1 . The Best Space Museums
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | WashingtonHousing 60, 000 air and space collections, the museum enables visitors to learn about the rich history of aviation by viewing the first successful aircraft—the 1903 Wright Flyer—and everything that came next. From pilot uniforms to NASA spacesuits, engines and equipment, you’ll find it all at this museum.
National Museum of the U. S. Air Force | DaytonIf your main interests lie in military aviation, this museum will have everything you’ve ever wanted to see. It features exhibits on World War II, the Korean War, the Southeast Asia War and the Cold War. They’ve also got a Missile Gallery as well as a Space Gallery where visitors can walk inside a full-size reproduction of a NASA shuttle.
U. S. Space and Rocket Center |HuntsvilleSpace fans know this museum to be the site of the original Space Camp, including the film by the same name, but there’s plenty more to see here. The Center has a number of exhibits both indoors and out and many play areas for younger kids. 3D movies and live science shows add to the appeal. Most impressively, it is totally free to visitors.
Pima Air& Space Museum | TucsonThe privately funded museum has been in operation for over 40 years and has over 300historic aircraft on display. You’ll also find several exhibits that range from seaplanes and aircraft carriers to paper airplanes and women in flight. One of the biggest draws, though, is its extensive “boneyard”, a collection of over 4,000 U. S. government and military aircraft that are either being recycled or regenerated.
1. What feature distinguishes National Museum of the U. S. Air Force from the others?| A．It organizes space camps every year. |
| B．It has a shuttle of the same size as a real one. |
| C．It has a history of 40 years. |
| D．It charges a small entrance fee. |
| A．Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. |
| B．National Museum of the U. S. Air Force. |
| C．U. S. Space and Rocket Center. |
| D．Pima Air & Space Museum. |
| A．An introduction to some museums. |
| B．A family outing guide. |
| C．A travel event brochure. |
| D．A commercial ad. |
2 . Like dogs, wolves can recognize and respond to the voices of familiar humans more than those of strangers, according to a recent study. The research challenges the belief that dogs ability to differentiate human voices is due to selective breeding (选择性繁殖).
Holly Root Gutteridge and colleagues carried out experiments across five zoos and wildlife parks in Spain, involving a total of 24 gray wolves. The team set up speakers and first played the animals the voice of a number of strangers. Then, they played the wolves the voice of their keeper who would say familiar things to them in Spanish, such as “Hey, what’s up, wolves?” The wolves raised their heads, pricked their ears up, and turned toward the speaker. To test that the effect wasn’t accidental, the researchers went back to playing the wolves recordings of strangers and found that they once more lost interest. Finally, to make sure that the wolves truly knew their keepers’ voices, the team mixed things up and had the keepers say a series of unfamiliar phrases. Once more, the results held up.
Root Gutteridge pointed out the significance of wolves being able to differentiate between humans, despite the fact that our species went our separate evolutionary (进化的) ways tens of millions of years ago.
Before this, there had been a limited number of studies on the topic of how animals differentiate between the vocalizations (发声) of other species. Research has shown that our close cousins, gorillas, listen to people, but that was expected.
Given the new finding, “chances are that lots of species are listening to us and getting to know us as individuals,” Root Gutteridge said. “And it’s not all about us. Dogs could be listening to the neighbors’ cats and understanding the difference between one meow or the other. If the abilities are that general, it means that animals might be having a lot more cross- species interactions than we had thought about before.”
1. What established viewpoint does the recent research call into question?| A．Dogs are the only animals that can differentiate human voices. |
| B．Wolves recognize the voices of humans better than dogs. |
| C．Wolves cannot understand human languages. |
| D．Selective breeding enables dogs to differentiate human voices. |
| A．By letting the keepers say unfamiliar phrases in Spanish. |
| B．By asking strangers to reproduce the keepers’ voices. |
| C．By playing recordings of strangers speaking familiar phrases. |
| D．By changing the playback speed of the keepers’ recordings. |
| A．To stress their close relationship with humans. |
| B．To offer additional evidence for the recent study. |
| C．To point out another species that can differentiate voices. |
| D．To explain how animals’ ability to differentiate humans’ voices developed. |
| A．The focus of the future studies. |
| B．The limitations of the research. |
| C．The significance of the research. |
| D．The uniqueness of the experiments. |
3 . For many people, visiting a wildlife park is a must-have bucket-list item. Few travel experiences can compare with watching wild animals wandering freely in wildlife reserves, enjoying their natural habitat. Here are some of the very best wildlife parks from all around the world.
1. Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
The Masai Marais located in the southwest of Kenya and is one of the most important and well-known wildlife conservation areas in the world. Covering an area of 1,510square kilometers, the Masai Mara National Reserve consists of the grasslands, mountain highlands, lakelands and valley.
Those looking for an unforgettable traditional wildlife park experience should look no further than the Masai Mara National Reserve. Famous for its natural diversity of animals, you can expect to see vast numbers of leopards, elephants and lions. The wildlife park is also home to over 450 bird species.
2. The Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Serengeti National Park is a land of beauty that is one of the last naturalistic wonders left on this planet. This wildlife park is the symbol of Africa, and also one of the world’s oldest ecosystems to ever exist. Located in the northern area of Tanzania, the Serengeti National Park has also been famous for the annual migration (迁徙) of wildlife to permanent waterholes.
During this phenomenon, you’ll get to see vast herds of zebras, buffaloes and elephants migrating to the waterholes due to the change of season, followed by predators(捕食者) on the hunt for them.
3. Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina
The Tierra del Fuego National Park, located at the southern tip of Argentina, is nestled between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, thus featuring a dynamic weather ecosystem with beech forests, mountains, waterfalls and glaciers (冰川). Not quite the image you may have in mind of a wildlife park being muddy, brownish and all dry landscapes.
It is a most breathtaking wildlife park, home to beautiful species such as eagles, rabbits and North American beavers. Aside from basking in the sightings of these wild animals, visitors to Tierra del Fuego often go hiking and fishing there.
1. Which park would you recommend to someone who is looking for a traditional wildlife tour?| A．Masai Mara National Reserve. | B．The Serengeti National Park. |
| C．Tierra del Fuego National Park. | D．None of them. |
| A．Hiking and fishing in the park. | B．Creating a must-have bucket-list. |
| C．Exploring numbers of different landscapes. | D．Watching the annual migration of many animals. |
| A．It is naturalistic. | B．It is the most famous one. |
| C．It has the oldest ecosystem. | D．It has waterfalls and glaciers. |
4 . When Kurt Benirschke started collecting skin samples from endangered animals in 1972, he didn’t have a firm plan on what to do with them. As a researcher at the University of California San Diego, he believed that one day these samples would be used to save these animals. A few years later, he moved his collection to the San Diego Zoo, and called it the Frozen Zoo.
For a long time, it was the only project of its kind; however, in recent years, similar conservation efforts have spread globally, and tools that Benirschke didn’t yet have are now available. Today, the Frozen Zoo is the world’s largest animal cryobank(生物冷冻库), holding samples from over 10,500 individual animals from 1,220 species, in the hope that one day science can bring them back as a species.
The Frozen Zoo’s advanced technology is the key to its success in saving species from extinction. By using cryopreservation techniques, the zoo can store cells and tissues from endangered animals. The stored genetic material can be used for research, breeding(繁殖) programs, and potentially even cloning or genetic engineering to restore endangered species.
By protecting the genetic heritage of endangered animals, the Frozen Zoo provides hope for the survival of species that would otherwise be at risk of dying out, and the preservation of Earth’s precious biodiversity. It has inspired the establishment of similar cryobanks worldwide, expanding efforts to conserve endangered species. These cryobanks contribute to the global network of genetic resources, improving cooperation and knowledge exchange. By demonstrating the potential of technology in the preservation of biodiversity, the frozen zoo serves as a powerful tool in raising awareness and driving change.
The Frozen Zoo is like a time capsule, preserving the genetic heritage of endangered species for future generations. It reminds us about the importance of conservation and offers a window into a world that could otherwise be lost forever.
1. What do we know about the Frozen Zoo?| A．It is the world’s oldest and largest animal cryobank. |
| B．It started with a detailed plan led by Kurt Benirschke. |
| C．It is a project to explore the evolution of animal species. |
| D．It was established to protect animals in the San Diego Zoo. |
| A．By expanding their natural habitats. |
| B．By raising their survival rate with genetic technology. |
| C．By preserving their genetic material for further research. |
| D．By innovating breeding techniques to increase their population. |
| A．To stress the importance of the Frozen Zoo. |
| B．To explain the urgency of saving endangered species. |
| C．To prove the potential value of preserving biodiversity. |
| D．To show the necessity of cooperative conservation efforts. |
| A．Costly and controversial. | B．Profitable and instructive. |
| C．Conservative and effective. | D．Pioneering and significant. |
5 . Endangered polar bears are breeding (繁殖) with grizzly bears (灰熊), creating “pizzly” bears, which is being driven by climate change, scientists say.
As the world warms and Arctic sea ice thins, starving polar bears are being forced ever further south, where they meet grizzlies, whose ranges are expanding northwards. And with that growing contact between the two come increasing hybrids (杂交种).
With characteristics that could give the hybrids an advantage in warming northern habitats, some scientists guess that they could be here to stay. “Usually, hybrids aren’t better suited to their environments than their parents, but these hybrids are able to search for a broader range of food sources,” Larisa DeSantis, an associate professor of biological sciences at Vanderbilt University, told Live Science.
The rise of “pizzly” bears appears with polar bears’ decline: their numbers are estimated to decrease by more than 30% in the next 30 years. This sudden fall is linked partly to “pizzly” bears taking up polar bears’ ranges, where they outcompete them, but also to polar bears’ highly specialized diets.
“Polar bears mainly consumed soft foods even during the Medieval Warm Period, a previous period of rapid warming,” DeSantis said, referring to fat meals such as seals. “Although all of these starving polar bears are trying to find alternative food sources, like seabird eggs, it could be a tipping point for their survival.” Actually, the calories they gain from these sources do not balance out those they burn from searching for them. This could result in a habitat ready for the hybrids to move in and take over, leading to a loss in biodiversity if polar bears are replaced.
“We’re having massive impacts with climate change on species,” DeSantis said. “The polar bear is telling us how bad things are. In some sense, “pizzly” bears could be a sad but necessary compromise given current warming trends.”
1. Why do polar bears move further south?| A．To create hybrids. | B．To expand territory. |
| C．To relieve hunger. | D．To contact grizzlies. |
| A．Broader habitats. | B．More food options. |
| C．Climate preference. | D．Improved breeding ability. |
| A．A rare chance. | B．A critical stage. |
| C．A positive factor. | D．A constant change. |
| A．Polar bears are changing diets for climate change. |
| B．Polar bears have already adjusted to climate change. |
| C．“Pizzly” bears are on the rise because of global warming. |
| D．“Pizzly”bears have replaced polar bears for global warming. |
6 . A team of Dutch researchers has discovered that magpies (喜鹊) are using metal spikes (things with sharp points) designed to keep them away from certain urban areas to make their own nests stronger and keep invaders at bay.
Scientists have known for a while that magpies are some of the most intelligent birds in the world, but even they were puzzled by their amazing ability to adapt to hostile urban environments. It’s not unusual for birds to use human trash as tools and building materials for their nests, but seeing them use the very things we humans use against them was nothing short of puzzling for researchers at the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam and the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, in the Netherlands.
“I didn’t expect this. These anti bird spikes are meant to deter birds, they are supposed to scare them off, but on the contrary, the birds just use them.” Kees Moeliker, the director of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam, told The Guardian.
One particularly impressive magpie nest was discovered in the courtyard of a hospital in Antwerp, Belgium. It was made up of around 1,500 anti-bird spikes, most of which seemed to be positioned with the sharp point outwards, as protection against invaders. After discovering it, researchers checked the roof and confirmed that around 50 meters of anti-bird spike strips had been ripped off the building, leaving only the glue used to fix them in place.
Birds have been known to take sharp objects, from point y branches to nails, screws, into their nests as protection, but the use of anti-bird spikes is kind of ironic, as they are the very things used to keep them away. To scientists like Hiemstra, this is a sort of “beautiful revenge”.
A few years back, we wrote about rich people in the UK installing anti-bird spikes on trees to stop birds from pooping on their luxury cars, but I guess the birds had the last laugh.
1. How did the researchers feel when they found magpies made use of metal spikes?| A．Shocked. | B．Amused. | C．Frightened. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．Attract. | B．Threaten. | C．Raise. | D．Protect. |
| A．Supporting evidence for the research result. |
| B．Deeper explanation of the research finding. |
| C．Practical application of the research discovery. |
| D．Further exploration of the cause of the discovery. |
| A．Birds are the masters of architecture. |
| B．Birds respond wisely in face of anti-bird spikes. |
| C．Birds use human trash to make for better adaptation. |
| D．Birds turn out the most intelligent species in the world. |
Known for its beautiful scenery, Mount Wuyi is the only place in the country
With tea farming dating back over 1,000 years, the mountain’s tea industry has a rich history. The area
The need to strike a balance between farmers’ livelihoods and the local environment has appeared as
The park has a tea farming area of 34.54 square kilometers, accounting
8 . Dogs can’t speak, but their brains respond to spoken words. Every dog owner knows that saying “Good dog!” in a happy, high voice will make their pet joyfully wag its tail. That made scientists curious: What exactly happens in your dog’s brain when it hears praise, and is it similar to the way our own brain processes such information?
When a person gets others’ compliments, the more primitive, subcortical auditory regions (皮层下听觉区) first react to the intonation — the emotional force of spoken words. Next, the brain taps the more recently evolved auditory cortex (听觉皮层) to figure out the meaning of the words, which is learned.
In 2016, a team of scientists discovered that dogs’ brains, like those of humans, compute the intonation and meaning of a word separately — although dogs use their right brain to do so, whereas we use our left one. Still, a puzzle remained: Do their brains go through the same steps to process approval?
It’s an important question, because dogs are a speechless species, yet they respond correctly to our words. For instance, some dogs are capable of recognizing thousands of names of individual objects, and can link each name to a specific object.
When the scientists studied scans of the brains of pet dogs, they found that theirs, like ours, process the sounds of spoken words in this manner — analyzing first the emotional component with the older region of the brain, the subcortical regions, and then the words’ meaning with the newer part, the cortex.
See why dogs are so successful in partnering us? Dogs and humans last shared a common ancestor some 100 million years ago, so it’s likely that our brains respond to sounds in a similar way. As domesticated animals that have evolved alongside humans in our homes for the past 10,000 years, dogs make special use of it to process human emotions. You know, what we say really matters to dogs!
1. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “domesticated”?| A．Abroad. | B．Home. | C．Gentle. | D．Intelligent. |
| A．Linking it to an object. | B．Analyzing the emotion. |
| C．Working out its meaning. | D．Tapping the auditory cortex. |
| A．By comparing opinions. | B．By raising examples. |
| C．By providing answers to questions. | D．By analyzing causes and effects. |
| A．Dogs — Good Listeners |
| B．Dogs — Perfect Partners |
| C．Dogs and Humans Share a Common Ancestor Actually |
| D．Dogs Understand Spoken Words the Same Way We Do |
1. What is the main purpose of the loud noises?
| A．To warn people outdoors to get inside. |
| B．To get people’s attention inside their homes. |
| C．To inform people without radios about danger. |
| A．Local media. | B．Local officials. | C．The national weather service. |
| A．A weather report. | B．A warning system. | C．The safety measures in bad weather. |
1. Why did the man arrive late?
| A．He got stuck in traffic. | B．He was unable to park. | C．He had to take a different route. |
| A．It was raining. | B．It was sunny. | C．It was cloudy. |
| A．A sports event. | B．A food fair. | C．A concert. |
| A．At a park. | B．At a stadium. | C．At a television station. |
