Đọc hiểu -TOEFL- Bài 32
Đọc đoạn văn sau và trả lời các câu hỏi:
The Timber rattlesnake, once widespread throughout the eastern United1. What is the main topic of the passage?
States, is now on the endangered species list and is extinct in two
eastern states in which it once thrived. Compared to its western
cousins, the Timber rattlesnake may be especially vulnerable because
5 of certain behaviors adapted for coping with the cold climate in
which it lives.
Rattlesnakes are generally found in warm climates because, like all
reptiles, they cannot generate or regulate their own body temperature
10 internally and must rely on the sun's warmth for heat. But Timber
rattlesnakes migrated into colder northern areas about 8,000 years
ago when glaciers retreated. In these northern regions, the snakes
developed a number of adaptive strategies to survive, but ultimately
these behaviors make them more vulnerable to human predation, their
15 main threat.
One survival strategy the snakes have developed is hibernation. For
approximately eight months of the year, the rattlers remain motionless
in deep frost-free crevices, with their body temperature dropping
20 as low as 40 degrees. In the spring when they emerge, they must warm
their chilled bodies by sunning for three or four days on rocks in
the open. This behavior, coupled with the fact that Timber rattlesnakes
tend to concentrate in large numbers at their wintering sites, makes
them easy prey. Gestating females are particularly vulnerable because
25 they spend much of their time basking in the sun in order to produce
live young from eggs. In addition, females have very long interbirth
intervals, producing live young only every three to five years. If
a frost or cold spell comes late in the year, the entire litter of
six to twelve young may die.
30
Efforts are underway to protect the Timber rattlesnake and its habitat
from further human depredation, but in many states it is already
too late.
2. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word "vulnerable" in line 4?
3. Which of the following is true about Timber rattlesnakes?
4. In line 19, the word "crevices" could be replaced by which of the following?
5. Which of the following could best replace the word "emerge" in line 20?
6. In which of the following places might a person be most likely to find Timber rattlesnakes in the spring?
7. Which of the following could best replace the phrase "coupled with" in line 22?
8. The phrase "easy prey" in line 24 could best be replaced by which of the following?
9. Which of the following words can best replace the word "basking" in line 25?
10. According to the passage, which of the following does NOT contribute to the rattlesnake being an endangered animal?
11. Which of the following could best replace the word "depredation" in line 32?
12. What is the author's tone attitude toward the topic?
Xem lại bài Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 31 và bài Reading-Comprehension-Lesson 32
