A
(2019·济南5月针对性练习)In 1869, the Smiley family purchased an area of land about 100 miles north of New York City. Over time, some of their property and many of the surrounding landscapes became the Mohonk Preserve, which has since grown to 8，000 acres and attracts visitors and rock climbers.
But the Mohonk Preserve also has a long scientific legacy. In the 1930s, Dan Smiley, a descendent of the original owners, began keeping track of the plants and animals that lived in the area.
Megan Napoli is a research ecologist with the Mohonk Preserve in New York. She thinks Smiley’s efforts produced a rare longterm data set of observations, which is useful for studying the impacts of climate change. For instance, other research has shown that songbirds are migrating north earlier and earlier in the spring.
It’s important for the birds to arrive at the proper time in the spring, because they need to time their arrival with the insects’ emergence. So they need to be here to establish their nesting sites and lay their eggs. Once the eggs hatch, they have their baby birds, so they need to time it when the insects are most abundant.
Napoli has begun analyzing about 76，000 observations of songbird migration dates collected by Smiley and his team to see if they, too, show that climate change has altered the timing of migrations. Her results suggest that they do.
Napoli found that shortdistance migrants that spend their winters in the southern U．S. now arrive an average of eleven days earlier than they did in the 1930s. Longdistance migrants that overwinter in the tropics arrive roughly a week earlier. Napoli presented her results at a recent meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Portland, Oregon.
Meanwhile, who knows how many other longterm, personal data collections like Smiley’s are out there, waiting to be discovered and to help improve official attempts to track the planet’s changes.
【解题导语】 本文是一篇说明文。1869年，Smiley一家买下了纽约市以北约100英里处的一块土地，该地区后来发展成为8 000英亩的纽约莫霍克保护区。该地区原来的主人的一个后人Dan Smiley研究该地区的动植物，记录了大量的数据，为科学家研究气候变化提供了宝贵的资料。
1．What do we know about Dan Smiley?
A．He lived in New York City.
B．He was a scientific researcher.
C．He owned the Mohonk Preserve.
D．He kept a record of wildlife.
D 解析：细节理解题。根据第二段第二句“In the 1930s, Dan Smiley, a descendent of the original owners, began keeping track of the plants and animals that lived in the area．”可知，20世纪30年代，这个地区原来的主人的一个后人Dan Smiley记录了该地区的动植物信息。故D项正确。
2．What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A．The birds’ birth.
B．The birds’ arrival.
C．The nest building.
D．The insects’ appearance.
B 解析：代词指代题。根据第四段第一句“It’s important for the birds to arrive at the proper time in the spring, because they need to time their arrival with the insects’ emergence．”可知，对于鸟类来说，在春天适时到达很重要，因为它们需要用昆虫的出现来确定它们到达的时间。又结合本段中的“Once the eggs hatch, they have their baby birds, so they need to time it when the insects are most abundant．”可知，一旦这些蛋孵化，它们就有了幼鸟，所以它们需要在昆虫数量最多的时候安排时间到达。据此可知，it指代鸟的到达，故B项正确。
3．What does Megan Napoli think of Smiley’s longterm record?
A．It has affected the birds’ migration.
B．It challenges the previous research.
C．It has changed official attitudes.
D．It is of great value to her research.
D 解析：细节理解题。根据第三段第二句“She thinks Smiley’s efforts produced a rare longterm data set of observations, which is useful for studying the impacts of climate change．”可知，Megan Napoli认为Smiley收集的长期观测数据对研究气候变化的影响非常有用。故D项正确。
4．What can we learn from Napoli’s research?
A．It is totally based on Smiley’s longterm notes.
B．Scientists have to rely on more personal data.
C．Climate change affects birds’ migration time.
D．It contributes greatly to other personal research.
C 解析：细节理解题。根据第五段的内容尤其是最后一句“Her results suggest that they do．”可知，Napoli的研究说明气候的变化影响鸟类的迁徙时间，故C项正确。
