1 . Veery, a small songbird only weighing about 30 grams, will migrate thousands of miles south —from North America, across the ocean, to South America in summer. No doubt it’s a perilous journey. Some of those birds may never make it if a hurricane(飓风) happens.
But a study published in the journal Scientific Reports in 2018 showed that when the veeries begin to leave the north is closely related to the coming of the Atlantic hurricane season. The little birds try not to be destroyed by the possible hurricanes. “During bad years, the birds would shorten their breeding (繁殖) season in the north and head down to South America earlier than usual. In this way, most of the birds survived. It makes sense that they have figured it out somehow.” says Christopher Heckscher, an ecologist at Delaware State University.
Exactly, how the veeries “predict” hurricane seasons may partly result from small changes in climate like El Niio (厄尔尼诺) events. During El Niio years, the ocean water is warmer than average, and produces winds that more effectively weaken hurricanes, bringing down the number of hurricanes. The little birds are usually smart enough to sense this and make a wise decision to migrate. With these changes, rainfall in veery habitat (栖息地) may differ. When more rain falls, more fruit could be available. This change in diet may help the veery return to North America in a better shape and also enjoy a longer breeding season back home.
Heckscher says although it’s too early to determine what the birds are predicting for future Atlantic hurricane seasons, veeries have been just as good, and in one case better than meteorological (气象) models in predicting hurricanes.
1. What does the underlined word “perilous” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Dangerous. | B．Unfamiliar. | C．Beneficial. | D．Powerful. |
| A．It brings the climate change. |
| B．It explains why hurricanes happen. |
| C．It often occurs later than other migrant birds’. |
| D．It is influenced by the possible hurricane season. |
| A．They seek for more food. | B．They meet more hurricanes. |
| C．They don't fly back to the north. | D．They become stronger for breeding. |
| A．Veery: Beating Climate Models | B．Veery: A Natural Predictor of Hurricanes |
| C．El Nino: Destroying Vecries' Migration | D．Christopher Heckscher: A Famous Ecologist |
2 . Great white sharks are typically loners, swimming through the world’s vast oceans largely on their own. That’s why scientists were so confused and impressed when they noticed an odd pattern in tracking data from two sharks. Simon and Jekyll.
The two males were first tagged off the coast of Georgia. When they reached Long Island, reseatchers noticed their tracks were remarkably similar. Then they arrived in Novia Scotia within practically the same day - they have traveled more than 4,000 miles together!
“Most animals don’t form any emotional bonds with each other and there are no previous records of two sharks traveling together for such a long period,” Bob Hueter, chief scientist for Ocearch, the group tracking the sharks says, “But we have found that some whites may remain close while hunting to benefit from food pieces after a kill. So we are wondering if this one-time event is similar to that. If so, it will open the door to the secret of sharks’ migration law.”
Now, scientists are trying to puzzle out what’s going on. Researchers suppose that there may be some reasons, such as seawater temperatures and the amount of light each day. And they further put forward other possibilities. Are the two sharks friends or relatives? And do they have more companions that aren’t tagged swimming with them? To uncover the secret, the researchers are running genetic tests For the further research direction.
But no matter what their relationship, the pair’s unique behavior is of great significance in the foreseeable future. At the very least, the discovery that sharks may hang out together could impact conservation efforts. The reseurch lteam, for example, is working to help people view sharks less as blood-thirsty monsters and more as vital players in a healthy ocean ecosystem worthy of protection. They are “humanizing”, which adds to the limited understanding human have of sharks. “They have a mother, a father and siblings,” the team shares, “They’re just trying to make a living in the ocean, and we need them for the balance of life in the sea.”
1. What drew scientists’ attention about Simon and Jekyll?| A．The destination they reached. |
| B．The distance they covered. |
| C．The way they traveled together. |
| D．The species they belong to. |
| A．Traveling in pairs. |
| B．Migrating regularly. |
| C．Hunting food together. |
| D．Traveling for a long time. |
| A．The procedure of the test. | B．The results of the research. |
| C．The assumption of the causes. | D．The significance of the pair’s travel |
| A．They are friendlier and closer to humans than hefore. |
| B．Their relationship has been figured out by the rescarch |
| C．Human’s limited understanding leads to their extinction. |
| D．Their jourcy offers new insight into ocean conservation. |
3 . For the first time, researchers have used an animal’s own chemistry to grow electrodes (电极) inside the tissues of living fish, making the boundary between biology and machines difficult to distinguish.
The technique uses the body’s sugars to turn an injected gel into a flexible electrode without damaging tissues, experiments show. Zebrafish with these electrodes grown in their brains, hearts and tail fins showed no signs of ill effects, and electrodes tested in leeches (水蛭) successfully stimulated a nerve, researchers report in the Feb. 24 Science.
Someday, these electrodes could be useful for studying how biological systems work or improving human-machine interfaces. They also could be used in brain stimulation therapies for depression, Parkinson’s disease and other conditions.
Soft electronics aim to bridge the gap between soft, curvy biology and electronic hardware. But these electronics typically still must carry certain parts that can be easy to cracks and other issues that impact performance. And inserting these devices inevitably damages tissues, says Magnus Berggren, a materials scientist at Linköping University in Sweden.
Growing soft electronics inside tissues can have weaknesses too. External electrical or chemical signals that transform chemical soup into electrodes can cause damage. It’s possible to genetically modify cells to make enzymes that do the job. But Berggren and colleagues’ method gets results without genetic alterations.
The fish appeared to suffer no ill effects, and the team saw no evidence of tissue damage. In leeches, delivering a current to a nerve via a soft electrode induced muscle contractions.
“The approach utilizes elegant chemis try to overcome many of the technical challenges,” says biomedical engineer Christopher Bettinger of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. But long-term performance is unclear. Substances in the body could reduce electrodes. “The team also needs to improve how precisely the electrodes stimulate nerves,” says chemical engineer Zhenan Bao of Stanford University. “The relative abundance of sugars in tissues dictates where electrodes form for now,” Berggren says. “Swapping a component in the material for elements that attach to specific bits of biology could make targeting more precise,” he says.
1. Why do scientists grow electrodes in living fish ?| A．To make the fish live forever. |
| B．To use the body’s chemistry to create soft tech. |
| C．To reduce the pollution to the fish. |
| D．To satisfy the researcher’s curious hearts. |
| A．It can be used in foreign language learning. |
| B．It can be used in farm work of the farmers. |
| C．It can be used in treating the disease of back. |
| D．It can be used in treating the disease of Parkinson and other conditions. |
| A．It’s well used. | B．It is promising. |
| C．It needs further improving. | D．It’s quite hopeless. |
| A．A magazine. | B．A guidebook. | C．A novel. | D．A diary. |
4 . Scientists have recently discovered the world’s largest known field of sea grass. They did it using videos shot by some extraordinary helpers. The work should help protect the sea grass, and also shows off a powerful way to explore the ocean.
As a shelter for many sea creatures, sea grasses are flowering plants that normally grow in shallow waters near coasts. They grow in thick fields, known as seagrass meadows (海草床), which help clean the ocean water. More importantly, they are called “ocean lung”. They help in the fight against the climate crisis. That’s because they store huge amounts of carbon—the major source of global warming. Damaging these seagrass meadows can release this pollutant again, making things worse.
Considering the urgent need to protect seagrass meadows, scientists are eager to know about their size and number. However, the meadows can be hard to spot from above, either because the water is too deep or not clear enough. And the ocean is so huge that it’s hard to study them by diving. So scientists decided to have tiger sharks help the research.
Tiger sharks are inborn fast swimmers, and spend a lot of time in seagrass meadows. Between 2016 and 2020, the researchers attached cameras and other trackers to the fins of seven tiger sharks, and then let them go again. The cameras were designed to fall off after hours and float to the surface. Tracking signals helped find the floating cameras and collect the videos the sharks had taken while traveling for miles. Moreover, other tools were used, including satellite images, as well as images taken by divers and boats.
Putting all this information together, the scientists learned that the waters around the Bahamas are home to the largest seagrass meadow ever discovered. And the meadows cover at least 25,500 square miles, and could be as large as 35,500 square miles.
Different from previous studies, the program discovers how useful large underwater animals can be in helping to learn more about life under the sea. Oliver Shipley, a scientist from the team, says animals like tiger sharks are going to take us to new places that we didn’t know existed.
1. Why do seagrass meadows urgently need protection?| A．Damaging them will worsen climate crisis. |
| B．They determine the cleanliness of ocean water. |
| C．Sea creatures can’t survive without their shelter. |
| D．Their existence balances the underwater ecosystem. |
| A．By tracking signals scientists sent. |
| B．By bringing back cameras with videos. |
| C．By carrying the recording equipment around. |
| D．By spending a lot of time in seagrass meadows. |
| A．Leading scientists. | B．Advanced theories. |
| C．Multiple experimental tools. | D．Unusual research assistants. |
| A．Man and Nature Work Together | B．A Novel Way to Explore the Sea |
| C．Sea Grass: An Undervalued Plant | D．Ocean Lung Measured by Natural Explorers |
If you look at a photograph of leopards, would you be able to tell which two were related based on their spots? Unless you’re a leopard expert, the answer is most likely not, says Tanya Berger-Wolf, director of the Translational Data Analytics Institute. But, she says, computers can.
Berger-Wolf and her team are pioneering a new field of study called imageomics (成像组学) which uses machine learning to obtain biological data from photos and videos of living organisms. They have recently begun working together with researchers studying leopards to compare spot patterns of moms and children using efficient algorithms (算法).
Berger-Wolf says the computer uses algorithms to count how many animals are in the image, as well as where and when it was taken, which could contribute to population counts. Not only can AI do this at a much lower cost than hiring people but also at a faster rate. In August 2021, AI analyzed 17 million images instantly.
As Berger-Wolf points out, population size is the most basic indicator of a species’ wellness. AI scanned 11,000 images of whale sharks to create hot spots and help researchers identify individual whale sharks and track their movement, which led to updated information about their population size. This new data made the conservation status of the whale shark changed from “unsafe” to “endangered” in 2016.
AI is still a fast-growing field when it comes to wildlife conservation, but Berger-Wolf is hopeful. For now, the team is cleaning the data of the leopard hot spots to ensure the results are true biologically meaningful information. If meaningful, the data could teach researchers how species are responding to changing habitats and climates and show us where humans can step into help.
1. What can we know about imageomics?| A．It takes photos for animals. |
| B．It helps in population counts. |
| C．It’s started by leopard experts. |
| D．It collects data from computers. |
| A．To introduce their new conservation status. |
| B．To stress the importance of population size. |
| C．To discuss factors for the species’ wellness. |
| D．To show the value of AI in animal protection. |
| A．Imageomics will further support researchers’ work. |
| B．These data on leopards are not reliable as expected. |
| C．Researchers fear AI would change animal behaviors. |
| D．AI could really replace human effort in animal protection. |
6 . As is known to us all, cats are difficult to track. On nearly a weekly basis, my owe cats disappear somewhere in the house, hiding while I fruitlessly tear the place apart and ignore the sinking fear that they may have gotten outside. After some period of time, they just... reappear.
Thanks to a new study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One, we now know that our cats likely never have the same worries about us. Cats, the study suggests, are able to track their owners’ whereabouts, using only the sound of the human voice.
While researchers have long known that cats possess object permanence, or the ability to recognize the existence of an object even when it is no longer immediately seen, the real-time “tracking” capabilities shown in this study open up new ways to study cats’ minds.
“Fewer research reports have been made about cats’ mental and behavioral mechanisms (机能）than those about dogs’?, Saho Takagi, a doctoral student at Kyoto University and the lead author of the study, wrote in an email to Inside Science.
In a series of three experiments, Takagi’s team observed how cats placed in a familiar room responded to a series of sounds played from speakers located both inside and outside of the room. The first experiment used human voices, the second used the sounds of other cats, and the third used electronic sounds. Takagi found that while the cats had no strong reaction to the electronic or cat sounds, hearing an owner’s voice without the owner present in the room left the cats noticeably confused. The sound of an unfamiliar human’s voice also caused confusion, though not as much as a cat’s owner did.
1. How does the author’s mood change according to paragraph 1?| A．From anxiousness to relief. |
| B．From happiness to terror. |
| C．From helplessness to craziness. |
| D．From eagerness to nervousness. |
| A．They may be lacking in object permanence. |
| B．They possess a more brilliant mind than dogs. |
| C．They can keep track of something that is out of sight. |
| D．They have more complex behavioral mechanisms than dogs. |
| A．Electronic sounds. | B．A stranger’s voice, |
| C．Other cats’ sounds. | D．Their owners’ voice. |
| A．Cats make sense of their surroundings by sight. |
| B．Cats have different communication skills. |
| C．Cats locate their owners through hearing. |
| D．Cats develop a unique relationship with humans. |
7 . Suy credits his interest in photography to a French journalist he met in 2000. Since 2012. he has used his love of photography for a good cause: protecting wildlife. As more and more animal species began to disappeer from Kandal Province, he grew worried. So he created a photo project which he hoped would bring more attention to the loss of natural habitats in Cambodia.
He hopes to educate Cambodians about the importance of bird species and the effect they have on nature. He said, “The biggest issue is the damage to habitats and poaching".Besides that, it is due to the demand from the rich who desire wild meat and who consider wild meat chemical-free.
His photography work has shown “how lack of education and law enforcemen” makes the problem worse. Hunting is at the root of Cambodian culture.“Education is very limited,” he said. “And in terms of legal enforcement, only one organization is standing out, and that is the Wildlife Alliance.” He noted that the group had carried out a number of successful crackdowns against hunting. But there were few major campaigns on wildlife hunting.as a whole.
Protected areas within forests have disappeared at the same rate as forests in other parts of the country Poaching and hunting have led to the loss of animal and plant species in Cambodia.
To Chantha Nasak, a wildlife expert, the damage to wildlife habitats is the main reason for the decrease in the number of wild animals.He says the destruction of forests and the use of land for agricultural and other purposes are the biggest threats, as well as the climate change.
However. there are already agreements between some NGOs and the Cambodian government to help wild species. Also. Chantha Nasak says some communities are working together to protect wildlife around the country.
“All Cambodian citizens should join hands in the protection of wildlife, not just the NGOs and the government,” he said. “It should be everyone.”
1. What problem did Suy meet in his photography work?| A．Cambodians have a poor knowledge of protecting wildlife |
| B．Cambodians are lacking their culture of hunting |
| C．Cambodians like major campaigns on hunting wildlife |
| D．Cambodians have limited education about hunting. |
| A．It contains high nutrition. | B．It is free of chemieals. |
| C．It tastes delicious and fresh. | D．It is a symbol of social positions. |
| A．the climate change | B．the wild meat trade |
| C．the damage to wildlife habitats | D．the still-not-prohibited hunting |
| A．A Cambodian is teaching the hunting culture. |
| B．A photographer has a good knowledge of wildlife. |
| C．A photographer is struggling with poachers |
| D．A Cambodian photographer urges to protect wildlife |
8 . Most people think of racing when they see greyhounds (灰狗) and believe they need lots of exercise. They can actually be quite lazy! Greyhounds are good at fast races but not long-distance running. They do need regular exercise but they like to run for a short burst and then get back on the bed or a comfortable seat. Another misunderstanding is that greyhounds must be aggressive (好斗的) because they are big in size. In fact, greyhounds love people and are gentle with children.
Greyhounds can live for 12-14 years but usually only race for two or three years, and after that they make great pets. They don’t need a lot of space, don’t make a lot of noise, and don’t eat a lot for their size.
Normally, greyhounds can be as tall as 90 cm. There is, however, a small-sized greyhound, which stands only 33 cm. Greyhounds come in a variety of colors. Grey and yellowish-brown are the most common. Others include black, white, blue, red and brown or a mix of these.
Greyhounds have smooth body coats, low body fat and are very healthy. Because they’re slim (苗条的) they don’t have the leg problems like other dogs the same height. But they do feel the cold. Especially they would much rather be at home in bed than walking around outside.
1. The text is written mainly________.| A．to tell people how to raise greyhounds |
| B．to let people know more about greyhounds |
| C．to explain why greyhounds are aggressive |
| D．to describe greyhounds of different colors |
| A．love big doghouses |
| B．like staying in bed all day |
| C．make the best guard dogs |
| D．need some exercise outdoors |
| A．They are big in size. |
| B．They live a very long life. |
| C．They can run races for some time. |
| D．They are quiet and easy to look after. |
9 . A homeowner in Massachusetts had a surprise visitor that came down the chimney (烟囱)... and it wasn’t Santa. A barred owl (横斑林鸮) was sitting in the fireplace in a home in the city of Bolton, staring at the homeowner. Not sure how to deal with the bird, the homeowner called Mass Wildlife.
“This individual was very calm and we simply reached in, gently grabbed it, and placed it in the animal carrier,” Mass Wildlife Central District Manager Todd Olanyk says. Before releasing the owl, Olanyk examined the bird for injuries and found none. “It was released just outside the house where it was found,” he says.
Wildlife experts say barred owls may find chimneys enticing during this time of year because they begin laying eggs from February through May. Since they don’t build their own nests, they look for holes. Mass Wildlife has also received similar reports of this happening with other birds. To help prevent wild animals like birds and bats from entering your home, Mass Wildlife suggests placing a metal cap with a screen on your chimney. Chimneys aren’t the only places that pose a danger to birds and other wildlife.
According to a 2014 study, 27% of the more than 100 uncapped bollards (路桩) had dead birds inside them. Bollards are used for traffic control or building security. They’re usually capped but in this case, many of these posts were left open. They also looked at 88 open pipes used as gate posts and 11% contained dead birds. In another study on a nearby highway, 14% of the open pipes had dead birds. “The birds likely investigate the open pipe as a potential nesting site, and once inside they cannot climb the smooth metal or extend their wings to fly out. Alternatively, birds may attempt to land on the upright open pipes and then fall in,” the researchers wrote.
1. What did Olanyk find about the owl?| A．It looked anxious. | B．It was looking for a baby. |
| C．It was in good shape. | D．It missed its owner. |
| A．Narrow. | B．Attractive. | C．Choking. | D．Confusing. |
| A．Making large carriers. | B．Cleaning chimneys regularly. |
| C．Fixing cameras on bollards. | D．Placing caps on open pipes. |
| A．To tell a story. | B．To introduce a bird. |
| C．To analyze a phenomenon. | D．To advertise an organization. |
10 . If it weren’t for passionate people, this would be a dull world indeed.
Peter Cavanagh, of Lopez Island, certainly qualifies in the passionate category, having taken 600, 000 pictures of birds all over the world in the past 13 years. Cavanagh, 73, is a retired professor in the University of Washington. He minored in math and is an instrument-rated pilot. His pictures mostly capture birds in flight, not on a perch (栖息).
“I have a sense of wonder at flight because it is the most highly complex form of movement in the entire animal kingdom,” says Cavanagh. “Humans have spent more than six centuries trying to imitate bird flight but still have not produced flying machines with all of the complexity, flexibility and performance that is commonplace for birds.” For birds, the math of it all just happens. A small bird such as the American kestrel, the smallest falcon (猎鹰) in our region at about 4 ounces, sits and waits for prey.
Meanwhile, to achieve fight, a 90-ton commercial jet is filled with electronics and computer systems. “Birds have flying abilities we have not come close to matching in airplanes,” says Cavanagh. The Royal Aeronautical Society in London, in a January 2021 posting, told how researchers at the University of Denmark did computer design of a Boeing 777 wing based on a bird’s wings. It was 5% lighter, which matters in fuel costs. In 2019, Airbus produced a “Bird of Prey” design that mimicked the eagle’s wing and tail structure for flight control.
Cavanagh enjoys every minute of waiting, and waiting, and waiting, starting at sunrise to capture those images. “I am happiest in truly wild places where the human is a tolerated guest and they are the world of wild animals.”
1. What is Peter Cavanagh’s passion?| A．Math education. |
| B．Bird photography. |
| C．Airplane engineering. |
| D．Wilderness exploration. |
| A．To compare the sizes and weights of the birds. |
| B．To show the importance of math in biomechanics. |
| C．To prove the unmatched flying abilities of birds. |
| D．To stress the diversity of native American species. |
| A．Imitated. |
| B．Abandoned. |
| C．Outperformed. |
| D．Discovered. |
| A．Skeptical. |
| B．Respectful. |
| C．Objective. |
| D．Indifferent. |
