Wolves have a certain undeserved reputation: fierce, dangerous, good for hunting down deer and farmers’ livestock. However, wolves have a softer, more social side, one that has been embraced by a heart-warming new initiative.
In a bid to save some of Europe’s last wolves, scientists have explored the willingness of these supposedly fierce creatures to help others of their kind. Female wolves, the scientists have discovered, make excellent foster parents to wolf cubs that are not their own. The study, published in Zoo Biology, suggests that captive-bred wolf cubs(幼兽) could be placed with wild wolf families, boosting the wild population.
The gray wolf was once the world’s most widely distributed mammal, but it became extinct as a result of widespread habitat destruction and the deliberate killing of wolves suspected of preying on livestock. Fear and hatred of the wolf have since become culturally rooted, fuelled by myths, fables and stories.
In Scandinavia, the gray wolf is endangered, the remaining population found by just five animals. As a result, European wolves are severely inbred and have little genetic variability（变异性）, making them vulnerable to threats, such as outbreaks of disease that they can’t adapt to quickly. So Inger Scharis and Mats Amundin of Linkoping University, in Sweden, started Europe’s first gray wolf-fostering program. They worked with wolves kept at seven zoos across Scandinavia. Eight wolf cubs between four and six days old were removed from their natural parents and placed with other wolf packs in other zoos. The foster mothers accepted the new cubs placed in their midst.
The welfare of the foster cubs and the wolves’ natural behavior were monitored using a system of surveillance cameras. The foster cubs had a similar growth rate as their step siblings in the recipient litter, as well as their biological siblings in the source litter. The foster cubs had a better overall survival rate, with 73% surviving until 33 weeks, than their biological siblings left behind, of which 63% survived. That rate of survival is similar to that seen in wild wolf cubs. Scientists believe that wolves can recognize their young, but this study suggests they can only do so once cubs are somewhere between three to seven weeks of age.
If captive-bred cubs can be placed with wild-living families, which already have cubs of a similar age, not only will they have a good chance of survival, but they could help dramatically increase the diversity of the wild population, say the researchers. Just like the wild wolves they would join, these foster cubs would need protection from hunting. Their arrival could help preserve the future of one of nature’s most iconic and polarizing animals.
1. What’s the theme of the passage?| A．Giving wolf cubs a new life | B．Foster wolf parents and foster cubs |
| C．The fate of wild wolves | D．Changing diversity of wild wolves |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．Female wolves are willing to raise wolf cubs of 3 to 7 weeks old. |
| B．Foster cubs are accepted by foster parents and are well bred. |
| C．Man’s hostile attitude towards wolves roots in myths, fables and stories. |
| D．Foster cubs and their biological siblings have similar growth rate and survival rate. |
| A．To help wolves survive various threats |
| B．To improve wolves’ habitat and stop deliberate killing |
| C．To save endangered wolves by increasing their population |
| D．To raise man’s awareness of protecting wolves |
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【推荐1】With only about 1, 000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone(克隆) the animal and save the endangered species(物种).That's similar to what Texas A&M University researchers have been undertaking(负责) for the past five years in a project called “Noah's Ark”.
Noah's Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos(胚胎), semen and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen(氮).If certain species should become extinct, Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A&M'S College of Veterinary Medicine, says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.
It is estimated that as many as 2, 000 species of mammals, birds and reptiles will become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years.
Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal.
The entire procedure(过程) could take from three to five years to complete.
“The nuclear transfer(核子移植) of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available(capable of being used) panda eggs could be a major problem,” Kraemer believes. “They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy (having a baby).It takes a long time and it's difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort,” adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the Project at Texas A&M, the firstever attempt at cloning a dog.
“They are trying to do something that's never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah's Ark. We're both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there's a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. It's a research that is very much needed. ”
1. According to Professor Kraemer, the major problem in cloning pandas would be the lack of ________.| A．available panda eggs |
| B．host animals |
| C．qualified researchers |
| D．enough money |
| A．China's Success in Pandas Cloning |
| B．The First Cloned Panda in the World |
| C．Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas |
| D．China — the Native Place of Pandas Forever |
| A．Kraemer and his team have succeeded in cloning a cat |
| B．scientists try to implant a panda's egg into a tiger |
| C．Kraemer will work with Chinese scientists in clone researches |
| D．about two thousand of species will probably die out in about a century |
| A．make effort to clone the endangered pandas |
| B．save endangered animals from dying out |
| C．collect DNA of endangered animals to study |
| D．transfer the nuclear of one animal to another |
【推荐2】In order to escape from bats’ hunt through sound, some of the moths have therefore evolved a “stealth coat” — made of tiny hairs and a layer of scales(磷片) — that reduces their detectability through echolocation(回声定位).
Mare Holderied, a biologist at the University of Bristol, wanted to know how good the moths were at hiding from bats. So he shaved off their hairs and then sent sound waves towards them, imitating how bats might echolocate to find their prey.
It turned out the moths’ one and-a-half-millimeter layer of fur reduced their detectability by just over 40％. In addition to the fur, moths also have a thin layer of scales, tens to hundreds of thousands of them, on each wing. The scales each respond to specific frequencies of sound waves and when a bat’s echolocation signals hit the moth’s wings, the scales start to shake. The acoustic energy (声能) from the echolocation is thus absorbed.
Dr. Holderied and his colleagues tested how well the scales worked and found that they were as good at absorbing sound as the fur. They absorbed as much as 87% of the incoming sound energy, but at only one tenth of the fur’s thickness. In terms of their ability to absorb sounds, the moth’s scales outperform and are much thinner than any human-designed soundproofing(隔音) used in homes and offices.
Recognizing the significant impact of noise on human health, especially in urban environments, Dr. Holderied’s team has been taking inspiration from the sound-absorbing proper tics of moths to design wallpaper that can reduce the noise of road traffic. Dr. Holderied concluded, “One day it will be possible to adorn the walls of your house with super-thin sound absorbing wallpaper, using a design that copies the mechanisms from moths. Moths are going to inspire the next generation of sound absorbing materials.”
1. Why did Mare Holderied shave the hairs of the moths?| A．To imitate how bats eat their prey. |
| B．To send sound waves towards moths. |
| C．To learn more about bats’ echolocation. |
| D．To test how moths escape from bats effectively. |
| A．Absorb the acoustic energy through shaking. |
| B．Send signals to another moth’s wings. |
| C．Copy the mechanisms from bats. |
| D．Change specific frequencies of bats’ sound waves. |
| A．Protect. | B．Decorate. | C．Repair. | D．Support. |
| A．Moth’s scales aren’t as good at absorbing sound as the fur. |
| B．The sound-absorbing properties of moths can save energy. |
| C．Moth wing-inspired sound absorbing wallpaper is in sight. |
| D．Moth’s fur outperforms any human-designed soundproofing. |
There are an extremely large number of ants worldwide. Each individual (个体的) ant hardly weigh anything, but put together they weigh roughly the same as all of mankind. They also live nearly everywhere, except on frozen mountain tops and around the poles.For animals their size, ants have been astonishingly successful, largely due to their wonderful social behavior.
In colonies (群体) that range in size from a few hundred to tens of millions, they organize their lives with a clear division of labor. Even more amazing is how they achieve this level of organization. Where we use sound and sight to communicate, ants depend primarily on pheromone (外激素), chemicals sent out by individuals and smelled or tasted by fellow members of their colony. When an ant finds food, it produces a pheromone that will lead others straight to where the food is. When an individual ant comes under attack or is dying, it sends out an alarm pheromone to warn the colony to prepare for a conflict as a defense unit.
In fact, when it comes to the art of war, ants have no equal. They are completely fearless and will readily take on a creature much larger than themselves, attacking in large groups and overcoming their target. Such is their devotion to the common good of the colony that not only soldier ants but also worker ants will sacrifice their lives to help defeat an enemy.
Behaving in this selfless and devoted manner, these little creatures have survived on Earth, for more than 140 million years, far longer than dinosaurs. Because they think as one, they have a collective (集体的) intelligence greater than you would expect from its individual parts.
1. We can learn from the passage that ants are ____________.
| A．not willing to share food |
| B．not found around the poles |
| C．more successful than all other animals |
| D．too many to achieve any level of organization |
| A．escape | B．communication |
| C．warning enemies | D．arranging labor |
| A．Accept. | B．Employ. |
| C．Play with. | D．Fight against. |
| A．Their behavior. | B．Their size. |
| C．Their number. | D．Their weight |
【推荐1】The reason hugs feel so good has to do with our sense of touch.
It improves our seep: From the benefits of co - sleeping with infants to cuddling your partner, gentle touch is known to regulate our seep; as it lowers levels of the hormone cortisol (皮质醇). Cortisol is a key regulator of our seep - wake cycle but also increases when we're stressed.
It reduces reactivity to stress: Beyond the pleasurable feelings provided by a hug, social touch also has longer - term benefits to our health, making us less reactive to stress and building resilience.
Research even suggests that cuddling in bed could protect us against the common cold. By monitoring hugging frequency among just over 400 adults who were then exposed to a common cold virus, researchers found the “huggers” won hands - down in being less likely to get a cold.
| A．It's an extremely important sense |
| B．And they had less severe symptoms |
| C．It increases well - being and pleasure |
| D．High cortisol level contributes to good sleep |
| E．It is less possible for “huggers” to catch a flu |
| F．When touch is desired, the benefits are shared by both sides |
| G．So its no wonder high levels of stress can delay sleep and cause insomnia |
【推荐2】Why Do You Mishear Popular Song Lyrics （歌词）？
When Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" topped the charts in early 2019, it seemed like you couldn't go five minutes without hearing "I’m gonna take my horse to the old town road . " But a significant subgroup caught this instead “ I’m gonna take my horse to the hotel room.
In that panic, our head reacts by offering up similar-sounding （but far more familiar） phrases, says Thomas Ethofer, a professor of psychotherapy in Germany. For example, if the mind can't firstly comprehend taking a horse to an old town road, it offers up an alternative to quickly solve the problem.
In fact, according to Ethofer, previous knowledge of the mondegreen will make you more likely to hear it.
| A．This was far from a first. |
| B．No wonder you will make this mistake. |
| C．How can you listen to something more accurately? |
| D．There, it turns nerve firings into words with meaning. |
| E．That's because your brain is already prepared for that version. |
| F．That translation can stick, even after we learn the correct lyrics. |
| G．So why does the Jimi Hendrix lyric "kiss the sky" often become "kiss this guy"? |
【推荐3】The voice of an ancient Egyptian priest has been heard for the first time in more than 3,000 years, thanks to a detailed reconstruction of his vocal tract (声带) from his mummified remains.
A team of scientists in England used medical scans of the famous mummy of Nesyamun to create a digital, 3D model of the insides of the individual’s throat and mouth, which were reproduced on a 3D printer. Then the researchers created an artificial larynx (喉头) with a loudspeaker using an electronic waveform. The sound was then played through the speaker into the 3D printed vocal tract to produce a short bust of Nesyamun’s voice — a sound not heard since the 11th century B.C.
Previous efforts to reproduce ancient voices could only approximate them, by animating facial reconstructions with software. In comparison, the sound of Nesyamun’s voice is based on “an extant (现存的) vocal tract preserved over 3,000 years,” the researchers wrote.
Nesyamun lived around 1100 B.C. He is thought to have died in his late 50s from a severe allergic reaction. Almost 3,000 years later, his mummy was discovered at Karnak and transported to the Leeds City Museum in 1823. His remains and ornate coffin (棺材) have since become some of the world’s best researched relics of ancient Egypt.
“Nesyamun’s mummy was a good choice for studying the sound of an ancient voice,” said David Howard, the lead author of the new research, “It was particularly suited, given its age and preservation of its soft tissues, which is unusual.”
He said he hopes the scientific understanding of how human voices are created can be combined with knowledge of the ancient Egyptian language to reconstruct longer passages of Nesyamun’s speech.
Before examining the mummy, the researchers had to deal with ethical (道德的) concerns related to examining a person without their consent. They used nondestructive research methods, and took into account words on his coffin, relating that Nesyamun hoped again to address the gods as he had in his working life.
The researchers interpreted that to indicate his desire to speak again after death. “We are in a way fulfilling his declared wishes,” Howard said.
Howard and Schofield said they hope a reconstruction of Nesyamun’s speech, perhaps reciting an ancient Egyptian prayer, can be featured at the Karnak temple in Egypt for modem tourists.
“When visitors encounter the past, it is usually a visual encounter,” said Schofield. “With this voice, we can change that.”
1. The voice of Nesyamun was recreated by _____.| A．repairing his vocal tract |
| B．bringing Nesyamun back to life |
| C．using some advanced technologies |
| D．combining it with facial movements |
| A．He often gave long speeches. |
| B．His vocal tract is well preserved. |
| C．A severe disease resulted in his death. |
| D．His remains are displayed in the museum. |
| A．The researchers took into account words on his coffin. |
| B．Nesyamun’s mummy was examined without his consent. |
| C．The researchers hope to reconstruct longer passages of his speech. |
| D．Nesyamun hoped to address the gods as he had in his working life. |
| A．A 3000-year-old mummy speaks again |
| B．The voice of a mummy excites visitors |
| C．A 3D-printed vocal tract has been created |
| D．The dream of Nesyamun has been achieved |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
A
Paper is a cheap and accessible medium that can produce beautiful results. To most people, making a paper plane could be one of the simplest things to do. It’s the simplest and easiest form of paper art. And paper art can be dated back to Japan, where it originated (起源于) over a thousand years ago. However, there’s a special minority who takes paper art to the next level, magically turning the plain white or colored paper into some of the most amazing artworks. Check out the following artists and their works!
The Danish artist Peter Callesen is famous for his talent in combining the minimalism (极简单) of a white sheet of paper with the complexity of carefully cut and folded paper and uses the two to build out some pleasing works.
The British artist Su Blackwell often goes to secondhand bookstores — to look for materials with which she can carve out delicate sculptures. The models look as if they “grow” naturally from the pages of the books. The artist finds inspiration from the book title or a paragraph or picture inside and then spends months carefully making each one into an eye-catching paper model. Her old book sculptures sell for up to￡5,000 each.
By carefully folding simple pieces of paper, German artist Simon Schubert creates amazing masterpieces. He turns paper into architectural masterpieces by folding a simple piece of paper to shape the creases (褶缝), then unfolding it to show the fascinating artwork.
Another master of paper-folding is Jen Stark. Her artwork is often in the form of colorful caves and land maps. Using her imagination and a special knife, she is a modern day magician who turns humble materials like construction paper and glue into fantastic, complicated sculptures that puzzle the eyes. Her work draws inspiration from nature.
1. According to the passage, paper art ________.| A．is about plane-folding | B．is richest in Japan |
| C．dates back to 1000 B.C. | D．is now on a new level |
| A．combines the minimalism and complexity of paper |
| B．often gets inspired by secondhand books |
| C．makes architectural masterpieces with Simon Schubert |
| D．is a magician who uses simple paper materials |
| A．is from Germany |
| B．uses paper to build complicated shapes |
| C．creates things too puzzling to understand |
| D．works also as a magician |
| A．Common and popular. | B．Simple and cheap. |
| C．Useless and priceless. | D．Rough and meaningless. |
【推荐2】When wildfire smoke from huge fires in Canada blanketed the US in the summer of 2023, emergency rooms saw an increase in admissions for lung problems, heart attacks and other health issues.
Burning fossil fuels has driven climate change, and now climate change is costing people their health and increasingly their lives, says a new report from the medical journal The Lancet. The eighth annual Lancet Countdown, an international analysis that tracks nearly 50 different health-focused issues affected by climate change, calls for an immediate wind-down of fossil fuel use.
Those with the least historical responsibility for causing climate change are feeling the worst effects. Pakistan—a country responsible for roughly 0.3% of all climate-change-causing carbon emissions, suffered huge floods in 2022 that displaced more than 30 million people and killed at least 1,700. However, wealthier countries cannot be spared. In the US, wildfire smoke this summer sent people to the emergency room from New York to Georgia. In Europe, a 2022 summer heat wave resulted in over 60,000 deaths.
About one fifth of all US residents work outdoors; the percentages are even higher in many other countries. When it gets too hot, it gets harder and harder to work. Last year, the report says, outdoor workers lost more than 140 hours each — or several weeks of pay — because of the intense heat.
The human and economic costs are forecast to grow with every tenth of a degree hotter the planet gets. Heat-related deaths, for example, could increase by nearly five times by the middle of the century, if without immediate reductions to carbon emissions.
“I have a young patient who presents with uncontrollable asthma. She lives right next to a highway and is breathing in harmful air from cars burning gas,” Renee Salas, a doctor at Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health says. “So the treatment she needs is electric vehicles, home weatherization and air purification. These are prescriptions I can’t write.”
1. What can be learned from paragraph 3?| A．The wildfire has burned large areas of forest. | B．Pakistan is largely responsible for climate change. |
| C．Climate change has caused a lot of human deaths. | D．People in wealthier countries have good health care. |
| A．American residents worked very hard last year. |
| B．There is nothing people can do about climate change. |
| C．The economy has also been affected by climate change. |
| D．Heat-related deaths will double by the middle of the century. |
| A．She advocates green lifestyle. | B．She prefers to drive an electric car to work. |
| C．Young people are more likely to get asthma. | D．Hospitals are short of medicines to treat asthma. |
| A．The advantage of living in the US. | B．The cause of climate change. |
| C．The stress of working outdoors. | D．The harm of climate change. |
【推荐3】In 1945, two sculptures meant to represent the average man called Norman and woman called Norma in the United States went on exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History.
That same year, a contest was launched to find a living representation of Norma. Normal is often used to mean “typical”, “expected”, or even “correct”. By that logic, most people should fit the description of normal. And yet, not one of almost 4,000 women who participated in the contest matched Norma, the supposedly “normal” woman.
This puzzle isn’t unique to Norma and Norman, either — time and time again, so-called normal descriptions of our bodies, minds, and perceptions have turned out to match almost no one. So what does normal actually mean — and should we be relying on it so much?
In statistics, a normal distribution describes a set of values that fall along a bell curve (曲线). The average, or mean, of all the values is at the very center, and most other values fall within the hump (驼峰) of the bell. Normal doesn’t describe a single data point, but a pattern of diversity. Many human traits, like height, follow a normal distribution. Some people are very tall or very short, but most people fall close to the overall average. Outside of statistics, normal often refers to an average like the single number pulled from the fattest part of the bell curve that excludes all the nuances of the normal distribution. Norma and Norman’s proportions (比例) came from such averages.
Applied to individuals, whether someone is considered normal usually depends on how closely they get to this average. At best, such definitions of normal fail to capture variation. When limited or inaccurate definitions of normal are used to make decisions that impact people’s lives, they can do real harm. There were examples in history.
To this day, people are often targeted and discriminated against on the basis of disabilities, mental health issues, and other features considered “not normal”. But the reality is that the differences in our bodies, minds, perceptions, and ideas about the world around us — in short, diversity — is the true normal.
1. What can we learn about Norman and Norma?| A．No participant fitted the description of them in the contest. |
| B．They were on display as soon as they were completed in 1945. |
| C．They were both named by the American Museum of Natural History. |
| D．People viewed them as typical and correct representations of humans. |
| A．The former and the latter fall at totally different points of the bell curve. |
| B．The former and the latter account for different puzzles in our daily life. |
| C．The latter is a single number whereas the former shows a pattern of diversity. |
| D．The latter often indicates the distribution of a set of values but the former doesn’t. |
| A．Possibilities. | B．Examples. | C．Meanings. | D．Differences. |
| A．What Is Real Normal? |
| B．When Are Humans Normal? |
| C．How Does Normal Cause Harm? |
| D．Why Shouldn’t We Rely on Normal? |
