Ⅳ. Choose the best answers to complete the passage below.
“If people suddenly disappeared from Earth, the planet could get back and, in 1,000 years, it would look as it did 100,000 years ago. If insects disappeared, 1 on land would survive,” said Rafael Gonzalez Urdaneta from Mexico.
This shows that humans are not the 2 living things in the world. We are just part of the ecosystem and other things may be much more important than us.
Over the course of hundreds of years, human beings have 3 the planet much. However, human activities over the past century have raised 4 about the balance(平衡) between human life and ecosystems.
Each time we 5 a newspaper or turn on the radio, we read or hear that our environment is becoming worse and, there is a need for 6. The reasons are many and include global warming, pollution, and droughts.
People are over-using natural resources(资源), which is 7 the Earth to step to its end.
The UN report on Global Environment Outlook points out 8 driving forces influencing our global environment—political and economic(政治和经济的) problems are made worse by rapid population growth.
Without the social, economic and political problems caused by humans, the global environment would 9 be in much better shape. In order to make the world a better place to live in, we should learn about and 10 the ecosystem around us.
()1. A. something B. nothing C. everything D. anything
()2. A. most useful B. prettiest C. cleverest D. most valuable
()3. A. accepted B. remembered C. influenced D. polluted
()4. A. knowledge B. worries C. hopes D. wishes
()5. A. pick up B. put up C. put out D. pick out
()6. A. action B. imagination C. competition D. attitude
()7. A. punishing B. encouraging C. pushing D. pulling
()8. A. one B. two C. three D. four
()9. A. usually B. hardly C. suddenly D. probably
()10. A. create B. protect C. hide D. like

1—5 BACBA 6—10 ACBDB

【分析】
本题为完形填空，需结合文章主旨（人类是生态系统的一部分，应重视生态保护），通过上下文语境、词汇词义辨析及固定搭配逐一分析每个空的选项，选出最符合文意的答案。
【解析】
1. 第1空：前文提到人类消失后地球会回到远古状态，强调人类对地球的重要性；若昆虫消失，陆地“没有什么（nothing）”能存活，故选B。
2. 第2空：后文指出人类只是生态系统的一部分，其他生物可能更重要，说明人类不是世界上“最有价值的（most valuable）”生物，故选D。
3. 第3空：结合语境，人类数百年来“影响（influenced）”了地球，accepted（接受）、remembered（记得）、polluted（污染）不符合整体语境，故选C。
4. 第4空：人类过去世纪的活动引发了关于人类生活与生态平衡的“担忧（worries）”，knowledge（知识）、hopes（希望）、wishes（愿望）不符合文意，故选B。
5. 第5空：固定搭配“pick up a newspaper”意为“拿起报纸”，put up（张贴）、put out（扑灭）、pick out（挑选）不符合，故选A。
6. 第6空：前文提到环境变差，需要采取“行动（action）”，imagination（想象）、competition（竞争）、attitude（态度）不符合，故选A。
7. 第7空：过度使用自然资源“推动（pushing）”地球走向尽头，punishing（惩罚）、encouraging（鼓励）、pulling（拉）不符合，故选C。
8. 第8空：后文提到“political and economic problems”，共两个驱动因素，故选B。
9. 第9空：没有人类造成的问题，全球环境“可能（probably）”会更好，usually（通常）、hardly（几乎不）、suddenly（突然）不符合，故选D。
10. 第10空：为了让世界更宜居，应了解并“保护（protect）”生态系统，create（创造）、hide（隐藏）、like（喜欢）不符合，故选B。
【答案】
1—5 BACBA 6—10 ACBDB
【知识点】
完形填空（词义辨析）、完形填空（语境理解）、固定搭配
【点评】
本题围绕生态保护主题，侧重考查学生对上下文逻辑、词汇词义及固定搭配的掌握，需结合文章主旨分析选项，整体难度适中。
【难度系数】
0.5