1 . Japanese researchers placed electronic devices(装置)on seals(海豹)in Antarctic waters to collect surprising information about the environment there. Japan’s National Institute of Polar Research started the research project in 2017. The team recently reported its results in a study in the publication Limnology and Oceanography.
Eight Weddell seals were fitted with the devices,which have antennas(天线)to send electronic signals.The 580-gram monitoring devices were attached(缚上;系上)to the animals’heads. They were designed to measure data such as water temperatures and sea salt levels.
Investigative teams on ships have difficulty reaching important research areas in Antarctica. These include areas along continental shelf formations where ice is attached to the shore, the National Institute of Polar Research said in a statement. Nobuo Kokubun led the project. Since the seals are active year-round, Kokubun added, “I thought we should have them collect the data.”
He told Reuters that the research also helps scientists follow the seals’ behaviors and learn about their relationship to the environment. “During the summer, we can go to Antarctica on icebreakers to conduct actual research activities, so that we can collect data there.” Kokubun said. ”But during the winter. such things cannot be done in so many places.“
Information gathered from the seals showed that one of the animals traveled as far as 633kilometers from Japan’s Showa Station in Antarctica. Another dove to a depth of 700 meters.Kokubun said the scientists learned from the data that warm seawater from the upper levels of the open sea reached Antarctica from March through the winter of 2017. The water flowed below the ice, bringing in sea creatures like Antarctic krill, an important food for seals.
Kokubun and his team plan to keep finding new ways to further examine the effects of climate change on Antarctic coastal areas. Next, he hopes to make the device small enough to fit on other animals at the South Pole, such as penguins,“The advantage with penguins is that they come back to the same place and we can collect data from them immediately,”Kokubun said.
1. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?| A．The reasons why seals are a good pick. |
| B．The difficulties the researchers met with. |
| C．The disadvantages of the research. |
| D．The formation of Antarctic waters. |
| A．It challenges some traditional views. |
| B．It is an eye-opener for the researchers. |
| C．It is in urgent need of improvement. |
| D．It simply focuses on the seals’ behavior. |
| A．They will further study the penguins. |
| B．They will make use of the same device. |
| C．They intend to expand the research further. |
| D．They plan to help the endangered penguins. |
| A．Increasing Temperature of Antarctic Waters |
| B．Seals Help Researchers Study Antarctic Environment |
| C．Seals Are in Danger of Dying out Due to Global Warming |
| D．Climate Change and Its Far-reaching Consequences |
2 . TEDEd Hi Katherine!
This December, the TED-Ed team will host a series of 4 calls for students to learn about climate change, as part of our larger TED Countdown Initiative (方案)
Details about call series:
Each week during the month of December, we’ll meet at the same time on Zoom (an online meeting APP). Students should join in the calls on their own. We’d like students to be able to attend at least 3 of the 4 calls.
Register your students’ interest:
As we plan the time when we will meet with students, we’d love to see how many students are interested in this opportunity. Please share this interest with your students so they can register their interest. In this form we’ll ask them for their parent’s email address for permission.
Share this interest form with your students:
https∶//airtable. com/shr4U7DICbrdHuaGM
More about TED Countdown:
On January 25, we’re hosting the Countdown Summit in Scotland— the firstTED conference focusing on climate solutions. In April, TED hosted an online meeting and announced our plan to help the planet. And as always，education plays an important role in this mission (使命). That’s why we have chosen talks for students to do together virtually for a deeper understanding of this global issue and solutions.
We hope your students join us!
Please note that this event is only for studenst aged 3-19, in high school and below!
1. How many call should students attend at least in December?| A．3 | B．4. | C．7 | D．12 |
| A．Work out plans for the team. | B．Attend online calls with their parents. |
| C．Register their inerest in an onlin form. | D．Send an email to parents to ask for permisson. |
| A．Education mission. | B．Virtual reality. |
| C．Global climate solutions. | D．Events organizing. |
3 . Darrell Blatchley, a marine biologist and environmentalist based in the Philippine city of Davao, received a call from the Philippines, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (渔业与水产资源局) early Friday morning reporting a death of a young whale.
When the necropsy (尸检) was performed, Blatchley told NPR, he was not prepared for the amount of plastic they found in the whale’s stomach. “It was full of plastic nothing but nonstop plastic.” he said “It was filled to the point that its stomach was as hard as a baseball.” That means that this animal has been suffering not for days or weeks but for months or even a year or more,” Blatchley added.
Blatchley is the founder and owner of the D’Bone Collector Museum, a natural history museum in Davao. In the coming days, the museum will display all the items found in the whale’s system. Blatchley and his team work with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and other organizations to assist in rescue and recovery of marine animals.
“Within the last 10 years, we have recovered 61 whales and dolphins just within the Davao Gulf,” he said. “Of them, 57 have died due to man whether they took plastic or fishing nets or other waste, or gotten caught in pollution — and four were pregnant.”
Blatchley said he hoped that the latest incident would launch the issue of plastic pollution in the Philippines and across the globe. “If we keep going this way, it will be more uncommon to see an animal die of natural causes than it is to see an animal die of plastic,” he said.
1. What can be inferred from the second paragraph?| A．The whale was starved to death. |
| B．Blatchley was shocked at what he found. |
| C．The dead whale must have swallowed a baseball. |
| D．Blatchley didn’t make preparations for the necropsy. |
| A．Waste collected from the ocean. |
| B．The whole system of the whale. |
| C．Things found in the whale’s body. |
| D．Many different tools of whaling. |
| A．Uncommon. | B．Worrying. | C．Inspiring. | D．Mild. |
| A．A Whale Found Dead of Plastic |
| B．Stand Up for Protecting Whales |
| C．Plastic Threatening Our Existence |
| D．Natural Death or Merciless Murder |
4 . Are you facing a situation that looks impossible to fix?
In 1969,the pollution was terrible along the Cuyahoga River Cleveland, Ohio. It
But the river wasn’t changed in a few days
Maybe you are facing an impossible situation. Maybe you have a habit
While there are
