1 . You might remember watching Tweety and Sylvester from the Looney Tunes cartoons while growing up. Every time the cat Sylvester would try to eat the bird Tweety, the latter would call its owner and complain about the cat, just as a human would. In reality, several birds are able to mimic (模仿) speech. The most common bird known to do this is the parrot.
Studies have shown that the young birds learn and memorize species-specific songs by mimicking vocalizations (发声) of their father, starting as early as a week after birth. If separated from the father during this sensitive (感觉敏锐的) period, young birds may develop very strange songs.
It is common sense that a singer with a broader vocal range (范围) will be more successful than one with a smaller vocal range. Similarly, male songbirds with the vocal learning ability to learn broader types of songs enjoy higher chances of attracting attention of female. Therefore, such songbirds started achieving broader song learning skills as time went by. Eventually, they ended up with vocal skills so broad that they could not just learn songs from other males in their species, but songs from different species too.
Parrots have been kept as pets for thousands of years, and are probably the most famous mimics. Vocal mimicry in parrots has often caught human’s attention, since they can mimic the difficult vocalizations of human speech learned from their caretakers. The reason for this is not to attract mates. Parrots raised as pets often mimic humans to establish social connections.
In a study on an African Grey parrot, scientists observed that it could not just mimic human speech, but could also learn several hundreds of words and their meanings, recognize objects by names, and even count! The study has made scientists think that parrots are not simply mimicking, but that their vocal ability is very similar to that of human speech. This is a huge discovery, as humans are the only animals known to be capable of using “language” to date.
1. Why does the author mention the cartoon in Paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the main topic. |
| B．To find a solution to a problem. |
| C．To present conflicts between animals. |
| D．To encourage readers to watch the cartoon. |
| A．Male birds are born to have the ability to use their language. |
| B．Animals start learning language one week earlier than humans. |
| C．Young male birds are more sensitive to vocalizations than female ones. |
| D．Language learning needs proper language environment at a proper stage. |
| A．To attract mates. | B．To build relations with humans. |
| C．To show off their vocal abilities. | D．To communicate with other parrots. |
| A．Confused. | B．Honoured. | C．Amazed. | D．Disappointed. |
2 . Wildlife Preservation Volunteer Programs
Elephant Preservation Volunteer Program in Nepal
This program is suitable for active volunteers who love animals and want to care for the well-being of elephants. No experience is needed as you’ll be working closely with placement staff. The elephant shelter takes in elephants that have medical issues and require care.
Volunteers are accommodated in a local hotel. You should expect to share a room with one other volunteer.
Marine (海洋的) Preservation Volunteer Program in Croatia
This program is suitable for physically fit volunteers who are experienced divers (潜水员). You will use your diving skills to collect marine waste from the bottom of the seabed. You will work within a team on sorting waste out and handing it to the recycling centre.
Volunteers will be accommodated in a hotel. Local workers will clean the accommodation throughout the week.
Victoria Falls Wildlife Volunteering in Zimbabwe
This program is suitable for animal-loving volunteers who want to contribute to protecting amazing creatures and their habitats. Activities include animal tracking, camping out on the reserve and supporting other partner organizations.
Volunteers are accommodated within private rooms at the preservation centre. The accommodation has an open-air area where volunteers can socialize.
Amazon Jungle Preservation Volunteer Program in Peru
This program is suitable for volunteers who care about the environment, like working hard and don’t mind getting their hands dirty. It’s a great opportunity if you’re looking to reset your life by getting out of your comfort zone. You’ll also be developing personally and professionally.
Volunteers are accommodated in local people’s houses. There are running showers but you can expect water to he cold.
1. What do the programs in Nepal and Zimbabwe have in common?| A．They need experienced volunteers. |
| B．They are suitable for animal lovers. |
| C．They include dirty work in the field. |
| D．They require camping out on the reserve. |
| A．They work on the seabed all the time. |
| B．They help to keep the environment clean. |
| C．They are taught diving skills after arrival. |
| D．They lead a team to explore the marine creatures. |
| A．Elephant Preservation Volunteer Program. |
| B．Marine Preservation Volunteer Program. |
| C．Victoria Falls Wildlife Volunteering. |
| D．Amazon Jungle Preservation Volunteer Program. |
The red panda, also called red cat-bear, has soft and thick fur with a red-brown stripe (条纹) from each eye to the corners of the mouth. Its body
The red panda lives in an area
About two
The red panda can live together
Now red pandas are
4 . In a world-record effort to help save a valuable sea creature, Australian scientists have released hundreds of baby seahorses into the wild. The tiny seahorses are endangered, and the scientists hope the new seahorses will help their numbers grow.
Seahorses get their name because they look a bit like horses. They aren’t great swimmers, even though they’re fish. They often use their tails to hold onto something in the water. They mostly live in warm, shallow waters around the world. They are often found in coral reefs, in beds of seagrass, and areas where rivers empty into the sea. Seahorses form an important part of the ocean’s food chain. They eat tiny sea creatures and are eaten by bigger sea animals.
Many kinds of seahorses are often threatened by the human actions. Sometimes they’re caught and sold as pets. They are also caught by accident when people are trying to catch other fish.
To begin the project, scientists collected three pregnant seahorses in January. Those seahorses were brought back to the aquarium (水族馆) in Sydney. After the babies were born, the scientists kept them there for five months, feeding the baby seahorses shrimps (小虾) to help them grow strong. Scientist Mitchell Brennan says, “They don’t have a stomach, so they have to eat constantly.”
About a month before the young seahorses were released, the scientists created eight underwater “hotels” for them. The hotels look like cages, providing a safe place for the seahorses to develop. Putting the hotels into the sea early allowed the cages to be covered with small sea life that can help provide food for the seahorses.
This is the fifth time the scientists have released seahorses into the area, and this time was a record. Around 380 seahorses were released. The researchers put tiny tags (标记) under the skin of many of the seahorses to help track them in the future.
1. What can be learned about seahorses from paragraph 2?| A．They look exactly like horses. | B．They have a gift for swimming. |
| C．They mostly live in the deep sea. | D．They feed on small sea creatures. |
| A．The types of the seahorses. | B．Living conditions the seahorses need. |
| C．Areas the seahorses live in. | D．Dangers the seahorses face. |
| A．To differ the project from the former ones. |
| B．To avoid danger the seahorses may face. |
| C．To offer food to the seahorses. |
| D．To help track the seahorses in the future. |
| A．A New Study on Endangered Seahorses |
| B．Underwater “Hotels” for Baby Seahorses |
| C．A Record Number of Baby Seahorses Were Released |
| D．New Methods of Finding Endangered Seahorses |
| A．Snowy. | B．Rainy. | C．Sunny. |
Three cows swept away by Hurricane Dorian have been found miles from home in a national park, a spokesman said. Dorian brought strong winds, damaging tornadoes (龙卷风) and heavy rain
During
The cows were not wild. Horvat said they had caretakers in Cedar Island
One cow was found shortly after Dorian hit, while the other two were found about two weeks later by
7 . I was mostly based in Samburu National Reserve, recording details of the population and leading collar (颈圈) operations. We put trackers (跟踪仪) around wild elephants’necks, so we can learn about their activities.
In May 2009, in the middle of the wet season, Rommel appeared again. And it was histurn to be placed a collar. We sent three cars out to search for him. There’s a river running through the park where many elephants gather in the mornings. At 10:30 am, one of my partners clocked Rommel.
A tranquillizer (镇静剂) was carefully shot into his body so we could safely place a collaron him, but for a bull of Rommel’s size it could take longer. After that, he turned away, heading in an unexpected direction and seemed to be near danger by killing himself in thewater. It would be a bad accident. Only by pulling his trunk (象鼻) from the river, could weensure his survival. The problem was that the river was a little bit changeable. Immediately, I decided to act. I jumped in and lifted his heavy, twitching trunk from the water with the help of lifeguards. The team tried to fit him with a collar, but we discovered that we didn’t have one big enough.
We couldn’t risk keeping him there while we created a bigger collar. So I struggled on, holding his trunk high with all my strength. And medicine that took away the efforts of the tranquillizer was delivered.
As soon as his ears started to move, a sign of coming to life, I dropped his trunk and moved to safety. Within a couple of minutes, he was back to life. That was one of my proudest moments
1. What is the purpose of putting trackers around wild elephants’necks?| A．To record their sizes. | B．To know their activities. |
| C．To control and train them. | D．To save them from danger. |
| A．To sent him to a zoo. | B．To treat his wounds. |
| C．To place a collar on him safely. | D．To check his health. |
| A．He gave him certain medicine. | B．He lifted his trunk out of water. |
| C．He performed an operation on him. | D．He called other members for help. |
| A．Pride. | B．Surprise. | C．Anger. | D．Worry. |
8 . In southeastern Brazil, local fishers walk into dark waters in search of mullet (鲻鱼). On their own, it would be tricky to find the silvery fish. But the humans get help from an unusual partner—wild bottle-nose dolphins.
With nets in hand, the fishers patiently wait as their cetacean (鲸类的) partners drive the fish toward the shore. A signal from the dolphins—usually a deep dive—indicates when they should cast their nets. This fishing partnership has passed down through the generations, lasting for more than a century.
While researchers knew humans profited from this pairing, they couldn’t confirm whether it benefited the dolphins. Now, in a new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers suggest cetaceans that hunt with humans have more chances to live than those that don’t.
“Human-wildlife cooperation in general is an uncommon phenomenon (现象) at a global scale,” says Mauricio Cantor, a biologist at Oregon State University and leader of the study. “Usually humans gain the benefit, and nature pays the cost. But this interaction (互动) has been happening for over 150 years.”
Fishers were more successful when they worked with the dolphins. When dolphins were present, the fishers were 17 times more likely to catch prey (猎物) and netted nearly four times more mullet when they timed their casting with the cetaceans signals. Eighty-six percent of all 4,955 mullet caught during the study period came from their interactions at the same time—when the allies organized their actions perfectly with one another.
The study also revealed dolphins hunting with humans had a 13 percent increase in survival rate over other dolphins. These cooperative (合作的) dolphins are more likely to stay near the shore reducing their chance of being caught in illegal fishing equipment. Besides, the dolphins can take some fish directly from the fishers harvest.
1. What do the first two paragraphs talk about concerning Brazilian fishers?| A．They trick dolphins into fishing for them. |
| B．They have been training dolphins over a century. |
| C．They harvest more fish with dolphins’ help. |
| D．They throw the fishing nets when dolphins are on the top of water. |
| A．Nature supports human beings at no cost. |
| B．Fishers benefiting from cooperation with cetaceans is common. |
| C．Human-wildlife interaction is a new global trend. |
| D．Dolphins working with man have higher survival rate. |
| A．partners | B．preys | C．dolphins | D．researchers |
| A．To call on the protection of sea creatures. |
| B．To support development in fishing research. |
| C．To show a unique human-dolphin relationship. |
| D．To encourage fishers to better draw on dolphins. |
At the time of this writing. I have reached the age of 105. As I look back, I think of the many wonderful things that have happened in my long life. many of which have served to strengthen my belief that miracles really do happen. One of these that I recall today happened many years ago but is still as fresh in my mind as if it had happened yesterday.
Peter was a Russian Wolfhound (Borzoi) with the typical tall, long-legged build of the hunter he was supposed to be but never was. He weighed close to eighty-five pounds and had the long nose and narrow head of the Borzoi, so narrow that it didn’t seem to have much room for brains. In Peter’s case, it didn’t. He became easily confused, but his gentle nature made up for his lack of intelligence.
On the day in question, I had gathered up my dogs. one Old English Sheepdog, one Whippet rescue, and Peter. They were all settled in my covered pickup truck bed, and was headed out for our daily exercise, six miles into the country where there was no leash (绳) law and they could run free. They were all trained not to chase wild animals, to stay reasonably close. and to come when called.
After I had walked for about ten minutes, I noticed one dog was missing. Peter, of course! It seemed obvious that he had stopped to investigate some irresistible (不可抗的) smell, and then, becoming confused, had turned back the way we had just come, He would easily be able to follow our track, but in the wrong direction. And when a Borzoi runs, he covers a lot of ground in a very short time.
Feeling guilty, knowing I should have kept a closer watch on him, I retraced (折返) my steps, calling and whistling, but there was no sign of him. It was winter and would soon be dark. In desperation, I started to pray. “Please God, keep Peter safe.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
After half an hour of calling at the top of my voice. I finally decided to drive the two other dogs home.
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Upon reaching home, I discovered a long nose waiting at the doorway.
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10 . As days are getting shorter and colder, people can often find themselves feeling sad or lacking the motivation to do anything. One possible reason for those feelings is seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which is common during the cold months.
Pay close attention to your dog’s behaviour.
Analyzing your dog’s behaviour will help you get a better understanding of whether they may be feeling sad.
Even when you’re inside, make sure to spend time playing or training your dog. Try to come up with new games that require you to interact with your dog. This is a great way to get your pet excited and boost their mood, and yours, too.
Provide them with as much sunlight as possible.
As with humans, the lack of sunlight during the winter can cause lower mood levels, so it is very important for your dog to get as much sunlight exposure as possible.
Ensure your dogs get exercise during the day.
The winter months are colder and darker, and it might be inviting to skip an exercise or a walk outside, but much like humans, this can have a significant effect on your dog’s mood.
| A．Spend time interacting with your dog. |
| B．Calm your dog down with relaxing activities. |
| C．Whenever possible, take your dog outside for a walk. |
| D．Observe their behaviour for a while and speak to a vet if needed. |
| E．While we know people can suffer from SAD, can dogs get SAD too? |
| F．Changes in routine or environment can cause your dog to feel unwell. |
| G．Even a short walk can help improve your dog’s mood and also your own. |
