题目内容
Animals are more like us than we ever imagined.They feel pain, they experience stress, they show affection, excitement and love.All these findings have been made by scientists in recent years---and such results are beginning to change how we view animals.
Strangely enough, some of this research was sponsored by fast food companies like McDonald’s and KFC.Pressured by animal rights groups , these companies felt they had to fund scientists researching the emotional and mental states of animals.
McDonald’s, for instance, funded studies on pig behavior at Purdue University, Indiana.This research found that pigs seek affection and easily become depressed if left alone or prevented from playing with each other.If they become depressed, they soon become physically ill.Because of this, and other similar studies, the European Union has banned the use of isolating pig stalls from 2010.In Germany, the government is encouraging pig farmers to give each pig 20 seconds of human contact a day, and to provide them with toys to prevent them from fighting
Other scientists have shown that animals think and behave like humans.Koko, the 300-pound gorilla at the Gorilla Foundation in Northern California, for instance, has been taught sign language.Koko can now understand several thousand English words, more than many humans who speak English as a second language.On human IQ tests, she scores between 70 and 95.
Before such experiments, humans thought language skills were absent from the animal kingdom.Other myths are also being overturned, like the belief that animals lack self-awareness.Studies have also shown that animals mourn their dead, and that they play for pleasure.
These striking similarities between animal and human behavior have led some to ask a question: “If you believe in evolution, how can’t you believe that animals have feelings that human beings have?”
Until recently, scientists believed that animals behaved by instinct and that what appeared to be learned behavior was merely genetically-programmed activity.But as Koko the Gorilla shows, this is not the case.In fact, learning is passed from parent to offspring far more often than not in the animal kingdom.
So what implications does this knowledge have for humans? Because of this, should we ban hunting and animal testing? Should we close zoos? Such questions are being raised by many academics and politicians.Harvard and 25 other American law schools have introduced courses on animal rights.Germany meanwhile, recently guaranteed animal rights in its constitution---the first country to do so.
【小题1】McDonald’s and KFC give money to support scientist to do research on animals, because_____
A.they are international big companies. |
B.they love animals. |
C.they are pressured by animal right groups. |
D.they earn a large amount of money and want to do some good deeds. |
A.pigs love being alone. |
B.pigs easily become physically ill. |
C.pigs need affection. |
D.pigs don’t like to play with each other. |
A.Animals behave by instinct. |
B.Animals have self-awareness. |
C.Animals have feelings and love. |
D.Animals do not have language skills. |
A.Yes. |
B.No |
C.Not certain |
D.Not mentioned |
【小题1】C
【小题1】C
【小题1】D
【小题1】D
解析
Funny animals is a term used in comics and animated cartoons __________ the animals are given human characteristics.
A.where | B.that | C.why | D.as |
The huge Florida wetland known as the Everglades is a slow-moving river 80 kilometres wide but only a few centimeters deep. People call the Everglades a “river of grass” because sawgrass covers most of it. Sawgrass is not really grass. It is a plant that has leaves edged with tiny sharp teeth that can easily cut through clothes—and skin!
Travel in the Everglades is difficult. You cannot walk through shallow water because the sawgrass will cut you. The water is too shallow for regular boats. So, we use an airboat. An airboat is a flat, open boat. Like an airplane, it has a big propeller to move it. The propeller is fixed on the rear of the boat. It makes a tremendous noise, but it does the job. The boat skims along the water’s surface. Although we can still get lost in an airboat, at least we are above the alligators(短吻鳄).
While hundreds of different kinds of animals live in the Everglades, the most famous is surely the alligator. Once endangered, alligators are now protected within Everglades National Park. Visitors are likely to see them both on land and in water.
For a long time, dangers have threatened the Everglades. Around 1900, some people felt this precious wetland should be drained (排干). They said it was just a big swamp and not good for anything. In the 1920s, there was a land boom in Florida. People wanted to build homes everywhere, including in the Everglades. They built canals, levees (防洪堤) , and other water systems that stopped the rivers flowing into the Everglades. Factories were built near rivers that flowed into the wetland. These factories dumped poisonous waste that damaged the Everglades ecosystem.
? People are now working to preserve the Everglades National Park for the future. Right now, one big problem is the paperbark tree. This tree is an invader from Australia.
Paperbark trees soak up a lot of water. In the early 1900s, people brought them to Florida because they thought they would help drain the Everglades. However, the invaders adapted too well. Paperbark trees have taken over hundreds of thousands of acres of the Everglades and killed other trees. Scientists are cutting down these invaders or spraying them with herbicides (除草剂) to kill them. ?
1.Which helps to explain why it is difficult to travel in Everglades?
A.Airboats may make a very big noise. |
B.You may get lost when passing through. |
C.Paperbark trees soak up too much water there. |
D.Many different kinds of animals are to be protected. |
2.Why do people use airboats instead of normal boats?
A.They have big propellers to move them faster than alligators. |
B.The propeller makes loud noise so as to scare alligators. |
C.Their flat bottom can skim along the water surface. |
D.They can watch alligators without hurting them. ? |
3.The following measures were taken to drain the Everglades except that people______. ?
A.built canals and levees to stop the rivers flowing into Everglades? |
B.built factories near rivers that flowed into the wetland? |
C.brought Paperbark to soak up water in Everglades? |
D.are cutting down these Paperbark trees? |
4.The underlined word "invader" probably means something______. ?
A.that moves in from another place |
B.that enters and takes control? |
C.that has been brought in? |
D.that is in danger? |