Since the days of Charles Darwin, the long necks of giraffes have been a textbook example of evolution. The theory goes that as giraffe ancestors competed for food, those with longer necks were able to reach higher leaves, getting a leg-up or neck-up over shorter animals.
But a very unusual prehistoric giraffe relative reveals that, in addition to finding food, fighting may have driven early neck evolution. In a study published Thursday in Science, a team of paleontologists described the Discokeryx(獬豸盘角鹿), a giraffe ancestor, as having a helmet-like head and large neck vertebrae(脊椎).The Discokeryx evolved like this to absorb and deliver skull-cracking collisions to seek mates and defeat competitors.
“It shows that giraffe evolution is not just lengthening the neck,” said Jin Meng,a paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History and co-author of the new study.
Head-butting is an ancient and widespread form of conflict solution. Dinosaurs like Pachycephalosaurs have firm skulls(头骨), and knocking heads remain common in bighorn sheep, chameleons and even whales.
But the researchers suggested that the Discokeryx was uniquely expert at head-to-head fight. The team estimated that collisions between Discokeryxes were likely twice as forceful as head-butting muskoxen, which strike each other at nearly 25 mph.
The series of interlocking neck joints haven’t been discovered in any other vertebrate(脊椎动物),living or dead,giving the Discokeryx the greatest head-bashing equipment yet discovered, according to the researchers. “This animal is an extreme example of using head-butting as a fighting tool,” Meng said.
1. What do we know about the Discokeryx?| A．Its evolution helps make and bear crashes. |
| B．It has tiny neck vertebrae. |
| C．Its thin neck can stretch to find mates. |
| D．It has a horn-like head. |
| A．Whales move at the speed of 25 mph. |
| B．Muskoxen are good at giving a side attack. |
| C．Many vertebrates have amazing neck joints. |
| D．Discokeryxes hit opponents with big power. |
| A．How Jin Meng completed a research paper. |
| B．Why giraffes’ necks evolve so long. |
| C．How the impact force between Discokeryxes is measured. |
| D．Why giraffes’ development goes against Charles Darwin’s theory. |
| A．In a:history book. |
| B．In a story collection. |
| C．In a science magazine. |
| D．In a celebrity biography. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】We all know that some animals adapt to living in very cold environment, like polar bears in the frozen Arctic. But what about the opposite situation? How do animals become adapted to the life in very hot places? A great example of animals beating heat is the camel living in deserts.
A major problem for camels in deserts is the temperature. It’s hot and dry during the day and can be very cold at night. So their fur can not only protect them from the burning sun at daytime, but also help keep warm at night. Another thing is that camels have long necks and legs, so they have large surface area to lose heat easily. They can stand body temperature above41℃, which would be really damaging to living creatures like us humans. And how can they manage to travel a long distance without water at all in deserts? They have large flat feet to spread their weight on the shifting sand. They store fat in their humps to keep them from getting hungry or dehydrated. This helps when they’re not able to find food or water for long periods of time.
In addition to these, camels have other ways to adapt to their environment. In a desert, it can sometimes get very dusty. However, camels don’t mind since they have extremely thick and long eyelashes which protect their eyes from blowing sand. Sand up the nose can be a problem, but not for camels. They can shut their nostrils during sandstorms.
1. What do we know about camels living in deserts?| A．Their fur can help keep cool at night. |
| B．They have long necks to protect them from blowing sand. |
| C．They have large flat feet to walk on the sand. |
| D．They can stand body temperature up to 41℃. |
| A．Being lack of water. | B．Being lack of food. |
| C．Being lack of fat. | D．Being lack of direction. |
| A．The Camel —the Best Traveller in Deserts | B．The Camel Needs More Water |
| C．The Harder, the Better | D．Be the Best in Deserts |
【推荐2】A change to organic dairy farming around the nature reserves could significantly reduce damage done to the areas by nitrogen produced by solid waste from cows, according to a research.
Concentrated animal farming near Natura 2000 areas was banned in 2002. However, 800 farms still remain in the outer edge of these protected areas, some of which are particularly damaging to the environment.
Researchers looked at 34 organic farms to see how organic farming practices compared with those large-scale factory farms. They found that cows at organic farms produced 22% less nitrogen in their waste, while the amount of emissions per hectare(公顷)was 53% lower.
“The reason why organic farming is less polluting is that farms generally have fewer cows and don’t use fertilizer,” said researchers. Organic cows are also put out to grassland more often and aren’t given concentrates(精饲料)to the same degree, which also limits emissions.
While organic dairy farms would make a good protective barrier against nitrogen around the nature reserves, this doesn’t hold true for organic chicken and pig farms, the research showed.
“Despite the good it would do, not many dairy farmers are likely to make the change,” researcher Gerard Migchels said. “The organic sector is currently relatively small. Growth is only possible if there is enough market demand. That would make it possible to come to a realistic price for organic milk,” he said.
In 2019, some 40,000 cows in the Netherlands were farmed organically, accounting for just 1% of the Dutch herd of 3.8 million.
According to a government report, 46% of nitrogen compound(复合物)pollution around nature reserves is down to agriculture, to which dairy farming contributes 60%. The new law on nitrogen emissions aims to reduce pollution by 40% by 2025 and 74% by 2035.
1. What can we infer about organic dairy farming around nature reserves from the text?| A．It helps dairy farmers collect nitrogen. | B．It is relatively environmentally friendly. |
| C．It has replaced traditional dairy farming. | D．It saves dairy farmers a great deal of trouble. |
| A．They eat less grass. | B．They are often larger in size. |
| C．Their waste contains less nitrogen. | D．Their waste can also serve as fertilizer. |
| A．Rather hopeless. | B．Fairly content. |
| C．Particularly surprised. | D．Kind of sad. |
| A．To introduce the benefit of organic dairy farming. |
| B．To compare different types of farming practices. |
| C．To seek financial support for organic dairy farming. |
| D．To encourage people to drink more organic milk. |
【推荐3】Pets should not be left alone for too long during the day. But our busy lifestyles will sometimes tear us away.
Cats don’t simply curl up and sleep when you leave.
It’s not just cats that suffer from separation anxiety. Dogs also dislike being left alone and unfortunately they can’t tell whether it’s been ten minutes or ten hours: the displeasure felt is very similar.
You can also gradually lengthen the distance and time of your separation until your dogs can be left alone for 20 minutes without showing their usual symptoms of sadness and stress.
| A．A number of cat toys are also helpful. |
| B．Schedule daily play sessions with your cats. |
| C．But you can help ease the negative feeling at least. |
| D．That creates a lot of guilt and worry for their well-being. |
| E．In this way, they can disassociate your absence with negativity. |
| F．They need stimulation for the period when they will be left alone. |
| G．Over time, they will look forward to their separation to get a reward. |
【推荐1】Human tears could carry a flood of useful information. With just a few drops, a new technique can help discover signs of eye disease and even diabetes, reported by some scientists.
“We wanted to show the possibility of using tears to discover diseases,” says Fei Liu, a biomedical engineer in China. He says, “The teardrops can open a window for scientists to peer into the entire body, and one day even let people quickly test their tears at home.” As a matter of fact, tears contain tiny sacs (液囊) filled with special messages. If scientists could collect the sacs, they could offer new information on what’s happening inside the body. But collecting enough of these sacs is not easy.
But not many tears come out of eyes at a time. So Liu’s team designed a new way to get the sacs from the small amount of tears. First, the researchers collected tears from study participants. Then, the team used the technique to let small molecules escape, leaving the sacs behind for research.
The results gave the scientists an eyeful. The team found that different types of dry-eye disease left their own molecular fingerprints in people’s tears. What’s more, tears could help doctors monitor how a patient’s diabetes is progressing.
Now, the scientists want to look to tears for the evidence of other diseases as well as depression or emotional stress. “This is just the beginning. Tears express something that we haven’t really explored. So the research is worth further conducting,” says the study coauthor Luke Lee, a bioengineer at Harvard Medical School.
1. What is the purpose of using the new technique?| A．To treat some diseases. | B．To find the cause of tears. |
| C．To report useful diet information. | D．To discover some diseases through tears. |
| A．Look into. | B．Turn into. | C．Change into. | D．Run into. |
| A．Why the team gained sacs. | B．How the team collected sacs. |
| C．Where the team researched tears. | D．What the team learned from tears. |
| A．It is fruitless. | B．It is meaningful. |
| C．It is out of control. | D．It is easy to conduct. |
【推荐2】If you do not use your arms or your legs for some time, they will become weak, and when you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows that. Yet many people do not seem to know that memory works in the same way.
When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by using it. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it enough chance to become strong.
If a friend says that his arms and legs are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents may be blamed, and few of us know that it is just his own fault (过错). Have you ever found that some people can’t read or write but usually they have better memories? This is because they cannot read or write and when they have to remember things, they cannot write them down in a small notebook. As a result, they have to remember days, names, songs and stories, so their memory is being exercised the whole time.
So if you want to have a good memory, learn from the people: practice remembering things in a way as other people do.
1. Someone can’t have a good memory if ________.| A．he can’t read or write |
| B．his parents haven’t a good memory |
| C．he doesn’t use his arms or legs for some time |
| D．he doesn’t make good use of his memory |
| A．they will become thin |
| B．they will become weak |
| C．they begin to ache all over |
| D．you can’t use them any more |
| A．his own fault | B．his parents" fault |
| C．his teachers" fault | D．his friends" fault |
| A．Don't Stop Using your Arms or Legs | B．Learn from the People |
| C．How to Have a Good Memory | D．Strong Arms and Good Memories |
【推荐3】Horsemen will always tell you that horses sense emotions(情感),especially fear. Now a new small study says not only can horses sense human emotions, they can also read human expressions and remember them for later.
Researchers at the universities in the UK held experiments in which horses were shown large photos of either an angry or a happy person. Several hours later, the horses met that man in person but with no expression.
However, the horses reacted based on how they saw the man in the photo, turning their look in a certain direction. When horses saw the person they had seen wearing an angry look in the photo, they spent more time looking with the left eye. They also showed signs of anxiety(焦虑). But when the horses saw the person they had seen smiling in the photo, they spent more time looking with the right eye.
“What we've found is that horses can not only read human facial expressions, but they can also remember a person's previous (先前的) emotional state when they meet them later that day, and, importantly, that they change their behavior accordingly," Professor Karen McComb from the University of Sussex said in a statement.
The horses seemed to have made a quick judgment on the person based only on the expression in the photo. The researchers believe having this ability helps horses with social bonding and avoid possible dangers.
“It is quite an amazing result really,” McComb told The Guardian. “It is really interesting that animals are picking up on the detailed emotional expressions that humans are showing on a moment—to—moment basis.
Importantly in taking that information in, they don't forget it, but they use it—they have a memory for the emotional states that they have seen in humans and they use that information.”
1. What can be learned about the experiment?| A．Horses looked at previously happy people with the right eye. |
| B．Horses refused to see people with no expression. |
| C．Horses showed curiosity about unhappy expressions. |
| D．Horses preferred to see the photos of happy people. |
| A．They can run much faster. |
| B．They can better protect themselves. |
| C．They can have a smarter brain. |
| D．They can better express themselves. |
| A．The information. | B．The ability. |
| C．The moment. | D．The result. |
| A．Horses have a talent for judging photos. |
| B．Horses have the same emotions just as human beings. |
| C．Horses can read human expressions and learn from them. |
| D．Horses can remember and react to people' s previous look. |
【推荐1】Visitors to this year's Smithsonian Folklife Festival can explore the music, history, art and food of Wales. This small country in the United Kingdom is known for its music, sports, beautiful natural areas and ancient history. Visitors to the festival can also learn about the country's language and industry.
Visitors to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival can start their exploration of Wales by learning about its native language, Welsh. Welsh is one of the oldest languages in the world. The first lesson to learn is the Welsh word for Wales: Cymru.
Festival visitors can learn more from Iona Hughes, a Welsh teacher in the country's capital, Cardiff. Welsh and English are now the official languages of Wales. But the English people did not always support the use of Welsh. Today, about twenty percent of the population of Wales speaks the language fluently. Iona Hughes said, “It's quite wonderful to see how the language has developed and how the language has grown especially in the last thirty years. I remember as a child actually saying that Welsh was a dying language, and now I'm proud to say that actually it isn't—it's a thriving language.”
The Welsh people are serious about language and the spoken word. They hold competitions to celebrate their language in literature and music.
Wales is also known for its natural beauty. It has hundreds of lakes and over one thousand kilometres of coastline.
The festival events also tell about Welsh industries. You can see an expert make thread out of wool from a sheep. Or you might learn about traditional Welsh building materials like slate．
And, no visit to Wales would be complete without a pub where people can sit down and drink a beer.
1. According to the text, we can learn that Wales________.| A．is very big in size | B．has many new industries |
| C．is poor in natural scenery | D．is famous for many aspects |
| A．Some English people show no interest in it. |
| B．Most of Welsh people speak it well in daily life. |
| C．It is the only official language of Wales. |
| D．It is the oldest language in the world. |
| A．Pubs are very popular in Wales. |
| B．Many visitors like drinking Wales's beer. |
| C．All visitors must go to pubs when visiting Wales. |
| D．Most visitors to Wales don't like drinking beer in pubs. |
| A．explain why Wales is famous | B．persuade readers to visit Wales |
| C．introduce something about Wales | D．tell people Smithsonian Folklife Festival |
【推荐2】Over the past 5,000 years, China has given birth to a large number of cultural heritages, Among these are the beautiful porcelain wares (瓷器) produced in Jingdezhen in East China’s Jiangxi Province. Here we explore their development and importance in today’s society.
Jingdezhen is well-known around the world for Its porcelain, It has produced porcelain since the Five Dynasties (907 ~ 960). Jingdezhen in known as the “porcelain capital” for its different kinds of porcelain wares with rich and cool styles, Of all the products, blue and white porcelain is the most famous, Such unique porcelains with the fine style have been praised as “the Treasure of China”.
Starting in the Song Dynasty (906 ~ 1279), kiln (窑) appeared in every household in every village in Jingdezhen, which was key to the establishment of its porcelain tradition.
During the Yuan Dynasty (1271~ 1368), a new technique for blue and white porcelain was invented. During the Ming (1368~ 1644) and Qing (1644~1911) dynasties, techniques for mining, painting, and firing were advanced, bringing Jingdezhen’s porcelain craftsmanship (工艺) to a historic high. At that time, the establishment of the Zhushan Imperial Kiln and the growing porcelain market overseas accelerated the development of the industry, turning Jingdezhen into a major porcelain production center.
The Republic of China (1912~1949) saw the growth of porcelain industry as well as a rise in shops and traders, which helped increase ties between Jingdezhen and other areas in China and other countries, After the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, the porcelain industry saw its development at high speed.
However, with the economic growth and the use of new technology over the last decades, the traditional porcelain production worsens. Although some traditional techniques have been preserved, a large part of them were lost. In 2006, Jingdezhen porcelain craftsmanship was listed as a national cultural heritage.
1. Why is the blue and white porcelain regarded as “the Treasure of China”?| A．For its producer. | B．For its timing. | C．For its weight. | D．For its style. |
| A．In the Five Dynasties. |
| B．In the Song Dynasty. |
| C．In the Yuan Dynasty. |
| D．In the Ming and Qing dynasties. |
| A．Missed out. | B．Held back. | C．Sped up. | D．Mixed with. |
| A．The Importance of Porcelain |
| B．The Porcelain in Jingdezhen |
| C．The Rise of Porcelain Industry |
| D．The Economic Growth in China |
【推荐3】Soaps are television serial (连续的) dramas of a highly dramatic and sentimental (情感的) nature. They are called soaps because many of them were originally funded by soap companies. They were appealing to an audience primarily made up of house wives. Soaps tell us a lot about the viewers they are produced for. These long-running serials, with potentially endless episodes (集), are concerned with everyday life. They are generally aimed at the lower classes in a country.
In the US, the most popular soaps usually feature the lives of the rich, the charming and the beautiful. Their houses are always beautiful, big and well decorated. The characters lead exciting lives. Most of these characters are very ambitious. One of the most popular soaps is The bold and the Beautiful. The name says it all really! It is set in Los Angeles and centred on the attractive and wealthy Forrester family and their impossibly gorgeous fashion house business. It is probably the most watched soap in the world.
The British prefer to see ordinary characters rather than the gorgeous high-flyers of the US soaps. They prefer to view on TV what they have experienced personally and what they actually see around them. They believe that one should accept one’s station in life and not attempt to be more than one actually is.
Coronation Street, first shown in 1960, is the longest-running British TV soap opera. It is watched by about one-third of the British population, more often by women, by older people, and especially by people from lower socio-economic groups. EastEnders is another popular British show, though it appeals to a younger generation. Again the characters tend to be working class. In addition to women, young people and men are also given strong roles in order to reach a wider audience.
Thus the soaps can teach us a lot about the audience that they are intended for. The characters, settings and even the story lines can show us what appeals to British and American people.
1. What’s the relationship between soaps and soap companies according to Paragraph 1?| A．Soap companies are named after soaps. |
| B．Soap companies support soaps financially. |
| C．Soap companies depend on soaps for promoting their products. |
| D．Soap companies make soaps appealing to the public. |
| A．By using examples. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By analyzing causes. | D．By describing processes. |
| A．The audience they are intended for. | B．Their popularity and influence. |
| C．The characters’ class and the settings. | D．Their tradition and history. |
| A．To show his love for soaps. |
| B．To remember some of the classic soaps. |
| C．To introduce American and British soaps. |
| D．To encourage audience to watch more soaps. |
