Part A: Reading Comprehension
Directions: Read the following text. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)
Text 4
The miracle of the Chesapeake Bay lies not in its depths, but in the complexity of its natural construction, the interaction of fresh and saline waters, and the mix of land and water. The shallows provide homes for hundreds of species while storing floodwaters, filtering pollutants from water, and protecting nearby communities from potentially destructive storm surges.
All this was put at great risk late last month, when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in an Idaho case that provides the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) far less authority to regulate wetlands and waterways. Specifically, a 5-4 majority decided that wetlands protected by the EPA under its Clean Water Act authority must have a “continuous surface connection” to bodies of water. This narrowing of the regulatory scope was a victory for builders, mining operators and other commercial interests often at odds with environmental rules. And it carries “significant repercussions for water quality and flood control throughout the United States,” as Justice Brett Kavanaugh observed.
In Maryland, the good news is that there are many state laws in place that provide wetlands protections. But that’s a very shortsighted view, particularly when it comes to the Chesapeake Bay. The reality is that water, and the pollutants that so often come with it, don’t respect state boundaries. The Chesapeake draws from a 64,000-square-mile watershed that extends into Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, the District of Columbia and Delaware. Will those jurisdictions extend the same protections now denied under Sackett v. EPA? Perhaps some, but all? That seems unlikely.
It is too easy, and misleading, to see such court rulings as merely standing up for the rights of land owners when the consequences can be so dire for their neighbors. And it’s a reminder that the EPA’s involvement in the Chesapeake Bay Program has long been crucial as the means to transcend the influence of deep-pocketed special interests in neighboring states. Pennsylvania farmers, to use one telling example, aren’t thinking about next year’s blue crab harvest in Maryland when they decide whether to spread animal waste on their fields, yet the runoff into nearby creeks can have enormous impact downstream.
And so we would also call on state lawmakers from Richmond to Albany to consider reviewing their own wetlands protections and see for themselves the enormous stakes involved. We can offer them a visit to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County where bald eagles fly over tidal marshes so shallow you could not paddle a boat across them but teaming with aquatic life. It’s worth the scenic drive.
36. The Chesapeake Bay is described in Paragraph 1 as
37. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Idaho case
38. How does the author feel about future of the Chesapeake Bay?
39. What can be inferred about the EPA’s involvement in the Chesapeake Bay Program?
40. The author holds that the state lawmakers should
答案与解析 (Answers)
36. [A] a valuable natural environment.
解析：第一段描述切萨皮克湾不仅构造复杂，还具有“为数百个物种提供家园”、“储存洪水”、“过滤污染物”以及“保护附近社区免受破坏性风暴潮影响”等功能。这些描述都在强调其作为自然环境的巨大价值，故选A。
37. [B] weakens the EPA’s regulatory power.
解析：第二段明确指出，最高法院在爱达荷州案件中的裁决“赋予了美国环保署（EPA）远比之前更小的权力来监管湿地和水道（provides the EPA far less authority to regulate...）”。这种职权的减少即等同于削弱了其监管权力，选B。
38. [A] Worried.
解析：第二段提到这种职权削减使一切“处于巨大风险之中（put at great risk）”，并可能带来“重大反响”。第三段作者指出虽然马里兰州有法律，但水是不分国界的，而其他州未必会提供同样的保护，称那种乐观的看法是“非常短视的（shortsighted）”。这体现了作者对切萨皮克湾未来的忧虑。
39. [D] It has ensured the coordination of protection efforts.
解析：第四段指出 EPA 在该计划中的参与一直至关重要，“作为一种超越邻州财大气粗的特殊利益集团影响的手段”。文章提到水和污染物不尊重州界，跨越多个司法管辖区，而 EPA 能够介入并在更大范围内进行管理，说明它确保了保护工作的协调性，选D。
40. [B] attach due importance to wetlands protections.
解析：最后一段作者呼吁从里士满到奥尔巴尼的州立法者们“考虑审查他们自己的湿地保护措施，并亲自去看看其中的重大利害关系（consider reviewing their own wetlands protections and see for themselves the enormous stakes involved）”。这种呼吁立法的行为，正是要求他们对湿地保护给予应有的重视，选B。
核心长难句精解 (Highlighted Sentences)
1. 平行结构与现在分词短语：
"The shallows provide homes for hundreds of species while storing floodwaters, filtering pollutants from water, and protecting nearby communities from potentially destructive storm surges."
【解析】while 引导伴随状语，后面连接了三个并列的现在分词短语（storing..., filtering..., and protecting...），清晰地罗列了切萨皮克湾浅滩的三大生态功能。
【翻译】浅滩为数百个物种提供了家园，同时还能储存洪水、过滤水中的污染物，并保护附近社区免受潜在破坏性风暴潮的影响。
"The shallows provide homes for hundreds of species while storing floodwaters, filtering pollutants from water, and protecting nearby communities from potentially destructive storm surges."
【解析】while 引导伴随状语，后面连接了三个并列的现在分词短语（storing..., filtering..., and protecting...），清晰地罗列了切萨皮克湾浅滩的三大生态功能。
【翻译】浅滩为数百个物种提供了家园，同时还能储存洪水、过滤水中的污染物，并保护附近社区免受潜在破坏性风暴潮的影响。
2. 限制性定语从句与定语嵌套：
"Specifically, a 5-4 majority decided that wetlands protected by the EPA under its Clean Water Act authority must have a “continuous surface connection” to bodies of water."
【解析】that 引导宾语从句。从句主语是 wetlands，protected by... 是过去分词短语作后置定语，修饰 wetlands，限定了受保护湿地的范围。
【翻译】具体而言，5比4的多数意见裁定，在《清洁水法案》授权下由美国环保署保护的湿地，必须与水体具有“连续的表面连接”。
"Specifically, a 5-4 majority decided that wetlands protected by the EPA under its Clean Water Act authority must have a “continuous surface connection” to bodies of water."
【解析】that 引导宾语从句。从句主语是 wetlands，protected by... 是过去分词短语作后置定语，修饰 wetlands，限定了受保护湿地的范围。
【翻译】具体而言，5比4的多数意见裁定，在《清洁水法案》授权下由美国环保署保护的湿地，必须与水体具有“连续的表面连接”。
3. 让步状语从句与因果逻辑：
"Pennsylvania farmers... aren’t thinking about next year’s blue crab harvest in Maryland when they decide whether to spread animal waste on their fields, yet the runoff into nearby creeks can have enormous impact downstream."
【解析】when 引导时间状语从句。yet 表示转折，引出作者真正想强调的事实：尽管上游农民决策时可能没考虑下游，但其产生的径流（污染）却会对下游产生巨大影响。
【翻译】宾夕法尼亚州的农民在决定是否在田间撒放动物粪便时，并不会想到明年马里兰州的蓝蟹收成，然而流向附近溪流的径流却可能对下游产生巨大影响。
"Pennsylvania farmers... aren’t thinking about next year’s blue crab harvest in Maryland when they decide whether to spread animal waste on their fields, yet the runoff into nearby creeks can have enormous impact downstream."
【解析】when 引导时间状语从句。yet 表示转折，引出作者真正想强调的事实：尽管上游农民决策时可能没考虑下游，但其产生的径流（污染）却会对下游产生巨大影响。
【翻译】宾夕法尼亚州的农民在决定是否在田间撒放动物粪便时，并不会想到明年马里兰州的蓝蟹收成，然而流向附近溪流的径流却可能对下游产生巨大影响。