黑龙江省木兰县2021高考英语译林阅读理解练习（1）及答案.docVIP

黑龙江省木兰县2021高考英语译林阅读理解练习（1）及答案

阅读理解。

ArecentstudyofancientandmodernelephantshascomeupwiththeunexpectedconclusionthattheAfricanelephantisdividedintotwodistinct(不同的)species.

ThediscoverywasmadebyresearchersatYorkandHarvardUniversitieswhentheywereexaminingthegeneticrelationshipbetweentheancientwoollymammothandmastodontomodernelephants—theAsianelephant,Africanforestelephant,andAfricansavannaelephant.

OncetheyobtainedDNAsequences(序列)fromtwofossils(化石),mammothsandmastodons,theteamcomparedthemwithDNAfrommodernelephants.TheyfoundtotheiramazementthatmodernforestandsavannaelephantsareasdistinctfromeachotherasAsianelephantsandmammoths.

ThescientistsuseddetailedgeneticanalysistoprovethattheAfricansavannaelephantandtheAfricanforestelephanthavebeendistinctspeciesforseveralmillionyears.ThedivergenceofthetwospeciestookplacearoundthetimeofthedivergenceofAsianelephantsandwoollymammoths.Thisresultamazedallthescientists.

Therehaslongbeendebateinthescientificcommunitythatthetwomightbeseparatespecies,butthisisthemostconvincingscientificevidencesofarthattheyareindeeddifferentspecies.

Previously,manynaturalistsbelievedthatAfricansavannaelephantsandAfricanforestelephantsweretwopopulationsofthesamespecies,despitetheelephantssignificantsizedifferences.Thesavannaelephanthasanaverageshoulderheightof3.5metreswhiletheforestelephanthasanaverageshoulderheightof2.5metres.Thesavannaelephantweighsbetweensixandseventons,roughlydoubletheweightoftheforestelephant.Butthefactthattheylooksodifferentdoesnotnecessarilymeantheyaredifferentspecies.HowevertheprooflayintheanalysisoftheDNA.

AlfredRoca,assistantprofessorintheDepartmentofAnimalSciencesattheUniversityof

本文叙述了一项新的科学发觉：通过对非洲森林大象和非洲草原大象DNA的鉴定，科学家们得出结论：它们是两种不同的物种。我们要爱护这些珍稀