SAT阅读有多难，考过的都知道。那么如何拿高分呢？除了多读多练，做一做历年真题也是必不可少的，那我们就来看一下这次最新出来的2017年SAT阅读真题：
The recovery of
southern sea otters appears tohave taken an upturn, according to results from
theannual California sea otter survey released by theU.S. Geological Survey.
Yet despite an overallincrease in sea otter abundance, sharks have
been"taking a bite" out of the portion of the population that could
fuel expansion into new areas.
"There's much more to the story here than the main finding
would suggest," said Dr. TimTinker, a research ecologist who leads the
USGS sea otter research program. "We are lookinginto various factors that
may be affecting the survey results, including a boom in urchinabundance from
Big Sur to Monterey that may explain the uptick in numbers in the rangecenter,
and high levels of shark bite mortality that are likely responsible for
continued declinesat the north and south ends of the range."
This year's survey results suggest an increasing trend over the
last five years of almost 2percent per year and the population index, a
statistical representation of the entirepopulation calculated as the three-year
running average of census counts, has climbed to3,054 from 2,711 in 2010. The
growth is accounted for by an unexpected jump in numbers inthe center of the
sea otter's range, an area that spans from Monterey south to Cambria.
While the population index continues to trend upward, the
northern and southern subsets ofthe population continue a five-year decline,
dropping 2 percent and 3.4 percent per year,respectively, numbers consistent
with increased shark bite induced mortality in these sameareas.
Since the 1980s, USGS scientists have computed the annual
population index and evaluatedtrends in the southern sea otter, "Enhydra
lutris nereis," a federally listed threatened speciesfound in California.
For southern sea otters to be considered for removal from threatenedspecies
listing under the Endangered Species Act, the population index would have to
exceed3,090 for three consecutive years.
Based on the passage and the graph, what can reasonably be
inferred about predatoryshark activity in the south region?
A.It steadily decreased between 2000 and 2003.
B.It affected otters at a consistent rate between 2003 and 2006.
C.It was more of a threat to sea otters in 2003 than in 2009.
D.It was at its highest level in 2009.
答案：C
解析：
Choice C is the best answer. The passage states thatpredatory
shark activity has been affecting thesouthern sea otter population in the south
subsetsof the coastal range. The graph shows that in thesouth region, there
were approximately 400 southern sea otters in 2003 and roughly 700southern sea
otters in 2009. Taken together, this information suggests that predatory
sharkactivity was more of a threat to sea otters—and decreased their population
more—in 2003than in 2009.