| A. species | B. informed | C. awareness | D. indicate |
| E. additional | F. figures | G. advanced | H. sticking |
| I. state | J. reliance | K. based |
Sensors for Houseplants
Over the past two years Jasmin Moeller, a 38-year-old in Germany, has been buying more houseplants, making her feel more comfortable.
Actually, the fact that people have spent much more time
Yet it is one thing to buy a houseplant and quite another to successfully look after it. Luckily, some
A sensor made by German firm Greensens has approximately 5000 plant
Another app released by German business Fyta tells users how their plants are by analyzing the uploaded pictures of the plants. It also includes
However, Botanist Silver Spence is worried that
Back in Germany, Ms Moeller says she is sure that the sensors are helping her improve gardening skills.
2 . When Mexican scientist of the evolution of animal behavior, Laura Cuaya, moved to Hungary for her postdoctoral studies in Budapest, she brought her pet dog, Kun-kun, along for the ride. Cuaya couldn't help noticing how locals warmed to dogs. This prompted her naturally curious scientific mind to start asking questions. “Here people are talking all the time to Kun-kun, but I always wonder if Kun-kun can recognize that people in Budapest speak Hungarian, not Spanish?” So she set out to find an answer through a scientific study.
Cuaya and her colleagues decided to use brain images from MRI scanning to shed light on her hunch. They worked with dogs of various ages that had, until the experiment, only heard their owners speak just one of the two languages, Spanish or Hungarian. Not surprisingly, getting the dogs to happily take part in the experiment took some creative coaxing and animal training! The researchers first needed to teach Kun-kun and her 17 fellow participating dogs including a labradoodle, a golden retriever and Australian shepherds, to lie still in a brain scanner. Their pet parents were always present, and they could leave the scanner at any point.
The research team played children's book classic The Little Prince in both Spanish and Hungarian while scanning the dogs' brains with an MRI machine. They were looking for evidence that their brains reacted differently to a familiar and unfamiliar language. The researchers also played scrambled versions of the story to find out if dogs could distinguish between speech and non-speech.
The images reveal that dogs' brains show different patterns of activity for an unfamiliar language than for a familiar one — the first time anyone has proved, researchers say, that a non-human brain can distinguish between two languages. This means that the sounds and rhythms of a familiar language are accessible to non-humans.
Interestingly, the team also found that the brains of older dogs were more skilled at detecting speech “suggesting a role for the amount of language exposure”. They suggest that dogs have refined their ability to distinguish between human languages over the long process of domestication.
1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The background of the study. | B．The significance of the study. |
| C．The concern of the researcher. | D．The introduction to the researcher. |
| A．Age limits. | B．Brain patterns. | C．Language exposure. | D．Owners' commands. |
| A．practical | B．contradictory | C．compromising | D．groundbreaking |
| A．Dogs Can Tell Foreign Languages | B．Dog Brains Have Different Patterns |
| C．Old Dogs Know More About Human Speech | D．Dogs Can Differ Speech From Non-Speech |
1.
| A．Because they have true blue eyes. |
| B．Because they look true blue underwater. |
| C．Because they have true blue underbellies. |
| D．Because they look true blue on the surface. |
| A．By giving out yellowish light. |
| B．By changing the color of their backs. |
| C．By emitting a series of pulses and sounds. |
| D．By traveling through the ocean at 20 miles an hour. |
| A．When they are angry, they let out the loudest noise. |
| B．They are highly intelligent animals without social life. |
| C．An ordinary-sized whale weighs as much as an elephant. |
| D．They rely on excellent hearing to communicate and navigate. |
Life in the Clear
Transparent animals let light pass through their bodies the same way light passes through a window. These animals typically live between the surface of the ocean and a depth of about 3,300 feet-as far as most light can reach. Most of them are extremely delicate and can be damaged by a simple touch. Sonke Johnsen, a scientist in biology, says, “These animals live through their life alone. They never touch anything unless they’re eating it, or unless something is eating them.”
And they are as clear as glass. How does an animal become see-through? Ifs trickier than you might think.
The objects around you are visible because they interact with light. Light typically travels in a straight line. But some materials slow and scalier(散射) light bouncing it away from its original path. Others absorb light, stopping it dead in its tracks. Both scattering and absorption make a.n object look different from other objects around it, so you can see it easily.
But a transparent object doesn't absorb or scatter light, at least not very much. Light can pass through it without bending or stopping. That means a transparent object doesn't look very different from the surrounding air or water. You don't see it- you see the things behind it.
To become transparent, an animal needs to keep its body from absorbing or scattering light. Living materials can stop light because they contain pigments(色素) that absorb specific colors of light. But a transparent animal doesn’t have pigments, so its tissues won’t absorb light. According to Johnsen, avoiding absorption is actually easy. The real challenge is preventing light from scattering.
Animals are built of many different materials—skin, fat, and more—and light moves through each at a different speed. Every time light moves into a material with a new speed, it bends and scatters. Transparent animals use different tricks to fight scattering. Some animals are simply very small or extremely flat. Without much tissue to scatter light, it is easier to be see-through. Others build a large, clear mass of non-living jelly-like(果冻状的) material and spread themselves over it.
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5 . As consumers, we are very wasteful. Annually, the world generates 1.3 billion ions of solid waste. This is expected to go up to 2.2 billion by 2025. The developed countries are
Traditional wisdom would seem to suggest that companies have no interest in
When choosing what products to buy and which brands to buy from, more and more consumers are looking into sustainability, which is
Some retailers and manufacturers in the clothing, footwear, and electronics industries have launched
Enormous opportunities also
| A．forgivable | B．accountable | C．tolerable | D．remarkable |
| A．altering | B．lengthening | C．obeying | D．upsetting |
| A．Therefore | B．Somehow | C．Yet | D．Otherwise |
| A．partly | B．barely | C．precisely | D．exclusively |
| A．bridged with | B．subjected to | C．opposed to | D．associated with |
| A．minimizing | B．maintaining | C．stimulating | D．deserting |
| A．On the contrary | B．Above all | C．For example | D．In most cases |
| A．modifying | B．wrecking | C．dumping | D．restoring |
| A．sustainable | B．compulsory | C．economic | D．educational |
| A．insuring | B．substituting | C．concealing | D．preserving |
| A．accessibility | B．productivity | C．affordability | D．durability |
| A．profitable | B．emotional | C．predictable | D．reputational |
| A．lie in | B．stand for | C．consist of | D．result in |
| A．respectively | B．dramatically | C．evenly | D．thoroughly |
| A．take-back. | B．give-away | C．clean-up | D．cut-down |
| A．Suitable fertilizers. | B．Adequate water. |
| C．Rich soil. | D．Proper temperature. |
Landslide Injures at least 10 in Norwegian Town of Ask
A landslide (山体滑坡) has smashed into a residential area near the Norwegian capital at midnight on Dec. 30. injuring at least 10 people, leaving 21 unaccounted for and
About 700 people have been brought to safety for fear of further landslides.
The landslide cut across a road, leaving a deep gap that cars
Rescue workers continued to search the area for children and adults
Pettersen said there were no reports of missing people, but officials could not rule out the possibility
One of the injured was seriously hurt, while nine had
Norway's King Harald said the landslide had made a deep impression on him. "My thoughts are with all those who are affected, injured or have lost their homes and those who now live in fear and uncertainty of
The area in which Ask
Helicopters continued to circle over the area as night fell
"There could be people trapped ... but at the same time we can't be sure
1.
| A．Pink. | B．Green. | C．Purple. | D．White. |
| A．Recycling is compulsory. |
| B．Most recycling programs don’t succeed in that people don’t want to deliver rubbish. |
| C．The primary work of the volunteers is to collect and sort rubbish to the same center. |
| D．The volunteers will devote six hours a week to dealing with rubbish. |
| A．To explain why recycling is important. |
| B．To describe the recycling program. |
| C．To discuss whether or not recycling should be compulsory. |
| D．To tell people how to tell different sorts of rubbish cans apart. |
9 . Dandelions
I remember as a young child bringing a bunch of brilliant yellow flowers to my mother. It didn’t matter that the stems felt sticky or that both my parents cursed the presence of these flowers in the lawn. I thought they were beautiful!
And there were so many of them! We spent hours picking the flowers and then popping the blossoms off with a snap of our fingers. But the supply of dandelions (蒲公英) never ran out. My father or brothers would chop off all the heads with the lawnmower (割草机) at least once a week, but that didn't stop these hardy wonders.
And for those flowers that escaped the honor of being hand-delivered to my mother or the sharp blades of the lawnmower, there was another level of existence. The soft roundness of a dandelion gone to seed caused endless laughter of delight as we unconsciously spread this flower across the yard.
As I worked in my garden last week, pulling unwanted weeds out of the space that would become a haven for tomatoes, corn, peas and sunflowers, I again marveled at the flower that some call a weed.
And I thought, if only I had the staying power of a dandelion. If only I could stretch my roots so deep and straight that something tugging on my stem couldn’t separate me completely from the source that feeds me life. If only I could come back to face the world with a bright, sunshiny face after someone has run me over with a lawnmower or worse, purposely attacked me in an attempt to destroy me. If only I could spread love and encouragement as freely and fully as this flower spreads seeds of itself.
The lawns at my parents' home are now beautiful green blankets. The only patches of color come from well-placed, well-controlled flowerbeds. Chemicals have managed to kill what human interference couldn’t. I hope you and I can be different. I hope that we can stretch our roots deep enough that the strongest poison can't reach our souls. I hope that we can overcome the poisons of anger, fear, hate, criticism and competitiveness.
1. The author’s parents probably viewed the dandelions in the lawn as ________.| A．supplies of seeds | B．beautiful wonders |
| C．unwanted weeds | D．patches of colors |
| A．The flowers were meant as a joyful gift to her mother. |
| B．The flowers evolved into a stronger species because of frequent mowing. |
| C．The flowers were tough enough to spread new lives themselves. |
| D．The flowers that some called a weed were difficult to pull out. |
| A．The author’s family enjoyed the dandelions as much as she did. |
| B．The author purposefully replaced some dandelions with crops. |
| C．The dandelions were never successfully removed from the lawn. |
| D．The author felt sorry but encouraged by the fate of the dandelions. |
| A．share the inspirations she gained from the dandelions |
| B．arouse public awareness to pay close attention to the beauty in life |
| C．show the importance of planting dandelions |
| D．express the shame that only she saw the beauty of the dandelion |
Population Change of European Birds
The breeding bird populations in Europe have seen a great shift over the past three decades, driven by both climate crisis and human interferences, according to one of the world’s largest citizen science projects on biodiversity.
Overall, 35% of birds increased their breeding range. Dr. Iván Ramírez, senior head of conservation at BirdLife Europe and central Asia, said: “Those birds that have been legally protected have been doing better than those which are not protected. This is a really important message within the European Union. We have one of the oldest policies – the Birds Directive – and we can prove that it works.”
In addition, as the climate warms, forests are stretching into northern and agricultural regions. In parts of northern Europe, there has also been tree planting (mainly for wood and paper) and land abandonment (specifically in Mediterranean areas), which benefited many woodland species such as woodpeckers and warblers but caused damage to a number of other species as well. The research shows a total of 25% of birds now occupy a smaller area.
Generally, farmland birds are bigger losers, suffering overall declines in population and reduced distribution because agricultural intensification means there is less food, such as insects and remainder from harvesting. The State of Nature in the EU 2013-2018 assessment showed 80% of key habitats were in poor or bad condition, and intensive farming is a major driver of decline. The UK’s farmland birds have declined by 55% since 1970.
“Predictably, there are winners and losers. We can see how some species have expanded across the continent rapidly and have begun to colonize UK wetlands. In contrast, we can see ranges shrinking as species of northern Europe feel the impact of climate change, and species such as the dotterel are declining in numbers and range in northern Britain,” he said.
