A new argument has been put forward as to whether penguins are disturbed by the presence of tourists in Antarctica.
Previous research by scientists from Keil University in Germany monitored Adelie penguins and noted that the birds’ heart rates increased dramatically at the sight of a human as far as 30 meters away. But new research using an artificial egg, which is equipped to measure heart rates, disputes this. Scientists from the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge say that a slow moving human who does not approach the nest too closely, is not viewed as a threat by penguins.
The earlier findings have been used to partly explain the 20 per cent drop in populations of certain types of penguins near tourist sites. However, tour operators have continued to insist that their activities do not adversely affect wildlife in Antarctica, saying they encourage non-disruptive behavior in tourists, and that the decline in penguin numbers is caused by other factors.
Amanda Nimon of the Scott Polar Research Institute spent three southern hemisphere summers at Cuverville Island in Antarctica studying penguin behavior towards humans. “A nesting penguin will react very differently to a person rapidly and closely approaching the nest,” says Nimon. “First they exhibit large and prolonged heart rate changes and then they often flee the nest leaving it open for predators (掠夺者) to fly in and remove eggs or chicks.” The artificial egg, specially for the project, monitored both the parent who had been ‘disturbed’ when the egg was placed in the nest and the other parent as they both took it in turns to guard the nest.
However, Boris Culik, who monitored the Adelie penguins, believes that Nimon’s findings do not invalidate his own research. He points out that species behave differently ---- and Nimon’s work was with Gentoo penguins. Nimon and her colleagues believe that Culik’s research was methodologically flawed because the monitoring of penguins’ responses needed capturing and restraining the birds and fitting them with beart-rate transmitters. Therefore, argues Nimon, it would not be surprising if they became stressed on seeing a human subsequently. According to the passage, what overall message is presented?
A.No firm conclusions are drawn. |
B.Neither Culik’s nor Nimon’s findings are of much value. |
C.Penguin reduction is closed related to tourist behavior. |
D.Tourists are not responsible for the fall in penguin numbers. |
Which ONE argument of the following is stated in the passage?
A.Penguins are harder to research when they have young. |
B.Tour operators should encourage tourists to avoid Antarctica. |
C.Not all penguins behave in the same way. |
D.Penguins need better protection from tourists. |
What do you notice about the views presented in the passage?
A.They are groundless. | B.They are factual. |
C.They are descriptive. | D.They are conflicting. |
What does the underlined word (final line) probably mean?
A.Later on. | B.Calmly. | C.Separately. | D.In the same place. |
Teaching and research are supported by the University’s extensive collections—the Yale University Art Gallery, the Yale Center for British Art, the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and the Collection of Musical Instruments. All the collections are open to the public.
Yale University Art Gallery
The Yale University Art Gallery, founded in 1832, today houses a collection that has grown to rank with those of the major public art museums in the United States. Its two connected buildings house ancient, medieval, and Renaissance art, Near and Far Eastern art, archaeological material from the University’s excavations (古迹), Pre-Columbian and African art, works of European and American masters from actually every period, and a rich collection of modern art. Across the street, the Yale Center for British Art, which was opened in 1977, holds the largest collection of British art and illustrated books anywhere outside the United Kingdom.
Peabody Museum of Natural History
Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History, founded in 1866, contains one of the great scientific collections in North America. Among its holdings are the University’s comprehensive mineralogical and ornithological collections, the second-largest repository of dinosaur artifacts in the United States, and the largest undamaged Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus 雷龙) in the world. The Peabody is truly a working museum, where public exhibition, research, conservation, teaching, and learning intersect (贯穿).
Yale Center for British Art
Institutions like the Art Gallery, the Center for British Art, and the Peabody Museum hold only a portion of the treasures in the University’s collections. From paintings by Picasso, to pterodactyl (翼龙) remains, to a 1689 tenor viol in the Collection of Musical Instruments, Yale’s possessions are meant to be accessible to the communities they enrich.
Collection of Musical Instruments
Exhibitions are also frequently mounted (裱贴) at the following venues on campus: Art + Architecture Gallery (School of Architecture), Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Green Hall Gallery (School of Art), and Sterling Memorial Library, including the Arts of the Book Collection.Which of the following cannot be found in the Yale University Art Gallery?
A.Near and Far Eastern art. |
B.Pre-Columbian and African art |
C.British art and illustrated books. |
D.Works of European and American masters. |
Where will you go if you want to enjoy dinosaur artifacts?
A.Peabody Museum of Natural History. |
B.Collection of Musical Instruments. |
C.Yale University Art Gallery. |
D.Yale Center for British Art. |
Which of the following has the longest history according to the passage?
A.Yale Center for British Art. |
B.Yale University Art Gallery. |
C.Peabody Museum of Natural History. |
D.A musical instrument named tenor viol. |
We can learn from the passage that in Yale, ______.
A.collections are partly open to the public |
B.there are many venues just for exhibitions |
C.collections are from art museums in the US |
D.exhibitions are frequently mounted on campus |
What is the text mainly about?
A.Introduction to Yale University. | B.Introduction to collections in Yale. |
C.Introduction to venues in Yale. | D.Introduction to art works in Yale. |
We've all heard the old saying,“Sticks and stones can break my bones,but words can never hurt me.” Don't you believe it?Words are powerful,and they can hurt—a lot. In fact,if you're not careful,you can even hurt yourself,by using the wrong word in your writing.
Recently a friend sent me a copy of an e-mail she received from the customer service department of her credit card company,after she contacted them with a question about her account. She was happy with their positive response. But as I read the e-mail,one line jumped out at me:“In lieu of good customer service...”
Did they really mean they were offering her a few extra reward points instead of good customer service?I doubt it. More likely,what the customer service department meant to say was,“Because good customer service is important to us...” followed by the details of what they were doing to make sure she remained a happy customer.
So why didn't the writer say that?I can only guess that perhaps the writer liked the phrase “in lieu of”,thought it sounded more interesting than saying “because”,and so used it—without bothering to check the true meaning.
Have you ever done that?Try to impress others with a big word,only to find out you've used the word incorrectly?It's just the opposite effect,isn't it?You may impress people all right,but it's not the impression you were going for.
When you write,remember to choose your words carefully. People may still disagree with what you say,but they won't be able to dismiss you because you made careless mistakes in how you said it.What's the writer's purpose in giving the saying?
A.To amuse the reader. | B.To persuade the reader. |
C.To support a conclusion. | D.To lead to the topic. |
What does the phrase “in lieu of” most probably mean?
A.Because of | B.In honour of | C.Instead of | D.In favour of |
According to the writer,the customer service department ______.
A.didn't prefer to use familiar words to attract customers |
B.didn't express what they really meant |
C.didn't need to offer their customers extra reward points |
D.succeeded in impressing their customers |
Most recently, it's very common in students that they need a parent present for job interviews.
Naturally, it's easy to blame the students in these situations, but the bigger problem is us.We—as parents—are so eager to shelter our kids that we fail to realize that this in itself is harming them.As the mother of two young sons, I have to remind myself constantly that the biggest responsibility I have as a parent is to help them develop the skills needed to live without me.So, I'll let them fail.
I'll let them fail because as long as they are safe and warm inside their comfort zones, they will never grow.Although failure comes along with loss, heartbreak, disappointment, etc, these will be part of growth for them.And leaving them alone is my way of helping them become equipped to fit in this world as we know it today.From terrorism and seemingly endless natural disasters, to our national debt and beyond, if we expect the next generation to stand up to the very real problems of our time, we need to stop feeding them and start teaching them how to fish.
My children now are becoming little masters of compromise(妥协),but they try to negotiate (协商) everything now.It's a small price to help them learn a skill they'll use for the rest of their lives, including when I don't accompany them on job interviews.
Why do parents accompany their kids on job interviews?
A.Because they want to protect their kids from difficulties. |
B.Because they think they can help them on the questions. |
C.Because their kids are too shy to attend interviews. |
D.Because their kids strongly request them to do so. |
According to the author, what is beneficial to kids' development?
A.Sheltering them. B.Keeping them safe.
C.Leaving them alone. C.Blaming them.Why does the author stress failure in kids' life?
A.To make them stronger than other kids. |
B.To help them grow in this tough world. |
C.To help them develop all social skills. |
D.To make them learn to compromise. |
Which of the following might be the best title for the text?
A.Never Shelter Your Kids | B.Let Your Kids Fail |
C.Be Eager to Grow Up | D.Live Without Parents |
If you have a chance to go to Finland, you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.
Take the taxi drivers for example. Taxis in Finland are mostly high-class Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer. You can go anywhere in one, tell the driver to drop you at any place, say that you have some business to attend to, and then walk off without paying your fare. The driver would not show the least sign of anxiety.
The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests, but also serve outside diners. Hotel guests have their meals free, so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals. The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration(登记)card to the waiter. With such a loose check, you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.
The Finnish workers are paid by the hour. They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss on the rate. From then on they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly.
With so many loopholes (漏洞) in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty advantages”. But the strange thing is, all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fare after they have attended to their business; not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms. And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in. As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do, living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”. The underlined words in this passage means to “______”.
A.be ready to help others | B.make good use of one’s friends |
C.be a little ahead of others | D.gain something at other’s expense |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A.While taking a taxi in Finland, you can get off without first paying your fare. |
B.In a big hotel in Finland, you can enjoy free meals if you’re living in the hotel. |
C.The bosses in Finland pay the employees according to registration of their working hours. |
D.The workers are always honest with their working hours. |
We can learn from the passage that ______.
A.the Finnish society is of very high moral (道德) level |
B.there are many loopholes in everyday life in Finland |
C.in Finland, most taxi drivers will not charge you anything |
D.everyone in Finland is like a gentleman, for they have faith in themselves |
Which of the following is the best title of the passage ?
A.Life in Finland | B.A Society with “Foolish” People |
C.What a Life | D.Honest accounts of the Finns |
A new study suggests that the more teenagers watch television, the more likely they are to develop depression as young adults .
The researchers used a national long-term survey of adolescent(青少年的)health to investigate (调查)the relationship between media use and depression. They based their findings on more than four thousand adolescents who were not depressed when the survey began in 2000.
As part of the survey, the young people were asked how many hours of television or videos they watched daily. They were also asked how often they played computer games and listened to the radio. Media use totaled an average of five and one-half hours a day. More than two hours of that was spent watching TV.
Seven years later, in 2007, more than seven percent of the young people had signs of depression. The average age at that time was twenty-one.
The researchers say they did not find any such relationship with the use of other media such as movies, video games or radio, etc. But the study did find that every extra hour of television meant an eight percent increase in the chances of developing signs of depression. Young men were more likely than young women to develop depression given the same amount of media use.
The study didn't explore if watching TV causes depression. But one possibility is that it was taking time away from activities that could help prevent depression.
Last December, the journal Social Indicators Research published a study of activities that help lead to happy lives. Sociologists from the University of Maryland found that people who describe themselves as happy spend less time watching television than unhappy people. The study found that happy people are more likely to be socially ac
tive, to read, to attend religious services and to vote.
The best title for this passage should be___________
_.
A.Teens, Television and Depression |
B.Men Develop Depression Ea![]() |
C.Media Use is Harmful to Adolescents |
D.Take Great Care of Teenager's Depression |
The result of the research seems to prove______________.
A.teenagers are more likely to develop depression than adults |
B.other media uses do no harm to adolescents |
C.TV probably causes teenagers to grow up with depression |
D.those who watch no TV will not develop depression |
We can learn from the survey that of all the media use
A.computer games are teenagers' favourite |
B.most teenagers prefer to listen to the radio |
C.teenagers enjoy watching TV very much |
D.newspaper is not included in the survey |
We can conclude that a teenager should _____
A.play more video games instead of watching TV |
B.be active in taking part in outdoor activities |
C.be more active in watching educational TV programmes |
D.attend religious services and care for politics |