More selective than most chemical pesticides in that they ordinarily destroy only unwanted species, biocontrol agents (such as insects, fungi, and viruses) eat, infect, or parasitize targeted plant or animal pests. However, biocontrol agents can negatively affect nontarget species by, for example, competing with them for resources: a biocontrol agent might reduce the benefits conferred by a desirable animal species by consuming a plant on which the animal prefers to lay its eggs. Another example of indirect negative consequences occurred in England when a virus introduced to control rabbits reduced the amount of open ground (because large rabbit populations reduce the ground cover), in turn reducing underground ant nests and triggering the extinction of a blue butterfly that had depended on the nests to shelter its offspring. The paucity of known extinctions or disruptions resulting from indirect interactions may reflect not the infrequency of such mishaps but rather the failure to look for or to detect them: most organisms likely to be adversely affected by indirect interactions are of little or no known commercial value and the events linking a biocontrol agent with an adverse effect are often unclear. Moreover, determining the potential risks of biocontrol agents before they are used is difficult, especially when a nonnative agent is introduced, because, unlike a chemical pesticide, a biocontrol agent may adapt in unpredictable ways, so that it can feed on or otherwise harm new hosts.


The passage is primarily concerned with


explaining why until recently scientists failed to recognize the risks presented by biocontrol agents.

emphasizing that biocontrol agents and chemical pesticides have more similarities than differences.

suggesting that only certain biocontrol agents should be used to control plant or animal pests.

arguing that biocontrol agents involve risks, some of which may not be readily discerned.

suggesting that mishaps involving biocontrol agents are relatively commonplace.

考题讲解

题目分析:

题目释义:

主旨题目

考点:

主旨(Main idea)
旨在考察我们对文章整体的把握程度,对文章的结构的分析能力和把控能力,以及对作者逻辑的判断。

这篇文章主旨明确,即作者先陈述了生物控制的应用,进而提出其两个不利影响(例子),最后告诉我们这些“风险”是很难察觉的。



选项分析:

A选项:解释为什么直到现在科学家们还不能识别出生物控制的风险。文中作者的确说明了不能识别出生物控制的风险,但是作者并没有解释为什么不能识别。

B选项:强调生物控制和化学农药的相同点多于不同点。文中主要写了生物控制的可能的不良影响,并没有说这些令生物控制和化学制剂的相同多于不同。

C选项:提出只有一定种类的生物制剂可以用来控制植物或生物。作者在文中说的全部面向所有生物控制的种类,并没有单提出只有某些特定生物制剂可以用来控制植物或生物。

D选项:
Correct. 提出生物控制有风险,一些这种风险也许不能被很容易的察觉出来。作者除掉最后一句话都在说生物控制可能的风险,最后一句话说明了风险可能不容易被发现(a biocontrol agent may adapt in unpredictable ways so that it can feed on or otherwise harm new hosts.)。

E选项:
提出关于生物控制带来的灾难相对来说是常见的。文章没有体现出这层意思。通篇也没有提及这些灾难是否常见。

展开显示

登录注册 后可以参加讨论

Prep2007E2-RC