《2025年实验班全程提优训练高中英语选择性必修第二册外研版》

D(2024·河南安阳林州月考)
跨学科 If you’ve ever spent time on a beach in the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean, there is a solid chance you came across a slimy mass of rotten, smelly seaweed.
The specific ocean plant during those encounters is likely sargassum (马尾藻)—while helpful for absorbing   
$CO_2$, sargassum is also unbelievably harmful. It can seriously damage both shoreline and ocean ecosystems, killing redwoods, seagrass and countless ocean animals. Cleanup efforts can cost tens of thousands of dollars while disturbing both tourist and fishing industries, but the AlgaRay project is showing great promise in relieving sargassum stress. In fact, its success has even earned it a place on Time’s Best Inventions of 2023.
Off the coasts of Antigua, a roughly 9 - foot - wide AlgaRay robot picks up piles of sargassum until its storage container is full, at which point the autonomous robot dives 200 metres below the surface. At this depth, the air pockets that make sargassum leaves so buoyant (有浮力的) are so pressed by the water that they simply can’t float anymore. Once let go by AlgaRay, sargassum then sinks to the ocean floor. The robot can repeat this process between four and six times every hour. And thanks to a combination of solar panels, lithium batteries (锂电池), and navigational tools, AlgaRay will eventually be able to work almost non - stop.
Of course, ocean ecosystems are complex and delicate at any depth. AlgaRay’s designers are well aware of this, and make sure they won’t increase ocean floor $CO_2 $recklessly. A cautious pathway and detailed monitoring have been built into their approach. Additionally, they note sargassum blooms—worsened by human activities—are already causing major issues across the world.
As the name might imply, AlgaRay is inspired by manta rays (蝠鲼), which are nearly 30 feet wide and feed on algae. In time, future generations of the robot could even match manta rays’ huge sizes.
32. What contributed to the birth of the AlgaRay project?
A. The government’s support.
B. The progress of technology.
C. The increase in tourism.
D. The success of the fishing industry.
33. How does the AlgaRay robot clean up sargassum?
A. By killing all the sargassum off coasts.
B. By locking sargassum in its container.
C. By delivering sargassum into deep sea.
D. By forcing sargassum to float on the surface.
34. What does the underlined word “recklessly” in Paragraph 4 mean?
A. Temporarily.
B. Flexibly.
C. Irresponsibly.
D. Impatiently.
35. What can we infer about the future of AlgaRay from the text?
A. It will be far bigger.
B. It will be much cheaper.
C. It will dive deeper still.
D. It will work even longer.

答案： 32.B 33.C 34.C 35.A