In most people’s opinion, the tiger is not an animal that we would ordinarily think of as being chicken. However, one tiger, which lives in an English zoo, turned out to be more cowardly( 胆小的) than his keepers could ever have imagined.
Tanvir, a two-year-old Bengal tiger, got stuck at the top of a new 5m-high activity tower in the zoo, after climbing it for the first time.
The wooden tower had been designed to provide mental exercise for Tanvir by testing his ability of dealing with troublesome situations, but after climbing it in just a few seconds, he lost his courage when it came to coming back down. Tanvir went on to spend nearly two days at the top of the tower trying to collect the courage to attempt to get down.
A spokesperson for the zoo said that several days before Tanvir had taken half an hour to get down a lower tower only 1.5m high, and the taller tower had clearly been too much challenging for him.
“Every time he got to the edge, he looked out, put a paw over, and thought, ‘no, I cannot make it!’”laughed Samantha Cordrey, Tanvir’s keeper. In the end Tanvir’s hunger defeated his fear, and after almost 48 hours he made his way down. Burying himself in a big meal just like a hungry pig, Tanvir seemed to forget such a shameful experience for a while.
It appears that his experience would not be the worst in Tanvir’s life if he continued to act like a chicken. It is not known whether he will take courage to go back up his exercise tower again.
The whole episode(插曲) only serves to show the difficulties faced by zoo staff in creating environments that will improve animals’ living ability in enclosed space.When speaking of Tanvir’s shameful experience, Samantha Cordrey might feel it was_____.
| A．funny | B．surprising | C．exciting | D．unbelievable |
What made Tanvir get down the 5m-high activity tower at last?
| A．The coldness of the weather. | B．The direction from his keepers. |
| C．The sufferings of being hungry | D．The fear of being alone |
Why d
oes the author say “this experience would not be the worst in Tanvir’s life if…”(Paragraph 6)?
| A．Because Tanvir’s keepers will design more difficult exercise for him. |
| B．Because Tanvir is so cowardly that he has little courage to meet greater challenges. |
| C．Because Tanvir’s bad health will bring him much trouble in practice. |
| D．Because Tanvir is always careless and often causes trouble by accident. |
The zoo designed the 5m-high activity tower to______.
| A．make Tanvir become brave |
| B．improve Tanvir’s performance skills |
| C．let tourists watch Tanvir better |
| D．improve Tanvir’s living ability |
The predictability of our death rates is something that has long puzzled social scientists. After all, there is no natural reason why 2,500 people should accidentally shoot themselves each year or why 7,000 should drown or 55,000 die in their cars. No one establishes a quota (定额) for each type of death. It just happens that they follow a consistent pattern year after year.
A few years ago a Canadian psychologist named Gerald Wilde became interested in this phenomenon. He noticed that mortality rates for violent and accidental deaths throughout the Western world have remained strangely static throughout the whole of the century, despite all the technological advances and increases in safety standards that have happened in that time. Wilde developed an interesting theory called “risk homeostasis”. According to this theory, people naturally live with a certain level of risk. When something is made safer, people will get around the measure in some way to get back to the original level of danger. If, for instance, they are required to wear seat belts, they will feel safer and thus will drive a little faster and a little more recklessly, thereby statistically canceling out the benefits that the seat belt offers. Other studies have shown that where a crossing is made safer, the accident rate invariably falls there but rises elsewhere along the same stretch of road as if making up for the drop. It appears, then, that we have an inborn need for danger. In all events, it is becoming clearer and clearer to scientists that the factors influencing our lifespan are far more subtle and complex than had been previously thought. It now appears that if you wish to live a long life, it isn’t simply a matter of paying attention to certain precautions such as eating the right foods, not smoking, and driving with care. You must also have the right attitude. Scientists at the Duke University Medical Center made a 15-year study of 500 persons personalities and found, somewhat to their surprise, that people with a suspicious or mistrustful nature die prematurely far more often than people with a sunny disposition. Looking on the bright side, it seems, can add years to your life span.What social scientists have long felt puzzled about is why __________.
| A．the death rate can not be predicted |
| B．the death toll remained stable year after year |
| C．a quota for each type of death has not come into being |
| D．people lost their lives every year for this or that reason |
In his research, Gerald Wilde finds that technological advances and increases in safety standards __________.
| A．have helped solve the problem of so high death rate |
| B．have oddly accounted for death rates in the past century |
| C．have reduced death rates for violent and accidental deaths |
| D．have achieved no effect in bringing down the number of deaths |
According to the theory of “risk homeostasis”, some traffic accidents result from ___________.
| A．our inborn desire for risk |
| B．our fast and reckless driving |
| C．our ignorance of seat belt benefits |
| D．our instinctive interest in speeding |
By saying “statistically canceling out the benefits that the seat belt offers” (Para. 2), the author means __________.
| A．wearing seat belts does not have any benefits from the statistic point of view |
| B．deaths from wearing seat belts are the same as those from not wearing them |
| C．deaths from other reasons counterbalance the benefits of wearing seat belts |
| D．wearing seat belts does not necessarily reduce deaths from traffic accidents |
Which of the following may contribute to a longer life span?
| A．Showing adequate trust instead of suspicion of others |
| B．Eating the food low in fat and driving with great care |
| C．Cultivating an optimistic personality and never losing heart |
| D．Looking on the bright side and developing a balanced level of risk |
It is pretty much a one-way street. While it may be common for university researchers to try their luck in the commercial world, there is very little traffic in the opposite direction. Pay has always been the biggest deterrent, as people with families often feel they cannot afford the drop in salary when moving to a university job. For some industrial scientists, however, the attractions of academia (学术界) outweigh any financial considerations.
Helen Lee took a 70% cut in salary when she moved from a senior post in Abbott Laboratories to a medical department at the University of Cambridge. Her main reason for returning to academia mid-career was to take advantage of the greater freedom to choose research questions. Some areas of inquiry have few possibilities of a commercial return, and Lee’s is one of them.
The impact of a salary cut is probably less severe for a scientist in the early stages of a career. Guy Grant, now a research associate at the Unilever Centre for Molecular Informatics at the University of Cambridge, spent two years working for a pharmaceutical (制药的) company before returning to university as a post-doctoral researcher. He took a 30% salary cut but felt it worthwhile for the greater intellectual opportunities.
Higher up the ladder, where a pay cut is usually more significant, the demand for scientists with a wealth of experience in industry is forcing universities to make the transition (转换) to academia more attractive, according to Lee. Industrial scientists tend to receive training that academics do not, such as how to build a multidisciplinary (多学科的) team, manage budgets and negotiate contracts. They are also well placed to bring something extra to the teaching side of an academic role that will help students get a job when they graduate, says Lee, perhaps experience in manufacturing practice or product development. “Only a small number of undergraduates will continue in an academic career. So someone leaving university who already has the skills needed to work in an industrial lab has far more potential in the job market than someone who has spent all their time on a narrow research project.”By “a one-way street” (Line 1, Para. 1), the author means ________.
| A．university researchers know little about the commercial world |
| B．there is little exchange between industry and academia |
| C．few industrial scientists would quit to work in a university |
| D．few university professors are willing to do industrial research |
The word “deterrent” (Line 3, Para. 1) most probably refers to something that ________.
| A．keeps someone from taking action |
| B．helps to move the traffic |
| C．attracts people’s attention |
| D．brings someone a financial burden |
What was Helen Lee’s major consideration when she changed her job in the middle of her career?
| A．Flexible work hours. |
| B．Her research interests. |
| C．Her preference for the lifestyle on campus. |
| D．Prospects of academic accomplishments. |
Guy Grant chose to work as a researcher at Cambridge in order to ________.
| A．do financially more rewarding work |
| B．raise his status in the academic world |
| C．enrich his experience in medical research |
| D．take advantage of better intellectual opportunities |
What contribution can industrial scientists make when they come to teach in a university?
| A．Increase its graduates’ competitiveness in the job market |
| B．Develop its students’ potential in research. |
| C．Help it to obtain financial support from industry. |
| D．Adapt its research to practical applications. |
Today, as in every other day of the year, more than 3,000 U.S. adolescents will smoke their first cigarette on their way to becoming regular smokers as adults. During their lifetime, it can be expected that of these 3,000 about 23 will be murdered, 30 will die in traffic accidents, and nearly 750 will be killed by a smoking-related disease. The number of deaths due to cigarette smoking outweighs all other factors, whether voluntary or involuntary, as a cause of death.
Since the late 1970s, when daily smoking among high school seniors reached 30 percent, smoking rates among youth have declined. While the decline is impressive, several important issues must be raised.
First, in the past several years, smoking rates among youth have declined very little. Second, in the late 1970s, smoking among male high school seniors beat that among female by nearly 10 percent . The statistic is reversing (完全相反的). Third, several recent studies have indicate high school dropouts have excessively high smoking rates, as much as 75 percent .
Finally, though significant declines in adolescent smoking have occurred in the past decade, no definite reasons for the decline exist. Within this context, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) began its current effort to determine the most effective measures to reduce smoking level among youth.According to the author, the deaths among youth are mainly caused by _____.
| A．traffic accidents | B．smoking-related disease |
| C．murder | D．all of these |
Every day there are over _____ high school students who will become regular smoker.
| A．75 | B．23 | C．30 | D．3000 |
By "dropout" the author means ________
| A．students who failed the examination |
| B．students who left school |
| C．students who lost their way |
| D．students who were driven out of school |
The reason for declining adolescent smoking is that ________.
| A．NCI has taken effective measures |
| B．smoking is prevented among high school seniors |
| C．there are many smokers who have died of cancer |
| D．none of these |
What is implied by the author is that ________.
| A．smoking rates among youth have declined very little |
| B．there are now more female than male smokers among high school seniors |
| C．high smoking rates are due to the increase in wealth |
| D．smoking at high school are from low socio-economic backgrounds |
I suddenly heard an elephant crying as though frightened. Looking down，I immediately recognized that something was wrong，and ran down to the edge of the near bank. There I saw Ma Sha with her three¬ month¬ old calf struggling in the fast rising water，and it was a life and death struggle. Her calf was floating and screaming with fear. Ma Sha was as near to the far bank as she could get，holding her whole body against the rushing water，and keeping the calf pressed against her huge body. Every now and then the rushing water would sweep the calf away.
There was a sudden rise in the water and the calf was washed clean （完全地）over the mother's body and was gone. Ma Sha turned quickly to reach it and pressed the calf with her head and trunk (象鼻) against the rocky bank. Then with a huge effort，she picked it up in her trunk and tried until she was able to place it on a narrow shelf of rock.
Just at this moment，she fell back into the river. If she were carried down，it would be certain death. I knew，as well as she did，that there was one spot (地点) where she could get up the bank，but it was on the other side from where she had put her calf.
While I was wondering what I could do next，I heard the sound of a mother's love. Ma Sha had crossed the river and got up the bank and was making her way back as fast as she could，roaring (吼叫) all the time，but to her calf it was music.
The moment the author got down to the river bank he saw __________.
| A．the calf was about to fall into the river |
| B．Ma Sha was placing the calf on the rock |
| C．the calf was washed away by the rising water |
| D．Ma Sha was holding the calf against the rushing water |
How did the calf feel about the mother elephant's roaring？
| A．It was a great comfort. | B．It was a sign of danger. |
| C．It was a call for help. | D．It was a musical note. |
What can be the best title for the text？
| A．A Mother's Love | B．A Brave Act |
| C．A Deadly River | D．A Matter of Life and Death |
It’s never a real problem for us when the weather gets cold. We can put on more clothes, stay next to a fireplace, turn on the air conditioner or simply travel to a warmer city to spend the winter – people have many different ways of dealing with the cold.
But things are not as easy for plants. Unlike humans, plants can’t move to escape the cold or generate heat ( 发热) to keep themselves warm. So how do they manage to survive the freezing winter?
It turns out that plants have their own strategies （策略） too, said a study published on Dec 22 in the journal Nature.
According to researcher Amy Zanne of George Washington University, US, the cold is a big challenge for plants. Their living tissues （活组织） can be damaged when they freeze. “It’s like a plant’s equivalent to frostbite ( 相当于冻疮),” Zanne told Science Daily. Also, the process of freezing and thawing (解冻) can cause air bubbles （气泡） to form in the plant’s water transport system. “If enough of these air bubbles come together as water thaws they can block the flow of water from the roots to the leaves and kill the plant,” she explained.
To live through cold weather, plants have developed three traits （特性） , according to the study. Some plants, such as oak trees（橡树）, avoid freezing damage by dropping their leaves before the winter chill sets in – effectively shutting off the flow of water between roots and leaves – and growing new leaves and water transport cells when the warm spring returns.
Other plants, pine trees（松树） for example, protect themselves by narrowing their water transport cells, which makes it easier for cells to travel among air bubbles.
The third strategy is also the most extreme – some plants die on the ground in winter and start growing as new plants from seeds when conditions get warmer.
However, the study also found that these smart strategies were developed very slowly – over millions
of years of evolution （ 进化）. This leads scientists to worry that plants may not be able to deal with human-caused climate change, which has only started occurring over the past few decades.
Scientists are hoping that this study can help people find possible ways to save plants from the threat
of climate change.What is the article mainly about?
| A．Why plants are not afraid of the winter chill. |
| B．The ways that plants survive cold weather. |
| C．Changes in plants’ water transport system in winter. |
| D．How plants evolve to keep up with climate change. |
According to the article, if a plant freezes in the winter, ______.
| A．it produces more living tissues to stay alive |
| B．its leaves quickly fall out and its roots begin to die |
| C．lots of air bubbles form in its water transport system |
| D．its water transport system could be blocked in the spring |
What are scientists worried about when it comes to plants according to the article?
| A．Plants may not be able to adapt to the increasingly cold climate. |
| B．Human activities might have a great impact on the pace of plants’ evolution. |
| C．Plants may not be able to evolve fast enough to adapt to human-caused climate change. |
| D．The strategies plants develop are not good enough to protect them against cold. |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号