1 . The color blue is very rare in nature, with fewer than one in 10 plants sporting the common human favorite. To present this color, they have to perform tricks to make themselves blue to the human eyes. In some lowers like bluebells, it primarily occurs when naturally occurring pigments (色素) are mixed the way you can mix different paints to change the color.
For blueberries, the blue comes on the naturally produced thin layer of wax (蜡) on their skin, which often serves as a self-cleaning coating or for added protection in the plant kingdom. “The blue of most fruits is in their pigmented juices. That isn’t the case with blueberries,” says Rox Middleton, co-author of a study published in Science Advances.
In the study, Middleton and his team examined the wax of a blueberry using an electron microscope. They found that the layer of wax is composed of tiny structures that work by scattering (散射) blue and UV light from the sun, while absorbing most of other colors of light. The arrangement makes the berries appear blue to humans and blue-UV to birds and other species that can see UV light, despite not having blue pigments in the waxy skin itself.
To look closer, they removed the outer wax and reshaped it on a black card. They created a new blue-UV coating and removed a very thin substance that creates color called a colorant from the skin. “The colorants scatter blue and UV, letting the other colors pass through without absorption,” says Middleton. “That’s why it’s so important that there are dark pigments underneath to ‘mop up’ the rest of the light. If there was a bright pigment or white scattering material underneath, that light would come through, and the color would look mixed or washed out.”
The study does show that nature has developed a “really neat trick” in the form of a very thin layer for an important colorant. Reproducing this colorant in the lab could make a way for new methods of creating pigments.
1. How do bluebells present blue to humans?A.By blocking natural light. | B.By combining the pigments. |
C.By changing the outer colour. | D.By producing various paints. |
A.Its colorful pigments. | B.Its internal mechanism. |
C.Its chemical changes. | D.Its unique components. |
A.Mix. | B.Reflect. | C.Recognize. | D.Absorb. |
A.The Science Behind Plant Colors | B.The Invisible Pigments Of Blueberries |
C.Technically, Blueberries Aren’t Blue | D.Indeed, Color Blue Is Human Favorite |
2 . On one side of the room sits the cutest life-size stuffed animal (填充玩具) you’ve ever seen. On the other side rests a real dog — the same size, shape and even the same name as the stuffed version. You get to sit next to both of these furry friends and pet their fur. Guess which one will make your brain light up?
If you guessed the real dog, you’re right. Stuffed animals, as cute and lovely as they may be, just don’t effectively activate our frontal cortex (额叶皮层), the part of the brain overseeing how we think and feel, according to a new study published in the journal PLOSONE. The study found an even stronger rise in brain activity when the person petted the fur of a real dog versus a stuffed animal.
“We chose to research the frontal cortex because this brain area is involved in several executive (执行) functions, such as attention, working memory, and problem-solving. But it is also involved in social and emotional processes,” said study lead author Rahel Marti, a doctoral student in the division of clinical psychology at the University of Basel in Switzerland.
Why is this finding important? It provides additional evidence that live human-animal interaction therapy (疗法) may promote cognitive and emotional activity in the brain. Marti said, “If patients with deficits in motivation, attention, and socioemotional functioning show higher emotional involvement in activities connected to a real dog, then such activities could increase the chance of learning and of achieving treatment aims.”
“This is an interesting, seriously conducted study that provides new insight into associations between human-animal interaction and regional prefrontal brain activity in healthy adults. We found that brain activity increased when the contact with a real dog or a stuffed animal became closer. This confirms previous studies relating closer contact with animals to increased brain activity,” Marti said.
1. How does the author introduce the subject of the text?A.By listing some figures. | B.By giving an example. |
C.By setting a situation. | D.By analyzing a phenomenon. |
A.It is involved in several body parts. |
B.It is the most important part of the brain. |
C.It plays a key part in performing functions. |
D.It provides evidence for live human-animal therapy. |
A.Styles. | B.Faults. | C.Adventures. | D.Sources. |
A.What Petting A Dog Can Do For Your Brain? |
B.Why A Pet Dog Is Important To A Person? |
C.Which Part Of The Brain Is Involved In Emotion? |
D.How Can A Patient Benefit From Petting A Dog? |
3 . I’d been exploring the 40-hectare woods around our cottage my whole life and I knew the way well. So it was a
One dull cold February afternoon, I had a sudden
As the shadows started to
I instinctively (本能地) pulled out my phone to get my location, but it
That winter’s day taught me a valuable lesson about habitual reliance on technology. If my phone had
A.challenge | B.shock | C.reward | D.reminder |
A.discovery | B.response | C.worry | D.urge |
A.escaped | B.drove | C.headed | D.looked |
A.reputation | B.dream | C.day | D.way |
A.lengthen | B.swing | C.emerge | D.fade |
A.fuel | B.witness | C.overlook | D.outpace |
A.original | B.rough | C.offbeat | D.roundabout |
A.appreciating | B.trusting | C.envisioning | D.assessing |
A.curiosity | B.comparison | C.doubt | D.anticipation |
A.died | B.slipped | C.flashed | D.rang |
A.Reportedly | B.Admittedly | C.Seemingly | D.Surprisingly |
A.exposed | B.composed | C.defended | D.behaved |
A.got off | B.laid down | C.came across | D.made out |
A.worked | B.remained | C.changed | D.overheated |
A.theory | B.standard | C.practice | D.routine |
4 . Antarctica has not always been a land of ice and snow. Earth’s southernmost continent once was home to rivers and forests full of life.
Scientists are using satellite observations and radar imagery to look deep under the ice. The researchers report finding a large ancient landscape buried under the continent’s ice sheet. It is full of valleys and ridges (山脊) , shaped by rivers before being covered by glaciers long ago.
The landscape is located in East Antarctica’s Wilkes Land area bordering the Indian Ocean. The researchers said the landscape appears to date back to at least 14 million years ago and perhaps beyond 34 million years ago, when Antarctica entered its deep freeze.
“It is difficult to know what this lost world might have looked like before the ice came along, but it was certainly warmer back then,” said Stewart Jamieson, a professor at Durham University. “Depending how far back in time you go, you might have had climates that ranged anywhere from the climate of present-day Patagonia through to something more approaching tropical.”
“Such an environment likely would have been populated by wildlife”, Jamieson said. “But the area’s fossil record is too incomplete to know which animals may have lived there.”
The researchers said the surface of the planet Mars is better known than the earth surface below the ice in Antarctica. They said one way to learn more would be to drill through the ice and take a piece of the earth below. This could uncover evidence showing ancient life, as was done with samples taken in Greenland dating back two million years ago.
Jamieson said the researchers think that when Antarctica’s climate was warmer, rivers flowed toward a continental coastline that was created as the other land masses broke away. When the climate cooled, some small glaciers formed on hills next to the rivers. When the climate cooled even more, an ice sheet grew which covered the whole continent, the landscape got preserved, likely for 34 million years.
1. What can we learn about the ancient landscape?A.It locates in the center of Antarctica. | B.It’s discovered by drilling through the ice. |
C.It’s once a warmer area than it is now. | D.It has a history of no more than 14 million years. |
A.There is a lack of complete fossil record. |
B.The ice sheet of Antarctica is melting quickly. |
C.Scientists lack enough advanced equipment. |
D.Climate conditions vary greatly from place to place. |
A.To attract more scientists to study Antarctica. |
B.To strengthen the importance of the Mars. |
C.To indicate the complex situations of the Mars. |
D.To show the difficult to know Antarctica’s earth surface. |
A.The colder climate. | B.The protection offered by coastlines. |
C.Other land masses’ reduction. | D.A decrease in the number of wildlife. |
5 . Some people may be picky eaters, but as a species we are not. Birds, bugs and whales, we’ll eat them all. Yet our reliance on wild animals goes far beyond just feeding ourselves. From agricultural feed to medicine to the pet trade, modern society exploits wild animals in a way that beats even the most aggressive wild predator (捕食者). Now, for the first time, researchers have tried to capture the full picture of how we use wildlife, including how many, and for what purposes. The research showcases just how broad our influence on wild animals is.
In the study, researchers have found that humans kill, collect or otherwise use about 15,000 species. That’s up to 300 times more than the next top predator in any ecosystem.
Yet according to Chris Darimont, a co-author of the study, the biggest shock isn’t how many species we affect but why we take them. “The result,” he says, “is that we remove, or essentially prey on, more species of animals for non-food reasons than for food reasons.”And the biggest non-food use is as pets and pet food. “That’s where things have gone off the rails (轨道),” he says. The problem is especially serious for tropical birds. The helmeted hornbill, for example, is captured mainly for the pe trade, or for its beak to be used as medicine or to be carved like ivory. Their disappearance limits seed dispersal and the spread of trees around the forest.
Another big difference between humans’ influence on wild animals and that of other predators is that we tend to favor rare and exotic (外来的) species in a way other animals do not. Most predators target common species, since they are easier to find and catch. Humans, nowever, tend to covet the novel. “The more rare it is,” say scientists, “the more that drives up the price, and therefore it may go into extinction.”
If we want wild species to survive, we need to reestablish our relationship with them, perhaps from predator to caretaker.
1. What role do humans play in their present relationship with wildlife according to the author?A.Picky predators. | B.Protectors of biodiversity. |
C.Greedy predators. | D.Caretakers of the environment. |
A.More species hunted for non-food use. |
B.The impact of pet industries on wildlife. |
C.The number of species affected by humans. |
D.The consequences caused by species extinction. |
A.Long for huge profits. |
B.Favor domestic species. |
C.Take interest in pet trade. |
D.Seek after new and unique things. |
A.To promote stricter rules for hunting. |
B.To advocate eco-friendly pet choices. |
C.To reveal how humans affect biodiversity. |
D.To highlight the need for wildlife conservation. |
6 . The harsh winters and modern cities can make life tough for a wild animal, especially when they get lost and are outside their natural habitat for too long. Animal shelters are crowded with animals in desperate need of help, especially during the winter season.
One day, a man found a small owl (猫头鹰) that was soaking wet and appeared to be struggling. He brought it into a local shelter.
The owl weighed 245 grams, which was 33% more than the upper limit of what an owl that size should weigh. The reason for the weight gain was quite natural. The owl was eating too much. The winter had been unusually warm, and as a result, the area had a higher than normal population of mice.
The shelter staff put the owl on a systematic plan of diet and exercise, and it started to lose weight quickly. After some time, the owl was back to its normal health and was released back into the wild.
The question of whether this obesity issue is a strange result of climate change or just a coincidence (巧合) is difficult to say.
A.Different types of animal shelters have different purposes. |
B.Animal shelters are not just a place for injured or sick animals. |
C.This meant that it was like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the little owl. |
D.They are really important when animals struggle to survive in cold weather. |
E.After a thorough check-up, the shelter staff found out that it was not injured at all. |
F.However, it is clear that it is vital to care for wild animals and to ensure their safety. |
G.However, recently, a wild animal was brought to a shelter for a very different reason. |
7 . When we talk about protecting the environment and sustainability, we focus on factories and industries that produce cars, household objects, and materials used in production. However, the carbon footprint of the fast fashion industry is sizeable and should not be overlooked.
Fast fashion has seen quite the rise recently, with stores spreading far and wide all over the world. They mass-produce one collection after the other, always on trend, and always encouraging consumers to follow the said trend. However, what about the impact this kind of business model has on the environment?
The clothing industry is the second-highest polluter of water. Factories of fast fashion poured poisonous chemicals into clean water supplies because clothing production is a land-and water-intensive industry, responsible for 10% of all carbon release globally. Even after the clothes are produced in factories, they can still affect the environment. For example, polyester (涤纶) can release plastic microfibres into the water system, which contributes to the already existing plastic problem.
The fashion industry is indeed causing great harm to the environment; moreover, the clothes being made are not meant to last. In most cases, the quality is not there, and the clothes are only used a few times before being discarded. Before the rise of fast fashion, clothes were made to last and were not meant to have the high turnover that clothes have.
There are many designers who are committed to mass-producing their clothes in sustainable ways. Some big brands are also trying to make improvements in the materials they use and the mass-producing process, but big efforts are needed if we are going to see a change. What we as consumers can do is shop consciously and consider how the clothes have been made and whether we truly need that piece or not.
1. What can be inferred about fast fashion from the first two paragraphs?A.It stresses offline sales. | B.It affects the environment seriously. |
C.It is a sustainable industry worldwide. | D.It is popular among young consumers. |
A.It makes clothing last long. | B.It reduces carbon footprint. |
C.It results in water pollution. | D.It lowers the production cost. |
A.Thrown away. | B.Picked up. | C.Passed down. | D.Turned in. |
A.Support big fashion brands. | B.Stop buying long-lasting clothes. |
C.Think twice before shopping for clothes. | D.Change dressing styles frequently. |
Lin Qiaozhi is a great woman,
We all
9 . James Rainey reads trees like most people read signposts. The senior ecologist is using a small hand camera to identify a lichen (地衣) that is surrounding the base of wild pines (松树) in a deep narrow valley on the west coast of Scotland. He is looking for ecological clues of species associated with the ancient Caledonian Forest, which once covered most of the Highlands.
Wild pines have been growing in Scotland continuously since the ice age, offering a globally unique ecosystem supporting rare wildlife. But now less than 2% of the original growth survives, with just 14 individual Caledonian pinewood sites now officially recognized. “To meet the demand for more wood, many wild pines in Highlands have been removed to make room for commercial forestry,” says Rainey. “This was often done in ancient woodlands and was really damaging to the remaining trees.”
But restoration is still possible, especially since some old trees still survive along with the ancient woodland soil and seedbank—seeds stored in the soil, which can grow once the heavy shade of commercial conifers (针叶树) is removed.
The ecological investigator uses three clues of evidence to discover where these pinewoods first stood. “First there’s the historical evidence, like old maps and texts. Then comes the landscape context: is the pine associated with planting around a big house, or is the setting more natural? And finally I use the ecological evidence: wild pine usually grow alongside old birch trees, which indicates ecological continuity,” explains Rainey.
Rainey has identified 23 pines in this area, all rooted in places least accessible. Their needles have been taken for genetic testing to confirm their family trees. “This would have been filled with trees but is now empty — these are the most critical areas in need of regeneration and we want the whole of the ancient woodlands to recover, not just the pines,” he said.
1. Why are the wild pines considered to be so significant?A.They act as a signpost for the highland. | B.They are an indicator of an ancient forest. |
C.They are an alternative to commercial forestry. | D.They provide a shelter for certain species of lichen. |
A.The existence of ancient seeds. | B.The presence of commercial conifers. |
C.The awareness of the forest protection. | D.The application of the advanced technology. |
A.By locating big houses. | B.By consulting historians. |
C.By referring to digital maps. | D.By making the most of surroundings. |
A.To confirm the genes of the pine. | B.To restore the old-growth woodlands. |
C.To explore the unfrequented places. | D.To enrich the diversity of the wild pines. |
Every year for over a millennium, fishermen have braved the subzero temperatures, biting winds and deep snow to search for
Chagan is the only place in China
To ensure that this tradition can continue
Also, over the past few years, the money from the auction has been invested into protecting the lake and surrounding environment. And during the summer, private fishing without