A new study says that birds living in big cities sing shorter, faster songs that

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A new study says that birds living in big cities sing shorter, faster songs that are higher-pitched (高音调的) than those sung by their brothers in the forests. The researchers think that the birds adjust their songs to allow themselves to be heard over the noises of the city, especially the low traffic noise.
To study how urban birds song, Hans Slabbekoorn and Ardie den Bore, biologists at the University of Leiden in Netherlands, travelled around Europe and recorded bird songs in ten major cities and in nearby forests. The species they focused on, the great tit (大山雀), is widespread across Eurasia and one of the few types of birds that thrives in big cities.
Singing is crucial (重要的) for males, which use their songs to attract mates and mark out their territory. The changing songs could play a role in eventually causing the city birds and the forest dwellers to evolve into separate species.
The findings could also help explain why usually only a few bird species thrive in cities. By contrast, many more bird species tend to be found in forests and other undeveloped habitats.
Studies like this could eventually help researchers predict how urbanization (都市化) will affect birds, using thi

s knowledge could help urban planners design more pleasant city environments, study co-author Slabbe-koorn said. “You can make a city much more livable if you pay attention to where the noise goes and where the people go,” he said. “It wo

uld be easy to fit the birds into those models.” Then cities wouldn’t be strictly for the people, but also for the birds.
小题1: Which is the best title of the passage?

A．Birds Change Songs to Suit Country Life

B．Birds Change Sex to Suit Urban Life

C．Birds Change Living Habits to

Suit Urban Life

D．Birds Change Songs to Suit Urban Life

小题2: Males usually sing their songs to ____.

A．evolve into another species

B．attract mates and mark out their living area

C．attract city people’s attention and make them supply food

D．allow themselves to be heard over the noises of the city

小题3: The underlined word “thrives” in the

second paragraph

means “____”.

A．dies

B．survives

C．suffers

D．travels

小题4:What is NOT the effect that studies of birds’ songs have?
A. Predicting how course of the city’s expanding will affect birds.
B

. Helping the city planners design more pleasant city environments.
C. Making cities more livable for both the birds and people.
D. Driving the urban birds back to the forest.

答案

小题1:D
小题1:B
小题1:B
小题1:D

解析

略

举一反三

Early in the 18th century, Captain Cook, a famous explorer of Australia, unexpectedly caught sight of an unusual animal during his first visit to Australia. The animal had a large mouse like head and jumped along on its large legs. To his great surprise, the unusual animal carried its young in a special pocket of flesh. Captain Cook pointed to the animal which was eating grass in the distance and asked his native guide what the animal was referred to. The guide seemed not to know that he was pointing at and finally said “Kang-a-roo”, but their requests were met with puzzled looks of the native people. Before long they got to discover that the native guide who made the answer to Cook’s question really meant, “I don’t know what you pointing at. “ Funny enough, the name “ Kang-a-roo”, stuck and it is still in use today.
小题1:Which of the following sentences best expresses the main idea?

A．captain Cook’s guide made a joke.

B．Native Australians could not speak English in Cook’s time.

C．Some words have rather funny origins (起源).

D．Captain Cook was a lover of wild animals.

小题2:When the native guide said “Kang-a-roo ”, he really meant “ ______”

A．Ah, it is a special kind of animal

B．I wonder what you have said

C．What do you mean by pointing at that animal?

D．I have no idea of what you are referring to.

小题3:We can infer from this passage ______.

A．we should learn many different languages

B．Captain Cook made a mistake in understanding

C．Captain Cook was a foolish explorer

D．the importance of a language in common

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My best friend is Cocoa, and I live in a senior-citizen apartment. Cocoa is a ten-year-old dog and I am a sixty-nine-year-old lady, so you can see we both qualify as   1  citizens.
He is a   2  companion. He does many amusing things that make me   3 , and when that happens, he is so delighted   4  he just keeps it up.
But one afternoon, Cocoa started acting strangely. I was sitting on the floor playing with him,   5  he started pawing and smelling at the right side of my   6 . He had never done anything like this ever before, and I told him, “No.” To Cocoa, one “no” is usually   7 , but not that day. He stopped briefly, and then   8  ran toward me, throwing his entire weight at the right side of my chest. He crashed into me and I cried in   9 , falling down to the floor. Soon after this, I felt a lump (肿块). I went to my doctors, and after X-rays 10  and lab work were done, they told me I had cancer.
When cancer starts, a 11  of calcium (钙) builds. Then the lump or cancer attaches itself to this wall. When Cocoa jumped on me, the force of the impact broke the lump away from the wall. This made it possible for me to 12  the lump.
I had a complete mastectomy (乳房切除术) and the cancer has not   13  to any other part of my body. The doctors told me if the cancer had gone undetected even six more months, it would have been too   14 .
Was Cocoa 15  of just what he was doing? I’ll never really know. What I do know is that Cocoa not only shares his life with me, he has also made sure that I will be around to share my life with him!

小题1:

A．good

B．standard

C．senior

D．great

小题2:

A．wonderful

B．tiring

C．hungry

D．bad

小题3:

A．leave

B．cry

C．laugh

D．jump

小题4:

A．as

B．when

C．and

D．that

小题5:

A．when

B．then

C．though

D．as

小题6:

A．chest

B．body

C．shoulder

D．arm

小题7:

A．right

B．good

C．enough

D．unexpected

小题8:

A．hurriedly

B．rudely

C．slowly

D．suddenly

小题9:

A．pain

B．surprise

C．trouble

D．danger

小题10:

A．experiments

B．researches

C．tests

D．papers

小题11:

A．wall

B．cancer

C．body

D．number

小题12:

A．watch

B．have

C．get

D．notice

小题13:

A．ran

B．kept

C．entered

D．spread

小题14:

A．common

B．late

C．much

D．early

小题15:

A．ashamed

B．aware

C．afraid

D．tired

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One evening, Mr. Green was driving his car along a lonely country road. He had _36__ $10 000 from the bank in town. Suddenly a man in rags stopped him and asked for a lift. Mr Green told him to 37 and continued his way. 38 he talked to the man, he __39__ that he had just broken out of prison. Mr. Green was very afraid at the __40__ of the money. Suddenly he saw a police-car and had a __41__ idea. He put on speed and 42 as quickly as possible. Then he found the police-car running __43__ him. After a mile or so, the police-car passed him and 44 him to stop. A policeman came up. Mr. Green had hoped to tell him about the trouble but the man put a gun to Mr. Green’s ___45__.
The policeman said he wanted Mr. Green’s name and _46__ and Mr. Green obeyed. The policeman wrote it down in his notebook and put it in his _47___. “You _48__ appear at the police station”. He said. Then he talked to Mr. Green about __49 driving. Mr. Green started up his car again. He had 50 all hope of his ￡10,000, but as he reached a more lonely part, the robber said he wanted to ___51__. Mr. Green stopped and the man said. “__52__. You’ve been __53__ to me. This is what I can do in __54__.” And he handed Mr. Green the policeman’s __55__, which was stolen while the policeman was talking to Mr. Green.

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A great French writer said that we should help everyone as much as possible because we often need help ourselves. The small even can help the great. To this effect, he tells a simple story.
An ant was drinking at a small river and fell in. She tried hard to reach the side, but made no progre

ss at all. The poor ant, almost tired out, was still bravely doing her best when a bird saw her. Moved with pity, the bird threw her a blade (叶片) of grass, which supported her like a boat, and thus she

reached the bank again. While she was resting and drying herself in the grass she heard a man coming near. He was walking along barefooted and carrying a gun in his hand. As he saw the bird he wished to kill her, and he would certainly have done so, but the ant bit him in the foot just before he raised his gun to

fire. He stopped to see what had bit him, and the bird immediately flew away. It w

as an animal much weaker and smaller than herself that had saved her life.
小题1: According to the French writer, we often need help from others, therefore we should________.

A．not help others	B．help those who may be helpful to us
C．get as much help as possible	D．help others as much as we can

小题2:The ant finally got on the bank _______.

A．when the water pushed her	B．with the help of a piece of wood
C．with the help of a blade of grass	D．when the bird reached out a leg for her

小题3:The French writer tells the story in order to show _______.

A．how an ant saved a bird	B．how brave the ant is
C．how clever the bird is	D．even the small can help the great

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"S. H.E. is going to sing at the CCTV annual Spring Festival Evening Party, is that true?" cried out Peng Weiye, a Senior 2 girl in Shanghai and die-hard S. H.E. fan.
After checking it on the Internet, Peng quickly phoned friends to spread the news. For fans like her, S. H. E. ’s performance is perhaps the only part of the old fashioned evening to get excited about.
The Taiwanese band is made up of Selina, Hebe and Ella. Their name comes from the first letter of each of the singers" English names.
Last week S. H. E. announced they would perform in Las Vegas, US, over Christmas and then in Guangzhou on January 15.
At their Shanghai show on October 30, hundreds of parents waited outside the Hongkou Stadium. Inside, thousands of teenagers sang, cried and shouted as the band performed.
"I love their music, healthy image and everything related to them. Thank God that, although my parents don"t understand why I love them so much, they still bought me a ticket for that show," said Peng about the Shanghai performance.
It is not just on the mainland that the three girls have made audiences much excited. In the past year the band has passed through Taiwan, Hong Kong and even Singapore and Malaysia.
When the three high school girls entered a singing contest in Taiwan in 2000, none of them ever dreamed of being a superstar. "We had never met before, and we didn"t talk at all at the beginning," recalled Ella.
When asked about the secret of their success, she said, "Our average looks and not-so-expensive clothes keep us close to our fans. We are happy to be the girls next door, your singing sisters."
"It"s really a magical journey, from day-dreaming high school girls to singers performing on the same stage as our idols(偶像). Nothing but magical," she said.
小题1: Why was Peng Weiye, a Senior 2 girl, so excited?

A．S.H.E. band will get the old fashioned evening exciting.

B．S. H.E. will perform in Las Vegas over Christmas.

C．Her parents bought her a ticket for S. H. E. Is Shanghai show.

D．S. H.E. will perform on the CCTV Spring Festival Evening Party.

小题2:How did the Taiwanese band get the name?

A．Their fans gave the name to them.	B．Their idols had a deep influence on them.
C．A singing contest gave their idea of the band name.
D．The first letters of Selina, Hebe and Ella form the band name.

小题3:What do you know about Peng Weiye?

A．She stayed outside the Hongkou Stadium to listen to S. H. E. "s performance.

B．She will watch the performance in Guangzhou on January 15.

C．She pays close attention to everything about S. H. E.

D．She was grateful that her parents understood and supported her.

小题4:Which is true about S. H. E. ?

A．The secret to their success is their pretty faces and lovely clothes.

B．They were close friends when they entered a singing contest.

C．They caused a storm of excitement in Southeast Asia.

D．They have well prepared to perform with their idols.

小题5: Which do you think is NOT the reason for S. H. E’s popularity among their fans?

A．Their music and their healthy image.

B．Their success meets their fans’ day dream of becoming others’ idols.

C．They can make audience much excited

D．Their average looks and not-so-expensive clothes keep them close to their fans.

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