题目内容
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Birds in cities are damaging their health by trying to sing above the noise of urban life.
New research shows that male birds are trying to compete against traffic and city sounds.They are now singing louder and at higher frequencies,which could harm their vocal cords.Some birds are choosing to sing at night instead of dudng the day.This makes them more open to attack and also creates stress and exhanstion.
“The difference between urban and rural birdsong is becoming so big that the two groups could now be unable to communicate.This could lead to inbreeding and a weak gene pool.”said Dr Sue Anne Zollinger of the University of St Andrews.
According to Zollingar,a bird group with a small geae pool might adapt less quickly to new diseases and could be wiped out.
A study of the dawn chorus found that birds in Berlin sang up to 14 decibels(分贝)louder than those in the forest.The birds sang loudest on weekday momings.
“By trying to sing over the sound of the city,birds are rising vocal injury,”said Zollinger.“All this puts the sarne strain on a bird’s vocal cords as when ahuman need to shout to be heard—except the birds are doing it all day,every day,”she said.
“Singing under such pressure means birds have less control over the sound they produce. Their songs may lose quality and become more rough—sounding.”said Zollinger.This could make them appear less attractive to female birds.
Mark Constantine,author of The Sound Approach to Birding,said:“Birdsong is important for our quality of life and has been proved to reduce our blood pressure.When we live in the centre of large,urban areas,we get stressed and it's extremely good to have birdsong around us.The impact on humans of birdsong is massive.It harms us,as well as the birds,if their songs become louder and simpler
53.Some birds in cities now choose to sing at night time because_______.
A.they want to attract more birds of opposite sex
B.they are more likely to be discovered by their family
C.they can’t adapt to the loud noises during the daytime
D.they have to frighten their enemy away
54.According to the passage,urban and rural birds might not be able to_______.
A.recognize each other
B communicate with each other
C live with each other
D.compete against each other
55.It requires greatest efforts for birds in cities to sing o_______.
A.Monday nights B.Wednesday afternoons
C.Saturday Evenings D.Friday momings
56.According to Dr Sue Anne Zollinger,birds singing louder might eventually lead to_______.
A.the harm done to man’s health
B the dying out of a species
C.the serious damage to the bird’s vocal cords
D.the decrease ofthe birth rate ofa bird group
53---56 CBDB
【解析】略
In Canada you can find dogs, cats, horses, etc. in almost every family. These are their pets. People love these pets and have them as their good friends. Before they keep them in their houses, they take them to animal hospitals to give them injections(注射)so that they won't carry disease. They have special animal food stores, though they can get animal food in almost every kind of store. Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food. When you visit people's houses, they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them. You will also find that almost every family has a feeding place for birds in their garden. All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal. They are free to come and go and nobody is allowed to kill any animal in Canada. They have a law against killing wild animals. If you killed an animal, you would be punished. If an animal happened to get run over by a car, people would be very sad about it.
People in Canada have many reasons to like animals. One of them might be that their family ties are not as close as ours. When children grow up, they leave their parents and start their own life. Then the old will feel lonely, but pets can solve this problem. They can be good friends and never leave them alone.
【小题1】 The passage mainly talks about____ .
A.how to keep disease from pets | B.pets in Canada |
C.how to take good care of pets | D.life of the old in Canada |
A.the pets are sick | B.the pets are wild |
C.they want to stop them from getting sick | D.they want them to sleep on the way home |
A.they don't love their parents any more | B.they can only find jobs far from their parents |
C.their parents’ houses are too small | D.they wouldn't depend on their parents any more |
A.People buy animal food only at the animal food stores. | B.Pets eat better than people. |
C.Almost every family has a birdcage in his house. | D.Any bird can come to the bird feeders to eat. |
The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of September 2, 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. Over one hundred people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives .
The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King’s baker(面包师)in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window into the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery(面包房)into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
By eight o’clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul’s and the Guildhall among them .
Samuel Pepys , the famous writer, writer about the fire, “People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat .”
The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path(路径) of the fire.With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect(建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone.In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among which was the new St Paul’s
The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.
【小题1】The underlined word‘family’in the second paragraph probably means____.
A.house | B.children | C.wife and husband | D.wife and children |
A.many people lost their lives |
B.the birds in the sky were killed by the fire |
C.many famous buildings were destroyed |
D.the King’s bakery was burned down |
A.Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire. |
B.Because Pepys also wrote about the fire. |
C.To show that poor people suffered most. |
D.To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire. |
A.The King and his soldiers came to help. |
B.All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed. |
C.People managed to get enough water from the river. |
D.Houses standing in the path of the fire were destroyed. |