England is relatively safe when it comes to animals and wildlife. There are no lions, elephants or tigers, or any dangerous spiders and deadly snakes. But there are a lot of cows.
No image of the British countryside would be completely without a cow. In fact, there are more than ten million of them in the U.K. With their sad beautiful eyes, their slow walk and harmless appearance are a key part of the landscape. But they do have another side of their character. And given that they can weigh more than 500kg, this can be a bit of a problem.
In recent weeks, there have been two attacks by cows. Two weeks ago, a cow attacked a policeman. He ended up with a black eye. In another attack, a doctor was hurt by cattle when she was walking with her two dogs. Health and Safety Executive figures show that 18 people have been killed and 481 have been injured by cows in the past eight years. “We hear one or two accidents each week, but these don’t usually involve serious injuries,” a spokesperson explained.
So what can you do if you face an angry cow? “The best advice is to keep calm and carry on,” an animal expert explained. If you find yourself in a field of cattle, move away as carefully and quietly as possible. And above all, keep dogs close. If the cows run toward you, let go of the dog—the cows are more interested in the dog than you.
So next time you go for a walk in the British countryside, watch out for cows, especially if you’re walking your dog.
1. The figures in Paragraph 3 show that cows’ attacks ________ .| A．frequently happen |
| B．bring about great changes |
| C．always cause serious injuries |
| D．attract a lot of media attention |
| A．Stand still. | B．Run away quickly. |
| C．Pull your dogs tightly. | D．Stay calm and walk away quietly. |
| A．They are not allowed in the British countryside. |
| B．They will prevent you from going out for a walk. |
| C．They should be guarded against attacking cows. |
| D．They can help you avoid being attacked by cows. |
| A．They are often sad. |
| B．They are often gentle |
| C．They are dangerous sometimes. |
| D．They are unimportant sometimes. |
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【推荐1】Why did the little boy throw butter out of the window? He wanted to see the butterfly! That’s an old joke you’ve probably heard many times. Butterflies always carry away children.
Most insects do not migrate(迁徙), because their life is not long enough. Except for one particular butterfly species-the monarch butterfly. Each November, monarch butterflies land on an unbelievable cross-country migration from the United States and Canada until they reach Mexico, where they overwinter until it’s time to begin their migration back home in March. The butterflies spend their time in concentrated areas of forest where they stick to the branches of trees, forming beautiful vast crowds. Monarchs are a truly important species-and they’re in danger.
Just like living things, plants, insects or animals on the planet, monarchs play a vital role in the survival of our ecosystems. Butterflies-just like bees, also in great danger-help pollinate(授粉) plants, making them a significant contributor to crop growth and food production. They also serve as a food source to birds and other animals. The population of monarch butterflies has dropped a lot over the past few decades—a destructive 96. 5 percent. This has placed monarchs in danger of moving toward dying out. Several causes have contributed to the monarch’s decline. Climate change, loss of reproductive homes, and deforestation in Mexico’s forests where monarchs overwinter have all affected the butterfly’s migration pattern and home. But the most significant danger is the decline in milkweed, the plant where monarchs lay their eggs, and that serves as the only food source for caterpillars(幼虫). Much of the milkweed decline is due to agricultural practices that either remove this vital plant or destroy it through pesticides(农药).
1. Why do monarch butterflies move to Mexico?| A．To survive the cold weather. | B．To escape from being hunted. |
| C．To take advantage of the flowers there. | D．To cooperate with the bees there. |
| A．They help birds to catch their food. | B．They produce seeds for wild plants. |
| C．They contribute to crop production. | D．They bring food to other animals. |
| A．Monarch Butterflies Migrate | B．Butterflies Attract Children |
| C．Fight to Save Monarch Butterflies | D．Monarch Butterflies Are in Danger |
| A．Why monarch butterflies decline. |
| B．How monarch butterflies can be saved. |
| C．How monarch butterflies reproduce. |
| D．Why monarch butterflies migrate. |
【推荐2】Sonia Kleindorfer was a new director of the Konrad Lorenz Research Center in Austria. At her institute, Konrad Lorenz was a famous Austrian zoologist who could correctly name each kind of goose, which made Kleindorfer feel a certain amount of pressure. “I can do five, but when the next five come, I start to have a mental meltdown,” she says. So she contacted a more technically-minded colleague and asked him: Could he write a program to distinguish these faces?
He said, yes, but he’d need a database of geese photos to work with. Kleindorfer got her team out there, snapping pictures of the geese from every angle. After building the database, they wrote a piece of facial recognition AI that could ID a goose, by looking at specific features of its beak (喙). After a couple of years, the team reports that their goose recognition software is now about 97% accurate.
“Geese have such drama—there are archrivals (劲敌), and jealousy and retribution (报答),” Kleindorfer says. To find out how faces figured into this drama, she presented the geese with full-sized pictures of themselves, their partners, or another member of the flock. She showed evidence that geese seemed to recognize photos of their partners and friends, but not themselves. For further study, Sonia Kleindorfer hopes birdwatchers will someday be able to snap a picture of a goose, ID it, and share its location with scientists. But she adds, just remember, her new research suggests that bird watching goes both ways: Geese can remember faces too. “If you are ever not kind to a goose,” she warns, “that goose may find you again.”
Kleindorfer thinks that facial recognition is going to play a really important role in conservation and ecology. “We need more computer scientists trained in behavioral ecology and we need more conservation scientists trained in computer science,” she says. “But working together, I think we can do this.”
1. What was the problem of Sonia Kleindorfer at work?| A．She was always stressed. | B．She was not able to count the geese. |
| C．She suffered a mental illness. | D．She couldn’t recognize all the geese. |
| A．By snapping pictures of the geese. | B．By presenting the full-sized pictures. |
| C．By identifying the beaks in the photos. | D．By building the database of the geese. |
| A．Birdwatching is a dangerous activity. |
| B．Geese can locate and find human beings. |
| C．Geese have the ability of facial recognition. |
| D．Birdwatchers can snap a picture of a goose. |
| A．Science training. | B．Computer science. |
| C．Photo-taking skills. | D．Cross-subject study. |
【推荐3】The clumsy yet graceful wood stork, which was on the brink of extinction in 1984, has recovered enough in Florida and other Southern states. The American wildlife officials proposed removing the waterfowl (水禽)from the endangered species list.
This symbolic species, which is the only stork native to North America, has rebounded because dedicated partners in the southeast have worked tirelessly to restore ecosystems that support it. In addition, the wood stork has increased its range in coastal areas. The birds have adapted to new nesting areas, tripling the number of colonies across their range from 29 to 99 in recent years.
Credit goes mainly to the wildlife protections provided by the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which can impose restrictions on a variety of activities in areas where such species are located, such as development, mining and oil drilling. The act saved the wood stork and it helped preserve and rebuild vital habitats throughout the southeast, which has improved water quality and benefited countless other species who call the area home. The Endangered Species Act has saved 99%of the species that have been on the list since 1973, with 100 types of plants and animals delisted because they have recovered or are at least stable.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that restoration of the wood stork’s habitat, especially in the Florida Everglades and adjacent Big Cypress National Preserve, led to a sharp increase in breeding pairs. Those numbers had shrunk to just 5,000 pairs in 1984, whereas there are more than 10,000 pairs today.
“The proposed delisting of the wood stork is a significant milestone and a remarkable achievement of the hard work by federal agencies, state and local governments, tribes, conservation organizations, and private citizens in protecting and restoring our most at-risk species,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said.
If the wood stork is delisted, officials said it would remain protected by other laws including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Clean Water Act. A monitoring plan would be put in place for at least five years to ensure the stork population remains stable.
1. What can be inferred about the wood stork from the text?| A．It is widely distributed worldwide |
| B．It is the most endangered species |
| C．Its population shows a rising trend. |
| D．It is becoming completely extinct. |
| A．Safeguards of the ESA. |
| B．Federal agencies. |
| C．Conservation organizations. |
| D．Local tribes. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Positive. | C．Indifferent. | D．Concerned. |
| A．Effect of the Endangered Species Act counts. |
| B．Protection of American native species works. |
| C．Efforts to restore the wildlife habitat pays off. |
| D．Saving of the endangered wood stork progresses. |
【推荐1】As humans encroach (侵入) more and more on wildlife habitats, animals are finding that the best way to survive isn’t to pack up and move — it’s to adapt to the night life. A variety of previously daytime animals such as foxes, deer and boars have become active at night to avoid human activity out of fear. But this nighttime switch comes with its own risks.
Researchers looked at how 62 species of animals on six continents changed their behavior in response to human activities such as hunting, farming, and development. The studies employed various technologies to follow the animals, from GPS trackers to motion-activated cameras.
Once night falls, the animals surveyed became far more active than they were before humans arrived, bunting and looking for food in the dark. For example, animals that used to split their activity evenly between day and night typically increased their nighttime activity to 68%.
The team also found the animals responded similarly to these human encroachments, regardless of whether human activity directly affected them. So, a deer might become more active at night simply because it sees humans hiking nearby, not because it’s being hunted.
The researchers believe these nighttime behaviors not only allow humans and animals to coexist more peacefully, they may be able to give us hints as to how to plan conservation efforts accordingly, such as limiting human activity during times when a specific species is more active. But moving to the nightlife could also have downsides for these animals. A nighttime lifestyle can reduce an animal’s ability to hunt and find food successfully and can even affect its ability to find a mate. Switching to a nighttime lifestyle can affect natural patterns of life even if these animals are doing so to reduce their interaction with humans. So, just because animals are becoming more active at night doesn’t mean they’ve escaped the influence of humans.
1. Why are animals becoming more active at night?| A．It is easier to find food at night. |
| B．It is easier to escape being hunted. |
| C．They can be less affected by human. |
| D．They have got used to nightlife. |
| A．They followed and watched the animals. |
| B．They used modern technologies. |
| C．They compared different animals. |
| D．They found more animals at night. |
| A．Any human encroachment can affect animals. |
| B．Animals can be affected only when being hunted. |
| C．Deer can get used to nightlife easily. |
| D．Animals should stay away from humans. |
| A．dangers | B．strengths | C．possibilities | D．disadvantages |
【推荐2】In a dark room, it may seem there will be little to detect in the darkness. However, a bird in the room will be able to pick up on the magnetic field(磁场)of the earth and will know which direction to fly if it is time to migrate(迁徙). A snake will detect the presence of humans in the room by sensing their radiation. Each of these creatures could all be sharing exactly the same physical space and have a totally different experience of that space.
Each animal has access to its own sensory environment — called an “umwelt”. “Umwelt” was popularized by a German biologist named Jakob von Uexküll. The word comes from the German for “environment”, but Jakob von Uexküll wasn’t using it to mean the physical environment. He meant the sensory environment, the unique set of smells, sights, sounds and textures that each animal has access to.
Humans can’t sense the faint electric fields that sharks and ducks can, or the magnetic fields that robins and sea turtles detect. Our ears can’t hear the call of rodents and hummingbirds, and our eyes can’t see the light that birds and bees can sense. Our noses can’t detect various odors(气味)that dogs would be able to smell.
So imagining the world as animals perceive it opens up a new appreciation for the everyday wonders of nature. If we think of nature as something remote and distant, accessible only to someone who can go to a national park, we lose the motivation to save and protect it.
Instead, we can go on an adventure just by thinking about the sensory world of the bird that sits on the house opposite us. Then nature would feel like something close. In that case, people will be more motivated to try and protect it. Protecting nature isn’t just about saving whales or pandas, but about protecting things that are close to us.
1. What does the author intend to show by using the example of a dark room?| A．Automatic adjustments to the darkness. |
| B．Important functions of sense organs. |
| C．Natural strengths of animals and humans. |
| D．Diverse perceptions of the same environment. |
| A．The natural world. | B．The biological science. |
| C．The surroundings that animals detect. | D．The environment that animals live in. |
| A．Limitations of human senses. | B．Wonders of living creatures. |
| C．The lack of animal knowledge. | D．The comparison of organs. |
| A．Presenting the national parks. | B．Caring about the creatures around us. |
| C．Rescuing endangered species. | D．Appreciating what we possess. |
【推荐3】Since we’ve known about some cute animals, what about animals which aren’t so cute?
My favourite is a little creature called the Tasmanian devil. If you are out camping in Tasmania and come across one, the experience might scare you! Tasmanian devils hunt at night, so you won’t usually see them, but you may hear their loud cries when they are fighting or eating. The noise they make could wake the dead. Frightening! They are about the size of small dogs and look like rather large black rats. They also have a terrible smell! Their diet is mostly dead animals. Fortunately, despite their name, they are generally not violent towards people.
Australia also has some animals that many people have never heard of, for example, the duck-billed platypus. Is that some kind of bird? Not at all. While it may lay eggs in a nest like a bird, it’s really a primitive mammal, with a unique biology. Its eggs hatch after about ten days, and then the baby platypus nurses from its mother like all other mammals. Its nose looks like a duck’s bill, and it has feet like a duck’s so it can dive under the water, but it’s covered in hair. Do you know what’s really strange about a platypus? The platypus doesn’t use its senses of sight or smell to find food. It has a capacity to find food in the water by using electrical sensors in its bill. There are only a small handful of animals in the world that can do that!
1. What two things about Tasmanian devils can bother people most?| A．Their diet and violent behaviors. |
| B．Their loud noise and terrible smell. |
| C．They like fighting and are hard to hunt. |
| D．Their ugly appearance and terrible smell. |
| A．Small dogs | B．Large rats. | C．Dead animals. | D．Violent animals. |
| A．It lay eggs like a bird. | B．It nurses from its mother. |
| C．It can dive under the water. | D．Its eggs hatch after 10 days. |
| A．By using electrical sensors. | B．By using its senses of sight. |
| C．By using its senses of smell. | D．By hanging out in the water. |
【推荐1】On holiday, many will find themselves in places where they do not speak the language. Once upon a time, they might have carried a phrasebook. But now, many simple, free apps are good news for those travelers. With these apps’ conversation mode, people talk into a phone and a spoken translation is heard moments later. Maybe the best-known app is Google Translate, though small mistakes can happen due to its word-for-word translation.
Surprisingly, the best tool may not be a translation app at all. Though not marketed for that, ChatGPT, a generative AI system, can write messages in different languages, producing natural output like a native speaker.
As AI translation becomes an even more popular labour-saving tool, society may divide into two groups. There will be those who want to fully experience other cultures. This group will still take on language study, often aided by technology. Others will look at learning a new language with a different attitude: “Good for you, if that’s your thing, but a bit painful for my taste.” After all, most people do not move abroad or often have contact with a foreign culture. On their holiday, they just want a beer and spaghetti (意大利面).
As a result, some experts are concerned that AI is leading to a decreasing interest in language learning. Writer Douglas Hofstadter has argued that something meaningful will disappear when people communicate through machines. He describes giving a disconnected, difficult speech in Chinese, which required a lot of work but offered a sense of achievement at the end. Who would boast of (吹嘘) taking a helicopter to the top of Mount Everest (珠穆朗玛峰)?
While AI translation seems practical, we must recognize the social nature of language. When trying to ask directions in broken Japanese or make a joke in awkward German, you are making direct contact with someone. The best relationships do not require a third party.
1. Which of the following best describes translation apps?| A．Free but hard to use. | B．Popular but expensive. |
| C．Quick but with mistakes. | D．Easy to use but slow. |
| A．Conversation. | B．Language learning. | C．Message writing. | D．Translation. |
| A．To present an opinion. | B．To support a fact. | C．To make an excuse. | D．To give a reason. |
| A．Reaching Mount Everest is quite easy. |
| B．Learning a foreign language is less attractive. |
| C．Talking without the help of technology is worthwhile. |
| D．Making a speech in another language is too challenging. |
| A．Direct connection with people. | B．Broken but funny translation. |
| C．Awkward relations between people. | D．Communication with the third party. |
【推荐2】Each year, the discovery of new shark species underlines how little we know about ocean biodiversity. In a recent report conducted by Sibert and Rubin, they reported an unexpected finding: a large-scale extinction of sharks in the pelagic ocean, the largest ecosystem on Earth, about 19 million years ago. Their discovery suggests that some extinctions in the open sea of the past may have been mysterious.
The study of Sibert and Rubin takes advantage of a system by using tiny, hard bits of shark skin and bony fish teeth that naturally fall from their bodies to the seafloor. These extremely small fossils provide a rich record of ancient oceanic sharks and their abundance for thousands of years. By studying fossils from many regions, the diversity patterns can give major insights into evolution (进化) of the open sea that would be otherwise unknown.
Sibert and Rubin quantified(量化)a past extinction of sharks, reporting a 90% decline in number and >70% drop in diversity. They found that nearer-shore sharks appear to survive, but migratory ones go extinct. The finding of this study is that sharks had undergone a widespread extinction that reorganized their communities from 16 million to 20 million years ago.
Sibert and Rubin narrowed the disappearance of sharks to a window of time under 100,000 years around 19 million years ago, but the causes of this event remain unclear. Because this time period does not stand out as a period of major climatic change, the authors do not attribute(归因于) environmental factors as an extinction driver. As for other causes, the loss of shark diversity is directly linked to overfishing.
The loss of sharks from the oceans has profound, complex, and unavoidable ecological consequences because their presence reflects the stability of marine ecosystems. Yet, one-quarter of the global diversity of sharks is currently threatened with extinction. Despite recent improvements in conservation actions, shark communities never recovered from a mysterious extinction event 19 million years ago; the ecological fate of what remains is now in our hands.
1. What did Sibert and Rubin find?| A．The negative impact of the extinction of sharks. |
| B．The mysterious reasons behind the disappearance of sharks. |
| C．The most recent advances in the study of the largest ecosystem. |
| D．The large-scale decline in the number of sharks about 19 million years ago. |
| A．By collecting and analyzing shark fossils worldwide. |
| B．By quantifying the movement of near-shore sharks. |
| C．By using a system to study the naturally fallen bits from sharks. |
| D．By keeping track of ancient oceanic sharks and their activities. |
| A．Overfishing is partly to blame for the loss of shark diversity. |
| B．The number of sharks has recovered to its previous level. |
| C．Scientist have figured out the exact causes of sharks’ extinction. |
| D．Sharks had undergone a widespread extinction due to the climate change. |
| A．Sharks: The Stories behind Them | B．Sharks: The Marine Masters |
| C．Sharks: Killers or Misunderstood? | D．Sharks: The Mysterious Extinction |
【推荐3】Choosing what you want to do with the rest of your life can be challenging, here are some suggestions on how to choose a college major that you will enjoy.
Let your core classes help you choose a major
If you are still in high school, take a look at each of your classes and identify which ones you enjoy most. If you’re going back to college after starting your career, think back to your best high school classes (e.g. math, biology, history, etc.).This can help you identify your strengths and interests so you can narrow your list of possible university degree programs to a particular field of study.
Prioritize (划分优先顺序)your career wants and needs
First and foremost, a college major should be chosen based on your interest and career goals. However, it is not uncommon for students to select their majors based on the careers of their parents or siblings(兄弟姐妹).If following in their footsteps is not right for the student, then it will likely lead to an unfulfilling education and career.
When choosing a major, it is important to identify what aspects of a career are most important to you (money, creative freedom, helping people, working outdoors etc.).Making a list of your top priorities will shed plenty of light on which degree or major is best for you .Also, talk to your parents and siblings about the choices they made and whether they think those majors and careers would be a good fit for you.
Additional tips for choosing majors
Seeking outside advice, not just from family members, is always recommended when choosing a college major. Talk with career counselors, high school teachers, guidance counselors and students who currently enrolled in a major you are interested in. Speaking to professors at universities or to professionals in the field can also give you a good idea of what you might expect from a career.
There are also tests you can take that give an insight into career matches, dominant personality characters and key interests. While a test should not dictate your choices, it can offer you a new perspective on yourself and open your eyes to majors and career prospects you didn’t consider.
1. Where does the support for your particular field of study mainly come from?| A．The college courses that you enjoy most. |
| B．Every class in your high school. |
| C．The beginning of your career. |
| D．Your best high school subjects. |
| A．advice from others and tests |
| B．the careers of parents and siblings |
| C．suggestions from parents |
| D．professionals’ ideas about majors |
| A．My View on College Education. |
| B．How to Choose the Best College Major for You. |
| C．Learning to Challenge Career Goals. |
| D．Offering You a New Perspective on Yourself. |
