1 . While it's not impossible for birds to fly in the rain, they usually choose not to. You may see birds fly for a few seconds in poor weather, but most of them prefer to stay put on rainy days.
Why does rain make it harder for birds to fly? You might imagine that moving through the air while being pelted by raindrops would be pretty unpleasant. However, it's not the rain itself that makes flying difficult. Instead, birds are influenced by the drop in the air pressure that comes with most rainstorms. When pressure drops, the air is less thick, which makes it harder for birds to fly. Moving through the sky in areas of low air pressure takes a lot of energy.
Most birds need to eat several times a day—rain or no rain. Luckily, most birds' feathers（羽毛）are highly waterproof（防水的）, protecting the skin beneath. Many birds can also make oil that they can spread over their feathers to further protect themselves from the rain. Most birds don't like rain. In fact, in a 2010 study, a team of researchers studied birds living in a Costa Rican rainforest. They found that the birds had higher levels of stress hormone（应激激素）on rainy days. That may not surprise you. After all, many animals feel stressed out during storms. Pet owners often find that rain and thunder make their animals nervous. Some animals are so strongly influenced by nature that they almost seem to forecast the future.
No one really knows how many birds die during a storm or series of storms. But the number is certainly higher than usual. They fly into trees or windows; they get lost over the ocean or a large lake; their food sources are made more difficult to get but, at the same time, they need more food to get warm. However, if rain continues for some time, birds will have to challenge the storm.
1. What makes it harder for birds to fly in the rain?| A．The wet air. | B．Food shortage. |
| C．Raindrops. | D．The low air pressure. |
| A．Cleaned. | B．Hit. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Protected. |
| A．Why birds can fly in the rain |
| B．How birds are influenced by rain. |
| C．How birds survive long rainy days. |
| D．Why birds' feathers are waterproof. |
| A．Birds will develop the ability to fly in the rain |
| B．Birds fly only when necessary on rainy days. |
| C．Birds have nowhere to hide in rainstorms. |
| D．Birds need less food on rainy days. |
2 . Men hunted. Women gathered. That has long been the common view of our prehistoric ancestors. But the discovery of a woman buried 9000 years ago in the Andes Mountains with weapons and hunting tools, and an analysis of other burial sites in the Americas challenges this widely accepted division of labor in hunter-gatherer society.
“Labor practices among recent hunter-gatherer societies are highly gendered, which might lead some to believe that sexist inequalities in things like pay or rank are somehow 'natural' , ”said lead study author Randy Haas, an assistant professor of anthropology (人类学) at University of California, Davis, in a news release. "But it's now clear that sexual division of labor was fundamentally different-likely more equal and reasonable-in our species deep hunter-gatherer past."
The burial site was discovered in 2018 during excavations (发掘) at a high-altitude site called Wilamaya Patjxa in what is now Peru. The woman, thought to be between 17 and 19 years old when she died, was buried with items that suggested she hunted big-game animals.
Although some scholars have suggested a role for women in ancient hunting, others have dismissed this idea even when hunting tools were uncovered in female burials. To examine whether this woman found at this site was an outlier, the researchers examined 429 skeletons (骷髅) at 107 burials sites in North and South America around 8000 to 14000 years ago. Of those, 27 individuals were buried with hunting tools—11 were female and 15 were male. The sample was sufficient to "support the conclusion that female participation in early big-game hunting was likely not unusual".
The findings add to doubts about man — the hunter assumption that informed much thinking about early humans since the mid-20th century. “They suggest hunting was very much a community-based activity, needing the participation of all able-bodied individuals to drive large animals”, the paper said. The weapon of choice at that time had low accuracy, encouraging broad participation, and using it was a skill learned from childhood.
1. What does the recent burial site at Andes Mountains show?| A．The origin of sexual inequality. |
| B．Hunting skills of ancient times. |
| C．The social system of prehistoric hunters. |
| D．Job division of hunter-gatherer society. |
| A．Gender plays no part in recent hunter-gatherer society. |
| B．Sexist inequality is a natural result of prehistoric society. |
| C．Ancient division of labor might be fairer than we'd thought. |
| D．Public ideas of women's role will be changed abruptly. |
| A．Exception. | B．Failure. |
| C．Role model. | D．Easy target. |
| A．Lack of able-bodied individuals. |
| B．Imperfection in hunting weapons. |
| C．Better accuracy of females in hunting. |
| D．Need for large animals as food source. |
3 . There have been fires in every Australian state, but New South Wales has been hardest hit. Fires have torn through bushland (丛林地), wooded areas, and national parks. Some start and are controlled in a few days, but the biggest fires have been burning for months.
Each year there is a fire season during the Australian summer, with hot, dry weather making it easy for fires to start and spread. Natural causes are responsible for fires most of the time, like lightning hits in drought-affected forests. Dry lightning was to blame for starting a number of fires in late December, which then traveled more than 20 kilometers in just five hours. Humans can also be responsible. Police have charged at least 24 people with starting bushfires on purpose, and have taken action against 183 people for setting fire since November.
Fire season in Australia is always dangerous -- the 2009 Black Saturday fires killed 173 people in Victoria, making it the deadliest bushfire disaster on record. But conditions have been unusually bad this year, making fires burn more strongly and making firefighting conditions particularly difficult. Australia is experiencing one of its worst droughts over the years. Meanwhile, a heatwave in December broke the record for highest nationwide average temperature, with some places under temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius. Strong winds have also made the fires and smoke spread more rapidly, and have led to deaths.
About half a billion animals have been affected by the fires across NSW, with millions likely dead -- and that's lower than what is probably the real number. That number of total animals influenced could be as high as one billion nationwide. Almost a third of koalas in NSW may have been killed in the fires, and a third of the places where they live have been destroyed.
Some species, like koalas, aren't in any immediate danger of extinction because they are spread out across the country. But others that live in more suitable environments with lower populations, including certain types of frogs and birds, could be destroyed entirely if their home is hit by the fires.
1. Fires in Australia _________.| A．may last a long time | B．often happen in spring |
| C．mainly happened in some states | D．are easily controlled in a few hours |
| A．spread rapidly | B．caused by humans |
| C．were put out by police | D．were due to wet weather |
| A．big fire | B．strong wind |
| C．serious drought | D．period of hot weather |
| A．Because they can run fast. |
| B．Because they live far and wide. |
| C．Because their home is well protected. |
| D．Because they have a lower population. |
4 . A shark that walks in water instead of swimming might sound strange. However, that is precisely how the four new species of the fish-found in the waters of the Indo - Australian islands-move across the seafloor. The unique ocean animals were discovered by a team of scientists,led by Dr.Christine Dudgeon from Australia's University of Queensland.
The newly-found species belong to the genus Hemiscyllium, the same family as the previously known five species. At less than a meter long on average, much shorter than most known species,walking sharks are incredibly cute little animals and present no threat to people. They have all evolved(进化） to survive in low oxygen environments, enabling them to hunt during low tides. The researchers believe their ability to live in low oxygen environments gives them a remarkable advantage over the unsuspecting smaller animals they mainly feed on.
A DNA analysis of skin piece from the live fish suggests that walking sharks broke away from their swimming brothers and sisters about nine million years ago and became a distinct species. Though that may appear to be a long time ago, it is relatively recent given that sharks have been around for more than 400 million years. In fact, Dudgeon and her team believe walking sharks are the youngest kind of sharks on Earth!
The scientists say that the sharks' small number and shallow habitat make them extremely vulnerable to natural disasters and overfishing.Three of the nine walking shark species, all of which live in the waters off Northern Australia,eastern Indonesia, and near the island of New Guinea, are currently on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List,which lists species at risk. Dudgeon and her team believe sensible conservation management plans are urgently needed to protect the walking sharks and other endangered animals from further threats.
1. What's a characteristic of the newly-found shark species?| A．They're dangerous to human. |
| B．They swim across the seafloor. |
| C．They can survive without oxygen. |
| D．They're smaller than many other species. |
| A．People have long known walking sharks. |
| B．Walking sharks are the oldest of their kind. |
| C．Researchers learn a lot from the sharks' habitats. |
| D．Walking sharks are closely linked to swimming sharks. |
| A．Easy to be hurt. |
| B．Hard to get along with. |
| C．Fond of attacking. |
| D．Picky about the environment. |
| A．To educate. |
| B．To inform. |
| C．To advertise. |
| D．To argue. |
The American Journal of Epidemiology (流行病学) did a study in 2010 on the correlation (相互联系) between sitting and an individual's physical health. In the study, 53,440 working men and 69,776 working women were surveyed on their time spent sitting. The subjects were all disease free when employed. The researchers identified 11,307 deaths in men and 7,923 deaths in women during the 14-year follow-up.
The findings: Women who reported sitting for more than six hours per day had an approximately 40 higher all-cause death rate than those who reported less than three hours a day, and men had an approximately 20 higher death rate.
Well, now's a fine time to get this information. But why didn't they tell me this years ago? I would have planned on taking a more active job instead of the sedentary (坐着的) job of an editor.
So what can you do if you have to work for a living at a job that requires a lot of sitting? Here are some ideas:
Take frequent breaks. It is recommended that workers vary activities, change their position, and take short breaks every 20 minutes to rest muscles and increase blood circulation. Get a standing desk. Some studies have shown that working from an upright position may be better for health. The serious fitness people can even purchase a treadmill (跑步机) desk. It only goes about one mile per hour. Have a walking meeting. If your group is kind of small, going for a walk while discussing topics is a good alternative.
1. According to the text, the study in 2010 ______.
| A．found men reporting shorter sitting time than women |
| B．surveyed more men than women on their daily sitting time |
| C．identified fewer deaths in men than in women during the 14-year follow-up |
| D．discovered correlation between sitting and physical health in men and in women |
| A．using a standing desk | B．resting one's muscles |
| C．quitting sedentary jobs | D．taking a walk while discussing |
| A．Things being discussed. | B．People being studied. |
| C．Areas of knowledge being learned. | D．Objects being painted. |
| A．Your job could be killing you. |
| B．Working out leads to health risks. |
| C．Long-time sitting is positively associated with health. |
| D．A study on sitting time and physical health was completed. |
6 . In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this: A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help, he replies, "No, thanks. I've got a good horse under me."
The city planner decided to build an underground drainage (排水) system, but there simply wasn't enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city.
An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced me the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt. This raised the level of the city's streets by as much as 12 feet.
This of course created a new problem: dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago. Building owners were faced with a choice: either change the first floors of their buildings into basements, and the second stories into main floors, or hoist the entire buildings to meet the new street level. Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story brick building?
That's where George Pullman came in. He had developed some house-moving skills successfully. To lift a big structure like the Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews (螺旋千斤顶) beneath the building's foundation. One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10 jackscrews. At Pullman's signal each man turned his jackscrew the same amount at the same time, thereby raising the building slowly and evenly. Astonishingly, the Tremont Hotel stay open during the entire operation, and many of its guests didn't even notice anything was happening. Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago's early history, every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem. Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River, the city's next step was to clean the polluted river.
1. The author mentions the joke to show ______.| A．horses were fairly useful in Chicago |
| B．Chicago's streets were extremely muddy |
| C．Chicago was very dangerous in the spring |
| D．the Chicago people were particularly humorous |
| A．decorate | B．change | C．repair | D．lift |
| A．It went on smoothly as intended. |
| B．It interrupted the business of the hotel. |
| C．It involved Pullman turning ten jackscrews. |
| D．It separated the building from its foundation. |
| A．popular life styles and their influences |
| B．environmental disasters and their causes |
| C．engineering problems and their solutions |
| D．successful businessmen and their achievements |
7 . Many people turn to doctors or self-help books, but they forget a great thing that could help them fight illness: their friends.
Researchers are only now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship in health. A 10-year Australian study found that older people with a large circle of friends were 22 percent less likely to die during the study period than those with fewer friends. A large 2007 study showed an increase of nearly 60 percent in the danger for obesity among people whose friends gained weight. And last year, Harvard researchers reported that strong social ties (关系) could improve brain health as we age.
“In general, the role of friendship in our lives isn’t well realized,” said Rebecca, a professor at the University of North Carolina. “Friendship has a bigger effect on our psychological (心理的) health than family relationships.”
While many friendship studies are about the close relationships of women, some research shows that it can do good to men too. In a six-year study of 736 middle-aged men, having friendships reduces the risk of heart disease. Only smoking was as important a danger factor (因素) as having little social support.
The exact reason why friendship has such a big effect isn’t clear. While friends can send a sick person to the hospital or pick up medicine, the advantages go well beyond physical help. Friendship clearly has a big psychological effect. “People with stronger friendships feel like there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen, a doctor. “The message of these studies is that friends make your life better.”
1. The three studies in paragraph 2 show that ________.| A．social ties have something to do with health |
| B．friends can help us lose weight |
| C．old people need friends the most |
| D．having more friends makes us healthier |
| A．health | B．unhappiness | C．excitement | D．fatness |
| A．Friendship is more important to women than to men. |
| B．What people need most is a friend’s care. |
| C．The value of friendship hasn’t been fully understood. |
| D．Friendship is more important than family relationship. |
| A．Smoking and lack of friends are also risk factors for health. |
| B．Friendship and family relationships have equal effects on health. |
| C．Close friendships are good for women but not for men. |
| D．It is clear why friendship has such a huge impact on health. |
| A．How to keep healthy. |
| B．The importance of doctors or self-help books. |
| C．The relationship between friendship and health. |
| D．How to improve family relationships. |
8 . Researchers at the University of Scotland have discovered a protein that can influence viruses developing and even can control cancer. Now the fight is on to fully understand how it works in the hope of turning the laboratory research into a treatment.
The protein is called Hira. Technically it is a histone（组蛋白）complex, but it is easier to understand in terms of what it can do. Three years ago Dr Taranjit Singh Rai and colleagues at the Beatson Cancer Institute and Glasgow University reported that Hira could possibly suppress the division of cells that causes cancer. In the course of that research, Dr Rai found out something unusual. In the lab they have established that the Hira protein has a role to play in the anti-viral fight, thus, making it have a fundamental role to play in fighting against cancer.
The trick in using it to fight diseases may lie in increasing Hira levels in our cells. “I think what researchers might be interested in is how we can increase levels of this protein to deal with the viruses better, Dr Rai said.
Dr Rai has led an international study and support has come from Cancer Research UK and the results are published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research. But there is a major concern that the research is still limited to the laboratory.
It is going to take some time, probably years, before this work can move out of the lab and into clinics and hospitals. But the researchers are excited Hira will one day be the basis of a new approach in medicine.
1. What does the underlined word “suppress" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Motivate. | B．Monitor. | C．Control. | D．Improve. |
| A．Hira has been used in the medical treatment. |
| B．More studies should be done on Hira. |
| C．The levels of Hira in cells are unchangeable. |
| D．Hira can bring about side effects. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Optimistic. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．A new way to use the protein. |
| B．A new approach to improving the division of cells. |
| C．A new medicine that can fight diseases. |
| D．A protein that can stop viruses developing. |
9 . An exhibition at the Harvard Museum of Natural History is around the theme of food plant disease, using early 20th-century glass models of rotting fruit.
Known as Harvard's "Glass Flowers", the Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants consists of over 4，300 sculptures of plants and plant parts fashioned entirely in glass by the German father-and-son artists Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka between 1887 and 1936. Harvard originally used the models as teaching tools, showing plants' three-dimensional structure and color.
The "Fruits in Decay" shows a collection of models of diseased, rotting, and withering(枯萎的) fruiting plants. The rotting fruit series was intended specifically to educate the public about the danger of plant disease. These models were created by Rudolf, the younger Blaschka, in the early 20th century Harvard botanist Oakes Ames asked him to create these diseased fruit models. And he thought about these as a way to look at what we now call food security-or insecurity.
Though the models were made nearly a hundred years ago, the theme is as remarkable as ever. Most of the illnesses shown on Rudolf Blaschka's plant models still affect today's crops.
"In certain ways, global agriculture is more likely to be harmed than it has ever been to disease threats(威胁), largely due to the widespread practice of planting one crop over large production areas. Less genetic diversity means that crops have less resistance to disease," says Sheng Yang He, a professor at Michigan State University.
Climate change will make plants morevulnerableto disease because warming temperatures disable an important plant defense system against plant disease. Major crop loss from plant disease is already at a shocking 20 to 40 percent. Food security threats from disease will almost certainly become more common so there's a lot to be done about convincing people of it.
1. What are shown on the exhibition?| A．Models of diverse crops. | B．Models of withering flowers. |
| C．Models of rotting plant parts. | D．Models of diseased fruiting plants. |
| A．Oakes Ames. | B．Sheng Yang He. |
| C．Rudolf Blaschka. | D．Leopold Blaschka. |
| A．It convinces people of the food security threats. |
| B．It reminds people of effects of global warming. |
| C．It helps people understand the history of fruit planting. |
| D．It provides people with knowledge of global agriculture. |
| A．Weak and easily hurt. | B．Resistant and protected. |
| C．Defensive and hard to attack. | D．Sensitive and completely destroyed. |
10 . Kobe Bryant was one of nine people killed in a helicopter crash on 26, Jan. 2019. He was 41. His 13-year-old daughter Gianna was also killed in the crash. Bryant was one of the greatest NBA players of all-time and an icon in the sports world. In addition to his success on the basketball court, Bryant was known for a ceaseless work ethic and incredible drive.
In honor of Bryant’s legacy, here are some inspiring quotes from Bryant on hard work, success, and life.
On achieving success:
“When you make a choice and say, ‘Come hell or high water, I am going to be this,’ then you should not be surprised when you are that. It should not be something that is intoxicating or out of character because you have seen this moment for so long that ... when that moment comes, of course it is here because it has been here the whole time, because it has been [in your mind] the whole time.”
On failure:
“I don’t mean to sound cavalier when I say that, but never. It’s basketball. I’ve practiced and practiced and played so many times. There’s nothing truly to be afraid of, when you think about it ... Because I’ve failed before, and I woke up the next morning, and I’m OK. People say bad things about you in the paper on Monday, and then on Wednesday, you're the greatest thing since sliced bread. I’ve seen that cycle, so why would I be nervous about it happening?”
On life:
“There’s a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals. If you want to be great at something there is a choice you have to make. We can all be masters at our craft, but you have to make a choice. What I mean by that is, there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that — family time, hanging out with your friends, being a great friend, being a great son, nephew, whatever the case may be. There are sacrifices that come along with that.”
On retiring and facing the end of his basketball career:
“There is beauty in that. I mean, it's going through the cycle. I mean, it's the cycle that is the natural progression of growth, of maturation. I mean, there's no sadness in that ... I see the beauty in not being able to blow past defenders anymore, you know what I mean? I see the beauty in getting up in the morning and being in pain because I know all the hard work that it took to get to this point. So, I’m not, I'm not sad about it. I'm very appreciative of what I've had.”
1. What is the attitude of Kobe Bryant towards achieving success by saying “Come hell or high water, I am going to be this”?| A．Confident | B．Determined |
| C．Optimistic | D．Frightened |
| A．not serious or caring | B．anxious and eager |
| C．worried and pessimistic | D．not proud or arrogant |
| A．fight against those who said bad things about him. |
| B．worry about others’ comments on his performance. |
| C．cheer for himself by regarding himself as the greatest figure. |
| D．show no fear facing ups and downs. |
| A．People paid tribute to Kobe Bryant for his success on the basketball court. |
| B．Kobe Bryant devoted more of his life to basketball instead of accompanying his family. |
| C．Kobe Bryant regarded his retirement as the beginning of another career. |
| D．Kobe Bryant felt emotionless when facing the end of his basketball career. |
