwards out of Ethiopia would have diminishedthese floods.
　　Dwindling rains in the Ethiopian highlands would have meantfewer plants to establish the soil. When rain did fall it would have washedlarge amounts of soil into the Blue Nile and into Egypt, along with sedimentfrom the White Nile.
　　The Blue Nile mud has a different isotope signaturefrom that of the White Nile. So by analyzing isotope differences in muddeposited in the Nile Delta, Michael Krom of leeds University worked out whatproportion of sediment came from each branch of the river.
　　Krom reasonsthat during periods of drought, the amount of the Blue Nile mud in the riverwould be relatively high. He found that one of these periods, from 4,500 to4,200 years ago, immediately predates the fall of the Egypts OldKingdom.
　　The weakened waters would have been catastrophic for theEgyptians. Changes that affect food supply dont have to be very large to have aripple effect in societies, says Bill Ryan of the Lamont Doherty EarthObservatory in New York.
　　Similar events today could be even moredevastating, says team member Daniel Stanley, a geoarchaeologist from theSmithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.. Anything humans do to shift theclimate belts would have an even worse effect along the Nile system because thepopulations have increased dramatically.
　　1. Why does the author mentionpyramid builders?
　　A. because they once worked miracles.
　　B. becausethey were well-built
　　C. because they were actually very weak
　　D.because even they were unable to rescue their civilization
　　2. Which of thefollowing factors was ultimately responsible for the fall of the civilization ofancient Egypt?
　　A. Change of climate
　　B. famine
　　C. food来源：www.hxen.net
　　D.population growth
　　3. Which of the following statements is true?
　　A. TheWhite Nile is the trunk of the River Nile
　　B. The White Nile is the trunk ofthe Blue Bile
　　C. The White Nile a branch of the Blue Nile
　　D. The WhiteNile and the Blue Nile are branches of the River Nile
　　4. According to Krom,Egypts Old Kingdom fell
　　A. immediately after a period of drought
　　B.immediately after a period of flood
　　C. just before a drought struck
　　D.just before a flood struck
　　5. The word devastating in the last paragraphcould be best replaced by
　　A. frustrating
　　B. damaging
　　C.defeating
　　D. worrying
　　标准答案： D,A,D,A,Bwww.hxen.CoM
　　20、
　　标准答案：B,A,B,C,C
　　21、
　　标准答案：A,B,D,C,A