Even while saving a species, “slow and steady” can win the race. The Espanola tortoise program on the Galapagos Islands has become one of the most successful captive (被俘获的) breeding programs ever undertaken in the world. Created in the mid-1960s to save that species from extinction, it collected the last remaining 14 tortoises on Espanola island — the only place in the world they are found.
Now, they’ve all made the trip back home, 55 years later, to spend the rest of their days in retirement on their island’s restored ecosystem. The 14 giant Espanola tortoises (plus one that had been at the San Diego Zoo) produced 1,900 babies over the decades which have slowly been reintroduced on the island—many of which have survived to adulthood and have bred (繁殖) later, creating a population of roughly 2,300 children and grandchildren of the original 15.
One giant tortoise titled “Diego” managed to contribute to approximately 40% of the baby tortoises sent back to the island before two weeks ago joining his species where he was taken almost 80 years ago. The dramatic decline of the tortoise population was due mainly to over-exploitation by sailors in the 1800’s who gathered hundreds for food on their long voyages. They also introduced invasive species, particularly goats, which were finally wiped out from the island in 1978.
In the program’s first period, the Galapagos Conservancy conducted a worldwide search to determine if there were more individuals, especially males, that could contribute to the genetic variability (遗传变异) of this unique species. The search paid off, and one adult male (Diego) was found at the San Diego Zoo, having been collected on the island by a research team in the mid-1930s. Diego is now 100 years old, and because tortoises can live to be 150, he may be enjoying a retirement for decades, watching his great, great, great grand nephews and nieces grow up.
1. What was the Espanola tortoise program designed to do?| A．Gain the remaining 14 tortoises. |
| B．Rescue that species from dying out. |
| C．Look for a good place to save tortoises. |
| D．Build up a safe and successful habitat. |
| A．A lot has been done to save the tortoises. |
| B．Many baby tortoises have been born on the island. |
| C．The original tortoises have made the trip back home. |
| D．Great achievement has been made to save the tortoises. |
| A．Those sailors collected too much food on the island. |
| B．Many goats were introduced to the island. |
| C．There were too many human activities on the island. |
| D．They died because of some unknown diseases on the island. |
| A．Diego is female and deliver many tortoises. |
| B．Diego will live on the island with his later generations. |
| C．Diego was born in the San Diego Zoo in the mid-1930s. |
| D．Diego was once collected by sailors and then kept in a zoo. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】In the middle of the 20th century people were worried about whales.The number of whales killed worldwide came up to 66,000 per year.However,people weren't worried about the whale as an endangered animal.Instead,they were worried about the whale industry,which would disappear if there were no whales.In 1946,the International Whaling Commission was established.It limited the whale hunting for every country and controlled the whale industry.But the commission recognized that the limitation wasn't enough.They set a worldwide law against hunting whales with only two exceptions: the hunt for scientific research and "aboriginal whaling".Aboriginal whaling allows some countries to hunt a limited number of whales because it is a part of their culture.Some countries like Japan and Norway don't care about the law;they make excuses to hunt whales and sell the products.They only care about the money.
Many fishermen complain that dolphins,also a kind of whale,steal their fish.Therefore,they kill thousands of them.In fact,this is not the truth.In reality there are so many fishermen who steal the fish from each other.Some whale hunters say that they catch the animals for scientists.They have to research what whales are eating.For that, they kill them and look into their stomach.The truth is that they only want to sell the meat.Today scientists want to observe live whales for their research.
Many whale families are not protected and thousands of them are killed.Nobody knows if all whale families would survive,even if humans end all whale hunting today.The pollution of the oceans increases fast and the poison gets into the bodies of the animals.Many of them get sick and die.The human being has killed 90%-95% of many whale families.Others are already extinct.
Today some international organizations try to protect whales.They make reports to explain how important and endangered whales are.Now people are becoming more interested in whales and a complete new industry has developed,whale watching,which you may want to learn about.
1. The text is mainly about .| A．whale industry | B．whale research |
| C．whale product | D．whale protection |
| A．more whales would be killed worldwide per year |
| B．the whale would become an endangered animal |
| C．the whale industry would disappear |
| D．the law against hunting whales would come into effect |
| A．Because there are many whales in their countries. |
| B．Because hunting whales is a part of their culture. |
| C．Because they only care about money. |
| D．Because they live on hunting whales. |
| A．Because dolphins steal their fish. |
| B．Because they want to make an excuse for killing dolphins. |
| C．Because there are so few dolphins for them to hunt. |
| D．Because people have misunderstood their purpose of hunting dolphins. |
1. The main idea of the first paragraph is that ______.
| A．plants are important for life |
| B．plants cannot grow without air |
| C．there are many plants in the world |
| D．we can not live without water |
| A．flower,water and air | B．water,sunlight and air |
| C．air,water and soil | D．air,sun and light |
| A．Of all living things animals are most important |
| B．Without plants,man will die out |
| C．All fruits of flowering plants have seeds |
| D．Spores are seeds |
| A．a medicine book | B．a science magazine |
| C．a novel | D．an experiment report |
【推荐3】Become a Frog-watcher
Frogs are disappearing at an alarming rate across the globe due to a number of factors such as habitat loss, pollution, and disease. As a citizen scientist with Frog Watch USA, you can help save our frogs!
Trainings:
2023 training coming soon!
Price: $ 10/ household (includes up to 2 adults and children of that household)
Frog Watch trainings cover the importance of amphibians (两栖动物) in the environment.’ The instruction focuses on how to:
●monitor our local frog population to protect the species
●determine factors when choosing a site to monitor
●tell frog species apart by their calls
●report findings to Frog Watch USA
The training will take approximately 2 hours to complete but will be entirely self-paced and permit the registrants to take breaks as needed throughout. And it covers all of the Frog Watch essentials to prepare you for your first monitoring session!
After passing a test on identifying frog calls at the end of the training, certified volunteers then commit to monitoring a local amphibian habitat (such as a pond or lake) approximately once a week for about 15 minutes and collecting/submitting data on what they hear. Data collected will be added to a national Frog Watch USA database.
Please note: Frog Watch trainings will cover a lot of information and protocols (规程). While frog-watching is a great after-dark family activity for all ages, the trainings are designed for interested older children and adults.
1. What training will a participant receive?| A．Choosing a monitor for a website, |
| B．Keeping track of the local frog population. |
| C．Recording the troubles for Frog Watch USA. |
| D．Identifying different frog species by their shapes. |
| A．By submitting data to Frog Watch USA. |
| B．By finding a suitable local frog habitat. |
| C．By having a test of recognizing frog calls. |
| D．By collecting frog data 15 minutes a week. |
| A．It is usually done at night. | B．It is carried out by parents. |
| C．It will last about hours a day. | D．It offers rewards for new species. |
【推荐1】Twenty years ago, crises like the California’s wildfires and Hurricane Laura that occurred last year could have been described as “natural disasters”. Thanks to climate change, this is no longer the case. Around mid-August last year, the temperature in Death Valley once reached the highest ever recorded on Earth. A hotter, drier California is much more likely to burst into flames. The Gulf of Mexico too is heating up. Hurricanes draw their energy from the warmth of the surface waters and so are becoming stronger and more likely to increase. Perhaps we should call these events in a new term, “man-made natural disasters”.
People now play such an important role on the planet. By cutting down forests and digging mines and building cities, we’ve changed half of the ice-free land on Earth. With our advanced tools, we move around more earth than all the world’s rivers and streams. As a result, all sorts of disasters extend across the line between man and nature. Many earthquakes, for example, are now caused by human activity. Meanwhile, as the climate continues to warm, wildfires will grow even larger and storms more damaging.
What’s to be done? According to some scientists, the best way to deal with human intervention in the natural world is to intervene better. Old technologies got us into this situation; new ones will get us out. Supporters of this view note the striking advances that are being made all the time, in fields ranging from computing to material science. To prevent climate change, engineers have built machines that take CO2 out of the air. Today the numbers are limited, but perhaps one day they’ll be as common as telephones.
As for me, I think that the choice we face is not whether to change the world; that decision unfortunately has been made. The decision going forward is how are we going to change it. Over the years I’ve interviewed scores of scientists, inventors, and industrialists, and I’m continually impressed by how clever humans are as a species. But then the wind blows in smoke from 3,000 miles away, and I’m reminded of how dangerous we are as well.
1. What does the first two paragraphs want to tell us?| A．Natural disasters have become much more severe. |
| B．People have changed the earth with advanced tools. |
| C．Natural disasters now are caused by human activity. |
| D．People now play such an important role on the planet. |
| A．To prove that greenhouse effect problems are solvable. |
| B．To explain that we can intervene better in the natural world. |
| C．To show that technological advances are striking all the time. |
| D．To indicate that new technologies will be very common one day. |
| A．we should not change the world any more |
| B．we should feel proud of humans’ intelligence |
| C．we should reconsider the way we change the world |
| D．people should be aware of the potential threat from human activity |
【推荐2】Traveling can be expensive. But there are some ways to save money when traveling. Try some of the advice below on your next vacation and your wallet will thank you.
Look for city tourism cards. With the card, you can pay less at restaurants and shops. You don’t have to wait for a long time at busy attractions. You might even get free tickets to top tourist attractions. City tourism cards can save your money and time without question.
Don’t get the best room. How long will you stay in your room? Will you just be sleeping there? Do you really need a bigger room with a good view (景色)?
Find a hotel outside a city. It can help you save some money by choosing a hotel away from big tourist attractions, for you are always doing the same — go to the attractions and then return to your hotel to sleep.
Book (预订) a room with a kitchen. Although some people might not like to cook while on vacation, I don’t mind making breakfast in my room. We always eat at a nice restaurant on our last night of the vacation. I’d rather eat breakfast and lunch at the hotel and then spend much money on a delicious supper.
1. With ________, you can pay less at restaurants and shops.| A．ID cards | B．tourism cards | C．bank cards | D．phone cards |
| A．旅游方式 | B．旅游设施 | C．旅游手册 | D．旅游景点 |
| A．How to save money when traveling. |
| B．How to get a tourism card. |
| C．How to find a hotel outside a city. |
| D．How to book a room on the Internet. |
【推荐3】In the UK, most children have their lunches at school, but in some schools, parents can choose what their children eat. The children can have a school dinner — a hot, cooked meal; or they can take a packed （包装的）lunch with them, which usually includes cold food like sandwiches.
Often parents know what their children want. Cath, a mother of three children, told us, “My children have packed lunches because they say they hate school dinners. So I make three packed lunches every morning.”
However, another mother, Susan, made a different choice. She said, “My daughters have always had school dinners. I think they probably get healthier food at school than a few sandwiches I make for them.”
But how healthy are school dinners? Kaz, a father, thought poorly of them. He said, “Fizzy (起泡的) drinks were offered and I think there were lots of chips.”
Jamie Oliver spent a year working in a school kitchen. He was worried about the unhealthy food which included burgers, pizzas and chips. So he tried to cook healthy food such as good stews(炖肉) and curries (咖喱菜肴) for the children instead.
So Jamie improved the school dinners, and trained the dinner ladies to cook healthy food in that school. Then he advised the government to improve school food across the country. And it seems that the changes have begun.
Anna, a pupil, told us, “we used to have a fast food window where you got chips and coke, but they stopped that this year. There’s salad restaurant, which is good, so it’s healthier than it was.”
1. How many meals do most children in the UK have at school?| A．One | B．Two |
| C．Three | D．Four |
| A．stews and curries | B．burgers and pizzas |
| C．chips and fizzy drinks | D．sandwiches and coke |
| A．There’s a salad restaurant in every school |
| B．salad is the only healthy food for students |
| C．schools have begun to cook healthier food |
| D．the government doesn’t care about school dinners |
【推荐1】A Japanese school near Tokyo is conducting a pilot program allowing sick students to attend classes using a robotic avatar (替身)called Ori Hime and developed by Ory Laboratory. The program is being conducted at the Tomobe-Higashi special support school in Kasama, a city 60 miles north of Tokyo.
The Ori Hime robot is a small bust-sized robot designed to be placed on a counter top or desk. It has two flap-like arms and a camera mounted in its head, all of which can be controlled remotely via a touchscreen tablet interface.
Since October 31, sick students at Tomobe-Higashi school have each been assigned their own Ori Hime stand in, which is placed on their desk, giving them a live feed of the classroom through the head-mounted camera . Remote students will be able to speak into a mic and the Ori Hime will broadcast their voice through built-in speakers.
Students will also be able to rotate the robots head to look at different areas of the class room, as well as command it to perform simple emotive gestures like waving, pointing, and clapping.
“It's fun to turn the robot in directions I want to look in,” Kanae Sudo, an eleven-year-old student who's used the Ori Hime to attend a science fair from a nearby hospital room, told the Asahi Shimbun.
School administrators had previously allowed remote study with stationary (固定的)camera feed, but the ability to directly control the view and make the robot gesture has greatly improved the results according to school administrators .
“The robot can easily be operated, and students feel like they are actually attending class,” assistant principal Noboru Tachi said.
1. What is the main purpose of conducting the pilot program?| A．Replacing sick students to attend class. | B．Improving school's teaching quality. |
| C．Testing the functions of a robot. | D．Adding much fun to students' school life. |
| A．Touch. | B．Press. | C．Turn. | D．Force. |
| A．Sick students operate it by taking pictures. |
| B．It speaks into a microphone and broadcast the voice. |
| C．Students rotate its head and command it to wave, point and clap directly. |
| D．It is controlled remotely to broadcast students' voice and perform simple gestures. |
| A．Ori Hime has its own emotions. |
| B．Ori Hime may be used to more schools in Japan. |
| C．Students should give the robot something to feed it. |
| D．Students can command the robot to finish their homework. |
【推荐2】Explorers started making navigation (导航) charts showing how wide the ocean was more than 500 years ago. But it’s much harder to calculate how deep it is.
In 1872 the HMS Challenger, a British Navy ship, set sail to learn about the ocean, including its depth. It carried 181 miles (291 kilometers) of rope to measure the depth of the ocean. During their four-year voyage, the Challenger crew collected samples of rocks, mud and animals from many different areas of the ocean. They also found one of the deepest zones, in the western Pacific, the Mariana Trench which stretches for 1,580 miles (2,540 kilometers).
Today scientists know that on average the ocean is 2.3 miles (3.7 kilometers) deep, but many parts are much shallower or deeper. To measure depth they use sonar, which stands for Sound Navigation And Ranging. A ship sends out pulses of sound energy and measures depth based on how quickly the sound travels back.
Ocean scientists like me study the sea floor because it helps us better measure the ocean. Our planet’s outer, layer is made of tectonic plates. The Hawaiian-Emperor Seamount chain, a line of peaks on the ocean floor, was created when a tectonic plate moved over a spot where hot rock welled up from deep inside the Earth. When two tectonic plates move away from each other underwater, new material rises up into Earths layer. This process, which creates new ocean floor, is called seafloor spreading. Sometimes super-hot liquids from inside the Earth shoot up through cracks in the ocean floor called hydrothermal vents.
Amazing fish, shellfish, tube worms and other life forms live in these zones. Between the creation and destruction of ocean plates, sediments (沉淀物) collect on the sea floor and provide an archive of Earth’s history, the evolution of climate and life that is available nowhere else.
1. Why did the HMS Challenger make the voyage?| A．To test navigation. | B．To calculate the age of the ocean. |
| C．To explore the ocean. | D．To do research into Mariana Trench. |
| A．By measuring it with ropes. |
| B．By studying samples of rocks and mud. |
| C．By analyzing the habitats of the animals. |
| D．By studying the returning speed of the sound. |
| A．Certain changes of the sea floor. |
| B．The layers that make up the Earth. |
| C．The way that a volcano comes into being. |
| D．Some definitions of the seafloor spreading. |
| A．How Deep Is the Ocean? | B．How Is the Ocean Studied? |
| C．Ocean: An Unknown World | D．Nature: A Place for Wildlife |
【推荐3】Humans have little difficulty recognizing one another. And we know that no two faces are exactly alike. Even identical twins have slightly different faces. Each human face is truly unique, and now we've invented machines that are able to recognize faces for numerous purposes.
Governments, employers and security and police services are increasingly using facial recognition technology. This allows them to quickly confirm an individual's identity. Systems are becoming so advanced that a wanted criminal can instantly be picked out of a crowd of thousands of people. All that's required is an image in a database to compare with the image of any number of people in a crowd. Ordinary people, too, are using facial recognition to unlock their phones, their computers and other devices.
Personal facial recognition protection has several benefits. It is instantaneous, and it relieves us of the need to memorize passwords. However, a device will require a password in the rare event that it doesn't, for whatever reason, recognize the user's face.
There are numerous concerns about the use of facial recognition. Primarily, the concern is that it threatens privacy. The installation of more and more cameras in public and private places is now part of everyday life. This means people can be observed and recognized wherever they go. Cameras may make public spaces safer, but keeping law-abiding(守法的) citizens under constant watch is disturbing to many.
In the age of the coronavirus and the widespread wearing of masks, facial recognition systems are having some difficulty. A mask covers many of the facial data points used by recognition software to confirm a person's identity. In response, facial recognition systems are being trained to use less facial data. That could affect how dependable it is as a method of identity detection.
1. What's the author's purpose of writing Paragraph 2?| A．To further explain the importance of facial recognition. |
| B．To describe the powerful functions of facial recognition. |
| C．To list in detail various advantages of facial recognition. |
| D．To state the unique advanced features of facial recognition. |
| A．The cameras may be occasionally out of order. |
| B．Too many cameras disturb people's daily life. |
| C．People's personal life might be exposed to others. |
| D．The cameras make law-abiding citizens feel stressful. |
| A．Getting more accurate with less information. |
| B．Becoming faster with more facial data. |
| C．Protecting personal information if necessary. |
| D．Responding more quickly to unexpected events. |
| A．The wide popularity of facial recognition. |
| B．The rapid development of facial recognition. |
| C．The benefits of facial recognition. |
| D．The introduction to facial recognition. |
【推荐1】Last weekend, my kids and a few other kids from the neighborhood volunteered to help me wash my car. My 10-year-old daughter came up with the idea of washing other people's cars as well. It was very hot outside. And she wanted to give juice for a low cost but not free. I felt happy and decided to help her.
She asked me, “What if we make this ‘a smile car wash’， mommy? ” I couldn't hold back my tears and encouraged her and other kids to go inside the house and come up with ideas. While I kept myself busy in drying the car, the kids walked up to me with a board of beautiful signs of smiles. They had “Free Car Wash” written on it and the theme of their exercise was “Smile”. It was natural to see a team of kids 5 to 11 years with the task to do something for others.
All that seemed natural and came right from their heart. Nothing seemed to matter to them: their playtime, and the heat outside — they just wanted to help and do something nice!
I helped them make some fresh juice and brought out some waste materials to help clean cars. Passers-by were amazed and one even shouted at them saying “Good kids”. One of them even tried giving them 5 dollars, which they refused. What a heart-warming scene(场景)!
The following weekend, I saw the idea of the week, the theme of which was “Global Kindness”. I was moved by such wonderful and loving kids. They made me smile!
1. Who came up with the idea of washing other people's cars for free ?| A．The mother. |
| B．One of the passers-by. |
| C．The writer's 10-year-old daughter. |
| D．One of the writer's neighbors' kids. |
| A．She was moved by her daughter's kindness. |
| B．She felt sorry for those passers-by in hot day. |
| C．She was sorry for not helping the kids. |
| D．She thought it was very hard for the kids. |
| A．They wanted to earn money. |
| B．They were asked to do that by their teacher. |
| C．They just wanted to help and do something nice. |
| D．They wanted to exercise in smiling. |
| A．She supported the kids' ideas. |
| B．She made some fresh juice for the passers-by. |
| C．She brought out some waste materials to help the kids. |
| D．She gave the kids some money. |
【推荐2】Sometimes the best gift is the one you can use at home. These items will likely be appreciated all year for time spent relaxing, entertaining or getting things done.
Jawbone Jambox Wireless Speaker
$199 retail （ far cheaper online） . The bigger version goes for $299.
The cool-looking rechargeable wireless speaker is getting good reviews for its big, balanced sound and compact design. It lets you stream music from smartphones, laptops and other Bluetooth devices（设备）.
Chalkboard Wall Planter
$129. 95 retail at Williams-Sonoma
No need to make room indoors for more flower pots. Grow a herb garden indoors in a wall-fixed vertical planter, and you'll get the benefits of fragrance （芳香）. Fill the 10 planting cells with the herbs of your choice, and hang the planter in a sunny spot. Use the chalkboard borders to label each plant. Measures 16 by 5 by 24 inches and weighs 11 pounds.
Pocket Projector
$299 retail at Brookstone
Let everyone get a good look at the pictures on your smartphone, computer, video player, or digital camera. This rechargeable pocket projector can turn a flat surface into a 60-inch big screen with 1080p HD picture quality. Invite friends for a movie night or a presentation. An HDMI cable is included to connect it to your device.
Adjustable Tablet Stand
$159 at Sharper Image
This is the gift for the person who enjoys mobile. Use it to keep your hands free while doing homework, crafts or writing out bills. It can be rotated through 360 degrees. The stand slides easily under your furniture and can be used on either side of a bed or a sofa. It also folds for storage.
1. How much will you pay if you buy a bigger version of wireless speaker?| A．$129. | B．$159. |
| C．$199. | D．$299. |
| A．A pocket projector. |
| B．An adjustable tablet stand. |
| C．A chalkboard wall planter. |
| D．A Jawbone Jambox wireless speaker. |
| A．To warn. | B．To advertise. |
| C．To bargain. | D．To educate. |
The document was discovered buried in the university archives (档案) by part-time history student Lis Smith, who is completing her PhD at St Andrews Institute of Scottish Historical Research. She said: “We knew that Sophia Jex-Blake and her supporters, in their effort to open up university medical education for women, had written to the Senatus Academicus (校评议委员会) at St Andrews in an attempt to gain permission to attend classes there, but we didn’t know documentary evidence existed. While searching the archives for information about the university’s higher certificate for women, I was astonished to come across what must be the very letter Jex-Blake wrote.”
In the letter, Sophia and her supporters offered to hire teachers or build suitable buildings for a medical school and to arrange for lectures to be delivered in the subjects not already covered at St Andrews. Although her letter was not successful, it eventually led to the establishment of the Ladies Literate in Arts at St Andrews, a distance-learning degree for women. The qualification, which ran from 1877 until the 1930s, gave women access to university education in the days before they were admitted as students. It was so popular that it survived long after women were admitted as full students to St Andrews in 1892.
Ms Jex-Blake went on to help establish the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874. She was accepted by the University of Berne, where she was awarded a medical degree in January 1877. Eventually, she moved back to Edinburgh and opened her own practice.
1. Sophia wrote a letter to St Andrews University because she wanted _______.
| A．to carry out a research project there |
| B．to set up a medical institute there |
| C．to study medicine there |
| D．to deliver lectures there |
| A．by pure chance |
| B．in the school office |
| C．with her supporters’ help |
| D．while reading history books |
| A．the London School of Medicine for Women |
| B．a degree programme for women |
| C．a system of medical education |
| D．the University of Berne |
| A．In 1873. | B．In 1874. | C．In 1877. | D．In 1892. |
