That, right there, is the officially accepted response to any animal contact（接触） the world over. Animals are cute. They're there to be photographed, loved, and occasionally fed. But you know what? Not all animals are cute, or lovely, or even nice. Some of them are a real pain in the neck.
When you travel, you come into contact with all sorts of animals you’ve never heard of before. Some of them are amazing creatures that you'll talk about for the rest of your life. Some of them are just annoying. So, at the risk of causing anger among animal lovers around the world, here are some of the world's most annoying animals.
Vervet monkeys, South Africa
You'll immediately notice two things about Vervet monkeys: they have a bright blue bottom; and they'll steal any food that's not locked in a bank safe. I recently spent some time in South Africa, and watched as monkey after monkey dived in from the trees and stole everyone's food. Get your own food, Vervets! My sandwich was expensive!!
Kea parrots, New Zealand
I have never seen one of these birds before but from what I've been told they are more annoying than a spoilt kid. From biting the paint off your car doors to stealing people's passports, Keas are probably the most curious, and therefore annoying, animals in the world. And they're New Zealanders. That makes sense!
Kangaroos, Australia
Another well-known food-stealer, kangaroos are loved by tourists, eaten by Australians, and generally enjoy making trouble for others. Go on a camping trip anywhere in Australia, and watch how long your bags of food last. Turn your back for 15 minutes and the camp will look like thieves have turned the place upside down.
Grizzly bears, USA
They look pretty cute, grizzly bears. You almost want to go up and give them a hug. Unfortunately, it wouldn't end well. In fact, one of the world's most huggable creatures is also the one most likely to kill you just because it can. Oh, and it'll steal your picnic basket, too.
1. The author uses the underlined expression “pain in the neck” to suggest .
| A．these animals may bite you on the neck |
| B．these animals can cause people a lot of trouble |
| C．people should be fearful of these animals |
| D．these animals may cause some serious illness |
| A．Vervet monkeys. | B．Grizzly Bears. |
| C．Kangaroos. | D．Kea Parrots. |
| A．When people see the cute animals they might take photographs of them. |
| B．Sometimes people will feed the cute animals. |
| C．Australians eat kangaroos. |
| D．Spoilt kids are not annoying at all. |
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【推荐1】Squirrels aren’t natural city dwellers(居民). In 1986 the sight of one in a tree near New York’s city hall so surprised passers-by that a newspaper published a report about the “unusual visitor”.
Around that time, the tree-dwelling animals were being set free in America’s urban areas to “create pockets of peace and calm like the countryside,” says University of Pennsylvania historian Etienne Benson, who studied our relationship to squirrels over the course of five years.
First, they were introduced to Philadelphia, then to New Haven, Boston, and New York City. Park visitors were encouraged to feed them, and security guards ensured their safety. In the 1910s a leader of the Boy Scouts of America(an organization teaching boys practical skills) said that teaching children to feed squirrels could show the rewards of treating a weaker creature with sympathy, says Benson.
By the early 20th century, though, America began to regret the friendliness it had shown squirrels. Cities had once been filled with animals—from horses pulling goods to dairy cows. By the 1950s those working animals had been moved to the countryside. Pets and wild animals such as birds and squirrels were all that remained of the urban animal kingdom.
Before long, people’s enthusiasm for squirrels wore off, and they started to see them as annoyances. By the 1970s many parks banned feeding the creatures. Today, it is rare to find kids with their parents offering food to squirrels under a tree. And, unfortunately, with more and more buildings being constructed in the city, fewer inhabitable(适宜栖息的) areas are left for the little tree-dwelling animals.
What would be lost if the last of these city dwellers were forced to leave? “I think there’s something constructive to have other living creatures in the city that are not humans and not pets but share the land with us,” says Benson. “It’s a good thing to live in a landscape where you see other creatures going around making lunch. It’s good for the soul.”
1. What’s the purpose of introducing squirrels to Philadelphia?| A．To entertain park visitors. | B．To keep the natural balance. |
| C．To encourage kids to protect animals. | D．To make the urban life more peaceful. |
| A．Disagreeable. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Uncaring. |
| A．They might have inhabited more homes. |
| B．They might have begun to go out of favor. |
| C．They might have been introduced to more cities. |
| D．They might have been moved to the countryside. |
| A．Squirrels living in cities are annoying. |
| B．Feeding squirrels should be discouraged. |
| C．Squirrels should be allowed to live in cities. |
| D．It is possible for people to keep squirrels as pets. |
【推荐2】Animal rescuer and cinematographer Douglas Thron’s passion for animals began when he was a little kid and he started rescuing orphaned baby animals. When he grew up, he worked as a cinematographer for shows like Discovery Channel’s “Shark Wee”. But Thron said a fire in California “pushed” him to rescue animals, using his cinematography skills well.
At the time, Thron was working as a cinematographer filming a man who was rescuing cats after the fire using an infrared (使用红外线的) handheld camera. The camera uses heat to detect the animals at night. Thron and the man talked about how incredible it would be to put one on a drone (无人机) to detect animals easily. “The animals’ body temperature will flash on the screen and you can pick them out among the rubble (瓦砾),” explains Thron.
The first animal Thron ever rescued was a dog in the Bahamas after a category 5 hurricane hit there. Thron tested out putting an infrared scope on a drone and found the dog exactly in the middle of the huge rubble pile where hundreds of houses had been destroyed. “I flew the drone over and I found him. I was able to rescue him,” he says.
“My dream is to one day have a large animal rescue farm where I can train others on flying drones and make infrared drones as popular for rescuing animals as helicopters are for rescuing people after a disaster,” he says.
1. Which of the following best describes little Thron?| A．Lonely. | B．Optimistic. | C．Sympathetic. | D．Generous. |
| A．A heater. | B．An infrared camera. |
| C．A flashlight. | D．A temperature detector. |
| A．The dog was reunited with its family. | B．Douglas was injured during the rescue. |
| C．The Bahamas was hit by the strongest flood. | D．Douglas’ infrared drone test was a success. |
| A．Infrared drones in animal rescue will be popular. |
| B．More and more people are willing to fly drones. |
| C．Helicopters will be widely used in rescuing animals. |
| D．Infrared drones will replace helicopters in disaster relief. |
【推荐3】There are many reasons bears rub (摩擦) against trees. Sometimes they use smells to leave messages on trees for other bears, at other times they remove hair and rub that hard-to-reach part. A new study uncovers an additional benefit: keeping ticks (蜱虫) at bay.
When bears rub against bark, the trunks of the trees they move back and forth against leak out tars (焦油), a kind of thick sticky liquid. The substances, which are extremely unpleasant for ticks, stick to skin, and are water-resistant, making them really suitable to be an effective natural medicine that can drive away ticks.
Biologists have observed that brown and black bears have affection for certain types of trees, such as beech trees. The appeal of the tar is so strong that scientists use its strong smells to attract bears for studies. To test the guessing that the tar is a tick-warding medicine, Biologist Agnieszka Sergiel found herself staring at long containers which the widespread ticks she caught were placed into. She watched to see if they would run away from the tar on one side and toward safe, plain water at the other end of the container. And run they did!
The study provided clear evidence that ticks were avoiding the tar, said Hannah Tiffin, a scientist specializing in ticks. “I think it’s an interesting route to go and could make sense,” she said. “Using natural medicines to war d insects off has been seen in the wild. Monkeys rub their skin with orange trees and dolphins may treat their skin with an undersea material. Your cat may even use some plant to keep insects away.”
Expanding the limited database of ticks found on bears will be one of the most important steps to improve this work, Sergiel noted. There’s still a lot to be learned about tar functioning as a medicine to war d off ticks. Collecting skin samples from different bears and testing ticks’ responses could also be useful, she added.
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．Which trees produce sticky liquids. | B．What substances from trees attract ticks. |
| C．Why bears coat their body with sticky liquid. | D．How tree rubbing drives away ticks for bears. |
| A．She attracted bears to a kind of trees. | B．She studied the way ticks reached bears. |
| C．She observed ticks’ reaction to a special liquid. | D．She compared effects of water and tar on ticks. |
| A．By concluding the root cause. | B．By citing other animals’ behaviors. |
| C．By referring to some other studies. | D．By summarizing her previous findings. |
| A．Responses of tested ticks vary. | B．Collecting plentiful data is hard. |
| C．Further deep research is needed. | D．More work is required to study bears. |
【推荐1】Beavers (河狸) are famous for building impressive dams in streams. They have a rare ability to transform the landscapes they live in. This is primarily because beavers need to use their dams to hide from predators (捕食者) like bears, wolves, and river otters. Beavers live in dome-shaped constructions within the ponds that can only be accessed by underwater entrances. Inside, they are safe from threats. Besides, they can also store food inside and keep warm in winter.
Beavers build dams up to 5 meters high, and the largest one, in Alberta, Canada, is 850 meters long. Most dams are built from pieces of wood, with stones at the base and a sealing layer of mud and plants on the upstream side. The dams are thicker at the bottom with a shallow slope on the upstream side, meaning that the weight of the water pushes down on the dam, keeping it in place and allowing it to hold back large volumes of water. Their engineering work is so effective that beaver dams can last for decades.
Beaver dams can promote the creation and development of stable wetland ecosystems, one of the most productive ecosystems in the world, which serve as the home of rare and endangered species. In addition, the dams can help water flow to the newly created ponds, thus, preventing flooding in areas downstream of the rivers where these dams are built. They also protect the land from soil erosion (侵蚀, 腐蚀) and block pollutants in the water flow downstream into major water bodies.
However, Ph. D. student Robert Needham, from the International Centre for Ecohydraulics Research at Southampton, expressed a great deal of his concern about the possibility of beaver dams blocking the upstream and downstream migration (迁移) of Atlantic salmon (鲑鱼) and trout during their reproduction seasons, as well as affecting habitat (栖息地) quality. Thus, people should control the construction of beaver dams, especially in human-inhabited areas, near agricultural fields and pasture lands.
1. What is the main reason for beavers to build dams?| A．Keeping warm in winter. |
| B．Storing food for later use. |
| C．Protecting themselves from predators. |
| D．Saving their habitats from river flooding. |
| A．The living environment of beavers. |
| B．The features of beaver dams. |
| C．The methods of building beaver dams. |
| D．The introduction to the largest beaver dam. |
| A．River pollution poses a big danger to beavers. |
| B．Beaver dams have great ecological(生态的)significance. |
| C．Stable wetland ecosystems are important to dam construction. |
| D．Beaver dams serve as the place of reproduction for some species. |
| A．People may be disturbed by too many beaver dams. |
| B．Beaver dams make many sea animals leave their habitats. |
| C．Farmers could benefit a lot from beavers engineering work. |
| D．Beaver dams promote an increase of some species in the Atlantic |
【推荐2】Here is the information about the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass Series.
Annual Pass
Cost: $80 annual pass Available for: Everyone How to purchase:
In person: Purchase at a local federal recreation site. Online: Buy from the USGS store.
By phone: Call 1-888-275-8747. Additional Information:
This pass is non-transferable to another person.
Senior Pass
Cost: $80 Lifetime Senior Pass;$20 Annual Senior Pass
Available for: U. S. citizens or permanent residents ages 62 or over. How to purchase:
In person: Purchase at a local federal recreation site. Online:Buy from the USGS store.
Additional Information:
The Senior Pass may provide a 50 percent discount on some fees charged for facilities and services such as camping, swimming, boat launch, and special services.
Volunteer Pass
Cost: Free annual pass
Available for: Volunteers with 250 service hours with federal agencies that participate in the Interagency Pass Program
How to get: Volunteers should contact their volunteer coordinator (协调员) for more information.
Additional Information:
The Volunteer Pass is available for 12 months from the date of issue.
Access Pass
Cost: Free lifetime pass
Available for: U. S. citizens or permanent residents with permanent disabilities. Applicants must provide documentation of permanent disability and residency or citizenship.
How to get:
In person: Purchase at a local federal recreation site. Online: Buy from the USGS store.
Mail: Purchase using an application form that can be exchanged through mail. Note: Processing and shipping fees will be charged for online and mail orders. Additional Information:
The Access Pass generally does not cover or reduce special recreation permit fees or fees charged by concessioners.
Golden Access Passports are no longer sold. However, these passes are still honored according to the provisions of the pass.
Passes may not be purchased as gifts.
1. Which pass can be ordered by phone?| A．Annual Pass. | B．Senior Pass. | C．Volunteer Pass. | D．Access Pass. |
| A．$0. | B．$20. | C．$40. | D．$80. |
| A．It can be bought and given to others as a present. |
| B．All forms of purchase don’t charge processing fee. |
| C．It has replaced Golden Access Passport completely. |
| D．A discount in other related fees can be enjoyed with it. |
【推荐3】Science fiction paints a future where robots play an important part in everyday life. A technology firm is trying to make that future a reality today with an affordable robot called Artibo. Artibo is small. Its brain, or AI block, is a cube (立方体）that fits in your hand. That block connects to a motor block and two silicon wheels. Assembled, it's about four inches tall.
Artibo is much more than just a robot that you program to move around. Artibo’s designers want it to provide companionship and be a resource for learning coding. With its camera, microphone and connection to a cloud-based AI, it can respond to voice commands or function like a walkie-talkie(对讲 机).It talks like a chatbot and can tell bedtime stories. It can even help you learn other languages!
Artibo isn’t quite ready for stores yet, though. It’s part of a crowdfunding project. Crowdfunding is a program where you put a request online to a crowd of people. Supporters can then pay large or small amounts to help you finish a project. Artibo will first be available to people who have paid to help bring it into production.
Using computer code to program your own toys is nothing new. LEGO first released a robot kit in 1998. Since then, programmable robots have become one of the best-selling units in the LEGO product line. Programming robots might sound comparable to rocket science, but anyone can program one using nothing more than a tablet or a smartphone and code blocks.
Code blocks allow you to program simple or complex commands by assembling visual blocks of code on the canvas ( 画 布 ）of a computer screen. Just drag and drop a variety of code blocks from a programming menu, link them together, and watch how your robot responds. In Artibo’s case coding doesn’t stop there. Unlike other similar programmable toys, Artibo will also allow you to write your own code. So as your familiarity with coding increases, you won’t lose interest in Artibo.
1. According to the passage, the purpose of developing Artibo is .| A．helping people learn anything they want and providing companionship |
| B．providing a robot that can move, accompany and help people learn coding |
| C．chatting with people, telling bedtime stories and supplying languages |
| D．helping people raise money on line and creating programmable robots |
| A．Programming robots is not really complicated. |
| B．Programming robots is advanced like a rocket. |
| C．Programming robots can be used in smartphones. |
| D．Programming robots used in toys is not new at all. |
| A．People can program various orders even without code blocks. |
| B．Anyone can control Artibo freely unlike other programming toys. |
| C．The more familiar you’re with coding, the more you’ll like Artibo. |
| D．Artibo is popular in the world especially among young people. |
