The climate crisis may lead the human race to shrink in size, as mammals with smaller frames appear better able to deal with rising global temperatures, a leading fossil expert has said.
Prof Steve Brusatte, a palaeontologist (古生物学家) at the University of Edinburgh, suggested the way other mammals have previously responded to periods of climate change could offer an insight into humans’ future.
He described the potential plight (境况,困境) of people as similar to that of early horses, which became smaller in body size as temperatures rose around 55m years ago.
Writing in The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, Brusatte notes that animals in warmer parts of the world today are often smaller than those in colder areas, an ecological principle known as Bergmann’s rule. “The reasons are not entirely understood, but it is probably, in part, because smaller animals have a higher surface area relative to their volume than plumper animals and can thus better shed (去除) excess heat,” he writes.
Brusatte said that becoming smaller was “a common way that mammals deal with climate change”. He added: “That’s not to say every species of mammal would get smaller, but it seems to be a common survival trick of mammals when temperatures spike pretty quickly, which does raise the question: if temperatures do spike really quickly, might humans get smaller? And I think that’s certainly reasonable.
In a recent study, researchers studying human remains over the past million years have also suggested that temperature is a major predictor of body size variation, while scientists studying red deer have said that warmer winters in northern Europe and Scandinavia may lead to the body size of these animals becoming smaller.
However, not all experts agree that rising temperature causes mammals to shrink. Prof Adrian Lister, of the Natural History Museum in London, said the relationship shown by the recent human remains study is weak, while the strong correlations between temperature and mammal body size may often be down to the availability of food and resources.
Lister is also sceptical that humans will shrink as the climate heats. “We are not really controlled by natural selection,” he said. “If that was going to happen, you’d need to find large people dying before they could reproduce because of climate warming. That is not happening in today’s world. We wear clothes, we have got heating, and we have got air conditioning if it is too hot.”
1. According to Brusatte, early horses got smaller in body size in order toA.keep warm | B.avoid hunters | C.stay cool | D.keep balance |
A.Fall. | B.Go up. | C.Remain steady. | D.Change. |
A.Objective. | B.Indifferent. | C.Confused. | D.Positive. |
A.To demonstrate the relationship between nature and people’s lifestyle. |
B.To cast light on the potential impact of changed mammal body size. |
C.To introduce the correlations between climate change and human body size. |
D.To warn people of the survival crisis mammals are faced with. |
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【推荐1】How could we possibly think that keeping animals in cages in unnatural environments ―mostly for entertainment purposes ―is fair and respectful?
Zoo officials say they are concerned about animals. However, most zoos remain “collections” of interesting “things” rather than protective habitats. Zoos teach people that it is acceptable to keep animals bored, lonely, and far from their natural homes.
Zoos claim to educate people and save endangered species, but visitors leave zoos without having learned anything meaningful about the animals' natural behaviour, intelligence, or beauty. Zoos keep animals in small spaces or cages, and most signs only mention the species’ name, diet, and the natural range (分布区).The animals’ normal behaviour is seldom noticed because zoos don’t usually take care of the animals’ natural needs.
The animals are kept together in small spaces, with no privacy and little opportunity for mental and physical exercise. This results in unusual and self-destructive behaviour called zoochosis. A worldwide study of zoos found that zoochosis is common among animals kept in small spaces or cages. Another study showed that elephants spend 22 percent of their time making repeated head movements or biting cage bars, and bears spend 30 percent of their time walking back and forth, a sign of unhappiness and pain.
Furthermore, most animals in zoos are not endangered. Captive breeding (圈养繁殖)of endangered big cats, Asian elephants, and other species has not resulted in their being sent back to the wild. Zoos talk a lot about their captive breeding programmes because they do not want people to worry about a species dying out. In fact, baby animals also attract a lot of paying customers. Haven’t we seen enough competitions to name baby animals?
Actually, we will save endangered species only if we save their habitats and put an end to the reasons why people kill them. Instead of supporting zoos, we should support groups that work to protect animals’ natural habitats.
1. How would the author describe the animals’ life in zoos?A.Dangerous. | B.Unhappy. |
C.Natural. | D.Easy. |
A.Zoos fail in their attempt to save animals. |
B.Zoos are not worth the public support. |
C.Zoos should treat animals as human beings. |
D.Zoos use animals as a means of entertainment. |
A.pointing out the faults in what zoos do |
B.giving examples of animals in the wild |
C.questioning the way animals are protected |
D.discussing the advantages of natural habitats |
A.zoos have to keep animals in small cages |
B.most animals in zoos are endangered species |
C.some endangered animals are reproduced in zoos |
D.it's acceptable to keep animals away from their habitats |
In the southwest African country of Namibia, and the Sahara lands of Mali further north, the desert elephant does just that.
Although not regarded as a separate species from the African elephant, the desert cousin differs in many ways. Their bodies are smaller, to absorb less heat, and their feet are larger for easier walking across sandy surfaces. They are taller, to reach higher branches. They have shorter tusks (象牙), and most importantly, longer trunks to dig for water in riverbeds.
Desert elephants can travel over 70 kilometers in search for feeding grounds and waterholes, and have a larger group of families. They drink only every 3-4 days, and can store water in a “bag” at the back of their throat, which is only used when badly needed. Desert elephants are careful feeders---they seldom root up trees and break fewer branches, and thus maintain what little food sources are available. Young elephants may even eat the dung (粪便) of the female leader of a group when facing food shortage. During drought they are unlikely to give birth to their young but with good rains the birthrate will increase greatly. Desert elephants have sand baths, sometimes adding their own urine (尿液) to make them muddy!
As we continue to overheat our weak planet, it can only be hoped that other animal species will adapt as extraordinarily well to change as the desert elephant.
1. The underlined part in Paragraph 2 means “_____”.
A.remains in the African countries |
B.drinks 120 liters of water a day |
C.manages to live in desert areas |
D.eats 150 kilograms of food daily |
A.rarely ruin trees |
B.drink only every 3-4 days |
C.search for food in large groups |
D.protect food sources for their young |
A.stories and explanation |
B.facts and descriptions |
C.examples and conclusion |
D.evidence and argument |
A.Overheating the earth can be stopped. |
B.Not all animal species are so adaptable. |
C.The planet will become hotter and hotter. |
D.Not all animals are as smart as desert elephants. |
【推荐3】Humans have always assumed that there is a huge gulf between animal behavior and human development. However, recent research into animals shows that animals are continuously designing innovative methods to finish their tasks. Examining the nature and results of their creativity can help us understand evolution.
Research shows that animals too can be creative. By inventing new behavioral patterns and adjusting their behavior to new contexts, as well as to changes in social and ecological environments, researchers show that animal innovation too can be diverse. For instance, chimpanzees (猩猩) use tools such as sharp spines and stalks to remove the hearts of palm vegetables from trees. Herring gulls (鲜鱼海鸥) found out quite a cruel way of killing rabbits-drowning them in the sea.
Innovative species tend to survive when they enter new places, but novel behavior cannot be recognized unless “normal” behavior is studied. Researchers can now count and document the innovations that have been created by species, which would help them to quantify their creativity. Studies also show us that all animals are not equally inventive, with primates (灵长目动物) tending to be more innovative due to their bigger brains.
The greatest scientific significance has been the innovation shown by animals such as apes, capuchins and macaques among primates. These species of primates possess the biggest brains in proportion to their body sizes. They are also heavy tool users. Their broad diets and complex forms of learning are also insightful. They indicate an evolutionary strategy that gave them new solutions to life’s challenges.
However, even if these animals show innovativeness, they do not have the ability to improve upon solutions of others. Unless they share information accurately and copy each other’s inventions. their creative inventions are likely to vanish before they can be innovated further. This ability can be managed only by humans, for we are able to build on shared knowledge.
1. What does the underlined word “gulf” in the first paragraph mean?A.Difference. | B.Conflict. | C.Balance. | D.Connection. |
A.They are both creative. |
B.They are both heavy tool users. |
C.They create innovations in different ways. |
D.They kill other animals in the same cruel way. |
A.It is equally distributed among animals. |
B.It helps animals adapt to the environment. |
C.Animals’ innovations are easy to be identified. |
D.Animals’ innovations are facing huge challenges. |
A.Their ability to share information accurately. |
B.Their willingness to learn from each other. |
C.Their inability to take creativity forward. |
D.Their unwillingness to cooperate effectively. |
【推荐1】Being assertive ( 过分自信) is being able to communicate with other people clearly. If you felt that you had expressed what was important to you and allowed the oilier person to respond in their own way then, regardless of the final outcome, you behaved assertively. It is important to remember that being assertive refers to a way of coping with confrontations ( 对抗)。 It does not mean getting your own way every time or winning some battle of wits against another person. In practice assertive behaviour is usually most likely to produce a result which is generally acceptable to all concerned, without anyone feeling that they have been unfairly treated.
Assertiveness is often wrongly confused with aggression. An aggressive confrontation is when one or both parties attempt to put forward their feelings and beliefs at the expense of others. In an assertive confrontation, however, each party stands up for their personal rights, but each shows respect and understanding for the other's viewpoint.
The reason why assertiveness may not come naturally is that we often tend to believe that we must talk around a subject rather than be direct, or that we must offer excuses or justifications for our actions.
In fact we all have a right to use assertive behaviour in a variety of situations. We are often schooled early in life to believe that sometimes our own need to express ourselves must take secondary place. For example, in dealing with those in privileged positions such as specialists, we often feel that speaking assertively is, in some way, "breaking the rules". Everybody has certain basic human rights, but often we feel guilty about exercising them.
1. According to the passage, an assertive person ________.A.makes other people feel unfairly treated |
B.puts forward his ideas at the expense of others |
C.does not show respect to other people |
D.speaks out what he wants to say forcefully |
A.rules | B.actions |
C.personal rights | D.privileged positions |
A.make other people accept his ideas |
B.be careful with his manner |
C.allow others to speak in their own way |
D.watch other people's response |
A.defend their personal rights aggressively |
B.be aggressive when they talk to others |
C.assert themselves regardless of whether others suffer or not |
D.be assertive on different occasions |
【推荐2】Giant pandas are among the most lovable animals alive today. Unlike their relatives, such as the polar bear, pandas don’t eat meat but survive on a diet of only bamboo. So why and how have pandas abandoned their taste for meat to pick up a vegetarian diet?
Pandas today don’t eat meat. However, they’ve kept much of their meat-eating adaptations from times past. Their digestive systems have not changed much from their meat-eating days. Out of the huge 12.5 kg of bamboo they eat in a single day, only about 17% of it is digested. To survive, pandas eat large amounts of bamboo while having a low-metabolic (新陈代谢的), lazy lifestyle to make up for the poor energy return.
The giant panda’s shift to a vegetarian diet is in line with the inactivation of a specific gene — Taslrl, which provides them with the ability to taste certain amino acids (氨基酸) abundant in meat. Its inactivation in pandas would lead to their dietary change.
Pandas have evolved to a great degree to cope with their relatively recent bamboo-eating lifestyle. Pandas must seize long and thin pieces of bamboo shoots. To assist with this, they have developed a long “fake-thumb” (伪拇指). So giant pandas have six fingers in each paw which provides better support for them to seize objects such as bamboo in one paw quickly. Researchers have found that the surface of the panda’s tongue is different. While other bears and many meat-eating animals have smooth tongues, pandas have evolved tiny projections (隆起物) on the surface of their tongues that serve to file down (锉平) food. This is especially useful for pandas as they remove the outer cover of bamboo.
Time will tell if pandas will adapt and survive, go back to eating meat, or disappear in the wild. Whatever the future holds, we can be grateful that, for the time being, we get to share our planet with these adorable animals.
1. Why are the numbers mentioned in paragraph 2?A.To illustrate the variety of food. |
B.To represent the evolutionary rule of pandas. |
C.To describe the changes of living environment. |
D.To show the ineffectiveness of digestive system. |
A.The low-metabolic ability. | B.The amino acids in meat. |
C.The Taslrl gene’s inactivation. | D.The supplies of bamboo. |
A.Seizing bamboo shoots. | B.The low energy return. |
C.Developing more fingers. | D.The vegetarian diet. |
A.Pandas’ adaptation to the new environment. |
B.Pandas’ evolutionary reason and feature in eating. |
C.Pandas’ unique lifestyle. |
D.Pandas’ special appearance. |
【推荐3】Everyone has a phone in their pocket nowadays, but how often do we really use them for their original purpose—to make a call? Telephone culture is disappearing. What brought us to this moment, and what are its effects?
“No one picks up the phone anymore,” wrote Alex C. Madrigal on The Atlantic. “Telephone culture is gone.”
The change is of course due to more communication choices: Texting with photos, videos, emojis, reaction gifs, links and even voice messages can be a more attractive choice.
Texting is light and fun, not nearly as demanding of your attention as a phone call. It can also be done with some people at the same time. Social media, email and video calls have also eaten away at traditional phone calls.
In recent years, another reason has caused people to ignore phone calls completely: robocalls. Robocalls are automate messages from organizations verifying your phone number or telemarketers trying to sell something. Americans received 22.8 billion robocalls halfway through 2020, equaling an annual rate of 45.6 billion, slightly below 2018 numbers, according to YouMail, a robocall protection service and blocking app.
As telephone culture disappears, what is the loss of a traditional family phone doing to the family unit? Early landline phones join family members together, whereas mobile phones separate them.
“The shared family phone served as an anchor (支柱) for home,” said Luke Fernandez, a Weber State University computer-science professor and co-author of Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid: Feelings About Technology, From the Telegraph to Twitter. “With smartphones we have gained mobility and privacy. But the value of the home has been diminished, which has its ability to guide and monitor family behavior and perhaps connect families more closely,” Fernandez said.
Of course, as technology progresses, lives always change for better or for worse. With the loss of telephone culture, families will need to find other ways to unite.
1. What is the main idea of the passage?A.To point out the disadvantages of the traditional phone call. |
B.To call for the traditional phone to advance with the times. |
C.To encourage people to make more phone calls and be closer to family. |
D.To introduce the causes and effects of the disappearing telephone culture. |
A.changed | B.continued | C.strengthened | D.decreased |
A.The telephone culture disappeared just because of too many robocalls. |
B.Some communication choices are more attractive than the traditional phone calls. |
C.Early landline phones are inconvenient and they separate family members. |
D.Texting with some people at the same time takes up our attention too much. |
A.Indifferent. | B.Objective. | C.Pessimistic. | D.Skeptical. |
【推荐1】Artificial intelligence (Al) has the potential to develop more efficient methods of farming in order to fight global warming.
Global warming threatens every aspect of our everyday lives, including crop production. It will reduce the soil moisture (水分) in areas close to the equator according to a study. We are already seeing the negative impact of these changed growing conditions on our crop production. Climate change harms poorer countries that do not have the money to import food. The result is growing food insecurity. However, agriculture is not just affected by global warming — agriculture is part of a vicious (恶性的) cycle in which farming leads to global warming, which in turn destroys agricultural production. The process of clearing land for agriculture results in widespread deforestation (毁林) and contributes to 40 percent of global methane production. Therefore, to deal with climate change, it is necessary to ensure reforestation — but how? What is the path to efficient, environmentally-conscious farming?
This is where AI enters the scene. Farmers use AI for methods such as precision agriculture; they can monitor crop moisture, soil composition, and temperature in growing areas, enabling farmers to increase production by learning how to take care of their crops and determine the ideal amount of water to use. Furthermore, this technology may help reduce deforestation by allowing humans to grow food in urban areas. It could be especially beneficial for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, where much of the population lives in cities.
However, AI is far from a silver bullet — it could actually contribute to global warming as well. Due to the large amount of data that AI needs to process, training a single AI releases five times the emissions that an average car would give off during its lifetime. Further, securing access to AI on a global scale may pose some challenges. Countries will need experts in the field who can successfully use the technology and Internet connection, neither of which are always readily available. Therefore, there is still a long way for developing countries to take advantage of the benefits of AI.
Given these concerns, global leaders must consider the potential costs, and the environmental consequences of data processing before developing AI for use in agriculture.
1. What can we learn about today’s agriculture from paragraph 2?A.It is the main challenge of reforestation. |
B.Poorer countries rely on it more than before. |
C.It is still dependent on deforestation for more land. |
D.It is both a victim and a cause of global warming. |
A.Building farming communities in cities. |
B.Abandoning traditional farming methods. |
C.Making the most of agricultural resources. |
D.Balancing farming with farmers’ everyday lives. |
A.There are technical barriers in developing countries. |
B.The relevant technology is still under development. |
C.The process of developing Al is difficult. |
D.There is no one-size-fits-all AI technology. |
A.The benefits of agricultural AI |
B.The future of farming: AI and agriculture |
C.A block to environmentally-conscious agriculture |
D.Global warming and agriculture: a vicious cycle |
【推荐2】The heating of the planet is pushing Earth’s polar bear population to its limit, and according to a new study, they could have fewer than 100 years left before extinction.
The polar bears live by hunting seals in the Arctic Ocean, but as more and more ice melts (融化) in that region, their habitat continues to reduce. Since amounts began to be measured at the end of the 1970s, sea ice that lasts for more than a year in the Arctic has decreased at a rate of 13% per decade.
Studies have long shown that declining sea ice will lead to a decline in polar bears, but new research published in Nature Climate Change models a specific doomsday (世界末日) timeline. Polar bears will be unable to endure the effects of climate change over the next several decades, the scientists believe, and will be wiped out by 2100.
“What we’ve shown is that, first, we’ll lose the survival of cubs (幼崽), so cubs will be born, but the females won’t have enough body fat to produce milk to bring them along through the ice-free season, said Dr. Steven Amstrup, chief scientist of Polar Bears
International, to the BBC. “Any of us know that we can only go without-food for so long. That’s a biological reality for all species.”
The study estimated that, even in a situation where countries achieve a moderate (适中的) reduction in greenhouse gases, several populations of polar bears will disappear. But Amstrup emphasized that the animal can still persist (坚持) if climate change does not continue.
“Showing how imminent (迫在眉睫的) the threat is for different polar bear populations-is-another reminder that we must act now to head off the worst of future problems faced by us all,” he said. “The course we’re on now is not a good one, but if society gets its act together, we have time to save polar bears. And if we do, we will benefit the rest of life on Earth, including ourselves.”
1. In writing Paragraph 1, the author aims to________.A.present an argument | B.make a comparison |
C.propose a definition | D.introduce a topic |
A.Seals hunt polar bears for food. |
B.The sea ice has decreased by 13% in a year. |
C.Polar bears depend on sea ice for their survival. |
D.More and more seals are leaving the Arctic Ocean. |
A.Sea ice will be wiped out by 2100. |
B.The doomsday for mankind is coming. |
C.Newborn bears will starve to death in the coming decades. |
D.Polar bears will eventually be able to survive without sea ice. |
A.we must act now to save ourselves |
B.reducing greenhouse gases is good for all living things on Earth |
C.the polar bear population is an imminent threat and we must take action |
D.we should stay on our current course for the survival of all living things |
A.How do polar bears survive? |
B.Arctic sea ice is melting at an accelerating rate. |
C.Polar bears and humans should coexist in harmony. |
D.Polar bears could be extinct by end of the century. |
【推荐3】The color of the ocean has changed greatly over the last 20 years and human-caused climate change is probably responsible, according to a new study.
More than 56% of the world’s oceans have changed color, and this cannot be explained by natural changes, said a team of researchers. Tropical (热带的) oceans close to the equator especially have become greener in the past two decades, reflecting changes in their ecosystems.
The color of the ocean is derived from the materials found in its upper layers. For example, a deep blue sea will have very little life in it, while a green color means there are ecosystems there. The ecosystems are based on plant-like small living things which include chlorophyll(叶绿素). The living things form the base of a food web which supports larger creatures such as fish, seabirds and some other sea animals.
It’s not clear exactly how these ecosystems are changing, said study author Stephanie Dutkiewicz. Ocean ecosystems are finely balanced and any change in the small living things will influence the food chain. “All changes are causing an imbalance in the natural organization of ecosystems. Such imbalance will only get worse over time if our oceans keep heating,”she said. It will also affect the ocean’s ability to act as a store of carbon(碳), Dutkiewicz said, as different living things take in different amounts of carbon.
The researchers are still working to find out exactly what the changes mean. However, what is clear, they said, is that the changes are being driven by human-caused climate change.
The researchers checked changes in ocean color from space by following how much greenor blue light was reflected from the surface of the sea. They studied the changes in color from 2002 to 2022. And then they used climate change models to see what would happen to the oceans both with additional(额外的) planet-heating pollution and without.
The color changes matched almost exactly what Dutkiewicz said would happen if greenhouse gases were added to the atmosphere — around 50% of our oceans would change color.
1. Which areas of the ocean have shown the greatest color change?A.Deep-sea areas with little life. | B.Oceans with lower temperatures. |
C.Coastal areas close to large cities. | D.Tropical oceans near the equator. |
A.Is reflected in something. | B.Comes from something. |
C.Influences something. | D.Creates something. |
A.They keep the balance among different living things. |
B.They reduce the ocean’s ability to store carbon. |
C.They improve the health of large sea animals. |
D.They make oceans support more life. |
A.To support space exploration. |
B.To find the sources of greenhouse gases. |
C.To show future ocean temperature changes. |
D.To study the influence of planet-heating pollution. |