1 . Monkeys Show a Sense of Fairness
Most humans expect to receive fair treatment. How about other species? To test whether or not such behavior is found in other species, scientists designed an experiment for brown capuchin monkeys. The study showed that brown capuchin monkeys might feel the same way. This is the first time scientists have seen this kind of behavior in a species except humans.
Sarah Brosnan, the leader of the study, chose brown capuchin monkeys for the research because capuchins are known to have strong social bonds. In other words, they have close relationships (关系) with other capuchins. They also cooperate, for example, they share responsibilities for food-gathering activities such as finding fruit trees.
Individuals were drawn from two large social groups of captive (人工饲养的) brown capuchins from colonies at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and paired with a partner. Pairs were placed next to each other and trained to exchange (交换) a small rock with researchers within 60 seconds to receive a reward, in most cases, a piece of cucumber. “That may actually sound simple, but not very many species are willing to relinquish things,” Brosnan said, “Think of trying to take a large bone from a dog’s mouth.”
Only female capuchins were tested because they most closely monitor equity, or fair treatment, among their peers. Partners of capuchins who made the exchange either received the same reward (a cucumber slice), or a better reward (a grape, a more desirable food), for the same amount of work or, in some cases, for performing no work at all.
Brosnan said the response (反应) to the unfair treatment was surprising. When a capuchin saw its partner get better treatment, it was unhappy. Some capuchins did not want to continue the test or eat the cucumbers they received. Some threw their food at the researchers.
Brosnan’s research suggests there is a connection between animal cooperation and a dislike of unfair treatment. However, as Brosnan explains, “We don’t know whether monkeys become cooperative and then learn to not like being treated unfairly, or the other way around. But that opens up a whole new research field.”
1. The second paragraph is mainly about________.| A．how Brosnan did the research |
| B．how Brosnan chose capuchins |
| C．why capuchins had close relationships |
| D．why capuchins were chosen for the study |
| A．give away | B．take away | C．go away | D．put away |
| A．Capuchins can get a better reward for sharing food they like. |
| B．Scientists have found that capuchins care about fair treatment. |
| C．Capuchins got happier when their partners got a better reward. |
| D．Scientists have known when capuchins developed the sense of fairness. |
| A．To know how capuchins learn to cooperate. |
| B．To find out if capuchins value fair treatment. |
| C．To find out whether capuchins like grapes or not. |
| D．To know how capuchins exchange the rocks with people. |
Animals like elephants, beavers and ants could not seem more different. Yet they have one important thing in common: they are what scientists call “ecosystem (生态系统) engineers.” As they go about their daily business of living, they change their own living environments. This is good not only for themselves, but many others as well.
Ants
Ants have a great influence on the environment. They help to keep the soil (土壤) healthy by stirring it around and digging tunnels (挖隧道) that let in air and water. They also help to transport water and other important things to the roots of plants. Ants take care of the trees by clearing weeds and eating the eggs of some insects. What’s more, they keep the ground clear of the bodies of smaller dead animals.
Elephants
Elephants are an excellent example of an ecosystem engineer. They play a big part in looking after the health of the environment.
By digging up grass and knocking over large trees, elephants make more space for other animals and some plants. This enables some small plants to get more water and sunshine. Elephants sometimes use their tusks (象牙) to dig dirt out of dry riverbeds, creating waterholes for other animals to drink. When they walk through the forest in groups, they always leave large footprints. When it rains, water fills the footprints and they become places in which frogs and insects lay eggs.
Beavers
Beavers are among the most hard-working ecosystem engineers, and they are always busy with their building work. They use their large front teeth to cut down some older trees, which clears the way for new growth and then create dams (水坝) to make ponds (池塘)—their favorite place to live. The pond provides beavers a place to get away from danger and to live. It is also a perfect home for other wildlife like birds, fish, frogs, turtles and some plants.
Beavers often build their house—which is called a lodge, in the middle of the pond or on the river bank. Inside the lodge, they have one area for storing their food, and another higher dry area for sleeping. The mud walls of the lodge help keep it warm in winter.
These are only a few of the best-known ecosystem engineers in natural world— others can be found almost everywhere!
1. Can ants help to make the soil healthy?2. Who can help to keep the ground clear of the bodies of dead animals?
3. How can elephants make more space for other animals and some plants?
4. What do ponds provide for beavers and other wildlife?
5. What is the passage mainly about?
3 . People use laughter to communicate with others. It’s how we tell friends that we find their jokes funny, or how kids in a park show that they are having fun. Humans laugh to express many kinds of feelings, from happy to sad, from like to hate and so on. But how about animals? Do they also laugh? If they do laugh, is there a connection between animals’ laughing and playing?
A study shows that not only humans but also some animals enjoy good laughter. Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA, suggested that a number of animals can laugh. Through their research, they found that 65 kinds or groups of animals laugh while playing. The animals that laugh the most include monkeys, rats and dolphins.
Animal sound sometimes is like a short laughter, but scientists said that not all of these are connected to playing. After all, animals sometimes make sound as if they are laughing but in fact, they are in danger, or perhaps they are using it to fight with animals that may eat them.
Sasha Winkler, a scientist studying animal behavior, noticed that the small monkeys she worked with liked to play together by catching each other. While having fun together, they made panting sounds, almost like they were out of breath, which reminded Winkler of quiet laughter. In that sense, researchers pointed out very interesting ideas of laughter and panting. They believe that laughter comes from heavy breathing during play.
Study suggests that many animals laugh so that their playing partner knows they are having fun. This is important because animal play can sometimes look like fighting. Laughter becomes a way for animals to stop harmful act when communicating with others. Some animals also make a “play face” like a smile to show that they are happy and not angry.
One big difference between human laughter and animal laughter is that humans laugh much more loudly. Most sounds animals make during play are very quiet so they can only be heard by the animal they are playing with. But for humans, loud laughter is a sign that we’re part of a group. “It’s really amazing that so many animals have a similar function of sound during play,” said Winkler. “These special parts of animal laughter will also be an important area for future study.”
1. Animals sometimes make sound as if they are laughing when they want to _______.| A．hide their true feelings |
| B．play tricks on their partners |
| C．interest more partners to join in |
| D．warn animals that may eat them |
| A．loud | B．quiet | C．breathless |
| A．All kinds of animals laugh when they are playing. |
| B．It can be a way for animals to stop harmful act. |
| C．Animals make sound of laugh louder than humans. |
| D．It usually shows they are happy and not angry. |
| A．To lead to the topic of future research on laughter. |
| B．To show the function of animal laugh during play. |
| C．To explain that loud laughter is a sign for people to be in a group. |
| D．To suggest that human should train animals to laugh while playing. |
4 . 
I have a golden dog named Bobby. He is an amazing dog and once saved me.
I usually take him to a big natural park when I have time.He can remember all the routes (路线) in the park. When I park my car outside the park, he always jumps out of the car with excitement and goes in front of me,knowing where I would go.
One day, I left the car in the same place to take a walk in the park. But Bobby seemed very strange. He didn’t want to go ahead in the park. I tried to call him but he just sat and kept barking at me. So I said, “Then, I will keep walking ahead.” I walked about 200 meters away while he was still barking. Then he suddenly rushed towards me, bit (咬) my trousers and crazily tried to pull my leg. He didn’t let me take another step.
At last I had to give up walking ahead, but I still didn’t understand his action.“OK, you don’t want me to walk today. Let’s go home then.” He quickly went back towards the car, but he stopped every a few meters to see whether I was following him. Then, we went home safely.
I couldn’t understand what he did in the park until the next morning. I was siting in a coffee shop and reading the newspaper. In the front﹣page was a big photo of a black bear. The reporter said that it appeared in the same park that day. “There was no accident and we took him out of the park.” A policeman said to the reporter. So now, I knew why Bobby was always tying to go ahead in the park. I didn’t see or hear any black bear. However, Bobby did very early！
Treat your dogs with kindness. Some day they will help you and even save you.
1. What does the writer think of the dog? _______| A．Strange. | B．Amazing. |
| C．Expensive. | D．Crazy. |
| A．sat and kept barking at the writer |
| B．went back and towards the car |
| C．rushed towards the big black bear |
| D．wanted to go ahead as usual |
| A．Dogs are naughty and they have good sense of smell. |
| B．Dogs always want to go in front of their owners. |
| C．We should study dogs’ habits to know them. |
| D．We should treat our dogs with kindness in our life. |
5 . 
On Christmas Eve, a team of reindeer (驯鹿) will help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children all around the world. The reindeer, led by their fearless leader Rudolph, won’t be the only ones doing something special. Back in the highest Arctic, their cousins have an extraordinary ability—changing their eye color.
During the summer months, when the days are long and the sun is bright, reindeer’s tapetum lucidum (荧光膜), a mirror-like layer at the back of their eye, appears golden, which helps bounce most of light off the eyes, effectively acting like a pair of natural sunglasses. As winter comes, and the days become shorter and darker, the tapetum lucidum turns blue to absorb more light, allowing reindeer to improve their night vision and see clearly in low light conditions.
With these adaptations, reindeer can get used and live in one of the most terrible environments on Earth. Unlike humans, reindeer can see well into the shorter Ultra Violet (UV紫外线) range. This UV vision enables them to locate food and enemies more effectively in the snow. Lichens (地衣), a key part of their winter diet, absorb UV, so they show up dark against UV-reflecting white snow. Wolf and polar bear fur also absorb UV, so instead of disappearing against snow, they pop out in high contrast, allowing reindeer to see possible threats from a distance.
Reindeer change their eyes by adjusting their tapetum lucidum, which is made of collagen fibers (胶原纤维). In winter, the collagen fibers become packed tighter. This change happens when reindeer widen their pupils (瞳孔). In summer, the reindeer’s pupils return to a smaller size, which helps reindeer reduce the amount of light entering the eyes.
Today, the increasing use of artificial lighting, especially during the winter months, is harmful to their sensitive eyes. It can make reindeer lose their way. So it is important for us to be careful of our use of electricity and make efforts to reduce light pollution to ensure the well-being and survival of these wonderful creatures.
1. What do we know from Paragraph 2?| A．The shape of reindeer’s eyes changes with seasons. |
| B．It is difficult for reindeer to live in low light conditions. |
| C．Reindeer’s eyes appear golden in winter while blue in summer. |
| D．The tapetum lucidum helps reindeer get used to seasonal changes. |
| A．To help them see clearly on dark nights. |
| B．To tell food of different colors apart quickly. |
| C．To better locate food and enemies during snowy days. |
| D．To protect their eyes from harmful sunlight in summer. |
| A．To show the reasons for the drop in reindeer population. |
| B．To call on people to protect reindeer from light pollution. |
| C．To present humans’ great efforts to reduce artificial lighting. |
| D．To prove reindeer’s ability to get used to terrible environments. |
6 . It is said that people have been keeping dogs for more than 2000 years. Different dogs have different good points. Each kind has its own look and talents, and its own role in the people world. Here are three examples of “a dog’s life” in people’s world.
Today, many hospitals let specially trained dogs in to bring love and cheer to patients. They are called therapy (治疗) dogs. They visit children who are ill in hospital and help patients feel calm and at peace, which can be very hard in a busy hospital. They help both children and parents stay strong during long hospital stays, and some even help them get better.
Today, some beagles (检疫犬) work in airports for customs (海关). They are part of the programme called the Beagle Brigade. A beagle is good for the work because of its powerful nose and ability to follow smells. The Beagle Brigade’s job is to smell everything that comes into the country. They make officers notice illegal (非法的) fruits, vegetables, and other foods in bags. The beagles do the job better than people could.
Some dogs are working hard, but other dogs are free to spend their days resting and playing. Across the world, many people treat their pet dogs like their children. Many dogs have their own rooms and all the things a dog could want. Some even have their own clothes. Many of these pets spend their days playing, learning to follow, or even going to classes. Their owners give them the best, and enjoy doing so.
Dogs have become helpful to people in many ways. For example, with the trainers’ help, domestic dogs play many important roles in some special places. They help us live a better life. We should take more care of them.
1. What can we know about beagles?| A．The beagles are very good at taking care of patients. |
| B．The Beagle Brigade’s job is to check everything. |
| C．The beagles spend their days playing with their owner. |
| D．A beagle can use its powerful nose to find illegal things. |
| A．Kind. | B．Trained. | C．Hungry. | D．Free. |
| A．To ask people to treat dogs as their children. |
| B．To explain why people need beagles in work. |
| C．To show how dogs help people in their lives. |
| D．To tell people about the history of dogs’ work. |
All animals communicate. Crabs wave their claws to show that they’re healthy and ready to mate. Bees dance in a special way to let other bees know where to find food. All of these animals have amazing communication ways, but do they have language?
To answer that question, we can look at the following key points of language.
●Put different units into new order to show new ideas, like rearranging (重新排列) a set of letters to make different words.
●Place these units in grammatical order.
●Use language to pass on a large number of messages.
●Talk about things that aren’t in front of us, such as past, future, or unreal events.
Does animal communication show any of these points? For crabs, the answer is no. They don’t put their units together in creative ways. Those units also don’t have to be in grammatical order, and they only communicate their life right now, like “I am healthy,” or “I am sick”.
But some animals actually show some of these points. Bees use different moves to show where the food is. Warnings from some dogs show the size, shape and speed of the animals and people that may be detrimental to them. Their warnings even pass the information like what people are wearing and whether he’s carrying a gun. Some gorillas (大猩猩) have even learned body language. Sometimes they put their arms up to show their dominance (支配地位).
While these communication ways may have some common points of language, none show all four. Even gorillas’ amazing abilities are still not as good as the language skills of most three-year-old humans. And animals usually talk about few things. Bees talk about food and crabs talk about themselves.
As animal communication can’t show all the key points of language, scientists believe that there is no real language among animals.
1. What do we know about animal communication from the passage?| A．Crabs talk about different kinds of things in life. |
| B．Dogs’ warnings show what a person wears and says. |
| C．Gorillas put their arms up to show their rule over others. |
| D．Bees’ special dances and songs can tell the places of food. |
| A．patient | B．harmful | C．unusual | D．unexplained |
| A．Do Animals Have Language? | B．Why Do Animals Talk Differently? |
| C．Four Key Points in Language | D．Ways of Animal Communication |
Owls live in almost every country in the world. Most owls don’t sleep at night. When they fly, you can’t hear them. They are very quiet. Owls are good at hunting（捕猎）. They eat a lot of things such as mice, snakes, small birds and even fish. Owls have very good hearing. That helps them to hunt well in dark places. Their eyes are special. Both of their eyes face front. They can see very far away. There are facial disks（面盘）around their eyes. These facial disks can help with their hearing. Owls can turn their heads 270°. That helps them see what’s going on all around them.
Maybe because owls look a little different and have special life habits. There are a lot of stories about them. Some cultures believe that owls are very clever and some cultures think owls may bring bad luck to people. In fact, owls are really good friends of people. They eat lots of mice every year. That helps save a lot of food for people. But the number of owls in the world is becoming smaller and smaller because of people’s activities. Now owls are protected by law（法律）in many places of the world. For example, in some places, people can’t keep an owl as a pet at home.
1. We can learn from the passage that ________ are not owls’ food.| A．mice | B．snakes | C．fish | D．cats |
| A．they protect people’s homo at night | B．they can help save food for people |
| C．they like to live close to people | D．they are pets in many families |
| A．history | B．art | C．animals | D．sports |
Migrating（迁移的）Wild Geese
In autumn, the wild geese migrate to a warmer place. They fly in a V formation（队形）. Why do they fly like this? Here is the story of the migrating wild geese. If they fly in a V formation, the whole flock（整个群）will increase the flight efficiency（提升飞行效率） by 71% compared（对比）to just one bird flying alone.
They share the same direction and work as a team so they get to the destination（目的地）quicker and easier. When a wild goose leaves the formation, it will feel the resistance （阻力）of the air and the difficulties of flying alone. Then, it quickly comes back to the formation to be protected by the flock’s power（能量）in front of it. If the leader wild goose gets tired of flying, it will go to the end of the V formation while another one takes the lead. This is how they share the leadership and have respect for everyone in the team. The wild geese flying at the back of a V formation quack（嘎嘎叫）to encourage the ones in the front so that they keep the same speed. The progress（进步，进展）is greater by encouraging each other. If a goose gets sick, it must leave the formation, other wild geese leave the formation too, and they fly with it to help it out and protect it. Or they stay with it until it dies or it is able to fly again. They just make another V formation. So they stay beside each other in times of difficulties and great challenges（挑战）.
Let’s learn from this teamwork story of the wild geese. If we know the spirit（精神）of teamwork, if we understand the real value（价值）of friendship, if we are aware（意识到）of the feeling of sharing, life will be easier and full of success.
1. When do the wild geese migrate to a warmer place?2. Where will the leader wild goose go if it gets tired of flying?
3. Why do the wild geese flying at the back quack to the ones in the front?
4. What does a goose do when it gets sick?
5. What can you learn from the story?
India Works to Bring Cheetahs Back
Cheetahs
Cheetahs, the world’s fastest land animals, died out in India over 70 years ago. Now, a new project(项目) is working to bring cheetahs back to India.
Asian cheetahs lived all over India a long time ago. But by 1952, they were said to be gone forever. One of the main reasons was that people took a lot of cheetahs’ natural land. People also killed them for their spotted skins(有斑点的皮) .
Since 1952, people have tried to get cheetahs to go back to India. They set eight cheetahs free in Kuno National Park in September 2022. The cheetahs that were set free were not Asian cheetahs but African cheetahs. They are a gift from Namibia’s government. But the number of African cheetahs has also been going down. Now, there are only about 8,000 left. Some scientists believe that bringing cheetahs back to India will help keep them from dying out.
Kuno is a 289-square-mile protected area. But there is no fence around it, so the cheetahs will be free to walk into nearby forests as well. There will be tracking collars (追踪项圈) on all of the cheetahs.
India plans to spend about $ 11 million on “Project Cheetah” over the next five years. The project hopes to get about 40 cheetahs to live in Kuno. South Africa sent a second group of 12 cheetahs. They arrived in October.
But cheetahs will face some problems in Kuno National Park. And not everyone thinks that “Project Cheetah” will work. Before the cheetah project was given the green light, India was preparing Kuno as a place for Asian lions. Some scientists say Kuno is better for lions than cheetahs. Cheetahs need open areas with hiding places, such as grasslands. But some scientists point out that Kuno has more forests than grasslands. Valmik Thapar, who is famous for working to protect tigers, says, “This area is full of leopards(美洲豹) and hyenas(鬣狗), which are two of the cheetah’s biggest enemies(敌人).” He also worries that the cheetahs might not have enough food and that many of them will die.
1. What are the world’s fastest land animals?2. What happened in Kuno National Park in September 2022?
3. How many cheetahs does “Project Cheetah” hope to get to live in Kuno?
4. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
5. What do you think of the idea of bringing cheetahs back to India? Why do you think so?
