1 . Pangolins (穿山甲) are strange-looking creatures, covered with hard scales (鳞). They can roll up into a ball to protect themselves from enemies and have tongues that are longer than their bodies.
Pangolins have recently become the focus of Chinese people. A screenshot (截屏) of a micro blog post showed some people eating pangolins at a feast spread. A few days later, people were angered again by pictures showing people eating protected animals, including pangolins.
Yet this is only the tip of the iceberg. Many more pangolins have been hunted or killed. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), more than 1 million of them have been killed or sold in the last 10 years. It also said that they are the most illegally traded mammals in the world. In September 2016, the IUCN added the pangolin to the world’s “endangered animals list”. They are now more endangered than pandas．
A growing trade of their scales and meat is the main reason for their decline in numbers. Many people in Asia and Africa consider pangolin meat is delicious. Some people even think pangolin scales have medicinal qualities. However, their scales are made of keratin (角蛋白), the same material human fingernails are made of.
Luckily, the situation is getting better. World Pangolin Day is on the third Saturday of February each year. It's a day to help people know more about pangolins. The government now stops anyone from buying and eating pangolins in China. Breaking this law is regarded as a crime. The trade of pangolins across the world is also not allowed, according to the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
1. Pangolins have caught people's attention these years because ________.| A．they look strange |
| B．they appear in some movies |
| C．they are killed and eaten by people |
| D．they have something to do with pandas |
| A．Pangolins can roll up into a ball to attack enemies. |
| B．More than 1 million pangolins were killed or sold last year. |
| C．Pangolins were named the most endangered animal in 2016. |
| D．The pangolin is a kind of mammal traded illegally worldwide. |
| A．attract people to the zoo to watch pangolins |
| B．raise people's awareness of protecting pangolins |
| C．remind people of pangolins' medical value |
| D．explain the protection law to the public |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. |
| C．Disappointed. | D．Unconcerned. |
2 . Cat lovers finally have the chance to understand what their pets are saying thanks to a smart collar that can interpret meows and translate them into human speech. Named Catterbox, the collar supposedly has a digital sensor that detects meows, and uses a special program to interpret the meaning behind them.
Developed by London ad agency adam&eveDDB, for Temptations cat treats, the invention comes preloaded（预装）with a dictionary of cat meows and several other sounds to make the interpretation as accurate as possible. “We're fascinated by cats, so we set out on a mission to get to know them better.” said Pete Simmons, global brand director of Temptations.
The promotion video of the smart collar claims that Catterbox, the world's first talking cat collar, is designed to finally help humans understand the meaning of meows. “Cats are often thought of as independent pets quite hard to get to know, so we set up The Temptations Lab to find creative ways to inject even more pleasure into a cat and owner's relationship,” said Richard Brim, executive creative director of adam&eveDDB.
“Studies show cats only meow in order to communicate with humans,” the video adds. “So we set out on a mission to get to know them better. By analyzing different cat meows, we've designed a digital sensor that detects a cat's meow and uses a unique program to turn it into a human voice.” So by using the collar, owners can speak to their cats and expect a meaningful response. The responses are delivered in a British accent, in a voice of the owner's choice, selected through a smartphone app paired with the collar.
A few sample responses are shown on the company's YouTube channel-they are quite funny, but obviously not very convincing. In all probability, Catterbox is useless though it has a very clever marketing means.
1. Why did the researchers set up The Temptations Lab?| A．To help cat lovers get more fun in keeping cats. |
| B．To tell cat lovers how to get along with cats. |
| C．To do some research on cat's habits. |
| D．To prove cats are really difficult to understand. |
| A．It is selling well among cat lovers now. |
| B．It can also help cats understand their owners' languages. |
| C．It can translate meows into different languages. |
| D．It can be set by a paired smartphone app. |
| A．Positive. | B．Uncaring. | C．Doubtful. | D．Opposed. |
| A．A smart collar that translates cat meows into human speech. |
| B．Cat lovers who want to understand what cats say. |
| C．Scientists who are devoted to inventing a smart collar. |
| D．A dictionary of cat meows and other sounds. |
3 . With their silly smiles and big brown eyes, Australian sea lions are adorable. Photographer Louise Cooper should know: in late 2019 she visited Kangaroo Island with a team of scientists from University of Sydney to photograph the sea lion colony at the beautiful Seal Bay. Cooper spent hours sitting with her camera amid sand dunes watching sea lions go about their day－mothers taking care of their young, huge males lazily sunning themselves on the sand, others playing bitey-face in the surf. “These playful creatures are just like puppy dogs,” she says.
Sadly, hunted almost to dying out in the 1800s, these creatures’ slow recovery has been influenced by their very long breeding(繁殖) period－Australian sea lions breed every 18 months, compared to 12 months for fur seals. Over the last 40 years, sea lion numbers have fallen by more than half. Cooper was on the South Australian island to record the important work being done by scientist Dr Rachael Gray and her team, who are trying to find out why.
“Hookworm(钩虫) disease is quite common in Australian sea lions,” Cooper explains.“So scientists like Dr Gray are treating them with an antibiotic(抗生素) to see if they can stamp it out(消灭，根除).”High levels of mercury and E coli have also been discovered in their system. Together, these human pollutants weaken the sea lions’ immune(免疫的) systems. There are hopes that stamping out hookworm in Australian sea lions will give them a better chance of survival.
The team’s visit to Kangaroo Island was on the eve of the deadly bushfires that swept through much of the island, destroying wildlife and animal habitats. Dr Gray raced from Sydney to check on the seals and, the sea lions mostly paid no attention to what had happened. Thankfully, the sea lion colony at Seal Bay survived unharmed.
“The fires were heartbreaking,” says Cooper, who hopes to return to the colony with Dr Gray and her team, who for now are keeping an eye on this at-risk group of sea animals.
1. What does the underlined word “adorable” in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Careful. | B．Lovable. |
| C．Dangerous. | D．Independent |
| A．They are attacked by fur seals. |
| B．They have to leave their home. |
| C．They are endangered by hunters. |
| D．They have a very small population. |
| A．They have little chance of survival. |
| B．They have a strong immune system. |
| C．They are doing poorly after treatment. |
| D．They are at risk from hookworm disease. |
| A．They were uninjured. | B．They got burnt badly. |
| C．They failed to survive. | D．They were frightened away. |
4 . Have you wondered how dogs became man's best friends? On October 30, a study published in the online journal Science revealed more information about the history between dogs and humans, dating back thousands of years.
From previous studies, it was known that sometime between 15,000 to 40,000 years ago, humans first encountered a friendly gray wolf, and that forever changed the relationship. The dogs of today are descendants of and were domesticated from gray wolves.
Greger Larson from the University of Oxford, along with an international team, examined the genomes (genetic makeup) of 27 ancient dog species from remains dating back 800 to11,000 years ago. The team discovered that 11,000 years ago, there were five distinct species of dogs from Northern Europe, the Near East, Siberia, New Guinea, and the Americas. It turned out that today's dog species can trace their ancestry to one of these five ancient species. For example, the chihuahuas are descendants of ancient dogs from the Americas, while the huskies are descendants of the Siberian breed. The team also found that most of the modern European dog breeds come from two breeds - Northern Europe and the Near East. And finally, the five species trace their origin to one ancient species of wolf.
The scientists found remains of dog species in Europe are originally from the Near East. This led them to conclude that humans traveled with their dogs as they migrated from one area to another. These dogs were brought as companions or to act as guard dogs or hunting dogs.
Finally, with dogs and humans living together, the two also developed similar characteristics such as the ability to digest high-starch diets. When two species adapt to an environment in similar ways, it is known as “convergent evolution”.
As you can see, this study is already changing what we know about our favorite companion. We cannot wait to hear what else scientists unearth!
1. Where did the huskies originate from?| A．Northern Europe. | B．The Near East. | C．Siberia. | D．New Guinea. |
| A．By tracing the ancestry. | B．By examining the genomes. |
| C．By observing the remains. | D．By referring to previous studies. |
| A．Humans traveled to Europe with their dogs' remains. |
| B．Dog species once migrated from Europe to the Near East. |
| C．Humans migrated from the Near East to Europe in history. |
| D．Humans only migrated with hunting dogs from area to area. |
| A．Five Distinct Species of Ancient Dogs. |
| B．Long Relationship Between Dogs and Humans. |
| C．Convergent Evolution of Dogs and Humans. |
| D．How Dogs Were Domesticated from Gray Wolves. |
