1 . The diversity of Australian animals in NSW national parks is extraordinary. Some common species can be found across a range of parks, while others are endemic (特有的) to a specific area. Our national parks are also important shelters for threatened animals, many found nowhere else in the world. The following are some examples.
Albert’s lyrebird
The Albert’s lyrebird is much rarer than the superb lyrebird. Distinguished by its richer brown feather and less delicate tail feathers, it’s protected as a threatened species in NSW.
Cumberland Plain land snail
The endangered Cumberland Plain land snail is only found on the Cumberland Plain, west of Sydney. During drought it digs deep into the soil to escape severe conditions. Its brown shell is thin and fragile (脆弱的).
Australian fur seal The largest fur seal, Australian fur seals are found in isolated rocky outcrops and islands along the NSW coast. They come ashore to form breeding colonies (繁殖地) and can often be seen at Barunguba Montague Island Nature Reserve.
Australian brush turkey
The Australian brush turkey, also known as bush or scrub turkey, can be found in rainforests along eastern NSW. With a striking red head, blue-black feather and booming call, these distinctive Australian birds are easy to spot while bird watching in several NSW national parks.
1. What do Albert’s lyrebird and Cumberland Plain land snail have in common?A.They live in the soil. | B.They hate dry conditions. |
C.They have long feathers. | D.They are species in danger. |
A.They breed on the sea shore. | B.They are red from head to tail. |
C.They adapt to rainforest climate. | D.They are only seen on isolated islands. |
A.In a science report. | B.In a personal diary. |
C.In a tourist brochure. | D.In an educational magazine. |
2 . To study the behavior of wild animals, scientists routinely tag them with solar-powered GPS location trackers. But such devices’ battery capacity limits how long they operate, often bringing a nearly end to vital conservation work. Solar-powered trackers break easily, making them a poor choice for devices fastened to larger mammals and they don’t work for night creatures.
So biologist Rasmus Worsoe Havmoller of the University of Copenhagen and his colleagues turned to another abundant power source: kinetic energy generated by an animal’s movements. It is also lighter and cheaper to make than its battery-powered counterparts (对应的事物). “The design is creative and exciting,” says Mark Hebblewhite, a habitat ecologist at the University of Montana. The proof-of-concept kinetic tracker works by means of a magnetic pendulum (摆钟) that swings around a copper coil, generating electricity as it moves.
Their kinetic tracker, which Havmoller’s team recently tested on domestic dogs, a wild pony and a European bison, could theoretically survive for the entire lifespan of an active animal. The dogs and the bison in the study were active enough to create the energy to transmit one location signal per day for 14 days and 17 days, respectively. However, one of the less active wild pony’s trackers lasted at least 146 days but didn’t produce enough power for daily transmissions, the researchers reported in PLOS ONE. The limited power generated by the animals’ movements means the technology isn’t ready for primetime just yet, says ecologist Emily Studd of British Columbia’s Thompson Rivers University, who wasn’t involved in the study.
When researchers want to keep close tabs on animals, they often need GPS fixes more than once a day. But Studd says that “with a bit more development, this could be a game changer for wildlife animal research and monitoring.”
Rasmus and his colleagues hope conservation workers can one day use this technology to track species such as tigers, leopards and wolves, which can easily destroy solar-powered trackers and which hunt and travel at night.
1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?A.The capacity of solar-powered GPS location trackers. |
B.The limitations of solar-powered GPS location trackers. |
C.The importance of conservation efforts for wild animals. |
D.The challenges faced by scientists in tagging wild animals. |
A.The sun. | B.The battery. | C.The animal. | D.The pendulum. |
A.The dogs had a low level of activity. |
B.The kinetic tracker often functions improperly. |
C.The research needs more scientists to get involved. |
D.High levels of activity may lead to consistent transmissions. |
A.Trackers and Animals Can Coexist |
B.New Wildlife Trackers Run on Animal Power |
C.Kinetic Trackers Outperform Solar-powered Trackers |
D.Technology Progress Contributes to Wildlife Conservation |
3 . New research paints a lifestyle picture of the beloved pandas in China’s Wolong Nature Reserve, and the new study indicates pandas are around others more than previously thought. They use scent (气味) marking to keep track of both family members and friends, leave updates about life events, and check out the dating scene.
Thomas Connor, lead author of the study, spent months watching for signs of pandas. “Once you’ve gotten an eye for it, you can see on hill tops and different trails the scent-marking trees, and the pandas seem to be doing this a lot,” Connor says. “It is pretty evident that they are exchanging information through scent marking behavior.”
To link the marked trees with an understanding of panda’s social structure, the researchers needed to document nearby panda communities. Connor teamed up with coauthor Ken Frank who said, “I told him that once he has data on which pandas are close to each other, we can use the techniques and theories that apply to humans to understand their social networks. And these scent trees are a social media. Like Facebook, you don’t have to be in the same place at the same time. It allows one to broadcast to many, and it’s a record.
Connor dug into a wealth of data he had collected in the form of fresh panda waste, which is the gold standard of panda watching. Information from the waste allowed them to identify specific pandas in the area around the scent-marking trees, and showed if these pandas were related to each other.
The discoveries in this study show that pandas are a part of coupled human and natural systems where humans share their habitat. Anything about how they live and what they need can ultimately help inform good conservation policies and maybe understand our own behavior a little more.
1. Who tend to go around the pandas’ scent-marking trees?A.Their family. | B.Some strange pandas. |
C.Their keepers. | D.Meat-sourced animals. |
A.Because they need to extend their domain. |
B.Because they use them to exchange information. |
C.Because they want to expose themselves to others. |
D.Because they tend to keep away from humans. |
A.The purpose of the study. | B.The research strategy of the study. |
C.The further finding of the study. | D.The influence of the discoveries. |
A.To introduce a new research on pandas. |
B.To explain the pandas’ scent marking behavior. |
C.To emphasize the significance of knowing pandas. |
D.To call for action to protect pandas. |
4 . The Mysterious World of Deep-Sea Creatures
The deep sea remains one of the least explored and understood environments on our planet. Lying below the sunlit upper layers of the ocean, the deep sea is a region of permanent darkness, freezing temperatures, and massive pressure. Yet, life thrives (茁壮成长) here in some of the most astonishing ways.
* The Black Dragonfish *
Residing at dephs of up to 2,000 meters, the black dragonfish is a predator with a thin and long body and sharp teeth. What makes it unique is its ability to produce its own light, a phenomenon known as bioluminescence. This helps it attract prey (猎物) and communicate with potential mates.
* The Giant Squid *
Long a stuff of legends and tales, the giant squid, which occasionally attacks whales, can reach lengths of up to 43 feet. Its massive eyes, the size of dinner plates, allow it to detect weak light in the deep dark waters. Encounters with this enormous creature are rare, and much of its life remains unknown.
* Tube Worms at Hydrothermal Vents *
In the depths of the ocean, hydrothermal vents (热液喷口) shoot superheated water packed with minerals. Around these vents, communities of tube worms thrive, reaching lengths of up to 2 meters. They possess no mouth or digestive system; instead, bacteria inside them process the minerals from the vents to produce energy.
Modern technology has enabled humans to explore deeper into the ocean than ever before. Using remotely operated vehicles and deep-sea submersibles (潜水器), scientists can now study these creatures in their natural habitats, uncovering secrets that could hold the key to understanding life’s adaptability.
1. What ability is unique to the black dragonfish?A.Generating light for itself. | B.Attracting and capturing prey. |
C.Discovering light in the deep water. | D.Communicating with other creatures. |
A.The black dragonfish | B.The tube worm. | C.The giant squid. | D.The whale. |
A.An academic article. | B.An experimental report. |
C.A travel guide. | D.A natural science magazine. |
5 . Climate change, not human hunting, may have destroyed the thylacine(袋狼) , according to a new study based on DNA from thylacine bones.
The meat-eating marsupials (有袋动物) died out on mainland Australia a few thousand years ago, but survived in Tasmania, an island of southeast Australia separated from the mainland, until the 1930s. Until now, scientists have believed the cause of this mainland extinction was increased activity from native Australians and dingoes (Australian wild dogs).
Scientists behind the University of Adelaide study, which was published in the Journal of Biogeography on Thursday, collected 51 new thylacine DNA samples from fossil bones and museum skins. The paper concluded that climate change starting about 4,000 years ago was likely the main cause of the mainland extinction.
The ancient DNA showed that the mainland extinction of thylacines was rapid, and not the result of loss of genetic diversity. There was also evidence of a population crash in thylacines in Tasmania at the same period of time, reducing their numbers and genetic diversity.
Professor Jeremy Austin said Tasmania would have been protected from mainland Australia’s warmer, drier climate due to its higher rainfall. He argued that climate change was “the only thing that could have caused, or at least started, an extinction on the mainland and caused a population crash in Tasmania.”
“They both occurred at about the same time, and the other two things that have been talked about in the past that may have driven thylacines to extinction on the mainland were dingoes and humans. So the only explanation that’s left is climate change. And because that population collapse happened at the same time that the species went extinct on the mainland, our argument is there’s a common theme there and the only common theme is that there is this change in climate.”
1. What did scientists believe in the past according to the passage?A.Marsupials were all meat-eating animals. |
B.Dingoes should be removed from Australia. |
C.Thylacines had no enemies on mainland Australia. |
D.Human activities may cause the extinction of thylacines. |
A.Tasmania has more dingoes. |
B.Tasmania has more native activities. |
C.Tasmania has a higher temperature. |
D.Tasmania has more rainy days. |
A.change | B.aging | C.decline | D.increase |
A.The result of warmer climate in Australia |
B.The ways of protecting meat-eating animals |
C.The cause of disappearance of thylacines |
D.The effect of climate change on wildlife |
6 . African penguins live on the rocky coasts of South Africa, Namibia and nearby islands. Like other types of penguins, the birds have white feathers covering their chests and black feathers covering their backs. They form lifelong pair bonds with mates, but they nest in huge colonies — so, scientists wondered how the birds were able to identify their partners among the sea of black-and-white birds. They wondered if their chest spots had something to do with it. To test this theory, they studied 12 African penguins at a zoo and marine park near Rome called Zoomarine Italia.
In one test, they hung two life-size photographs of the African penguins. One showed a random member of the colony, while the other showed the test subject’s mate. The scientists recorded the birds’ interactions with the photos: How long did they spend looking at each one, as well as how much time did they spend standing near each photograph? The penguins spent more time gazing at the photo of their partners — about 23 seconds longer, on average — than looking at the other photo. They also stood next to the image of their beau s for twice as long. Then, the researchers covered up the heads of the birds in the photographs, leaving only their speckled bodies visible, and the penguins still lingered near their partners’ portraits.
In another experiment, the researchers hung up two photos of a bird’s mate — but, in one, they had digitally removed its spots. In this case, the penguin again spent more time looking at the photo with the dots.
Finally, the researchers posted two photographs of penguins with digitally removed spots — one of the test subject’s mate and the other of a random penguin from the colony. In this scenario, the penguins did not appear to recognize their partners. They spent roughly the same amount of time gazing at or standing near both photos.
Together, the results of these experiments suggest African penguins are zeroing in on their partners’ spots and using them like name tags, scientists say.
“Our results provide the first evidence of a specific visual cue responsible for spontaneous individual recognition by a bird and highlight the importance of considering all sensory modalities in the study of animal communication,” the researchers write in the paper.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 1?A.African penguins live on the rocky coasts of North Africa. |
B.Scientists are curious about the African penguins. |
C.African penguins have white feathers covering their backs. |
D.Scientists studied 12 African penguins only at a zoo near Rome. |
A.Their partners’ voice. | B.Their partners’ heads. |
C.Their partners’ back feathers. | D.Their partners’ speckled bodies. |
A.Losing sight of. | B.Taking delight in. |
C.Paying attention to. | D.Speaking highly of. |
A.In a science report. | B.In a travel brochure. |
C.In a biology textbook. | D.In a fashion magazine. |
7 . Hiking is tricky when you’re carrying a threatened species. Ally Whitbread carefully walked through the wilds while carrying a cooler full of small, rare snails —the Chittenango ovate amber snails.
“I feel like I’ve got 500 babies to take care of—just like a very crazy mother hen,” she said. Whitbread is part of a team transporting a lab-grown population to a new, remote home. The snails are facing extinction —only dozens are estimated to remain at one waterfall in upstate New York. “Such a recovery process can take years to decades. There are several things remaining to be unlocked during the process —what the action is going to bring, what role that species might play, and whether they might live well. We are just racing to better understand our planet’s biodiversity before the species die out.”
It took the scientists years to raise this population in the lab. The hike to a hidden waterfall is a chance to examine what makes them grow well in the wild, or what doesn’t. The snails don’t have any known unique features critical to humans, and it’s been a long journey just to attempt to save them. These efforts could figure out their hidden benefits.
Specialist Cody Gilbertson said the drive to save them can go deeper, not just the love for science. The creatures are no bigger than a fingertip and look up at their caregivers. “You know their big eyes are staring at you, like —there’s no way that you’re not going to kind of fall in love,” Gilbertson said.
Dropping them off at their new waterfall home wasn’t even the end —it’ll be another 5 years before the team knows whether the snails can survive there. They’ll go for a hike twice a month to track their progress.
1. How does Whitbread feel about the snails’ future?A.Hopeful. | B.Uncertain. | C.Excited. | D.Disappointed. |
A.To figure out their hidden benefits. |
B.To observe their reproducing process. |
C.To preserve the planet’s biodiversity. |
D.To identify factors in their survival. |
A.Open. | B.Develop. | C.Improve. | D.Uncover. |
A.Their lovable appearance. | B.Their endangered state. |
C.Their potential role. | D.Their growing conditions. |
8 . Hiking is tricky when you’re carrying a threatened species. Ally Whitbread carefully walked through the wilds while carrying a cooler full of small, rare snails (蜗牛)— the Chittenango ovate amber snails.
“I feel like I’ve got 500 babies to take care of — just like a very crazy mother hen,” she said. Whitbread is part of a team transporting a lab-grown population to a new, remote home. The snails are facing extinction — only dozens are estimated to remain at one waterfall in upstate New York. “Such a recovery process can take years to decades. There are several things remaining to be unlocked during the process — what the action is going to bring, what role that species might play, and whether they might live well. We are just racing to better understand our planet's biodiversity before the species die out.”
It took the scientists years to raise this population in the lab. The hike to a hidden waterfall is a chance to examine what makes them grow well in the wild, or what doesn’t. The snails don’t have any known unique features critical to humans, and it’s been a long journey just to attempt to save them. These efforts could figure out their hidden benefits.
Specialist Cody Gilbertson said the drive to save them can go deeper, not just the love for science. The creatures are no bigger than a fingertip and look up at their caregivers. “You know their big eyes are staring at you, like — there’s no way that you're not going to kind of fall in love,” Gilbertson said.
Dropping them off at their new waterfall home wasn’t even the end — it’ll be another 5 years before the team knows whether the snails can survive there. They’ll go for a hike twice a month to track their progress.
1. How does Whitbread feel about the snails’ future?A.Hopeful. | B.Disappointed. | C.Excited. | D.Uncertain. |
A.To unlock their hidden benefits. | B.To identify factors in their survival. |
C.To preserve the planet's biodiversity. | D.To observe their reproducing process. |
A.Their potential role. | B.Their endangered state. |
C.Their lovable appearance. | D.Their growing conditions. |
A.Lengthy Rescue to Resettle a Tiny Snail | B.Innovative Try at Studying Threatened Species |
C.Special Experience of Hiking with Snails | D.Major Breakthrough in Protecting Rare Species |
9 . A new study reports that a mosquito’s sense of smell is more complicated than we once thought. And it may explain why this annoying insect is so good at seeking you out at a barbecue or in your bedroom and biting you — as well as lead to new strategies to prevent the potentially deadly diseases transmitted by its bite.
Meg Younger, a neuroscientist at Boston University, is co-author of the study. She exhales (呼气) gently into one of the mosquito-filled cages. A waft (股) of carbon dioxide blows across the insects, and they go wild. “And now, they’re looking for a target like the complex mixture of human body smell — a smell that’s attractive to the mosquitoes,” Younger explains.
In many parts of the world, this attraction isn’t merely an annoyance for humans. It’s a major health problem. Mosquitoes transmit diseases to humans. These diseases include dengue, Zika, chikungunya fever and malaria. The last disease alone causes over half a million deaths each year.
So scientists have attempted to break this attraction. But try as they might, the little mosquito has resisted. “They’re really good at what they do,” Younger says. Most of what we know about the neuroscience of smell comes from mice and fruit flies, where the wiring is fairly simple. Each neuron (神经元) in the nose has one kind of receptor (感受器) that detects a single kind of smell — say, a banana. And all the neurons with receptors for the banana smell connect to the same part of the brain. Younger and the others studied mosquito brains, where she found that each neuron has multiple receptors that can detect multiple smells.
This work could give researchers additional ways to battle the insects like developing traps that contain new smell mixtures that are more appealing than people.
“It’s an enormous study,” says Josefina del Marmol, a neurobiologist at the Harvard Medical School. She says there’s more work to be done to check, neuron by neuron, that each one actually responds to all the smells it has receptors for. But regarding the central finding, she says, “It really does change a lot about what we know of how insects perceive the world.”
1. Why does Younger exhale into a mosquito-filled cage?A.To see if breath contributes to disease transmission. |
B.To confuse the experimented mosquitoes. |
C.To experiment on mosquitoes’ sense of smell. |
D.To keep targeted mosquitoes alive. |
A.They have a clearer smell mechanism. |
B.They have more neurons to detect smells. |
C.They have bigger brain parts focusing on smell. |
D.They have more smell receptors in each neuron. |
A.It inspires new methods to prevent mosquito bites. |
B.It may have found an ideal way to study insects. |
C.It proves the previous assumption about mosquitoes. |
D.It sheds light on how mosquitoes transmit diseases. |
A.It has many weaknesses. | B.It is a big step forward. |
C.It is far from impressive. | D.It has a worldwide influence. |
10 . An ancient Latin proverb says “Aquila non capit muscas” —cagles don’t hunt flies—meaning that important ones shouldn’t concern themselves with small, insignificant matters.But the lions in East Africa should concern themselves with the seemingly insignificant ants, because these ants are changing their lifestyles.
The story starts with the acacia trees(金合欢树)in an African wildlife area in central KenyaSome of these acacia trees provide food and shelter for specific ant species, which in turn defend the tree against herbivores(食草动物).The ants are actively attacking and driving away herbivores that attempt to feed on the tree’s leavesThis is highly effective; the ants not only physically harm the herbivores but also release chemicals that can deter other potential attackers.
But these ants are in trouble.Another species called the “big-headed” ant is destroying entire groups of tree-protecting ants.This, in turn, sets off an entire chain of events that ends up influencing when and how lions can hunt.
This ant invasion(入侵)affects one thing after the other.It leaves the acacia trees defenseless against herbivores especially elephants.The elephants come in and eat the acacias at five to seven times the rate observed in uninvaded areas.The lions, while hunting for food, have no more trees to use for hiding.This reduced tree cover makes lions less successful at hunting and pushes them to find different areas to hunt in.
“These tiny invaders are pulling on the ties that put an African ecosystem together, determining who is eaten andwhere,” said Todd Palmer, an ecologist from Florida.
The lions, which are already endangered, are managing to cope with this by no longer focusing their attention on zebras.The zebras, of course, can see them much better on the approach given the lack of cover.Instead, they are targeting water buffalo.But this also isn’t the end of the story.Who knows what the lions’ changing strategy will mean for the ecosystem down the line?
1. What does the underlined word “deter” in paragraph 2mean?A.Direct. | B.Discourage. | C.Identify. | D.Seek. |
A.Cooperating with “big-headed” ants. | B.Damaging the hiding place for lions. |
C.Protecting the acacias from herbivores. | D.Starting off the disturbance of the chain. |
A.animals fall victim to bigger ones | B.the ecology is on the road to recovery |
C.animals are corelated in the ecosystem | D.species are firmly positioned in the food chain |
A.What ecologists find about animals. | B.Why African lions are endangered. |
C.How tiny ants affect the way lions hunt. | D.How the law of the jungle works in Africa. |