Passage 4  (浙江省宁海县知恩中学2009届高三最后适应性考试)  完形填空

Of all man’s natural enemies, the one that has caused him more trouble than any other must be the common rat. For centuries, man has been  __21__ to solve the problem of rats. The ancient Egyptians were probably the first people to try to __22__ them with poison, and this method is still being used today. This says a great deal about how __23__ this method has been. We have set innumerable __24__, from simple wires to __25__ machines that drowned the rats in beer! We have tried to inflect them with __26__ developed germs. We’ve __27__ tried to raise super cats to kill them. However, we are still losing the __28__.

So why can’t man manage to __29__ a mere animal like the rat? The answer is simply that the rat isn’t a mere animal; It is a very special kind of animal. An average rat __30__ : wriggle through a hole no __31__ than a $1 coin; climb a brick wall as if it were climbing steps; happily leave a building by being flushed down the toilet, and then return the same __32__ ; jump from a fifth storey window and run away __33__; and last but certainly not least , __34__ so rapidly that a single pair could have 15,000 babies in one year! 

__35__ all these phyical qualities, we also have the __36__ that rats are rather good at not getting caught. They seem to have an almost supernatural ability to __37__ when food has been poisoned and a suspicious rat will starve __38__ it eats poisoned food. They also seem to be able to __39__ a trap with no real difficulty. 

One thing looks certain, we had better find a way to __40__ these small brown creatures soon, or it may be too late. 

21. A. Trying          B. managing         C. coming          D. failing 

22. A. solve            B. drive            C. kill              D. murder 

23. A. effective         B. efficent          C. explict           D. extreme 

24. A. troops           B. tricks            C. tyres            D. traps 

25. cial       B. complictated      C. conventional      D. contemporary 

26. A. secretly          B. especially        C. specially         D. separately 

27. A. ever             B. never           C. just             D. even 

28. A. competition       B. companion       C. battle           D. challenge 

29. A. Overcome        B. hunt            C. grasp            D. interrupt 

30. A. should           B. can             C. must            D. may 

31. A. larger            B. smaller          C. less             D. more 

32. A. method          B. way             C. means           D. road 

33. A. harmed          B. unharmed        C. brave            D. clumsy 

34. A. adopt            B. grow           C. multiply          D. accelerate 

35. A. In spite of        B. Owing to        C. In addition to      D. At the mercy of 

36. A. phenomenon      B. problem         C. principle         D. privilege 

37. A. touch            B. taste            C. feel             D. sense 

38. A. after             B. when           C. since            D. before 

39. A. realize           B. recognize       C. ruin             D. rewind 

40. A. win              B. hit             C. strike            D. defeat 

答案  21. A  22. C  23. A  24. D  25. B  26. C  27.D  28. C  29. A  30. B 

        31. A  32. B  33. B  34. C  35. C  36. B  37. D  38.D  39. B  40. D