The extreme seriousness of desertification results from the vast areas of land and the tremendous numbers of people affected, as well as from the great difficulty of reversing or even slowing the process. Once the soil has been removed by erosion, only the passage of centuries or millennia will enable new soil to form. In areas where considerable soil still remains, through, a rigorously enforced program of land protection and cover-crop planting may make it possible to reverse the present deterioration of the surface.

It can be inferred from the passage that the author most likely believes which of the following about the future of desertification?

○ Governments will act quickly to control further desertification.

○ The factors influencing desertification occur in cycles and will change in the future.

● Desertification will continue to increase.

○ Desertification will soon occur in all areas of the world.

解析：根据题目中的“infer”一词，我们可以断定此题为推论类问题。接下来读题干，可以确定定位信息应该为the future of desertification。在文章中定位，考生们可以找到对应信息为“In areas where considerable soil still remains, through, a rigorously enforced program of land protection and cover-crop planting may make it possible to reverse the present deterioration of the surface.”仔细阅读该信息，考生们会发现，根据原文对应的信息无法明确确定作者的态度，因此我们需要用排除法来解题。根据原文对应信息，个选项中的内容没有被原文提及，因此为错误选项；第二个选项中的内容也未被原文提及，为错误选项；第四个选项内容在原文中也没有被提及，为错误选项；因此利用排除法，我们可以断定第三个选项为正确选项。

Another major discovery was made in Egypt in 1989. Several skeletons of another early whale, Basilosaurus, were found in sediments left by the Tethy Sea and now exposed in the Sahara desert. This whale lived around 40 million years ago, 12 million years after Pakicetus. Many inplete skeletons were found but they included, for the first time in an archaeocyte, a plete hint leg that features a foot with three tiny toes. Such legs would have been far too small to have supported the 50-foof-long Basilosaurus on land. Basilosaurus was undoubtedly a fully marine whale with possibly nonfunctional, or vestigial, hind legs.

It can be inferred that Basilosaurus bred and gave birth in which of the following location?

○ On land

○ Both on land and at sea

○ In shallow water

● In a marine environment

解析：根据题目中的“infer”一词，我们可以断定此题为推论类问题。接下来读题干，可以确定定位信息应该为Basilosaurus。利用该词在文中定位，可以确定文章中对应信息为“Several skeletons of another early whale, Basilosaurus, were found in sediments left by the Tethy Sea and now exposed in the Sahara desert. This whale lived around 40 million years ago, 12 million years after Pakicetus. Many inplete skeletons were found but they included, for the first time in an archaeocyte, a plete hint leg that features a foot with three tiny toes. Such legs would have been far too small to have supported the 50-foof-long Basilosaurus on land. Basilosaurus was undoubtedly a fully marine whale with possibly nonfunctional, or vestigial, hind legs.”仔细阅读此信息，尤其是“Basilosaurus was undoubtedly a fully marine whale with possibly nonfunctional, or vestigial, hind legs”我们可以推论出Basilosaurus完全是一种海洋鲸鱼，它无法在陆地生活，因此可以确定为第四个选项In a marine environment。

Before 1915 manufacturing in the United States had been done in homes or shops by skilled artisans. As master craftworkers, they imparted the knowledge or their trades to apprentices and journeymen. In addition, women often worked in their homes partime, making finished articles from raw material supplied by merchant capitalists. After 1985 this older form of manufacturing began to give way to factories with machinery tended by unskilled or semiskilled laborers. Cheap transportation works, the rise of cities, and the availability of capital and credit all stimulated the shift to factory production.

Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about articles manufactured before 1815?

○ They were primarily produced by women.

○ They were generally produced in shops rather than in homes.

● They were produced with more concern for quality than for speed of production.

○ They were produced mostly in large cities with extensive transportation works.

解析：根据题目中的“infer”一词，我们可以断定此题为推论类问题。接下来读题干，可以确定定位信息为articles manufactured before 1815。利用该信息在文章中定位，我们能够定位到以上段落中的信息。在该段落中，作者把1815年前的加工形式和1815年后的做了对比，但是根据该段落中提供的1815年前的信息，我们无法直接准确确定，因此也需要用到排除法。根据段落中提供的1815年前的信息，我们可以确定个选项和第二个选项的内容在文章中未提及；而根据段落中提供的1815年后的信息我们则可以确定第四个选项的内容不真实，不准确，因此为错误选项；而如果我们把段落中的“Before 1915 manufacturing in the United States had been done in homes or shops by skilled artisans.”和“After 1985 this older form of manufacturing began to give way to factories with machinery tended by unskilled or semiskilled laborers”做对比，就可以推论出第三个选项为正确选项。