Section A: Banked Cloze
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
Most animals seek shade when temperatures in the Sahara Desert soar to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. But for the Saharan silver ant, (26) ______ from their underground nests into the sun's brutal rays to (27) ______ for food, this is the perfect time to seek lunch. In 2015 these ants were joined in the desert by scientists from two Belgian universities, who spent a month in the (28) ______ heat tracking the ants and digging out their nests. The goal was simple, to discover how the (29) ______ adapted to the kind of heat that can (30) ______ melt the bottom of shoes.
Back in Belgium, the scientists looked at the ants under an electronic microscope and found that their (31) ______, triangular hair reflects light like a prism, giving them a metallic reflection and protecting them from the sun's awful heat. When Ph.D. student Quentin Willot (32) ______ the hair from an ant with a (33) ______ knife and put it under a heat lamp, its temperature jumped.
The ants' method of staying cool is (34) ______ among animals. Could this reflective type of hair protect people? Willot says companies are interested in (35) ______ these ants' method of heat protection for human use, including everything from helping to protect the lives of firefighters to keeping homes cool in summer.
Word Bank
Answers & Explanations
26. C (crawling)。解析：句中已经有主谓 (this is)，所以这里需要用现在分词作伴随状语，修饰银蚁从巢穴里“爬出”的动作。
27. F (hunt)。解析：位于不定式符号 to 之后，需填动词原形。固定搭配 hunt for food 意为“寻找/猎取食物”。
28. E (extreme)。解析：位于定冠词 the 和名词 heat 之间，需填形容词。描述撒哈拉沙漠的高温，用“极端的 (extreme)”最为贴切。
29. K (species)。解析：科学家想发现这个“物种 (species)”是如何适应高温的。填入名词作从句主语。
30. G (literally)。解析：位于情态动词 can 和动词 melt 之间，需填副词加强语气。意为这种高温“简直/确实 (literally)”能把鞋底融化。
31. M (thick)。解析：与形容词 triangular 并列修饰名词 hair。意为“浓密的 (thick)”、三角形的毛发。
32. J (removed)。解析：从句缺谓语动词，描述过去的实验动作，需用过去式。博士生从蚂蚁身上“取下/刮下 (removed)”毛发。
33. N (tiny)。解析：位于冠词 a 和名词 knife 之间，需填形容词。在显微镜下操作，必须使用“微小的 (tiny)”刀片。
34. O (unique)。解析：位于系动词 is 之后作表语。蚂蚁的这种降温方式在动物界是“独一无二的 (unique)”。
35. A (adapting)。解析：位于介词 in 之后，需填动名词。公司有兴趣将蚂蚁的方法“改造/应用 (adapting)”于人类防护。
核心搭配与高分句型
【核心搭配与高频短语】
- seek shade：寻找阴凉处
- hunt for food：觅食，寻找食物（crawling from their nests to hunt for food）
- dig out：挖出，挖掘（digging out their nests）
- adapt to：适应（how the species adapted to the kind of heat）
- protect... from...：保护...免受...（protecting them from the sun's awful heat）
- be interested in doing sth.：对做某事感兴趣（companies are interested in adapting...）
- ranging from... to... / including everything from... to...：包括从...到...的各种事物（including everything from helping firefighters to keeping homes cool）
【亮点句型解析】
- 现在分词短语作状语（增加句子连贯性）：
"...giving them a metallic reflection and protecting them from the sun's awful heat."
（...赋予它们金属般的反射光，并保护它们免受太阳可怕的热量伤害。）用 `giving` 和 `protecting` 两个现在分词短语作为伴随结果，使主句描述的“反射光线”动作与其产生的影响紧密相连，在四级写作中显得非常地道高级。 - 定语从句的嵌套使用：
"The goal was simple, to discover how the species adapted to the kind of heat that can literally melt the bottom of shoes."
（目标很简单，就是发现这个物种是如何适应那种简直能把鞋底融化的高温的。）句中包含一个 `how` 引导的宾语从句，而在这个宾语从句中又嵌套了一个 `that` 引导的定语从句修饰 `heat`。通过这种嵌套，精确且生动地描写了撒哈拉沙漠的极端环境。