Last summer, Hilda worked as a volunteer with dolphin trainers at a sea life park. Her job was to make sure the tanks were free of any items so that the trainers could train the dolphins to fetch specific items. However, one day after cleaning, one of the dolphins, Maya, presented Hilda with a candy wrapper from the tank. When Katherine, the trainer, saw this, she blamed Hilda for her carelessness. Upset but not discouraged by this event, Hilda decided to do some spying on Maya.
The next morning, Hilda arrived at the park early. She put on her scuba gear (水下呼吸器) and jumped into the tank for her usual, underwater sweep. Finding nothing in the tank, she climbed out of the water just in time to see Katherine jumping in on the other side. After what happened yesterday, Hilda knew what she was doing. She watched as Katherine performed her underwater search, but Hilda wasn’t surprised when she surfaced empty-handed.
During the tank sweeps, Maya had been swimming playfully, but now the dolphin stopped suddenly and swam to the back part of the tank where the filter (过滤) box was located. She stuck her nose down behind the box and then swam away. What was Maya doing back there? Hilda wondered. She jumped back into the water and swam over to take a look behind the box, and her question was answered. Hilda then swam across the tank following Maya’s path and emerged from the water to find Katherine removing her scuba gear. As Katherine turned around, her mouth dropped open. There was Maya at the edge of the tank with a comb (梳子) in her mouth waiting for her treat.
“Maya! Where did you get that?” demanded Katherine, taking the comb and throwing her a fish. “I know where she got it,” declared Hilda climbing out of the tank with a handful of items still wet from their watery, resting place. “What’s all this?” Katherine asked, obviously confused.
注意:(1)续写词数应为150个左右;
(2)请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
“This is Maya’s secret,” Hilda said with a big smile.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Now Katherine realized what had been going on.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . In habitats across the planet, animals periodically drop everything to walk, fly or swim to a new place. Some animals such as whales and geese learn migration paths by following their parents. Others, including small songbirds, gain the distance and direction of their migration within their genetic code. And some animals use a combination of genetics and culture to guide their migration.
Another group of migrators does not quite fit either model, and researchers have only recently started to figure out how they find their way. The Cory’s shearwater is an oceangoing seabird that migrates over the Atlantic every year. The young do not migrate with their parents, so culture cannot explain their journeys. And the exact paths vary wildly from individual to individual, making genetics equally unlikely.
Cory’s shearwaters are long-lived, rarely producing young successfully before age nine. This leaves an opening for learning and practice to develop their migration patterns. Researchers call this the “exploration-refinement”, and until now it has been hypothetical (假设的) because of difficulties in tracking migratory animals’ movements.
But a team of researchers has done that by attaching small geolocators to more than 150 of the birds aged four to nine. They found that younger birds traveled longer distances, for longer periods, and had more diverse paths than older birds. “We finally have evidence of the ‘exploration-refinement’ for migratory birds,” says Letizia Campioni, who led the study. Younger Cory’s shearwaters are able to fly just as fast as the adults——but they do not, suggesting that the young do more exploring, which gradually fades as they mature and settle into a preferred course.
“Although it may seem less efficient than other strategies, exploration refinement could be beneficial to birds and other organisms in a rapidly changing world due to unpredictable man-made changes,” says Barbara Frei. “It might be safer to repeat a behavior that was recently successful than to rely on patterns that were perfected long ago but might no longer be safe.”
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?A.It describes animals’ habitats. | B.It compares different species. |
C.It talks about migration models. | D.It introduces a tracking technology. |
A.The opening for learning and practice. |
B.The unique living habit of Cory’s shearwaters. |
C.The process scientists track Cory’s shearwaters’ movements. |
D.The way Cory’s shearwaters form their migration patterns. |
A.They travel as much as adult birds. | B.They lower the speed for exploration. |
C.They move in a predictable manner. | D.They look for a course with their parents. |
A.Exploration refinement contributes to birds’ adaptability. |
B.Man-made changes make migration easier. |
C.Animals make a safer journey via a fixed track. |
D.A combination of strategies assures migration success |
3 . An earthquake can strike without warning. But many injuries and deaths from this kind of natural disaster can be prevented if people follow these safety tips.
If you’re inside a building, stay there! One of the most dangerous things to do in an earthquake is to try to leave a building.
If you are trapped in the ruins, cover your mouth with a handkerchief or a piece of clothing. Use your cellphone to call for help if possible. Don’t shout.
Be prepared for aftershocks
A.Don’t move about or kick up dost. |
B.If you’re outside, go to an open space. |
C.Shouting can cause you to breathe in dust. |
D.Don’t park your car under a tree or any tall object. |
E.Take a good hold of your cellphone in the building. |
F.They can happen in the first hours after the earthquake. |
G.Most injuries happen when people inside buildings try to get out. |
4 . On Saturday 24 August 1918, it was raining cats and dogs and thundering over a city called Sunderland on the northeast coast of England. The storm lasted for only about ten minutes. People were surprised to see that it was not just rainwater falling from the sky. There were fish falling down, too! People came out to find out what was happening. They could not believe their own eyes. There were thousands of fish—sand eels (沙鳗)—lying on the ground. They were about seven centimeters long, and all were frozen solid (冻成硬块).
Sand eels swim together in large groups, often in sandy water, and are often found in large numbers in the North Sea, which reaches out to the east of Sunderland. How was it possible for these sand eels to fall from the sky and land on Sunderland?
Scientists believed the heavy thunderstorm that afternoon may have caused a waterspout (水龙卷). Waterspouts can be formed when strong winds move quickly in a circle over water. They are so powerful that anything less than one meter in length can be taken into them and forced into the clouds. The clouds carry whatever has been taken into them for long distances —sometimes over 150 kilometers. It’s very cold up there and everything soon freezes solid.
For hundreds of years there have been reports of small animals being taken into the sky through waterspouts. In 2009, dead tadpoles rained down on the city of Nanao in Japan. In 2012, fifty kilos of prawns fell from the sky over Sri Lanka. In 2017, fish fell on the coastal city of Tampico in Mexico.
It must be a very strange experience to see fish raining down on you. It would probably hurt if one fell on your head! With climate (气候) change and many reports of terrible storms, will the time ever come when it may really begin to rain cats and dogs?
1. What do we know about the sand eels that landed on Sunderland?A.They were few in number. | B.They came in different sizes. |
C.They were still alive when landing. | D.They probably came from the North Sea. |
A.Clouds. | B.Waterspouts. | C.Strong winds. | D.The waters of the sea. |
A.raining sea animals is not new in history | B.the environment is not pleasant in Japan |
C.waterspouts can reach as far as Japan | D.different animals can fall in different countries |
A.Our health. | B.Our environment. | C.The wild animals. | D.The news reports. |
Earth Day is an event
In1962, Rachel Carson’s bestselling book “Silent Spring” created an
In the fall of 1969, Nelson announced it and appealed to the entire country to get involved. Consequently, telegrams, letters and telephone calls
Today, Earth Day is celebrated around the world every April 22. Sometimes numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of
The fresh thin air, snow-covered mountains and graceful animals running on the plains are
My guide is Zhaxi, who works at the Changtang National Nature Reserve. “We’re not trying to save the animals,”he says. “Actually, we’re trying to save
During the 1980s and 1990s, the population of Tibetan antelopes dropped by more than 50 percent, as hunters were shooting antelopes to make
As
Only when we learn to live in harmony with nature
7 . A five-year-old dog named Kelsey has been praised as a hero for helping to save the life of her owner who slipped in the snow and broke his neck.
The man, Bob, was alone when he left his Michigan farm house on New Year’s Eve to collect firewood. Expecting a journey of only several meters, Bob was wearing just long johns (衬裤), a shirt and slippers when he went outside, although the temperature was around -4℃.
After the accident, he was unable to move in the snow. Fortunately, Kelsey came to his assistance. “I was shouting for help, but my nearest neighbor is about 400 meters away, and it was 10:30 pm,” Bob explained. “But my Kelsey came. By the next morning, my voice was gone and I couldn’t yell for help, but Kelsey didn’t stop barking.” Kelsey’s companion kept him warm by lying on top of him. She licked his face and hands to keep him awake. “Kelsey kept barking but never left my side,” Bob recalled. “She kept me warm. I knew I couldn’t give up and that it was my choice to stay alive.”
Bob spent 20 hours in the freezing cold. When he finally lost consciousness, his dog kept barking. Finally, hearing the barking, Bob’s neighbor discovered him at 6:30 pm on New Year’s Day and called the emergency services at once. When Bob arrived in hospital, his body temperature was below 21 ℃. However, doctors were surprised to find that he didn’t have any frostbite (冻疮). They believed it was because of Kelsey’s determination to keep him warm. Dr. Chaim Colen, the doctor who treated Bob, said, “Animals can help and his dog really saved him...He was very fortunate.”
Bob said, “I was very grateful to both Dr. Colen and my Kelsey. They saved my life. They are truly heroes!”
1. What happened to Bob on New Year’s Eve?A.He left his dog alone in his farmhouse. | B.He was praised for saving a dog owner. |
C.He broke his neck and couldn’t move. | D.He heard his neighbor’s shouting for help. |
A.To keep warm. | B.To stay alive. |
C.To keep Bob awake. | D.To seek help from others. |
A.Helpful. | B.Fortunate. | C.Terrible. | D.Friendly. |
A.A Neck-breaking Accident | B.The Magic Night |
C.Warmth on a Winter’s Night | D.Determination to Keep Alive |
8 . The endangered pandas in the Qinling Mountains might face a new threat: the loss of their food, bamboo, which makes up 99% of their meals.
Adult pandas spend most part of the day eating bamboo and have to take in at least 40 pounds a day to stay healthy. However, a new study published in Nature Climate Change warned that they may soon find their food gone because most of the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains might disappear by the end of the century as a result of rising temperature worldwide.
A team made up of researchers from Michigan State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has studied the effects of climate change on the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains. They have found that bamboo is very sensitive to climate changes. “80% to 100% of the bamboo would be gone if the average temperature rises 3.5 degrees worldwide by the end of the century,” said Liu Jianguo, one of the report’s authors.
He added, “This is how much the temperature would rise by 2100 even if all countries will keep their promises in the Paris Agreement. But you know what is happening all around the world.”
In recent years, China has been trying its best to protect the endangered pandas by setting up more and bigger natural reserves.
“But it is far from enough and the endangered pandas need cooperation from the rest of the world, because their future is not just in the hands of the Chinese,” said Shirley Martin from the World Wildlife Fund but not a member of the team.
The Qinling Mountains, in the southwest of China, are home to about 260 pandas. That is about 13% of China’s wild panda population. In addition, about 375 are living in research centers and zoos in China.
1. How many wild pandas are there in China?A.About 260. | B.About 635. |
C.About 2,635. | D.About 2,000. |
A.China needs more help from the World Wildlife Fund. |
B.It is difficult to control the temperature rise within 3.5℃. |
C.Bamboo is sensitive to the changes of temperature. |
D.China is making great efforts to protect the pandas. |
A.The Qinling Mountains can provide enough bamboo for the pandas. |
B.Pandas in the Qinling Mountains are only threatened by the loss of food. |
C.Lots of the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains will probably disappear. |
D.Pandas have already eaten 99% of the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains. |
A.The Disappearance of Bamboo |
B.Necessity to Change Pandas’ Food |
C.A New Threat Faced by the Pandas |
D.Efforts Made to Save Pandas |
9 . The Swiss have always had a comfortable relationship with their mountains. But no time in a year seems to show that special connection quite like the beginning of summer. That’s when conservationists(环境保护者) make the difficult journey up those towering heights while bearing large white blankets.
The grand plan? To cover critical sections of the Rhone Glacier - six square miles of ice that is counted as the country’s oldest and most essential glacier v in the UV-resistant (防紫外线的)blankets. While it may seem a gentle gesture, like a mother taking care of a child for the night, the idea isn’t to keep the glacier warm. It’s actually the opposite. The blankets are designed to deflect (使偏斜)the sun’s light, covering the huge glacier up like a freezer bag in the hope of protecting it from the strong heat of the summer sun. And these days, the world’s glaciers need all the help they can get. With the planet getting warmer every year, glaciers have been melting at a rapid rate.
In Switzerland, climate change has increased the Rhone Glacier’s typical summer melt which feeds Europe’s famous Rhône River. As a result, more and more people have taken up protecting the glaciers with blankets. By covering approximately six acres of the glaciers, the blankets, Volken explains, have reduced the ice melt by as much as 70 percent. But it has made the slope (斜坡)we’re on only slightly less slippery. And unless people — the main culprits in climate change — make fundamental changes to address the bigger picture, there won’t be enough blankets in the world to ward off the disastrous consequences of rising sea levels.
And those dreamy white blankets covering the Rhône Glacier? “It will slow things down for a year or two,” Jean-Pierre Guignard, who visited the glacier decades ago when it was much bigger, tells Metro, a British newspaper. “But one day people will have to take away the blankets because the ice underneath will be gone.”
1. Why do conservationists climb up the mountains in early summer?A.To keep the glaciers warm enough. |
B.To do some research on the glaciers. |
C.To appreciate the beauty of the glaciers. |
D.To stop the glaciers from melting too fast. |
A.have played a great role in protecting the glaciers |
B.are in great need during summer in Switzerland |
C.can help protect the glaciers in the long run |
D.will probably cause sea levels to rise |
A.Researchers. | B.Monitors. | C.Offenders. | D.Protectors. |
A.Contradictory. | B.Negative. | C.Uncertain | D.Optimistic. |
10 . Scientists say a huge percentage of bird species are in danger because their habitats, or homelands, are disappearing.
Traditional migration paths take birds through countries that are not protecting the places for birds to stop, rest and feed. The scientists studied the migration or flight paths of almost 1,500 species. They decided that 91 percent of them passed through dangerous areas.
The major danger for migratory birds is development. Buildings and pavements have covered the places where birds stop and feed as they move from one part of the world to another. One of the scientists who worked on the study says “Many of these important places have been lost to land reclamation because of urban, industrial and agricultural land expansion”.
The problem, according to scientists, is that many of these small birds die along their migration paths because they don’t have a safe place to feed and rest. There is no place to restore their energy for the next part of their journey. Countries in North Africa, Central Asia and those along the coasts of East Asia are having the most difficult time in protecting land. The scientists say these countries do not have enough areas that are safe for birds. One species that doesn’t exist now is the Eskimo curlew. “Our world gets poorer every time we lose a species,” one of the scientists says.
The researchers say countries need to work together and come up with safe stopping areas for birds that pass through their boundaries. For example, one country might have preserved safe zones for migrating birds. But a neighbor country might not. A bird might die.
One scientist who is not connected with the report tells Los Angeles Times that while some habitats are changing, more work can be done to make urban areas safe for birds.
He says small changes, like planting more native plants or keeping cats out of the areas birds would be likely to use, could make a big difference.
1. What mainly caused the disappearing of birds’ habitats?A.The decrease of awareness to protect birds. | B.Natural disasters. |
C.Overuse of land by human beings. | D.The rising sea level. |
A.Tiredness and hunger. | B.Beast attack on the ground. |
C.Hunting of humans. | D.The long journey. |
A.By keeping fewer cats or dogs. |
B.By restoring their destroyed habitats. |
C.By helping change the birds’ migration paths. |
D.By preserving the ecological environments on their migration paths. |
A.To call on people to protect the birds’ habitats. |
B.To analyze the reasons for disappearing of birds’ habitats. |
C.To offer some solutions to the problem of birds’ habitats. |
D.To tell us a huge percentage of bird species are in danger. |