Of all the animals in the animal kingdom, which one (aside from man) is the cleverest?
There are several ways of measuring the intelligence of animals. In one test a scientist sets three same cans on a table. While the animal watches, he puts food under one of the cans. Then he leads the animal away. Some time later, he brings it back to see if it remembers which can has the food. No smelling is allowed; the animal must go directly to the correct can or it fails.
This is called a delayed- response text. The idea is to find out how long an animal’s memory can keep information. The scientists would try showing the cans to the animal one hour later, or two hours later, or even a full day later. They discovered that chimpanzees and elephants had the best memory, and were able to remember the correct can for at least twenty hours. No other animal is close. Dogs came next, but they only remembered for nine hours.
To settle the matter, the scientists designed a huge maze (迷宫) and ran the chimps and elephants through it. The maze was very difficult, with many blind paths and dead ends. It took the chimps (chimpanzees) ten minutes to find their way out. The elephants needed half an hour. Even allowing for the elephants’ slower rate of speed, the test shows that chimpanzees are the cleverest animals.
From this and other tests, the scientists drew the following conclusion: an animal’s intelligence depends on the size of its brain in proportion (比例) to the size of its body. The elephant’s brain weighs ten pounds. But this is only 1/600th of its 6,000 pounds body. A chimp’s brain weighs about one pound, or 1/120th of its total body weight. So in proportion to its body size, the chimp has four times as much brain as the elephant----more brain for less body. The chimp is the champ!Which is the best title ?
| A．The Elephant’s Memory | B．The Cleverest Animal |
| C．Judging Intelligence | D．The Chimp’s Brain |
The main idea of this passage is that ________.
| A．there are several ways of measuring the intelligence of animals |
| B．chimps and elephants have the best memory |
| C．intelligence tests show that the chimp is the cleverest animal |
| D．the scientists designed a huge maze and ran the chimps and elephants through it |
The delayed-response test is designed to test an animal’s________.
| A．eyesight | B．intelligence | C．learning ability | D．memory |
The passage tells that elephants ________.
| A．never forget things | B．are more clever than chimps |
| C．are slower-moving than chimps | D．have better memories than chimps |
According to the passage, a rhinoceros (犀牛) that weighs 2100 pounds, and has a 3-pound brain is
________.
| A．as clever as a chimp | B．more clever than an elephant |
| C．less clever than an elephant | D．as clever as an elephant |
February 16, 2014（VOA）JAKARTA — The United States and China say they recognize the need for "urgent action" to address the twin challenges of climate change and the air pollution caused by burning fossil fuels. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for greater political will to address a warming planet.
China is the leading producer of greenhouse gases and joins the United States as the largest consumers of energy. So U.S. officials say the world's two biggest economies agreeing to limit emissions and promote energy efficiency in buildings and industry "sends a strong message to the world" that this is an issue that needs to be addressed now.
Following that agreement with Chinese leaders, Secretary Kerry told an audience in Indonesia that Washington hopes this "unique partnership" with Beijing will help set an example for global leadership and global seriousness on climate change.
Kerry Warns About Global Climate Change
"Together we account for roughly 40 percent of the world’s emissions. But this is not just about China and the United States," Kerry said. "It is about every country on Earth doing whatever it can to pursue cleaner and healthier energy sources.
Kerry said scientific evidence compels the world to act.
"It is not a lack of ability that is the problem," Kerry said. "It is a lack of political resolve that is standing in our way.
The European Union is calling for a 40 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2030. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso says that target is ambitious and affordable.
"It shows that we are beyond debate where we either have to be green or a defender of industry," Barroso said. "We believe these two issues are not contradictory, but can perfectly go together if handled smartly.
Some European parliamentarians and some environmentalists believe the carbon reduction goals do not do enough to encourage cleaner energy. Jason Anderson heads European climate and energy policy for the World Wildlife Fund.
"We want to make sure that they do not put the brakes on the energy transition that we are seeing now," Anderson said. "Their ambitions for renewable energy would actually slow down the pace of change, which it is completely senseless as it is one of those areas of the economy that is growing right now.
Kerry's climate speech was the first in a series of events meant to focus on cutting carbon emissions before talks in Paris next year on coming up with a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which was never ratified by the United States. （www.voa.com）419European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso believes that________.
| A．The European Union accounts for 40 percent of the world’s emissions. |
| B．we either have to be green or a defender of industry. |
| C．we have to be green and a defender of industry if handled smartly. |
| D．the carbon reduction goals do not do enough to encourage cleaner energy. |
What is the main idea of the news report?
| A．China and the United States will join hands to protect the environment. |
| B．The United States is the largest consumers of energy. |
| C．Kerry Warns About Global Climate Change |
| D．The European Union’s target is ambitious and affordable. |
According to the passage, China _______.
| A．is the largest consumers of energy. |
| B．is taking effective measures to limit emissions and promote energy efficiency. |
| C．is the unique partnership with the United States on carbon reduction. |
| D．is calling for a 40 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2030. |
From the last paragraph, we can infer that________.
| A．the United States didn’t ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. |
| B．the United States will not attend the meeting to be held in Paris. |
| C．the United States will ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol in Paris. |
| D．the United States will show active attitudes to the climate change and the air pollution. |
A friendly English Springer Spaniel named Bonnie, who also happens to be deaf, is being praised by her owner for helping him catch a suspected intruder(入侵者，闯入者) in their Salem home.
Dan Strasser said he heard Bonnie running around the living room at about 6 a.m. Saturday, so he got out of bed to see why she was so excited.
"She smelled him because she does have a very good sense of smell," said Strasser. "She jumped up and got all excited thinking someone was there to play."
He said Bonnie didn't bark or bite like a guard dog, but the commotion she made was enough to alert him.
When he walked into the living room, Strasser said he caught the intruder trying to steal his laptop. Strasser said the man took off, but instead of running out the back door where he came in, he accidentally ran into the garage, where he was cornered.
"As you can imagine there's a lot going on in his mind, like ‘How do I get out of this place?' It's dark and he doesn't know it."
Strasser said he grabbed his gun and held the intruder in the garage while his girlfriend called 911.
"There was a lot of, ‘I'm sorry,'" said Strasser. "He starts talking about how he wants to go home and see his kid and asks if I would please let him go. All the stuff you'd say if you're caught and you don't want to go to jail."
Police showed up and arrested the intruder, who they later identified as Thomas Lowell, 25. He was arraigned in court Monday on charges of burglary and possession of methamphetamine. He is due back in court Oct. 2.
Strasser said Lowell got in through the back door, which he kept open at night so Bonnie could get into the backyard. He plans to keep it closed and locked from now on.What does the underlined word mean?
| A．sudden noise |
| B．happily rolling |
| C．crazily biting |
| D．angrily barking |
Bonnie is being praised by her owner because________.
| A．she was a lovely dog. |
| B．she did have a very good sense of smell. |
| C．she didn't bark or bite like a guard dog. |
| D．she helped her owner catch a intruder. |
After the intruder took the laptop, he ________.
| A．ran out the back door. |
| B．ran into the garage. |
| C．ran away from the owner’s home. |
| D．fought against Bonnie. |
Which of the following sentences is wrong according to the passage?
| A．Strasser’s girl friend called 911. |
| B．Strasser used to keep the back door open at night. |
| C．Strasser let the intruder go home because he wanted to see his kid. |
| D．Strasser plans to keep the back door closed to prevent something from being stolen. |
Weather changes when the temperature and the amount of water in the atmosphere change. We can see and feel water coming from the atmosphere when we have rain. But the water must somehow get back to the atmosphere. Meteorologists call this the water cycle.
There are many stages in the water cycle. Rain falls when water vapour in clouds condenses(冷却成液体). Drops of water form and fall to the ground. The water soaks into the ground and feeds streams and rivers. A lot of rain falls into the sea. The heat of the sun evaporates some of the water in the ground and in the rivers, lakes and the sea. It changes the liquid water into water vapour. The vapour rises onto the air. Water vapour is normally invisible. On a very damp or humid day, however, you can sometimes see water vapour rising from a puddle or pond in a mist above the water. Water vapour also gets into the air from living things. Trees and other plants take in water through their roots and give off water vapour from their leaves. People and land animals drink water and breathe out water vapour. In all these ways the water returns to the air. There it gathers to form clouds and condenses to form rain. The rain falls to earth, and the cycle starts again. It contains even if snow or hail fall instead because both eventually melt and form water. The amount of water vapour is more in the air tropics than in the cold polar regions.What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Water cycle. | B．Water vapour. |
| C．How rain forms. | D．Water, vapour, rain. |
How many ways of the water returning to the air are discussed in the text?
| A．Three | B．Four | C．Five | D．Six |
Whether water vapour can be seen or not depends on_____.
| A．how much water is evaporated |
| B．how good your eyes are |
| C．in which way water is evaporated |
| D．climate or weather |
From the passage, we get to know_____.
| A．there is more water vapour in the air tropics than in cold polar regions |
| B．there is more water vapour in the air in cold polar region than in the tropics |
| C．it gets more rain in the tropics than in cold polar regions because there is less vapor |
| D．the amount of water vapour in the air depends on how often it rains |
People from East Asia tend to have more difficulty than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions — and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why.
Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly(均匀的) across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes.
"We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions," Jack said. "Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, whereas Easterners favor the eyes and neglect (忽略) the mouth."
According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed. As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used to reliably convey emotion in cross-cultural situations.
The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the eye movements of 13 Western Caucasian and 13 East Asian people while they observed pictures of. expressive faces and put them into categories: happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, angry, or neutral. They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies.
It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than did Westerners. "The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions," Jack said. "Our data suggest that whereas Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion, Easterners use the eyes more and mouth less."
In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion. From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion. Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation. The discovery shows that Westerners .
| A．pay equal attention to the eyes and the mouth |
| B．consider facial expressions universally reliable |
| C．observe the eyes and the mouth in different ways |
| D．have more difficulty in recognizing facial expressions |
What were the people asked to do in the study?
| A．To make a face at each other. | B．To get their faces impressive. |
| C．To classify some face pictures. | D．To observe the researchers' faces. |
What does the underlined word "they" in Paragraph 6 refer to?
| A．The participants in the study. |
| B．The researchers of the study. |
| C．The errors made during the study. |
| D．The data collected from the study. |
In comparison with Westerners, Easterners are likely to .
| A．do translation more successfully |
| B．study the mouth more frequently |
| C．examine the eyes more attentively |
| D．read facial expressions more correctly |
What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．The Eye as the Window to the Soul |
| B．Cultural Differences in Reading Emotions |
| C．Effective Methods to Develop Social Skills |
| D．How to Increase Cross-cultural Understanding |
Every year 2.2 million tons of oil are spilled ( 散落，溅出 ) into the ocean. Actually, this only amounts to a small percentage of the total 1.6 billion tons of oil shipped around the world each year.However, this spilled oil has terrible effects on ocean life, including the coastlines where the off washes up onto shore. Some of the largest spills in history were caused by oil tankers running into each other or by an oil tanker sailing into shallow water and hitting the bottom of the ocean. After these spills, officials try to discover who or what was at fault to help prevent similar accidents in the future.
One of the worst oil spills in history occurred along the Alaskan coastline in 1989. In this accident, 42,000 tons of oil spilled from a tanker which resulted in terrible damage to this sensitive natural area. In this spill, the tanker's captain, who was tired from overwork and drinking alcohol, had gone to take a rest. He gave control of the ship to the third mate. The third mate was unfamiliar with the path the ship took, and he ran the ship onto Blighe Reef. Blighe Reef is a natural underwater rock wall near the Alaskan coast. Damaged by the reef, the ship leaked oil out into the ocean. More than 1,600 kilometers of coastline were affected by the oil spill. Some scientists who studied nature in the area guessed that 580,000 birds and 5,500 otters died when the oil from the spill covered their skin. As well, smaller shellfish and other sea creatures were later eaten by seals, whales, and other animals.
The most oil ever spilled was actually dumped on purpose as an act of ecological warfare. The term ecological warfare means to fight by doing harm to nature in the area under attack. In 1990, Iraq sent soldiers into Kuwait and set off the Persian Gulf War. As part of the Iraq war plan,900,000 tons of oil were let out into the Persian Gulf Way Iraq. This oil covered 1,500 square kilometers of water in the Persian Gulf. The oil also damaged 650 kilometers of the coastline of both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. In some places, oil floating on the water was measured to be 43 centimeters thick. Water birds, water plants, and baby fish were all seriously affected by the oil. The long-term effects of this act on the food chain in the area are bound to cause problems tar into the future.Which cause of oil spills is described in the second paragraph?
| A．Dumping | B．War |
| C．Accidents | D．Throwing about carelessly |
The creatures affected by the oil spill near Alaska were_________.
| A．birds and otters | B．shellfish |
| C．seals and whales | D．all of the above |
The third mate ran the thanker agound (触礁) in this accident because_______.
| A．he was tired | B．he was drunk |
| C．he was talking on the phone | D．he did not know the sea |
________ was responsible for dumping oil into the Persian Gulf.
| A．The United States | B．Kuwait | C．Saudi Arabia | D．Iraq |