I was eight years old when my mother was told that she would never walk again without calipers (双脚规形夹) , and she wished to visit doctors in London.
The day before we boarded the ship, father committed (托付) his pet dog, Spider to his friend Sandy while we were overseas. We didn’t know how long my mother’s treatment would take or how long we would be away.
Six weeks later, an air-letter arrived from Sandy, saying that Spider had run away just two weeks after we had sailed and that despite many efforts, the dog was never found. I will always remember my father’s eyes watery as he read this news. Though my mother and I tried to comfort him, we knew in our hearts how useless that was.
We sailed back to Australia two years later. My father immediately began his own search for Spider. After many false calls, we had to accept the fact that the dog was gone.
One cold winter’s Saturday morning eight months after our return, my father had a call from Gin Gin, an old lady 375 kilometers away. On the phone she said she had been putting food out “for a very yellow old dog” in the night for weeks and “it was just glimpses of the similar dog in the shadows” in her disused tennis court.
That was enough for my father to drive five and a half hours to see this yellow dog. Sadly, Gin Gin told us the yellow dog hadn’t been around for a few days. My father had a strange look in his eyes.
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Then, he put two fingers to his lips and did his special whistle for Spider.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was him, my father’s long-lost friend, Spider.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . Each fall, millions of butterflies across the U. S. and Canada fly up to 4, 000 km to central Mexico. Travelers can see the butterflies overwintering on the Western Monarch Trail, a 465-mile, road trip-friendly conservation initiative that links over a dozen stops along the route.
Helping the butterflies
Organizers created educational panels in English and Spanish explaining the butterflies’ annual traveling and their trouble. The signs also outline ways travelers can help the butterflies recover, such as by supporting chemical-free farms and planting native nectar (花蜜) gardens.
Why butterflies fly to the California coast
Many stops in Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove and Andrew Molera State Park, are overwintering sites where, from October to February, travelers can see thousands of butterflies gathering in forests in areas with mild temperatures, dappled (斑驳的) sunlight, high dampness, and little to no wind.
Other sites, like the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden and Avila Valley Barn, growflowers that provide sugary, high-calorie food for the butterflies to eat. Butterflies settling here demonstrate how vital nectaring plants are to their survival.
How to explore the Western Monarch Trail
The butterflies’ behavior varies at different times of day and depending on the weather. In the mornings, while temperatures are still cool, step out of the cabin (木屋) in the Fernwood Resort where you stay overnight, you’ll find many butterflies hanging together on the branches and trunks of trees at the overwintering sites. As the day starts to heat up-typically by late morning or early afternoon — you’ll be amazed at the phenomenon “sunburst” — the butterflies start flying around in search of nearby nectar. Keep your eyes skyward. Don’t grab your camera. Just be in the moment.
1. What’s the Western Monarch Trail initiative aimed at?A.Providing a travel route. | B.Encountering butterflies. |
C.Promoting organic farming. | D.Advocating species conservation. |
A.It holds many nectar gardens. |
B.It’s pleasant throughout winter. |
C.It has sufficient food for butterflies. |
D.It’s home to butterflies all year around. |
A.Signs to guide the route. |
B.Cameras for recording videos. |
C.Ready shelters to stay overnight. |
D.Experience of watching “sunburst” at dawn. |
3 . A study was carried out as a cooperation program among researchers at the universities of Turku (Finland), Sydney (Australia) and Cordoba (Spain). Those researchers used artificial nests (人工鸟巢) to test two methods for reducing the nest predation (捕食) of endangered ground-nesting birds.
Predator control is a common challenge in areas where many animals, such as ground-nesting birds, cannot bear the impact of the increased number of predators. For example, in areas that have fewer top predators, the red fox population can be overly large for the areas they live in. Besides, predator control by hunting can be hard and cannot be carried out everywhere or at any time, for example, during the birds’ nesting season. In such cases, the foxes can cause a decline in the populations of some birds.
In the first experimental sites, the researchers spread waterfowl’s smell in wetland areas. With the chemical camouflage (伪装), the researchers studied whether predators might fail to find the artificial bird nests. In other areas, the researchers used eggs giving off an unpleasant smell which could cause discomfort with the goal of making predators believe that the bird eggs were not eatable. The researchers also used control sites which they visited as frequently as the experimental sites to stop predators from making the right choices.
The study showed that the chemical camouflage especially decreased the predation of the artificial bird nests by red foxes. “Unlike other predators, red foxes were more easily deceived into not eating bird eggs than some other predators. We found red foxes might rely more on their sense of smell to find bird nests. The chemical smells could make most of them think the food they found could not be eaten,” explains Senior Researcher Vesa Selonen from the University of Turku.
“Our results are interesting as they show that these approaches could reduce the nest predation of endangered birds. We’re wondering whether the results we observed with the artificial nests can also lead to the protection of real bird nests and a larger number of young birds,” says Professor Toni Laaksonen from the University of Turku.
1. What does the author want to show by mentioning predator control?A.The number of red foxes is out of control. |
B.The living areas of ground-nesting birds are limited. |
C.Predator control and hunting should be applied together. |
D.New solutions for fighting predation are necessary. |
A.Driving away the smart predators. |
B.Causing the bird eggs to be unsuitable for eating. |
C.Making the wetland areas attractive to the predators. |
D.Confusing the predators about the location of nests. |
A.Forced. | B.Raised. | C.Cheated. | D.Frightened. |
A.Put their research methods into practice. |
B.Search for new sites to continue the experiments. |
C.Perfect their methods to study birds’ nesting behavior. |
D.Develop more methods of designing artificial nests. |
4 . In South Africa, the African Penguin Nest Project team made up of researchers and wildlife protectors from around the world has designed handmade ceramic (陶瓷的) nest boxes over the last five years to protect endangered penguins from the warming weather caused by climate change.
In the past, the seabirds laid their eggs in holes dug into centuries old layers of their own waste. But in the late 1800s, most of the waste was collected as plant food by traders. Since then, many penguins have nested in the open, exposing them to heatstroke and their eggs to their enemies. “We have put this species at risk of extinction, mainly because of human desires,” said Shaun Welman, a zoologist at Nelson Mandela University. The population of these seabirds in Africa has fallen from 3 million to 48,000 since 1900, according to reports.
But thanks to the team, more than 1,500 ceramic nests have been made and placed across five different penguin colonies (群落) in South Africa. The structures are able to stand up to higher temperatures than traditional holes and outperformed cement (水泥) and fiberglass models, according to a study co-authored by Welman.
The ceramic nests are built by hand. The 72-hour process requires a high level of attention to details to make sure the raw materials are combined successfully. A number of air holes designed to give out heat and keep penguins cool are drilled into the top of the nests, says Kevin Graham, leader of the African Penguin Nest Project.
Having spent three years researching and testing the nests, Graham placed the first 200 structures in two South African penguin colonies in 2018. Within the first month, researchers discovered eggs in 40%of the nests in one colony and 25%of the nests in the other.
“If everything goes well and these nests continue to work, we can keep giving them homes,” said Graham. “Each one we build is eco-friendly.” He added, “We can’t solve the population decline with just the nests, but at least we can give them a place to raise kids.”
1. What led to the fall in penguins’ population at first?A.Sea pollution. | B.Human activity. |
C.Climate change. | D.Introduced pests. |
A.They are easier to build and repair. |
B.They are more environmentally friendly. |
C.They can better protect penguins from the heat. |
D.They can better stop the eggs from being attacked. |
A.The ceramic nests are effective. |
B.The penguins’ eggs are hard to find. |
C.The ceramic nests need improvements. |
D.The two colonies have different living habits. |
A.To offer suggestions on wildlife protection. |
B.To find out the threats African penguins face. |
C.To show the achievements of an African project team. |
D.To introduce a handmade nest benefiting penguins. |
5 . Tropical (热带的) forests could become so hot that some kinds of leaves will no longer be able to conduct photosynthesis (光 合 作用), according to a study. The photosynthetic machinery in tropical trees begins to fail at about 46.7℃ on average. The research suggests that forests may be nearing dangerous temperature sooner than expected. Models predict that once we hit a global temperature increase of 3.9℃, these forests might experience mass leaf damage.
Chris Doughty, an associate professor at Northern Arizona University and the lead researcher of the study, said the leaf-warming experiments had revealed a nonlinear rise in temperatures. “We were really surprised that when we warmed leaves by 2, 3 or 4℃, the highest leaf temperatures actually increased by 8℃. This shows a concerning nonlinear feedback that we were not expecting.” said Doughty. “If we adopt a do-nothing response to climate change and tropical forest air temperatures increase by greater than 4℃, there could be massive leaf death.” he added.
Avoiding high emissions (排放) in the first place is key to stabilizing temperatures. “We should do all we can to avoid high-emissions. Under low-emissions, almost all tropical forest tree leaves can avoid death from overheating and the trees will survive,” said Simon Lewis, a professor of global change science at University College London. “Yet what the study doesn’t look at is heatwaves. We still might see tree deaths from overheating for limited periods during heatwaves under lower emissions.”
Researchers suggest that the damage is not yet unchanged. “Vote for people who are serious about addressing climate change and transferring to low-carbon economies, ”Disney, one researcher, advocated. More generally, we can all recognize the importance of supporting those countries and people who live in and rely on tropical forests economically, But the serious changes to tropical forests don’t just affect the local people it’s a global issue.
1. Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “nonlinear” in Paragraph 2?A.Global. | B.Dramatic. | C.Steady. | D.Minor. |
A.Planting more trees. | B.Exploring heatwaves. |
C.Conducting researches. | D.Pursuing low emissions. |
A.Promoting global efforts. |
B.Seeking economic support. |
C.Helping tropical countries. |
D.Boosting low-carbon education. |
A.Global warming harms trees. |
B.Tropical forests lose functions. |
C.Tropical leaves struggle in heat. |
D.Forests near dangerous temperature. |
6 . New research shows that removing black rhinos’ horns (犀牛角) to make them less attractive to illegal hunters is reducing their territory (领地) sizes and making them less sociable with each other.
The study, published in the journal PNAS, found that dehorned South African rhinos have home ranges that are 45 per cent smaller than those of complete animals, and that they were 37 percent less likely to engage in social interactions.
“The big, dominant bulls that used to have very large territories that overlapped with a lot of females may now have much less territory and much less reproductive (繁殖的) success,” says Vanessa Duthé, who led the work at Switzerland’s University of Neuchâtel.
“It’s really hard to predict the effects of this,” she says. “It doesn’t mean that population success will necessarily decline, because it might open up gaps for younger males that would not have had the space or the means before.” Indeed, a University of Bristol study published last year showed that dehorning (去角) does not negatively affect populations overall.
But such unintended behavioral consequences necessarily feed into judgments about whether this highly invasive procedure is worthwhile. Remarkably, perhaps, there is little hard evidence either way. “No one’s put all the data together to say whether it’s a really effective measure,” says Duthé.
“What is clear is that the introduction of dehorning and a decline in illegal hunting has occurred at the same time,” she adds. “But dehorning has been accompanied by other conservation measures that may be more effective.”
“It’s incredibly complicated,” says Lucy Chimes, a member of the Bristol team. “There are so many other factors involved. You have to consider what other security measures are being carried out — fencing, patrols, staff numbers — and poverty levels surrounding parks, their nearness to national borders and whether there is community engagement.” Chimes is currently planning a project that aims to separate these and other factors. In the meantime, Duthé believes that dehorning is a worthwhile tool of last course of action. “A rhino that is behaving a little bit strangely is better than a dead rhino.”
1. What is the purpose of removing the horns of black rhinos?A.To make them less sociable. | B.To protect them from being hunted. |
C.To reduce their home ranges. | D.To affect their reproductive success. |
A.The removal of rhino horns. | B.The loss of rhino territories. |
C.The impact on rhino population. | D.The change of rhino behavior. |
A.Supportive. | B.Opposed. | C.Unconcerned. | D.Uncertain. |
A.Dehorning rhinos shows satisfying effects. |
B.Various factors lead to the decline in illegal hunting. |
C.Dehorning is the last action researchers will take. |
D.Rhinos are supposed to behave a little bit strangely. |
Last year, 28-year-old Jane Bell moved to a suburb of Philadelphia for her newly found job and rent a house with a big yard in a village.
Jane had the habit of rising early for exercise. One cold morning, she was jogging through the nearby park when she spotted a weak husky lying by the path, seeming to have been deserted. She approached and checked it, only to find one of the dog’s legs severely broken. The pitiful dog looked at her with its sad blue eyes as if asking her for help. Blaming the dog’s previous owner for the selfish and irresponsible action, Jane, without hesitation, bent down and carried the dog home. Then she drove the dog to an animal clinic for a checkup and treatment, where a doctor told Jane it would take about 3 months before the dog got well.
Jane returned home with the dog, which she called Kobe. She made a comfortable den (窝) in the front yard and took great trouble to look after it. With time going on, Kobe gradually recovered and was able to get around with her. Every morning, Jane would take Kobe for a run. Every evening Jane came home from work, Kobe would welcome her, excitedly wagging (摇) its tail at her. Kobe kept Jane company and became her inseparable and loyal friend.
Jane’s furry companion was usually gentle and quiet. But one dawn Jane was woken up by Kobe’s loud barking and the constant noise of its pawing (用爪子抓) at the door. The moment she opened the door, Kobe pulled on her clothes with its mouth, attempting to lead her away from the yard. Initially dismissing it as typical dog behavior, Jane patted Kobe on the head to quiet it, saying firmly, “No, Kobe! Good boy, ca lm down!” However, the dog didn’t stop behaving strangely. It arched its back, its nose moving against a piece of ground in the yard anxiously. Jane was surprised and confused.
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1.续写词数应为150个左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Then Kobe began to dig the ground with its paws.
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Soon gas workers came.
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8 . Rumeysa Gurbuz was at home asleep on February 6 in the city of Iskenderun on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast when a magnitude 7. 8 earthquake attacked the region. The quake caused
“If I hadn’t woken up, I would have been in the
After being injured in the quake, Gurbuz was
Kelly Donithan, HSI’s director of animal disaster response who was helping to
A.potential | B.significant | C.some | D.possible |
A.struck | B.stopped | C.spread | D.accelerated |
A.help | B.shout | C.cry | D.escape |
A.protecting | B.cutting | C.injuring | D.losing |
A.shelter | B.ruins | C.house | D.square |
A.love | B.hurt | C.owe | D.cheat |
A.hope | B.time | C.family | D.home |
A.sent | B.returned | C.guided | D.released |
A.memorize | B.honor | C.find | D.miss |
A.notice | B.post | C.picture | D.letter |
A.unforgettable | B.shameful | C.satisfying | D.unsuccessful |
A.catch | B.await | C.expect | D.locate |
A.pull | B.attract | C.chase | D.frighten |
A.patience | B.advice | C.passion | D.warning |
A.happy | B.surprised | C.scared | D.sad |
As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow over the animal shelter, Sarah walked through the rows of cages until her eyes landed on a small, trembling dog huddled (蜷缩) in the corner. “I think I’ve found the one, ” Sarah whispered softly to herself as she looked into the dog’s sad eyes. This timid, abandoned dog had no idea that a journey of transformation with friendly people lay in store for him.
The shelter staff explained that the dog, named Buddy, had a difficult past and was very shy and scared. Sarah extended a hand, offering a soothing tone, “Hey sweetie, you must have a story to tell, but from now on, you’ve got a buddy in me. ”
Bringing Buddy home was just the beginning of their journey, which was rocky at first for him. Everything was strange and new, causing him to hide under furniture and startle at every sound. Therefore, Sarah provided a cozy bed, delicious meals, and most importantly, heaps of love and comfort.
Slowly but surely, he started to emerge from his shell, wagging his tail tentatively and gazing at Sarah with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Under Sarah’s patient and loving guidance, Buddy flourished, even learning tricks and commands, and forming a deep bond with his new owner.
The journey of healing turned out to be a success. But Sarah had never expected it would bring about another one.
One day, while scrolling through social media, Sarah came across a heartwarming story about dogs being trained to assist children with autism (自闭症). Those children had social communication difficulties and had few facial expressions and gestures. Without hesitation, she inquired about the program and soon, Buddy was enrolled in training to become a certified therapy(治疗) dog. But she was unsure whether Buddy would be comfortable with the new challenge.
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2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Their first day at the therapy center was filled with uncertainty.
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As the weeks progressed, Sarah noticed a remarkable change both in the children and Buddy.
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10 . A new study reveals that pigeons (鸽子) can tackle some problems just like artificial intelligence, enabling them to solve difficult tasks that might challenge humans. Previous research has theorized that pigeons employ a problem-solving strategy, involving a trial-and- error approach, which is similar to the approach used in AI models but differs from humans’ reliance on selective attention and rule use. To examine it, Brandon Turner, a psychology professor at the Ohio State University, and his colleagues conducted the new study.
In the study, the pigeons were presented with various visual images, including lines of different widths and angles, and different types of rings. The pigeons had to peck (啄) a button on the right or left to indicate the category to which the image belonged. If they got it correct, they received food; if they were wrong, they received nothing. Results showed that, through trial and error, the pigeons improved their accuracy in categorization tasks, increasing their correct choices from about 55% to 95%.
Researchers believed pigeons used associative learning, which is linking two phenomena with each other. For example, it is easy to understand the link. between “water” and “wet”. “Associative learning is frequently assumed to be far too primitive to. explain complex visual categorization like what we saw the pigeons do,” Turner said. But that’s exactly what the researchers found.
The researchers’ AI model tackled the same tasks using just the two simple mechanisms that pigeons were assumed to use: associative learning and error correction. And, like the pigeons, the AI model learned to make the right predictions to significantly increase the number of correct answers. For humans, the challenge when given tasks like those given to pigeons is that they would try to come up with rules that could make the task easier. But in this case, there were no rules, which upsets humans.
What’s interesting, though, is that pigeons use this method of learning that is very similar to AI designed by humans, Turner said. “We celebrate how smart we are that we designed artificial intelligence: at the same time, we regard pigeons as not clever animals,” he said.
1. What is the purpose of the new study?A.To test a theory. | B.To evaluate a model. |
C.To employ a strategy. | D.To involve an approach. |
A.Draw circles. | B.Correct errors. | C.Copy gestures. | D.Identify images. |
A.They are of equal intelligence. |
B.They are good at making rules. |
C.They respond rapidly to orders from humans. |
D.They employ simple ways to get things done. |
A.Pigeons’ trial-and-error method is revealed |
B.Pigeons outperform humans in tough tasks |
C.“Not smart” pigeons may be as smart as AI |
D.AI models after pigeons’ learning approach |