The Migration of Birds Here is a scientific experiment on the homing of birds, t
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The Migration of Birds
Here is a scientific experiment on the homing of birds, the fact of which are quite certain. A few years ago seven swallows were caught near their nests at Bremen in Germany. They were marked with a red dye on some of their white feathers, so that they could easily been seen. Then they were taken by plane to Croydon, near London. This is a distance of 400 miles.
Then the seven swallows were set free at Croydon. Five of them flew back to their nests at Bremen. How did the birds find their way on that long journey, which they had never made before? That is the great puzzle. It is no good saying that the swallows have a sense of direction. These are just words and explain nothing. We want to know exactly what senses the animals use to find their way, how they know in which direction to go until they can see familiar landmarks. Unfortunately practically no scientific experiments have yet been made on this question.
Perhaps migrating birds are the greatest mystery of all. Swallows leave England in August and September, and they fly to Africa, where they stay during our winter. The swallows return to England in the late summer for the south. A lot has been found about the journeys of migrating birds by marking the birds with aluminum rings put on one leg. An address and a number is put on the ring.
Swallows from England go as far as South Africa and as many as fourteen birds, marked with rings in England, have been caught again in South Africa. From England to South Africa is a journey of 6,000 miles. And the birds not only return from Africa to England next spring, but often they come back to the nests in the very same house where they nested the year before.
17．The seven swallows were marked on some of their feathers because .
A．they would be taken away by plane
B．they would be free in London
C．Croydon was 400 miles away
D．they could easily be seen for the red colour
18．Which of the following is true? .
A．Seientists have found why the animals can see their nests.
B．No one knows why the swallows can fly back to their familiar landmarks.
C．It’s very simple that the birds use sense of direction.
D．Many experiments have been made on how birds can fly their way home
19．Swallows like to spend ”our winter” in .
A．England B．London C．Africa D．Germany
20．When do the birds return from South Africa to England every year?
A．summer B．spring C．winter D．Both A and B |
答案
17---20 DBCD |
解析
燕子有超凡的识途本领: 将其带到400英里以外的地方放飞，它们又飞回来了；它们迁徙到6，000英里的地方又能飞回到原来的家。
17．D 查找信息题。从文中第一段第三句查找，so that…引出目的状语从句。
18．B 推理判断题。从文中第二段最后一句推出，注意转折意义的unfortunately一词。
19．C 查找信息题。从文中第三段第二句得出。
20．D 查找信息题。从第三段第二句和第四段最后一句得出。 |
举一反三
Can trees talk? Yes — but not in words. Scientists have reason to believe that trees do
communicate with each other. Not long ago, researchers learned some surprising things. First a willow tree attacked in the woods by caterpillars（毛毛虫）changed the chemistry of its leaves and made them taste so terrible that they got tired of the leaves and stopped eating them. Then even more astonishing, the tree sent out a special vapor—a signal causing its neighbors to change the chemistry of their own leaves and make them less tasty.
Communication, of course, does not need to be in words. We can talk each other by smiling, raising our shoulders and moving our hands. We know that birds and animals use a whole vocabulary of songs, sounds, and movements. Bees dance their signals, flying in certain patterns that tell other bees where to find nectar for honey. So why shouldn’t trees have ways of sending messages?
1．It can be inferred from the passage that caterpillars do not feed on leaves that .
A．have an unpleasant taste
B．are lying on the ground
C．have an unfamiliar shape
D．bees don’t like
2．According to the passage, the willow tree was able to communicate with each other by .
A．waving its branches B．giving off a special vapor
C．dropping its leaves D．changing the color of its trunk
3．According to the passage, bees communicate by .
A．touching one another B．smiling one another
C．making special movement D．making unusual sound
4．The author believes that the incident described in the passage .
A．cannot be taken seriously B．seems completely reasonable
C．should no longer be permitted D．must be checked more thorough |
The plan: turn Mars into a blue world with streams and green fields, and then fill it with creatures (生物) from the earth. This idea may sound like something from a science fiction (科幻小说), but it is actually being taken seriously by many researchers.
This suggested future for the “red planet” will be the main topic for discussion at an international conference hosted by NASA (美国宇航局) this week. Leading researchers as well as science fiction writers will attend the event. It comes as NASA is preparing a multibilliondollar Mars research programme. “Turning Mars into a little earth has long been a topic in science fiction,”said Dr Michael Meyer, NASA’s senior scientist for astrobiology (太空生物学). “Now, with scientists exploring the reality, we can ask what are the real possibilities of changing Mars.”
Most scientists agree that Mars could be turned into a little earth, although much time and money would be needed to achieve this goal.
But many experts are shocked by the idea. “We are destroying our own world at an unbelievable speed and now we are talking about ruining another planet,” said Paul Murdin, of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK. Over the past months, scientists have become increasingly confident they will find Martian life forms. Europe and America’s robot explorers have found proof that water, mixed with soil, exists in large amounts on the planet.
In addition, two different groups of scientists announced on March 28 that they had found signs of methane (甲烷) in the Martian atmosphere (大气). The gas is a waste product of living creatures and could be produced by microbes (微生物) living in the red planet’s soil.
But scientists such as Dr Lisa Pratt, a biologist at Indiana University, say that these microbes will be put in danger by the little earth project. “Before we have even discovered if there is life on Mars, we are talking about carrying out projects that would destroy all these native lifeforms, all the strange microbes that we hope to find buried in the soil,” said Dr Pratt. This view is shared by Monica Grady, a planetary scientist at the Natural History Museum, London. “We cannot risk starting a global experiment that would wipe out the precious information we are looking for.” she said， “This is just wrong.”
5. The passage is about________.
A. a plan turning Mars into a little earth
B. the necessity of changing Mars
C. Mars supporting life
D. finding water in the Mars
6. Which of the following is NOT the reason why some scientists are against the plan?
A. The project would wipe out all the native lifeforms on the Mars.
B. The project will cost too much money and work.
C. We would ruin Mars.
D. We are destroying our own world at an unbelievable speed.
7. We can infer from the passage that________.
A. water is a crucial factor for life
B. the project will have little effect on the native lifeforms supposed to live on the Mars
C. Monica Grady is in favour of carrying out the little earth project
D. the idea turning Mars into a little earth is nothing but a science fiction
8. Which of the following supports the conclusion of microbes living in the Mars’s soil?
A. Scientists found liquid water in the Mars.
B. Scientists found signs of methane in the Martian atmosphere.
C. Scientists found a lot of good soil on the Mars.
D. Scientists found some creatures living on the Mars. |
Who has deprived the children"s happiness of learning???
Children are born with a natural desire of learning. They are curios and concerned about 36 around them. They are 37 to learn anything that amazes them. They have so many 38 that they keep on asking. They can bore the 39 all day long with many 40 questions which they will never feel bored with. Why? This is because learning is their 41 , perhaps an instinct of human beings. They just can"t help. But 42 , they feel bored with learning, especially when learning becomes a boring 43 for them, especially after school has become a 44 of their life, especially when they have to 45 teachers who tell them again and again to 46 to recite and memorize things they don"t want to learn, and especially 47 they realize school is not what they once 48 to be but something that, according to their parents, they must rely on in order to 49 a good fame or a good job or a good future. That is to say, learning has become a 50 , which they are forced or 51 to face. So it is the teachers and parents who have thrown the heavy 52 on the children. And meanwhile, the competitive society is also to blame. The children have been 53 of their pleasure and happiness that they could have enjoyed from the natural learning.
Therefore, my 54 to the students’ learning is that they 55 enjoy learning, enjoy the pleasure that they could feel from learning itself. Find back the long lost desire and curiosity of learning in their childhood.
36．A．nothing B．anything C．everything D．something
37．A．curious B．proud C．nervous D．eager
38．A．questions B．reactions C．problems D．troubles
39．A．students B．adults C．parents D．teachers
40．A．funny B．boring C．bored D．practical
41．A．ability B．excuse C．characteristic D．nature
42．A．gradually B．eventually C．however D．therefore
43．A．duty B．exercise C．task D．remark
44．A．pleasure B．part C．occasion D．success
45．A．face B．follow C．escape D．imitate
46．A．repeat B．copy C．report D．reply
47．A．before B．since C．after D．when
48．A．forbidden B．attracted C．intended D．expected
49．A．require B．achieve C．earn D．indicate
50．A．promise B．service C．must D．choice
51．A．pleased B．recommended C．obliged D．experienced
52．A．burden B．confidence C．difficulty D．challenge
53．A．informed B．deprived C．accused D．approved
54．A．Encouragement B．persuation C．suggestion D．decision
55．A．must B．should C．might D．could |
Students will need to use all of their skills in order to understand the reading selections in Reader’s Choice.
The book 36 many types of selections on a wide 37 of topics. These selections provide practice on 38 different reading skills to get the 39 of the writer. They also give students 40 in four basic reading skills: skimming, scanning, reading for 41 comprehension, and critical reading.
Skimming involves reading quickly through a text to get an overall idea of its contents. This kind of rapid reading is 42 when you are trying to decide 43 careful reading is desirable or when there is not 44 to read something carefully.
Like skimming, scanning is also quick reading. 45 , in this case the search is more 46 .To scan is to read quickly in order to 47 specific information. When you read to find a 48 date, or number you are scanning.
Reading for thorough comprehension is 49 reading in order to understand the total 50 of the passage. 51 this level of comprehension the reader is 52 to summarize the author’s ideas but has not yet made a critical evaluation of those ideas.
Critical reading demands that a reader 53 judgments about what he or she reads. This kind of reedit 54 posting and answering questions such as “Does my own experience support that of the author?”, “Do I 55 the author’s point of view?” And “Am I convinced by the author’s arguments and evidence?
36.A.contains B.uses C.put D.writes
37.A.sense B.variety C.kind D.subject
38.A.making B.understanding C.speaking D.employing
39.A.message B.secret C.content D.nature
40.A.power B.point C.practice D.opinion
41.A.better B.basic C.general D.thorough
42.A.suitable B.interesting C.wrong D.true
43.A.that B.if C.when D.why
44.A.interest B.habit C.time D.desire
45.A.Moreover B.Anyway C.However D.Therefore
46.A.funny B.concentrated C.perfect D.important
47.A.deal with B.get in C.go over D.find out
48.A.common B.different C.fine D.particular
49.A.carefully B.slowly C.quickly D.perfectly
50.A.design B.explanation C.meaning D.feeling
51.A.To B.On C.At D.In
52.A.impossible B.able C.difficult D.simple
53.A.makes B.finds C.puts D.offers
54.A.lacks B.requires C.demands D.affords
55.A.tell B.express C.share D.argue |
Washoe is a young chimpanzee(黑猩猩). She is no ___1___ chimpanzee, though. Scientists are doing a research ___2___ her. They want to see how civilized(驯化) she can ___3___. Already she does many things a human being can do.
For example, she has been learning how to exchange ___4___ with people. The scientists are teaching her ___5___ language. When she wants to be picked ___6___, Washoe points up with one finger. She rubs her teeth with her finger ___7___ she wants to brush her teeth. This is done after every meal.
Washoe has also been ___8___ to think out and find answers to problems. Once she was put in a ___9___ with food hanging from the ceiling. It was too high to ___10___. After she considered the ___11___, she got a tall box to stand ___12___. The food was still too high to be reached. Washoe found a ___13___ pole. Then she climbed onto the ___14___, grasped the pole, and ___15___ down the food with the pole.
Washoe ___16___ like a human, too. The scientists keep her in a fully furnished(家具齐全的) house. After a hard ___17___ in the laboratory, she goes home. ___18___ she plays with her toys. She ___19___ enjoys watching television before going to bed.
Scientists hope to ___20___ more about people by studying our closest relative(亲属) — chimpanzee.
1. A. foolish B. ordinary C. special D. simple
2. A. for B. by C. to D. on
3. A. experience B. change C. develop D. become
4. A. actions B. views C. messages D. feelings
5. A. sign B. human C. spoken D. foreign
6. A. out B. at C. on D. up
7. A. when B. until C. since D. while
8. A. raised B. trained C. ordered D. led
9. A. cave B. zoo C. room D. museum
10. A. pull B. see C. eat D. reach
11. A. problem B. position C. food D. ceiling
12. A. by B. on C. up D. with
13. A. straight B. strong C. long D. big
14. A. wall B. box C. ceiling D. pole
15. A. knocked B. picked C. took D. shocked
16. A. lives B. acts C. thinks D. plays
17. A. task B. lesson C. day D. time
18. A. Here B. There C. So D. Then
19. A. quite B. already C. even D. still
20. A. observe B. discover C. gain D. learn |
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