1 . Which animals are smart? Your answer may be dogs, monkeys or elephants. Now we can put one more animal into the list: sheep.
Scientists from Cambridge University said that they can teach sheep to tell familiar (熟悉的)human faces from other unfamiliar ones.
Before testing, scientists let the sheep take a look at pictures of four famous people, such as Barack Obama and British actress Emma Watson. Then the sheep went into a room with two computer screens. Each screen showed a human face. One screen showed a famous person and the other screen showed a common person。The sheep would always walk to the screen with the face of famous persons.
Then, the scientists wanted to know the sheep's ability to recognize(认出) them from a photo. They put their own photos on screens along with some pictures of unfamiliar(不熟悉的) faces. Not surprisingly, the sheep could tell the scientists from others.
After noticing the animals' ability to recognize people, scientists gave them a new job. They wanted to see the farm animals' ability to recognize the same person if the picture only showed half of the person's face or just one side of a person. The animals were still able to recognize them, though they were a little slower to recognize the pictures than before.
The results show that the animals' face-recognition( 面部识别) abilities are similar to those of monkeys and humans. Face recognition is a difficult job. But sheep have big brains(大脑). When they see other sheep, they can also recognize one another.
The scientists said it might be interesting in the future 10 find out whether sheep can recognize different human facial expressions(表情)
| Unusual smart animal-the sheep | |
| Scientific | ★Sheep's face-recognition abilities were similar to those of monkeys and humans. |
| ★Sheep's big brain | |
| A set of tests that | ★To tell famous persons from common persons The sheep were asked to choose between photos of famous and common persons. And they always walked to the photos of famous persons. |
| ★To recognize the persons around them Scientists put their own pictures into the tests. And the sheep could tell them from others as | |
| ★To recognize the same person from different sides The sheep were shown only half or one side of a person's face. And they spent a | |
| ★To recognize human facial expressions The interesting test would be done in the future. | |
2 . Succulents(多肉植物) are booming in popularity for two simple reasons: they are beautiful and easy to grow. You can plant succulents in containers or in the garden, but either way, take care to make sure your plants are healthy. Here are some general rules.
Get the pots ready. Succulents need pots that will house the plant comfortably. The actual pot size will depend on the size of the plant. You need to repot(移盆) them later. If you keep it in a smaller pot, it will generally stick to that size. You’d best choose clay (陶土) pots. There should be 3 or more holes at the bottom of the pot.
Prepare your soil. Don’t use regular potting soil because it will hold onto too much water that may cause your succulents to rot. A well-drained soil is a must. Succulents tolerate dry conditions and poorer soils.
Give them some light. Succulents prefer bright light; therefore, place the pots in an area where there is plenty of sunlight, direct or indirect. Succulents need at least four hours of direct light each day. Don’t expose your succulents to hot summer sun for too long.
Water your plant. One of the common mistakes made with succulents is overwatering. If you overwater your succulents, they aren’t going to survive. It’s the same with simply spraying them lightly. The best way to water succulents is the “soak and dry” method. Basically, you need to give your succulents enough water so that the soil gets completely wet. Then, let it dry out completely before you water again. Once every couple of weeks is generally enough during the warmer months. Over winter they don’t really need water at all.
Feed your succulents during the plants’ active growing season. Some grow actively in summer while others are winter plants. Stop fertilizing(施肥) when plant growth naturally slows.
| How to grow | |
| Rules for growing succulents | Specific instructions |
| Get the pots ready. | Choose a pot according to the size of your succulent. Choose a big pot and your succulent will get much Clay pots with holes are the best |
| Prepare the soil. | When planting them, make sure the soil is well drained. Succulents will rot in |
| Give them some light. | Succulents need at least four hours of direct light |
| Water succulents | Overwatering and spraying will kill succulents. The “soak and dry” method Don’t water succulents again until the soil has |
| Fertilize. | Succulents need Stop fertilizing when plant growth naturally slows. |
3 . It was a cool spring morning back in 2009 and I had just started a morning shift as a school crossing guard. Looking out for the children, I suddenly noticed something at sideways. Behind me I first thought it was a small, overweight dog heading towards me. I didn't think much about it, and looked carefully at any approaching children, as well as enjoying the morning sun.
What is wrong with that dog? I thought later on, as I looked back to check on the small dog—it was moving much too fast for itself.
A few minutes later, I felt as if I was being watched, I looked behind me, but the dog had disappeared. Then, as I slowly turned my attention back to the road, I was greatly surprised to see a large koala at my feet and staring right up at me. A number of different solutions crossed my mind. But staying calm was the best. "Are you waiting to cross the road?" I asked the sweet koala. Miss Koala looked away, and scratched (抓挠) behind her ear.
Then it got up on all four feet and impatiently started to cross the road. I quickly checked for any cars, then walked to the road with my stop sign held high, whistle (吹哨) to my lips, and held my breath.
The koala made it to the other side of the street, then continued following the path through the trees and disappeared into bushes.
So why did the koala cross at the school crossing? To safely get to the trees on the other side!
1. Is the writer a school crossing guard or an animal protection volunteer?2. Where did the writer notice the little animal?
3. What did the writer choose among the different solutions?
4. Which word showed that koala didn't realize the danger when crossing the road?
5. How did the writer help koala cross the road?
6. What do you think of the koala cross at the school crossing? Why?
4 . Many people think that animals in the zoo are very happy and lucky, but many of them are sad(悲伤的). Do you know why? Animals like tigers, lions and bears usually live in the forest (森林) or mountains. They run, jump, play with their children and catch small animals for food. But now they have to stay in cages or small rooms in the zoo. They do not have to find food by themselves. Because the zoo keepers（饲养员）feed them. They just eat, walk and sleep every day. Their life in the zoo is quite different from that in the forest because they are not free.
1. Are many of the animals in the zoo happy?2. Where do animals like tigers, lions and bears usually live?
3. What do the animals in the zoo do every day?
4. Do you think it is good for animals to live in the zoo? Why or why not?
5 . Ants
Do you often see ants? If the weather is warm, you may see them under the stones. If it is cold, many ants will be in their nest under the ground.
Most of the ants are worker ants. They have lots of work to do. They look for food and take care of the young ants. Each family of ants has a queen ant. The queen ant controls worker ants. She is important because she lay eggs. These eggs will become new ants.
There are many kinds of ants in America. One kind of these is very strong. They can kill and eat elephants. They move in groups. They eat all the animals they meet while moving on their way. When these ants come near, people leave their homes.
Some facts about | |
The life habit | They stay in their nest under the ground if the weather is cold. So people can see them only on |
Division of labour | 1. Worker ants: They are always busy searching for food and 2. The |
A | They live in America. They move in groups. They eat all the animals on their way. |
6 . There are not many people around who say they like rats(老鼠). When you see one of them, you may want to run in the opposite direction.
There is one man though who has always enjoyed staying with rats, even when he was a young boy. His name is Bart Weetjens and he comes from Belgium in Europe. As he grew up, he learned everything about rats. He knew that they have a very strong sense of smell. He realized that it might be possible to train rats to help solve a problem that troubled some Southeast Asian countries.
Clearing away unexploded bombs and landmines(未爆炸的炸弹和地雷) is a difficult job. Bart began to train rats to look for explosives. Because a rat’s sense of smell is so strong, they are able to smell a thing known as TNT that is used in bombs. And because rats are not heavy, if they place their weight on an unexploded bomb, they will not cause it to explode(爆炸).
Bart chose African Giant Pouched Rats for the job. They are well known for being calm and smart. Training begins when they are about six weeks old, and it lasts for nine months. Once trained, one rat can search up to 200m in 20 minutes. The same area would take a human up to four days. Trained rats are known as Mine Detection Rats, or MDRs, and they have worked successfully in Cambodia since 2015.
1. When Bart Weetjens was a young boy, he enjoyed2. As Bart Weetjens grew up, he learned that rats have a very
3. Rats will not cause an unexploded bomb to explode because they are
4. It takes
5. MDRs have
Many ways to sleep
How do you sleep? Most people sleep on their backs or sides. Do animals sleep the same way? Actually, the ways they sleep are much more different — they can lie down, sit or stand while they sleep.
Swiss scientists did a study on 250 different mammals (哺乳动物). They found that the animals’ sleeping postures (姿势) had something to do with their size and weight.
Small animals with short legs sleep on their stomachs. Their body shape is perfect for this posture. They also like to put their legs under their bodies. Rabbits and cats sleep this way.
But larger animals sleep differently. They lie on their sides. That’s because this is more comfortable for their longer legs. Cows and hippos (河马) often sleep like this.
However, there are exceptions. Small animals such as mice sometimes sit down to take a short nap. Some large animals such as horses, zebras and giraffes sleep standing up. This way, they can immediately run away if they are in danger.
Did you know? Albatrosses are large seabirds. They can sleep while flying. They can even do that while flying at a speed (速度) of about 40 km an hour.
1. The ways animals sleep are much more2. Animals’ sleeping postures have something to do with their
3. Rabbits and cats like to put their legs
4. Giraffes sleep standing up in order to run away
5. To our surprise albatrosses can sleep while
8 . I have loved animals since I was a young boy. I have always believed that animals deserve (应得) the same amount of respect (A) ________ humans. After all, (B) 我们与动物共享这个星球 and we should take more responsibility and try to stop those who hunt animals for fun or money.
When I was growing up, I could see that more and more animals seemed to be (C). ________ danger each year. It made me really sad to hear that the population of some animals was falling by large amounts every year. I could not believe that people would hurt beautiful animals like tigers and elephants. In the past, I donated (捐赠) money to organizations that help animals, but it was not enough. I wanted to do more so I moved to Africa to work at a nature reserve. ①
At the nature reserve, our main job is to guard the animals. (D) Also we need to make sure the animals’ living environment is not destroyed. ② Some people still try and take the animals. They often come at night. I am shocked it happens so regularly. They want the ivory (象牙) from elephants or the fur from big cats and do not care about killing the animals to get what they want. The money is all they care about. I am told some hunters burn the forest to make the animals come out. It is even more selfish to do this because it affects every animal.
③ I have been in the job for a year now, and I know I have helped stop a lot of animals from being harmed.
1. 在文中(A)和(C)的空白处填入适当的单词：2. 在文中①、②、③选出能够填入“I am glad to be doing my job.”的位置：
3. 将文中画线部分(B)译成英语：
4. 将文中画线部分(D)改写为：
Also we need to make sure we
5. 从文中找出两种动物名称：
9 . Can we give a hand to those endangered animals? Yes, we may only do a little bit, but together our small actions add up to a lot.
1 Protect wildlife habitat (栖息地).
Perhaps the greatest threat that faces many species (物种) is the widespread destruction (破坏) of habitat. Cutting down forests, farming, and development all result in loss of wildlife habitat. In areas where rare (稀有的) species live, habitat destruction can quickly force a species to extinction (灭绝). By protecting habitat, entire communities of animals can be protected together naturally.
2Reduce the threat (威胁) of invasive (入侵的) species.
The spread of non-native species has greatly reduced native populations around the world. Invasive species compete with native species for resources (资源) and habitat. They can even prey (捕食) on native species directly, forcing native species towards extinction.
3 Place decals (贴花纸) on windows.
It is reported that as many as one billion birds in the United States die each year because of collisions (碰撞) with windows. You can help reduce the number of collisions simply by placing decals on the windows in your home and office.
4 Slow down when driving.
Many native animals have to live in developed areas and this means they must move in human-living areas. One of the biggest obstacles (障碍) to them is that created by roads. Roads divide habitat and present a constant (不断的) risk to any animal attempting to cross from one side to the other. So when you’re out and about, slow down and keep an eye out for wildlife.
1. Is the greatest threat that endangered animals faces created by roads?2. How many ways to protect the endangered animals is mentioned in the passage?
3. Why are people advised to put decals on windows?
4. Do you think it necessary for people to protect the endangered animals? Why or why not?
10 . Hope for Tigers
In 2010, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) brought bad news that the world tiger population had hit an all-time low. There were just 3,200 tigers left in the wild, about half as many as there had been ten years before.
Now there’s good news: Tigers could be making a comeback. There were about 4,000 tigers in the world in 2019. In July, India, which has 70% of the world’s tiger, announced(宣布) that its tiger population had reached nearly 3,000. That’s a 30% rise in just four years.
India’s success was years in the making. In 2006, habitat(栖息地) loss made the number of India’s tigers reduce to only 1,411. So the Indian government decided to take a stronger plan of protection. Since its Wildlife Protection Act became law, India has given tigers a high level of protection.
Also, India’s latest tiger amount was the work of thousands of scientists. They covered 150,000 square miles of tiger habitat, using thousands of cameras to record the animal’s movements. With the help of their research, India created 50 reserves(保护区), where tigers can spread out and hunt(捕猎).
It’s when the big cats move away from the reserves that trouble starts. “When tigers leave protected reserves, they often run into local people. We cannot save wildlife without the cooperation of the people.” says wildlife expert Shari Rodriguez. Therefore, India’s government has been moving villages away from reserves. “In India, there is a lot of national pride in tigers. They are India’s biggest attraction. Villagers benefit from jobs in the national parks or from selling art works to tourists.”
But challenges remain for tigers all over Asia. They are hunted for their skin, and their teeth are sold as medicine. “They’re still in danger,” Rodriguez says. She draws hope from India’s success, “This is a small, small victory in a long war against dying out.”
1. How many tigers were there in the world in 2019?2. Why did Indian government take a stronger plan of protection in 2006?
3. What happened to India with the help of scientists’ research?
4. What are the challenges for tigers all over Asia?
5. What are Paragraph 3 to Paragraph 5 mainly about?
