Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
Part science and part natural history, ornithology(鸟类学) owes its tremendous popularity as a science and a scientific recreation to a simple circumstance that is sometimes forgotten when we weigh the eligibility (有被选资格，合适) of different kinds of animals for informal study;birds are day animals where others, just as engaging in their way—mice, for instance—are creatures of the night. Apart from their visibility (something very much in their favor), the beauty of birds and their many appealing habits have won for them a huge fan following that has more than once tempted impatient an ill-informed laboratory biologists to dismiss ornithology as so much bird-watching—an absurdly unjust judgment that ignores the fact that ornithology has made a number of profoundly important contributions to general biology.
Professional biologists are not hard put to reel off(滔滔不绝地讲)a list of distinctive contributions that ornithology has made to general biology science. They will cite, for example, Ernst Mayr’s investigations of speciation(物种形成), or M. R. Irwin’s work on the immunologic performance of species of Columbidae (pigeons and doves) and of hybrids (杂交种)between them. Then again, David Lack’s studies on mortality in wild populations of birds are the most illuminating life tables of wild animals and animal demography(统计学)generally. Most important of all, perhaps, is the contribution that ornithology has made to the study of animal behavior, beginning with Julian Huxley’s classic study of the courtship habits of the great crested grebe and followed by Niko Tinbergen’s studies on the behavior of herring gulls.
21.What is the main idea of the passage?
A) Birds are widely studied because they are popular in the home.
B) Ornithology has made important contributions to biology.
C) Professional biologists often engage in bird-watching for recreation.
D) Animal behavior is best studied by observing birds.
22.In Line 5, Para. 1, mice are described as being “creatures of the night” because they are____
A) frightening to many people B) hunted by birds
C) studied while in hibernation D) active after dark
23.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the first paragraphas a reason for popular interest in birds?
A) Their ecological value. B) Their appealing habits.
C) Their visibility. D) Their beauty.
24.In Line 2, Para. 2, the pronoun “They” refers to ______.
A) ornithology and general biological science
B) contributions C) professional biologists D) birds
25.Dvid Lack’s research contributed to biological science specifically in the area of ____
A) evolution B) mating behavior
C) animal demography D) immunology
