Ants as a Barometer of Ecological Change

　　At picnics, ants are pests. But they have their uses. In industries1 such as mining, farming and forestry, they can help gauge the health of the environment by just crawling around and being antsy.

　　It has been recognized for decades2 that ants一which are highly sensitive to ecological change一can provide a near-perfect barometer of the state of an ecosystem. Only certain species, for instance, will continue to thrive at a forest site that has been cleared of trees._____(1)_____ And still others will move in and take up residence.

　　By looking at which species populate a deforested area, scientists can determine how "stressed" the land is._____(2)_____Ants are used simply because they are so commonand comprise so many species.

　　Where mine sites are being restored, for example, some ant species will recolonize the stripped land quickly than others._____(3)_____Australian mining company Capricorn Coal Management has been successfully using ant surveys for years to determine the rate of recovery of land that it is replanting near its German Creek mine in Queensland.

　　Ant surveys also have been used with mine-site recovery projects in Africa and Brazil, where warm climates encourage dense and diverse ant populations." We found it worked extremely well there." says Jonathan Majer, a professor of environmental biology. Yet the surveys are perfectly suited to climates throughout Asia, he says, because ants are so common throughout the region. As Majer puts it: "That's the great thing about ants3."

　　Ant surveys are so highly-regarded as ecological indicators that governments worldwide accepttheir results when assessing the environmental impact of mining and tree harvesting4. _____(4)_____

　　Why not? Because many companies can't afford the expense or the laboratory time needed to sift results for a comprehensive survey. The cost stems, also, from the scarcity of ant specialists. _____(5)_____

　　注釋：

　　1.industries:行業

　　2.for decades：有幾十年。for后接復數的時間詞是常用結構，如for days, for years等。本文第四段還會出現for years。

　　3.That's the great thing about ants. great thing指前一句的ants are so common throughout the region.

　　4.tree harvesting：伐木

　　練習：

　　A This allowed scientists to gauge the pace and progress of the ecological recovery.

　　B Yet in other businesses, such as farming and property development, ant surveys aren't used widely.

　　C Employing those people are expensive.

　　D They do this by sorting the ants, counting their numbers and comparing the results with those of earlier surveys.

　　E The evolution of ant species may have a strong impact on our ecosystem.

　　F Others will die out for lack of food.

　　答案與題解：

　　1.F “空1”前面的句子有certain species，后面的句子有still others，這一定是英語中的“some/ certain一others一still others”的固定結構。僅從這一點判斷，F是答案。

　　2.D 決定哪個句子填入“空2"的一個方法是排除法。選項A、B, C, F(F已選為“空1”的答案)的內容與“空2”前后的句子意思上都不連貫。選項E有些突如其來。只有選項D符合上下文的意思。this：指前面句子中的can determine how "stressed" the land is。

　　3.A 選項A中的ecological recovery與前面一句中的recolonize相呼應，提示選項A的句子是前面句子的后續句。

　　4.B 選項B中的關鍵詞。ther businesses, farming, property提示，選項B的句子是前面句子的后續句，因為前面句子有mining ,tree harvesting，也是businesses。螞蟻分析法已被mining和tree harvesting等行業廣泛接受，但在farming和property行業中的應用還不普遍。

　　5.C 本題的答案很自然會選C，因為scarcity，當然就貴了。此外，those指的是前一句的specialists，進一步證明選項C是正確的。

    2014年職稱英語新增文章匯總(全套) 

    2014年職稱英語教材免費下載(高清全套) 

    職稱英語最后沖刺，8小時穩拿68分