题目内容
The coyote(丛林狼).that elever animal of wide-open space .has come to the nation’s captial.In fact ,coyotes have spread to every comer of the United States,changing their behaviors to fit new envioronments and causing researchers to deal with a troublesome new kind of creature:the city coyote.
The coyote originally lived in the middle of the continent.One of its most obvious characters is its smartness, which has made the animal a notorious(臭名昭著的) pest.Hunters trapped,shot and poisoned more than a million coyotes in the 1900s.It’s still one of America’s mosthunted animals. Yet the coyote has survived.How has the coyote shown this extraordinary ability?”I guess if you wanted to use one word,it’d be ‘plasticity’.”says Erie Gese,an expert at Utah State University. Coyotes can live alon, in pairs, or in large packs like wolves,hunt at night or during the day , occupy a small region or an area up to 40 square miles,and live on all sorts of food,from lizards(蜥蜴)and shoes, to ants and melons.
Unbelicvadly people helpcd coyotes increase when they kiltcd most of the wolves in the United States. The sprcdding of coyotes into city areas,though.is rccent.They travel at night,crossing sidcwalks and bridges.running atong roads and ducking into cuinerts (钻入 洞and underpasscs .No one knows why coyotes are maving into cities.but expertsexplaih that clevcter,more human-tolerant(不怕人的)coyotes are teaching urban survivalskills to new generations.
Occasionally.coyotes mighe attack human beings.There have been about 160 attacks on peoplc in reccnt years Therefore,people have bccn consistently told not feed coyotes or leave pct food unseeurcd.That ,plus a large trapping program in the neighborhood.has cur down on the coyote population.
1.The underlinged word “plasticity”in Paragraph 2refers to____________.
A.the ability to fit the environment B.notonous smartness
C.hunting ability D.being human-tolerant
2.The aim of the passage is to_____________.
A.tell pcople how to fight against coyotes
B.tell us why the coyote is the most hunted animal
C.supply the reason why the coyote is a kind of motorious pest
D.explain how the coyote has spread to and survived in cities
3.According to the passage,coyote__________.
A.originally lived in the west of the continent
B.sleep dung the day but look for food at night
C.are teaching survival skills to therr younger generations
D.suffered a population deerease because pcople killed wolves
4.According to the passage,to cut dowa on the coyolc population.people are advised to_______.
A.leave pct food secured B.keep coyotes in small regions
C.foree coyotes to live alone D.avond using trapping programs
1.A 2.D 3.C 4.A
I bent down in the shade under a sixty-foot-tall cactus(仙人掌), waiting for them to appear. The time was eight thirty in the morning. For seven mornings I had come to the same distant spot in the Sonoran Desert, in southern Arizona. I was here to watch the roadrunner, a small fast-running bird.
I spotted two birds under a bush with red flowers. The roadrunners rushed out from under it. The birds moved rapidly on long skinny legs. Their feathers were brown and black. Their tails were seven inches long. Roadrunners use the tail for balance when running.
That day, the roadrunners performed a courtship(求婚)dance. They ran in wild circles. Suddenly, one stopped and stood still, its round eyes full of light. The second bird took hold of a small stick off the ground and presented it to the first, a gift serving as a symbol of their partnership.
I returned to the spot each day, leaving bits of boiled chicken hoping they would return. Roadrunners eat snakes, lizards, mice, beetles, and spiders. Food is in short supply in the desert, so my offerings were welcome. The pair grew used to me.
Soon after the pair finished building their nest six white eggs appeared in the nest bowl. In about three weeks, six roadrunner chicks, skin as black as coal, cried for food. Their parents brought food such as fence lizards and stink bugs. They fed their young until they were a month and a half old.
Early one morning, a coyote(丛林狼)came around, nose to the ground, for fresh bird meat. The roadrunners fearlessly drove the coyote away, but it was soon back. After three attacks the coyote went away for good, tail between its legs.
I stopped watching the nest when the little roadrunners, at two months of age, were ready to live on their own. It was hard to break away from “my roadrunner family.” Whenever I see a roadrunner now, rushing over the ground, I say hello to it as an old friend.
【小题1】The author went to the Sonoran Desert to .
A.go on a tour of the desert |
B.carry out research into some animals in the desert |
C.make an observation about a kind of bird |
D.enjoy an adventure in southern Arizona |
A.They have short tails and legs. |
B.They move at a fast pace. |
C.Their feathers are red and brown. |
D.They don’t like boiled chicken. |
A.brave | B.clever | C.easily-frightened | D.lazy |
A.How do roadrunners seek a partner? |
B.My close friendship with roadrunners. |
C.Roadrunner family in the Sonoran Desert. |
D.How did I find roadrunners in Arizona? |