Today’s skiers are used to relying on ski lifts at resorts to take them to the top of a mountain before
The pair of boards are wrapped with horsehide(马革),
According to rock carvings uncovered in the area by archaeologists, such
However, Altay plans to protect and promote its skiing culture. The local government department
2 . A “watch” is the collective noun for nightingales. The term comes from the way nightingales sing from dawn until dusk and into the hours of darkness, keeping watch. It is one of the Britain's best loved but most endangered songbirds, which arrive in spring from West Africa, bringing with them a beautiful song that has inspired poets and musicians from many cultures that the birds have caused over the centuries.
The male nightingales start singing as soon as they return and continue into early June. Rested in the bushes, male nightingales remain unnoticed while their song passes into dark ness to enchant female nightingales and indirectly appeal to human listeners. This combination of performance, beauty, romantic love and night action creates a mythic power that makes nightingales unique among songbirds.
What does a nightingale sound like? Its tune may appeal to human senses but “song” feels like a shorthand description of what the nightingale actually does. The sound comes from the syrinx, an instrument similar to our throat but closer to the bird's heart and which produces an extraordinary range of high and low frequency notes. The nightingale's daytime song is beautiful enough, but as darkness falls and other birds fall quiet, “great jagged sticks of lyrical music are thrown into the summer night sky”, in the words of poet Simon Armitage and broadcaster Tim Dee in their book, A Poetry of Birds.
The song is also very loud. Ornithologist Tim Birkhead recalls being kept awake all night by a nearby nightingale. At 90 decibels, he could feel its song resonating in his chest. Computer recordings of birdsong can detect sounds of less than one tenth of a second. Human ears can't pick them out but female birds certainly respond to these “sexy-syllables”. Although we don't fully understand the nightingale song, it is one of the most celebrated bird songs in the world, and you can hear it in the UK for a brief period in spring-our guide to the best places to hear a nightingale sing this spring.
1. Why are nightingales called “watch”?A.Because of the artists' love for them. | B.Because of the way of their singing. |
C.Because of the beauty of their songs. | D.Because of the human desire for their arrival. |
A.Threaten. | B.Enhance. | C.Guard. | D.Attract. |
A.Nightingales' songs stand out at night. | B.Nightingales are very quiet at daytime. |
C.Nightingales' songs are similar to humans’. | D.Nightingales have the same senses as humans. |
A.Why nightingales are under threat. | B.How to record nightingales' sound. |
C.When nightingales return to Britain. | D.Where to hear nightingales in Britain. |