2009年1月有英语阅读(二)吗\

全国 2008 年 1 月高等教育自学考试

英语阅读（二）试题

课程代码： 00596

I. Reading Comprehension. (50 points, 2 points for each)

Directions : In this part of the test, there are five passages. Following each passage, there are five questions with four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best answer and then write the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet.

Two decades ago, the channels that separate the Adriatic Islands were brimming with giant blue-fin tuna, a species so plentiful that tourists used to climb ladders by the sea to watch the schools swim by.

Today, these majestic predators are rarely, if ever, caught. The catches have dropped by 80 percent over the past few years, even for high-tech trawlers that now comb remote corners of the sea in search of the hard-to-find fish.

“ This is past the alarm stage, ” said Simon Cripps, director of the global marine program at the World Wildlife Fund. “ We are seeing a comp