1 . Bumble bees (大黄蜂) play, according to new research led by Queen Mary University of London. It is the first time that object play behaviour has been shown in an insect, adding to evidence that bees may experience positive feelings.
The researchers set up numerous experiments to test this, which showed bumble bees went out of their way to roll wooden balls repeatedly despite there being no apparent motivation for doing so. The study also found that younger bees rolled more balls than older bees and that male bees rolled them for longer than their female ones.
The study followed 45 bumble bees. Individual bees rolled balls between 1 and, impressively, 117 times over the experiment. The repeated behaviour suggested that ball-rolling was rewarding. This was supported by a further experiment where another 42 bees were given access to two coloured rooms, one always containing movable balls and one without any object. When tested and given a choice between the two rooms, neither containing balls, bees showed a preference for the colour of the room previously associated with the wooden balls.
The experiments removed any idea that the bees were moving the balls for any greater purpose other than play. Rolling balls did not contribute to survival strategies and was done under stress-free conditions.
The research was based on previous experiments, which showed that bumble bees could be taught to score a goal by rolling a ball to a target in exchange for a sugary food reward. The new research showed the bees rolling balls repeatedly without being trained and without receiving any food for doing so — it was spontaneous.
Professor Lars Chittka said, “Play is thought to contribute to the healthy development and maintenance of an animal’s cognitive (认知) and motor abilities, which may make for their searching for food and is considered an important aspect of animal welfare. The finding shows insect minds are far more complex than we expect. We need to do all we can to protect insects.”
1. What do we know about female bumble bees compared with male ones?A.They rolled far more balls. |
B.They spent less time playing rolls. |
C.They had bigger motivation to roll balls. |
D.They preferred to play in the colorful rooms. |
A.Rolling balls is what bumble bees are expert in. |
B.Rolling balls helps reduce bumble bees’ pressure. |
C.Rolling balls develops bumble bees’ survival skills. |
D.Rolling balls is done without any purpose for bumble bees. |
A.Voluntary. | B.Rewarding. | C.Forced. | D.Conscious |
A.Play makes a difference to animals’ life. | B.Humans find it hard to figure out insect minds. |
C.Many insects are faced with dying out. | D.Play can ensure insects to find food successfully. |
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Last Sunday, I adopted the baby dog from an animal shelter. I was impressed by its lovely appearance for the first time I saw it. I brought it home but decided to build a warm home for it. Due to my tight budget, I had to make a cage for it by me. First, I watched various video relevant to making cages. Then I reach the market to buy the materials. After that, I had the materials tying together with strings. About three hours later, the cage set up. I put the dog into the cage. It wagged its tail happy. Although the cage looked strange, I felt satisfying with what I had done.
3 . Tips for Green Travel with Kids
Travelling doesn’t mean letting go of all the eco-friendly choices we work so hard to achieve in our daily life. Here are a few tips for green travel with kids.
Booking nonstop flights whenever possible will reduce carbon emissions (碳排放). If the closest local airport doesn’t have nonstop flights to a certain place, check with other local airports to see if nonstop flights are available.
It’s easy when travelling to pull in to fast food restaurants for snacks.
A.Walking is good for your health. |
B.Try to cut back to save water and energy. |
C.But you can pack healthy food from home. |
D.Travelling is a great chance to introduce your kids to the world. |
E.Reusable water bottles are easy to bring along wherever you travel. |
F.Save energy by turning off the hotel room lights when you head out for the day. |
G.You might have to drive a bit farther, but saving on carbon emissions makes it worthwhile. |
4 . In the spring and summer months, thunderstorms are common.
It was reported that a man was struck by lightning when he was making a phone call under a tree. He died at once. You may not know it, but nearly 1,800 thunderstorms are happening at any moment around the world.
If you are indoors during a thunderstorm:
*Stay away from anything that is metal because lightning can come into the house through it.
*Don’t stand near the windows.
*Don’t take a shower or bath. Lightning can travel through water.
* Never use the phone.
If you are caught in a thunderstorm outdoors:
*
*Do not go under a tree because the lightning could hit the tree and travel through the tree to hit you.
* Never use a cell phone.
A.Try to get home as soon as possible. |
B.Go into a nearby building or car right away. |
C.But it is very important for us to learn about lightning. |
D.In fact, many people are killed by lightning every year. |
E.Lightning could travel through the phone line and hit you. |
F.Since they happen often, some people don’t take them seriously. |
G.But you can reduce those chances by following these safety rules. |
5 . Different colors usually stand for different feelings. Red, for example, is the color of fire, heat, blood and life. People say red is an exciting and active color. They associate red with a strong feeling like
In general, people
A.sadness | B.anger | C.relief | D.smile |
A.roads | B.ways | C.danger | D.places |
A.lively | B.dark | C.noisy | D.frightening |
A.speak | B.say | C.talk about | D.tell |
A.calm | B.sleepy | C.active | D.helpful |
A.the other | B.another | C.other one | D.others |
A.What | B.Where | C.When | D.Which |
A.go round | B.go by | C.go off | D.go along |
A.factory | B.classroom | C.restaurant | D.hospital |
A.Different | B.Cool | C.Warm | D.All |
The Vikings, whose ancestors came from Scandinavia, were the first Europeans
Later a man, Biarni set sail from Iceland in search
In the year 1002, Leif, Eric the Red’s son, followed Biarni’s directions and sailed to
7 . Plastic straws (吸管) have been a major problem in global discussions of environmental damage. Maybe because of their small size, the production cost of straws is low. In many countries, straws are offered freely after buying soft drinks. Therefore, plastic straws are one of the most used plastics and pollutants in the world.
The plastic straw is light and small. Due to their small size, plastic straws are often eaten by sea animals. Environmentalists have shown that the death of many sea animals is caused by eating plastic straws. The other damaging characteristic of plastic straws is that they are made of materials which cannot degrade. That means the materials cannot be changed into small harmless (无害的) ones.
The most effective way of dealing with the environmental pollution caused by plastic straws is the reuse or banning (禁止) the use of plastic straws. Being plastics, the straws can be made new items. Many organizations around the world change used straws into new products. In Africa, local communities collect used plastic straws and use them to make mats and bags. Another way of dealing with environmental pollution caused by plastic straws is placing a ban on their production and use. Experts advise governments to ban using plastic straws to save the environment. A few countries in the world such as Rwanda, Macedonia, China, Kenya have already banned the use of plastic bags and are expected to include plastic straws and bottles. But it will be a long way to do this effectively.
There are few environmentally friendly and biodegradable productions to take the place of plastic straws. These productions include paper straws, bamboo straws. However, such straws are usually expensive as their production cost is high. It’s still a question whether they can entirely take the place of plastic straws.
1. Why can people be free to use plastic straws?A.They are very cheap. | B.They are light and small. |
C.They are dangerous. | D.They are easy to use. |
A.Cut up. | B.Because of. | C.Go on. | D.Break out. |
A.It’s not difficult to ban using plastic straws. |
B.Many countries have stopped using plastic straws. |
C.Experts advise people to stop producing plastic straws. |
D.Some Africans change plastic straws into new products. |
A.It is a must to use them. |
B.It’s not easy to reuse them. |
C.There are still some problems to be solved. |
D.There are some other kinds of cheaper straws. |
8 . Now, Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22. A man, called Senator Gaylord Nelson Take, was determined to change the way we treated our planet. He didn’t stop his work until he had made a difference.
In 1963, Senator Gaylord Nelson wasn’t happy with the earth’s condition. He wanted to clean up the planet and solve pollution and environmental problems. As a senator, Gaylord Nelson was someone chosen by US citizens to help make laws, so he had a lot of power. He went to John F. Kennedy, the President at the time, with his concerns. The President agreed that the planet’s environment was a serious issue, so President Kennedy went around the country on a fiveday tour to promote (宣传) the idea of cleaning up the planet. People began making small changes, but it wasn’t enough.
A few years later, Senator Nelson decided to put one day aside every year for the cause of saving the planet. On April 22,1970, the first Earth Day was celebrated; 20 million American demonstrators (示威者) took part in Earth Day activities. Since then, Earth Day has become an international holiday. People all over the world are doing something to make the earth a cleaner, better place. Today more than 500 million people in 164 countries participate (参与) in Earth Day festivities!
Then, what can you do to make a difference?
*Encourage your family to recycle on a regular basis. It is a good way to help the earth!
*Switch to energyefficient light bulbs in your house to reduce the effects of global warming.
*Every glass bottle you recycle saves enough energy to run a TV for an hour and a half, while recycling an aluminum (铝) bottle can save enough energy to run your TV for three hours!
*Turn out the lights when you leave a room — unless someone’s still there!
*Use reuseable containers for your school lunches and snacks.
1. What does a senator usually do according to the passage?A.Cleaning up the planet. | B.Solving population problems. |
C.Helping make laws. | D.Talking to the President. |
A.in America | B.in Britain |
C.in 164 countries | D.across the world |
A.For a half hour. | B.For an hour. |
C.For an hour and a half. | D.For three hours. |
A.It was in 1963 that Senator Nelson came up with the idea of choosing a day as Earth Day. |
B.John F. Kennedy agreed to put April 22 aside every year as Earth Day. |
C.President Kennedy agreed with Nelson’s idea of cleaning up the planet. |
D.More than 500 million people took part in the first Earth Day activities. |
9 . Does the night sky excite you? Astronomy can be a (most) wonderful pastime activity. There are many things to learn for fun, and a chance to discover something new. In fact, some amateur astronomers have made great discoveries just with their eyes or binoculars (双筒望远镜).
Beginners to astronomy should shy away from buying telescopes until they’ve watched the universe through binoculars. These simple instruments help beginners get used to seeing the view through a more powerful instrument than the naked eye. With a telescope, not only are the pictures upside down, but they are usually greatly magnified (放大): much bigger than the normal size. Thus, it’s best to test your skills first with binoculars.
A good pair of binoculars opens a completely new world that can’t be seen with the naked eye. In our solar system alone, binoculars can show craters (坑,环形山) on the Moon, the rings of Saturn, states of Venus, four bright moons of Jupiter, all the planets except Pluto, small planets, and comets with tails.
We can see many more stars when using binoculars. There are hundreds of stars that we can see with binoculars. These stars often change in brightness, and they are interesting to watch. And many star clusters (群) and galaxies can be seen.
1. According to the passage, the underlined “astronomy” is _______.A.a machine which tells you about future | B.a branch of science to study plants and animals |
C.a kind of telescope | D.a branch of science to study universe |
A.be shy of | B.think of | C.avoid | D.consider |
A.at the normal position | B.much smaller than the real ones |
C.bigger than the real ones | D.not as clear as what you see through binoculars |
A.states of Pluto | B.the rings of Saturn | C.craters on the Moon | D.states of Venus |
A.Astronomy is a wonderful pastime | B.How to use a telescope |
C.Watching the sky through binoculars | D.Amateur astronomers’choice |
10 . In 1620, about half the USA was covered by forests. Today the forests have almost gone. A lot of good land has gone with them, leaving only sand. China doesn’t want to copy the USA’s example. We’re planting more and more trees. We’ve built the “ Great Green Wall” of trees across northern part of our country. The Great Green Wall is 7,000 kilometres long, and between 400 and 1,700 kilometres wide. It will stop the wind from blowing the earth away. It will stop the sand from moving towards the rich farmland in the south. More “Great Green Walls” are needed. Trees must be grown all over the world. Great Green Walls will make the world better.
1. In 1620, about ________ the USA was covered by forests.A.a third | B.half | C.two thirds | D.a fourth |
A.sand | B.water | C.wind | D.forests |
A.7,000 kilometers | B.1,700 kilometers |
C.7,000 meters | D.400 kilometers |
A.China | B.the USA |
C.some countries | D.every part of the world |
A.The Great Wall | B.Tall buildings |
C.Great Green Walls | D.Flowers and grass |