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

The rapid growth of cities worldwide over the next two decades will cause significant risks to people and the global environment, according to analysis.

Researches from Yale and Stanford predict that by 2030 urban areas will expand by 590,000 square miles—nearly the size of Mongolia—to meet the needs of 1.47 billion more people living in urban areas.

“It is likely that these cities are going to be developed in places that are the most biologically diverse,” said Karen Seto, a famous scientist at Yale University. “They are going to be growing and expanding into forests, biological hotspots, savannas(热带稀缺大草原), coastlines—sensitive and vulnerable places.”

Urban areas, they found, have been expanding more rapidly along coasts. “Of all the places for cities to grow, coasts are the most sensitive. People and buildings along the coast are at risk of flooding and other environmental disasters,” said Seto.

The study provides the first estimate of how fast urban areas globally are growing and how fast they may grow in the future. “We know a lot about global patterns of urban population growth, but we know significantly less about how urban areas are changing,” she said. “Changes in land cover associated with urbanization lead to many environmental changes, from habitats loss and agricultural land conversion(转化) to changes in local and regional climate.”

The researchers examined studies that used satellite data to map urban growth and found that from 1970 to 2000 the world’s urban footprint had grown by at least 22,400 square miles—half the size of Ohio.

“This number is numerous, but, in actuality, urban land expansion has been far greater than what our analysis shows because we only looked at the published studies that used satellite data,” said Seto. “We found that 48 of the most populated urban areas have been studied using satellite data, with findings in journals. This means that we’re not tracking the physical expansion of more than half of the world’s largest cities.”

Half of urban land expansion in China is driven by a rising middle class, whereas the size of cities in India and Africa is driven primarily by population growth. “Rising incomes translate into rising demand for bigger homes and more land for urban development, which has a great effect on biodiversity conservations, loss of carbon sinks and energy use.”

1.According to the passage, the most dangerous place for city expansion is the _____.

A.forest            B.desert            C.savannas          D.coastline

2.The underlined word “vulnerable” (in Para. 3) probably means “____”.

A.diverse in plants                        B.beautiful in scenery

C.easily damaged                         D.very productive

3.From Para. 5, we can infer that ____.

A.urbanization is a good way to improve people’s standards of living

B.cities develop very fast and more and more people come to live in cities

C.more and more agricultural farmlands are used to make room for local animals

D.in the past, researchers focused their attention on the expanding urban areas

4.Cities in Africa become bigger and bigger mainly because of their ____.

A.growing population                      B.rising middle class

C.unique living patterns                    D.economic development

 

Group buying is one of the fastest growing trends in South Africa today. Industry leaders are confident the growth potential remains strong since group buying is location-specific. Start-up costs are low and profit room remains high, so many sites continue to receive invested money despite widespread criticism and Facebook’s decision to phase out of deal business due to privacy concerns.

In the early stages of all industries, some companied fail because they cannot compete with stronger companies in difficult economic conditions. To deal with difficult conditions, an alarming number of businesses are developing group buying websites in places like China and India, so the increase of group buying in South Africa is nothing more than a natural progression into the international mainstream.

The group buying concept is fairly new and consumers have accepted this concept because they can now make full use of the rich information available on the Internet. Group buying is convenient and easy so it works. Anyone can view a site, join a mailing list, subscribe to RSS or print out a coupon(优惠券). The current group buying structure offered by the industry leaders works although there are still challenges to overcome.

Perhaps, the future of group buying is tied to the joining together of social media and mobile devices. Mobile devices are with us wherever we go and almost everyone is using some type of social media site like Facebook or Twitter to stay informed. Using GPS and social media technology to provide real time location-specific promotions would be beneficial to every consumer looking for the best deals in town.

Pause for a moment and think about it! What is better than signing on to your phone while having fun in town and you receive a real time information that your favorite shop across the street is offering a killer dial?

The future of the group buying in South Africa is bright and we can expect to see more advanced approaches to this concept in the future. In addition to the technological advances consumers will see the range of promotions expand to include new products and services.

1.What does the underlined phrase “phase out of” mean in the passage?

A.Gradually stop

B.Gradually increase

C.Begin to develop

D.Continue to enlarge

2.The author sets China and India as examples to show that      .

A.China and India are powerful countries

B.China and India are in difficult economic conditions

C.group buying is successful worldwide

D.group buying is an international trend

3. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A.People have accepted group buying because it’s a new concept

B.Social media and mobile devices have been joined

C.GPS and social media technology will be helpful in group buying

D.Shops usually offer a killer deal when their customers are having fun

4.The author’s attitude towards the future of group buying is     .

A.pessimistic

B.optimistic

C.objective

D.subjective

5.What does the passage mainly tell us?

A.The history of group buying

B.Group buying in South Africa

C.The feature of group buying

D.The group buying concept

 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网