Grizzly bears have all but disappeared from the continental United States. But there's one place where the bears are making a comeback in and around Yellowstone National Park. By 1975, the grizzly population had dropped below 140. Forty-one years later, that number has increased to about 700.
U.S. officials suggest it's time to remove them from the endangered species list.“The bears are occupying all suitable habitat,” Michael Thabault, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said.“This tells us the population is fixed.”
Scientists argue that the bears still face many challenges in the wild. The loss of important food sources is one. Trout and elk, both favorite grizzly foods, are dwindling. According to Thabault, the bears are adaptable and will eat whatever foods are available in order to survive.
The biggest worry for scientists is that grizzlies will be hunted once protections are removed. The bears will remain protected within Yellowstone National Park, but nearby states—Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho—plan to allow hunting.
“States want to manage their own wildlife and not have the federal government tell them how to do it,”says Andrea Santarsiere. She' s a lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity, a group that protects animals. She says the government should recover historic bear habitat before even thinking about delisting.
The decision on delisting grizzlies in the Yellowstone area could be announced by mid-November. States are creating a protection plan in case that they gain control over the bears' management.
Biologist Kerry Gunther, of the National Park Service, believes grizzlies are ready for delisting. But he admits that the bears' lives depend on the strength of each state's plan. “The recovery of this symbol of the wilderness is a success story,” he says. Whether or not that story has a happy ending will depend on what happens next.
1. The numbers mentioned in Paragraph 1 show that________.| A．grizzly bears have returned | B．there will be more national parks |
| C．governments should save more bears | D．grizzlies have become endangered animals |
| A．Food shortage. | B．The pollution. |
| C．Human beings. | D．Their natural enemies. |
| A．It is useless. | B．It is unacceptable. |
| C．It has a bright future. | D．It should be done immediately. |
| A．Delisting has a happy ending. |
| B．States should make plans for parks. |
| C．Grizzlies need more time to survive in the wild. |
| D．Sates play an important role in protecting grizzlies. |
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【推荐1】The Ebro Delta,known as,a battleground during the Spanish Civil War,is now the setting for a different contest,where rice farmers fight against two enemies:the rice-eating giant apple snail,and rising sell levels.What happens here will have an effect on the future of European rice production and the overall health of southern European wetlands.
Located in the Western Mediterranean,the Ebro Delta produces 120 million kilograms of rice a year,making it one of the continent’s most important rice-growing areas.As the sea moves into these fresh-water marshes(湿地),however,rising salinity(盐分)is hindering rice production.At the same time,this sea-water also kills off the greedy giant apple snail,an introduced pest that feeds on young rice plants.The most promising strategy has become to exploit one evil against the other.
The battle is currently in progress on land,in greenhouses at the University of Barcelona.Scientists working under the guidance of”Project Neurice”are seeking varieties of rice that can withstand the increasing salinity without losing the absorbency.
“The project has two sides,”says Xavier Serrat,Neurice project manager and researcher at the University of Barcelona,”the short-term fight against the snail,and a mid-to long-term fight against climate change.But the snail has given the project greater urgency.”
Originally from South America,the snails were accidentally introduced into the Ebro Delta.For now,the giant apple snail’s presence in Europe is limited to the Ebro Delta,But the snail continues its march to new territory,says Serrat.”The question is not whether it will reach other rice-growing areas of Europe,but when.”
1. What’s the most effective strategy according to Paragraph 2?| A．Beating enemies one by one. | B．Striking the stronger enemy first. |
| C．Killing two birds with one stone. | D．Using one enemy to hit the other. |
| A．It puts the control of snails first. |
| B．It functions pretty well on climate change. |
| C．It aims to increase the Spanish rice production. |
| D．It stresses the snails’effect on rice production. |
| A．It can tolerate the rising salinity. | B．It will attack other rice-growing areas. |
| C．It multiplies at a high speed. | D．It was introduced into Span deliberately. |
| A．Chemistry. | B．Tourism. | C．Farming. | D．Geography. |
【推荐2】Poaching and habitat loss have threatened Africa's two species of elephants, taking them closer toward the edge of disappearance, according to a new report released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN).
Before this update, Africa's elephants were grouped together and were evaluated as vulnerable by the IUCN. This is the first time the two species have been sorted separately. In the past, elephants were mostly considered as either Asian elephants or African elephants. Forest and savanna elephants were typically classified as subspecies of African elephants.
The African forest elephant is now listed as critically endangered and the African savanna elephant as endangered. The number of African forest elephants fell by more than 86% over a 31 -year assessment period. The population of African savanna elephants dropped by at least 60% over the last 50 years, according to the IUCN, which tracks the assessment risk of the world's animals. Africa currently has an estimated 415,000 elephants, counting the two species together.
Both elephant species experienced significant population decreases because of poaching. Although it peaked in 2011, illegal hunting still happens and continues to threaten elephant populations. African elephants also face continued habitat loss as their land is converted for agriculture or other uses.
There is some good conservation news, the IUCN points out. Anti-poaching measures, combined with better land use planning to support better human-wildlife relationships, have helped conservation efforts. Some forest elephant population figures have stabilized in well-managed areas in Gabon and the Republic of Congo and savanna population figures have remained stable or have been growing, particularly in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area in southern Africa.
But with constant demand for ivory and increasing human pressures on Africa's wild lands, concern for Africa's elephants is high, and the need to creatively conserve and wisely manage these animals and their habitats is more severe than ever.
1. What can be inferred from the new report about African elephants?| A．They are divided into three kinds. | B．They are dying out. |
| C．Their threat is mainly from poaching. | D．Their population has grown in Africa. |
| A．The detailed number of African elephants. | B．The similarities of African elephants. |
| C．The different types of African elephants. | D．The present situation of African elephants. |
| A．Expanded. | B．Protected. | C．Transformed. | D．Forbidden. |
| A．Hopeless. | B．Optimistic. | C．Uncertain. | D．Worried. |
【推荐3】Fur Babies
Kong Qin, a 32-year-old white-collar worker in Beijing, recently noticed that Cheese, her cat, had been acting oddly since she gave birth to her son several weeks ago. The cat started using the bathroom all over the house, and she was never like that before.
Kong did not know what happened to the cat, and she asked for advice from a friend of hers who is also a cat owner. Her friend told her that Cheese may be acting out as she may be feeling neglected since the baby was born. She added that behaving this way was probably a trick to win over her master’s attention.
Kong remembered that in a family in Baba Huilaile (Dad is Back), a Chinese reality show that she watched around one year ago, the dog often pushed the kid aside when the kid asked his dad for a hug. When she was watching the show, she only took the pushing as a joke and did not think too much of it, but she is now beginning to wonder if the dog was actually trying to steal the limelight.
Zhang Yu, a veterinarian (兽医) in Beijing, advises that if fur babies start to misbehave after a baby is born, pet owners should not punish them, which may stress the pet out. Pets rarely actively attack kids, but if kids hurt pets out of curiosity, like pulling their tails, pets may bite kids to run away. She also recommends that parents should be with the kids who are younger than two years old when there are pets around to protect pets and kids from being hurt by each other. As children get older, parents can help introduce their kids to the pets to help them become familiar and comfortable around each other. “Pets will eventually get used to having kids around after some time, and pets owners need to wait some time,” she said.
Kong has happily found that Cheese is more like her usual self over the past few days. She is conscious that the cat has gone through the toughest stage. The next thing she is planning to do is to take Cheese to her son’s bed more often so that she will like him more.
1. The underlined expression“limelight”in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to __________.| A．food. | B．glance. | C．attention. | D．ownership. |
| A．Pets won’t start a fight with babies when parents are around. |
| B．Pets are always safe alone with those younger than 2-year-olds. |
| C．Owners should be patient before pets get used to having babies around. |
| D．Owners should stress pets out when they are not behaving themselves. |
| A．Comfortable. | B．Thankful. | C．Depressed. | D．Hateful. |
| A．Children need to be smart enough to avoid being hurt by pets. |
| B．Owners should learn to help fur babies coexist with newborns. |
| C．Parents’ fur babies can become friends with the newborns easily. |
| D．Pets, like some parents, will feel delighted when newborns come. |
【推荐1】Werewolves (狼人) aren’t the only creatures affected by the moon’s cycles (周期) . A full moon also affects people’s sleep more or less, reports a Swiss team of scientists. Even people who sleep in a lab without windows could reduce their sleeping time a little once a month.
To test the moon’s influence, 33 adults of both sexes and ages of many kinds spent several nights in a sleep lab. As they slept, researchers recorded their brain activity, eye movements and hormone levels (荷尔蒙水平). On nights closer to a full moon, the sleepers took an average of five minutes longer to fall asleep, and slept for 20 minutes less. In addition, brain activity fell by 30 percent during the sleep. And hormone levels that help control sleep cycles went down. On these nights, the sleepers complained they couldn’t sleep well even though they didn’t know the moon’s cycle. On the bright side, no sleeper turned into a werewolf.
The Swiss team doesn’t know how the moon affects sleep. The gravity (重力) of the moon causes ocean tides (潮汐) to rise and fall. But that force is too weak to affect sleep, Gajochen says. He believed some body’s biological clock may be affected by the moon cycles. There may be another reason, says David Dinges. This sleep researcher at the University Of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia says that the body clock is very sensitive (敏感的) to light at night. Those sleepers could have been affected by having too much moonlight before arriving at the lab.
1. The writer mentioned “werewolves” in the first paragraph to _________.| A．show there are the moon’s cycles |
| B．attract people’s attention to the report |
| C．introduce a creature to readers |
| D．ask people not to sleep alone in the lab |
| A．They slept for about five minutes longer. |
| B．They could only sleep for 20 minutes. |
| C．Their brains were not as active as they were |
| D．They complained they were too tired to sleep. |
| A．hormone levels | B．ocean tides |
| C．their brain activity | D．moonlight |
| A．the sleeping problems caused by the moon’s cycles |
| B．the influence of the moon on human sleeping habits |
| C．the moon’s influence on sleeping and its possible reasons |
| D．the ways to get a better sleep on a full moon night |
【推荐2】So far, the use of underwater cameras has been limited. Some must be stuck to power wires. Others rely on batteries, which don’t tend to last long. Such limits have kept scientists from exploring most of the ocean world. But now researchers have found a way around these problems — underwater cameras can get a new power source from sound.
The camera has two sensors on the bottom. Each is made of multiple layers of a piezoelectric material. When sound travels through the water, it creates waves of pressure, which cause the material to vibrate (振动). And the material changes these vibrations into electrical energy and stores it in a capacitor. Once the capacitor has enough energy, it turns on the camera and takes a picture. Then, it lets the second sensor tap into more sound energy to send the picture. In this way, the sensors not only power the camera, but broadcast the data carrying its images.
Any sound can power it — from swimming fish to a passing ship. One of the sensors can focus on collecting energy for the camera while the other focuses on communication. How quickly the system takes to recharge depends on how loud and close the sound is. In a quiet setting, the camera will take about 10 to 12 seconds. With improved sensors, the camera will charge in less than a second by using sounds from more than 100 meters away.
To record an image, the camera flashes a series of red, blue and green lights. The system then combines what it sees into a single color photo. To communicate, the camera has an internal switch, which controls whether a sensor uses incoming sound for broadcasting. That switch is like a mirror being moved into and out of position. When that switch is in position, the system will use some sound to carry the photo’s digital data to a receiver. That receiver picks up the camera’s broadcast and assembles the data into an image. And then the undersea photo shoot is done.
1. Where is the electrical energy kept?| A．In a sensor. | B．In a capacitor. | C．In a switch. | D．In a receiver. |
| A．The quiet setting of a sound. |
| B．The flexibility of the sensors. |
| C．The quality and source of a sound. |
| D．The loudness and location of a sound. |
| A．How sensors communicate through images. |
| B．How different colors are combined. |
| C．How the undersea camera works. |
| D．How the new system uses sounds. |
| A．Collecting Power from Various Creatures |
| B．Developing a New Camera through Sounds |
| C．Powering a New Camera with Ocean Sounds |
| D．Providing New Functions for a New Camera |
【推荐3】The concept of sharing goods and services with your community as a means of economic transaction is ancient. But thanks to the Internet, the concept now has global scale at the click of a button. It’s called the sharing economy. At its most basic, the sharing economy, also known as the collaborative or peer-to-peer economy, is about connecting individuals with resources to others that want them. It often works through lending or borrowing but can also involve the financial transaction of goods or services.
While the concept of sharing economy has been round for some time, the coming of apps and smartphone technology means that it’s easier for individuals to participate in peer-to-peer sharing transactions in real time.
There are many reasons why people participate in the sharing economy, but here are some of the biggest ones:
Finding temporary accommodation while travelling can be stressful, especially if you’re looking for something on short notice. Thanks to the sharing economy, there are a few popular services that connect people looking to rent out their apartment or home with travelers for as little as a day or two.
Everyone who’s ever driven in a major city knows that finding parking can be a real pain. Limited parking spaces and higher fees have contributed to tech-based services that can help you find and even reserve an available parking space. Whether you’re pressed for time or need to find somewhere to leave the car for a day or two while visiting an unfamiliar city, parking is one more headache the sharing economy is helping alleviate.
For pet owners, leaving town on vacation can be a stressful experience. Finding a dog sitter on short notice can be a problem, and leaving your pet at a kennel might leave you worried about their well-being when you should be relaxing. Luckily, a little tech-inspired collaboration can offer an elegant solution. Partnering pet owners with willing hosts can give your dog a vacation of their own, with plenty of TLC—“tender loving care” and space to roam in the home of fellow pet lover.
Now it is true that apps empower you to exchange a variety of items with people from all over. Whether it’s a bike, some tools you need for project, or anything in between, collaborative economies make it easier to access the things you need without cash.
1. What do we know about the sharing economy from the first two paragraphs?| A．The sharing economy has been around since ancient times. |
| B．The sharing economy is brought by the coming of apps and smartphone technology. |
| C．The sharing economy only involves the financial transaction of goods or services. |
| D．The sharing economy is about connecting those with resources to those in need. |
| A．By checking the information on short notice. | B．By giving people many useful information. |
| C．By offering those in need some popular services. | D．By finding people who want to rent out their home. |
| A．Improve. | B．Handle. | C．Disappear. | D．Relieve. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Positive. | C．Negative. | D．Indifferent. |
A．  | B．  |
C．  | D．  |
