Kids and Ponds
Years ago there was a group of kids who would hang around at some local ponds in the woods near their houses in Warwick, Rhode Island. In summer they caught frogs and fish. When winter arrived they couldn’t wait to go skating. Time passed, and the ponds became the only open space for the kids to enjoy themselves in that neighborhood.One day. a thirteen-year-old boy from this group of kids read in the local newspaper that a developer wanted to fill in the ponds and build over a hundred small houses called condominiums. So the boy went door to door and gathered more than two hundred signatures (签名）to stop the development A group of citizens met and decided to support him.
At the meeting of the town planning board (委员会)，the boy was quite nervous at first and spoke very softly. But when he saw the faces of his friends and neighbors in the crowd and thought about what was happening to their favorite ponds，his voice grew louder. He told the town officials that they should speak for the citizens. He also insisted that they should leave enough space for children. A few days later，the developer stopped his plan.
Nine years later, when that teen was a senior in college, he was informed that the developer was back with his proposal to build condominiums. Now twenty-two years old, he was studying wetlands ecology. He again appeared before the town planning board. This time as an expert witness, he used environmental protection laws to explain restrictions on development in and around wetlands and the knowledge of wetlands ecology to help improve the development. Finally some condominiums were built, but less than half the number the developer wanted. The ponds where those kids used to hang around were protected by a strip of natural land，and are still there today.
81. What did the kids like to do at the local ponds in winter?(No more than 6 words) (2 marks)
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82. How did the boy win the citizens’ support? (No more than 10 words)(2 marks)
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83. What did the boy tell the town officials?(No more than 16 words)(3 marks)
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84.What helped the boy to protect the ponds successfully nine years later?(No more than 12 words)(3 marks)
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81. 【答案】They liked to skating。
【试题解析】考察细节题。根据第一段2,3行In summer they caught frogs and fish. When winter arrived they couldn’t wait to go skating.可知在夏天，他们抓鱼和青蛙，在冬天他们就在结冰的池塘上滑冰。
82. 【答案】 He went door to door and gathered their signatures。
【试题解析】细节题。根据第二段最后2行So the boy went door to door and gathered more than two hundred signatures (签名）to stop the development A group of citizens met and decided to support him.可知他得知开发商要填平那个池塘的时候，他挨家挨户地求得别人的签名来阻止开发商这样做。
83. 【答案】 He told them they should speak for the citizens and leave enough space for children.
【试题解析】考察细节题。根据第三段4,5行He told the town officials that they should speak for the citizens. He also insisted that they should leave enough space for children.
84. 【答案】Environmental protection laws and the knowledge of wetlands ecology
【试题解析】根据文章最后一段倒数4,5行he used environmental protection laws to explain restrictions on development in and around wetlands and the knowledge of wetlands ecology to help improve the development.可知他使用的是环境保护法以及湿地生态系统的知识来保护了池塘。
