Navigation(导航)is an important ability for animals to find food and living places. Researchers in Israel have performed an experiment and found that goldfish are able to navigate on land after receiving around 10 driving lessons.
The experiment was led by a research team at the Ben-Gurion University. It was made to see whether goldfish could find their way in a very different environment.
Researchers developed a robotic car that could drive forward, backward, and from side to side. They called the car a FOV — Fish Operated Vehicle(鱼驱动车). A goldfish was placed inside a water box on the FOV. Using a set of wheels with a camera system, the FOV recorded the fish’s movements and swimming directions, and then moved in the same direction.
The scientists worked with six different goldfish. They placed the car in a small room with a pink target(目标)on one side. The fish would get food when the car touched the target. After a few days of training, the fish navigated to the target. At first, it took them about half an hour to drive to the target. But by the end of the experiment, they were able to complete the same task in less than a minute. Shachar Given, one of the researchers said, “As anyone who has tried to learn how to ride a bike or how to drive a car knows, it is challenging at first.”
Not only did the goldfish show that they could drive to the target, but also they weren’t fooled by false targets of other colors. They were also able to get free when the car hit a wall.
Although the fish may not have realized they were moving on land, these results show that a fish has the ability to navigate outside its natural environment of water. It can enrich scientific knowledge of animals’ navigation skills.
1. The researchers perform the goldfish experiment to see if goldfish could ________.| A．find food and living places | B．ride a bike or drive a car like humans |
| C．live in the land’s navigating system | D．navigate in a different environment |
| A．It was placed inside a water box. | B．It could control the fish’s directions. |
| C．It could follow the fish’s movements. | D．It was driven by a camera system. |
| A．avoided hitting a wall | B．touched the pink target |
| C．moved in the small room freely | D．touched the target of other colors |
| A．Scientists Teach Goldfish to Drive a Car on Land, | B．Scientists Offer Goldfish Food and Lessons. |
| C．Scientists Invent an Animal Navigation System. | D．Scientists Put a Robotic Car to Good Use. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Some people are very careful about everything they do. On the other hand, some people, especially teens, do things without thinking too much about the results. Why is this?
Anna, a psychologist uses computer games to find out why some people are more likely to take risks. In one game, players are asked to click (点击) on a balloon on a computer screen. Every time they click, the balloon gets bigger. The bigger the balloon is, the larger the prize will be. But if the balloon gets too big, it’ll be broken and the player will get nothing.
Anna found that when teens played this game, a part of their brain called the striaturm (纹状体) would become more active. It makes teens want to win. Another part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex (前额皮质), helps them control their decision-making process.
It turns out that young people have more striaturms and less prefrontal cortexes, which affects their ability to make careful decisions. You might have already guessed that teens break more balloons during the game than adults-mainly because they like to take risks more and don’t take the time to think carefully.
“The teen brain is like a car with a very strong engine,” Anna said. “Its brakes (刹车) just don’t work as well.”
1. It’s more possible for ________ to do things without thinking too much about the result.| A．an 80-year-old man |
| B．a 15-year-old student |
| C．a 6-year-old boy |
| A．importance |
| B．cause |
| C．use |
| A．be the winners |
| B．get prizes |
| C．lose the game |
| A．more prefrontal cortexes |
| B．less prefrontal cortexes |
| C．more striaturms |
| A．In the game, the teenagers probably get the most prizes. |
| B．Anna does the test by asking people to create a computer game. |
| C．Anna compares teens to the cars which have strong engines without good brakes. |
【推荐2】Facial recognition technology(人脸识别技术) is widely used today. For example, police use it to search for bad guys(家伙). It’s also used to unlock phones or doors.
Now, a similar technology, known as facial detection(探测), is entering a new field: the business of advertising.
Such systems are going through tests in a small number of stores. One facial detection system can tell a person’s “happiness” or “fear” level. That helps businesses see how people feel as they look at products or advertisements in the store. Another system can detect whether someone is wearing eyeglasses. If so, stores can send advertisements for new glasses to him.
Facial detection technology is also placed inside some large advertising boards. Cameras in those boards can detect information like people’s ages and five levels of feelings-from “very happy” to “very unhappy”.
Supporters of the technology say it could improve buyers’ experience by showing products they might like or by offering them products at lower prices.
Some are against the idea of using such systems. Pam Dixon, the head of a privacy(隐私) group, is one of them. She thinks the strange actions may cause something unfair. For example, a business could raise the price of a product according to a person’s age and feelings.
However, one store testing the technology explained they wouldn’t store people’s information like names or ages. And the advertising board system maker said it didn’t keep any personal information or record any videos.
1. Facial detection technology can tell people’s ______ according to the passage.| A．weight | B．feelings | C．height | D．jobs |
| A．Businesses. | B．Systems. | C．Customers. | D．Advertisements. |
| A．can detect buyers’ names and record them | B．can’t srore personal information |
| C．may he used to sell cheaper goods in all stores | D．may need some time before being widely used. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．facial recognition technology entering a new field |
| B．facial recognition technology looking for bad guys |
| C．facial detection technology going into advertising field |
| D．facial detection technology improving buyers’ experience |
【推荐3】Are you afraid of going to the dentist(牙医)? If so, you're not alone.
These fears could just be in our heads, however. According to a recent survey by Martin Tickle, a professor at Manchester University in the UK, the pain isn’t felt most of the time in dental surgeries(牙科手术). In fact. among the 451 interviewed patients，75％ reported no pain at all during their visits, including situations when they had their teeth pulled out.
Could it be the sound of the drill(钻头)then?
“I found that the sound of drilling can evoke deep worry in dental patients. Actually they don’t have any pain. " Hiroyuki Karibe, a scientist at Nippon Dental University in Tokyo, told the Guardian.
To find the reason why a drill might bring on a racing heart, Karibe divided the volunteers into low-fear and high-fear groups based on how much they feared a trip to the dentist. Volunteers were played the sound of a drill while their brain activities were watched by a machine.
What Karibe found in the low-fear group was increased activity in the areas of the brain relative to auditory processing(听觉处理)， which means， for these people， the sound of dental drills is no different from other sounds
In the high-fear group, however, the brain area that was activated(激活)was different. It was the area that carries out a number of duties, including learning, feelings and, most importantly, memory. This means that these volunteers not only heard the sound, but they remembered it-they made connections between the sound of a drill and the worry it produced in the past, causing their worry to return.
Understanding how brains reply to the sounds of dentists ' drills could help scientists find ways to make patients more relaxed, according to Karibe, because patients who worry about going to the dentist might keep putting off their visits. But the best way is to keep your teeth healthy.
1. How does the writer explain that the pain isn’t felt most of the time in dental surgeries?| A．By showing facts with numbers. | B．By asking questions one by one. |
| C． By giving examples group by group. | D．By comparing results of patients. |
| A．减轻 | B．引起 | C．显示 | D．阻止 |
| A．It produced some worry in the volunteers in the low-fear group |
| B．For the low-fear group, it activated the brain area dealing with learning, feelings and memory |
| C．For the high-fear group, it caused more activities in the brain area relative to auditory processing. |
| D．It made people in the high-fear group remember their past uncomfortable memories. |
| A．How the study might be useful. |
| B．Some new ways to treat teeth |
| C．The proper way to treat dental patients. |
| D．The importance of keeping our teeth healthy. |
| A．To show us different areas of fear in brains. |
| B．To introduce us a recent survey by a scientist. |
| C．To help us have less fear of a trip to the dentist. |
| D．To make it clear that the sound of drilling is not terrible. |
【推荐1】Kenya is home to many rare mammals (珍稀哺乳动物), but now it’s getting more difficult to protect them. To solve the problem, Kenya’s wildlife officials (官员) have made a free smartphone app.
The app called Makenya allows any user to give the location of rare mammals after seeing them. Users can also share some other information about these mammals. For example, they can send their pictures and their number, and even report what they’re doing.
Dr. Simon Musila, a researcher at the National Museums of Kenya, says it’s necessary to get more people to share information about rare mammals. This can help mammal experts in Kenya. The experts have kept records of the rare mammals’ changing environment. However, it’s not enough to only depend on their hard work. There’s a need to get people from all walks of life to join them, including guides, visitors, and students. All of them can use the app to help.
Even if each person provides a bit of useful information, this will go a long way towards the protection of rare mammals. Dr. Philip Muruthi, a wildlife official, said, “ ▲ It’s going to tell us which mammals we have, where they are, which ones are highly endangered, and what we need to do about them.”
Wildlife officials say Kenya is home to at least a third of mammals in Africa and they believe that the app users will help protect them.
1. What do we know about Makenya from the first two paragraphs?| A．People need to pay to use it | B．It helps protect rare mammals |
| C．Only wildlife officials can use it | D．It collects information about users |
| A．The more people use Makenya, the better |
| B．Makenya is more popular with guides than with visitors |
| C．Mammal experts in Kenya are too tired to work long hours |
| D．It’s hard to find out which mammals are endangered in Kenya |
| A．We need to test the app first | B．We try to protect rare mammals |
| C．The information they give is of great help | D．The living environment of rare mammals has changed |
| A．Full of hope | B．Of no interest | C．A little worried | D．Not sure about it |
| A．Smartphones become more useful | B．Kenyan animals are in need of protection |
| C．Kenya uses an app to help protect animals | D．Users enjoy the animal world through an app |
| When the first chatting robot (chatbot) started in 2022, it became so popular that it had over 1,000,000 users within a week. But schools across the US soon banned (禁止) it. Students could use it to do so many things. Parents and teachers were very worried that students might not do their homework themselves but ask the chatbot for help. What do you think? Do you think schools should ban it? | What you need to know: * A chatbot is a computer program that you can “talk” to. It replies like a person. * When people ask the chatbot a question, it looks for information and gives an answer. * Chatbots can talk about anything. They can write articles about history, write lyrics (歌词) in the style of rock stars, or explain how to solve math problems... |
| Yes! Getting help with schoolwork is great, but chatbots don’t always use the most reliable (可信的) sources. Students might hand in homework with wrong information. Besides, they wouldn’t really use their critical thinking (批判性思维) skills to do their work. What’s worse, if students use the chatbot too much for the school project, it could be seen as cheating (作弊). Also, teachers may find it difficult to decide if the students have used the chatbot or not for their schoolwork. Although chatbots can help teachers grade tests quickly, they may make mistakes, too. | No! Chatbots are here to stay. Technology is changing education, and banning it won’t stop that at all. Why not teach kids to use chatbots in the right way, like they use calculators (计算器) or online dictionaries? Chatbots could get students to start learning by doing research, teaching words and expressions, and helping students find out the next step of a math problem. ▲ As for the teachers, chatbots can give them a hand in different ways, like creating tests, designing homework, making lesson plans or writing personal tasks for students at different levels. Everybody wins. |
| A．By asking questions. | B．By telling a story. | C．By giving numbers. | D．By sharing ideas. |
| A．And they will never be able to think like teachers. |
| B．And they could also help improve students’ speaking skills. |
| C．However, they could not help teachers at all. |
| D．However, they may bring students more fun. |
| A．Chatbots think and feel like humans. |
| B．Chatbots offer the most reliable sources to students. |
| C．Chatbots can help teachers create tests. |
| D．Chatbots make teachers grade the students’ tests slowly. |
| A．Should schools ban chatbots or not? | B．Will chatbots become popular in the future? |
| C．What do we need to know about chatbots? | D．How do chatbots help kids learn at school? |
【推荐3】Have you ever heard of “a ball of energy”? People often use it to describe very active children. But today we tell about an invention called the socket that is a real soccer ball of energy. Julia Silverman explains that in fact the socket is a portable generator（便携式发电机）. Julia Silverman and Jessica Matthews developed the socket as part of a group project for an engineering class at Harvard University.
There are mechanisms（装置）in a socket. When you kick, hit or throw it, energy is then kept in it by these mechanisms instead of disappearing into the environment. Then the user can put something directly into the ball, like a lamp, or a mobile phone charger so that they can get energy from it. For every fifteen minutes of the game play, the socket can provide enough electricity（电）for an LED lamp for three hours, and the ball can store（储藏）up to 24 hours’ electricity.
The International Energy Association reported last year that nearly one and a half billion people in the world had no electricity to use, and most of them live in sub-Saharan Africa and in India and other countries in Asia.
Julia Silverman and Jessica Matthews both had experiences in developing countries before they began the project. They knew that power shortages are a serious problem in many areas.
There’s an energy crisis in the world. One out of every five people in the world doesn’t have any electricity. And besides that, there are a lot of health problems because what people use instead of the electricity are harmful choices like kerosene（煤油）lamps, which produce a lot of smoke.
Julia Silverman says the socket ball is one small solution（解决方法）to a big problem. Jessica Matthews and Julia Silverman hope their socket ball will shine more light on the problem of power shortages. It offers people a chance to put their energy into the world’s most popular sport and get some energy in return.
根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。
1. If you play the socket for half an hour, it can provide an LED lamp with electricity for ________.
| A．24 hours | B．three hours | C．six hours |
| A．a time of safety | B．a time of difficulty | C．a time of success |
| A．Julia Silverman has never been to developing countries before |
| B．people are expected to get some energy by playing socket |
| C．kicking a socket can let the energy disappear into the environment |
| A．A soccer ball that gives energy |
| B．The best way to solve energy crisis |
| C．An invention changing the world |
【推荐1】During this year’s May Day holiday, many people went out to travel. They made different kinds of traffic jam all over China. Let’s have a look.
Places | Situation |
| Dunhuang | It is in Northwest China’s Gansu Province. So many tourists went to try camel-riding that the city reported a “camel jam”. Every day, nearly 20,000 to 30,000 tourists came, but there are only 2,400 camels in use. So people in scenic spots use traffic lights to lead camels riding. |
| Zibo | It is in Shangdong. People all over China travel there to taste it. Zibo barbecue offers a special dining experience. On each table is a small grill (烤架). People need to cook on the grill by themselves. When the food is ready, you put it onto a small pancake (薄饼) and then add a spring onion before eating. The experience makes “Zibo barbecue” quite different from other kinds of barbecue. |
| Wuzhishan | It is in South China’s Hainan Province. Tourists choose to float (漂流) with their friends and family members since it is exciting. The floating rubber boats are crowded there. They were like “dumplings cook in boiling water”. |
| A．Camels in Dunhuang can see traffic lights. |
| B．There are few floating rubber boats in Wuzhishan. |
| C．Over 30,000 tourists try camel-riding in Gansu every day. |
| D．People can enjoy cooking on their own in Zibo barbecue. |
| A．The floating rubber boats are boiling. |
| B．Many tourists are floating in the water. |
| C．A lot of dumplings are cooked in water. |
| D．Tourists use boiling water to cook dumplings. |
| A．Travelling. | B．Lifestyle. | C．Nature. | D．Sports. |
【推荐2】Do you know how to be street smarts? Being street smarts means knowing how to keep yourself safe from strangers when you’re alone or with other kids. Whether you’re walking to the school or to the bus, hanging out in the playground, or riding your bike in your neighborhood, being street smarts helps you stay safe.
When you’re walking home from school, a person in a car stops and asks you for directions. At the park, someone says he needs you to help look for his lost dog. These people may seem friendly, but they’re strangers.
If a stranger approaches (靠近) you and asks for help, don’t help.
If a stranger stops his/her car and offers you ride, don’t get in. It’s also important to avoid a stranger’s car completely.
Kids need to follow the rules of street smarts all the time with every stranger, even if the situation seems fine. No one will think that you are silly.
| A．All strangers are friendly. |
| B．Don’t even give an answer. |
| C．Most strangers aren’t dangerous and wouldn’t do anything to hurt kids. |
| D．Even if the stranger knows your name, don’t be fooled. |
| E．If a stranger asks you to look in the car, don’t do it. |
He looks like a bear. But he is not a bear. He’s a KOALA.
People in Australia love koalas and take care of them. They have set up places for them to live safely. No one can kill them for their pretty fur. When a koala is born, he has no fur. And he is not as big as your little toe(脚趾)! The mother koala has a pocket in the front of her body. The baby goes into this warm pocket .There he stays for six months.
The koala could not live without a special kind of tree. The tree gives him both his home and his food. For most of the day the koala sleeps m the tree.
At night the koala looks for food. He may go miles to find it. He likes only the bark(树皮) and the leaves of the tree. He eats nothing else. And he eats more than two pounds each night!
How lovely the koalas really are!
1. People in Australia ________.
| A．keep koalas in their homes | B．put koalas in the tree |
| C．set up places for koalas to live safely | D．raise baby koalas in their pockets |
| A．for six days | B．for six months | C．for a night | D．all his life |
| A．It’s as big as a cat. | B．It’s as big as a bear. |
| C．Ifs bigger than your little toe. | D．It’s smaller than your little toe. |
| A．they have to keep cool under the tree | B．they eat the fruit on the tree |
| C．they stay in the tree all the time | D．they live in the tree and get food from it |
| A．How people in Australia protect koalas. | B．Lovely koalas in Australia. |
| C．Koalas cannot live without a special kind of tree. | D．The way mother koalas take care of their babies. |
