Bird flu has reached new areas of the world and has become a year-round problem, animal and disease experts warn.
More than 20 experts and farmers on four continents spoke to a news agency about the problem. They suggested that record outbreaks will not stop soon on poultry (家禽) farms. They also warned that farmers must view the disease as a serious risk all year, instead of doing prevention efforts during spring movement seasons for wild birds. The outbreaks of the virus (病毒) have continued through the summer heat and winter cold in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Egg prices set records after the disease killed tens of millions of chickens last year. These record prices, at a time of worldwide economic problems, are especially damaging to people who use eggs as a main source of protein.
Wild birds are mainly responsible for spreading the virus, experts say. Waterfowl like ducks can carry the disease without dying and pass it to poultry through waste, saliva (唾液) and other ways. Farmers’ best efforts to protect their birds are not enough.
“In the US, Rose Acre Farms, the country’s second-largest egg producer, lost about 1. 5 million chickens at a Guthrie County, Iowa, production farm last year. These losses occurred even though anyone who entered barns was required to shower first to remove any sign of the virus,” Chief Executive Marcus Rust said.
The US, Britain, France and Japan are among the countries that have suffered record losses of poultry over the past year, leaving some farmers feeling helpless.
“Avian flu is occurring even in a new poultry farm with modern equipment and no windows, so we don’t know what to do to avoid an outbreak,” said Shigeo Inaba, who raises chickens for meat in Ibaraki, near Tokyo.
1. What did experts warn?| A．Bird flu will exist all the year around. |
| B．The best time to prevent the virus is spring. |
| C．Efforts to prevent the outbreak can be stopped. |
| D．Farmers must take the disease seriously in spring. |
| A．Economic problems occurred worldwide. |
| B．People used eggs as a main source of protein. |
| C．A great number of chickens died due to the disease. |
| D．Farmers took no measures to protect their chickens. |
| A．The US is the largest egg producer in the world. |
| B．It was very hard to prevent the spread of the disease. |
| C．His farm lost more chickens than any other farm in the US. |
| D．Workers on the farms didn’t view the disease as a year-round risk. |
| A．Prevention of bird flu |
| B．Egg prices set records last year |
| C．Farmers suffered heavy losses last year |
| D．Bird flu spreads to more countries worldwide |
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【推荐1】Christopher Thomas, 27, was a writer by night and a teacher by day when he noticed he was always tired and was losing weight fast. Diagnosed with diabetes(糖尿病), Thomas would need to inject himself with insulin(胰岛素) three times a day for the rest of his life or risk nerve damage, blindness, and even death. And if those weren’t bad enough, he had no health insurance.
After a month of feeling upset, Thomas decided he’d better find a way to fight back. He left Canton, Michigan for New York, got a job to wait tables, nicknamed himself the Diabetic Rockstar, and created diabeticrockstar.com, a free online community for diabetics and their loved ones—a place where over 1,100 people share personal stories, information, and resources.
Jason Swencki’s son Kody, was diagnosed with type diabetes at six. Father and son visit the online children’s forums together most evenings. “Kody gets so excited, writing to kids from all over the world,” says Swencki, one of the site’s volunteers. “They know what he’s going through, so he doesn’t feel alone.”
Kody is anything but alone: Diabetes is now the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, with 24 million diagnosed cases. And more people are being diagnosed at younger ages.
These days, Thomas’ main focus is his charity, Fight It, which provides medicines and supplies to people—225 to date—who can’t afford a diabetic’s huge expenses. Fight It has raised about $23,000—in products and in cash. In May, Thomas will hold the first annual Diabetic Rockstar Festival in the Caribbean.
Even with a staff of 22 volunteers, Thomas often devotes up to 50 hours a week to his cause, while still doing his fulltime job to wait tables. “Of the diabetes charities out there, most are putting money into finding a cure,” says Bentley Gubar, one of Rockstar’s original members. “But Christopher is the only person I know to say people need help now.”
1. From the passage, what do we know about Christopher Thomas?| A．He needs to go to the doctor every day. |
| B．He studies the leading cause of diabetes. |
| C．He has a positive attitude to this disease. |
| D．He encourages diabetics by writing articles. |
| A．To help diabetics communicate with each other. |
| B．To help volunteers find jobs. |
| C．To amuse diabetics. |
| D．To share Rockstar’s resources. |
| A．It helps the diabetics with financial difficulties. |
| B．It organizes parties for volunteers once a year. |
| C．It offers less expensive medicines to diabetics. |
| D．It owns a wellknown medical website. |
| A．He works fulltime in a diabetes charity. |
| B．He employs 22 people for his website. |
| C．He helps diabetics in his own way. |
| D．Thomas tries to find a cure for diabetes. |
【推荐2】Life is a series of choices whose consequences we cannot always foresee. Harry Saleem, an obese man with too much money and power, faced a choice. Outside his office waited his personal doctor who has brought him significant news about the only medicine that could save his life. On the other side of the world, one of his engineers waited for his decision on an important matter of business.
His secretary urged him several times to bring the doctor in but received only an indifferent reply from the billionaire: “No, let the fool wait.” “Business comes first!” Growled Saleem who was still obsessed with making money, despite the health problems caused by his huge weight. He raised a fat finger, and one of his staff hurried to switch on a large television set whose screen flashed to life, and Saleem’s engineer appeared. The man talked by satellite directly to his master although they were thousands of miles apart: “It’s all ready to blow, Mr Saleem,” he said. “Just say the word.”
His engineer was standing above Pakan Valley in South America which had been a rain forest just a few months ago, but then Saleem’s men came, cutting down all the valuable trees and forcing the villagers to move out. Across the bottom of the valley, a dam had been built which would provide power for the planned factories which would bring Saleem vast profits. Therefore, he saw no reason to delay and ordered the engineer to press the button. The camera panned away into the distance, and then a cloud of dust rose up, followed shortly by a dull explosion. A roaring river changed its course, and water flooded into the doomed Pakan Valley.
”Good, that’s that. Turn it off. Now get that doctor in here,” he commanded. The doctor came in with a worried look and started to examine his wealthy patient. “You’re doing very well, Mr Saleem,” he said finally. “The new medicine is saving your life but the only difficulty is getting more of it.” “Can you get more? Money is no problem,” Saleem said. “Tell me what you need, and we’ll get it.”
”The main ingredient of this medicine came from a newly discovered plant—a small, green orchid,” the doctor explained. “We’ll need many of them to make enough medicine. They are very rare. There’s only one place in the world where they grow.”
“Where?” demanded the businessman, impatiently.
The doctor smiled. “Well, lucky the orchids come from some land which you own, sir, so there won’t be any difficulty finding them. They’re from a place in South America known as Pakan Valley.”
1. Why did Saleem postpone the appointment with the doctor?| A．He was busy planning the building of a dam. |
| B．He was about to interview an important engineer. |
| C．He was about to attend an important online meeting. |
| D．He didn’t care about the advice of his secretary. |
| A．Life is composed of unforeseeable consequences. |
| B．Saleem is an obese billionaire who cares a lot about money. |
| C．Saleem’s engineer was waiting for a final word about a project. |
| D．The construction of the dam took the local biodiversity and ecology into consideration. |
| A．fatal | B．declined | C．lucky | D．destined |
| A．Staying as calm as he used to be. |
| B．Getting angry by the doctor’s word. |
| C．Growing impatient by the doctor’s persuasion. |
| D．Getting shocked by the medical advice and what he had just done. |
【推荐3】It was not until I was 9 years old that I found out my father was ill. It was 1994, but I can remember my mother's words as if it were yesterday: "Kernel, I don't want you to take food from your father, because he has AIDS. Be very careful when you are around him." AIDS wasn't something we talked about in my country when I was growing up. From then on, I knew that this would be a family secret. My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone. For a while, he could take care of himself. But when I was 12, his condition worsened. My father's other children lived far away, so it fell to me to took after him.
We couldn't afford all the necessary medicine for him, and because Dad was unable to work, I had no money for school supplies and often couldn't even buy food for dinner. I would sit in class feeling completely lost, the teacher's words muffled as I tried to figure out how I was going to manage. I did not share my burden with anyone. I had seen people reacted to AIDS. Kids laughed at classmates who had parents with the disease. And even adults could be cruel. When my father was moved to the hospital, the nurses would leave his food on the bedside even though he was too weak to feed himself.
I had known that he was going to die, but after so many years of keeping his condition a secret, I was completely unprepared when he reached his final days. Sad and hopeless, I called a woman at the nonprofit National AIDS Support. That day, she kept me on the phone for hours. I was so lucky to find someone who cared. She saved my life.
I was 15 when my father died. He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me. He didn't want to call attention to AIDS. I do.
1. What does Kernel tell us about her father?| A．He had stayed in the hospital since he fell ill. |
| B．He worked hard to pay for his medication. |
| C．He told no one about his disease. |
| D．He was carefully attended by the nurses on his deathbed |
| A．Kernel found what the teacher said hard to understand. |
| B．Kernel had special difficulty in hearing. |
| C．Kernel was too tired to hear her teacher's words. |
| D．Kernel was too troubled to focus on the lesson. |
| A．She wanted to obey her mother. |
| B．She was afraid of being looked down upon. |
| C．She found no one willing to listen to her. |
| D．She thought it was shameful to have AIDS. |
| A．To tell people about the sufferings of her father |
| B．To prove how little people knew about AIDS. |
| C．To draw people’s attention to AIDS. |
| D．To recall a hard time of her childhood. |
【推荐1】If there is any such thing as a sea monster, chances are that it looks much like a frilled shark(皱鳃鲨)！This fearsome but interesting creature is one of the most rarely sighted species on earth. Let’s take a closer look at the habitat, appearance and feeding behavior of the frilled shark.
While very little is known about the frilled shark, it is thought to live in the deepest, darkest parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and only come to the surface when sick or injured. It is believed that they are able to survive at a depth of about 5,150 feet but are more commonly found in waters 50-200 feet deep. There is a small but convincing body of research that suggests the frilled shark is a vertical migrator, moving from deep to deeper waters on a regular basis.
While this mysterious beast is called a shark, many believe it looks more like an eel with a long, slim body about five to six feet in length. It has a head that’s triangular in shape similar to that of a poisonous snake and large oval eyes giving off a strange and frightening green light. The unusual creature has six pairs of gills (鳃), each with the frilled edges for which the sea monster was named.
The feeding behavior of the frilled shark has never been studied or even observed by human eyes. However, it is almost certainly a predator (食肉动物). After all, researchers believe, why else would it need 300 sharp teeth?! Scientists theorize that these dangerous teeth make it possible for a slow moving fish like the frilled shark to catch squid and other deep-sea creatures.
As research into the habitat, appearance and feeding behavior of this strange creature continues, there’s a good chance that we will gain a full understanding of this unusual species one day. Until then, the frilled shark remains one of the great mysteries of the deep.
1. What can we infer about the frilled shark from Paragraph 2?| A．It is hard to see them in a healthy state on the ocean surface. |
| B．They migrate from ocean to ocean in the deepest waters. |
| C．They usually live in oceans at a depth of over 5,150 feet. |
| D．It is a rare species threatened by human activities. |
| A．the place where it was found | B．the place where it was born |
| C．its appearance | D．its character |
| A．From its behavior. | B．From its habitat. |
| C．From its teeth. | D．From its gills. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Cautious. | C．Disapproving. | D．Optimistic. |
【推荐2】I believe that animals possess greater intelligence than most people think. But plants? I’ve never considered the possibility of plant intelligence. The idea seems absurd.
Yet I've had friends argue that plant intelligence might exist. “What are the differences between plants and animals?” they ask, and then they argue about certain species that seem to share the intelligence of both plants and animals.
New research suggests that plants communicate via “networks”. Plant communication is not idea, and cannot indicate that it is a kind of intelligence, but it is still interesting.
Recent research from Vidi researcher Josef Stuefer at the Radboud University Nijmegen shows that plants have their own chat systems that they can use to warn each other. Therefore plants are not boring and passive organisms that just stand there waiting to be cut down or eaten up. Many plants form internal communication networks and are able to exchange information networks and are able to exchange information efficiently.
Many herbal plants such as strawberries and clovers (三叶草) naturally form networks.
Individual plants remain connected with each other for a certain period of time by means of runners (plant stems that grow along the ground and put down roots to form new plants). These connections enable the plants to share information with each other via internal channels. They are therefore very similar to computer networks. But what do plants chat to each other about?
Recently Stuefer and his colleagues were the first to prove that clover plants warn each other via the network links if danger is nearby. If one of the plants is attacked by caterpillars (毛虫), the other members of the network are warned via an internal signal. Once warned the intact (完好无损的) plants strengthen their chemical and mechanical (机体的) resistance so that they are less attractive to advancing caterpillars. Thanks to this early warning system, the plants can stay one step ahead of their attackers. The research has shown that this significantly limits the damage to the plants.
Again, I don’t believe this reflects intelligence, but it’s is certainly fascinating.
1. The author thinks that the plant communication ____ .| A．is absolutely a new idea |
| B．is a sign of plant intelligence |
| C．is related to animal communication |
| D．is interesting and fascinating |
| A．making sounds |
| B．releasing chemicals |
| C．strengthening mechanical resistance |
| D．sending internal signals |
| A．Most plants have no chat system and are passive organisms. |
| B．Individual plants can also remain connected with each other. |
| C．The communication between clover plants can protect them from damage. |
| D．The research is the first to show how clover plants warn each other. |
| A．unconcerned | B．doubtful | C．positive | D．hopeful |
| A．Does Plant Communication Really Exist? |
| B．Some Discoveries About Clover Plant |
| C．Does Plant Communication Imply Intelligence? |
| D．A New Study on Plant Communication |
【推荐3】Every summer, the calls of thousands of swamp sparrows can be heard across North America's wetlands. These little brown birds know only a few songs, but they know them very well. In fact, their musical set list probably hasn't changed much for centuries.
Like humans, baby swamp sparrows learn to communicate by copying adults. From a young age, they learn to copy, or mimic, songs sung by their elders. “Swamp sparrows very rarely make mistakes when they learn their songs,” says biologist Robert Lachlan. In fact, their mimicry is so accurate that the music changes little between generations.
Just like children, the sparrows don't remember every song they hear. Lachlan says. “They don't just learn songs at random; they pick up commoner songs rather than rarer songs.” In other words, they learn songs they hear most often. It's an example of a strategy that scientists call conformist bias. Until recently, this learning ability was thought to be special only to humans.
Between 2008 and 2009, Lachlan's research team recorded the calls of 615 male swamp sparrows across the northeastern United States. The researchers used computer software to break each song into a collection of notes, or syllables. They then measured the differences between the tunes.
The research revealed that only 2 percent of male sparrows sang a different song from the standard tune. The combination of accurate mimicry and conformist bias allows the birds to create traditions that last for centuries. “With those two ingredients together, you end up with traditions that are really stable,” says Lachlan. “The song-types that you hear in the marshes of North America today may well have been there 1,000 years ago.” Lachlan's study is also among the first to measure the longevity of song traditions within a bird species.
The findings are really exciting, says scientist Andrew Farnsworth. He hopes that future research will evolve from these studies. For example, scientists may be able to identify how other animals are able to preserve their cultural traditions. “Seeing the potential for it in other organisms is super cool,” says Farnsworth.
1. What do we know about Lachlan's research?| A．The calls of 615 female swamp sparrows were recorded. |
| B．Accurate mimicry allows the birds to create the centuries-long traditions. |
| C．It aimed to study swamp sparrows' learning ability. |
| D．Computer technology helped a lot during the research. |
| A．A new slang word becomes popular with a group of teenagers. |
| B．A dog learns to do a trick because its owner rewards it regularly. |
| C．A student memorizes historical events for a history exam. |
| D．A student loves singing and joins the school chorus. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Negative. | C．Positive. | D．Conservative. |
| A．The Amazing Lifespan of Swamp Sparrows. |
| B．The Traditional Musical Set List of Swamp Sparrows. |
| C．The Evolution of Swamp Sparrows in North America. |
| D．The Great Learning Ability of Swamp Sparrows. |
【推荐1】Sallows, the owner of a barbershop(理发店), designed a wheelchair-accessible barber chair, which was brought to reality by the engineers in the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. They have developed the device that will help individuals with physical disabilities have a more tailored, comfortable and safe experience at the barbershop. “It’s a barber chair—that was the first concept,” said Sallows. “But now we are in the process of creating, developing, and applying new technologies for applications in multiple settings such as dentist chairs or stadium seats,” said Sallows.
Sallows worked in a hospital as a certified therapist(治疗专家)for nearly 20 years. He enjoyed his career but decided to learn a trade. “I want something in the wheelhouse of therapists,” said Sallows. “I need something fulfilling, so I think barbering.” In one way, some may see it as a big career change, but Sallows says he is still a therapist. “I joke, I say I’ve gone from therapy to ‘hairapy’,” said Sallows. “Barbering gives me that therapeutic kind of environment that allows me to still talk. People know me as a therapist when they come in, not only as a barber, and so, just the conversations are really cool.”
Sallows learned that a barbershop proved complex for clients in wheelchairs. Having one’s hair washed or getting a close shave often means being physically lifted out of the wheelchair and into a barber chair—an experience that is both difficult and embarrassing. So Sallows, with the help of the UPMC, has created the barber chair that lifts and tips a wheelchair back safely and comfortably. The user rolls onto the barber chair and is raised one or two feet, much like what one would see in a car shop. Sallows hopes that the device will provide clients with the kind of service people have come to appreciate at a barbershop.
1. What is Sallows’s achievement?| A．He was named as the best therapist. |
| B．He became an engineer of the UPMC. |
| C．He created tailored and comfortable dentist chairs. |
| D．He designed a barber chair for the wheelchair-bound. |
| A．He could talk to cool clients. | B．He was eager to make a fortune. |
| C．He could use his former experience. | D．He wanted to start a different career. |
| A．Cooperative and generous. | B．Innovative and caring. |
| C．Talented and competitive. | D．Modest and competent. |
| A．A Tailored Cut | B．A Flexible Wheelchair |
| C．A Skilled Barber | D．A Special Barbershop |
【推荐2】A ship that’s been frozen into the Arctic ice for the last year has finally returned home. After nearly 13 months, the researchers have gathered more detailed information on the Arctic than ever before. Much of the news is troubling.
The German ship RV Polarstern is normally designed to break a passage through ice. But last September, the ship set sail from Norway with the goal of getting frozen into the Arctic ice cap for a year. The mission was part of a $155 million project known as MOSAiC, whose goal is to learn more about the ice that forms near the North Pole and how it’s affected by climate change.
By last October, the ship had been frozen into the Arctic ice north of Siberia. Over the next year, more than 300 scientists from 20 different countries spent time on the boat, doing long-term research on the ice, over the ice, and under the ice. The boat held about 100 scientists and other workers at a time. The plan was for members of the team to be exchanged regularly.
The project leaders knew there would be many challenges related to the extreme cold, the ice, and even polar bears. But the team hadn’t planned on the coronavirus, which, for a time, made it impossible to swap out team members. That was one time the isolation helped, though, since the people on the Polarstern didn’t have to worry about catching the virus.
At the end of July, the team collected all of their gear from the ice, just before the ice was frozen. In September, the boat left the ice cap, finally returning to Germany on Monday. However, the news that the researchers bring back isn’t good.
1. What’s the aim to build RV Polarstern?| A．To break up ice. | B．To transport passengers. |
| C．To study MOSAiC. | D．To do research in Arctic. |
| A．More scientists took part. | B．Scientists got on well with each other. |
| C．The research turned out to be complex. | D．International cooperation has been adopted. |
| A．Challenge. | B．Separation. | C．Relaxation. | D．Determination. |
| A．Polarstern Drew Attention Once Again | B．Polarstern Returns After a Year in the Arctic |
| C．Polarstern Ends One-year Research Completely | D．Polarstern Gathers More Detailed Information |
【推荐3】About 230 whales beached themselves on the western part of the Australian island of Tasmania. It is the second such incident in recent days. At least half are alive and animal officials are working to rescue them. They are trying to understand why the whales got stuck.
The whales are stuck on Ocean Beach near Macquarie Harbor in the western part of Tasmania. About two years ago, 470 whales became stuck on sand in the same area. That time, about 100 whales were saved but the rest died.
The whales are pilot whales, which weigh between 1,000 and 2,000 kilograms and measure over 6 meters. Pilot whales are the species that most often get stuck in large numbers. Some scientists believe it is because they travel in large groups and follow a leader.
A team from the Marine Conservation Program was heading to the area to help the whales. The harbor does not have deep water and its entrance is known by locals as Hell’s Gate.
Linton Kringle is a salmon farmer who once helped with the rescue in 2020. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation this year’s work would be more difficult. That time, he said that the whales were in the harbor, so people could reach them easily on boats. This time, they are outside of the safe area, on a beach, which means it will be harder to get boats near them. “It’s too shallow (浅的) and too rough. My thoughts would be to try to get them onto a vehicle if we can’t get them swim out,” Kringle added.
Vanessa Pirotta is a wildlife scientist who studies animals like whales and dolphins. She said the fact that the whales have gotten stuck around the same place during the same part of the year, suggesting there might be something environmental here.
1. What puzzles animal officials most?| A．The number of beached whales. | B．The cause of whales’ beaching. |
| C．The times of whales’ beaching. | D．The way to rescue beached whales. |
| A．Their group travel habits. | B．Their heavy weights. |
| C．Their poor eyesight. | D．Their long bodies. |
| A．There aren’t so many rescue workers. |
| B．The entrance is known as Hell’s Gate. |
| C．Making them swim back to the sea is almost impossible. |
| D．The whales in danger are too far away to reach by boat. |
| A．To introduce pilot whales. |
| B．To call on people to protect whales. |
| C．To recommend a suitable rescue method. |
| D．To tell an incident about whales’ beaching. |
