1 . Every spring, as the weather warms, trees up and down the East Coast explode in a display of bright green life as leaves fill their branches, and every fall, the same leaves provide one of nature’s great color displays of vivid yellow, orange and red.
Thanks to climate change, the timing of these events has shifted over the last two decades, Harvard scientists say.
Andrew Richardson, an associate professor of organismic and evolutionary biology, and research associate Trevor Keenan worked with colleagues from seven different institutions on a study which found that forests throughout the eastern United States are showing signs of spring growth dramatically earlier, and that the growing season in some areas extends further into the fall.
Richardson said, “Climate change isn’t just about warmer temperatures. It’s also about changes in precipitation (降水) patterns... so in the future, an earlier spring might not help forests take up more carbon dioxide if they end up running out of water in mid-summer.”
The research combined information from three sources. Using satellite data, Keenan tracked when forests across the region began to turn green in the spring, and when leaves began to turn yellow in the fall. Ground observations made every three to seven days at the Harvard Forest in Petersham and a long-term research site in New Hampshire provided information about the state of buds, leaves and branches. When combined with records from instrument towers, the data sets allowed the researchers to paint a richly detailed picture that shows spring starting earlier, and the growing season lasting longer than at any point in the past two decades.
Another important result, Richardson said, was the discovery of a significant source of error in existing computer models on how forest ecosystems work.
“This shows an opportunity to improve the models and how they simulate how forests will work under future climate scenarios forecast.” he said.
The real power of the findings, however, may be in helping to make the effects of climate change clearer to the public, the researchers said.
1. What is the reason of the earlier spring according to the Harvard scientists?| A．The human activities. | B．The climate change. |
| C．The tree growth. | D．The reduction in water. |
| A．An earlier spring can only bring benefits. |
| B．The influence of climate change is complex. |
| C．The water in mid-summer will increase. |
| D．The role of forests becomes less important. |
| A．Change | B．Explain | C．Imitate | D．Create |
| A．It helps scientists to figure out how forest ecosystems work. |
| B．It reflects how the growing season is extending faster. |
| C．It provides an opportunity to improve the computer models. |
| D．It helps to make the effects of climate change clearer to the public. |
| A．To tell us people should be more aware of the climate change. |
| B．To tell us the climate change has some effects on the world. |
| C．To tell us the early spring in eastern USA is a good time to travel. |
| D．To tell us high technology is useful to detect the climate change. |
If you look at a photograph of leopards, would you be able to tell which two were related based on their spots? Unless you’re a leopard expert, the answer is most likely not, says Tanya Berger-Wolf, director of the Translational Data Analytics Institute. But, she says, computers can.
Berger-Wolf and her team are pioneering a new field of study called imageomics (成像组学) which uses machine learning to obtain biological data from photos and videos of living organisms. They have recently begun working together with researchers studying leopards to compare spot patterns of moms and children using efficient algorithms (算法).
Berger-Wolf says the computer uses algorithms to count how many animals are in the image, as well as where and when it was taken, which could contribute to population counts. Not only can AI do this at a much lower cost than hiring people but also at a faster rate. In August 2021, AI analyzed 17 million images instantly.
As Berger-Wolf points out, population size is the most basic indicator of a species’ wellness. AI scanned 11,000 images of whale sharks to create hot spots and help researchers identify individual whale sharks and track their movement, which led to updated information about their population size. This new data made the conservation status of the whale shark changed from “unsafe” to “endangered” in 2016.
AI is still a fast-growing field when it comes to wildlife conservation, but Berger-Wolf is hopeful. For now, the team is cleaning the data of the leopard hot spots to ensure the results are true biologically meaningful information. If meaningful, the data could teach researchers how species are responding to changing habitats and climates and show us where humans can step into help.
1. What can we know about imageomics?| A．It takes photos for animals. |
| B．It helps in population counts. |
| C．It’s started by leopard experts. |
| D．It collects data from computers. |
| A．To introduce their new conservation status. |
| B．To stress the importance of population size. |
| C．To discuss factors for the species’ wellness. |
| D．To show the value of AI in animal protection. |
| A．Imageomics will further support researchers’ work. |
| B．These data on leopards are not reliable as expected. |
| C．Researchers fear AI would change animal behaviors. |
| D．AI could really replace human effort in animal protection. |
Canada’s national parks are established
Parks Canada is
Eco-wildlife tours are becoming increasingly popular with tourists. The opportunity to see whales and dolphins swimming in their
A recent study has shown that the behaviour of whales and dolphins
Perhaps the best way to protect these animals is
Some designers on an island in southern Japan have tried to put regenerative architecture (再生式建筑) into effect. It’s the idea that houses can
The buildings themselves were
Moreover, Sumu is powered by renewable energy. It’s equipped with solar power and relies on local firewood
6 . People may appreciate the mighty sea and those deep, dark lakes when it comes to waters.
Nowadays, a European organization called PONDERFUL is trying to give ponds power by increasing awareness of their importance. They are the unsung heroes of the natural world and are in the front line of climate action, supporting wildlife and capturing harmful emissions.
Adding even a tiny pond in your garden can achieve natural wonders and will actually better all other ecosystems, according to Pond Informer, an online guide about ponds.
They also offer a space for birds to bathe, cool, off and drink.
With help now on the way, Switzerland has made hundreds of new ponds thus increasing the population of birds and frogs, including the endangered European tree frog.
| A．Ponds are simply disappearing. |
| B．Tiny ponds are usually ignored. |
| C．In turn, these birds can benefit your garden. |
| D．Your pond can play a part in your community. |
| E．People can have a great time by creating the ponds. |
| F．A pond becomes home to many plants and animals. |
| G．Small, shallow ponds are being restored on former golf courses in the UK. |
7 . Do you see a bird right now? Can you hear one singing? If so, you might be getting a mental health boost. A recent study found that being in the presence of birds made people feel more positive.
Andrea Mechelli, a psychologist at King’s College London and one of the paper’s authors, admitted himself studying the natural world by accident. “I don’t have a particular agenda focused on nature myself. I wasn’t thinking we were going to demonstrate nature has a strong effect,” says Mechelli. Instead, he was searching for answers to why people who live in cities seem to be more likely to suffer from mental illness, particularly psychosis(精神病).
In 2015, he created the smartphone app Urban Mind to search for patterns in users’ environments. How crowded was their city? Did they feel safe in their neighborhood? Could they see trees? “Our first finding was that nature has a very powerful effect,” says Mechelli. He and his colleagues then wondered if some aspects of nature were more beneficial than others.
Their latest study included 1,292 participants, mainly in the United Kingdom and Europe, some of whom revealed a professional mental health diagnosis such as depression. For two weeks, study participants using Urban Mind were reminded to fill out a questionnaire three times a day. They were asked questions about their surrounding environment and their mental state. The data were recorded at the same time.
With the data collected, Mechelli performed a statistical analysis that found an obvious improvement in well-being when birds were present, even when removing other factors like the presence of trees or waterways. The mental health benefit was true both for people with diagnosed depression and those without any diagnosed mental health conditions.
Nature, Mechelli notes, isn’t a cure all. The presence of trees and birds, for example, didn’t result in a better sense of well-being if participants also noted their neighborhood felt unsafe.
1. Why does the author ask questions in the first paragraph?| A．To offer examples. | B．To make comparisons. |
| C．To introduce the topic. | D．To support the conclusion. |
| A．The process of the research. | B．The purpose of the research. |
| C．The findings of the research. | D．The influence of the research. |
| A．the sight of trees | B．the crowdedness of a city |
| C．the pressure from their work | D．the security of a neighborhood |
| A．They all came from the UK. |
| B．They were diagnosed with depression. |
| C．They recorded their feelings by themselves. |
| D．They were required to answer different questions. |
8 . We humans have an outsize influence on this planet, and our winged, finned, and four-legged neighbors are in their tough time. Many animals have died out in response to the pressures, but some survivors are adapting. Some animals are showing off never-before-seen behaviors, shifting their diets, and even evolving different shapes, sizes, and colors.
The shifts can’t be avoided and are likely permanent: There’s no going back to when wildlife was still completely wild. “There’s no place anywhere on the planet in its original condition. There are micro plastics at the bottom of the ocean, and Antarctica is melting. The world has changed because we’re in it,” says Tag Engstrom, a biologist at California State University.
African elephants in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park are some daring members of the animal kingdom, who have found a will and a way to change right along with it.
Normally elephants use their 6-foot-long tusks to dig wells in search of water, lift objects, rip bark off trees, and even battle lions. In other words, the ivory appendages (附属品) are not just impressive to look at — they are highly useful tools. So it might seem strange that a significant number of African elephants in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, once an illegal hunting wildlife area, are now being born without tusks.
According to a 2021 DNA analysis published in the journal Science, that the elephants are born without tusks is no coincidence. After decades of being shot by ivory brokers, the leading elephants in some herds have passed down a trait that prevents the females’ prize possessions from growing in — and helps them avoid being hunted. No one knows yet how widespread these genes might be in the greater population of African elephants, or how the loss of tusks might affect the mammals’ survival overall. But the findings are a powerful, if depressing, reminder of the extremes a species might endure to escape from extinction.
1. How do the animals respond to humans influence?| A．Many animals have evolved four legs. |
| B．Animals can survive despite the tough time. |
| C．Some animals are developing different shapes. |
| D．Animals live in harmony with human beings. |
| A．We human beings are evolving. |
| B．Wildlife are not going back to the wild. |
| C．Plastics appear at the bottom of the ocean. |
| D．The planet is no longer what it was like before. |
| A．The elephants evolve the new trait by chance. |
| B．Elephants in some herds are all born without tusks. |
| C．Genes will be widespread in the greater population. |
| D．The new trait may help elephants survive the extinction. |
| A．Travel. | B．Science. | C．Puzzles. | D．Well-being. |
9 . In a study involving sweat samples from 335 people, trained dogs sniffed out 97 percent of the coronavirus cases that had been identified by PCR tests and all 31 COVID-19 cases among 192 people who didn’t have symptoms, researchers reported.
These findings are evidence that dogs could be effective for mass screening efforts at places such as airports or concerts and may provide friendly alternatives for testing people who fear the tests, says Dominique Grandjean in France.
Dogs’ noses also identified more COVID-19 cases than did antigen (抗原) tests, but sometimes mistook another virus for the coronavirus, Grandjean and colleagues found. What’s more, evidence suggests the dogs can pick up cases 48 hours before people test positive by PCR.
In the study, dogs were trained in coronavirus detection by rewarding them with toys—usually tennis balls. “It’s playtime for them,” Grandjean says. It takes about three to six weeks, depending on the dog’s experience with odor detection, to train a dog to pick out COVID-19 cases from sweat samples. For detection, the dogs sniffed used face masks or housing sweat samples collected from human volunteers’ underarms. Results showed that dogs perform as well as or even better than PCR tests for detecting the virus that causes COVID-19, Furton says. He and colleagues have used dogs at schools, a music festival and in a small trial screening airline employees for coronavirus infections.
One of the biggest advantages dogs have over other tests is their speed, Furton says. “Even with what we call a rapid test, you’re still going to have to wait tens of minutes or even hours, where the dog in a matter of seconds can make a response.” However, dogs take time to train and there currently aren’t even enough dogs trained to detect explosives, let alone diseases, Otto says.
Another drawback is that people don’t think of them as high-tech, though they’re one of the highest-tech devices we have.
1. What can we learn about the study from the first paragraph?| A．Dogs were trained to test COVID-19. |
| B．Sweat samples are perfect to test COVID-19. |
| C．Dogs can identify most COVID-19 cases. |
| D．PCR tests failed to meet public expectation. |
| A．Dogs may be unfriendly to people when doing tests. |
| B．Dogs lack experience dealing with large screens. |
| C．Dogs may need a long time to identify the disease. |
| D．Dogs may recognize other diseases as coronavirus. |
| A．They perform well at detecting COVID-19 virus. |
| B．They do better at detecting explosives than viruses. |
| C．They are widely used in public places like schools. |
| D．They like to be rewarded with toys after training. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Disapproving. | C．Fearful. | D．Confident. |
10 . Fire ants tunnels got dug efficiently by only a small percentage of the group doing most of the work. Freeloaders, they just sit around while their hard-working colleagues get things done. But might freeloaders actually be necessary for society to function efficiently? The answer could be yes — at least when it comes to fire ants and their efforts to dig nests underground.
Fire ants are highly social organisms. So, Goldman and his colleagues wanted to know how individual ants knew what to do without a central leader issuing orders.To find out, Goldman’s team labeled individual fire ants with paint and then watched them dig their tunnels — only wide enough for two workers. Turns out, just 30 percent of the ants did 70 percent of the labor. “I was surprised that we ended up with so few workers actually doing the work at any one time.”
A quarter of the ants never even entered the tunnel. Others went inside, but left without digging out a single grain of dirt. These behaviors ensured the tunnels did not get clogged with insect traffic, which would make the construction process stop.
And when the scientists removed the five hardest-working ants from the tunnel, others immediately jumped in to compensate (补偿) — with no reduction in the group’s productivity. Seems that it doesn’t matter which ants are working or freeloading at a given time, as long as there is some division of labor to keep the tunnels flowing smoothly. The findings are in the journal Science.
The study could provide suggestions for the robotic. Imagine groups of robots sent to search for survivors from the ruins. Or nanobots (纳米机器人) coursing through our bodies to diagnose illness and deliver targeted medical treatment. Such robots will need to avoid getting jammed up in tight spaces. It might be necessary to program them so some just sit back and watch their colleagues work.
1. How do fire ants get the work done when digging tunnels?| A．They all work under the order of their leaders. |
| B．Only the strong ants do the majority of the work. |
| C．They all cooperate together and spare no effort to do the work. |
| D．Some work efficiently while others just sit around and do nothing. |
| A．Covered. | B．Crowded. | C．Destroyed. | D．Spotted. |
| A．the rest of them didn’t know what to do |
| B．the leaders had to do the work by themselves |
| C．other ants took their place and continued to do the work |
| D．other ants were in panic and escaped from the tunnels immediately |
| A．robot technology | B．social communication |
| C．underground construction | D．scientific observations |
