1 . Killer whales are mama’s boys. A son will follow his mother, taking bits of fish and other food, throughout his life, even as his sisters grow up and have babies of their own. This neediness comes at a significant cost to mom, who gives up having additional children to look after her boy, according to a new study.
Michael Weiss has observed the mother-son bond in killer whale groups off the Pacific coast of North America. “It’s kind of wild,” says the behavioral ecologist. These animals live for decades, yet even fully grown males “act like little kids around their mom, rolling around and swimming right beside and behind her like they're still babies”.
Weiss wanted to know whether these high-maintenance children came at a cost — particularly, whether they hurt a mother’s ability to raise more children. He and colleagues studied 40 years’ worth of data on three Pacific pods (小群动物), social groups typically consisting of a couple dozen killer whale mothers and sons that traveled and hunted fish together. Sure enough, the team found a “huge effect”, Weiss says.
In a given year, mothers of sons were less than half as likely to have another baby as were childless females or mothers of daughters. Strikingly, both a 3-year-old son and an 18-year-old son lowered their mom’s chances of having more children, Weiss says.
The researchers suggest mom’s favoritism toward her boys developed because of the particular social structure of these pods. When a daughter gives birth, her babies stay in the same group as her and her mom and therefore compete with the rest for food and attention. By contrast, a son doesn’t bring more mouths into the group — he mates with females in passing pods who then go on to raise children in their own social units.
His kids are thus “someone else’s problem”, Weiss explains. So, it makes sense for mom to give more energy to him than to his sisters if she wants as many grandchildren as possible with the least competition.
The team didn’t establish exactly how sons prevented their mothers from having more babies. Weiss says he hopes to do more research across populations, and in different species of whales. But now, killer whales remain an extreme example of parental care across the animal kingdom. “In other animals,” he says, “at some point, you just stop relying on your mom as much.”
1. What can we learn about a mother killer whale’s chance of having more babies?| A．It is independent of her son’s age. | B．A mother of a son won’t have another baby. |
| C．A mother of daughters has the least chance. | D．It changes with the social structure of the pod. |
| A．Male killer wales can’t grow fully. |
| B．Male killer wales are precious in their social structure. |
| C．Baby killer wales live with their grandmother. |
| D．Baby killer wales compete against their father for food. |
| A．To increase the pod’s population. | B．To compete with other pods. |
| C．To gain support from boys. | D．To save food. |
| A．It is extremely rare in nature. | B．It shows that killer whales have feelings. |
| C．It doesn’t exist in other species of whales. | D．It slows male killer whales’ development. |
A MOTHER’S DAY SURPRISE
The twins were filled with excitement as they thought of the surprise they were planning for Mother’s Day. How pleased and proud Mother would be when they brought her breakfast in bed. They planned to make French toast and chicken porridge. They had watched their mother in the kitchen. There was nothing to it. Jenna and Jeff knew exactly what to do.
The big day came at last. The alarm rang at 6 a. m. The pair went down the stairs quietly to the kitchen. They decided to boil the porridge first. They put some rice into a pot of water and left it to boil while they made the French toast. Jeff broke two eggs into a plate and added in some milk. Jenna found the bread and put two slices into the egg mixture. Next. Jeff turned on the second stove burner to heat up the frying pan. Everything was going smoothly until Jeff started frying the bread The pan was too hot and the bread turned black within seconds. Jenna threw the burnt piece into the sunk and put in the other slice of bread. This time, she turned down the fire so it cooked nicely.
Then Jeff noticed steam shooting out of the pot and the lid starting to shake. The next minute, the porridge boiled over and put out the fire. Jenna panicked. Thankfully, Jeff stayed calm and turned off the gas quickly. But the stove was a mess now. Jenna told Jeff to clean it up so they could continue to cook the rest of the porridge. But Jeff’s hand touched the hot burner and he gave a cry of pain. Jenna made him put his hand in cold water. Then she caught the smell of burning. Oh dear! The piece of bread in the pan had turned black as well.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右。
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
As the twins looked around them in disappointment, their father appeared.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Cooking breakfast was only their first step and they were ready to take on more responsibilities…
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When my daughters reached the third and fourth grades, I occasionally allowed them to walk home to and from school alone, if the weather permitted. It was a short distance, so I knew they were safe and no trouble would occur to them.
One warm spring day, a small friend followed them home after school. This friend was different from any other friend they had brought home. She had short legs and long ears, with a colored coat and tiny spots on her mouth. She was the cutest little dog I had ever seen. I guessed she was not more than twelve weeks old. She took to me right away and after dinner climbed into my leg to watch TV. By now the girls were both begging me to keep her.
She had no collar or identifying marks of any sort. I didn’t know what to do. I thought about running an ad in the lost- and- found but I really didn’t want to. It would break the kids’ hearts if someone should show up. Besides, her owners should have watched her more closely, I thought.
By the end of the week she was part of our family. We called her Molly. She was very bright and good with the girls. More than once the teacher was given a homework page that the dog had bitten on. Life was not the same now. It was time the girls took responsibility for another life, so they would learn the skills to take care of others.
The following week something told me to check the lost- and- found section in the local paper. One particular ad jumped out at me and my heart beat wildly with fear at what I read. A woman was anxiously asking for the return of a lost dog near our grade school. My hand shook. I knew in my heart I had to call that number and see if our Molly was the dog she was seeking.
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。
It was the most difficult thing I had ever done.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A thousand thoughts crossed my mind before the woman rang the bell.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________36-year-old Mary was a single mother living in a small town in Cleveland, Ohio with her 3-year-old twin sons, Jack and James. She worked hard to provide for her children, doing a few part-time jobs to make ends meet. In spite of the challenges, Mary managed to give them a happy and stable childhood.
One Saturday morning, Mary was at home with her children, preparing breakfast for them. Jack was beside her while James was playing alone in the bedroom next to the kitchen. It was a typical weekend, filled with laughter and warmth. Little did they know something unexpected was just around the corner.
As Mary was busy with the food, a fire broke out in the kitchen. Panicked, Mary took hold of Jack and rushed towards the front door. They made it to safety only to find James remained stuck inside. Mary put Jack down and turned back to get James out, but in such a hurry and panic, she missed a step and fell on the ground. Her right ankle got sprained so seriously that she couldn`t stand up. Mary sat on the ground helplessly, her tears mixed with screams, “My kid is still in the house. Somebody, help me!”
At that very moment, Simon, 52, a former army soldier in the same community as Mary, happened to pass her house and saw the terrible scene. He immediately ran across the yard to ask the crying mother where her kid exactly was. In a shaking voice, Mary responded, “In the bedroom next to the kitchen.” The fire spread quickly and the house was filled with thick smoke. Simon looked around and saw a blanket hanging beside a pool full of water in the middle of the yard.
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。
Without hesitation, Simon took action.
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Simon rushed out of the burning house with James in his arms.
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Monday started out great. I woke up on time, ate breakfast and did some last minute studying for my first hour math test. I was confident of getting good grades. Then I left my house. Ten minutes later, I was settled with my friends on the school bus. We were busy chatting about how we spent our weekend. At one stop, Fat Ryan got on hurriedly. He tripped over someone’s foot accidentally and THUMP! He fell flat onto the floor.
Every one of us on the bus looked on and laughed crazily. Ryan struggled to his feet, dusted the jacket and made his way to an empty seat. He tried to laugh with us, but his face was burning with embarrassment. The rest of the morning flew by. I did well in my math test. I read two more chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird in English class. It wasn’t long before there went the lunch bell. I met my friends from the cheerleading team in the dining hall. Then I couldn’t help but notice Ryan a few tables away, sitting all alone. He caught me looking. I smiled at him quickly and looked away.
When we finished eating, we headed out to the courtyard to practice a cheer (联 系啦啦操) we would do at that night’s football game. After a little practice, we nailed the cheer, so we decided we only needed to go through it one last time. Again, just like the rest of my day so far, the cheer was going great. I raised my leg for one last toe touch. RIIPPP!I felt my jeans split (裂开) down the middle of my backside.
I froze. I had no idea what to do but stand still. Then I heard people burst out laughing, and I saw then pointing at my tom jeans. Trying to cover myself with my hands, I tried to laugh too, but I felt tears began to well up in my eyes.
注意：1.续写词数应为 150 左右。2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Then I saw Ryan running towards me.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________That night, after the cheer at the football game, I found Ryan.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. Who is probably the speaker?
| A．A reporter. | B．A teacher. | C．A writer. |
| A．He read a book. | B．He looked after the horse. | C．He enjoyed the snow. |
| A．Sad. | B．Moved. | C．Casual. |
| A．Help those around us as much as we can. |
| B．Read as many books as we can. |
| C．Be grateful for what we have. |
Dr Grover Krantz, studied reports of such strange creatures for many years. He
It’s the same in China- many people, some of
