Insects have an important role as part of the living planet, and they make up four-fifths of all animal species. But what difference do they make to our lives?
Insects as a problem
Humans have caused some insect species to be moved from one part of the world to another—deliberately or by accident. If the introduced insect species has no natural enemies in their new home, they can become a real problem. A recent UK example is the Harlequin ladybird, which has found its way to Britain and eats other ladybirds.
Some insects can sting, bite, or transmit disease to humans.
So, when it comes to insects, its important to understand the consequences of human actions.
Insects as an opportunity
Insects are very important as pollinators(传粉者). Bees are perhaps the best example of this.
Insects are also useful as models in scientific research. The Fruit Fly is a good example. It breeds rapidly, and can produce very many generations per year in the laboratory, so it is ideal for the study of evolution.
Insects can be useful to the gardener too—ladybirds, for example, are the gardeners’ friend because they eat aphids. Hoverflies and wasps also hunt and kill other insects for food in the garden. These species are called predators(捕食者).
| A．Without them, many crops would fail. |
| B．Many insect species compete with us for food. |
| C．And don’t forget insects can also be eaten by man! |
| D．Many of these have been caused by human activities. |
| E．Sometimes it is joked that this is because they find us tasty. |
| F．Many pests can be controlled by spraying with chemical pesticides. |
| G．In fact, many genetic discoveries couldn’t have been made without it. |
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【推荐1】An ancient species of great ape likely disappeared hundreds of thousands of years ago when climate change put their favorite fruits out of reach during dry seasons, scientists recently reported.
The species is known as Gigantopithecus blacki. It once lived in southern China. It stood 3 meters tall and weighed up to 295 kilograms. It represents the largest great ape known to scientists.
“It’s just a massive animal — just really, really big,” said Renaud Joannes-Boyau, a researcher at Australia’s Southern Cross University. He helped write the study, which recently appeared in Nature. But its size may also have been a weakness. Joannes-Boyau said, “When food starts to be scarce, it’s so big that it can’t climb trees to explore new food sources.”
The huge apes likely looked similar to the modern orangutans (红毛猩猩). They survived for around 2 million years in Guangxi. They ate plants that included fruits and flowers — until the environment began to change. Starting about 600,000 years ago, Guangxi’s forests began producing fewer fruits. The area was experiencing more periods of dry weather. Researchers examined pollen (花粉) and sediment (沉积物) found in caves to learn more about the changes and their effects. The giant apes did not disappear quickly, the researchers say. They likely went extinct sometime between 215,000 and 295,000 years ago.
As the climate changed, smaller apes may have been able to climb trees to search for different food. But the researchers found that the giant apes ate more food that provided less nutrients. “When the forest changed, there was not enough food preferred by the species,” said Zhang Yingqi of China’s Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. He helped write the study.
1. What is Gigantopithecus blacki?| A．An ancient giant ape. | B．A recently found ape species. |
| C．A modern orangutan. | D．An endangered species. |
| A．dangerous. | B．rare. | C．important. | D．necessary. |
| A．It made them easy to be sick. | B．It made them unable to find mates. |
| C．It made them difficult to climb trees for food. | D．It made them struggling in adapting to climates. |
| A．Competition for food. | B．Climate change. |
| C．Spread of diseases. | D．Human activities like hunting. |
【推荐2】Many people love keeping the pets(dogs，cats，horses，etc.)and have them as their good friends.In Canada，people usually take their pets to animal hospitals to give them injections(注射)so that they won’t carry diseases before they keep them in their houses.They have special animal food stores，though they can get animal food in almost every kind of stores.Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food.
When you visit people’s houses，they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them.You will also find that almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden.All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal.They are free to come and go and nobody is allowed to kill any animal in Canada.They have a law against killing wild animals.If you killed an animal，you would be punished.If an animal happened to get run over by a car，people would be very sad about it.
People in Canada have many reasons to like animals.One of them might be：Their family ties are not as close as ours.When children grow up，they leave their parents and start their own life.Then the old will feel lonely.But pets can solve this problem.They can be good friends and never leave them alone.
1. They give their pets injections before keeping them at their houses because ________.| A．the pets are sick |
| B．they want to stop them from getting sick |
| C．the pets are wild |
| D．they want them to sleep on the way home |
| A．they don’t love their parents any more |
| B．they can only find jobs far from their parents |
| C．they wouldn’t depend on their parents any more |
| D．their parents’houses are too small |
| A．how to keep disease from pets |
| B．pets in Canada |
| C．how to take good care of pets |
| D．life of the old in Canada |
【推荐3】The Panda Ambassador Program is for those who are devoted to saving wildlife and the environment. Your passion, ideas, and unique points of view, plus our worldwide reach, become an unstoppable power for good. Together we can make a real, lasting influence on the future of our planet.
Like you, we’re big fans of the amazing diversity of life on Earth. Our Panda Ambassadors help to protect pandas on the local level, championing members to protect at-risk or extinct species, and reduce demand for illegal products on the international market. The good news is that as a Panda Ambassador, you’re not alone. Across the country our ambassadors are connected to share resources, ideas, experiences, and support. You’ll also be part of the WWF family—a network of experienced scientists and experts working on behalf of the planet.
Panda Ambassadors are on the front-lines of environmental protection, leading their communities to attract the public attention and make a real difference. Panda Ambassadors host fun and educational events and activities throughout the world.
Be the hero nature needs—raise funds to protect our planet as you run wild at the Go Panda Marathon on October 8, 2023. When you run with WWF’s Panda Nation, you’ll solve the biggest, toughest challenges facing the planet—things like illegal wildlife trade, deforestation, climate change and water scarcity. While those challenges are huge, when we work together, we can take on anything. That’s why every day, WWF works in unifying with many people, partners, and leaders to achieve lasting conservation solutions.
As a Panda Ambassador, you decide which issues matter most to you and we’ll make sure you have everything you need to start making a difference. You’ll get access to presentations, ideas and opportunities, and directions from WWF scientists and experts. You’ll also join our nationwide network of Ambassadors to share ideas, experiences, and support for your conservation efforts.
We’re always looking for people who are ready to lead an environmental movement today, and who might just be leading the country tomorrow. If you think you’ve got what it takes, apply today.
1. Who of the following is not the Panda Ambassador Program intended for?| A．Those who like to make efforts to save wildlife animals. |
| B．Those who has contributed to protecting the environment. |
| C．Those who are big fans of collecting souvenir and fur of wildlife. |
| D．Those who will share opinions and support to help extinct species. |
| A．Shortage. | B．Disadvantage. |
| C．Advantage. | D．Expense. |
| A．Presentations and ideas of wildlife protection. |
| B．Directions and guidance from scientists and experts. |
| C．Opportunities of leading the environmental protection. |
| D．All of the above. |
| A．To help save endangered species by making laws and regulations internationally. |
| B．To invite reader to sign up for the program and do one’s part to make contribution. |
| C．To attract attention of protecting wildlife by running marathon in certain countries. |
| D．To create real hero in communities by stopping illegal trade in international market. |
【推荐1】Parents tend to favour children of one sex in certain situations — or so evolutionary biologists tell us. A new study used colored backpack sales data to show that parental wealth may influence spending on sons different from daughters.
In 1973 biologist Robert Trivers and computer scientist Dan Willard published a paper suggesting that parents invest(投入)more resources, such as food and effort, in male children when times are good, and in female children when times are bad. According to the Trivers-Willard hypothesis(假说), a son given lots of resources can become a gentleman — but parents with few resources tend to invest them in daughters, who generally find it easier to be a fair maiden.
Studying parental investment after birth is difficult, however. The new study looked for a standard of measurement of such investment that met several criteria: it shouldn’t be affected by sex differences in the need for resources; it should measure investment rather than outcomes; and it should be objective.
Study author Shige Song, a sociologist at Queens College, City University of New York, examined spending on pink and blue backpacks purchased in China in 2015 from a large retailer, JD. com. He narrowed the data to about 5, 000 bags: blue backpacks bought by families known to have at least one boy and pink ones bought by families known to have at least one girl. The results showed that wealthier families spent more on blue than pink backpacks — suggesting greater investment in sons. Poorer families spent more on pink packs than blue ones. The findings were published in Evolution and Human Behavior.
Song’s evidence for the Trivers-Willard hypothesis is “indirect” but “pretty convincing,” says Rosemary Hopcroft, a sociologist at the. University of North Carolina at Charlotte, who was not connected with the new study. Hopcroft reported in 2016 that U. S. fathers with high-status occupations were more likely to send their sons to private school than their daughters, while fathers with lower-status jobs more often enrolled their female children. Although the new study does not prove the families were buying the blue backpacks for boys and pink ones for girls, Hopcroft notes that “it’s a clever and interesting paper, and it’s a rather unusual use of big data.”
1. What does the writer intend to do in Paragraph 2?| A．Introduce an earlier study. |
| B．Identify children’s needs. |
| C．Assess the influence of a study. |
| D．Explore into parental investment. |
| A．The investment meeting several criteria. |
| B．The measurement of eventual outcomes. |
| C．Different demands for resources between sexes. |
| D．Consistent standards in measuring parental investment. |
| A．The new study was done in 2015. |
| B．Big data was sampled for research. |
| C．Preference was offered to consumers. |
| D．Blue packs were favored over pink ones. |
| A．It’s entertaining. | B．It’s well-designed. |
| C．It’s unbelievable. | D．It’s unusual. |
【推荐2】When my children haven’t played outside enough, I can tell their energy levels will go up and the noise will increase in the house. I feel upset, so I tell them it’s time to go outside. Usually, they complain and come up with reasons why staying in is better, but I insist.
Kids need consistent outdoor play. There are many benefits, and I’d like to share some of them.
Outdoor play is beneficial mentally. It makes kids happy. You will see it when they come inside, tired but satisfied. It also gives children a chance to be in a space without fixed rules. There are no requirements to be quiet or stay clean. So kids are free to do almost anything that entertains them.
Outdoor play also has educational value. There’s so much active learning that goes on outdoors.
Outdoor play is of great importance, so encourage your kids to take part in it. Make your yard more interesting for them.
| A．Outdoor play benefits kids’ strength building. |
| B．Outdoor play is good for kids’ physical health. |
| C．Within minutes, they’re out and running around. |
| D．It provides more advanced facilities for education. |
| E．It helps result in imaginative play and a creative flow state. |
| F．You can also take them to beautiful parks and forests on weekends. |
| G．When kids get outdoors, they apply what they have learned to real life. |
【推荐3】If you are forgetful or make mistakes when in a hurry, a new study from Michigan State University (MSU) found that meditation (冥想) could help you to become less likely to make mistakes.
The research, published in Brain Sciences, tested how open monitoring meditation (OMM) changed brain activity in a way that suggests increased error recognition. The findings suggest that different forms of meditation can have different effects. “Some forms of meditation have you focus on a single object, commonly your breath, but OMM is a bit different,” Lin said. “It has you pay attention to everything going on in your mind and body. The goal is to sit quietly and pay close attention to where the mind travels without getting too caught up in the scenery.”
Lin and his MSU co-authors—William Eckerle, Ling Peng and Jason Moser— employed more than 200 participants to test how OMM affected how people detect and respond to errors. The participants, who had never meditated before, were taken through a 20-minute OMM exercise while the researchers measured brain activity through EEG (脑电图) .
While the meditators didn’t have immediate improvements to actual task performance, the researchers’ findings offer a promising window into the potential of sustained meditation. “These findings are a strong demonstration of what just 20 minutes of meditation can do to enhance the brain’s ability to detect and pay attention to mistakes,” Moser said. “It makes us feel more confident in what meditation might really be capable of for performance and daily functioning right there in the moment.”
Looking ahead, Lin said, “The next phase of research will determine whether changes in brain activity can translate to behavioral changes with more long-term practice. It’s great to see the public’s enthusiasm for meditation, but there’s still plenty of work from a scientific viewpoint to be done to understand the benefits it can have, and equally importantly, how it actually works.”
1. How does OMM differ from other forms of mediation?| A．It fixes your focus on your breath. |
| B．It keeps your mind and body calm. |
| C．It makes you caught up in the scenery. |
| D．It enables you to be aware of everything. |
| A．The mediators acquire the habit of meditating regularly. |
| B．The mediators can improve their ability to recognize errors. |
| C．Meditation has an immediate influence on task performance. |
| D．Meditation can increase people’s confidence about themselves. |
| A．How to monitor brain activity. |
| B．How to sustain meditation practice. |
| C．Meditation’s influence on behavior. |
| D．The public’s response to meditation. |
| A．Meditation Helps People Sit Quietly |
| B．OMM Helps Measure People’s Brain Activity |
| C．Brain Activity Improves People’s Performance |
| D．Meditation May Help People Make Fewer Mistakes |
