Not only will the summit lose its tourist attraction, but the disappearance of the snows will also cause major damage to the ecosystem on the dry African plains at its base. 24 the snow covering the peak, there will not be enough moisture and water to nourish the plants and animals below.
答案：(D) Without
語意「沒有覆蓋山頂的積雪，就不會有足夠的水分」，Without（沒有）符合這個假設性條件；Among（在……之中）、Besides（此外）、Inside（在……裡面）都不合。
前一句剛講完積雪消失會破壞生態，你可能直接抓 Besides 來承接上一句，因為它看起來就是個銜接用的字。但這裡 Besides 後面接的是名詞片語 the snow covering the peak，整個變成「除了覆蓋山頂的積雪之外」，與後半句的「水分不夠」接不起來。
還原成完整子句最清楚：Without the snow covering the peak 等於 If there were no snow covering the peak，也等於 If the snow did not cover the peak。這是用 without 加名詞來代替條件子句的寫法，主要子句配 there will not be，形成「沒有 A，就不會有 B」的假設因果。語意方向也對得上：前一句說 the disappearance of the snows will also cause major damage to the ecosystem（積雪消失還會嚴重破壞生態），本句正是在說明怎麼個破壞法——沒有雪，就沒有足夠的水分滋養山下的動植物。順帶把 the snow covering the peak 的結構看清楚：covering the peak 是現在分詞片語，擺在名詞後面修飾 the snow，等於一個省略的關係子句 the snow which covers the peak，意思是「覆蓋著山頂的那片積雪」。這一點掛在國中學過的 a barking dog（正在吠的狗）上就好：分詞可以擺名詞前面當形容詞，帶著自己的受詞時就擺到名詞後面去。
Among（在…之中）：後面要接三者以上的複數名詞或群體，the snow 是不可數的單一事物。Besides（除…之外還有）：語意是「追加」，會變成「除了積雪還有別的」，與後半句不通。Inside（在…裡面）：純粹的位置關係，說不通「在積雪裡面就沒有水分」。
without a doubt（毫無疑問）、do without（沒有…也行、將就）、It goes without saying that（不用說也知道…）、apart from（除…之外）、nourish the soil（滋養土壤）、moisture in the air（空氣中的水分）。
Every year tens of thousands of tourists visit Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Tanzania, Africa, to witness the scenes depicted in Earnest Hemingway's The Snows of Kilimanjaro. They are attracted by the American writer's 21 of the millennia-old glaciers.
However, this tourist attraction will soon 22 . According to the Climate Change Group, formed by environmentalists worldwide to document the effects of global warming, Mount Kilimanjaro's snows and glaciers are melting and are 23 to disappear by 2020.
Not only will the summit lose its tourist attraction, but the disappearance of the snows will also cause major damage to the ecosystem on the dry African plains at its base. 24 the snow covering the peak, there will not be enough moisture and water to nourish the plants and animals below. Rising temperatures, an effect of global warming, 25 threaten the ecosystem of this mountain area. The loss of snows on the 5,892m peak, which have been there for about 11,700 years, could have disastrous effects on Tanzania.