Part C
Beside these processes we need to bear in mind the distribution of a population. A species that occurs in five isolated places each containing 20 individuals will not have the same probability of extinction as species with a single population of 100 individuals in a single locality. Where logging occurs (that is, the cutting down of forests for timber) forest-dependent creatures in that area will be forced to leave. Ground-dwelling herbivores may return within a decade. However, arboreal marsupials (that is animals which live in trees) may not recover to pre-logging densities for over a century. As more forests are logged, animal population sizes will be reduced further. Regardless of the theory or model that we choose, a reduction in population size decreases the genetic diversity of a population and increases the probability of extinction because of any or all of the processes listed above. It is therefore a scientific fact that increasing the area that is logged in any region will increase the probability that forest-dependent animals will become extinct.
基础英语(2004年)
Questions 15- 18
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Part A of Reading Passage 2? Write your answers for 15-18 on your answer sheet.
YES if the statement agrees with the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
Example:
A link exists between the consequences of decisions and the decision making process itself. Answer: YES
15. Scientists are interested in the effect of forestry on native animals
16. PVA has been used in Australia for many years.
17. A species is said to be extinct when only one individual exists.
18. Extinction is a naturally occurring phenomenon.
Questions 19- 22
These questions are based on Part B of Reading Passages 2.
In paragraphs A to D the author describes four processes which may contribute to the extinction of a species. Match the list of processes (i-vi) to the paragraphs. Write the appropriate number (i-vi) on your answer sheet.
NB There are more processes than paragraphs so you will not use all of them.
19. Paragraph A i. Loss of ability to adapt
20. Paragraph B ii. Natural disasters
21. Paragraph C iii. An imbalance of the sexes
22. Paragraph D iv. Human disasters
v. Evolution
vi. The haphazard nature of reproduction
Questions 23- 25
Based on your reading of Part C, complete the sentences below with words taken from the passage. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers for 23-25 on answer sheet.
23. While the population of a species may be on the increase, there is always a chance that small
isolated groups … (23)…
24. Survival of a species depends on a balance between the size of a population and its… (24)…
25. The likelihood that animals which live in forests will become extinct is increased when…
(25)…
III. Read the following 2 passages and then answer the questions below them: (40ps) PASSAGE 1
Universities and Their Function
Alfred North Whitehead
基础英语(2004年)
The universities are schools of education, and schools of research. But the primary reason for their existence is not to be found either in the mere knowledge conveyed to the students or in the mere opportunities for research afforded to the members of the faculty.
The justification for a university is that it preserves the connection between knowledge and the zest of life, by uniting the young and the old in the imaginative consideration of learning. The university imparts information, but it imparts it imaginatively. At least, this is the function which it should perform for society. A university which fails in this respect has no reason for existence. This atmosphere of excitement, arising from imaginative consideration, transforms knowledge. A fact is no longer a bare fact: it is invested with all its possibilities. It is no longer a burden on the memory: it is energizing as the poet of our dreams, and as the architect of our purposes.
Imagination is not to be divorced from the facts: it is a way of illuminating the facts. It works by eliciting the general principles which apply to the facts, as they exist, and then by an intellectual survey of alternative possibilities which are consistent with those principles. It enables men to construct an intellectual vision of a new world, and it preserves the zest of life by the suggestion of satisfying purpose.
Youth is imaginative, and if the imagination be strengthened by discipline this energy of imagination can in great measure be preserved through life. The tragedy of the world is that those who are imaginative have but slight experience, and those who are experienced have feeble imaginations. Fools act on imagination without knowledge; pedants act on knowledge without imagination. The task of a university is to weld together imagination and experience.