Nanjing, the capital city of China’s Jiangsu Province and located ( 位于) along the Yangtze River Delta (三角洲),
But if you’ll only be visiting for 72 hours, there are a few
Any trip to Nanjing, no matter
The city is also considered the birthplace of Peking Duck, but it also prepares a local favorite: Nanjing salted duck,
Nanjing is known for
Nanjing is also home
2 . The maleo (塚雉), a bird with black feathers and a pink chest, is native to Indonesia’s Sulawesi island and a few neighboring ones. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which identifies wildlife across the world currently facing threats, estimates only 800 to 1,400 adult maleos remain in the wild. Experts do not know how many maleos still live across West Sulawesi island. They were only able to record the presence of nesting grounds in 23 villages based on reports from locals in the area. But of those, only 18 are considered active nesting areas.
Recently, the birds have been faced with new threats, which accelerate their decline. The Indonesian government plans to move the nation’s capital from Jakarta to a new city on Borneo island, which is just a six-hour boat trip apart from Sulawesi island. The island takes on the building of new roads and seaports to be used to transport materials to the new capital. Activities also include tree clearing, digging, and removing stones. The process already has changed the forest environment on West Sulawesi and is harming maleo nesting areas near the beach. These changes have made the trip for maleos to lay their eggs increasingly difficult.
Another problem has been poachers. The Associated Press reports that, regardless of official ban, they steal maleo eggs that the males’ parents have hidden in the sand, and sell the eggs for about $1 to people as food. The eggs are a traditional gift for many people in Mamuju and other parts of Sulawesi.
“As far as I know, maleo birds are in decline,” said Andi Aco Takdir, chief of the West Sulawesi Forestry Agency. He pointed to several reasons for the decline, including destruction of beach areas, and expanding human development activities. He added that government officials there are prepared to take steps to protect the maleos even with the new capital development. Andi said, “Nature conservation must be used as an achievement and must not be built leaving behind problems.”
1. Which word can be used to describe the maleos?A.Endangered. | B.Adaptable. |
C.Widespread. | D.Extinct. |
A.The sudden changes of climate. |
B.The disappearance of the forests. |
C.The development of Sulawesi island. |
D.The supporting work for the new capital. |
A.People who hunt maleos for their meat. |
B.People who live by selling maleo eggs. |
C.People who engage in illegal hunting. |
D.People who regard maleo eggs as gifts. |
A.The new capital development might be stopped at once. |
B.The government will balance conservation and development. |
C.There seems to be a tough way for the new capital to develop. |
D.The government will concentrate on solving urban problems. |
Our beloved dog, Poppy,
4 . Humans can make do with scarves, coats and gloves in cold weather. Some animals can hibernate (冬眠) for the winter. A new study finds that reptiles (爬行动物) and birds do something that is similar to hibernation, but a little different. In very cold weather, their body temperatures greatly drop into an energy-saving state in order to survive. The ability to thermoregulation (体温调节) for reptiles and birds is possible.
In Texas, where the city of Beaumont reached a low of 18 degrees Fahrenheit last month, it looked as if alligators (短吻鳄) had died of cold — yet alive in iced-over water. By ensuring their long noses stayed above the water line, the cold-blooded creatures were able to lower their body temperatures to survive the sudden short period of very cold weather. The process, in the case of cold-blooded animals like reptiles, is called brumation — it’s like a short state of hibernating. While in this state, reptiles become sleepy and they can go for a long time without eating or drinking. For example, alligators can be in brumation from just a few hours to months.
Like reptiles and mammals, birds can go into a state called torpor in order to save energy under very cold conditions. “Torpor is somewhere between a short sleep and hibernation,” said Justin Baldwin, a PhD candidate in biology at Washington University in St. Louis. Baldwin studied 29 species of hummingbirds living in Colombia. Researchers found that hummingbirds can enter into deep or shallow torpor, depending on several factors, including their size and weather conditions. In deep torpor, the birds are much more likely to be affected by disease. And what’s more, they would be easily harmed by their enemies.
Some bird lovers want to help the birds when they are in torpor. For example, the Bird Alliance of Oregon offers a few tips on how to keep the birds from danger.
1. What does the new study show?A.Body temperature is important for animals. |
B.Thermoregulation exists in reptiles and birds. |
C.Reptiles and birds’ thermoregulation is unusual. |
D.Body temperature drops greatly during reptiles and birds’ sleep. |
A.They are active in brumation. | B.They are dead in cold weather. |
C.They face extinction in cold weather. | D.They eat and drink nothing in brumation. |
A.They can get enough sleep. | B.They may harm other birds. |
C.They may waste plenty of energy. | D.They may be under threat. |
A.Risks of animal hibernation. |
B.His opinions of the study about birds. |
C.Some detailed measures to protect the birds in torpor. |
D.Other problems raised by cold weather. |
5 . As an only child, Renae often felt
When Renae was 14, her father got a new job and the house needed to be free of noise. “Chloe liked barking,” Renae says. “I didn’t want to lose my dog but I didn’t have any
Later, Renae grew up, got married, and had a child. But her family didn’t feel quite
A.anxious | B.embarrassed | C.responsible | D.lonely |
A.reminded | B.attracted | C.surprised | D.pressed |
A.flexible | B.horrible | C.generous | D.inseparable |
A.choice | B.measure | C.benefit | D.loss |
A.conclusion | B.decision | C.tradition | D.inspiration |
A.impressed | B.typical | C.optimistic | D.sensitive |
A.take out | B.find out | C.drop out | D.put out |
A.disappointedly | B.crazily | C.excitedly | D.amazingly |
A.complete | B.original | C.current | D.formal |
A.accomplish | B.attempt | C.experience | D.observe |
A.adapt | B.adopt | C.acquire | D.abuse |
A.instant | B.incident | C.individual | D.instruction |
A.hugging | B.patting | C.licking | D.stressing |
A.motivated | B.astonished | C.alarmed | D.delighted |
A.As long as | B.As well as | C.As with | D.As for |
6 . Sounds from human activity flood across the oceans, causing trouble to ocean creatures. And climate (气候) change may make some places even louder.
Researchers have expected the oceans to get noisier because of increasing human activity. “The more goods you buy, the more shipping you have, so the more noise you have.” says Luca Possenti, a scientist studying sound in the ocean at the Royal Netherlands Institute. But Possenti and his co-worker realized that climate change might also influence how sound travels through the water.
Human-caused climate change is changing ocean temperatures, salt levels and acidity (酸度). So Possenti’s team used computers to model how those factors (因素) influence noise levels across the world’s oceans.
When waters become more acidic, they can’t take in sound at some wavelengths as well, so those sounds can travel further, adding to the noise in some areas. This effect is relatively small. Other changes impact the sound level more, the researchers found. Changes to temperature and salt levels can change how well different layers (层) of the ocean mix, which, in turn, impacts how sound travels.
The team predicted (预测) models of the world in about 70 years if climate change continues. And then they compared them with models of the world now. In the North Atlantic, they saw an increase in sound levels in the upper 125 meters of the ocean. This was caused mostly by ice melting (融化) off of Greenland, forming a cold layer of water near the ocean’s surface. Sound traveling through water tends to go toward the coldest area. As a result, sound waves tended to get stuck in the cold top layer-spreading further out across the water, instead of traveling deeper. That increased the noisiness at this depth in the North Atlantic. The models suggested that a single ship could sound about five times as loud underwater because of this. Considering all the ship traffic between Europe and North America, that may stress animals, many of which communicate, and catch food with sound.
1. How is paragraph 2 developed?A.By quoting an expert. | B.By using examples. |
C.By making comparisons. | D.By presenting research findings. |
A.Effects of temperature changes. | B.Some risk factors for a nosier sea. |
C.Impacts of acidity on wavelengths. | D.Ways oceans mix and sound travels. |
A.Sea animals will be protected from noises. |
B.Added meltwater does more harm than good. |
C.Greenland is hit the hardest by climate change. |
D.The result of the research is based on prediction. |
A.Increase in salt levels. | B.Failure of acidity control. |
C.Change in the ocean depths. | D.Formation of a cold water layer. |
1. Who first traveled around the moon before human beings?
A.Dogs.. | B.Monkeys.. | C.Tortoises. |
A.To see how they were affected. |
B.To examine where they were affected. |
C.To find out whether they were affected. |
A.The space travel.. | B.A lack of food.. | C.Loss of appetite. |
A.One dog landed in the Indian Ocean. |
B.Mice helped people explore space. |
C.Monkeys were being sent into space. |
The Chinatown in San Francisco attracts
Keep your eyes open, and you will be astonished
When I looked back at the cloud, it had a small funnellooking (漏斗状的) cloud inside. We finally got to our house and then we heard a loud siren (警笛). My dad looked scared in the