How would you like to sleep with one half your brain asleep and the other half a
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How would you like to sleep with one half your brain asleep and the other half awake? Dolphins sleep this way. Recently, scientists at Indiana State University have discovered that ducks sleep this way too. They found that ducks sleep half awake so they can rest and watch for danger at the same time.
After putting their ducks in a row and videotaping them, some researchers found ducks on the end of each row spent more time asleep with one eye open, apparently looking for predators.
“The more the ducks felt threatened, the more they slept with one eye open,” said lead author Niels C. Rattenborg, a graduate student at Indiana State University, Terre Haute. “The unique aspect is not that they do it, but that they control it. When they sleep at the edge of a group, they tend to realize greater danger, so they spend more time sleeping with one half of their brain.” Ducks with one eye open were still awake enough to detect predators, said the authors of the study, which appears today in the journal Nature.
The researchers studied four groups of four ducks held in plastic boxes, which were arranged in a row. Ducks on the end were found to sleep with one eye open 31.8 per cent of the time, compared to 12.4 percent of the time for ducks in the central position.
Also, ducks in the central position did not open one eye more than the others, while ducks on each end kept the eye facing away from the group open 86.2 per cent of the time. Brain wave readings of the ducks showed that the half of the brain receiving signals from the closed eye indicated that half of the brain was sleeping. Signals from the half of the brain receiving signals from the open eye showed a state between fully awake and asleep.
小题1:The under lined word “predator” is most likely to mean .| A．an animal that is likely to be friends with ducks | | B．a human being who looks after and feeds ducks | | C．a scientist who does research work on animals | | D．an animal that hunts, kills and eats other animals |
小题2:Ducks at the end of each row sleep with one eye open because .| A．they are looking for food | | B．they are watching out for danger | | C．they want to enjoy the scenery | | D．they are unique in their sleeping habit |
小题3:Which of the following is true according to the passage?| A．Ducks with one eye open at the edge can still enjoy a certain degree of sleep. | | B．Ducks with less sense of duty usually choose to stay in the center of a row. | | C．Ducks on the northern end of a row would keep their eye facing the south open. | | D．A video tape recorder was the only electronic device used in the experiment. |
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答案
小题1:D
小题2:B
小题3:A |
解析
试题分析：文章介绍了海豚和鸭子在休息的时候有一半大脑是清醒的，一半是休息的，在休息时有一只眼睛也是不断睁开的，研究者们也做了一系列的实验来证明他们是这么做的，并且了解了这么做的原因，主要是为了防止可能会出现的危险。
小题1: D细节理解题。They found that ducks sleep half awake so they can rest and watch for danger at the same time. 研究员们发现，鸭子在休息时一半是清醒的，因此他们能够同时注意危险；The more the ducks felt threatened, the more they slept with one eye open鸭子越感觉危险，他们睡觉时一只眼睛睁得越多。由此可知他们睡觉睁一只眼睛是为了寻找可能出现的危险。故答案应为D。
小题2:B细节理解题。some researchers found ducks on the end of each row spent more time asleep with one eye open, apparently looking for predators.句意为：一些研究员发现，在每队边上的鸭子花费更多的时间睁着眼睛睡觉，很明显他是是警惕危险；When they sleep at the edge of a group, they tend to realize greater danger, so they spend more time sleeping with one half of their brain.当他们在边的时候，他们往往会意识到更大的危险，因此他们花费更多的时间保持他们大脑的清醒。故答案应为B。
小题3:A细节判断题。文章第一自然段说明鸭子和海豚睡觉时大脑一半是清醒的一半是休息的，因此在边上的鸭子也有一定程度的休息是正解的。Ducks with less sense of duty usually choose to stay in the center of a row.没有责任感的鸭子通常选择在一排的中间，文章里没有说明鸭子是选地方休息的；Ducks on the northern end of a row would keep their eye facing the south open文中没有提到哪个方向的鸭子面朝向哪个方向；A video tape recorder was the only electronic device used in the experiment.文中提到了这个设备，但没说明是唯一的，故答案A是正确的。
【考点】考查科普环保类文章的阅读理解。 |
举一反三
Have you ever seen any students whose trousers hang so low that you can see their underwear? What do you think of that? Fashionable? Some of today’s teenagers are big fans of such a look. But recently this trend has been at the center of an argument in Italian middle schools. The headmaster of a school in central Italy has asked students to stop wearing low-rise jeans that expose underwear and parts of the body. His request came after a class trip, when he saw one boy"s baggy trousers slide to his feet. He pointed out that this way of dressing is not suitable for school. But in Italy, a nation that takes fashion very seriously, the suggestion caused a debate among parents, teachers and students. The issue is whether the headmaster"s request will limit students" freedom— or whether dress in Italian schools is too casual. A parents" group praised the move in favor of good taste, while others advised schools to stop worrying about fashion and fix up old school buildings. “We do not want to kick fashion out,” the headmaster explained, “but extremes of fashion like this are not right in school.” Many other schools have now requested that their students also stop wearing such trousers. Most students have simply ignored the request. Ludovica Gaudio, 14, wore extremely low trousers exposing orange underwear in class. It was cold, so she wore a matching orange scarf. Another 14-year-old said she would probably respect the request, simply for practical reasons. “I don"t really feel comfortable in those sort of jeans，” said Sarah Lattanzi, “in winter, when dressed like that, it"s quite cold and I am afraid my stomach will ache.”
小题1:What led to the argument in Italian middle schools？______| A．Students" craze for fashions. | B．Clothes that are too exposing. | | C．Students" ignoring dress codes.（规则） | D．Students" underwear. |
小题2:Which of the following supports the headmaster"s request?___| A．Fashion should be taken seriously. | | B．Fashion should not be followed in school. | | C．Students should have their freedom in choosing what they wear. | | D．Students should be encouraged to have good taste in clothes. |
小题3: The argument against the headmaster"s request is that ______.| A．dress in Italian schools is too casual | | B．fashion should not be followed in school | | C．schools should pay attention to things more important than students" clothes | | D．low-rise jeans can do harm to youngster"s health |
小题4:The purpose of this story is to ________| A．show Chinese students that wearing very fashionable clothes in school is under attack in other countries, too. | | B．show that dress code is necessary even in a country like Italy | | C．let us see that Italian students react differently to schools" requests. | | D．tell us that a debate started in Italian middle schools over the way students dress in School |
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Half of the world’s population is affected by Asian monsoons（季风）, but monsoons are difficult to predict. American researchers have put together a 700-year record of the rainy seasons, which is expected to provide guidance for experts making weather predictions.
Every year, damp air masses，known as monsoon，produce large amounts of rainfall in India, East Asia, Northern Australia and East Africa. All this wet air is pulled in by a high pressure area over the Indian Ocean and a low pressure area to the south.
According to Edward Cook , a weather expert at Columbia University in New York., the complex nature of the climate systems across Asia makes monsoons hard to predict. In addition, climate records for the area are too recent and not detailed enough to be of much use. Therefore, he and a team of researchers spent more than fifteen years traveling across Asia, looking for trees old enough to provide long-term records. They measured the rings, or circles, inside thousands of ancient trees in more than 300 places.
Rainfall has a direct link to the growth and width of rings on some kinds of trees. The researchers developed a document they are calling a Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas. It shows the effect of monsoons over seven centuries, beginning in the 1300s.
Professor Cook says the tree-ring records show periods of wet and dry weather. “If the monsoon basically fails or is a very weak one, the trees affected by monsoons at that location might put on a very narrow ring. But if the monsoon is very strong, the trees affected by that monsoon might put on a wide ring for that year. So, the wide and narrow ring widths of the chronology that we developed in Asia provide us with a measure of monsoon variability.” With all this information, researchers say they can begin to improve computer climate models for predicting the behavior of monsoons.
“There has been widespread famine and starvation and human dying in the past in large droughts. And on the other hand, if the monsoon is particularly heavy, it can cause extensive flooding.” said Eugene Wahl, a scientist with America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “So, to get a sense of what the regional moisture patterns have been, dryness and wetness over such a long period of time in great detail, I would call it a kind of victory for climate science.”
小题1:What’s the passage mainly about？| A．The effects of Asian monsoons. | | B．The necessity of weather forecast. | | C．The achievements of Edward cook. | | D．A breakthrough in monsoon prediction. |
小题2:It is difficult for experts to predict Asian monsoons because _______.| A．it is hard to keep long-term climate records. | | B．they are formed under complex climate systems. | | C．they influence many nations. | | D．there is heavy rainfall in Asia. |
小题3:What can be inferred from the passage?| A．Long and detailed climate records can offer useful information for monsoon research. | | B．The Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas has a monsoon record for about 1,300 years. | | C．The trees affected by monsoon grow fast if the monsoon is weak. | | D．The rainfall might be low although the monsoon is strong in monsoon-affected areas. |
小题4:According to Professor Cook, the rings of the trees _______.| A．determine the regional climate. | | B．have a great influence on the regional climate. | | C．offer people information about the regional climate. | | D．reflect all kinds of regional climate information. |
小题5:Which of the following best describes the tone of this passage?| A．Matter-of –fact | B．Pessimistic | C．Humorous | D．Friendly. |
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This site , all-birds. com, is about bird watching. Enjoy your browsing. There is much to learn and see.
Bird Watching Equipment
Some items that might make bird watching more enjoyable are binoculars （ 双目望远镜） , a camera, some kind of system for keeping notes, and maybe a back pack． Birders often keep lists of the birds they see along with notes about the habits． There is some great bird log software that will let you keep records on your computer． For more details on choosing binoculars see our Binocular -Optics page．
Clothes
If you are walking through a wooded area just wear clothes you would wear on any hike or field trip． You are best off wearing clothes with dull colors that mix into the background． Greens, browns, and grays are good． Avoid fabrics that rustle（沙沙响）easily． Depending on the birds you are watching you may want to get rain gear, rubber boots and warm clothing． For birds such as owls that you might look for in the evening a strong flashlight is also handy．
Choosing a Bird Field Guide
Take a good field guide to identify birds． Look for clear color pictures that make it easy to recognize one bird from another． Next to each picture should be detailed descriptions of each bird"s anatomy, habits, and what it eats． The guide should have information about what habitat each species uses． Many guides have maps showing the range of different birds along with their migration patterns．
Where and When to see Birds
Learning the habitats of birds in your area will increase the number of birds you see, and make your birding more enjoyable． If you know that Meadow larks are likely to be in open grassy areas, and dippers are forage along stream beds, you may be looking for them if you are in those types of habitats． Edge areas where different types of habitats meet will likely have more species in them． You are more likely to see specific birds at certain times of the day． For example songbirds are easier to see two to three hours after dawn, or just before sunset． This is when songbirds are most actively feeding． Many small birds will be silent or even hidden during the rest of the day． After sunup is the best time to see eagles and hawks． Visibility is best for hunting at this time, and they can soar on the thermal currents from the warmed air． Birds like owls are more likely to be seen in the evening． Many shorebirds and waders rest at high tide and feed when the water rises or falls．
Photographing Birds
Patience in Bird Photography
Most birds are afraid of people, and all species have their own comfort zone． With a little time you can learn the comfort zone of the birds you are photographing． Once they know that you are not a threat you may be able to get closer．
Type or Style
Your reason for photographing birds may determine your style and the kind of equipment you use． If you are just recording the kinds of birds you see you don"t need to get as close, and you can use less expensive equipment, then you need for high quality prints.
Photographing Birds in Flight
Photographing birds in flight can be fun． Many digital cameras have a tracking function． With these you focus on the bird, and then as you track it the lens will keep focus．
Use Your Yard
Choose an open area where the birds will get direct sunlight, showing off their magnificent colors．
Try using props
Birds will often land on a stick or post near a seed feeder before going to the feeder． The background was just an out of focus fence but you can use anything you want for a background, and then wait for a bird to perch.
小题1:The main purpose of the passage is to _____.| A．attract more people to photograph birds | | B．help birders learn how to identify and understand birds | | C．call on people to set some comfort zones for birds | | D．inform birders of the results of a scientific research on birds |
小题2:Clothes in ______ are highly recommended when you are going bird watching．| A．red | B．yellow | C．brown | D．blue |
小题3:________ are likely to be seen at 7 in the morning．| A．Owls | B．Shorebirds | C．Songbirds | D．Larks |
小题4:Which of the following statement is TRUE according to the passage?| A．A stick in the yard may scares birds off when you are photographing them． | | B．It will be wise for birders to hire a guide for themselves． | | C．Birders have to bring some notebooks to keep records of birds" habits． | | D．A flashlight will come in handy when you look for owls． |
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International students studying in the UK
The UK has a long history of welcoming international students to study in its universities and colleges. In the UK last year there were over 104,000 international students. Choosing which university or college to go to was like a life-changing decision. Do as much research as possible so that you choose the right course for the right reason.
How to apply for higher education
All applications for higher education courses are made using our online application system, which is available 24 hours a day. You fill in the application form online and it does not need to be completed all at once. Please see the When to Apply page to check the dates by which we should receive your completed application.
Choosing a higher education course to study
Try to do a lot of research when deciding which courses to apply for. You will probably want to find out even more before you accept an offer of a place on a course. When you accept an offer of a place, make sure that all of your questions have been answered. Ask teachers if there is anything to prepare before the course starts. They may suggest that you look at certain books on the course reading list or that you improve your computer skills.
Other help and advice
Unistats is a website that can help you to research subjects and universities before deciding where to apply. You can compare subjects, compare universities and explore useful information about getting a job after graduation. Unistats has statistical (统计的) information on universities, colleges, subjects and teaching style.
Yougo is a student-only networking site where you can meet other applicants online and talk about what you hope to study and the university you hope to attend.
If you have any questions, please call us at 0044-330-333-0230.
小题1:One who wants to get into a university in the UK________.| A．must have a good reason to study abroad | | B．can make an application on the Internet | | C．should create more learning programs | | D．will be asked to send a plan to a teacher |
小题2:We can learn from the passage that it is a wise idea to ________.| A．learn basic computer skills in the UK when possible | | B．get to know as many teachers as possible in the UK | | C．do much research before choosing a college major | | D．borrow certain books before going abroad to study. |
小题3:Unistats is a website that works to help students ________.| A．select the best university and subject | | B．meet other teenage students online | | C．study further after finishing a course | | D．compare colleges at home and abroad |
小题4:What’s the author’s purpose in writing this passage?| A．To give information about higher education in the UK. | | B．To describe the types of universities across the UK. | | C．To introduce the UK education system to students. | | D．To attract international students to study in the UK. |
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Over 60﹪of pupils in South African schools choose English for learning and teaching, but only 7﹪of pupils speak English as their home language, a recent South Africa survey shows.
Out of the country’s 12.2 million pupils only 851,536 speak English at home, yet 7.6 million pupils choose English as their favorite language of learning and teaching. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language, spoken by over 3.1 million pupils. However, less than a third of them choose to be taught in Zulu. The same thing is true of Pedi-speaking pupils, only a third of such pupils choosing to be taught in their home language. Besides English,
Afrikaans is the only language that has more pupils choosing it as their language of instruction than it has pupils who speak it at home. In primary schools, most pupils will choose African languages. As early as grade four, many would choose English or Afrikaans in their lessons.
The rising number of English-learning pupils is mainly caused by social and cultural reasons. English is the most common spoken language in official and public life in South Africa, the survey reports. In April 2011, the leaders of higher education and training said that they would take some steps to improve the university teaching and prevent the continuing decline of African languages. They suggested that in future every South African university student could be required to learn at least one African language in order to complete their studies at school.
小题1: We can learn from the passage that most South African pupils__________.| A．speak English both at home and at school | | B．are required to learn two languages at school | | C．choose English as their primary school language | | D．are expected to speak their native language at home. |
小题2: It can be inferred from the passage that__________________.| A．Afrikaans is the most popular home language in South Africa | | B．it’s easier for South African pupils to learn Afrikaans at school. | | C．the number of South African pupils learning Afrikaans has increased | | D．many South African pupils use Afrikaans at school instead of at home. |
小题3: The underlined word “decline” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to “_________”.| A．going downhill | | B．spreading widely | | C．growing upwards | | D．developing further |
小题4: What is the survey in the passage mainly about?| A．The use of native languages in South African families. | | B．The language choice and use among South African pupils. | | C．The progress in South Africa’s language teaching education | | D．The spread of English at schools in South Africa. |
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