在备考英语四级阅读时，重点应放在提升阅读速度和理解文章主旨上。多做训练，熟知容易见到题型和方法，能够帮助应付考试挑战。新东方在线记者为大伙整理了“2024年12月英语四级考试阅读理解练习：动物世界”，期望能为大伙带来帮助。
2024年12月英语四级考试阅读理解练习：动物世界
Naturally, m a group of animals as diverse as thesnakes, and with so many varied enemies. there arenumerous defensive reactions and devices. Thereis. however, one general pattern of behavior. In thepresence of suspected enemy the first reaction isto try to escape observation; if this fails, the nextresort is the flight co some inaccessible retreat, but if this is not possible, or iscircumvented. various kinds of intimidatory gestures and warning devices are brought
into play; in the last resort the snake attacks. This pattern vanes with the circumstances; some stages may be omitted or combined unpredictably whilst all some notoriously irasciblespecies may dispense with all the preliminaries and attack almost at once. though seldom ornever without some provocation.
Amongst the factors that increase aggressiveness are hunger, the mating season and surprise, with the last mentioned the commonest; when hunting for food or for mate. activity and theaggressive instinct are both at their peak. Owing to their poor sense of hearing snakes arevery liable to be, quite literally, caught napping and a similar situation arises during theirperiods of temporary blindness just before sloughing begins. By far the greatestnumber of snake-bit accidents result from the unwitting disturbance of resting snakes. and thishazard is much increased with species that are well disguised and whose natural instinct is totrust to this concealment as their principal defense. As well as differences in aggressivenessbetween individuals of the same species according to the circumstances and conditions, thereare also notable differences between species, even closely allied species; and the reports ofthose who have been attacked may understandably be lacking in objectivity. So it isimpossible to forecast. even in outline, how any encounter will develop.
The Hamadryad, for example, is usually credited with being amongst the most aggressive ofsnakes. and there are many accounts of unprovoked attacks, yet on one occasion fourteenmen and seven dogs passed and returned within two yards from a nest and no snake was seenalthough the female. which guards the nest, could not have been far away.
1.When a snake meets a potential enemy, itsprimary device is______________.
A) avoiding any observation
B) Finding a safe shelter
C) giving a warning threat
D) starting a quick attack
2.The underlined phrase "dispense with all the preliminaries" in Paragraph I mostprobably means________________.
A) the snakes combine all the previous three steps
B) the snakes give up all the previous three steps
C) che snakes follow all the previous steps one by one
D) the snakes reverse the order of all the previous steps
3.A snake is most aggressive when_______________.
A) it meets a possible enemy
B) it is caught when it is sleeping or sloughing
C) it is disturbed unknowingly
D) it seeks a partner in che mating season
4.It is difficult to predict what would happen when a snake meets a manbecause____________.
A) no one basever clearly known how he himself was bit
B) man tends to be subjective when he describes his encounter with a snake
C) the aggressiveness of the snakes differs according to diverse situations
D) a snake does not begin co attack without provocation
5. The author uses the example in the last paragraph m support his ideathat___________.
A) snakes do not begin the aggressive act if it is not disturbed
B) some snakes are more aggressive and more ready to attack
C) it is hard to forecast whether and how snakes would attack
D) snakes often conceal themselves as their principal defense
[page]1.当蛇遇见了潜在的敌人，它主要的做法会是______________。
A)避开任何监视
B)找一个安全的庇护场合
C)给出一个警告威胁
D)开始迅速攻击
[A]首段第3句提到了蛇遇见可疑敌人时的行为模式：第一躲开他们的监视，第二步是探寻安全藏身处，第三是向他们发出警告，最后推行攻击，因此选项A为本题答案。选项B、C和D分别是对2、第三和最后一步的近义替换，因此都不是正确答案。
2.第1段里含有下划线的短语“dispense with all the preliminaries"的意思最可能是_________。
A)蛇结合了所有之前的三个步骤
B)蛇会舍弃所有之前的三个步骤
C)蛇会依据之前的步骤一步一步进行
D)蛇会保留所有之前步骤的顺序
[B]首段最后一句中dispense with的前面提到过some stages may be omitted or combined，而下文提到attack almost at once,这税明dispense with应表示有的蛇不做前几个步骤，而立刻展开进攻，因此它的意思应等同于omit“免除，省略”，也即选项B中的give up。其他选项语法上都说得通，但与下文的attackalmost at once不同，因此都不是正确答案。
3.蛇最有攻击性的时候是______________。
A)遇见了可能是敌人的动物
B)在睡觉或蜕皮的时候给提住
C)在其没提防的状况下遭到干扰
D)在交配季节求偶的时候
[D]第2段首句中第2个分句的mate一词与选项D同义，因此选项D为本题答案。其他选项都在文中提到过，也是蛇会对敌人推行还击的状况，但这三个干扰项和正确选项之间有什么区别就是，文中没提到在这类状况下“A snake is most aggressiv。”，因此本题要紧扣第2段首句和其中的peak这个单词。
4.非常难预测当蛇遇见人的时候会发生任何事情，由于________________。
A)从来就无人了解是如何被蛇攻击的
B)在形容与蛇遭遇的情形时，大家一直主观性较强
C)在不一样的状况下蛇的攻击性程度都不同
D)没遭到挑衅的话，蛇是不会攻击人的
[C]第2段最后两句由So连接，显示倒数第2句是缘由，最后一句是结果。选项C是对倒数第2句的概括，为本题答案。选项A和选项D与题干之间没什么关联，易排除;选项B虽然与该段倒数第2句的后一个分句意思相符，但它只不过作为附加信息以说明蛇的个体行为差异非常大，故也可排除。
5.在最后一个段落中，作者用了例子来支持他的看法：
A)假如不受干扰的话，蛇是不会率先发起攻击行为的。
B)一些蛇更具攻击性，也更趋向随时进行攻击。
C)非常难预测蛇会不会做出攻击，会如何做出攻击。
D)蛇主要的防卫方法就是隐藏自己。
[C]第3段开头就有for example这个标志性的词组，表明这一句是为了支持上文的例子。结合第2段末句可知，第3段是为了证明其不可预测性的，故C正确。
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