A strong wind can be a dangerous thing — sometimes it is powerful enough to knock you off your feet. But to plants, the wind is a source of new life, carrying them or their spores (孢子) thousands of miles.
A NASA satellite called QuikSCAT has discovered highways of wind over the Earth's oceans. Scientists believe these invisible roads may explain why many nonflowering plants, such as mosses (苔) and lichens (地衣), grow where they do.
The satellite is able to send microwaves (微波) from space to the surface of the ocean. The pattern of signals that e back shows which way the winds are blowing.
Using this data, the scientists studied a group of islands in the southern hemisphere (半球), near Antarctica．Winds tend to blow anticlockwise (逆时针) in this region, but there are lots of local differences.
When the researchers pared these local patterns to botanical (植物学) data, they found that the wind had an important effect on where species of mosses, lichens, and other nonflowering plants grow.
For example, Bouvet Island and Heard Island, share 30 per cent of their moss species, 29 per cent of liverworts (叶苔), and 32 per cent of lichens — even though they are 4,430 kilometers apart. In contrast, Gough Island and Bouvet Island, separated by just 1,860 kilometers of sea, share only 16 per cent of mosses and 17 per cent of liverworts. They have no lichens in mon.
Ferns (蕨类植物) and flowering plants don't travel as well in the wind, so they don't show the same kinds of distribution (分布) patterns.
【小题1】This story is about .A．the discovery of wind highwaysB．how wind travelsC．how wind affects different plantsD．one function of the wind【小题2】The underlined word data in the fourth paragraph means .A．signalB．patternC．informationD．research【小题3】 Which of the following is wrong?A．Bouvet Island, Heard Island and Gough Island are all in the southern hemisphere.B．Winds in the researched area blow anti-clockwise.C．The scientists shouldn't base this research on how winds affect where ferns grow.D．Without the discovery of QuikSCAT, the research wouldn't have made sense.【小题4】 Which of the following diagrams shows the correct position of the islands?
D
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(答案→)D
解析：这是一篇有关植物学知识的短文。短文介绍的是“许多不开花的植物其实是通过海风把子女送往远方的”。
【小题1】主旨题。从全文的意义上分析，本文讲述的是“海风的一种功能”。即：“许多不开花的植物通过海风移往远方”。
【小题2】词意猜测题。根据上下文的意义，data指的是卫星发回的“信息”。
【小题3】判断题。根据文中“Winds tend to blow anticlockwise in this region, but there are lots of local differences”一句可判断B项是错误的。
【小题4】图形题。根据短文倒数第二段的文字表述及风向，可确定三个岛是以Bouvet Island作为参照物而相对于其他岛而言的。（B）图中三者在距离上与短文相符，但由于风向是逆时针，而Gough Island 是在Bouvet Island的左向，即是在风前进的方向，植物种子就能从B岛飞到G岛，从而形成这两地有更多的相同植物种类，这与短文意义不符。（D）图中三者在距离上与短文相符，从风向上判断，由于风向是逆时针，尽管Bouvet与Heard相距较远，但它是在风前进的方向，植物的种子还是能够从B岛飞入H岛。而Gough Island 是在Bouvet Island的右向，即背离了风前进的方向，尽管B岛与G岛相距较近，两地相同的植物种类不多，这与短文意义相符。可判断出图形D的正确的