Antarctic seabirds are breeding(繁殖)later, because thinner sea ice is causing their food supplies to decline, a new study says. The birds, which nest in East Antarctica, have delayed their spring arrival by an average of nine days and egg-laying by an average of two days over the past 50 years, according to polar researchers from the French National Center for Scientific Research in Villiers en Bois, France, study authors Christophe Barbrand and Henri Weimerskirch attribute this later breeding activity to decreases in sea ice caused by climate change.

The researchers say the disappearing sea ice, combined with a longer sea-ice season, has interfered with the birds’ breeding cycle by reducing the amount of krill(磷虾) and other prey(猎物)available in early spring in Antarctica. Because Antarctica’s seasons are opposite those in the Northern Hemisphere, spring on the icy continent begins in October.

The study is based on data collected at seabird colonies between 1950 and 2004 in Adélie Land, on the eastern edge of the frozen continent.

The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Of the nine species studied, some arrived up to 30 days later than they had in previous years.

Despite much later arrivals, the birds are laying their eggs at pretty much the same time as they had in the past. In the most extreme cases, birds were laying their eggs an average of 3. 7 days later in the season than they were 50 years ago.

56. What is the passage mainly about?

A. Seabirds are breeding later in East Antarctica.

B. The amount of krill in the ocean has decreased.

C. The weather in Antarctica has changed.

D. The spring in Antarctica is beginning later.

57. Why have the seabirds in East Antarctica delayed their breeding?

A. The food there has been polluted.

B. The sea ice doesn’t shrink any more.

C. The food supplies there have declined.

D. There are too many seabirds there.

58. In which of the following months is it autumn in Antarctica?

A. October.                                                     B. September.

C. November.                                                  D. June.

59. How many kinds of seabirds were studied by the researchers?

A. Two.                B. Five.                             C. Nine.                       D. Thirty.

60. What does the underlined word “attribute”in Para. 1 mean?

A. contribute                                                    B. cause

C. owe                                                                   D. devote

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
  __1____Painkillers in a tablet can make your headache go away. Antibiotic cream(抗生膏)from a tube can prevent your cuts from becoming infected. But can medicine come packaged in chicken eggs?
A team of scientists from Scotland says yes. They've engineered special chickens that lay eggs with disease-treating drugs inside.
  _2____Animals make thousands of proteins—they’re the main ingredient in skin, hair, milk, and meat. Since animals can make proteins easily, they’re good candidates for making protein drugs.
Researchers have already made cows, sheep, and goats that pump out protein drugs in their milk. But chickens are not expensive to take care of; what’s more, they need less room, and grow faster than these other animals. “  __3____”says Simon Lillico of the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, Scotland.
Lillico and a team of researchers changed chickens’ DNA—the code that tells cells how to make proteins so that the birds’ cells made two protein drugs.  __4____
The scientists altered the chickens’ DNA so that the birds made these drugs only in their egg whites (蛋清). This protects the chickens’ bodies from the drugs’ possible harmful effects and makes it easy for scientists to collect the drugs.
These special chickens can pass on their drug-laying abilities to their chicks.  __5____ The scientists need to improve these chickens before they roost (栖息) in drug companies’ labs. The birds don’t make enough drugs to treat people yet. But once the researchers perfect their technique, you might eventually take your medicine sunny-side up.

A.Medicine comes in lots of different uses.
B.Those qualities could make chickens a better choice to become living drug factories.
C.So far, the Scottish researchers have bred five generations of drug—producing birds.
D.Some chickens are found having the ability of treating diseases.
E. One drug can treat skin cancer, and the other treats a nerve disease called multiple sclerosis(硬化).
F. These drugs are made of molecules called proteins.
G. Medicine comes in lots of different packages.

Every night,I watched for Miss Ellen's lights to go off. She lives next door and we are best friends,____I'm young and she's old. We both like dogs,cats and birds. Miss Ellen has another best friend,her ____,Imogene. Soon as her lights were off,I went into our kitchen and got a(n) ____ to say good­night to Imogene.

“Imogene?” I kept my voice ____ because Imogene is old and I didn't want to ____ her.

Imogene looked at me ____ I put the egg under  her. She seemed to ___ sitting on that egg. I guessed it must ____ her of good old times.

Every morning,I went to Miss Ellen's home to ____ her bread while she ate Imogene's egg.“ I should let you eat the egg too,but it's Imogene's ___ to me,”she said.

When Imogene stopped laying eggs last year,Miss Ellen became ____ and quiet. That was before I started ____ giving her one of Mom's every night.

One morning when I got to Miss Ellen's kitchen,something was ___.Miss Ellen seldom allowed Imogene in the house,but that day she was on the table. Miss Ellen was ____,holding two eggs in her hands.

“Can you ____ it?My Imogene laid this herself!It's not one of your mother's. Oh!Oh!”She ____and put her hand over her mouth.

I looked at her in ____.“You knew?”

“Yes. I'm sorry. To tell the truth,Imogene ____ that you come to visit her every day. She didn't want you to stop. So we decided to keep ____.”

It took a minute for me to ____.Then I figured it out. Both of them wanted me to come. I touched Imogene's head and smiled at Miss Ellen.

1.A. for                      B.yet                                  C.though                    D.because

2.A. dog                              B.cat                                   C.bird                     D.hen

3.A. egg                              B.apple                         C.cake                      D.drink

4.A. firm                     B.soft                                 C.loud                              D.pleasant

5.A. lose                             B.hurt                           C.keep                              D.frighten

6.A. unless                    B.since                           C.as                                    D.if

7.A. like                              B.consider                   C.regret                       D.mind

8.A. tell                      B.remind                           C.warn                        D.convince

9.A. mix                              B.cut                                  C.borrow                   D.share

10.A. promise                    B.choice                            C.gift                       D.job

11.A. sad                            B.calm                     C.boring                             D.strange

12.A. slowly                   B.secretly                           C.mainly                     D.simply

13.A. important           B.funny           C.wrong                        D.different

14.A. busy                     B.angry                     C.excited                      D.shocked

15.A. believe                     B.feel                                 C.make                            D.see

16.A. remembered          B.stopped                    C.smiled                            D.nodded

17.A. peace                  B.disappointment        C.surprise               D.confidence

18.A. hopes                  B.prefers                            C.suggests              D.loves

19.A. quiet                    B.happy                C.honest                      D.friendly

20.A. start                          B.understand          C.cry                            D.notice

 

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

  __1____Painkillers in a tablet can make your headache go away. Antibiotic cream(抗生膏)from a tube can prevent your cuts from becoming infected. But can medicine come packaged in chicken eggs?

A team of scientists from Scotland says yes. They've engineered special chickens that lay eggs with disease-treating drugs inside.

  _2____Animals make thousands of proteins—they’re the main ingredient in skin, hair, milk, and meat. Since animals can make proteins easily, they’re good candidates for making protein drugs.

Researchers have already made cows, sheep, and goats that pump out protein drugs in their milk. But chickens are not expensive to take care of; what’s more, they need less room, and grow faster than these other animals. “  __3____”says Simon Lillico of the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, Scotland.

Lillico and a team of researchers changed chickens’ DNA—the code that tells cells how to make proteins so that the birds’ cells made two protein drugs.  __4____

The scientists altered the chickens’ DNA so that the birds made these drugs only in their egg whites (蛋清). This protects the chickens’ bodies from the drugs’ possible harmful effects and makes it easy for scientists to collect the drugs.

These special chickens can pass on their drug-laying abilities to their chicks.  __5____ The scientists need to improve these chickens before they roost (栖息) in drug companies’ labs. The birds don’t make enough drugs to treat people yet. But once the researchers perfect their technique, you might eventually take your medicine sunny-side up.

A.Medicine comes in lots of different uses.

B.Those qualities could make chickens a better choice to become living drug factories.

C.So far, the Scottish researchers have bred five generations of drug—producing birds.

D.Some chickens are found having the ability of treating diseases.

E. One drug can treat skin cancer, and the other treats a nerve disease called multiple sclerosis(硬化).

F. These drugs are made of molecules called proteins.

G. Medicine comes in lots of different packages.

 

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