It takes two to duet (二重唱), and one question for scientists is how these coordinated (协调的) performances arise — in birds. Are they the result of cooperation, a way in which one pair signals to others that they’ve got it together? Or are they the result of conflict, evolving to avoid one partner’s song interfering with the other’s?
A study of duetting in Peruvian warbling antbirds(蚁鸟) suggests that it might be a little of both, and that context is everything. Joseph A. Tobias and Nathalie Seddon of the University of Oxford show in Current Biology that sexual conflict can cause the female of a pair that normally cooperates to “jam” the male’s song by singing over it.
The researchers exposed antbird pairs to recorded songs of other antbirds and monitored the songs the pairs produced. In one experiment, they played the songs of an intruding pair. In this case, the resident pair “both are likely to lose their territory, so both should cooperate,” Dr. Tobias said. And they do. They produce a coordinated duet that in effect tells the intruders to keep away.
But when the researchers played the song of a single female, the pair behaved differently. “You’d expect the resident female to be highly motivated to defend her position in the partnership,” Dr. Tobias said. And that’s what occurs. The male sings its heart out, flirting(调情) with the single female, and the female of the pair does its best to interfere with the song by singing over it, apparently to make her mate less attractive to the other female.
“It’s clear that the male doesn’t like what she’s doing,” Dr. Tobias said. The behavior “breaks up what is otherwise a very cooperative situation into a more complicated signal,” he added.
It’s the first evidence of this kind of signal jamming among pairs, Dr. Tobias said.
And in that it leads the male to alter its song to avoid the female’s interfering notes, it shows that this kind of conflict could, over a long period, drive the evolution of coordinated song.
What is the key factor of antbirds’ duet?
| A．Their cooperation. | B．Their conflict. |
| C．The context. | D．Their instinct. |
How did the researchers conduct the experiment?
| A．They put the antbird pairs back to nature and observe them. |
| B．They played different recorded songs of other antbirds. |
| C．They put an antbird to the other’s territory and observed. |
| D．They played the songs of an intruding pair. |
Why did the female bird sing according to Paragraph 4?
| A．It wanted to show its singing talent to the partner. |
| B．It aimed at keeping the partnership with the male. |
| C．It wanted to frighten the other females. |
| D．It wanted to make her mate more attractive. |
Which of the following is the topic of this passage?
| A．The special phenomenon about birds pairs. |
| B．The conflict of bird pairs. |
| C．The cooperation of bird pairs. |
| D．The piece of music for bird pairs. |
Many everyday American expressions are based on colors.
Red is a hot color. Americans often use it to express heat. They may say they are red hot about something unfair. When they are red hot they are very angry about something. The small hot tasting peppers found in many Mexican foods are called red hots for their color and their fiery taste.
Pink is a lighter kind of color. People sometimes say they are in the pink when they are in good health. It probably comes from the fact that many babies are born with a nice pink color that shows that they are in good health.
Blue is a cool color. The traditional blues music in the United States is the opposite of red hot music. Blues is slow, sad and soulful. Someone who is blue is very sad.
The color green is natural for trees and grass. But it is an unnatural color for humans. A person who has a sick stomach may say he feels a little green. A passenger on a boat who is feeling very sick from high waves may look very green. If a person is green at his job, he may be a newcomer and inexperienced. Sometimes a person may be upset because he does not have something as nice as a friend has, like a new sports car. That person may say he is green with envy. Some people are green with envy because their friend has more dollars.
The color black is used often in expressions. People describe a day in which everything goes wrong as a black day. The date of a major tragedy is remembered as a black day. If a person feels blue, he is _____.
| A．annoyed | B．depressed | C．stressed | D．encouraged |
If someone says “you are still green”, he probably means that _______.
| A．you are very young | B．you are in a bad mood | C．you are inexperienced | D．you are in good health |
Which of the following statements is CORRECT according to the passage?
| A．After two days’ rest, the soldiers were all in the pink. |
| B．They had a fierce quarrel so they all felt black about it. |
| C．David got hurt by a bike so his face looked blue. |
| D．When we meet something unfair, we feel very green. |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Different colors have different meanings. |
| B．What different colors stand for. |
| C．The story about different colors. |
| D．Colors used in American expressions. |
A man accused of failing to return more than 700 children’s books to five different libraries in the county was released from prison after a book publisher agreed to post his bond (保释金) of $1,000. The publisher said, “There’s a story here. This is a man who loves books. He just can’t let go of them. He hasn’t stolen a single book. So what’s the crime? We think that Mr Barush has a story to tell. We plan to publish his story.”
When asked why he didn’t return the books, Mr Barush said, “Well, how could I? They became family to me. I was afraid to return them, because I knew that kids or dogs would get hold of these books and chew them up, throw them around, tear the pages, spill soda on them, get jam and jelly on them, and drown them in the toilet.”
He continued, “Books are people, too! They talk to you, they take care of you, and they enrich you with wisdom, humor and love. A book is a guest in my home. How could I kick it out? I repaired torn pages. I dusted them with a soft clean cloth. I turned their pages so they could breathe and get some fresh air.”
“Every week I reorganized them on their shelves so they could meet new friends. My books were HAPPY books. You could tell just by looking at them. Now they’re all back in the library, on the lower shelves, on the floors, at the mercy of all those runny-nosed kids. I can hear them calling me! I need to rescue them. Excuse me. I have to go now.”Why was the man put into prison?
| A．Because the book publisher persuaded the police to do so. |
| B．Because he stole 700 children’s books from the five different libraries. |
| C．Because he refused to return the books that he had borrowed. |
| D．Because he wanted to publish his story. |
How did the man treat books?
| A．He treated them as real people. |
| B．He treated them as his own children. |
| C．He treated them as his furniture. |
| D．He treated them as his job. |
From the passage we can learn that the man is _____.
| A．a thief | B．a writer | C．crazy about books | D．unfortunate |
What is mainly talked about in this passage?
| A．A funny thief who loves stealing books. |
| B．A person who refuses to return borrowed books and wants to look after them. |
| C．A person who is crazy about books so he keeps stealing them from the library. |
| D．A person who may have some mental problems. |
The British people are among the world’s greatest readers of newspapers．It’s been the custom ever since most people could read．
But why do people want to do nothing but read while traveling to work in a train? Perhaps they are tired, or else they sit behind a newspaper to shut themselves off from the world．All the same, most men would notice a woman struggling with a heavy case and jump up to help her and a pretty girl sitting opposite wouldn’t escape their attention either．In this case a paper is useful because they can have a good look at her from behind it without her knowing．Perhaps they do nothing but read．There are stories of girls and young men who met in the rush hours, got married, and went on traveling in the same train hand in hand．The main idea of this passage is that______．
| A．people in Britain are great newspaper readers |
| B．why people read newspaper when they travel by train |
| C．people do nothing but read in a train |
| D．when people go to work in a train, they do different things |
According to this passage, reading newspaper______．
| A．is a custom just among men who can read | B．is something the British do only traveling in a train |
| C．is a daily activity most people enjoy | D．can help people in many ways |
A man might be reading a newspaper in a train for the following reasons except that ______．
| A．he is trying to get some business news |
| B．he wants to have a rest |
| C．he hopes to escape the attention of a pretty girl |
| D．he doesn’t want to talk with other people around him |
The writer said that most men in the train would help a woman struggling with a heavy thing．The implication(含义) is that ______．
| A．It is interesting for a man to help a woman in trouble |
| B．it is considered a man’s duty to offer help to a woman in need |
| C．the woman is too weak to carry a heavy case |
| D．men are often more interested in other things than reading newspapers, especially when women are in trouble |
After years of hearing drivers complain about scratches (划痕) on their cars, Japan’s Nissan Motor Company has officially announced the next big thing--a paint that not only resists scratches and scrapes, but actually repairs itself within a few days.
The new material, developed by Nippon Paint Company, contains an elastic rubbery-like resin (弹性树脂) that is able to heal minor (较小的) marks caused by car wash equipment, parking lot encounters, road debris (石头碎片) or even on-purpose destruction.
The automaker admits its results vary depending on the temperature and the depth of the damage, but adds “this is the only paint like it in the world, and tests prove it works.”
Minor scratches, the most common type, are said to slowly fade over about a week. And once they’re gone, there is no trace (痕迹) that they were ever there.
The special paint is said to last for at least three years after it is first applied, but there is no word yet on whether more can be added after that period.
Nissan claims car washes are the worst offenders for this type of damage, accounting for at least 80 percent of all incidents.
But the complete auto-healing won’t come without scratching your wallet. The vehicle maker notes the special paint adds about $ 100 US to the price of a car.
It plans to use its new chemical mixture only on its X-Trail SUVs in Japan for now, as it looks for a more widespread presentation. And while plans to offer the feature overseas haven’t been made yet, if it’s a hit there, you can be almost sure market forces will drive it to these shores as well. From the article, we can find that_______.
| A．the paint has already been used on cars by now |
| B．the paint beats other products of its kind in its lengthy effect |
| C．car damage is mainly caused by scratches and scrapes |
| D．marketing this paint in Europe is not under way |
The paint used on cars can_________.
| A．last 3 years before it is re-applied again |
| B．fade only in a few days |
| C．help cars recover from minor paint damage |
| D．reduce car scrape incidents to 20 percent |
What does the underlined part refer to?
| A．Certain models of Nissan. | B．Name for one kind of paint. |
| C．Somewhere in Japan. | D．A word standing for a car-dealer store. |
What can be inferred from the article?
| A．The paint was developed by Nissan Motor Company. |
| B．The paint might work better in summer than in winter. |
| C．The mark on the car could disappear as soon as the paint is applied. |
| D．The paint is very popular in Japan. |
It was a hot summer day． My dad and I were getting ready to go out for a ride on the boat with my friend Katie and the dog when the phone call came, the call that made that bright, beautiful day a cold, dark, gloomy one．
I had just put on my suit, shorts, and tank top, and packed my bag with sunscreen and everything else I would need for the day． I ran into my parents’ room to find Dad． When I saw him on the phone, he was crying． I’d never seen my dad cry before． My heart sank． What possibly could have happened?
"Max, I’m so sorry," I heard him say． That’s when it hit me． I knew that Suzie had died． Max has been my dad’s best friend for years． Suzie, his daughter, had a rare disease that mainly affected her body． Her brain was OK． She knew what was going on; she knew that she had problems and was different from other kids． Once she told her dad that she wished she could die and be born in a different body． Yet although she couldn’t live a normal life ，she was still happy．
When Suzie and I were little, we spent quite a bit of time together． As we grew up, we grew apart． She lived in New York, and I lived in the Midwest． When Suzie was ten she had to live in a hospital in Virginia． About eight months before she died, Max gave us her number at the hospital and we talked at least twice a week until the end． Suzie was always so excited to talk to us and wanted to know every detail about my life． She wanted to know everything I did and every thing I ate． In a way, she lived through me．
After we found out about her death, we made our plans to go to New York for the funeral． When she was alive, I sent her a Beanie Baby and she sent one back to me． I had bought her another one but never had the chance to send it to her, so I took it to put in her casket（棺材）．
Her funeral was very different from any funeral I’d ever been to． After they lowered her casket, each one of us put a shovelful of dirt over her． I remember crying so hard, I felt weak． My cheeks burned from the tears． My whole body was shaking as I picked up the shovel, but I’m glad I did it．
When Suzie and I first started calling one another, I thought it would be more of a burden on me, but I was completely wrong． I learned so much from her． She gave me more than I could ever give to her． I will never forget her or the talks we had． I now know that I must never take anything for granted especially my health and the gift of life．What does the underlined part “In a way, she lived through me．” mean?
| A．Suzie got to know what life outside hospital was like by sharing my experience． |
| B．Suzie was financially dependent of me． |
| C．Suzie managed to pull through her illness with the help of my family． |
| D．Suzie was too weak to live her own life． |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
| A．Suzie was the only person helping the author with difficulties． |
| B．The author feared that she might also get the same disease as Suzie． |
| C．The author benefited a lot from talking on the phone with Suzie． |
| D．The author didn’t understand Suzie was her true friend until Suzie’s death． |
What is the most important lesson the author learned from Suzie’s death?
| A．Never let go of a friend even if you are apart． |
| B．Be thankful for what we have in our life． |
| C．Talking with a friend can cure your illness． |
| D．We can learn more from our friends than they do from us． |
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