Despite heavy illegal hunting of rhinos, South Africa’s Kruger National Park is still a natural paradise. One of the largest remaining lion populations in Africa lives there. Yet there is something the local animals fear even more than the big cats.
Liana Zanette of Western University in Ontario and her colleagues were able to show that animals react most strongly to human voices and flee in response. For their experiment, the team placed camera traps and loudspeakers at water holes in the national park, which allowed the researchers to influence and record the behavior of a total of 19 mammal species. They played the animals sounds of normal conversations of humans in four South African languages, dogs barking, gunshots and lion sounds.
The study group found that animals were twice as likely to flee and yacated an area faster when they heard human voices than when they heard lions or gunshots. This was true for 95 percent of the animal species observed, including giraffes, leopards, hyenas, zebras, kudu, warthogs, impalas and rhinos. Only elephants were significantly more likely to run from lions than from humans.
The same was true of the time that animals spent at water holes: they usually stayed longer when lion sounds were played to them than when human voices were heard. Wild dogs, leopards and buffalo were the only animals who stayed at water holes longer when they heard humans, and the difference was not statistically significant for these species. “There is a notion that animals get used to humans when they are not being hunted. But we’ve shown that’s not the case,” Clinchy says. “Fear of humans is deeply rooted and common, so we need to seriously address it for conservation reasons.”
The team is now investigating whether its customized sound systems can be used to help endangered species, such as the southern white rhino, away from known poaching(偷猎) areas in South Africa. Initial tests of keeping rhinos away from such areas through the use of human voices have been successful.
1. What can we know about South Africa’s Kruger National Park?| A．Rhinos are effectively protected in the park. |
| B．Lions are the biggest threat for local animals. |
| C．Human voices cause fear in the local wildlife. |
| D．It is a natural paradise without illegal hunting. |
| A．Occupied. | B．Left. | C．Encountered. | D．Filled. |
| A．Elephants are more afraid of humans than lions. |
| B．Giraffes react most strongly to lions or gunshots. |
| C．Rhinos were more likely to run from lions than gunshots |
| D．Wild dogs stayed at water holes longer when hearing humans |
| A．Human Voices: a surprising deep-rooted fear in wildlife |
| B．Lions: the primary source of threat for the local animals |
| C．Lion Sounds: the potential use for wildlife protection |
| D．Humans: the impact on decreasing rhino population |
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【推荐1】He knew his colors and shapes, he learned more than 100 English words, and with his own brand of one-liners he established (确立) himself in TV shows, scientific reports, and news articles as perhaps the world’s most famous talking bird.
But last week, Alex, an African parrot, died, obviously of natural causes, said Dr Irene Pepperberg, an expert at Brandeis University and Harvard who studied and worked with the parrot for most of its life and published reports of his progress in scientific journals. The parrot was 31.
Scientists have long debated whether any other species can develop the ability to learn human language. Alex’s language ability was, in some ways, more surprising than the efforts of those animals that have been taught, like Koko, the gorilla (猩猩) trained by Penny Patterson at the Gorilla Foundation in Woodside, or Washoe, another gorilla studied by R. Allen and Beatrice Gardner at the University of Nevada in the 1960s and 1970s.
When Dr Pepperberg, who was then a doctoral student in chemistry at Harvard, found Alex was good at remembering words in a pet store in 1977 and bought it, scientists had little expectation that birds could learn to communicate with humans. Most of the research had been done on pigeons, and was not promising.
But by using novel methods of teaching, Dr Pepperberg taught Alex to learn about 150 words, which he could put into categories. He could count small numbers and tell colors and shapes. “The work changed the way we think of bird brains,” said Diana Reiss, a psychologist at Hunter College who works with dolphins and elephants. “We used to look down upon those birds, but now we look at those brains — at least Alex’s — with some awe.”
1. Alex is very famous because ________.| A．it died of a strange disease |
| B．it lived longer than any other parrot |
| C．it hosted many famous TV shows |
| D．it has a special talent in learning human language |
| A．He found it was good at remembering words. |
| B．He liked its colors and shapes. |
| C．He wanted to do research on birds. |
| D．Diana Reiss asked him to do that. |
| A．Special. | B．New. |
| C．Great. | D．Unique. |
| A．people used to think dolphins were the cleverest |
| B．Alex’s ability of learning human language has changed some researchers’ ideas about birds |
| C．elephants are better at learning human language |
| D．birds’ great ability in learning human language has already been noticed before |
| A．Who are cleverer, birds or gorillas? |
| B．A famous talking bird died |
| C．Have you ever talked with a bird? |
| D．The keeper of a famous bird |
【推荐2】Humans take first place when it comes to making long-term changes to the earth, but we aren’t the only species to make a mark with infrastructure(基础设施）．A new look at an 1868 map has shown that beaver dams (河狸坝）in Michigan have been holding strong for at least 150 years.
The map is the work of Lewis Henry Morgan, who first traveled to Michigan in the late 1850s for his railroad work and started studying the beavers in what is now the city of Ishpeming. The resulting book, 1868’s The American Beaver and His Works, had a map that included 64 beaver dams and their ponds (池塘）．It was Carol Johnston of South Dakota State University who realized the value in Morgan’s map to modern ecologists (生态学家）. She created an updated version using air photos and compared the two, discovering that about 72 percent of the dams and ponds still exist.
While not all of the dams are still in active use, the findings show the unusual engineering abilities of the North American beaver. The fact that so many structures are still standing after all this time is truly impressive; they are even older than many of humankind’s most beloved structures, including the Eiffel Tower. “The findings prove that beaver works have been changing the North American landscape for centuries,” Johnston says.
For more, check out Morgan’s work in full on the Internet Archive, which includes lovely passages like this one, “As the dam is not a necessity to the beaver, his normal living place being rather natural ponds and rivers, and holes in their banks, it is an amazing fact that he should have voluntarily worked himself, by means of dams and ponds of his own construction, from a natural to an artificial way of life.”
On that note, don’t forget that International Beaver Day is April 7. These guys deserve some serious praise.
1. Which word best describes the beaver dams according to the text?| A．Huge. | B．Common. |
| C．Simple. | D．Strong. |
| A．Helping scientists study environmental changes. |
| B．Helping railroad builders avoid dangerous areas. |
| C．Helping Johnston remap Michigan’s rivers. |
| D．Helping researchers study how ponds are formed. |
| A．Beavers are dying out. | B．Beavers are born engineers. |
| C．Beavers are teamwork animals. | D．Beavers are important to humans. |
| A．Morgan’s joy of figuring out the dams’ function. |
| B．Morgan’s wish to start International Beaver Day. |
| C．Morgan’s pride in finding beavers’ natural habitat. |
| D．Morgan’s surprise at beavers’ willingness to build dams. |
【推荐3】Scientists have solved the mystery of why the overwhelming majority of mammoth fossils(化石) are male.
Much like wild elephants today, young male Ice Age mammoths probably travelled around alone and more often got themselves into risky situations where they were swept into rivers, or fell through ice or into mud, lakes or sinkholes that preserved their bones for thousands of years, scientists say.
Females, on the other hand, travelled in groups led by an older matriarch who knew the landscape and directed her group away from danger.
“Without the benefit of living in a herd led by an experienced female, male mammoths had a much higher risk of dying in natural traps such as mud holes, rock cracks and lakes,” said co-author Love Dalen of the Swedish Museum of Natural History in a report published on Thursday in the journal Current Biology.
The study used genetic data to determine the sex of 98 woolly mammoth fossils in Siberia. Researchers found that 69% of the samples were male, a heavily unbalanced sex ratio, assuming that the sexes were fairly even at birth.
“We were very surprised because there was no reason to expect a sex bias in the fossil record,” said first author Patricia Pecnerova, also of the Swedish Museum of Natural History.
Therefore, researchers believe that something about the way they lived influenced the way they died.
Most bones, tusks, and teeth from mammoths and other Ice Age animals haven’t survived,” explained Dalen.
“It is highly likely that the remains that are found in Siberia these days have been preserved because they have been buried, and thus protected from weathering.”
These giant, tusked plant eaters disappeared about 4,000 years ago. While there is no scientific agreement about the causes of their disappearance from the planet, most believe that climate change, excessive hunting by humans and the spread of other animals into mammoth feeding grounds were influential factors.
1. The underlined word “matriarch” in paragraph 3 means ________.| A．figure head | B．female leader |
| C．experienced animal | D．mature mammoth |
| A．The increasing competition for food. |
| B．The cooling of the earth’s temperature. |
| C．The disappearance of male mammoths. |
| D．The risky behaviour of younger mammoths. |
| A．A newspaper article. | B．An academic essay. |
| C．A historical description. | D．A science fiction story. |
【推荐1】Intelligent people are more likely to trust others, while those who score lower on measures of intelligence are less likely to do so. Oxford University researchers based their finding on an analysis of the ‘General Social Survey’.
The authors say one explanation could be that more intelligent individuals are better at judging characters and may spend more time building relationships with people they can trust. Another reason could be that smarter people are better at weighing up situations and assessing whether or not the other person will hold up his or her end of a bargain.
“Intelligence is shown to be linked with trusting others.” said the study’s lead author, Noah Carl of Oxford University,“ This finding supports what other researchers have argued, namely that being a good judge of character is a distinct part of human intelligence.”
In addition, the study shows that individuals who are more trusting are also happier with their lives and had higher levels of physical health. The Oxford researchers found, however, that the links between trust and health, and between trust and happiness, are not explained by intelligence. The findings confirmed that trust is a valuable resource for an individual, and is not simply a measure of intelligence.
The authors say the research is significant because the study of social trust could have far-reaching implications in public welfare, as social trust contributes to the success of important social institutions, such as welfare systems and financial markets.
According to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, trust is in increasingly short supply in current generation. This decline threatens world leaders’ ability to handle some of today’s key challenges like global warming, and the political system. There are good reasons to think that governments should try to develop more trust in society.
Distrust usually causes friction in personal relationships, careers and politics among others, says Stephen Covey. Although majority of people say that trust can never be restored once it’s broken, Stephen feels it can be brought back. “It’s not easy, it takes time, but you do it through your behavior, not just things you say.”
1. It can be concluded from the analysis of the General Social Survey that ______.| A．intelligence accounts for the connection between trust and health |
| B．judgment of characters determines the level of intelligence |
| C．intelligent individuals spend less time on interpersonal relationship |
| D．intelligent people tend to show more trust in others |
| A．Make the best of a situation. | B．Stick to one’s promise as agreed. |
| C．Figure out the true value of a bargain. | D．Make an assessment of a deal. |
| A．a basic step to deal with global warming | B．a decisive basis for stable political system |
| C．a complete solution to interpersonal conflicts | D．a contributing factor to successful public institutions |
| A．actions always speak louder than words | B．Trust is the proper fruit of knowledge |
| C．mind is largely determined by behavior | D．behavior is a mirror to shows one’s image |
【推荐2】Since the last ice age, humans have cleared nearly half of the earth’s forests and grasslands for agriculture. With the world population expanding, there’s ever-increasing pressure on farmland to produce not only more food but also clean energy. In places such as Yakima County, Washington, it’s created competition for space as land-hungry solar panels (板) consume available fields. Last month, the state approved plans to cover 1,700 acres of agricultural land with solar panels, fueling concerns over the long-term impacts of losing cropland.
A recent study from the University of California, however, shows how farmers may soon harvest crops and energy together. One researcher, Majdi Abou Najm, explains that visible light spectrum (光谱) can be separated into blue and red light waves, and their photons (光子) have different properties. Blue ones have higher energy than red ones. While that gives blue light what is needed to generate power, it also results in higher temperatures. “From a plant angle, red photons are the efficient ones,” says Abou Najm. “They don’t make the plant feel hot.”
A goal of the study is to create a new generation of solar panels. He sees potential in the organic solar cells, which come from carbon-based materials. Thin and transparent, the cells are applied like a film onto various surfaces. This new technology could be used to develop special solar panels that block blue light to generate power, while passing the red light on to crops planted directly below. These panels could also provide shade for heat-sensitive fruits during the hottest part of the day.
By 2050, we’ll have two billion more people, and we’ll need more food and more energy. By maximizing the solar spectrum, “we’re making full use of an endlessly sustainable resource,” says Abou Najm. “If a technology kicks in that can develop these panels, then the sky is the limit on how efficient we can be.”
1. What problem does the first paragraph focus on?| A．Losing cropland to solar panels. |
| B．Distribution of the world population. |
| C．Reduction in forests and grasslands. |
| D．Competing for land between farmers. |
| A．Generation of solar power. |
| B．Hot weather increasing efficiency. |
| C．Blue photons having higher energy. |
| D．Separation of visible light spectrum. |
| A．They make fruits heat-sensitive. |
| B．They can cool down in hot days, |
| C．They allow red light to pass through. |
| D．They can store carbon-based materials. |
| A．Limited. | B．Promising. |
| C．Uncertain. | D．Challenging. |
【推荐3】The term “social distancing” has been at the center of public conversation for a while. But it’s not “social” distance we are trying to promote. It’s physical separation. In fact, preserving social ties—even at a distance—is essential for both mental and physical health. The results of an analytic review done in 2017 indicate that a lack of social support nearly amounts to smoking cigarettes as a risk factor for health.
Given this fact, how might we best stay connected to others while maintaining physical distance? Would we be better off e-mailing a friend? Making a phone call? Setting up a video chat? In our study, Nick Epley and I tested whether the media, through which people interact, affects their sense of connection, and how expectations about certain technologies impact (影响) the communication media they choose to use.
In our experiment, we asked participants to reconnect with someone that they hadn’t interacted with recently, either through e-mail or over the phone. Participants first made predictions about what it would be like to get in touch if they reached out in these two ways. They generally believed that they’d feel more connected when interacting via the phone than over e-mail. But they also predicted that talking on the phone could be more uncomfortable than sending an e-mail. Although these participants believed that talking encouraged stronger bonds, most of them said they’ d rather send an e-mail than call the person up.
Fears about awkwardness, it seems, push individuals toward text-based methods for communicating. In the next part of the experiment, we had participants actually reconnect using one randomly determined mode of communication and then followed up with them after they had done so. We found that people do form meaningfully stronger bonds when interacting over the phone than over e-mail. Importantly, though, there was no difference in the amount of discomfort when reconnecting on the phone.
The next time you think about how best to connect, consider calling or setting up a video chat. Feelings of social connection are preferably promoted by voice rather than a keyboard.
1. How does the author support his view on the importance of maintaining social ties?| A．By stating a deep-rooted tradition. |
| B．By quoting a published report. |
| C．By sharing public opinions. |
| D．By presenting government’s policy. |
| A．How technologies impact means of communication. |
| B．How people’s behaviour affects each other’s friendship. |
| C．Why maintaining social separation is bad for mental health. |
| D．Why reconnecting with friends over the phone brings awkwardness. |
| A．They changed the research objectives. |
| B．They live up to society’s expectations. |
| C．They provided inspiration for future studies. |
| D．They are partly opposed to participants’ predictions. |
| A．For stronger bonds, talk instead of typing. |
| B．Keeping in touch is the key to a lasting friendship. |
| C．Think before you consider contacting an old friend. |
| D．Text-based methods for communication cause discomfort. |
【推荐1】Frauds (诈骗犯) play complex psychological tricks to fool others, says Colin Barras. And that means anyone can be cheated unless they know what to look for.
None of us likes to be cheated. and David Modic has done some researches on it. It’s the personal passion that has convinced Modic to study the psychology of cheating. He’s not alone: the field is thriving, and the information that researchers are uncovering is valuable to us all-from those single in search of love to the technology wizards (人才) in charge of the world’s online security.
Modic is particularly interested in what makes people easy to fraud. It’s common to imagine that only the foolish or poorly educated might fall victim - but even hard evidence suggests this is not the case. Take Paul Frampton, an Oxbridge educated academic professor of physics for example. In 2012 Frampton was given almost 5 years in prison for drug smuggling in Argentina, after falling victim to an online dating fraud. And then there’s John Worley. As a psychotherapist, Worley knows more than most of us about controlling life’s right ways. But in 2005 he was put on trial for bank fraud after becoming a victim of a fraud. This fraud sees people contacted by someone claiming to be a Nigerian government official appealing for help moving large sums of money out of the country — who just requires a little money upfront (预付的) to release the fortune. Worley was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison.
Intelligence and experience offer no protection against cheaters, says Modic. “If it did, then better educated people and older people would be less likely to fall for scams (骗局). And that is not supported by my research.”
To look for answers to that question, Modic and Frank Stajano have quizzed thousands of people, asking them first whether they think various frauds are reasonable — and whether they have fallen victim to them — before asking them to perform a personality test. The research has identified a number of characteristics that people who are victims of frauds seem to in common. Some of these traits — like a lack of self-control — we would probably recognize as dangerous. But others — a trust in authority, a desire to act in the same way as our friends, or a tendency to act in a consistent way — we might think of as good characteristics.
1. According to the passage, the frauds may .| A．threaten the world’s online security |
| B．play their tricks in a consistent way |
| C．receive much education of psychology |
| D．have high intelligence to help cheating |
| A．who and what makes people easy to fraud |
| B．all walks of life would be likely to fall for scams |
| C．the poorly educated may be easier to be cheated |
| D．government officials should be responsible for frauds |
| A．often follow friends’ actions |
| B．are considered to be dangerous |
| C．also share good characteristics |
| D．shouldn’t have a trust in authority |
【推荐2】Britain is arguably the great walking nation. About two-thirds of us already head out to stretch our legs once a week. The following festivals offer a wealth of organized walks, but walkers should register in advance.
Prestatyn and Clwydian Range festival
Visitors to Wales tend to move west, to either the well-worn tracks of Snowdonia or the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. There are 25 walks packed into the three days, with various options available, including a half-mile Roman-themed adventure, an eight-mile walk exploring the life of 18th-century Welsh naturalist and travel writer Thomas Pennant and a 21-mile Offa’s Dyke challenge. All walks are free.
Denbighshire, Wales, 19-21 May
Otley walking festival
This local festival has grown from humble origins in 2000 into a busy schedule of 50 short-distance walks and events celebrating the lives and landscapes of Wharfedale in West Yorkshire. One might enjoy the Five Pubs Walk, Walking With Wine, Four More Pubs or Lost Pubs of Otley. All walks are free, though there is sometimes a small charge for transport.
Otley, West Yorkshire, 24 June-3 July
Dartmoor offroading walking festival
Dartmoor delights (使高兴) walkers because, while tracks are there to be followed, the lack of wire and other barriers, and the relatively small number of farm buildings on the higher ground, create a sensation of freedom. The six free wheelchair walks, starting daily at 11am, explore Dartmoor’s industrial history, bronze age valuables and Victorian railway builders.
Devon, 27 August-2 September
Gower walking festival
With more superb walking options inside a single landscape than perhaps anywhere else, the Gower peninsula (半岛) sometimes feels as if it’s all coast. The further information for this nine-day festival, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Wales Coast Path (WCP), has yet to be finalized. Half of the walks offered during the festival will be on the coastal path. £10 adults, over-sixes £6.
Glamorgan, 2-10 September
1. Which festival is friendly to the disabled?| A．Prestatyn and Clwydian Range festival. | B．Otley walking festival. |
| C．Dartmoor offroading walking festival. | D．Gower walking festival. |
| A．It has the most superb walking options. |
| B．Half of the walks last for a whole week. |
| C．It’s aimed to advocate coastal protection. |
| D．The final details remain to be confirmed. |
| A．They are offered free of charge. | B．They require prior registeration. |
| C．They take advantage of the coast. | D．They are favored by antique enthusiasts. |
【推荐3】Public transport is declining in the rich world. To those who have to squeeze onto the number 25 bus in London, or the A train in New York, the change might not be noticeable. But public transport is becoming less busy in those places, and passenger numbers are flat or falling in almost every American city despite healthy growth in urban populations and employment.
Although transport agencies blame their unpopularity on things like roadworks and broken signals, it seems more likely that they are being outcompeted. App-based taxi services like Uber and Lyft are more comfortable and convenient than trains or buses. Cycling is nicer than it was, and rental bikes are more widely available. Cars are cheap to buy, thanks to cut-rate loans, and ever cheaper to run. Online shopping, home working and office-sharing mean more people can avoid travelling altogether.
The competition is only likely to grow. More than one laboratory is developing new transport technologies and applications. Silicon Valley invented Uber and, more recently, apps that let people rent electric scooters(滑板车) and then abandon them on the pavement. China created sharing-bicycles and battery-powered "e-bikes", both of which are spreading.
Transport agencies should accept the upstarts(新兴方式), and copy them. Cities tend either to ignore app-based services or to try to push them off the streets. That is understandable, given the rules-are-for-losers attitude of firms like Uber. But it is an error.
It is doubtful that most people make hard distinctions between public and private transport. They just want to get somewhere, and there is a cost in time, money and comfort. An ideal system would let them move across a city for a single payment, transferring from trains to taxis to bicycles as needed. Building a platform to allow that is hard, and requires much effort of traditional networks as well as technology firms. It is probably the secret to keeping cities moving.
1. What is the change in public transport in big cities?| A．It is becoming busier. |
| B．It is getting less popular. |
| C．There are fewer traffic delays. |
| D．There is more new transport. |
| A．there are roadworks and broken signals. |
| B．people are becoming healthier and employed. |
| C．cars and bikes are more and more available. |
| D．transport agencies are seemingly less competitive. |
| A．By giving examples |
| B．By providing research results |
| C．By stating arguments |
| D．By comparing different approaches |
| A．to develop an ideal system that satisfies everyone. |
| B．to provide people with more means of transportation. |
| C．to build a good platform that appeals to transport agencies. |
| D．to make traditional networks and technology firms cooperate. |
