第二篇

The book of life

So far, scientists have named about 1.8 million living species（物種）, and that's a just a small part of what probably exists on Earth. With so many plants, animals, and other creatures coveting the planet, it can be tough to figure out what type of spider is moving up your leg or what kind of bird is flying by.

A soon-to-be-started Web site might help. An international team of researchers has announced the creation of Web-based Encyclopedia（百科全書）of life(EOL). The project aims to catalog every species on Earth in a single, easy-to-use reference guide.

To get the encyclopedia started, the creators will use information from scientific databases（數據庫）that already exist. And eventually, in special sections of the site, nonscientist with specialized（專門的）knowledge will get to join in. Bird-watchers, for example, will be able to input which birds they've seen and where. The technology for this kind of tool has only become available.

As the EOL develops, you might find it useful for school projects. The site will feature special pages for kids who are studying ecosystems (生態系統) in their neighborhoods. To make sure the encyclopedia is accurate, scientists will review much of the information added to it. People who visit the site will be able to choose to leave out pages that haven't been reviewed.

Another convenient feature of the EOL is that you'll be able to pick the level of detail you want to see to match your interest, age, and knowledge. If you wanted to learn about bears for a science class report, for example, you could use the "novice" setting to get basic information about the animals. On the "expert" setting, on the other hand, you could get much more detailed information about the history, literature, and exploration of bears.

It now takes years for scientists to collect all the data they need to describe and analyze species. The creators of the Encyclopedia of Life hope that their new tool will speed up that process.

36. "Spider" and "bird" mentioned in Paragraph 1 are examples to illustrate

A. there are numerous living species on Earth.

B. animals are people's friends.

C. it is easy to see spiders and birds.

D. there are many types of spiders and birds.

37. The goal of the creation of the EOL is to

A. collect enough data to analyze the living species on Earth.

B. enlarge an existing Web site of the living species on Earth.

C. add new information to the existing databases of the living species on Earth.

D. work out an easy-to-use catalog of every living species on Earth.

38. At the starting stage, the EOL will get information from

A. all the Web sites available.

B. databases built up by its creators.

C. the existing scientific databases.

D. nonscientists with specialized knowledge.

39. The word "novice" in Paragraph 5 could be best replaced by

A. scientist.

B. creator.

C. beginner

D. expert.

40. Which of the following statement is NOT true？

A. Scientist will review every piece of information added to EOL

B. The EOL will be beneficial to school kids with its development.

C. Scientists have cataloged only a small part of the living species on Earth.

D. People with different interests and knowledge will in a way find the EOL useful.

36 A 文章第一段主要講述的是，科學家只是將地球上少數的生物物種命名了，還有很多物種沒有命名。接著作者使用蜘蛛和鳥的例子說明此觀點，以顯示地球上生物種類的繁多。答案為 A。

37 D 文章第二段最后一句"The project aims to catalog every species on Earth in a single，easy-to-use reference guide" ，說明"這個項目的目的是提供一個單一的，易于使用的生物分類參考指南"。答案為D。

38 C 文章第三段第一句話"To get the encyclopedia started, the creators will use information from scientific databases (數據庫) that already exist"，說明"為了建立這個百科全書，創建者要使用現有的科學數據庫"。答案為 C。

39 C novice 的原意是"新手"，并且文中的意思也是"使用新手設置"來得到有關動物的基本信息。答案為C。選項 A 意為"科學家"；選項 B 意為"創建者"；選項 D 意為"專家"。

40 A 文章第四段第三句話"To make sure the encyclopedia is accurate，scientists will review much of the information added to it"，說明"為了保證百科全書的準確性，科學家會復審其中大部分的信息"，而沒有說是"全部的信息"。本題答案為 A。文章在不同的段落提到了其余各選項。

（責任編輯：vstara）

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