1 . If you ever get the impression that your dog can “tell” whether you look content or annoyed, you may be onto something. Dogs may indeed be able to distinguish between happy and angry human faces, according to a new study.
Researchers trained a group of 11 dogs to distinguish between images (图像) of the same person making either a happy or an angry face. During the training stage, each dog was shown only the upper half or the lower half of the person’s face. The researchers then tested the dogs’ ability to distinguish between human facial expressions by showing them the other half of the person’s face on images totally different from the ones used in training. The researchers found that the dogs were able to pick the angry or happy face by touching a picture of it with their noses more often than one would expect by random chance.
The study showed the animals had figured out how to apply what they learned about human faces during training to new faces in the testing stage. “We can rule out that the dogs simply distinguish between the pictures based on a simple cue, such as the sight of teeth,” said study author Corsin Muller. “Instead, our results suggest that the successful dogs realized that a smiling mouth means the same thing as smiling eyes, and the same rule applies to an angry mouth having the same meaning as angry eyes.”
“With our study, we think we can now confidently conclude that at least some dogs can distinguish human facial expressions,” Muller told Live Science.
At this point, it is not clear why dogs seem to be equipped with the ability to recognize different facial expressions in humans. “To us, the most likely explanation appears to be that the basis lies in their living with humans, which gives them a lot of exposure to human facial expressions, and this exposure has provided them with many chances to learn to distinguish between them,” Muller said.
1. The new study focused on whether dogs can_________.| A．distinguish shapes | B．make sense of human faces |
| C．feel happy or angry | D．communicate with each other |
| A．Researchers tested the dogs in random order. |
| B．Diverse methods were adopted during training. |
| C．Pictures used in the two stages were different |
| D．The dogs were photographed before the lest. |
| A．A suggestion for future studies. | B．A possible reason for the study findings. |
| C．A major limitation of the study | D．An explanation of the research method. |
The Xi’an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived China’s long history. It
We accessed the wall through the South Gate. The wall is 12 meters high and from here you can see streams of people moving inside and outside the City Wall.
After
We
3 . Port Lympne Reserve, which runs a breeding (繁育) programme, has welcomed the arrival of a rare black rhino calf (犀牛幼崽). When the tiny creature arrived on January 31, she became the 40th black rhino to be born at the reserve. And officials at Port Lympne were delighted with the new arrival, especially as black rhinos are known for being difficult to breed in captivity (圈养).
Paul Beer, head of rhino section at Port Lympne, said: “Obviously we’re all absolutely delighted to welcome another calf to our black rhino family. She’s healthy, strong and already eager to play and explore. Her mother, Solio, is a first-time mum and she is doing a fantastic job. It’s still a little too cold for them to go out into the open, but as soon as the weather warms up, I have no doubt that the little one will be out and about exploring and playing every day.”
The adorable female calf is the second black rhino born this year at the reserve, but it is too early to tell if the calves will make good candidates to be returned to protected areas of the wild. The first rhino to be born at Port Lympne arrived on January 5 to first-time mother Kisima and weighed about 32kg. His mother, grandmother and great grandmother were all born at the reserve and still live there.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, the global black rhino population has dropped as low as 5500, giving the rhinos a “critically endangered” status.
1. Which of the following best describes the breeding programme?| A．Costly. | B．Controversial. | C．Ambitious. | D．Successful. |
| A．She loves staying with her mother. | B．She dislikes outdoor activities. |
| C．She is in good condition | D．She is sensitive to heat. |
| A．They had their first born in January. | B．They enjoyed exploring new places |
| C．They lived with their grandmothers. | D．They were brought to the reserve young |
| A．The rhino section will be open to the public. |
| B．It aims to control the number of the animals. |
| C．It will continue to work with the World Wildlife Fund. |
| D．Some of its rhinos may be sent to the protected wild areas. |
Going to Mount Huangshan reminds me of the popular Beatles’ song “The Long and Winding Road”.
The hot spring at the foot of the mountain is something you must try after the climb. It will
What comes next is the endless series of steps. You can’t help wondering how hard it
As the song goes, this long and winding road “will never disappear”, and it will always stick in the visitor’s memory. It sure does in
5 . When the explorers first set foot upon the continent of North America, the skies and lands were alive with an astonishing variety of wildlife. Native Americans had taken care of these precious natural resources wisely. Unfortunately, it took the explorers and the settlers who followed only a few decades to decimate a large part of these resources. Millions of waterfowl (水禽) were killed at the hands of market hunters and a handful of overly ambitious sportsmen. Millions of acres of wetlands were dried to feed and house the ever-increasing populations, greatly reducing waterfowl habitat.
In 1934, with the passage of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act (Act), an increasingly concerned nation took firm action to stop the destruction of migratory (迁徙的) waterfowl and the wetlands so vital to their survival. Under this Act, all waterfowl hunters 16 years of age and over must annually purchase and carry a Federal Duck Stamp. The very first Federal Duck Stamp was designed by J.N. “Ding” Darling, a political cartoonist from Des Moines, lowa, who at that time was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as Director of the Bureau of Biological Survey. Hunters willingly pay the stamp price to ensure the survival of our natural resources.
About 98 cents of every duck stamp dollar goes directly into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to purchase wetlands and wildlife habitat for inclusion into the National Wildlife Refuge System — a fact that ensures this land will be protected and available for all generations to come. Since 1934, better than half a billion dollars has gone into that Fund to purchase more than 5 million acres of habitat. Little wonder the Federal Duck Stamp Program has been called one of the most successful conservation programs ever initiated.
1. What was a cause of the waterfowl population decline in North America?| A．Loss of wetlands. | B．Popularity of water sports. |
| C．Pollution of rivers. | D．Arrival of other wild animals. |
| A．Acquire. | B．Export. |
| C．Destroy. | D．Distribute. |
| A．The stamp price has gone down. | B．The migratory birds have flown away. |
| C．The hunters have stopped hunting. | D．The government has collected money. |
| A．The Federal Duck Stamp Story | B．The National Wildlife Refuge System |
| C．The Benefits of Saving Waterfowl | D．The History of Migratory Bird Hunting |
Ecotourism is commonly regarded as low impact (影响) travel to undisturbed places. It is different from traditional tourism because it allows the traveler to become
Ecotourism has
Due to
·Minimize the impact of
·Build respect for and awareness of the environment and cultural practices.
·Provide
·Make sure that the tourism provides experiences for both the visitors and the hosts.
Komodo National Park, officially recognized in 1980, is popular for ecotourism because of its unique biodiversity.
7 . You’ve heard that plastic is polluting the oceans — between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes enter ocean ecosystems every year. But does one plastic straw or cup really make a difference? Artist Benjamin Von Wong wants you to know that it does. He builds massive sculptures out of plastic garbage, forcing viewers to re-examine their relationship to single-use plastic products.
At the beginning of the year, the artist built a piece called “Strawpocalypse,” a pair of 10-foot-tall plastic waves, frozen mid-crash. Made of 168,000 plastic straws collected from several volunteer beach cleanups, the sculpture made its first appearance at the Estella Place shopping center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Just 9% of global plastic waste is recycled. Plastic straws are by no means the biggest source (来源) of plastic pollution, but they’ve recently come under fire because most people don’t need them to drink with and, because of their small size and weight, they cannot be recycled. Every straw that’s part of Von Wong’s artwork likely came from a drink that someone used for only a few minutes. Once the drink is gone, the straw will take centuries to disappear.
In a piece from 2018, Von Wong wanted to illustrate (说明) a specific statistic: Every 60 seconds, a truckload’s worth of plastic enters the ocean. For this work, titled “Truckload of Plastic,” Von Wong and a group of volunteers collected more than 10,000 pieces of plastic, which were then tied together to look like they’d been dumped (倾倒) from a truck all at once.
Von Wong hopes that his work will also help pressure big companies to reduce their plastic footprint.
1. What are Von Wong’s artworks intended for?| A．Beautifying the city he lives in. | B．Introducing eco-friendly products. |
| C．Drawing public attention to plastic waste. | D．Reducing garbage on the beach. |
| A．To show the difficulty of their recycling. |
| B．To explain why they are useful. |
| C．To voice his views on modern art. |
| D．To find a substitute for them. |
| A．Calming. | B．Disturbing. |
| C．Refreshing. | D．Challenging. |
| A．Artists’ Opinions on Plastic Safety |
| B．Media Interest in Contemporary Art |
| C．Responsibility Demanded of Big Companies |
| D．Ocean Plastics Transformed into Sculptures |
8 . Think about the different ways that people use the wind. You can use it to fly a kite or to sai1a boat. Wind is one of our of our cleanest and riches power source(来源) ,as well as one of the oldest . Evidence shows that windmills(风车) began to be used in ancient Iran back in the seventh century BC .They were first introduced to Europe during the 1100s,when armies returned from the Middle East with knowledge of using wind power .
For many centuries ,people used windmills to grind(磨碎)wheat into flour or pump water from deep underground when electricity was discovered in the 1ate 1800s,people living in remote areas began to use them to produce electricity. This al1owed them to people in almost all1 areas of the United States, windmills were rarely used. During the course 1970s, people started becoming concerned about the pollution that is created when coal and gas are burned to produce electricity. People also realized that the supply of coal and gas would not last forever. Then, wind was rediscovered, though it means higher coasts. Today, there is a global movement to supply more and more of our electricity through the use of wind .
1. From the text we know that windmills_________.| A．were invented by European armies. |
| B．have a history of more than 2800 years. |
| C．used to supply power to radio in remote areas. |
| D．have rarely been used since electricity was discovered. |
| A．Sailing a boat. |
| B．Producing electricity. |
| C．Grinding wheat into flour. |
| D．Pumping water from underground. |
| A．wind power is cleaner. |
| B．it is one of the oldest power sources. |
| C．it was cheaper to creat energy from wind . |
| D．the supply of coal and gas failed to meet needs. |
| A．The advantage of wind power. |
| B．The design of wind power plants. |
| C．The worldwide movement to save energy. |
| D．The global trend towards producing power from wind. |
1. When did it rain last time in Juárez?
| A．Three days ago. | B．A month ago. | C．A year ago. |
| A．Spring. | B．Summer. | C．Autumn. |
| A．Take a walk in the afternoon. |
| B．Keep their homes cool. |
| C．Drink plenty of water. |
| A．Hosting a radio program. |
| B．Conducting a seminar. |
| C．Forecasting the weather. |
1. What are the two sperkers mainly talking about?
| A．Electronic waste. | B．Soil pollution. | C．Recyling benefits. |
| A．Throw it away. | B．Keep it at home. | C．Sell it to be recycled. |
