My dog, Nala, loves rolling around in a patch of grass any chance she gets. And it always cracks me up to watch her have the time of her life.
She’s enjoying a smell.
She’s covering up her own scent. According to Dr. Austin, there is another theory that dogs may roll in grass to cover their own scent, as more of an inherited predatory instinct.
If you notice your dog rolling around in the grass, it’s probably just her having the best time ever. I’m not sure about you,
A.In other words, they want to smell like the environment so they don’t scare off prey |
B.but that grass may look extra appealing to your dog |
C.I’ve always wondered why she actually does it |
D.She’s scratching an itch |
E.It’s important to remember how incredibly powerful your dog’s nose is |
F.but now I’m even thinking about joining mine next time |
G.She’s cooling off |
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【推荐1】In habitats across the planet, animals periodically drop everything to walk, fly or swim to a new place. Wildlife such as whales and geese learn migration paths by following their parents. Others, including small songbirds, gain the distance and direction of their migration within their genetic code. And some animals use a combination of genetics and culture to guide their migration.
Another group of migrators does not quite fit either model, and researchers have only recently started to figure out how they find their way. Take the Cory’s shearwater, an oceangoing sea bird that migrates over the Atlantic every year. The young do not migrate with their parents, so culture cannot explain their journeys. And the exact paths vary wildly from individual to individual, making genetics equally unlikely.
Cory’s shearwaters are long-lived, rarely producing young successfully before age nine. This leaves an opening for learning and practice to develop their migration patterns. Researchers call this the “exploration-refinement”, and until now it has been hypothetical (假设的) because of difficulties in tracking migratory animals’ movements.
But a team of researchers has done that by attaching small geolocators to more than 150 of the birds aged four to nine. They found that younger birds traveled longer distances, for longer periods, and had more diverse paths than older birds. “We finally have evidence of the ‘exploration-refinement’ for migratory birds,” says Letizia Campioni, who led the study. Younger Cory’s shearwaters are able to fly just as fast as the adults—but they do not, suggesting that the young do more exploring, which gradually fades as they mature and settle into a preferred course.
Although it may seem less efficient than other strategies, “exploration refinement could be beneficial to birds and other organisms in a rapidly changing world due to unpredictable man-made changes,” says Barbara Frei. “It might be safer to repeat a behavior that was recently successful than to rely on patterns that were perfected long ago but might no longer be safe.”
1. Why does the author mention different migration models in Paragraph 1?A.To give an example. | B.To lead in the topic. |
C.To make a comparison. | D.To support an idea. |
A.The opening for learning and practice. |
B.The unique living habit of Cory’s shearwaters. |
C.The way Cory’s shearwaters form their migration patterns. |
D.The process scientists track Cory’s shearwaters’ movements. |
A.They lower the speed for exploration. | B.They move in a predictable manner. |
C.They travel as much as adult birds. | D.They look for a course with their parents. |
A.Fixed Tracks: Safer Migration Model |
B.Migration Models: Important Ways to Deal With Changes |
C.A Combination of Strategies: A Wise Choice for Migration |
D.Exploration Refinement: Migration Model With Better Adaptability |
【推荐2】Researchers at the DogStudies lab at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History have shown that dogs may possess some metacognitive (元认知) abilities. Specifically, when they do not have enough information to solve a problem, they will actively look for more information, similarly to primates (灵长类).
In a recent study, project leader Julia Belger explored whether dogs have metacognitive abilities. To test this, the researchers designed a device involving two V-shaped fences. A reward, either food or a toy, would be placed by one researcher behind one of the two fences while another researcher held the dogs. In some cases, the dogs could see where the reward was placed, while in others, the dogs could not. The researchers then analyzed how frequently the dogs looked through the gap in the fence before choosing an option.
The researchers found that the dogs did check significantly more often for the reward when they had not seen where it was placed. These results show that dogs do tend to actively seek extra information when they have not seen where the reward is concealed.
The results did not allow the researchers to say definitively whether dogs possess meta-cognition, though they displayed some evidence for it. Julia said, “For humans, vision is an important information gathering sense. In this case, our experiment was based on a checking action relying on sight, but the dogs probably also used their sense of smell when checking through the gap. We know that smell is very important to dogs and we could see that they were using it.”
Julia added, “In future, we would like to develop an experiment to investigate under what circumstances dogs decide to use their sense of smell versus sight. This may give us additional insights into their information seeking abilities.”
1. What ability may dogs have according to the study?A.To offer information like primates. | B.To use their skills to find more food. |
C.To seek information to solve a problem. | D.To ask for help before choosing an option. |
A.Decorated. | B.Hidden. | C.Produced. | D.Purchased. |
A.Uncertain. | B.Friendly. | C.Negative. | D.Critical. |
A.Environment and technology. | B.Humans and nature. |
C.Literature and culture. | D.Society and life. |
【推荐3】A visit to Cheshire isn’t complete without a trip to the UK’s number one zoo. Chester Zoo is home to over 27,000 endangered animals based in beautiful, award-winning zoological gardens. With over 500 different animal species in the 125 acres (英亩), you’re sure to have a great day out full of adventure — discovering and learning more about the unbelievable animals and plants.
There’s a huge variety of special events and playful experiences throughout the year, as well as daily animal talks to make sure that your day is full of excitement! There’s always something new at Chester Zoo and this summer is no exception. Get ready to come face to face with the most fearsome creatures of the prehistoric (史前的) world! Explore the new Madagascar habitat that is home to impressive wildlife found nowhere else on Earth. Discover and get closer to uncommon animals in the unbelievable walkthrough habitat.
Make a meal of your visit and stop for a bite at one of the many restaurants, cafes located throughout the zoo or let the kids run wild in one of the play areas. For a truly unique dining experience, the Oakfield is not to be missed. The newly refurbished (再装修的) award-winning pub serves freshly prepared and locally sourced food and drink every day.
Plus if you book online and more than seven days in advance of your trip, you’ll save up to £4 per ticket compared with the price you’ll pay at the zoo on the day. So what are you waiting for? Book your tickets today at www.chesterzoo.org.
1. What do we know about Chester Zoo from the first paragraph?A.It owns many endangered animals. | B.It is dangerous for visitors. |
C.It is freshly decorated. | D.It is the largest zoo in the UK. |
A.Unique plants. | B.Uncommon wildlife. |
C.Animal talks. | D.Special events. |
A.Get close to wild animals. | B.Play wild with your kids. |
C.Enjoy drinking for free. | D.Have a good taste of food. |
A.To list some unique animals. | B.To show her own experience. |
C.To attract people to the zoo. | D.To ask people to protect wildlife. |
【推荐1】Man’s best friend is also his oldest. The partnership between dogs and people may go back as much as 40,000 years long predating any other domestication (驯化). And it is based not, as is the case with many succeeding domestications, on a human desire to eat the animal concerned, or to consume some associated product such as milk or eggs, but rather on sincere companionship, though with a little work — and hunting-related using on the side.
How this partnership got going, though, is debated. In particular, unlike other domestications, which involved groups of people who had taken up farming, the domestication of the wolves that became dogs happened while all human beings were still hunter-gatherers. The two species were, in other words, competitors. Yet they managed to become soul mates.
One popular theory is that the wolves which became dogs acted as rubbish cleaners for groups of people, by eating their waste, possibly including their faeces (粪 便).That, though, would be a service more useful to settled farmers than mobile hunter-gatherers. As she writes in Scientific Reports, however, Maria Lahtinen of the Finnish Museum of Natural History thinks she might have the answer as to how wolves and people squared the competitive circle while both species were still hunters. It was, she and her colleagues suggest, simply a matter of remaining calories.
The archaeological (考古的)evidence suggests that wolves were domesticated in wood lands at the edge of the ice sheets of the last ice age, since that is where almost all Palaeolithic dog remains have been found. Dr Lahtinen calculates that, given the large size of hunted animals in this environment, and humans' need to eat a balanced diet with plenty of plant matter in it as well as flesh, there would have been a lot of remaining meat around from kills. What better way to use some of it than to feed a few wolf cubs (幼崽)to provide entertainment and companionship? And thus, she suggests, were dogs born.
1. Why did our ancestors domesticate dogs?A.To balance their diet. | B.To help them to farm. |
C.To get rid of rubbish. | D.To develop a partnership. |
A.Dogs were born as early as wolves. |
B.People ever hunted wolves for food. |
C.Wolf cubs were raised for remaining meat. |
D.Cruel enemies could become good friends. |
A.A new idea. | B.Some evidence. |
C.A practical way. | D.A scientific report. |
A.Home & Life. | B.Finance & Economy. |
C.History & Future. | D.Science & Technology. |
【推荐2】When you are a kid, gaining a best friend forever can happen in a single play date. But when you grow up to be an adult, making and maintaining friendships gets harder. So how much quality time (优质时光) do you need before that stranger becomes your friend? A new study recently found that, on average, it takes about 50 hours with someone before you consider them a casual (感情不深的) friend, about 90 hours before you become real friends, and about 200 hours to become close friends.
The study’s author Jeffrey Hall, a communications professor, invited adults who are eager to make friends to take part in two experiments — people who had just moved to a new city in the past six months and college freshmen. He asked them to rate and track the degree of closeness and time spent together with a new person. “Results suggest that the chance of changing from casual friend to real friend is greater than 50% after around 80-100 hours together,” said Hall.
The study found that the amount of time spent talking together, or the fact that you spent time at school or work with them, was unrelated to friendship closeness. “It is really easy to spend a lot of time with people as they are routinely in the same place at the same time as you,” Hall said. “However, my study shows you can have workmates you spend hundreds and hundreds of hours with and still not develop a friendship.”
You do not need to become best friends with your workmates to develop meaningful relationships with them. But for those of us hoping to change from “girl who I eat lunch at work with” to “friend I can depend on,” Hall suggests that you need to take the relationship out of the workplace for it to become a friendship. The participants who did activities outside of work with someone, such as being invited to have lunch in their home, were more likely to develop deeper relationships with them.
1. What is the new study mainly about?A.Ways of making friends in a new environment. |
B.Why people need to make different friends. |
C.Different levels of friendship. |
D.How long it takes to develop a friendship. |
A.They knew each other before. |
B.They had difficulty in making new friends. |
C.They were in great need of friends. |
D.They started their new life in the same city. |
A.It is easy to get along well with classmates. |
B.Friendship closeness is related to communication. |
C.It is unnecessary to become best friends with workmates. |
D.Just spending enough time together doesn’t result in friendship. |
A.Usually. | B.Impressive. |
C.Seldom. | D.Confidently. |
A.Joining the same work team. |
B.Having lunch at work with them. |
C.Inviting them to your home after work. |
D.Sharing work experience with each other. |
【推荐3】In a digital age, we almost never write things by hand. However, multiple studies have shown that this act has many benefits.
New brain research, led by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, confirms the same: choosing handwriting over using a keyboard results in better learning and memory.
The study was conducted using equipment to track and record brain wave activity. The participants included 12 young adults and 12 children. This is the first time that children have participated in such a study. Each subject was asked to write by hand and type on a keyboard while wearing a hood with over 250 electrodes. The sensors in the electrodes are very sensitive and pick up the electrical activity that takes place in the brain. Each examination took 45 minutes per person.
The results showed that the brain in both young adults and children is much more active when writing by hand than when typing on a keyboard. According to Van der Meer, plenty of senses are activated by pressing a pen on paper, seeing the letters written and hearing the sound made while writing. These sense experiences build contact between different parts of the brain, opening the brain up for learning.
Van der Meer believes that the results stress the importance of children being challenged to draw and write at an early age, especially at school. ''Learning to write by hand is a bit slower process, but it's important for children to go through the tiring phase of learning to write by hand," she said.
The hand movements used to form the shapes of letters are beneficial in several ways. "If you use a keyboard, you use the same movement for each letter. Writing by hand requires control of your fine motor skills and senses. It's important to put the brain in a learning state as often as possible," Van der Meer added.
1. How was the study carried out?A.The test lasted 45 minutes in total. |
B.There were 24 adults participating in the research. |
C.Equipment was used to collect data during the research. |
D.Each participant was asked to wear a hood with 250 electrodes. |
A.using a keyboard. | B.seeing the letters written. |
C.copying the sound. | D.opening the brain up for learning. |
A.Recording ideas on the tape. | B.Typing articles into the computer. |
C.Writing shopping lists on the phone. | D.Taking notes by hand during the lecture. |
A.It's a slow process to learn to write. | B.It's a tiring process to write by hand. |
C.It's vital to get children to draw and write. | D.It's beneficial to get kids to type on a keyboard. |