In 1841 Edward Forbes was offered thechanceto serve asnaturalistaboard HMS Beacon, an English RoyalNavyship assigned tosurveytheAegeanSea. For a year and a half the Beacon crisscrossed theAegeanwaters. During that time Forbes was able todragthis small, triangular dredge - a tool with aleathernet for capturing creaturesalongthe sea bottom - at a hundred locations, at depths ranging from 6 to 1380 feet. He collected hundreds of differentspeciesof animals, and he saw that they were distributed in eight different depth zones, each containing its owndistinctassemblage of animal life, the way zones ofelevationon the side of a mountain are populated bydistinctsets of plants.

Forbes also thought he saw, as he later told the British Association, that "the number ofspeciesand individuals diminishes as wedescend, pointing to a zero in thedistributionof animal life as yet unvisited." This zero, Forbes casually speculated-hesimplyextended alineon hisgraphof animal numberversusdepth-probably began at a depth of 1,800 feet. Below that was the finalzonein Forbes'sscheme,zonenine, azonethat covered most of the ocean floor and thus most of thesolidsurface of Earth: Forbes called this the azoiczone, where no animal, to say nothing of plants, couldsurvive.

Forbes's azoiczonewasentirelyplausibleat the time, and it was certainly far from the strangest idea that was then entertained about the deep sea. In the firstdecadeof the nineteenthcentury, a Frenchnaturalistnamed Francois Peron had sailed around the world measuring thetemperatureof the ocean. He found that the deeper the water, the colder it got, and he concluded that the seafloor was covered with a thicklayerof ice. Peron ignored the fact that water expands when it freezes and that icethereforefloats. A morepopularbelief at the time was that water at great depth would be compressed to such adensitythat nothing could sinkthroughit. This ignored the fact that water is all but incompressible. Buteventhe moresensiblenaturalists of the day wereguiltyof asimilarmisconception. They imagined the deep sea as being filled with an unmoving and undisturbable pool of cold,densewater. In reality the deep is always being refreshed by cold water sinking from above.

The centralimplicationof all these misconceptions was that nothing could live in the abyss (deep), just as Forbes's observations seemed toindicate. But Forbes erred in two ways. One was theparticularstudy site he happened to use as a springboard for hissweepingpostulateof a lifeless abyss. Although theAegeanhad been the birthplace ofmarinebiology, its depths are now known to be exceptionally lacking in animaldiversity. Moreover,throughnofaultof his own, Forbes was not particularly successful at sampling such life as did exist at the bottom of theAegean. It was his dredge that was inadequate. Its opening was so small and the holes in the net so large that the dredgeinevitablymissed animals. Many of those it did catch must have poured out of its open mouth when Forbes reeled it in. His azoiczone, then, was aplausiblebut wild extrapolation frompioneeringbutfeebledata.

As it turned out, theexistenceof the azoiczonehad been disprovedevenbefore Forbes suggested it, and thetheorycontinued to be contradicted regularlythroughoutits long andinfluentiallife. Searching for the NorthwestPassagefrom the Atlantic to thePacificin 1818, Sir John Ross had lowered his "deep-sea clam"—asortof bivalvedsedimentscoop-into the water of Baffin Bay ( an inlet between the Atlantic andArcticoceans), which thedeterminedto be more than a thousand fathoms deep in some places. Modern soundingsindicatehe overestimated his depths by several hundred fathoms, but in any case Ross'sclamdove several times deeper than Forbes's dredge. It brought back mud laced with worms, and starfish that dad entangled themselves in thelineat depths well below the supposedboundaryof the azoiczone.

Questions:
question_stem: According to paragraph 1, why was the HMS Beacon in the Aegean Sea?
choices: tag: A
text: To capture creatures along the sea bottom.

tag: B
text: To provide Forbes with transportation back and forth across the Aegean.

tag: C
text: To test the effectiveness of a new type of dredge.

tag: D
text: To carry out a survey of the Aegean Sea.
answer_key: D
explanation: 本题关键词是 HMS Beacon 和 Aegean Sea，定位回原文找到这一句：In 1841 Edward Forbes was offered the chance to serve as naturalist aboard HMS Beacon, an English Royal Navy ship assigned to survey the Aegean Sea. 答案在这个定语从句里：HMS Beacon, an English Royal Navy ship assigned to survey the Aegean Sea. HMS Beacon 是一艘船，是去调查 Aegean Sea 的。选项 D 符合这句话的意思。其他三个选项均与此句无关。

question_stem: Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways for leave out essential information.
choices: tag: A
text: The hundreds of different species of animals Forbes collected fell into eight distinct groups, each associated with a different depth zone.

tag: B
text: Forbes realized that depth zones, like elevation zones, contain hundreds of different species.

tag: C
text: By collecting hundreds of different animals on land and sea, Forbes discovered that there were eight elevation zones and eight depth zones.

tag: D
text: In addition to collecting different species of animals in eight ocean zones, Forbes collected different species of plants in eight mountain zones.
answer_key: A
explanation: 本题高亮出来的句子是：He collected hundreds of different species of animals, and he saw that they were distributed in eight different depth zones, each containing its own distinct assemblage of animal life, the way zones of elevation on the side of a mountain are populated by distinct sets of plants. 他收集了上百种的动物，并且他认为他们是分布在八个不同深度的空间里，每个空间含有自己独特的生物，就像在山的不同高度区域里的植被种类不同一样。选项 A 复述了主要内容，可以选；选项 B 说 Forbes 这个人不同高度的区域含有上百种物种，漏去了很多关键信息，不选；选项 C 说 Forbes 同时发现了八个深度不同的区域和八个高度不同的区域，并没有，他只发现了 zones of depth，zones of elevations 是拿来类比 zones of depth 的，不是他一起发现的；选项 D 说 Forbes 不仅收集了海洋生物，还收集了植物，但是他没有搜集植物，不选。选择 A。

question_stem: Why does the author mention that Forbes "extended a line on his graph of animal number versus depth"?
choices: tag: A
text: To indicate how Forbes concluded that some forms of animal life in the depths of the ocean had never been seen before.

tag: B
text: To help explain how Forbes arrived at his theory of the azoic zone.

tag: C
text: To make the point that Forbes was a well-trained professional.

tag: D
text: To show how naturalists of Forbes's time carried out their research.
answer_key: B
explanation: 根据本题关键短语 extended a line on his graph of animal number versus depth 定位到第二段，第二段主要讲的是 Forbes 认为，海里越深，生物种类就越少，所以他自己画了一道线，线的下面就是没有生命存在的区域，叫 azoic zone。选项 B 说帮助解释 Forbes 是怎么得出 azoic zone 的结论的，正确；选项 A 说他发现了没有被发现过的物种，选项 C 说证明了他很专业，选项 D 说展示了那个时代的研究者怎么做研究，都与原文无关。选择 B。

question_stem: According to paragraph 2, what did Forbes believe about the possibility of life on the ocean floor deeper than 1,800 feet deep?
choices: tag: A
text: No plants or animals could live there.

tag: B
text: Only plants could live there.

tag: C
text: Only animals could live there.

tag: D
text: It was not possible to say whether any plants or animals could live there.
answer_key: A
explanation: 本题的关键词在于1800 feet deep。根据这个数字定位回第二段 This zero, Forbes casually speculated-he simply extended a line on his graph of animal number versus depth-probably began at a depth of 1,800 feet. 这句说明1800 feet 以下都是 zero zone，也就是说这个线下面就没有生物生存了。选项 A 符合。其余三个选项都不合题意。

question_stem: According to paragraph 3, what was wrong with Francois Peron's conclusion?
choices: tag: A
text: It was based on inaccurate temperature measurements.

tag: B
text: It assumed that the deeper the water, the colder it got.

tag: C
text: It did not take into account the fact that ice floats.

tag: D
text: It overlooked the fact that the sea is deeper in some places than in others.
answer_key: C
explanation: 本题以人名 Peron 为关键词定位回原文第三段：Peron ignored the fact that water expands when it freezes and that ice therefore floats. 其实从这一段的第二句开始都是在讲 Peron 的理论，他认为越往深处去，海水越冷，所以到了最深的海底，海水会结冰。但是他忽视了如果真的海水结冰了的话，冰不会待在海底而会浮上去。选项 C 符合题意。其余三个选项原文里都没有提到。选择 C。

question_stem: The word "sensible" in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: famous

tag: B
text: highly trained

tag: C
text: reasonable

tag: D
text: experienced
answer_key: C
explanation: 本题根据考察的单词 sensible 定位回原文中这一句：But even the more sensible naturalists of the day were guilty of a similar misconception. 本句大意是：但是即使是当时更加理智的自然学家也为相似的错误概念感到愧疚。sensible 意思是理智的。选项 A 是著名的，选项 B 是严格训练的，选项 C 是合理的，选项 D 是经验丰富的。选择 C 最贴近 sensible 的意思。

question_stem: The word "exceptionally" in the passage is closet in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: surprisingly

tag: B
text: extraordinarily

tag: C
text: frequently

tag: D
text: specifically
answer_key: B
explanation: 本题根据考察的单词 exceptionally 定位回原文中这一句：Although the Aegean had been the birthplace of marine biology, its depths are now known to be exceptionally lacking in animal diversity. 本句大意是：即使 Aegean 这片海是海洋生物学的诞生地，但是现在得知它的深度在动物多样性上面非常有限。exceptionally 意思是非常的，极其的，表程度上的强调。选项 A 是惊奇地，选项 B 是非常地，选项 C 是频繁地，选项 D 是特定地。选项 B 最贴合 exceptionally 的意思。

question_stem: According to paragraph 4, what did all the ideas about the deep sea discussed in paragraph 3 have in common?
choices: tag: A
text: They were all based on Forbes's observations.

tag: B
text: They all challenged Forbes's theory.

tag: C
text: They all presented the deep sea as lifeless.

tag: D
text: They all underestimated the depth of the sea.
answer_key: C
explanation: 本题根据题目指示看到第四段，第一句即是答案：The central implication of all these misconceptions was that nothing could live in the abyss (deep), just as Forbes's observations seemed to indicate. 本句前半句说这些错误观念的共同点就是没有东西可以在海的深处存活。符合选项 C 所说深海是无生命存在的。其余三个选项都属于无中生有，没有原文的依据。选择 C。

question_stem: According to paragraph 4, what was one mistake that Forbes made?
choices: tag: A
text: He assumed that Aegean's depths and other oceans' depths had comparable animal diversity.

tag: B
text: He placed too much importance on the fact the Aegean had been the birthplace of marine biology.

tag: C
text: He failed to notice that his samples of marine life mostly came from the sea bottom and were not typical of life-forms at higher levels.

tag: D
text: He did not realize that the seafloor in many parts of Earth is much deeper than it is in Aegean.
answer_key: A
explanation: 本题根据 Forbe 和 mistake 定位到这一句：But Forbes erred in two ways. One was the particular study site he happened to use as a springboard for his sweeping postulate of a lifeless abyss. Although the Aegean had been the birthplace of marine biology, its depths are now known to be exceptionally lacking in animal diversity. Forbes 犯了两个错误，第一个是他假设他取样的海洋里的动物多样性跟其他的海里的是一样的。但其实他取样的海洋里动物多样性少于其他的地方。选项 A 符合原文中的说法，正确。其他三个选项原文中没有提及。

question_stem: According to paragraph 4, Forbes's dredge had each of the following problems EXCEPT:
choices: tag: A
text: It opening was too small to collect certain kinds of animals.

tag: B
text: The holes in its net were so large that animals could escape through them.

tag: C
text: It could not get all the way down to the Aegean seafloor to sample the animals there.

tag: D
text: Many animals were lost out of its open mouth when it was pulled up.
answer_key: C
explanation: 本题根据 Forbes 和 dredge 定位到这里：It was his dredge that was inadequate. Its opening was so small and the holes in the net so large that the dredge inevitably missed animals. Many of those it did catch must have poured out of its open mouth when Forbes reeled it in. His azoic zone, then, was a plausible but wild extrapolation from pioneering but feeble data. 选项 A 对应原文中的 Its opening was so small，选项 B 对应原文中的 the holes in the net so large，选项 D 对应原文中的 Many of those it did catch must have poured out of its open mouth when Forbes reeled it in. 只有选项 C 没有对应的原文中的证据。选择 C。

question_stem: The word "inevitably" in the passage is closet in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: frequently

tag: B
text: necessarily

tag: C
text: unpredictably

tag: D
text: unfortunately
answer_key: B
explanation: 根据所考察的单词定位回原文中这一句：It was his dredge that was inadequate. Its opening was so small and the holes in the net so large that the dredge inevitably missed animals. 本句大意是：他的取样是不够的。因为他用的工具 dredge 开口太小，网上的孔又太大，导致这个东西肯定会漏下动物。inevitably 意思是不可避免的。选项 A 是频繁地，选项 B 是必须地，选项 C 是不可预测的，选项 D 是不幸地，选项 B 最贴合 inevitably 的意思。选择 B。

question_stem: Paragraph 5 strongly suggests which of the following about Forbes and Ross?
choices: tag: A
text: Forbes got the idea for his dredge from Ross's deep-sea clam.

tag: B
text: Forbes did not know about the discoveries Ross had made in Baffin Bay with help of his deep-sea clam.

tag: C
text: Forbes carried out his investigations in the Aegean partly to disprove Ross's theory about the possibility of life in a abyss.

tag: D
text: Forbes overestimated the depths of the seas and oceans he studied while Ross's calculations were as accurate as those provided by modern soundings.
answer_key: B
explanation: 本题根据题目指示回到原文第五段：As it turned out, the existence of the azoic zone had been disproved even before Forbes suggested it, and the theory continued to be contradicted regularly throughout its long and influential life. 第一句就告诉了我们答案：Forbes 不知道在他提出 azoic zone 之前，这个东西的存在就已经被人证实是错误的了。而后文告诉我们证实它不存在的就是 Ross。所以其实 Forbes 对于 Ross 的研究一无所知，如果他知道他就不会再提出一个已经被否定的理论了。选项 B 合适。其他三个选项都与原文意思相悖。