Every day we experience one of the wonders of the world around us without even realizing it. It is not the amazing complexity of television, nor the impressive technology of transport. The universal wonder we share and experience is our ability to make noise with our mouths, and so transmit ideas and thoughts to each other’s minds. This ability comes so naturally that we tend to forget what a miracle it is.
Obviously, the ability to talk is something that marks humans off from animal. Of course, some animals have powers just as amazing, Birds can fly thousands miles by observing positions of the stars in the sky in relation to the time of day and year. In Nature’s talent show, humans are a species of animal that have developed their own special act. If we reduce it to basic terms, it’s an ability for communicating information to others, by varying sounds we make as we breathe out.
Not that we don’t have other powers of communication. Our facial expressions convey our emotions, such as anger, or joy, or disappointment. The way we hold our heads can indicate to others whether we are happy or sad. This is so-called “body language”. Bristling(直立的) fur is an unmistakable warning of attack among many animals. Similarly, the bowed head or drooping tail shows a readiness to take second place in any animal gathering.
Such a means of communication is a basic mechanism that animals, including human beings, instinctively acquire and display. Is the ability to speak just another sort of instinct? If so, how did human beings acquire this amazing skill? Biologist can readily indicate that particular area of our brain where speech mechanisms function, but this doesn’t tell us how that part of our bodies originated in our biological history.
【小题1】According to the passage, the wonder we take for granted(认为理所当然) is________.

A.our ability to use language
B.the miracle of technology
C.the amazing power of nature
D.our ability to make noises with mouth
【小题2】What feature of “body language” mentioned in the passage is common to both human and animals?
A.Lifting heads when sad.
B.Keeping long faces when angry.
C.Bristling hair when ready to attack.
D.Bowing heads when willing to obey.
【小题3】What can be inferred from Paragraph 3?
A.Body language is unique to humans.
B.Animals express emotions just as humans do.
C.Humans have other powers of communication.
D.Humans are no different from animals to some degree.
【小题4】This passage is mainly about _______.
A.the development of body language.
B.the special role humans play in nature
C.the power to convey information to others
D.the difference between humans and animals in language use

Many animals recognize their food because they see it. So do humans. When you see an apple or a piece of chocolate, you know that these are things you can eat. You can also use other senses when you choose your food. You may like it because it smells good or because it tastes good. You may dislike some types of food because they do not look, smell or taste very nice. Different animals use different senses to find and choose their food. A few animals depend on only one of their senses, while most animals use more than one sense.
Although there are many different types of food, some animals spend their lives eating only one type. The giant panda eats only one particular type of bamboo(竹子) . Other animals eat only one type of food even when given the choice. A kind of white butterfly(蝴蝶) will stay on the leaves of a cabbage, even though there are plenty of other vegetables in the garden. However, most animals have a more varied(多样化) diet . The bear eats fruits and fish. The fox eats small animals, birds and fruits. The diet of these animals will be different depending on the season.
Humans have a very varied diet. We often eat food because we like it and not because it is good for us. In countries such as France and Britain, people eat foods with too much sugar. This makes them overweight, which is bad for their health. Eating too much red meat and animal products, such as butter, can also be bad for the health. Choosing the right food, therefore, has become an area of study in modern life.
【小题1】We can infer from the text that humans and animals _________.

A.depend on one sense in choosing food
B.are not satisfied with their food
C.choose food in similar ways
D.eat entirely different food
【小题2】Which of the following eats only one type of food?
A.The white butterfly.B.The small bird.
C.The bear. D.The fox.
【小题3】Certain animals change their choice of food when ___________.
A.the season changes
B.the food color changes
C.they move to different places
D.they are attracted by different smells

Some scientists say that animals in the ocean are increasingly threatened by noise pollution caused by human beings. The noise that affects sea creatures comes from a number of human activities. It is caused mainly by industrial underwater explosions, ocean drilling, and ship engines. Such noises are added to natural sounds. These sounds include the breaking of ice fields, underwater earthquakes, and sounds made by animals themselves.

Decibels(分贝) measured in water are different from those measured on land. A noise of 120 decibels on land causes pain to human ears. In water, a decible level of 195 would have the same effect.

Some scientists have suggested setting a noise limit of 120 decibles in oceans. They have observed that noises above that level can frighten and confuse whales.

A team of American and Canadian scientists discovered that loud noises could seriously injure some animals. The research team found that powerful underwater explosions were causing whales in the area to lose their hearing, which seriously affected the whales’ ability to exchange information and find their way. Some of the whales even died. The explosions had caused their ears to bleed and become infected(感染的).

Many researches whose work depends on ocean sounds disagree with a limit of 120 decibels. They say such a limit would mean an end to important industrial and scientific research.

Scientists do not know how many and what kinds of noises are harmful to ocean animals. However, many scientists suspect that noise is a greater danger than they previously believed. They want to prevent noises from harming creatures in the ocean.

1.The second paragraph mainly tells us that the noises on land and in water       .

A.are both from human activities.

B.both do harm to sea animals

C.are measured differently

D.have the same effect on humans

2.As to(依据) the effects of noises on whales, which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A.They are deaf to noises.

B.Noises at a certain level may hurt them.

C.They are easily confused by noises.

D.Noises will limit their ability to reproduce.

3.Many researchers think that the noise limit of 120 decibels would        .

A.protect whales from noises

B.benefit them a lot in their research work

C.do good to their health

D.increase industrial output

4.What will scientists most probably do in the future?

A.Count the number of sea animals.

B.Stop their research on the ocean.

C.Study the effect of different noises.

D.Protect sea creatures from harmful noises.

 

Certain animals know without analysis the difference between a number of objects and a smaller number. In his book The Natural History of Selbourne (1786), the naturalist Gilbert White tells how he surreptitiously removed one egg a day from a kind of bird Plover’s nest, and how the mother laid another egg each day to make up for the missing one. He notes that other kinds of birds ignore the loss of a single egg, but if more than one egg has been removed, they will give up their nests. It has also been noted that a certain type of bees always provides five—never four, never six—caterpillars (毛虫) for each of their eggs so that their young have something to eat when the eggs have hatched out. Research has also shown that both mice and pigeons can be taught to distinguish between odd (奇数) and even (偶数) numbers of food pieces.

These have led some people to think that creatures can actually count. They also point to dogs that have been taught to respond to questions about numbers with the correct number of barks.

Animals respond to quantities only when they are connected to survive as in the case of the eggs, or survive as in the case of food. They can “count” only when the objects are present and only when the numbers involved are small—no more than seven or eight. In lab experiments, animals which are trained to count one kind of objects were unable to count any other type. What interests them are the objects, not the numbers. Animals’ achievements simply are not equal to evidence of counting. They only show the results of clever, careful training.

1.The author refers to Gilbert’s book in paragraph 1 in order to_______.

A.support the idea that animals can count

B.show attitudes have changed since 1786

C.prove that some animals are aware of quantities

D.indicate that more research is needed in this field

2.The author mentions all of the following are aware of quantities in some way EXCEPT _______.

A.caterpillars                            B.bees

C.mice                                 D.plovers

3.The underlined word “surreptitiously” probably means _______.

A.quickly                               B.carefully

C.occasionally                           D.secretly

4.Where does this text probably come from?

A.A news report.                         B.A science fiction.

C.A park guide.                           D.A biology magazine.

 

Natural ways of keeping time

In ancient times, people had to use the sun and the moon to tell time. They got up when the sun came up and worked in the fields until the sun went down.

Man-made things

The sand clock is made of two glass balls joined by a narrow neck. The top ball was filled with sand. The sand slowly moved through the neck into the bottom ball. People knew how much time had passed when all the sand had fallen to the bottom ball.

People also made the water clock. They made a small hole near the bottom of a pot. Then they filled the pot with water. Markings inside the pot showed how much time passed as the water dripped (滴) out of the hole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nature’s Clocks in Living Things

Animals’ Body Clock

Animals do not need clocks to know time. They have a way of telling time by their bodies. Birds know when to fly to warmer places before winter. Some animals know when to keep more food for the cold winter months. Some fish know when it is time to move up the river and lay eggs.

Plants have their own clocks

Plants also have their own clocks to keep time. Plants know when to open flow­ers or when to drop their leaves.

The Body Clock in Human Beings

People also have their own body clocks. When we get used to our lives, our body clocks can be very accurate (准确的). It can tell us when it is time to wake up. It can also tell us when to eat or to go to sleep.

1.How could an ancient farmer know when to go back home in the daytime?

A. By looking at the moon.              B. By looking at the stars.

C. By looking at the sun.                D. By feeling whether tired or not.

2. How many kinds of living things with nature’s clocks are mentioned here?

A. 2.           B. 3.             C. 5          D. 6.

3.From the passage, we know what man-made things have in common is that_______.

A. both of them have a hole.                               B. both of them are designed with glass balls.

C. both of them can be used only once.           D. both of them tell time in the same way

 

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