Scientists researching climate change in Antarctica are studying penguins in an effort to better understand the area’s environmental health. The scientists are measuring the growth and development of the penguin population on the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. “We are counting penguin nests to understand how many penguins are in a colony, producing young every year, and whether that number is going up or down with the environmental conditions,” said Alex Borowicz. He is an ecology researcher at New York’s Stony Brook University.
The work is not easy for climate researchers in the icy, faraway reaches of Antarctica. But penguins are easier to follow than some other kinds of animals because they nest on land. Their black bodies and waste droppings can also be identified against the area’s white background.
Michael Wethington, another researcher from Stony Brook, told Reuters the penguin population can represent overall climate conditions and the health of the area’s whole ecosystem. The researchers say counts of individual penguins can be combined with data from satellite images to get a more complete picture of how the animals are progressing.
Gentoo penguins—with bright orange beaks and white markings on their heads—prefer open water without broken pieces of ice floating around. So when temperatures on the Antarctic Peninsula began rising during the latter half of the 20th century, Gentoo populations moved south. Gentoo penguins don’t like sea ice. They mostly forage (觅食) over the continental shelf and don’t go far out to sea. As sea ice has decreased along the western side of the peninsula, Gentoos seem to have gotten used to the changed conditions. But those same conditions have been worse for the Adelie penguin species. This is because the Adelies depend on sea ice for feeding and reproduction.
“When we find Adelie penguins, we typically know that sea ice is nearby,” Stony Brook’s Wethington said. He added that whenever researchers see sea ice decreasing or disappearing, they also see Adelie penguin populations plunge. Even though Adelie penguins are increasing in number overall, some populations have fallen by more than 65 percent, researchers say.
1. Why do scientists studying climate change in Antarctica study penguins?| A．To offer them better protection. |
| B．To find out about the penguin population. |
| C．To have a clearer idea of their living habits. |
| D．To learn more about the conditions of Antarctica. |
| A．Their various kinds of species. | B．Their unique eating habits. |
| C．Their nesting habit and body color. | D．Their unusual hunting ways. |
| A．They are quite adaptive. | B．They are in great danger. |
| C．They tend to hunt far out to sea. | D．They have a preference for sea ice. |
| A．Adelie penguin has been affected by climate change. |
| B．Adelie penguin has got used to the changing environment. |
| C．Adelie penguin population has fallen by more than 65 percent. |
| D．Adelie penguin population represents the area’s whole ecosystem. |
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【推荐1】Rainforests are home to a rich variety of medicinal plants, food, birds and animals. Can you believe that a single bush（灌木丛）in the Amazon may have more species of ants than the whole of Britain! About 480 varieties of trees may be found in just one hectare of rainforest.
Rainforests are the lungs of the planet-storing vast quantities of carbon dioxide and producing a significant amount of the world's oxygen. Rainforests have their own perfect system for ensuring their own survival; the tall trees make a canopy（树冠层）of branches and leaves which protect themselves, smaller plants, and the forest animals from heavy rain, intense dry heat from the sun and strong winds.
Amazingly, the trees grow in such a way that their leaves and branches, although close together, never actually touch those of another tree. Scientists think this is the plants' way to prevent the spread of any tree diseases and make life more difficult for leaf-eating insects like caterpillars. To survive in the forest, animals must climb, jump or fly across the gaps. The ground floor of the forest is not all tangled leaves and bushes, like in films, but is actually fairly clear. It is where dead leaves turn into food for the trees and other forest life.
They are not called rainforests for nothing! Rainforests can generate 75%of their own rain. At least 80 inches of rain a year is normal-and in some areas there may be as much as 430 inches of rain annually. This is real rain-your umbrella may protect you in a shower, but it won't keep you dry if there is a full rainstorm. In just two hours, streams can rise ten to twenty feet. The humidity（湿气）of large rainforests contributes to the formation of rainclouds that may travel to other countries in need of rain.
1. What can we learn about rainforests from the first paragraph?| A．They produce oxygen. | B．They cover a vast area. |
| C．They are well managed. | D．They are rich in wildlife. |
| A．Heavy rains | B．Big trees. |
| C．Small plants. | D．Forest animals. |
| A．For more sunlight. | B．For more growing space. |
| C．For self-protection. | D．For the detection of insects. |
| A．Life-Giving Rainforests | B．The Law of the Jungle |
| C．Animals in the Amazon | D．Weather in Rainforests |
【推荐2】Scientists in Britain have managed to teach bees to pull strings (线) to get to food and then pass on what they have learned to others in their colony (群体) — showing a high level of intelligence despite their tiny brains.
Researchers at Queen Mary University of London said the experiments, often used to test the intelligence of apes (猿) and birds, showed for the first time that some insects are up to the task, and can also pass skills on through several generations.
The findings add to the evidence suggesting the ability for “culture spread”— the ability to learn and pass on knowledge and skills — may not be exclusive to humans.
In the research, published in the journal PLOS Biology on Tuesday, the scientists were able to train 23 out of a group of 40 bees to pull strings with their legs and feet.
The strings were attached to discs — or artificial “flowers” — containing food at their center but placed under a transparent (透明的) screen. The bees, spotting the food beneath the screen, learned to pull the “flowers” out by pulling the string with their legs and feet to be able to get to it.
From another group of bees given the chance to solve the task without any training, only two of 110 were successful.
Another group of bees was then allowed to observe the trained bees pulling the strings, and 60 percent of them successfully learned the skill. Finally, trained bees were put in colonies, and the scientists found the technique spread successfully to a majority of the colony's worker bees.
Lars Chittka, a Queen Mary University professor who guided the project, said the team is interested in figuring out the brain processes behind the bees' learning and teaching skills.
1. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “exclusive” in Paragraph 3?| A．Typical. | B．Limited. |
| C．Obvious | D．Widespread. |
| A．Bees learn best in insects. | B．Bees are as clever as birds. |
| C．Bees are born good learners. | D．Bees can be trained to learn skills. |
| A．What else bees can do. | B．Where bees learn skills. |
| C．How bees teach others. | D．How bees' brains work. |
| A．Small Bees, Great Abilities | B．Bees Can Learn and Teach |
| C．Bees Are Smarter | D．Let Bees Learn |
【推荐3】Many wildlife populations around the world are falling in size. The speed and scale of these losses have scientists worried. In less than 50 years, the number of wild animals has dropped by about two-thirds. That’s the finding of a new report.
To get the size of these populations can be hard. Yet scientists need such numbers to know how the Earth’s species (物种) has been changing and understand how people may be influencing the number of animals.
A group of scientists recently set out to get those numbers. To do that, they worked with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) based in Switzerland, and the Zoological Society of London in England. The team studied more than 38,000 populations of animals. These included more than 5,000 species. The new study looked for changes in the population size of all groups between 1970 and 2018.
The study found that the population has dropped by 69 percent. “It tells us that we need to do something about falling populations around the world,” says Rebecca Shaw, a scientist at the WWF’s office in New York City. The team published (发布) its finding in October. Its numbers were part of WWF’s Living Planet Report.
WWF and the Zoological Society of London work to protect animals and nature. Every two years they publish a Living Planet Report on the influences that people are having on wildlife. Scientists from the two groups collected data on animal populations. They studied how the size of each population changed over time.
“Looking at changes in population size can show us species that are likely to face extinction (灭绝),” explains Brian McGill, an author of the new report. “The species in this study haven’t gone extinct—at least, not yet. So, there is still time for humans to take action and turn things around.”
1. Why did the scientists do the research?| A．To know the changes in the number of wildlife. |
| B．To. offer wild animals better living conditions. |
| C．To tell people to stop raising animals at the zoo. |
| D．To find ways to get over difficulties humans face. |
| A．Introduce an international group. |
| B．Add some background information. |
| C．Come up with new ideas about wildlife. |
| D．Praise the researchers for their courage. |
| A．We can’t get control of wildlife populations. |
| B．We can’t stop the species going extinct. |
| C．It’s not easy to make a big difference. |
| D．It’s not too late to save wildlife. |
| A．A Study Finds Big Drop in Animal Populations |
| B．A Report Shows the Exact Number of Wildlife |
| C．WWF Plays a Key Role in Protecting Animals |
| D．Many Living Species Will Die out Forever |
【推荐1】Leonardo da Vinci was famous artist who was born in Italy. He was also a great inventor. Many of his inventions have become important in modern life. Although Leonardo hated war, he invented many different machines used for war. His most special invention was the machine gun, which was produced and used in war. Besides, Leonardo spent days thinking about how to save time. He developed ideas for something like cutting machines.
Leonardo was strange man. He never ate meat. That was very unusual in those times. He never published scientific discoveries. He usually used mirror writing, which looks like usual writing in a mirror, starting from the right side of the page and moving to the left side.
Only a few of his paintings are left today. Many paintings were not finished because he thought they were not perfect.
Leonardo was talented and creative. He was regarded as one of the most intelligent men in the world.
1. What’s Leonardo’s status besides an artist?| A．An actor. | B．A worker. | C．A farmer. | D．An inventor. |
| A．The cutting machine. | B．The machine gun. |
| C．The air conditioner. | D．The washing machine. |
| A．He never ate meat. | B．He never published scientific discoveries. |
| C．He used mirror writing. | D．He hated war. |
| A．Because many paintings were not finished. | B．Because many paintings were lost in war. |
| C．Because he burnt most of his paintings. | D．Because he had no time to paint. |
| A．Famous but not great. | B．Great but not famous. |
| C．Intelligent but not usual. | D．Talented but not strange. |
【推荐2】Almost everyone has a question or two about living in space. What is life really like in space? And what do astronauts do there?
Astronauts living in space have the same hygiene needs as people do on Earth. When they wake up, they wash their hair, brush their teeth and go to the bathroom as well. However, because of microgravity (微重力), astronauts take care of themselves in different ways. For example, they use a kind of special matter to wash their hair and leg restraints (腿部個定装置) to position themselves when they use the toilet.
Astronauts eat three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some food can be eaten in the natural form such as fruit. Other foods require adding water such as noodles. There are no fridges in space, so space food must be stored and prepared properly to avoid going bad.
Besides morning routine and eating in space, astronauts perform many tasks including checking the machines, updating computer equipment, etc. At the same time, the control center on Earth sends messages to the astronauts through voice or email with new instructions to assist them in their daily routines.
What’s more, living in space is not just all work and no play. A popular way of relaxation is looking out of the window. And they can also enjoy themselves by watching movies, reading books, playing cards and talking to their families during their free time.
1. The underlined word “hygiene”in this passage probably means ________in Chinese.| A．饮食 | B．卫生 | C．心理 | D．技术 |
| A．To help themselves walk faster. |
| B．To make themselves go around freely. |
| C．To help themselves jump up and down easily. |
| D．To stop themselves from floating around. |
| A．Eating in space. | B．Exercises in space. |
| C．Relaxing in space. | D．Working in space. |
| A．life in space is exactly the same as life on Earth |
| B．living in space is different but interesting |
| C．astronauts have little free time in space |
| D．Astronaut are always busy working in space |
【推荐3】Scientists have shown that bees have some surprising math skills. Now, new study shows that bees can even be trained to tell the difference between odd and even numbers. Before this, humans were the only animals known to have this ability.
In 2018, researchers in Australia discovered that bees could understand the idea of “zero”. The researchers were perplexed, since only a few animals, like dolphins, monkeys, and some birds, had shown that they understood zero. Later, the same scientists showed that bees could be trained to add and subtract (减).
In the study, researchers divided honeybees into two control groups. They showed bees cards containing printed shapes that numbered from one to ten. One group was trained to fly to even-numbered cards, which earned them a sugar water treat if they successfully completed the task. If they flew to an odd-numbered card, they received a sour liquid. The second group had a similar approach, but the numbers were reversed(相反的). An odd card would earn them a sweet treat and an even card would give them a sour liquid. Researchers continued this lesson until the bees succeeded at least 80% of the time.
Then, they added a new challenge. They had the bees choose between cards with 11 and 12 shapes on them. The bees had never seen these numbers in their training. Even so, they succeeded 70% of the time.
The reason for this study is that the scientists believe that studying bee brains might help us learn how to build better and faster computers. After all, a bee’s brain is about 86,000 times smaller than a human brain. How does it handle such complicated ideas? Unless the brain structures for processing numbers aren’t so complicated. Then, the scientists built an extremely simple computer system with just five connections called neurons(神经元) , and they were able to train it to tell the difference between even and odd numbers up to 40.
1. What does the underlined word ‘‘perplexed’’ in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Tolerant | B．Creative | C．Puzzled | D．Discouraged |
| A．By mixing the two drinks. | B．By drawing the right shapes. |
| C．By removing correct numbers. | D．By landing on specified cards. |
| A．Finding potential technology innovations. |
| B．Teaching bees different means of learning. |
| C．Speeding the learning behavior of humans. |
| D．Training bees to serve mankind more easily. |
| A．Bees Calculate Numbers like Humans | B．Scientists Train Bees to Count Numbers |
| C．Odds and Evens Are Significant to Bees | D．Bees Can Learn Odd and Even Numbers |
【推荐1】We’re already well aware that the American Southwest, which is naturally hot and dry, is seriously short of water. The situation is getting worse every day with populations in California, Nevada and New Mexico continuing growing. The fact that so many people of the region need the limited resources has led experts to predict a major water shortfall that will cost billions to deal with. A new study that reveals climate change is going to dry out the region even further is painting a serious picture of the future.
According to the study, global warming could increase the long-term water shortfall to the 1,815 billion cubic metres by adding another 439 million cubic metres of water. Based on the price of adding reservoir (水库) capacities in California, meeting basic water shortages could cost $549 billion if climate change is factored in. Higher water prices would make the adaptation even more expensive if no water could be found at all in the drier future.
But even beyond the mere cost of creating more reservoirs, there’s no denying the fact that a hotter, drier Southwest will demand more and more energy for cooling. There’s another fact that climate change will make cities in states like Nevada and New Mexico far less sustainable than they already are. There’s also the fact that a warmer climate will have a long-lasting impact on the region’s ecosystem. Previous study has noted that climate change may convert the American South-west into a permanent desert.
It’s certainly possible that it will be too expensive to build reservoirs for some suburbs and communities and we could see an exodus (大批人同时离开) from the region; but that’s almost suitable to change, because communities pay for the extremely inefficient processes of pumping in water from out of the states.
1. What is the best title for this passage?| A．American Southwest Is Short of Water |
| B．Climate Change Will Make Water Shortage Worse |
| C．California Council Pays Attention to Water Shortages |
| D．Water Shortages Lead Experts to Predict Water Shortfall |
| A．Worried. | B．Critical. | C．Sympathetic. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．People should cool the climate immediately. |
| B．The situations of Nevada and New Mexico are not bad yet. |
| C．The energy requirements needed for cooling will not make water shortage worse. |
| D．There’s a relationship between climate change and ecosystem. |
| A．The high price of building reservoirs is making the situation worse. |
| B．Population growth is the main reason for water shortages. |
| C．Global warming could increase the long-term water shortfall to 1,815 billion cubic metres. |
| D．The American Southwest may become a desert one day. |
【推荐2】On January 22, a massive iceberg broke off from Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf. Scientists say the iceberg was expected to break off and the event isn’t connected to climate change. But the size of the iceberg is hard to imagine.
The iceberg, known as “A81”, is extremely large. It covers an area of about 600 square miles (1,550 square kilometers).
Antarctica, the world’s fifth largest continent, is covered with a layer of ice and snow that’s roughly 1.2 miles (1.9 kilometers) thick. As snow falls, it piles up in the center of Antarctica in a huge layer of ice. Over time, the weight of this ice and snow creates slowly moving rivers of ice called glaciers, which push out towards the sea.
When the glaciers reach the sea, they slowly push out beyond the edge of the land, forming huge “ice shelves”, These are massive sections of ice that spread out over the sea, floating on the water below. Antarctica’s largest ice shelf, the Ross Ice Shelf, is about the size of France.
From time to time, the edges of the ice shelves break off. This is a natural process, called “calving”. Though calving events are a normal part of the ice shelf in Antarctica, one expert describes huge calving events like this one as “spectacular”,
Unlike an ice shelf, sea ice isn’t attached to Antarctica’s land. It’s a layer of ice that floats on the surface of the sea. The sea ice is there year-round. It grows larger in the cold winters, and smaller as it begins to melt in the summers.
It’s now summer in Antarctica, and scientists say the sea ice is disappearing “unusually” rapidly. Last year, with temperatures warmer than normal, Antarctica set a record for the lowest amount of sea ice ever recorded. Scientists say Antarctica’s sea ice could set a new record low again this year.
1. Why have a lot of icebergs broken off from Antarctica in recent years?| A．Because of climate change. |
| B．Because of human activities. |
| C．Because of their extremely big size. |
| D．Because of the amount of iceberg. |
| A．Giving birth. | B．Breaking off. |
| C．Coming together. | D．Cutting down. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Objective. | C．Optimistic. | D．Worried. |
| A．Massive Iceberg Breaks from Antarctica |
| B．Scientists Say the Iceberg Was to Break Off |
| C．Antarctica’s Sea Ice Could Set a New Record |
| D．The Sea Ice Disappears“Unusually”Rapidly |
【推荐3】A new study says that more than half the world’s ocean area is “becoming greener”, and the trend is connected to human-caused global warming.
It’s not clear what is driving the greening. In some places, it could indicate changes in the amount of plankton or other organic material floating in the water. Plankton are a cornerstone of the ocean food chain, and these kinds of shifts could have ripple effects throughout the entire marine ecosystem.
The study, published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, examines 20 years of satellite data measuring light reflected at the surface of the water all across the globe, subtle changes that aren’t necessarily visible to the naked eye. The research finds that 56 percent of the world’s oceans are shifting in color — and on the whole, they’re growing greener. The trend is especially strong in the lower latitudes, including the subtropics and tropics.
The researchers then used a computer model to find out whether climate change was playing a part. They conducted one set of simulations representing the oceans under a strong climate change scenario, and then compared them with a second set of simulations imagining a world in which climate change didn’t exist. The model suggests that rising global temperatures are to blame.
The exact reasons still require some scientific digging. While climate change seems to be the culprit, the study also indicates that rising ocean temperatures in and of themselves aren’t driving the greening.
There are plenty of other ways global warming is affecting the world’s oceans, by changing the structure and flow of certain currents, for instance. These kinds of changes can affect the growth of phytoplankton and other factors that might be contributing to the greening.
The findings weren’t a surprise to the researchers. They’re consistent with the way researchers expect the global oceans to change as the world keeps on warming.
“I’ve been running simulations that have been telling me for years that these changes in ocean color are going to happen,” study co-author Stephanie Dutkiewicz, a senior research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in a statement. “To actually see it happening for real is no unexpected, but frightening.”
1. What is the main topic of the study mentioned in the text?| A．Changes in the color of the world’s oceans. |
| B．The role of plankton in the ocean food chain. |
| C．The impact of climate change on ocean ecosystems. |
| D．The effects of global warming on ocean temperatures. |
| A．A person who is responsible for a crime. |
| B．An animal that causes damage or harm. |
| C．A substance that causes negative effects. |
| D．A thing or fact that is responsible for a problem. |
| A．They are unsurprised. | B．They are emotional. |
| C．They are indifferent. | D．They are unsure. |
| A．They will become smaller. | B．They will become more polluted. |
| C．They will continue to change colors. | D．They will become less diverse. |
