《2025年学霸组合训练八年级英语上册译林版南通专版》

C
Researchers say the world has lost more than one fourth of its land - based insects over the past 30 years. The finding comes from a major study of insect populations worldwide. The researchers noted the loss of such insects suggests a more difficult problem than earlier research has shown.
Ants, bees, butterflies and other land - based insects have been suffering population drops of about nine per cent every 10 years or so. The number of insects on average has dropped in the air, in the grass and soil, but not in trees or underground, the researchers found. Some researches show that land - based insects will face a population drop of 24 per cent in the next 30 years. The researchers did not find a link to climate change in the loss of insects. But they did note the widespread effects of growing cities and the loss of underdeveloped areas to agriculture(农业).
However, freshwater insects, such as dragonflies(蜻蜓) and mosquitoes(蚊子), have been a different story. These insects were found to have experienced a population increase of about 1 per cent every 10 years. Freshwater covers only 2.5 per cent of the earth’s surface, so the majority of insects live mainly on land. The researchers said clean - water policies in recent years were responsible for the increase in freshwater insects.
“The decline(下降) across insect species on land is very surprising,” said Nick Haddad, an expert on butterflies at Michigan State University. He was not included in the study. Ongoing decline on land at this rate will be extremely damaging for ecological systems and for humans, Haddad told the Associated Press. He noted that insects are pollinators(传粉昆虫). They move pollen from part of the flower of a plant to another. This causes the plant to produce fruit or seeds. Insects also help to break down dead plants and animals. Nick Haddad added that insects also serve as food to many animals, making them very important to the earth’s ecosystems(生态系统).
Other scientists said the findings made sense. They would go on with the study with more exact data.
(D)33. What is the finding of the study mainly about?
A. The disturbance of the earth’s ecosystems.
B. The variety of creatures in the world.
C. The difficulty of studying land - based insects.
D. The change in the number of insects worldwide.
(A)34. What was the main cause of the insects’ situation according to the author?
A. Human activities. B. Climate change.
C. Freshwater shortage. D. Natural disasters.
(B)35. Why does the author say freshwater insects have been a different story?
A. They reproduce very quickly.
B. Their living environment has been protected.
C. They’re stronger and can fly faster.
D. They can live both on land and in water.
(B)36. What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?
A. The relationship between insects and plants.
B. The importance of insects to the ecosystems.
C. The function of further insect study.
D. Human’s influence on the decline of wildlife.

答案： 33.D 34.A 35.B 36.B