The secret of carrier pigeons' unbelievable ability to find their way home has been discovered by scientists: the feathered navigators follow the roads just like we do.
Scientists at Oxford University spent 10 years studying homing pigeons using global positioning satellite (GPS) and got a surprising result. The birds often don't use the sun to decide their directions. Instead, they fly along motorways, turn at crossings and even go around roundabouts (绕道) , adding miles to their journeys.
“It really has knocked our research team sideways to find that after a decade-long international study, pigeons appear to ignore their inbuilt directional instincts (本能) and follow the road system,” said Prof Tim Guilford, reader in animal behavior at Oxford University's Department of Zoology.
Guilford said pigeons use their own navigational system (导航系统) when doing long distance trips or when a bird does a journey for the first time.
“But once homing pigeons have flown a journey more than once, they can fly home on a habitual route, much as we do when we are driving or walking home from work,” said Guilford.
“In short, it looks like it is mentally easier for a bird to fly down a road. They are just making their journeys as simple as possible.” What would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Birds Follow Roads as We Do. |
| B．Why Pigeons Can Fly Long Distance? |
| C．How Pigeons Find Their Ways Home? |
| D．Why Crows Fly the Shortest Distance? |
What does the underlined words "the feathered navigators" refer to?
| A．The pigeons. |
| B．The crows. |
| C．Dogs. |
| D．Animals that can swim. |
Scientists used to think that homing pigeons often find their directions _______.
| A．by global positioning satellite |
| B．by the sun |
| C．by the road system |
| D．by following other birds |
B
I love my job. I’m trying to understand how plants build themselves out of thin air. It’s exciting, and it’s creative. I like working with other people with different views and I like the sharing of ideas and the piece-by-piece building of understanding by careful observations, experiments and analyses. Then there are those rare moments when suddenly something that is understood clearly makes sense and unconnected ideas fit together to make a satisfying whole.
All these motivations for life as a researcher are evident in the results of a survey to examine the culture of scientific research in the U.K. But the survey has also uncovered threats to the vibrancy (活跃) of this intellectual melting pot. With the expansion of the scientific enterprise, the current squeeze on resources and the drive towards more assessment, researchers are spending increasing amounts of time competing for funding and jobs.
Some aspects of research assessment are reasonably objective: Have these experiments been designed carefully? Does this researcher use the techniques? However, many aspects are fundamentally subjective: Are these projects exciting? Will this person revolutionize the field? All these judgments take time and carefulness, and all of them require the judges to accept the subjectivity of the exercise.
Researchers are now assessed almost entirely on the research papers that they have published in peer-reviewed journals. These are easier to assess than important but less-definite qualities such as public engagement and training, and support provided for colleagues. Publishing in important journals is still thought to be the most important element in determining whether researchers gain funding, jobs and promotions or not. It can lead to a wide range of non-ideal practices, such as over-claiming the significance of research findings, sticking to very fashionable areas of science and leaving important but confirmatory results unpublished due to lack of encouragement to spend time writing them up.
If research stops researchers finding out how the world works for the benefit of society, and makes them compete to get their work published in a particular journal, then the most creative and brilliant people will go and do something else. The people who stay in research will be those mostly encouraged by wanting to look good according to some semi-arbitrary standard. This is causing widespread unease in the research community.
We hope the findings of the survey will stimulate the debate about how to shift the culture back to its roots in creativity and invention, coupled with strictness and openness. If left unchallenged, the current trends will certainly influence what science gets done and therefore what we learn about the world. This is not just some mysterious academic debate, and it matters to everyone.The results of a survey prove that .
| A．all the researchers can work together |
| B．some research scientists have done makes no sense |
| C．all the aspects of research assessment are reasonably subjective |
| D．researchers are spending amounts of time competing for kinds of motivations |
What most affects researchers’ gaining funding?
| A．How many papers they have published in important journals. |
| B．How much support they have given to their colleagues. |
| C．How many people have quoted from their papers. |
| D．How much they are engaged in research. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The quality of research needn’t be valued. |
| B．The current assessment on research must be used. |
| C．It’s necessary to build a scientific research culture. |
| D．Researchers should spend their funding as soon as possible. |
请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项 。
A
You love photography, but still take average, boring photos?
Don’t worry! Now, I’ve got something NEW for you—Photography Masterclass, the guaranteed fastest way to improve your photography!
Photography Masterclass is a set of 29 videos that will show you how to get the most out of any DSLR camera. Each video thoroughly explains something you need to know to become a better photographer.
Module 1: Mastering your digital SLR camera
Number of videos: 9
Total running time: 2 hours, 26 minutes
Get a general idea of DSLR camera functions; find out the best settings for any situation you’ll experience as a photographer.
Module 2: Photography equipment
Number of videos: 6
Total running time: 2 hours, 33 minutes
Receive a complete introduction to photography equipment; know what gear is essential and what gear should be avoided, and why. These will help you create better photos, save you a lot of time and potentially save you thousands of dollars.
Module 3: Composition and shooting planning
Number of videos: 9
Total running time: 3 hours, 35 minutes
Module 3 is everyone’s favorite. Here I reveal the secrets of the pros (内行): how to create your own brilliant and memorable photographs. This ability can really change your photography for the better.
Module 4: Post-production and software
Number of videos: 5
Total running time: 2 hours, 52 minutes
What software do you need? That depends on how many features you want. In fact, there are hundreds of functions that I don’t use. Instead I focus on tools that deliver the results I want, showing you how to get the most out of your time on the computer.How long are the 29 videos of Photography Masterclass in total?
| A．5 hours 52 minutes. | B．8 hours 36 minutes. |
| C．11 hours 26 minutes. | D．14 hours 13 minutes. |
The underlined word “gear” means ______.
| A．clothing | B．equipment |
| C．furniture | D．composition |
D
Positive Thinking, With a Little Help From Your Phone
Here are some apps （程序）on your phones which can help you think positively or aim at happiness. Examine them, and you can have fun .
Happify is perhaps the most popular positive app available now. By asking some questions about your goals in using the app, it recommends you some tracks.
Each track contains games and activities that guide you to seeing positive aspects of your daily life. It also regularly helps you assess your happiness level, pointing out how you can feel more positive merely by changing your habits. There’s also a community page in the app where you can see inspirational comments by other users and even upload your own .
Happify’s only drawback is that while it’s free to download and use, access to its full range of activities costs $13 a month or $70 a year.
Other apps use a different route to developing positive thinking habits. They simply expose you repeatedly to motivational ideas, quotes and suggestions.
Positive Thinking is a relatively simple attempt at this kind of app. It uses colorful imagery and simple controls, and has a list of motivational quotes and suggestions — everything from “do sports” to “stop thinking ... sit there relaxed.” It’s extremely basic, and there’s not a huge amount of content but you may find it has some good ideas and it’s free.
The app Mood Journal, which costs $2, has a great-looking. Through text-entry controls you can make a diary-style note in the app of when you’re feeling positive, and also add a photo. When you’ve accumulated enough entries, the app presents some analytics in the form of graphs that show your positivity over time. This could help you plan strategies to be more positive. , and also add a photo or a selfie.
If you prefer a more meditative approach to positive thinking, check out Smiling Mind, a free iOS and Android app. You enter data on how you’re feeling, using a number of slide controls that ask if you’re feeling “stormy” or “calm,” for example. Then you listen to a meditation-like voice track that talks you through different programs.How does Happify help you think positive?
| A．By playing through games and activities. |
| B．By exposing you to motivational ideas repeatedly. |
| C．By controlling your negative thoughts. |
| D．By analyzing the changes of your emotions. |
What does “drawback” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
| A．advantage | B．mistake |
| C．benefit | D．weakness |
Compared with Happify, Positive Thinking _____.
| A．has more content. | B．is more expensive. |
| C．is much simpler. | D．is more popular. |
Who may be interested in this passage?
| A．A primary student who is playful. |
| B．A college student who feels stressed and boring. |
| C．An office secretary who is optimistic. |
| D．A retired teacher who lives a meaningful life. |
How many apps does the writer introduce?
A. Seven B. Five. C Three. D. Four.
C
B Resort & Spa
Disney World presents a dilemma for many people. If you’re there, you’re probably there because you love the children in your life. But should that noble desire to do right by the wee ones automatically put you in a disgusting holiday of six-foot animated characters, wailing toddlers and chicken-finger meals?
B Resort & Spa has solved this problem. Stay here and you’ve got easy access to “the happiest place on Earth” without sacrificing your adult sensibilities.
There’s 80-minute B Indulged massages to be had at the Aveda spa, complete with footbaths for your weary feet, and adventure tours to nearby Boggy Creek to observe tigers in their natural habitat. Even the mini-bar is stocked with a nod to grownup tastes (think Boulder Canyon natural, kettle-cooked chips).
location
B is right inside Orlando’s Walt Disney World Resort, just a short, free shuttle from Downtown Disney. This means you don’t have to stay in the kid zone all day long.
If you have a car at your disposal, it’s also well worth a trip out to the East End Market, where you’ll find the best of Orlando’s local food scene, along with a superb Basque eatery, Txokos, whose famous cook Henry Salgado has been nominated twice for a James Beard Award.
Eat in or eat out?
Room service is exceptional for breakfast: quick and delicious, with perfectly poached eggs and house-made sausage so tasty you’ll find yourself craving it for weeks to come. For dinner, American Q has tasty house-made barbecue sauces and all-you-can-eat, Brazilian-style carved meat dishes from across the U.S. The foods here will keep everyone in the family happy, and good pineapple wine should mellow out the grownups after a long, crazy day at Disney.Who may be interested in the passage?
| A．Parents | B．Teachers . |
| C．Children . | D．Adolescents. |
Living in B Resort & Spa, you can _____.
| A．visit Disney World for free |
| B．have breakfast without leaving your room |
| C．enjoy meals cooked by Henry Salgado |
| D．watch tigers closely |
Why does the writer think Disney World is a dilemma?
| A．Because Disney World is like a trap for adults. |
| B．Because adults are forbidden to enter Disney World. |
| C．Because adults can get little joy from Disney World. |
| D．Because Disney World is full of animated characters. |
Which is not mention in the passage?
| A．Transportation. | B．Location. |
| C．Food. | D．History. |
Where can you find this passage ?
| A．In a science book. |
| B．In a travel magazine. |
| C．In a government work report |
| D．In a news report |
B
Australian scientists say an organic compound used by Indian women to paint dots or bindi on their foreheads could hold the key to a breakthrough in cancer treatment. Rose Bengal (玫瑰红)was first used in the early 1900s as a dye for food, textiles and cosmetics. But now it is proving to be a useful weapon in the fight against skin cancer.
Television advertisements constantly warn of the dangers of overexposure to the fierce sun. Among them is the possibility of the disease melanoma(黑瘤), a type of skin cancer. More than 1,200 Australians die every year from the disease.
Initial trials of a solution of Rose Bengal injected into some melanoma cells have had a 75 percent success rate in controlling the disease. Professor John Thompson, the director of the Melanoma Unit at the University of Sydney, says this organic dye could become a powerful cancer-fighting treatment.
“We believe it works by getting into the tumor(肿块) cells and causing them to self-destruct. But the exact mechanism by which it works is not totally clear. It’s not useful for people who have a primary melanoma. The treatment of primary melanoma is surgical excision(切除),”he said. “It’s useful to inject tumors for people who have recurrences; when the primary treatment has failed and when recurrence in the area, or at more distant sites has occurred.”
About 90 percent of Australians who develop melanoma survive thanks to early diagnosis and treatment. If left untreated, however, the disease can be fatal.
Convincing younger people in Australia about the dangers of overexposure to the sun is a battle campaigners are constantly waging.
Veronica Manock, a 21-year-old student, had two major operations to remove a cancerous tumor from her leg.
“I’ve had a lot of friends who just said ‘I thought it was just, you know, I’ll get a mole(痣) cut out and that’s it’, whereas I don’t think people realize how much danger they’re putting themselves into and how easy it is to stop something like this happening to you just from doing little things,”said Marock.
Other researchers in Australia are investigating genetic treatments to skin cancer. There is a pressing need for such research to produce effective treatments. Australians, the majority of whom are fair-skinned(浅肤色的), are four times more likely to develop a melanoma than people in Canada, the United States or Great Britain.Which can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Rose Bengal—the cause of skin cancer. |
| B．Rose Bengal—a tool to fight against skin cancer. |
| C．Skin cancer—the first killer. |
| D．Melanoma—the threat to health. |
What does the underlined word “fatal” mean?
| A．Curable. | B．Serious. |
| C．Deadly. | D．Self-healing. |
From what Veronica Manock said , we can know _______.
| A．people haven’t realized overexposure to the sun is dangerous |
| B．mole on the leg is dangerous. |
| C．people can do nothing to protect themselves from melanoma |
| D．nothing can be done to deal with the disease. |
Who are likely to develop a melanoma?
| A．Englishmen. | B．Canadians. |
| C．Americans. | D．Australians. |
In which section of a newspaper does the passage possibly appear?
| A．Economy. | B．Health. |
| C．Agriculture. | D．Fashion. |