Now listen to the following recording andanswer questions 22 to 25

22

A.In the Antarctic.

B.In southern Canada.

C.In northern Russia.

D.In northern Asia.

23

A.They are huge and weigh up to 72kg.

B.Their thick, white fur is a natural cover.

C.They can swim a few hundred meters.

D.Their favorite food is fish in the ocean.

24

A.Warmer weather.

B.Massive killing.

C.Genetic evolution.

D.Environmental pollution.

25

A.Polar bears will be able to catch more fish.

B.Polar bears will have fewer things to eat.

C.There will be more seals in the area.

D.The winter will become shorter.

(22) What I’d like to discuss with you today is thepolar bear. As I already mentioned on Tuesday, polarbears only live in the Arctic, primarily in northernCanada, northern Russia, and Alaska. If, forexample, you are in southern Canada, you won’t seeany of these bears.

Now, you’re probably aware that the Arctic is anextremely harsh environment and one of the coldest places on Earth. But let me remind youof what it’s really like in the Arctic, especially in late December or early January. Thetemperature frequently drops below minus 40 degrees centigrade and sometimes gets evencolder! Combine that with strong winds, little or no sunlight, and very little vegetation, and whatyou get is an environment in which very few species are capable of surviving. The polar bear,however, thrives in this kind of environment. The polar bear spends his time roamingthroughout the Arctic, walking on land and ice, swimming in freezing sea water and floating onsheets of ice while looking for seals, fish, and other food. Their favorite food is seals, which theyfind along the edges of the ice, in holes in the ice, and under cracks in the ice.

Polar bears are much bigger than the brown and black bears. In fact, they’re huge! They weighup to 720kg. And they’re designed to survive in their environment. (23) They have very thick,white fur, which helps them hide in the snow and ice and overcome the extreme cold. Polarbears are also strong swimmers. They have large front paws that amazingly allow them to swima few hundred kilometers from land.

Despite their impressiveness, polar bears, unlike black bears, are an endangered species. (24)This is a result of global warming, which will be topic of our next film. The Arctic is becomingtoo warm for the bears. That ice I just mentioned to you is now disappearing! It breaks upmuch earlier in the spring, and now it’s a lot further from land! Ice thickness in the Arctic hasdecreased by 40 percent in the last 30 years, and some scientists predict that the Arctic basinmight not have any ice in another 50 years. For polar bears, this is terrible! (24/25) Ice isessential to their existence! Less ice means fewer seals and less food.

Polar bears do their hunting in the winter, but because the winter is getting shorter andbecause the ice is disappearing earlier, they have less time to restore their fat. In the summer,they’re forced to remain on land for longer periods of time, and during that time, they live offthe fat stored in their bodies. Thirty years ago, they spent just over three months on land. Nowit’s almost four months! This reduces their strength and energy. With less ice, polar bears mustswim further to reach it. This further reduces their strength and energy. These circumstanceshave steadily decreased the bear population over the last 30 years.

22. Where can we see polar bears according to the lecture?

23. What can we learn about polar bears?

24. What made polar bears become endangered?

25. What will happen if there is less ice in the Arctic?

今天我想和大家讨论的是北极熊。如我在周二所说，北极熊只生活在北极地区，最初是在加拿大和俄罗斯北部，还有阿拉斯加。如果你住在加拿大南部，那你就不会看到北极熊。现在，你可能会想，北极地区环境恶劣，是地球上最冷的地方。但是我要告诉你真实的北极是什么样子的，尤其是在12月底和1月初。气温通常会降到零下四十摄氏度一下，有时会更低。再加上强风、极为稀缺的阳光和非常少的植被，这样的环境决定了能够在这里生存的物种数量极少。但是北极熊在这里生活地却很好。北极熊大部分时间都是漫步在北极的陆地和冰川之上，或者在冰冷的海水中游泳，或者在浮冰上寻找海豹、鱼或者其他食物。他们最喜欢的食物是海豹。通常在冰块的边缘位置、冰洞或者冰块裂缝下面能够找到它们。北极熊体型比棕熊或黑熊大得多。事实上他们体型巨大，重达720千克。造物主给了他们能在这种环境中生存的身体条件。它们长着厚厚的白毛，可以帮助它们在冰天雪地进行隐藏，还有助于它们克服极度的寒冷。北极熊还是游泳好手。它们巨大的前脚掌可能让它们游离海岸几百千米。虽然它们“天赋异禀”，但是北极熊和黑熊不同，它们现在已经成为了濒危动物。这是全球变暖带来的后果，这将是我们下次影片中的主题。北极地区的温度对于这些熊来说已经太高了。我刚才提到的冰正在消失!这些冰早春便开裂，现在已经飘离大陆很远了。在过去三十年里，北极冰层厚度减少了40%，并有一些科学家预言，50年后北极盆地内将不会再有冰。对于北极熊来说，这种情况非常危险!对于它们的生存而言冰是至关重要的!冰的减少就意味着海豹的数量减少和食物的减少。北极熊在冬天觅食，但是由于冬季时间的缩短和冰的消失，它们可以在体内储存脂肪的时间变短了。夏天它们不得不在陆地上待更长的时间，这段时间里它们就依靠体内存储的脂肪生存。三十年前，它们只需在陆地上待3个月。而现在将近需要4个月!这消耗了它们更多的体力和能量。而且，北极熊需要游更远才能找到逐渐减少的冰块。这又是对它们体力和能量的额外消耗。过去的三十年里，以上所有这些条件导致了北极熊数量的稳步下划。

22.根据以上讲座，我们在哪里能见到北极熊?

23.关于北极熊我们了解了什么?

24.什么使北极熊成为了濒危动物?

25.如果北极地区冰量减少，会发生什么?

参考答案：

【小题22】C

【小题23】B

【小题24】A

【小题24】B

习题解析：

【小题22】讲座开头就提到 polar bears only live in the Arctic, primarily in northern Canada,northern Russia, and Alaska，指出北极熊只是生活在北极地区，主要是加拿大北部，俄罗斯北部和阿拉斯加。选项中只有 C 项符合听力原文，故选 C。

【小题23】关于北极熊，听力原文中提到 They have very thick, white fur, which helps them hide inthe snow and ice and overcome the extreme cold，指出北极熊身上长着厚厚的白毛，可以帮助它们在冰天雪地进行隐藏，还有助于它们克服极度的寒冷，因而 B 项表述正确，故选 B。原文中提到的北极熊的体重是 720千克，不是 72千克，因此排除 A 项;原文中指出北极熊可以游几百千米，而不是几百米，故 C 项表述错误;原文中明确提到 Their favorite food is seals，指出北极熊最喜欢的食物是海豹，因此 D 项也可排除。

【小题24】听力原文中提到北极熊现在濒临灭绝，随后提到 This is a result of global warming, whichwill be topic of our next film. The Arctic is becoming too warm for the bears. 指出北极熊濒临灭绝是由于全球气候变暖，对于北极熊来说温度太高，并且后面又提到温度提升导致冰融化，进而导致北极熊的食物来源变少，导致其濒临灭绝，因而 A 项正确，故选 A。

【小题25】听力原文中提到 Ice is essential to their existence! Less ice means fewer seals and lessfood，指出冰对于北极熊的生存极为重要，冰变少则海豹也会变少，食物也会变少，因而 B 项表述符合原文，故选 B。原文中并没有提及北极熊可以在冰块减少的情况下抓捕更多的鱼，故排除 A; C 项与原文不符;冬天变短并不是冰块变少导致的，因而 D 项表述也不成立，可排除。