AsGilbertWhite，Darwin，andothersobservedlongago，allspeciesappeartohavetheinnatecapacitytoincreasetheirnumbersfromgenerationtogeneration.Thetaskforecologistsistountangletheenvironmentaandbiologicalfactorsthatholdthisintrinsiccapacityforpopulationgrowthincheckoverthelongrun.Thegreatvarietyofdynamicbehaviorsexhibitedbydifferentpopulationmakesthistaskmoredifficult：sompopulationsremainroughlyconstantfromyeartoyear;othersexhibitregularcyclesofabundanceandscarcity;stillothersvarywildly，withoutbreaksandcrashesthatareinsomecasesplainlycorrelatedwiththeweather，andinothercasesnot.Toimposesomeorderonthiskaleidoscopeofpatterns，oneschoolofthoughtproposesdividingpopulationsintotwogroups.Theseecologistspositthattherelativelysteadypopulationshavedensity-dependentgrowthparameters;thatis，ratesofbirth，death，andmigrationwhichdependstronglyonpopulationdensity.Thehighlyvaryingpopulationshavedensity-independentgrowthparameters，withvitalratesbuffetedbyenvironmentalevents;theseratesfluctuateinawaythatiswhollyindependentofpopulationdensity.Thisdichotomyhasitsuses，butitcancauseproblemsiftakentooliterally.Foronething，nopopulationcanbedrivenentirelybydensity-independentfactorsallthetime.Nomatterhowseverelyorunpredictablybirth，death，andmigrationratesmaybefluctuatingaroundtheirlong-termaverages，iftherewerenodensity-dependenteffects，thepopulationwould，inthelongrun，eitherincreaseordecreasewithoutbound(barringamiraclebywhichgainsandlossescanceledexactly)。Putanotherway，itmaybethatonaverage99percentofalldeathsinapopulationarisefromdensity-independentcauses，andonlyonepercentfromfactorsvaryingwithdensity.Thefactorsmakinguptheonepercentmayseemunimportant，andtheircausemaybecorrespondinglyhardtodetermine.Yet，whetherrecognizedornot，theywillusuallydeterminethelong-termaveragepopulationdensity.Inordertounderstandthenatureoftheecologist’sinvestigation，wemaythinkofthedensity-dependenteffectsongrowthparametersasthesignalecologistsaretryingtoisolateandinterpret，onethattendstomakethepopulationincreasefromrelativelylowvaluesordecreasefromrelativelyhighones，whilethedensity-independenteffectsacttoproducenoiseinthepopulationdynamics.Forpopulationsthatremainrelativelyconstant，orthatoscillatearoundrepeatedcycles，thesignalcanbefairlyeasilycharacterizedanditseffectsdescribed，eventhoughthecausativebiologicalmechanismmayremainunknown.Forirregularlyfluctuatingpopulations，wearelikelytohavetoofewobservationstohaveanyhopeofextractingthesignalfromtheoverwhelmingnoise.Butitnowseemsclearthatallpopulationsareregulatedbyamixtureofdensity-dependentanddensity-independenteffectsinvaryingproportions.

1.Theauthorofthetextisprimarilyconcernedwith

[A]Discussingtwocategoriesoffactorsthatcontrolpopulationgrowthandassessingtheirrelativeimportance.

[B]Describinghowgrowthratesinnaturalpopulationsfluctuateovertimeandexplainingwhythesechangesoccur.

[C]Proposingahypothesisconcerningpopulationsizeandsuggestingwaystotestit.

[D]Posingafundamentalquestionaboutenvironmentalfactorsinpopulationgrowthandpresentingsomecurrentlyacceptedanswer.

2.Itcanbeinferredfromthetextthattheauthorconsidersthedichotomydiscussedtobe

[A]Applicableonlytoerraticallyfluctuatingpopulations.

[B]instrumental，butonlyifitslimitationsarerecognized.

[C]Dangerouslymisleadinginmostcircumstances.

[D]Acompleteandsufficientwaytoaccountforobservedphenomena.

3.tothetext，allofthefollowingbehaviorshavebeenexhibitedbydifferentpopulationsEXCEPT

[A]Roughlyconstantpopulationlevelsfromyeartoyear.

[B]Regularcyclesofincreasesanddecreasesinnumbers.

[C]Erraticincreasesinnumberscorrelatedwiththeweather.

[D]Uncheckedincreasesinnumbersovermanygenerations.

4.Thediscussionconcerningpopulationinthethirdparagraphservesprimarilyto

[A]Demonstratethedifficultiesecologistsfaceinstudyingdensity-dependentfactorslimitingpopulationgrowth.

[B]Advocatemorerigorousstudyofdensity-dependentfactorsinpopulationgrowth.

[C]Provethatthedeathratesofanypopulationareneverentirelydensity-independent.

[D]underlinetheimportanceofevensmalldensity-dependentfactorsinregulatinglong-termpopulationdensities.

5.Inthetext，theauthordoesallofthefollowingEXCEPT

[A]Citetheviewsofotherbiologists.

[B]Defineabasicproblemthatthetextaddresses.

[C]Presentconceptualcategoriesusedbyotherbiologists.

[D]Describetheresultsofaparticularstudy.

Tom____ofhiswifehowshehadmetherfriend.

____isnoreasonfordischargingher.

PASSAGETWO

(1)TheNobelsaretheoriginals,ofcourse.AlfredNobel,themanwhoinventeddeadlyexplosives,decidedtotryanddosomethinggoodwithallthemoneyheearned,andgaveprizestopeoplewhomadeprogressinliterature,science,economicsand—perhapsmostimportantly—peace.

(2)NotallrewardsareasnobleastheNobels.Eventhoughmostcountrieshaveasystemofrecognizing,honoringandrewardingpeoplewhohavedonesomethinggoodintheircountries,therearenowhundredsofawardsandawardceremoniesforallkindsofthings.

(3)TheOscarsareprobablythemostfamous,atimeforthe(mostly)Americanfilmindustrytotellitselfhowgooditisandanannualopportunityforlotsofbigstarstogiveeachotherawardsandmaketearfulspeeches.AswellasthattherearealsotheGoldenGlobes,evidentlyforthesamething.

(4)Butit’snotonlyfilms---therearealsoGrammies,Brits,theMercuryPrizeandtheMTVformusic.InBritain,awriterwhowinstheBookerPrizecanexpecttoseetheirdifficult,literarynovelhitthebestsellerlistsandcompetewiththeDaVinciCodeforpopularity.TheTurnerPrizeisanawardforBritishcontemporaryartists—eachyearitcausescontroversybyapparentlygivinglotsofmoneytoartistswhodothingslikedisplayingtheirbeds,puttinganimalsinglasscasesor—thisyear—buildingagardenshed.

(5)Awardsdon’tonlyexistforarts.TherearenowawardsforSportsPersonalityoftheYear,forEuropeanFootballeroftheYearandWorldFootballeroftheYear.Thisseemsverystrange—sometimesawardscanbegoodtogiverecognitiontopeoplewhodeserveit,ortohelppeoplewhodon’tmakealotofmoneycarryontheirworkwithoutworryingaboutfinances,butprofessionalsoccerplayersthesedayscertainlyaren’tshortofcash!

(6)Manysmalltownsandcommunitiesallovertheworldalsohavetheirownawardceremonies,forlocalwritersorartists,orjustforpeoplewhohavegraduatedfromhighschoolor,gotauniversitydegree.EventheBritishCouncilhasitsownawardsfor“InnovationinEnglishLanguageTeaching”.

(7)Whyhavealltheseawardsandceremoniesappearedrecently?Shakespeareneverwonaprize, nordidLeonardoDaVinciorAdamSmithorCharlesDickens.

(8)Itwouldbepossibletosay,however,thatinthepast,scientistsandartistscouldwin“patronageformrichpeople”—akingoralordwouldgivetheartistsorscientistsmoneytohavethempainttheirpalacesorhelpthemdevelopnewwaysofmakingmoney.Withthechangeinsocialsystemsacrosstheworld,thisnolongerhappens.Alotofscientificresearchisnoweitherfundedbythestateorbyprivatecompanies.

(9)Perhapsawardceremoniesarejustthemostrecentphaseofthisprocess.

(10)However,thereismoretoitthanthat.WhenafilmwinsanOscar,manymorepeoplewillgoandseeit,orbuytheDVD.WhenawriterwinstheNobelPrize,manymorepeoplebuytheirbooks.WhenagroupwinstheMTVawards,theceremonyisseenbyhundredsofthousandsofpeopleacrosstheworld.Theresult?Thegroupsellslotsmorerecords.(11)Mostawardceremoniesarenowsponsoredbybigorganizationsorcompanies.Thismeansthatitisnotonlythepersonwhowinstheawardwhobenefits---butalsothesponsors.TheMTVawards,forexample,aregreatforpublicizingnotonlymusic,butalsoMTVitself!

(12)Onthesurface,itseemstobea“Win-win”situation,witheveryonebeinghappy,butletmeaskyouaquestion—howfardoyouthinkthatpublicityandmarketingarewinninghere,andhowmuchgenuinerecognitionofachievementistakingplace?

1.Whatistheauthor’stonewhenhementionsawardssuchastheOscars,theGoldenGlobesand

Grammies(Paras.3&4)

A.Amused.

B.Appreciative.

C.Sarcastic.

D.Serious.

2.AccordingtoPara.4,whatwouldhappentoawardwinningwriters?

A.Theywouldenjoyamuchlargerreadership.

B.Theywouldturntopopularnovelwriting.

C.Theywouldcontinuenon-fictionwriting.

D.Theywouldtrycontroversialformsofart.

3.WhichofthefollowingstatementsbestsumsupPara.6?

A.Awardsceremoniesareheldforlocalpeople.

B.Awardsceremoniesareheldonimportantoccasions.

C.Awardsceremoniesareheldincertainprofessions.

D.Awardsceremoniesareheldforallsortsofreasons.

4.AccordingtoPara.8,onedifferencebetweenscientistsandartistsinthepastandthoseatpresent

liesin_____________.

A.natureofwork

B.personalcontact

C.sourceoffunding

D.socialstatus

5.ItcanbeconcludedfromPara.12thattheauthorthinksawards________.

A.promotemarketratherthanachievements

B.dogoodtobothmarketandpopularity

C.helpthosewhoarereallytalented

D.areeffectiveinmakingpeoplepopular

Ininternationalmatches,prestigeissoimportantthattheonlythingthatmattersistoavoid_____.