课时跟踪练(一) Introduction & Reading - Pre reading

　　Ⅰ.阅读理解

　　A

　　 We've colonised most of the world, but one vast stretch of the planet remains beyond our grasp: Antarctica. This frozen continent at the end of the earth has never been permanently occupied by man. Even if you're traveling there on a cruise ship, as most people do, the solitude (孤独) and the emptiness will envelop you.

　　 Not that solitude is the first thing that comes to mind when you're standing in the middle of a penguin colony on an Antarctic shoreline. When I visited in early February, there were thousands of birds packed tightly on every rock, both shy gentoo penguins and the bolder adélie penguins. They seemed happy to see us wandering among them; our cameras clicked crazily at the grey fluff­ball chicks who are tapping their parents' beaks (鸟嘴) to be fed.

　　But penguins are by no means the only stars of the show here. I found it equally exciting to see a wandering albatross (信天翁) circling above our ship, dipping its great wings into the rolling waters of the Drake Passage. Or fat elephant seals rest on the beach in a soup of algae (海藻), shouting at each other like elderly members of a gentlemen's club.

　　Most exciting of all, though, were the whales. As the call went up from the bridge of our ship -"Humpbacks！"- we spotted three of them leaping from the water, their magnificent tails emerging and dipping as if in slow motion, so close that we could see their great heads, their eyes and blowholes.

　　Just as vast and attractive are the icebergs. The glassy world of the Weddell Sea is a fantastic picture of icy skyscrapers stretching to the horizon. Some are whipped by wind and water into fantastical shapes - oriental (东方的) palaces, ruined fortresses, an Art Deco cinema.

　　All of the above is exactly what makes a voyage here so extraordinary. A journey to Antarctica is a travel experience as special as you can have.

　　语篇解读：作者描述了自己到南极去的一次旅行经历，在作者的笔下一切都充满了生机和活力。

　　1．We can infer from Paragraph 2 that penguins ________.

　　A．are mostly shy

　　B．are not afraid of humans

　　C．dislike the presence of humans

　　D．hide their chicks from humans

解析：选B　推理判断题。根据第二段第三句中"They seemed happy to see us wandering among them"可知，企鹅似乎对人类在周围徘徊感到高兴，说明它们一点也不惧怕人类。