Wildlife workers in Florida are feeding manatees to keep them from starving.
Manatees are huge sea mammals that can be as long as 4 meters when grown.
But Florida’s manatees have been on the US government’s list of endangered animals since 1967. Most threats to manatees come from humans. One of the biggest problems facing the creatures are boats.
But now manatees are facing a new challenge: they can't get enough to eat. Many of the beds of sea grass that manatees depend upon have been killed by human-caused pollution. Sea grass began to disappear around 2011. Warming seas, combined with polluted water and fertilizers that have washed off of farmlands, have created huge growths of algae on the ocean’s surface.
Last year, 1,101 manatees died from starving.
So last December, wildlife experts came up with a plan to get emergency food to the manatees. They decided to feed them green vegetables like lettuce and cabbage. Long term, Florida is working to help restore sea grass beds. But that will take time.
| A．That was a record. |
| B．They can weigh up to 590 kilograms. |
| C．The feeding station has been very successful. |
| D．With protection, manatees managed to bounce back. |
| E．It blocks the sunlight that allows the sea grass to grow. |
| F．But feeding these massive sea creatures takes a lot of food. |
| G．Research needs to be done to determine what food would be best. |
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【推荐1】On average, we each eat more than 20 kilograms of fish per year. Worldwide, between 1961 and 2016, fish consumption increased faster than meat consumption, and grew twice as fast as the human population. All of these fishy dinners have reduced marine fish stocks to a point where a third of global fish stocks are now classed as "overfished". Fishing also has negative impacts on non-food species in the ecosystem, and pollutes the waters with fishing waste. Temporary fishing bans may help, but what if we banned fishing altogether?
One thing is for sure: the ocean would hopefully become a better place for marine species. Recent years have seen plastic products much less used as the public has woken up to the effects of marine plastics. But few people realize the contribution that fishing makes. Pieces of abandoned fishing tools account for about 10 percent of all marine litter, and according to a 2018 study, 86 percent of the big pieces of plastics floating in the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch". Without fishing, we'd also wipe out emission from fishing boats. One 2014 study claimed that fishing industry was actually highly fuel-consuming, like lobsters, with some boats using 20,000 liters of fuel to catch a single ton.
However, what we must not forget is that our planet is highly dependent on fishing in various ways. Around the world,40 million people earn their living directly from catching wild fish, while another 19 million are employed in relevant industries. A total ban on fishing would make it hard for them to put food in their families' mouths. Moreover, seafood is a major source of protein across Southeast Asia and islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. So while in Europe or the US people could eat more meat or soy products to make up for lost protein, there could be food shortage in communities with little land-based farming.
Though not a realistic choice, a total fishing ban is an interesting thought experiment, which may throw light on how man can get along with marine species. After all, the damage fishing does to the entire ecosystem and the pollution it brings about are becoming so enormous that it's time we did something to change it.
1. Why would the ocean become a better place if we banned fishing altogether?| A．Because there would be less pollution to the ocean. |
| B．Because the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" would disappear. |
| C．Because lobster fishing boats would consume less fuel. |
| D．Because people would realize the effects of using plastics. |
| A．Some would suffer from a lack of food. |
| B．Some would change their diet and eat less meat. |
| C．Some communities would start developing land-based farming. |
| D．Some workers would have to find jobs in fishing-relevant industries. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Objective. | C．Disapproving. | D．Concerned. |
| A．The Urgent Need of a Total Fishing Ban. | B．The Harmful Effects of Fishing industry. |
| C．A Newly Launched Policy on Fishing Industry. | D．An Assumption of a Complete Fishing Ban. |
【推荐2】What Your Cat's Behavior is Trying to Communicate
Why cats ignore you.
Cats are intelligent beings but they are also undeniably stubborn. When you call a cat's name, they will more likely ignore you altogether.
Cats love to interrupt whatever you are doing by lying across the area where you are working. Whether you have a book open or are typing away on your laptop, they won't hesitate to stamp on top. This is a cat's way of ordering you to stop whatever you are doing and to instead pay attention to them.
When your cat brings you gifts
At one point or another, every owner has to deal with their cat bringing a dead bird or mouse at their feet. Your cat is actually bringing you a gift.
How cats say "I love you"
Cats make a lot of gestures with their eyes to communicate. If a cat is staring at you, it most likely means that they are trying to get your attention.
When your cat scratches everything
Cats love scratching so much that they will tear up your new sofa. But why do they do this?
| A．When cats lift their tails |
| B．How cats demand attention |
| C．When your cat does this for you |
| D．If they look at you and blink slowly |
| E．Cats like to lie down on their backs and roll around |
| F．This is not because they do not understand their name |
| G．It is usually to remove the uncomfortable dead layer of their claws |
【推荐3】The research team led by Dr Alan McElligott who is now based at City University of Hong Kong has discovered that kangaroos: animals that have never been domesticated (驯养), gazed at a human when trying to access food which had been put in a closed box. The kangaroos used gazes to communicate with the human instead of trying to open the box themselves, a behaviour that is usually expected for domesticated animals.
Ten out of eleven kangaroos tested actively looked at the person who had put the food in a box to get it. Nine of the eleven kangaroos additionally looked between the box and the person present, an advanced form of communication.
The research builds on previous work in the field which has looked at the communication of domesticated animals, such as dogs and goats, and whether intentional communication in animals is a result of domestication. Dr Alan McElligott previously led a study which found goats can understand human cues (线索), including pointing, to gather information about their environment. Like dogs and goats, kangaroos are social animals and Dr McElligott s new research suggests they may be able to adapt their usual social behaviors for communicating with humans.
Dr Alan McElligot said, “Through this study, we were able to see wild animals (in this ease kangaroos) can learn to communicate with humans through having direct contact with them. Indeed, kangaroos showed a very similar pattern of behaviour we have seen in dogs, horses and even goats when put to the same test. The positive results should lead to more cognitive (认知的) research beyond the usual domesticated animals.”
Dr Alexandra Green, School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney, said, “Kangaroos are a symbol of Australia, loved by many worldwide but also considered as a pest. We hope that this research draws attention to the cognitive abilities of kangaroos and helps develop more positive attitudes towards them.”
1. According to the research, kangaroos can _________.| A．use sounds to exchange information with humans |
| B．open the closed box by themselves |
| C．fully understand humans’ instructions |
| D．fix gazes on humans to communicate with them |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．They may examine visual cues and behaviors of kangaroos when communicating with humans. |
| B．They may do research on how to make kangaroos live better. |
| C．They may compare kangaroos with goats. |
| D．They may train kangaroos to get food in the closed box themselves. |
| A．Kangaroos tend to live alone. |
| B．Dr. Alexandra Green previously did research on goats. |
| C．Gaining more understanding of kangaroos may help improve their well-being. |
| D．Kangaroos can have intentional communication with humans because of domestication. |
【推荐1】Like many other people who speak more than one language, I often have the sense that I’m a slightly different person in each of my languages—more confident in English, more relaxed in French, more emotional in Czech. Is it possible that, along with these differences, my moral compass (指南针) also points in somewhat different directions depending on the language I’m using at the time?
Psychologists who study moral judgments have become very interested in this question. The findings of several recent studies suggest that when people are faced with moral dilemmas (困境), they do indeed respond differently when considering them in a foreign language than when using their native tongue.
In a 2014 paper led by Albert Costa, volunteers were presented with a moral dilemma known as the “trolley problem”: imagine that a runaway trolley is moving quickly toward a group of five people standing on the tracks, unable to move. You are next to a switch that can move the trolley to a different set of tracks, therefore sparing the five people, but resulting in the death of one who is standing on the side tracks. Do you pull the switch?
Most people agree that they would. But what if the only way to stop the trolley is by pushing a large stranger off a footbridge into its path? People tend to be very hesitant to say they would do this, even though in both situations, one person is sacrificed to save five. But Costa and his colleagues found that presenting the dilemma in a language that volunteers had learned as a foreign tongue dramatically increased their stated willingness to push the sacrificial person off the footbridge, from fewer than 20% of respondents working in their native language to about 50% of those using the foreign one.
Why does it matter whether we judge morality in our native language or a foreign one? According to one explanation, such judgments involve two separate and competing ways of thinking—one of these, a quick, natural “feeling,” and the other, careful deliberation about the greatest good for the greatest number. When we use a foreign language, we unconsciously sink into the more careful way simply because the effort of operating in our non-native language signals our cognitive (认知的) system to prepare for difficult activity.
An alternative explanation is that differences arise between native and foreign tongues because our childhood languages are filled with greater emotions than are those learned in more academic settings. As a result, moral judgments made in a foreign language are less filled with the emotional reactions that surface when we use a language learned in childhood.
There’s strong evidence that memory connects a language with the experiences and interactions through which that language was learned. For example, people who are bilingual (双语的) are more likely to recall an experience if reminded in the language in which that event occurred. Our childhood languages, learned in the middle of passionate emotion, become filled with deep feeling. By comparison, languages acquired late in life, especially if they are learned through limited interactions in the classroom or dully delivered over computer screens and headphones, enter our minds lacking the emotionality that is present for their native speakers.
1. What does “this question” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．What contributes to one’s language improvements? |
| B．Is it necessary to learn more than one foreign language? |
| C．Does the language one uses influence one’s moral judgments? |
| D．How do people deal with moral dilemmas in a foreign language? |
| A．care less about the five people |
| B．pull the switch to the side tracks |
| C．remain hesitant about what to do |
| D．sacrifice the stranger on the footbridge |
| A．consideration | B．guidance |
| C．selection | D．arrangement |
| A．Bilingual people are less emotional than others. |
| B．Native language learning involves greater emotions. |
| C．Childhood memories limit foreign language learning. |
| D．Academic settings promote foreign language learning. |
【推荐2】Nothing is quite as luxurious as a steaming hot shower on a frosty winter day, but to be kind to your skin and hair, you'll need to turn the nozzle(喷头) down. As it turns out, hot water dries out skin and leaves hair dry and easily broken, Sejal Shah, MD Doctor of Medicine in New York City, told Women's Health. And if you dye your hair, the color is likely to fade faster once the water gets steamy. To make matters worse, by making your skin lose natural oils, hot showers—above 99 degrees Fahrenheit—may bring about health problems. You may not like it, but the shower temperature that offers the greatest hair and skincare benefits is, well, cold. Cold showers “strengthen the contractile fibers around pores(毛孔), muscles, and hairs which improve the firmness of skin,” says Carl Thornfeldt, MD with over 30 years of skin research experience. Though many people believe hot showers open and clear pores, it's actually wiser to close them. “Closing pores helps keep pollution from getting into the skin. at least temporarily.”
The benefits of cold showers are numerous, but surely we can't be expected to stand under cold water shivering every day especially in winter—not to mention that too cold (below the body's average temperature of 96.6 degrees Fahrenheit) is also bad. Fortunately, Dr. Thornfeldt recommends a happy medium. “The best solution is to take a warm, not too hot shower and then finish off with cold water for the last few seconds to still gain the rewards of the cold water,” he says.
That doesn't sound too unbearable. Considering the fact that our beloved, steamy showers may cause so much damage to skin and hair, it's best to switch to slightly warm temperatures to avoid losing natural oils and drying out, especially in winter when indoor heat is already sucking moisture(水分) out of skin. So, when the main part of an extremely comfortable warm shower is complete, finish off with a cool splash. Your hair and skin will thank you!
1. why does your hair dislike a hot shower?| A．It causes hair-related illness | B．It makes your hair go grey |
| C．It damages your hair | D．It leads to hair loss |
| A．They make pores nearly unseen | B．They make skin stronger |
| C．They drive dirt out of skin | D．They brighten skin color |
| A．fighting with courage | B．recovering from pain |
| C．trembling with fear | D．shaking with cold |
| A．warm water mainly and cold water at the end |
| B．Completely cold water. |
| C．Water as warm as your body. |
| D．Warm water and cold water by turns |
【推荐3】Humans spend about one third of their lives sleeping. But some mammals (哺乳动物), like the northern elephant seal, survive with much less sleep.
Researchers in a new study described the unusual sleep pattern of these ocean animals. They found that when these mammals go to feed on trips that can last seven months, they sleep just two hours each day. Those two hours of sleep are made up of short moments of rest lasting only 10 minutes each as they dive deep to avoid predators (捕食者). The only other mammals known to get so little sleep are African elephants.
The researchers placed a head covered with sensors on the heads of the seals that they studied. The sensors recorded sleep signals created by the seals’ brains and heart rate. The sensors also recorded the animals’ location and depth beneath the sea.
The researchers studied female seals because they go out on long open-ocean trips while males feed in coastal waters.
During dives lasting about 30 minutes, the seals went into a deep sleep called slow-wave sleep while keeping a controlled downward movement. When they then experienced rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, the seals fell into a turning pattern. Then, at the deepest point of their sleeping dive — up to 377 meters deep — they wake up and swim back to the surface.
Terrie Williams is a scientist at the University of California at Santa Cruz who helped write the study. She said, “It is remarkable that a wild animal will fall into deep, paralytic REM sleep when there are predators on the hunt.” She added that the seals solve this problem by going into deep sleep in the deep parts of the oceans where predators usually do not hunt them.
Williams said the brain’s ability to control awakening the sleeping seals at a depth before they drown is also a discovery about how mammalian brains work. She commented on this saying that it shows the survival control of the seals’ brains.
1. Why did researchers study female elephant seals?| A．They are easier to fix with sensors. | B．They are more friendly to humans. |
| C．They are more convenient to follow. | D．They have a wider range of activities. |
| A．Falling into deep sea. | B．Swimming fast in the sea. |
| C．Rushing back to the surface. | D．Escaping from their hunters. |
| A．They hunt more foods. | B．They avoid being hunted. |
| C．They get completely relaxed. | D．They control their sleep patterns. |
| A．Different Animals Need Different Sleep |
| B．Elephant Seals’ Short Sleep Makes Them Survive |
| C．Elephant Seals Sleep Only Two Hours a Day |
| D．Male and Female Elephant Seals Feed in Different Areas |
