Dr.Rick Essner, who has been studying tailed frogs for the past few years, says, “ I’ve looked at thousands of jumps and have never seen them land on their feet like other frogs.” Most of the time, tailed frogs land on their stomachs and then bring their back legs in to prepare for another jump.
Essner forst noticed these frogs because of the way they swim. Other frogs kick both of their back legs at the same time. But when a tailed frog swims, it pushes first with one leg and then the other.
To try to find out why tailed frogs bellyflop, Essner and other scientists collected and filmed different kinds of frogs. They found that all of the frogs start their jumps the same way: they hold out their legs. The change comes in the landing. Tailed frogs can't move their back legs as quickly as other frogs do. Maybe they don’t need to. Tailed frogs live around water and quickly jump into the water to escape danger.
Early frogs developed around watery areas and could jump quickly into the water to escape danger. Scientists think those frogs blended in with (与…融合在一起) the green plants on the side of the rocky rivers, just like today’s tailed frogs. “Ｉwould guess that other animals would have problems detecting them, ” explains Essner. When other animals find those early frogs, the frogs could jump into the river. They didn’t need to continue hopping.
Tailed frogs and other kinds of frogs went their own ways about 200 million years ago. Tailed frogs stayed by rivers. Other kinds of frogs moved to places where new hopping skills allowed them to survive.
1. What’s special about the detailed frog ?
| A．It has a long tail |
| B．It jumps on one foot |
| C．It stars its jump differently |
| D．It lands differently from other frogs. |
| A．They have never left the water to live . |
| B．They have trouble in holding out their legs |
| C．Their back legs can’t catch up while jumping.. |
| D．Their front legs develop better than the back ones. |
| A．eating | B．killing |
| C．using | D．discovering |
| A．jump into the water for protection |
| B．hop around quickly |
| C．hide in the green plants near the river |
| D．jump into the rock |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Similar to people in danger, corals (珊瑚) under attack do what anyone would do — they call for help. A new study reported in the journal Science, shows that corals under attack by poisonous seaweed (海草) will turn to reef fish for help. The “emergency responder” fish will come to help them within a matter of minutes.
Large reef fish (岩礁鱼类) which live on seaweed have long been known to control the growth of seaweed that damages corals and play a major role in keeping a healthy coral reef ecosystem (生态系统). However, the role that smaller fish play in protecting reef ecosystems is much less known.
Scientists suspected that the role of inch-long fish, known as gobies (虾虎鱼), might be equally, if not more, important to the health of coral reefs (珊瑚礁).
To study the complexities (复杂性) of how gobies and their host coral affect one another, Professor Mark Hay and his colleague Danielle Dixon set up a series of experiments to observe how the small fish would respond when the corals that shelter them were threatened.
They studied a type of coral species called Acropora nasuta. To cause a threatened response in the coral, the researchers moved a poisonous seaweed species into contact with the coral. Within a few minutes, they found that two species of gobies would move toward the contact site and begin removing the seaweed.
“These little fish would come out and cut the seaweed so it didn’t touch the coral,” said Hay. “The coral releases (释放) a chemical and the fish respond right away.”
To determine what was actually attracting the fish, Dixon and Hay collected water samples, which showed that the coral is releasing some chemical signal that attracts the fish to remove the seaweed. The fish are not responding to the seaweed itself.
In the end, Hay explains, “The fish are getting protection in a safe place to live and food from the coral. At the time, the coral gets a bodyguard in exchange for a small amount of food. It’s kind of like paying taxes in exchange for police protection.”
1. What do corals do when they are attacked?| A．They hide themselves under rocks. | B．They fight against their enemies. |
| C．They call for help. | D．They can do nothing to avoid attack. |
| A．are in need of food | B．receive chemical signals sent by corals |
| C．hear a special sound made by corals | D．see corals are under threat |
| A．all seaweed does harm to corals |
| B．gobies sometimes eat corals |
| C．chemicals released by corals can cause pollution |
| D．gobies and corals benefit each other |
| A．Corals in great danger | B．Reef fish in short supply |
| C．Corals provide shelter for fish | D．Threatened corals get help from fish |
【推荐2】It's 10 o'clock at night, and we've been walking along behind him and his wife, Maria, on the beach in complete darkness for half an hour, hoping that every shadowy form is a green sea turtle that has appeared from the Caribbean to lay her eggs on Tortuguero Beach.
After traveling a long way here to witness the event at the end of the nesting season, we walk behind Castor in dutiful silence, thinking about the impact we could have on a turtle's nesting decision. Although they can't hear well, green sea turtles have a powerful sense of smell. Lights can also disturb them. And if the female feels threatened, she'll likely return to the sea to give up all 100 to 120 of her eggs-a huge sacrifice for an endangered creature.
Earlier that day we read up on threats to the turtles-poisonous waste, plastic bags and fishing hooks among other things. These threats apply, however, only if the baby turtles even make it to the sea in the first place.
"She is there," Castor reports, "making her nest now." A female turtle turns herself around and around in a circle until the top of her shell is nearly even with the sand. Employing her back flippers (鳍肢), she then reaches beneath herself to dig a neat, deep hole for the hundred or more eggs she will lay his evening.
We sit silently on a big piece of driftwood, waiting patiently like family members outside the birthing room. "Come closer!" Castor says, and we bend towards the soft red glow of his flashlight. His right hand holds the massive turtle's left back flipper aside so that the light shines directly into the hole, which is already filled with eggs. Her tail lifts as a soft, slippery egg slides through and goes into the hole, followed by another and another. After laying the eggs, her tail flipper begin to remove sand from the "walls" around her, dragging it over the top of the eggs.
Then Castor signals us to another spot where a nest is hatching (孵化) at the very moment. Dozens of baby turtles desperately move to the surface, trying to drag themselves up out and to the sea. However, a huge driftwood lying in the sand parallel to the sea blocks their passage down the beach. Castor shines his beam toward the water and Maria picks the newborns up and places them on the other side of the wood. If we weren't there at the moment, most of them would have wandered aimlessly toward the jungle and death.
On the way back to the village, I recall my mixed feelings about human impact on the environment, Now I'm home joyous that my presence has helped an entire nest of baby turtles survive the first challenge of their lives.
1. According to the passage, green sea turtles _________.| A．will sacrifice anything to protect their babies | B．are very sensitive to sounds, smells and lights |
| C．are endangered mainly due to water pollution | D．face great challenges the minute they are born |
| A．observe green sea turtles lay eggs. | B．learn about the threats sea turtles face |
| C．enjoy the quiet nesting season in October | D．help baby turtles make their first step to the sea |
| A．Tourists help show them the way to the jungle. | B．A barrier stops them from reaching the sea. |
| C．All of them get trapped in the sand. | D．Most of them wander off and die. |
【推荐3】While we were searching the heavens, science and all the corners of the Earth, the secret of immortality (永生) may have been floating in the ocean this whole time in the form of a jellyfish (水母).
Jellyfish start their lives as tiny cigar-shaped creatures that move in circles through the water, looking for a rock or something handy to attach itself to. Once firmly in place, they transform into polyps (水螅), which are small creatures with a body shaped like a tube. When the conditions are right, these polyps bloom in large numbers and when they bloom, baby jellyfish are produced.
If the start of jellyfish life wasn't extraordinary enough, its death is where things get really exciting. When the medusa jellyfish dies, it sinks to the bottom and begins to die. Amazingly, its cells then reorganize, not into a new medusa, but into polyps, and from these polyps comes new jellyfish. The jellyfish has skipped to an earlier life stage to begin again. Dr. Lisa-ann Gershwin, a jellyfish researcher says, “It’s one of the most amazing discoveries of our time.”
It's not just the medusa jellyfish that can rise from its own ashes. In 2011, a biology student in China kept a moon jellyfish in a tank. When it died, he kept the body in another tank. Three months later, a new tiny polyp was growing out the top of the moon jellyfish. This regeneration process has now been found in around five species of jellyfish.
So aside from immortality, what’s the benefit for the jellyfish itself? Why do it? Well, it means when it becomes weakened either by age or illness, or it faces danger, it can call up its incredible survival mechanism and regenerate.
Although Dr. Gershwin says she can’t see any link currently between jellyfish immortality and our own, it doesn’t mean it would not be possible in the future. Who knows? A few jellyfish genes and we could all be like Doctor Who, regenerating whenever we want.
1. What do we know about jellyfish’s rebirth?| A．It brings jellyfish no benefits. | B．It only occurs in four species. |
| C．It goes through different life stages. | D．It produces a new jellyfish directly. |
| A．To introduce a new topic. | B．To compare different study methods. |
| C．To point out the limits of the view. | D．To provide more evidence for the view. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
| A．The Secret of Immortality | B．The Jellyfish That Never Dies |
| C．The Process of Jellyfish's Rebirth | D．The Knowledge Obtained from Jellyfish |
【推荐1】Character is how you live out what you believe to be true about life, people, and the world.
Attaining virtue and being fully self-aware require us to develop qualities including judgment, perspective, bravery, perseverance, self-regulation, gratitude, hope, humor, and spirituality.
When facing a challenge, we reveal our character. Mandela was imprisoned for nearly three decades because of his efforts to oppose the South African government non-violently. However, he was able, upon his release, to have the wisdom, courage, humanity, and justice to shake hands with the prison guards who had kept him locked up for more than 27 years.
“Good character is not formed in a week or a month,” wrote Greek philosopher Heraclitus. It is created little by little.
| A．He had good character |
| B．Good character is more than just one value |
| C．Patience is needed to develop good character |
| D．It shows how you live and how you treat others |
| E．He hated the injustice that had put him in prison |
| F．These are among the characteristics of a strong person |
| G．Character changes over the course of our life experiences |
【推荐2】It is often a complex and tiring task to live a healthy life, but that isn’t always the case.
Over the last few years, a number of studies have shown that the benefits of the increased range of movement students experience when using standing desks are surprisingly broad.
The benefits of bringing standing desks into classrooms are obvious.
Sitting isn’t horrible. It isn’t a thing we should never do. The problem is that we do it too much, and so do our children, which makes children less likely to succeed and keep healthy.
| A．It is time for us to stand up to stay healthy. |
| B．But it is important for children to use them gradually. |
| C．Children spend most of their school day sitting at desks. |
| D．Thus it’s necessary to break up the sitting with standing desks. |
| E．Something as cheap as a desk could be making a major difference. |
| F．Right now there is something we can do easily to keep our children healthy. |
| G．For example, they help students keep fit and avoid putting on too much weight. |
【推荐3】People who seek comfort by pouring their hearts out in Courtney’s office don’t get rewarded with an Xanax or Prozac prescription (处方). Instead, they walk away with a reading list of some fictions.
Such fictions as To Kill a Mockingbird and The Color Purple teach you complicated topics like racism, poverty, bullying and other issues. They could also help you know your own heart and others’. Keith Oatley, a psychology professor at Toronto University, recommends novels that help us understand the characters from the inside rather than plot—driven novels. We can learn from a literary masterpiece, such as Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, or from popular fictions such as Harry Potter. Spending quality time with these characters as you relax on the beach or sit propped up on bed pillows may enhance your EQ (emotional intelligence).
Lab tests seem to show this. Brain scans of people who have been reading fictions show the area that corresponds with emotion lights up. Even if you are not a keen reader, there’s still hope. Past studies have shown serial TV programs that are character driven such as The West Wing or The Good Wife also help you better understand what we human beings are up to. Other studies have shown watching character-driven sitcoms can lessen a viewer’s prejudice.
You can be as witty as Sherlock, but to get along well in this life, you really do need to understand people emotionally. And you can’t be as emotionally unavailable as Mr. Darcy throughout much of Pride and Prejudice. You have to learn the lesson Jane Austen is trying to teach with that book. Kieth said, “To love people, you really have to know them.” People say you only get one life, but I say read fictions and you can live many lives in one.
1. Which statement is true according to the passage?| A．Reading novels cures diseases. | B．Plot-driven novels are not beneficial. |
| C．Woolf stands out as a novelist. | D．Brain scans influence people’s EQ. |
| A．By analyzing some data. | B．By following the order of time. |
| C．By providing some evidence. | D．By making some comparisons. |
| A．Sherlock gets along well in life. | B．Darcy is not very emotionally intelligent. |
| C．Keith loves reading Austen’s novels. | D．Reading fictions can lengthen our life. |
| A．The Collapse of Traditional Prescription |
| B．Suggestions on Choosing Right Novels |
| C．Reading Fictions Benefits EQ |
| D．Ways to Boost EQ |
【推荐1】A new wearable device that wraps around your finger like a plaster can harvest sweat while you sleep and use it to generate electricity, according to the developers from University of California, San Die go.
Most power producing wearable device require wearers to perform intense exercise or depend on external sources such as sunlight or large changes in temperature. But the new strip uses a passive system to generate electricity from sweat in your fingertips, even if you are sleeping or sitting completely still. This is because the finger tips are the sweatiest part of the body. So, thanks to a smart sponge material, this can be collected and processed by conductors.
The energy harvester produced small amounts of electricity when the wearer presses down or starts to sweat, or from light finger tapping. It does this by converting activities like typing, texting, or playing the piano into extra charge.
Finger tips have one of the highest concentrations of sweat grands in the body, with coach finger producing between 100 and 1,000 times more sweat than most other areas, according to the researchers.
Co-first author doctoral student Mr. Bin said: “The reason why we feel sweatier on other parts of the body is that those spots are not well ventilated (通风的). By contrast, the finger tips are always exposed to air, so the sweat evaporated as it comes out. So rather than letting it evaporate, we use our device to collect this sweat, and it can generate a significant amount of energy.”
The device is equipped with electrical conductors or electrode (电极) made from a carbon foam, which absorbs any finger sweat. Enzyme (酶) on the electrode then cause a chemical sweat molecule to generate electricity.
The device only stores up a little bit power at the moment, and would take about three weeks of constant wear to power a smart phone, but the researchers hope to increase capacity in future.
1. How is the new device different from other wearables?| A．It is cost-effective. | B．It is harmless to skin. |
| C．It required no exercise. | D．It produced electricity. |
| A．Changes into a gas. | B．Freezes in the air. |
| C．Drops to the ground. | D．B c comes bigger in amount. |
| A．It is extremely small in size. | B．It is very difficult to operate. |
| C．It has a very limited power capacity. | D．It relies much on temperature changes. |
| A．Sweats Fingertips | B．Power from Fingertips |
| C．An Electrical Conductor | D．A Rechargeable Device |
【推荐2】Ten years ago, Kristin Schell and her husband and their four children moved to a new home in Austin, Texas. She had the gift of hospitality (好客的), so she tried to connect with her new neighbors by holding parties. But those activities required planning ahead, not to mention cooking and cleaning.
One day, Kristin needed backyard furniture for a party and bought a few picnic tables from Lowe’s. The delivery driver set one table down in her front yard by mistake, and Kristin couldn’t get the image out of her head. “After the party, I painted the table turquoise (墨绿色)—my favorite color—and left it in the front yard,” she says.
That turquoise table gradually became the place where Kristin and her kids hung out. They used to do activities at the kitchen table, while they now did out front at the picnic table. Neighbors began to stop by to introduce themselves and sit down for a chat. Construction workers in the neighborhood took their lunch breaks at the table. A babysitter walking by sat down to rest. A movement was born.
People often hesitate to invite others into their homes. They think their house is too messy, or not big enough. “Our perfectionism can cause us to miss out on the joy of connecting with others,” Kristin says. Her picnic table takes away the excuses and the pressure.
A decade after their Texas beginnings, thousands of Turquoise Tables exist in all 50 states and in13 countries around the world. Not all of them are actually turquoise. Texas Christian University in FortWorth has several purple tables, for example...“No matter what color it is, it’s a-friendship table,” Kristin says.
1. How did the table appear in Kristin’s front yard?| A．It was for her neighbours. | B．It was at Kristin’s request. |
| C．It was given away specially. | D．It was dropped off mistakenly. |
| A．Who usually visited the yard. | B．Why people liked turquoise. |
| C．How the movement came about. | D．Where the family held parties. |
| A．Creative and talkative. | B．Welcoming and caring. |
| C．Considerate and organized. | D．Pleasant and humorous. |
| A．To stress it has unique purple tables. |
| B．To suggest purple tables are also in need. |
| C．To explain why the color of tables is changed. |
| D．To indicate friendship matters more than color. |
【推荐3】Fatty food may feel like a friend during these troubled times, but new research suggests that eating just one meal high in saturated fat(饱和脂肪) can affect our ability to concentrate (集中注意力).
The study compared how 51 women performed on a test of their attention after they ate either a meal high in saturated fat or the same meal made with sunflower oil, which is high in unsaturated fat. Their performance on the test was worse after eating the high-saturated-fat meal.
The loss of focus after a single meal was eye-opening for the researchers. “Most previous work looking at the causative effect of the diet has looked over a period of time. And this was just one meal-it’s pretty remarkable that we saw a difference, said Annelise Madison, lead author of the study.
Women in the study completed a baseline assessment (评估) of their attention during a morning visit to the lab. The tool, called a continuous performance test, is a measure of continued attention,concentration and reaction time based on 10 minutes of computer-based activities. Five hours later after the high-fat meal, the women took the continuous performance test again. Between one and four weeks later, they repeated these steps. After eating the meal high in saturated fat, all of the participating women were 1l percent less able to detect target stimuli (刺激物).
Though the study didn’t determine what was going on in the brain, Madison said previous research has suggested food high in saturated fat can drive up inflammation(英症) throughout the body, and possibly the brain. Fatty acids can also cross the blood-brain barrier.
“What we know is that when people are more anxious, they will find high-saturated-fat food more attractive than vegetables, she said. ”We know from other research that depression and anxiety(焦虑) can influence concentration and attention as well. When we add that on top of the high-fat meal, we could expect the real-world effects to be even larger.”
1. What does the new study focus on?| A．The health value of sunflower oil |
| B．The methods of making meals tastier. |
| C．The effect of fatty food on our attention. |
| D．The differences between saturated fat and unsaturated fat. |
| A．They are fond of high-fat food. |
| B．They are good at operating computers. |
| C．They were asked to come to the lab after lunch. |
| D．They were tested on attention twice on the first day. |
| A．Other research. | B．Depression and anxiety. |
| C．The real-world situation | D．The inflammation in the brain. |
| A．Fatty food should be completely forbidden |
| B．Mental state usually affects our choice of food |
| C．Our ability to think can improve after big meals |
| D．A single high-saturated-fat meal makes us less focused |
【推荐1】Plays are an important part of British culture. The West End theatre district in London is the best place to watch a professional play, but acting also takes place in every school and village hall and the country.
There are over 2,500 non-professional drama groups in the UK today and they are an active part of community life. People from all walks of life take on acting roles in addition to their regular jobs. They do it for fun, for the love of acting and as a way to meet new people.
Not everyone in a drama club is a skilled actor, but enthusiasm(热情) is considered to be more important than talent. Friends, family members and neighbors enjoy getting together to watch the final performance and tell the people they know to “break a leg(祝演出成功)”. It’s a great way of bringing people together. Also, in many rural（乡村的） parts of Britain, the non-professional theatre is the only chance that people have to see plays for miles around.
Many people get a taste of acting at school. Every school puts on a play at least once per year, usually at Christmas, and parents love coming to watch their children perform. Ask many British persons and they’re sure to have happy memories of being in their school’s Christmas play, whether they played the role of Mary or Joseph or perhaps even a sheep or a monkey.
Another Christmas theatre tradition is the pantomime（童话剧）. Pantomimes are a type of the musical comedy for families. The audience is encouraged to take part in the performance —singing along with music and shouting at the actors. Pantomimes are really fun to watch, especially for children.
British people love going to the theatre, professional or not, and many of them also enjoy performing. If you have the chance, go and see a play in the UK.
1. In the writer’s opinion, what is more important for an actor in a drama club?| A．talent. | B．support from family. |
| C．professional training. | D．enthusiasm. |
| A．All the performers are professional child actors. |
| B．The audience is allowed to play some small roles in them. |
| C．The audience is encouraged to take part in the performances. |
| D．The musical comedy is always about family life. |
| A．greatly enjoy acting roles in plays. |
| B．have good memories of their schools. |
| C．have no interest in plays. |
| D．watch plays only in the West End theatre district in London. |
| A．Everyone in a drama must be a skilled actor. |
| B．Plays are very popular among British people. |
| C．In Britain, acting can only take place in theatres. |
| D．The writer doesn’t think the pantomime is good for children to watch. |
【推荐2】Airbnb rentals
Entire apartment hosted by Daniel
2 guests . Studio. 1 bed.1 bath.$ 135
Airbnb star rate 4.87 (230 reviews)
Entire home: You'll have the apartment to yourself.
Self-check-in: Check yourself in with the lockbox.
Sparkling clean: 13% recent guests said this place was sparkling clean.
Daniel is a superhost
Close to Wells beach and Route 1 shopping, restaurants, and etc. Private with its own full bathroom and full kitchen that's located in the room. High-speed Wi-Fi, and AC/heat. Comfy Queen size bed with bedding linens. I don't do long term rentals for the summer but please message me if you'd like to do a long-term rental from October to May.
Private room in apartment hosted by Sarah
1 guest. 1 bedroom.1 bed，1 shared bath . $213
Airbnb star rate 4.56 (98 reviews)
Sarah is a superhost
A cheerful, sunny room in a bright and well-lit street-side apartment. We love people-watching from the windows and the convenience to the subway. We are just a short subway ride from the downtown. Check-in before 9 p.m.
The space
Private room in a very clean apartment 2 blocks from the subway. Shared bathroom and kitchen. Wi-fi included through your own device.
Entire cabin hosted by Selena
2 guests . Cabin.1 bed.1 bath.$ 90
Airbnb star rate 4.91 (23 reviews)
Selena is a superhost
Our cabin is situated very close to the end of the road that runs north along the east side of the Sechelt Inlet. There is little besides wilderness, accessed only by plane or boat. As a result, it is very quiet up here with little to no traffic. We keep our canoe which is always avaible to our guests to use.
Information for transport
Driving is undoubtedly the best way to get around the coast as there is a lot to see and do, and not a lot of public transport options available. It might be possible for us to come pick guests up from the coast, Do let us know if that is the case.
1. How many guests have rated Daniel's apartment as sparkling clean probably?| A．52. | B．24. |
| C．17. | D．30. |
| A．Sarah's. | B．Selena's. |
| C．Daniel's. | D．None. |
| A．Daniel offers long term rentals in the summer. |
| B．Guests own a full bathroom in Sarah's apartment. |
| C．It is possible to call Selena for a pick up at her convenience. |
| D．You are not allowed to use the Selena's canoe. |
【推荐3】The Strangest Tradition in Some U.S. States
Alabama: The MoonPie Over Mobile
What's the better way to ring in the New Year than with a snack(小吃，点心 )? Mobile, a city of Alabama, has a tradition of watching a huge moon pie drop. The tradition is called the MoonPie Over Mobile, which shines the past and also the future. As the 12-foot, 600 pound moon pie drops during the midnight countdown, the crowd will cut the world’s largest moon pie to eat.
Florida: The Strawberry Festival
Other than The Beatles band’s song Strawberry Fields Forever,the annual Florida Strawberry Festival is an ode(颂歌 )to the fruit. The yearly celebration of the strawberry harvest occupies large farmland in Parkesdale Farms and Wish Farms. The festival has all the usual public festival attractions families love.What's unusual about the festival is its activity where people compete in eating strawberry noodles, strawberry-garlic potatoes, etc.
Kansas: The St. Lucia Festival
The town of Lindsborg is known as a Swedish capital in the United States. Because of the townspeople’s Swedish tradition, the St. Lucia Festival every year for Christmas. The eldest daughter of every family would be dressed up in an unusual way. They would wear white clothing, lights and an evergreen plant as a way to stand for light and hope in the darkness of winter.
Iowa: The Hobo Days
Nowadays, the word"hobo"leads to the picture of a homeless and extremely poor person. In the late 19th century, however, the term simply referred to the people who left their home to look for jobs in the remote places of America and took the train going to the west. In honor of the hobo tradition, Iowa hosts the Hobo Days every August，which contains competitions, parades, food， and arts on the streets. The lucky man and woman will get crowned (被加冕) as hobo king and queen each year.
1. What's the purpose of the MoonPie Over Mobile tradition?| A．To treat the unfortunate people. |
| B．To create the largest moon pie. |
| C．To attract tourists to Mobile. |
| D．To celebrate the New Year. |
| A．The sharing of various foods. |
| B．The farmland sightseeing. |
| C．The eating competition. |
| D．The Beatles band’s performance. |
| A．Poor people without homes. |
| B．People joining in some parades. |
| C．The crowned men and women. |
| D．People going out to make a living. |
