【推荐1】Turtles have an unfortunate habit of eating plastic objects floating in the sea. These then cannot be digested, and may ultimately kill them. It is widely assumed that this fondness for plastics is a matter of mistaken identity. Floating plastic bags, for instance, look similar to jellyfish (水母), which many types of turtles love to eat. Yet lots of plastic objects that end up inside turtles have no similarity to jellyfish. Joseph Pfaller of the University of Florida therefore suspects that the smell of marine microorganisms (海洋微生物) which grow oil floating plastic objects fools turtles into feeding.

Researchers at the University of California noticed that certain chemicals, which are released into the air by floating plastics, are those which many seabirds sniff (嗅) to track down food. These chemicals mark good places to limit because they indicate plenty of the algae (海藻) and bacteria. The researchers also found that birds which pursue their food in this way are five or six times more likely to eat plastic than those which do not.

Since turtles are known to break the surface and sniff the air when finding the way to their feeding areas, Dr. Pfaller indicated that they are following these same chemicals, and are likewise fooled into thinking that floating plastic objects are edible.

To test that idea, he and his colleagues set up an experiment. They arranged for 15 turtles, each around five month old, to be exposed, in random order, to four smells: the vapor from deionised water (去离子水); the smell of turtle-feeding meals; the smell of a clean plastic bottle; and the smell of a bottle that had been kept in the ocean for five weeks to allow algae and bacteria to grow on it. Two of the smells — the smell of meals and that of five-week-old bottles proved far more attractive to the animals than the others.

On the face of it, the turtles were responding to the smell of old bottles as if it were the smell of food. Actually, in an unpolluted ocean, anything which had this smell would indeed be edible — or, at least, harmless. However, unfortunately, five-week-old plastic bottles and their like are not.

1. Paragraph 1 mainly tells us that turtles ________.

A．mistake plastic objects for jellyfish

B．are fooled into eating plastics by a smell

C．are dying out as a result of plastic pollution

D．break down plastics without much difficulty

2. What can we infer from the research on seabirds?

A．Seabirds eat plastics for the taste.

B．The algae and bacteria grow well on plastics.

C．Seabirds prefer being fed with jellyfish like turtles.

D．Some seabirds pursue food in a similar way to turtles.

3. What does the underlined word “edible” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Fit to eat.

B．Pleasant to smell.

C．Far to reach.

D．Easy to digest.

4. What is the function of the last paragraph?

A．To explain why the ocean is polluted.

B．To show his agreement on the research findings.

C．To arouse the awareness of protecting the ocean.

D．To call on people to feed the turtles with proper food.

【推荐2】Scientists in England are using two self-directed water vehicles to explore the animal and plant life of the Celtic Sea. The Celtic Sea is a body of water off the southern coast of Ireland. The area is known for its strange sea life. Scientists want to know why this part of the Atlantic Ocean attracts so many marine animals.

One of the research vehicles is powered by batteries. It collects information for the National Oceanography Center in Southampton, England, and the World Wildlife Fund. The vehicle’s low energy requirements permit it to stay afloat for up to 30 days. Reports of what it finds in the Celtic Sea are sent by satellite.

Stephen Woodward is an engineer who helped design the craft. He says the vehicle has equipment that can detect small organisms called zooplankton(浮游生物) and fish. He adds that other sensing devices measure water currents and other features of sea life.

Another vehicle is powered by solar panels and a wind turbine. It can stay afloat for months. The robotic vehicle sends information about the so-called biodiversity hotspots. A biodiversity hotspot is an area of an ocean that has a lot of plant and animal life activity.

Lavinia Suberg is one of the scientists studying the biodiversity of the Celtic Sea. She says productive ocean areas,like the Celtic Sea, attract zooplankton. The zooplankton then attracts fish. She adds that areas with a large increase of fish often attract sea mammals and birds.

Using these robotic ocean vehicles greatly reduces the cost of exploring the seas with manned laboratories. Scientists can spend more time analyzing the collected information.They say the research will give them a better understanding of the needs of the Celtic Sea for future management and protection.

1. What is the Celtic Sea famous for?

A．Its unusual sea life.	B．Its special water quality.
C．Its marine animals.	D．Its huge sea winds.

2. How does the robotic vehicle staying afloat for months get its energy?

A．Only by batteries.	B．By the energy produced by sea waves.
C．By the machines under the sea.	D．By solar panels and a wind turbine.

3. According to Lavinia Suberg, what is the primary cause of the biodiversity hotspot?

A．Fish.	B．Birds.
C．Zooplankton.	D．Sea mammals.

4. The best title of the text is likely to be _______.

A．Scientists Better Understand the Celtic Sea

B．Water Vehicles Dive into the Celtic Sea

C．The Celtic Sea Is Very Productive

D．Water Robots Explore the Celtic Sea

【推荐3】The sound coming from Taronga Zoo Sydney in Australia may sound like the cries of a human baby.     1     It’s just a brown, long-tailed bird named Echo that has learned how to mimic (模仿) the cries of human babies.

Echo is a superb lyrebird (琴鸟), an Australian bird named for the shape of its tail.    2     It’s a U-shaped stringed instrument that was popular in ancient Greece. The zoo says lyrebirds are experts at mimicking. They can mimic any sound in their immediate surroundings, including those from car engines, as well as animal sounds, such as dog barks and bird calls.

Seven-year-old Echo can mimic the sound of a fire alarm and the “leave immediately” announcement at the zoo, Leanne Golebiowski, a bird expert at Taronga Zoo Sydney said     3     But it’s not clear how Echo perfected the calls, as the zoo is closed to visitors because of COVID-19 lockdowns. Glebiowski said, “I can only guess that Echo picked it up from our guests.     4     But this concerns me, as I thought the zoo was a happy place for families to visit!”

Male lyrebirds use their mimicking talents mainly for mating. During their breeding sea-son, male lyrebirds can be heard singing for up to 4 hours a day. Their songs consist of a lot of different bird calls that they have picked up from their surroundings.     5    

A．However, don’t be alarmed.

B．The female should stay with him.

C．The number of lyrebirds is on the increase.

D．The tail looks like an instrument known as a lyre.

E．Obviously, he has been working on his craft during lockdown.

F．About a year ago, Echo started practicing baby cries, she said.

G．But sometimes their mating songs include other non-bird sounds.