In the African bush in southern Kenya, Lucy King watched an elephant rest under a big tree, seemingly bothered by an overhead beehive. It was 2007, and King had just published a behavioral study confirming a belief, widely held by local communities for thousands of years, that elephants are frightened by bees.
King, a zoologist at the nonprofit organization Save the Elephants (STE), asked her research assistant to throw a stone at the hive. “And then suddenly, the bees just erupted,” King says, “the elephants just fled.” That moment led King to a novel design for using live beehives as “fences” to protect farm crops from hungry elephants.
An elephant can eat a farm’s entire harvest in one day, seriously threatening a family’s income and food security. To protect their livelihoods, some farmers have taken to shooting elephants. In an attempt to find a nonlethal solution, nearly 10,000 bee fences like those in King’s initial design are now built into sites in 20 African and Asian countries, she estimates. STE team members focus on providing bee-fence kits to farmers in areas of serious human-elephant conflicts.
In a 2017 field study, King documented that bee fences installed at 10 farms near a national park in Kenya deterred elephants 80 percent of the time. Meanwhile, bee fences have provided some farmers with new income. As part of the STE program, they are taught beekeeping and provided with protective gear such as suits, smokers, rubber boots and gloves.
Farms with bee fences and healthy hives have also inspired another type of enterprise. Mavis Nduchwa started a honey-collecting business in Botswana — a country that has a farm-based economy and is also home to the world’s largest elephant population. The company offers beekeeping training to women at farms with bee fences and helps them sell the resulting honey through her business. The benefits go beyond extra income, she says. “We have seen a decline in the number of gender-based violence cases as women are more empowered and have jobs,” says Nduchwa, who employs more than 1,500 female farmers. “It might sound crazy, but a jar of honey saves elephants and feeds more families.”
1. Why did King design bee fences?| A．To obtain live beehives. | B．To test the function of STE. |
| C．To protect crops. | D．To provide jobs for women. |
| A．It trains farmers to watch over crops. | B．It makes bees provide more honey. |
| C．It frightens elephants away. | D．It uses kits to reduce conflict. |
| A．cause and effect | B．example | C．process | D．comparison and contrast |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Tolerant. | C．Worried. | D．Positive. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】The panda bear may be one of the world's cutest animals, but it also has one of the world's grossest habits：They like to spread horse dung（粪便） on their necks and faces and roll around in it to cover their entire bodies. Now, researchers say they have an explanation for these dung baths. The horse dung contains something that might help the animals deal with colder temperatures .
To get to the bottom of things, researchers analyzed 38 instances of dung rolling recorded by cameras at the reserve. The bears tended to roll in horse dung less than 10 days old. The dung contained natural compounds（化合物），called BCP and BCPO，that are scarce in older dung, say the scientists .
The team then added these compounds to the hay（草料） of pandas and found the animals favored the hay treated with these compounds. What's more, the pandas tended to roll in horse dung in colder weather, at temperatures between−5℃and 15°C. Could BCP and BCPO help keep the giant pandas warm?
As giant pandas are a national treasure for China, there are strict limitations on conducting research on these protected animals, so the team turned to mice. Covering mice in a BCP-BCPO solution boosted the animals' cold tolerance, the authors report. Treated mice more readily walked on colder surfaces. The researchers discovered BCP-BCPO blocks receptors that sense cold.
“Although it's not concrete proof, the authors provided solid evidence to explain the unique behavior,”Fan Yang, a biophysicist at the Zhejiang University School of Medicine, wrote in an email.“The same receptors are present in many animals. So it is possible that using natural compounds to manage body temperature may actually be a general strategy widely adopted by other animals.”
Staying warm in the winter can be challenging for pandas, notes Zejun Zhang, an ecologist at China West Normal University ,because their low-calorie diet of bamboo makes it hard to store extra fat. It's possible, the authors say, that pandas have used horse dung in this way for thousands of years.
1. What does the underlined word“grossest”Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Funniest. | B．Healthiest . |
| C．Most tiring. | D．Most disgusting . |
| A．By applying them to pandas. |
| B．By experimenting them on mice. |
| C．By analyzing pandas'dung rolling cases. |
| D．By experimenting on different kinds of dung. |
| A．They adjust their sense of cold. |
| B．They make them physically active. |
| C．They provide a heat-trapping cover. |
| D．They help raise their body temperature . |
| A．Their body shape. |
| B．Their body color. |
| C．Their habitat. |
| D．Their diet. |
【推荐2】Relatives of starfish, brittle stars (海蛇尾) spend most of their time hiding under rocks in the ocean or digging in the sand. These shy marine creatures have no brain to speak of—just nerve cords running down each of their five wiggly arms, which join to form a nerve ring near their mouth.
“There’s no processing center. Each of the nerve cords can act independently. Instead of a boss, it’s like a committee. That seems to be enough to learn by association,” said lead author Julia Notar. This type of leaning involves associating different stimuli via a process called classical conditioning (条件反射).
Classical conditioning has been demonstrated in a handful of previous studies in starfish. But brittle stars and similarly brainless starfish have not been tested.
To find out if brittle stars have the ability of learning, the researchers put 16 black brittle stars in individual water tanks and used a video camera to record their behavior. Half the brittle stars were trained by dimming the lights for 30 minutes whenever the animals were fed. Every time the lights went out, the researchers would put a bit of shrimp in the tanks, placed just out of reach. The other half got just as much shrimp and also experienced a 30-minute dark period, but never at the same time—the animals were fed under lit conditions.
Whether it was light or dark, the animals spent most of their time hiding behind the filters in their tanks, only coming out at mealtime. But only the trained brittle stars learned to associate darkness with food. They didn’t need to smell or taste the shrimp to react.
Notar said the results are exciting because classical conditioning hasn’t really been shown definitively in this group of animals before. “Knowing that brittle stars can learn means they’re not just robotic scavengers (清道夫) cleaning up the ocean floor,” Notar said. “They’re potentially able to expect and avoid predators (捕食者) or expect food because they’re learning about their environment.”
1. What is paragraph 1 about?| A．The living habits of brittle stars. | B．The features of a brainless creature. |
| C．The characteristics of the starfish. | D．The definition of classical conditioning. |
| A．The hiding time in tanks. | B．The change of feeding location. |
| C．The amount of the shrimp. | D．Light conditions at mealtime. |
| A．Brittle stars can be trained to make a connection. |
| B．Brittle stars can clean up the ocean floor. |
| C．Brittle stars’ nerve cords can act independently. |
| D．Brittle stars have a sharp sense of smell. |
| A．Brainless brittle stars can act like robots. |
| B．Brittle stars might keep away from catchers. |
| C．Brittle stars are the only ocean floor cleaners. |
| D．Brittle stars are adaptable to new environment. |
【推荐3】It can be a bit of a puzzle for bird lovers. If you feed birds, will that make them unwilling to search for food elsewhere? Each year, millions of people feed birds, driving a $4 billion industry based on bird food, feeders, etc. Bird feeding is especially popular in northern countries during winter, when cold, stormy weather and minimal daylight reduce the time that birds have for locating natural foods.
Bird feeding has positive effects, such as enhanced body conditions and increased reproductive output of birds. On the negative side, it can facilitate disease transmission and change bird migration. A recent mysterious illness, for example, has been blinding and killing birds in several states.
According to Rivers, a scholar of wildlife ecology, not much is known about whether birds become reliant on the feeders. “The only experiment to test that, using the black-capped chickadee (黑冠山雀), was 30 years ago,” he said. “It found no reduction in apparent survival after the removal of bird feeders that had provided extra food for 25 years, leading to the conclusion that bird feeding did not promote feeder dependency.”
Rivers studied the bird feeder using habits of 67 black-capped chickadees subjected to one of three flight-feather-clipping (翼羽修剪) treatments: heavy clipping, light clipping, or no clipping. The birds were tagged with RFID chips (射频识别芯片), and 21 bird feeders along a 3.2-km riverside zone were filled with sunflower seeds and equipped with chip readers to measure feeder visits by the tagged birds.
It turned out that the feather-clipped chickadees did not increase their rates of visits to the feeders. Instead, the feather-clipped birds actually decreased their feeder use for a couple of weeks, possibly to reduce exposure to being hunted. But after that they used the feeders to the extent similar to the unclipped birds’. The findings suggested that foods in the environment were sufficiently available to allow birds to cut back on feeder use.
“Many people are concerned that if we don’t fill our feeders up before big storms, birds can be in trouble. I don’t think so,” Rivers says. “We’re not going to be harming birds and birds aren’t going to starve just because we don’t fill up our feeders. Besides, this can prevent diseases spreading among them.”
1. What’s the main driving force behind bird feeding in northern countries?| A．The expansion of the related industry. |
| B．The tough weather conditions for birds. |
| C．The officials’ appeal for wildlife protection. |
| D．The reduction in birds’ reproductive output. |
| A．It’s a double-edged sword. | B．It makes an unnecessary move. |
| C．It does more good than harm. | D．It’s challenging but worthwhile. |
| A．Both observed the birds for many years. |
| B．Both proved no feeder dependency of birds. |
| C．Both cut flight feathers of birds to test them. |
| D．Both used hi-tech chips to measure birds’ visits to the feeders. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Negative. | C．Favorable. | D．Indifferent. |
【推荐1】The CEO and founder of house-builder Project Etopia, Joseph Daniel, had unstable start in life. “My father was always drunk and my mother had mental disorder when I was 15. I’ve lived on the street and I need to do this,” says the 27-year-old young man. He left school without any qualifications.
Far from seeing it as a shortcoming, the hardship he himself experienced is what drives him to take on the challenge of solving the UK’s housing crisis and dealing with climate change at the same time by building high-tech eco-homes that ordinary people cannot only afford, but will also really want to live in.
The homes that Daniel wants to build are not traditional housings. They are made up of several parts and each part is made in Daniel’s own factory in Cheshire. Traditional houses take months to complete, while his homes can be put together easily on site due to being partially pre-built in the factory. The firm’s plan in Corby, Northamptonshire, is a village that will consist of 47 homes, the first four of which were each built in nine days.
Houses are not only faster to build, but will also have smart technology built in and be much more energy efficient than the average home. With solar panels, Daniel says he can build houses that will generate more power than they use, potentially making up for some of the six tons of carbon emitted annually by the “typical” house as a result of the heat and power required.
“I want to slow climate change through housing,” he says. “It’s our responsibility as humans. That’s what our project is about. If you can get the economics and the environment right, you can make things better.”
1. What can we know about Daniel from the passage?| A．He was qualified as an engineer after graduation. |
| B．He was abandoned by his parents when he was a child. |
| C．He was inspired by his own experience to deal with housing crisis. |
| D．He was forced to take the task of housing problem by his parents. |
| A．Daniel’s houses are similar to traditional ones. | B．Daniel’s houses are partially built in advance. |
| C．Daniel’s firm produces the houses as a whole. | D．Daniel’s firm has built 47 homes in a village. |
| A．Traditional but comfortable. | B．Expensive but convenient. |
| C．Green and advanced. | D．Fashionable and modern. |
| A．It introduces a talented house builder and his achievements. |
| B．It’s about Daniel’s unique way of solving housing and climate problems. |
| C．It tells us how to build houses faster and make them more affordable. |
| D．It stresses the importance of smart technology in house building. |
【推荐2】Top Technology Products at CES 2024
AI for Hyundai and Kia vehicles
South Korea’s Samsung announced it was working with automaker Hyundai to develop “home-to-car” and “car-to-home” services for all Hyundai and Kia vehicles.
This AI-powered system will allow users of Samsung’s SmartThings service to remotely (远程地) set their vehicle’s temperature or open its windows. And users can control lights and connect to electrical equipment inside the home when inside the car.
Car parking robot
South Korean electric automotive company HL Mando showed a parking robot called Parkie. It is designed to operate (运转) by itself in parking lots. The robot can move under parked vehicles, lift the cars up and transport them to different spaces or return them to their drivers.
Transparent televisions
Electronics producers LG and Samsung brought televisions to CES that have a transparent (透明的) screen design. The TVs use OLED technology. They are designed to be hidden in a room when not in use.
When not in the transparent setting, the TVs have a traditional, black background. The companies presenting the TVs did not provide pricing information, but experts say the transparent ones are likely to cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Robotic lawn mower
Chinese robotics developer Mammotion showed a new type of its self-driving lawn mower (割草机). The latest, all-wheel-drive Luba 2 includes new wireless abilities and tools to deal with obstacles (障碍) in the grass. The robot mower can be already got and sells for just over $2,000.
1. What can you do in a car with the AI-powered system?| A．Park your car easily. | B．Control some home equipment. |
| C．Enjoy the fun of driverless ride. | D．Order the machine to cut grass. |
| A．They are wireless equipment. | B．They are cheap to buy. |
| C．They bring driving pleasure. | D．They can work by themselves. |
| A．AI for Hyundai and Kia vehicles. | B．Car parking robot. |
| C．Transparent televisions. | D．Robotic lawn mower. |
【推荐3】How fit are your teeth? Are you lazy about brushing them? Never fear: An inventor is on the case. An electric toothbrush senses how long and how well you brush,
The Kolibree toothbrush was exhibited at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. It senses how it is moved and can send the information to an Android phone or iPhone via a Bluetooth wireless connection.
The toothbrush will be able to teach you to brush right（Don’t forget the insides of the teeth!）and make sure you’re brushing long enough. “
Serval says he was inspired by his experience as a father. He would come home from work and his children told him that they had brushed their teeth. He was pleased with their behavior,
The company says the Kolibree will go on sale this summer, for $99 to $ 199, depending on features. The U. S. is the first target market.
Serval says that one day, it’ll be possible to replace the brush on the handle with a brushing unit that also has a camera.
| A．thus awarding them more toothbrushes |
| B．only to find their toothbrush heads dry |
| C．The camera can also check more tooth problems |
| D．It can even shoot holes in your teeth while you brush |
| E．and it lets you track your performance on your phone |
| F．The toothbrush will also be able to talk to other applications on your phone |
| G．It’s kind of like having a dentist actually watch your brushing on a day-to-day basis |
【推荐1】AI(人工工智)makes our lives easier and better. Let’s see the amazing AI.
Cool driverless bus A bus door opens and you get on. Wait, where is the driver? Here is a new kind of driverless bus called Apolong. It can seat 14 people and doesn’t need a driver. The bus follows traffic rules. It stops every time it sees a stop light. | Your close friend Hi, everyone. I’m Xiao Bing, a chatbot(聊天机器人). I speak like a 17-year-old girl. If you feel lonely, you can talk with me. I’m good at singing, writing poems and telling stories. I want to be your friend! |
World’s first AI anchor Hey, look! The famous Chinese anchor(主播)Qiu Hao is reporting the news for us. But, is “he” really Qiu Hao? The answer is “no". This is the world’s first AI anchor. It looks and speaks just like a real person. It speaks both Chinese and English. It can work 24 hours without any mistakes. The AI anchor joins Xinhua’s reporting team. You might see it on TV soon. | Popular AI artist This beautiful painting was at an auction(拍卖)in 2018. It sold for about 3,000,000 yuan! But it is not a work by a famous painter, such as Vincent van Gogh. It was painted by an AI artist. Three Frenchmen created the AI. The AI artist studied over 15,000 paintings. In this way, it learned to paint. Now it is among the most popular artists in the world. |
| A．there is a driver in it | B．the door is opened by the passenger |
| C．there are 24 seats in it | D．it stops every time it sees a stop light |
| A．a work painted by Vincent van Gogh |
| B．worth about 3,000,000 yuan at an auction |
| C．studied by three French artists over 15,000 times |
| D．among the most beautiful paintings in the world |
| A．a guidebook | B．a notice | C．a novel | D．a newspaper |
【推荐2】“Cleverness is a gift. Kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy — they’re given after all. Choices can be hard.” — Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.
I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year. I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me. I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t work since most startups didn’t, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. MacKenzie told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I’d been a garage inventor. I’d always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.
I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss that I admired very much. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, “That sounds like a really good idea, but it will be an even better idea for someone e who doesn’t already have a good job.” That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but eventually, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision not to try at all.
After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I’m proud of that choice. For all of us, in the end, we are our choices.
1. What inspired the author with the idea of building an online bookstore?| A．The desire to follow his passion. | B．The attraction of millions of titles. |
| C．The strong support of his wife. | D．The increasing usage of the Internet. |
| A．He was a garage inventor. | B．He was in search of a good job. |
| C．He was working at a bookstore. | D．He was satisfied with his work. |
| A．He would be very excited if he tried it out. |
| B．He would be always having a doubt if he didn’t try. |
| C．The idea of not trying would keep coming to his mind. |
| D．The decision not to try the bookstore would terrify him. |
| A．Following My Passion | B．We Are What We Choose |
| C．The Starting of Amazon | D．Cleverness and Kindness |
【推荐3】Black Valley, 63 kilometers from downtown Chongqing, is one of the best preserved natural wonders around the municipality. The national 5A-level scenic spot is a popular summer resort for sightseeing, forest adventures, outdoor camping, hunting and angling.
Located in Heishan town, Wansheng Economic Development Zone, the scenic spot spans over 103 square kilometers, 97 percent of which are covered by primitive forests. With over 110,000 negative oxygen ions in each cubic centimeter of air, it is dubbed as a natural oxygen bar and “the most beautiful healthcare-themed valley.”
Black Valley is also known as “the natural gene bank of Chongqing and Guizhou regions” for the diversity of its rare plants and wildlife, including Cathaya argyrophylla, Davidia involucrata, Trachypithecus francoisi and clouded leopards.
Scenic spot level: AAAAA
Address: Heishan town, Wansheng Economic Development Zone, 63 kilometers from downtown Chongqing Opening hours: 8:30 am - 3:30 pm (peak season from November to February), 9:00 am-3:00 pm (off season from March to October)
Ideal sightseeing season: from May to September
Ticket price: 60 yuan ($8.72) during off season and 100 yuan during peak season, sightseeing bus and cable not included.
Notes:
1. It is recommended that tourists start from the higher southern area for a downward journey.
2. The average temperature is 18.1 degrees.
3. It’s a good idea to experience the local folk culture of the Miao ethnic group, especially when you choose to visit in May when the traditional Caishan Festival of Miao ethnic group is celebrated.
1. What can we know about Black Valley?| A．It lies in downtown Chongqing. |
| B．Plants and wildlife are rarely seen there. |
| C．A visit there costs at most 100 yuan. |
| D．The air is very high in negative oxygen ions there. |
| A．January. | B．March. | C．May. | D．July. |
| A．Culture. | B．Travel. | C．Nature. | D．Wildlife. |
