Q3: Creatures means:

Good wildlife management includes all of the following EXCEPT______.

A．carrying on a campaign against the terrible destruction of wild creatures

B．preserving and improving the habitat

C．regulating wildlife growth through hunting and fishing

D．increasing wildlife population by artificial means

A、after history was written down.

B、during the time history was written down.

C、before the time history was written down.

D、while history was being written down.

Good wildlife management includes all of the following EXCEPT ______.

A．increasing wildlife population by artificial means

B．preserving and improving the habitat

C．regulating wildlife growth through hunting and fishing

D．carrying on a campaign against the terrible destruction of wild creatures

Chronobiology might sound a little futuristic – like something from a science fiction novel, perhaps – but it’s actually a field of study that concerns one of the oldest processes life on this planet has ever known: short-term rhythms of time and their effect on flora and fauna. This can take many forms. Marine life, for example, is influenced by tidal patterns. Animals tend to be active or inactive depending on the position of the sun or moon. Numerous creatures, humans included, are largely diurnal – that is, they like to come out during the hours of sunlight. Nocturnal animals, such as bats and possums, prefer to forage by night. A third group are known as crepuscular: they thrive in the low-light of dawn and dusk and remain inactive at other hours. （摘选自雅思学术阅读训练题） Guess the meaning of the underlined words. Q1: Futuristic means:

A、Advanced technology

B、Science fiction technology

C、Scientific

D、/

oving the life of mankind in our contemporary society. Bionics can be described as the study of systems in living creatures and the application of the knowledge gained from this study to the improvement of various kinds of man-made systems. The term bionics was coined around 1960, and much of what is known about the science of bionics has been discovered since about 1970.

Some researchers recently have studied the eyes of the common frogs and have discovered that a frog's eyes only find moving things such as insect-shaped objects and large, threatening objects. As a result of studying the eyes of frogs, scientists have constructed a simple electronic model of a frog's eyes which can track airplanes circling above an airport and then provide information to computer-run air traffic control systems. Someday such electronic eyes may provide the means to automatically guide automobiles by providing information about objects moving toward the automobile. Other scientists have studied the compound eyes of some insects and crabs and have built a seeing machine that is a simple model of the horseshoe crab eye.

The hearing of a number of creatures also has been studied extensively so that hearing machines can be developed. Bats have unusual hearing which can extend into the ultrasonic (超声的) range. The dolphin also has been studied extensively, and dolphins are able to navigate through water extremely effectively. Radar and sonar(声 纳) systems which are used to help ships and planes navigate have been based on the sonar systems of both bats and dolphins.

Which of the following could be the best title？

A．Electronic Eyes

B．The Science of Bionics

C．Sonar Systems

D．The Hearing of Some Creatures

将英语短文译为中文

2. Kin Recognition (10分)

Many organisms, from sea squirts to primates, can identify their relatives. Understanding how and why they do so has prompted new thinking about the evolution of social behavior. by David W. Pfennig and Paul W. Sherman Kinship is a basic organizing principle of all societies. Humans possess elaborate means by which to identify relatives, such as using surnames and maintaining detailed genealogies.

Mechanisms for distinguishing kin also occur throughout the plant and animal kingdoms regardless of an organism’s social or mental complexity, in creatures as diverse as wildflowers and wasps. Scientists are beginning to discover that an understanding of the origin and mechanisms of kin recognition offers fresh insights into such diverse topics as how living things choose their mates, how they learn and how their immune system works.

BELDING’S GROUND SQUIRRELS live in groups in which mothers, daughters and sisters cooperate extensively. By using odors, the squirrels can distinguish familiar nestmates, who are close kin, from nonnestmates. They can also discriminate between full sisters and half sisters.

o are aware of the fact that many of them can "speak", few understand that these "conversations" have significance. Actually, their talk may be as meaningful as much of our own. For example, some sea animals use their "voices" to locate their food in the ocean expanses (广阔的区域); others use their "voices" to let their fellows know of their locations; and still others, as a means of obtaining mates. Sometimes, "speaking" may even mean the difference between life and death to a sea animal. It appears in some cases that when a predator (食肉动物) approaches, the prey (被捕的动物) depends on no more than the sounds it makes to escape.

Fish sounds are important to man, also. By listening to them, he can learn a great deal about the habits of creatures that make them, the size of the School they form, the patterns of their migrations, and the nature of the environments in which they live. He can also apply this information to the more effective utilization of the listening spots he has set up to detect enemy submarines (潜水艇). A knowledge of fish sounds can avoid confusion and unneeded effort when a "new" sound is picked up and the sound sentry (哨兵) must decide whether or not to call an alarm.

Among the people who know that many sea animals have voices, few ______.

A．know the meaning of their conversations

B．realize that they can communicate with each other

C．realize that they can make speeches

D．could understand their conversations

at the creatures found in the stomachs of toothed whales show no teeth marks. Now a University of California at Santa Cruz professor thinks he may have solved the enigma with what he calls the "big bang" theory of cetacean predation.

Ken Norris, natural history professor, believes that rather than use their teeth to attack their victims, toothed whales stun their prey with intense bursts of sound. He points out that all 68 species of odontocetes (a sub-order that includes dolphins) use sound to locate their victims, and suggests this ability may have evolved to the point where it could be used as a weapon.

Millions of years ago, the ancestors of whales had a narrow tapered jaw, streamlined for speed and bristling with long rows of sharp teeth. Today odontocetes are not adapted to surprising their prey or trapping it quickly. Most are more bulky than their forebearers; their teeth are short and unevenly spaced when they exist at all. Norris suggests that because of their sonar ability, whales' teeth have become vestigial, like the human appendix.

It is difficult to test the big bang theory because in captivity, cetaceans tend to moderate their sonar so as not to deafen other creatures in their small, highly reflective tanks. Dolphins are known to politely turn off their echolocation systems when passing one another. And in the wild it's hard to tell whether a sound came from a nearby animal or form. another very far away.

But Norris points to the male narwhal as tacit proof of his theory. This whale has no teeth, and the single spiral tusk that extends about eight feet in front of him would seem to be more of an impediment than an aid in catching shrimp, his preferred feed. "You look at these animals and you wonder what's going on."

The underlined word enigma means ______.

A．debate

B．fact

C．mystery

D．proof

ver, a recent discovery has lad researchers to believe they may have been warm- blooded. The fossilized remains of a 66 million-year-old dinosaur's heart were discovered and examined by x-ray. The basis for the analysis that they were warm- blooded is the number of chambers in the heart as well as the existence of a single aorta (主动脉).

Most reptiles have three chambers in their hearts, although some do have four. But these that have four chambers, such as the crocodile, have two arteries (动脉) to mix the oxygen-heavy blood with oxygen-lean blood. Reptiles are cold-blooded, meaning that they are dependent on the environment for body heat. Yet the fossilized heart had four chambers in the heart as well as a single aorta. The single aorta means that the oxygen-rich blood was completely separated from the oxygen-poor blood and sent through the aorta to all parts of the body.

Mammals, on the other hand, me warm-blooded, meaning that they generate their own body heat end are thus mere tolerant of temperature extremes. Birds and mammals, because they are warm blooded, move more swiftly and have greater physical endurance than reptiles.

Scientists believe that the evidence now points to the idea that all dinosaurs were actually warm- blooded. Ironically, the particular dinosaur in which the discovery was made was a Tescelosaurus, which translates to "marvelous lizard." A lizard, of course, is a reptile.

According to the author, what theory was previously held and now is being questioned？

A．That dinosaurs were warm-blooded.

B．That dinosaurs had four-chambered hearts.

C．That dinosaurs were swifter and stronger than reptiles.

D．That dinosaurs were cold-blooded.

Text 3 '

Art is considered by many people to be little more than a decorative means of giving pleasure.This is not always the case, however; at times, art may be seen to have a purely functional side as well. Such could be said of the sandpaintings of the Navaho Indians of the American Southwest; these have a medicinal as well as an artistic purpose.

According to Navaho traditions, one who suffers from either a mental or a physical illness has in some way disturbed or come in contact with the supernatural-perhaps a certain animal, a ghost, or

the dead. To counteract this evil contact, the ill person or one of his relatives will employ a medical

man called a "singer" to perform. a healing ceremony which will attract a powerful supernatural be-

ing. During the ceremony, which may last from 2 t0 9 days, the" singer" will produce a sandpainting

on the floor of the Navaho Hogan. On the last day of the ceremony, the patient will sit on this sandpainting and the "singer" will rub the sick or injured parts of the patient' s body with sand from a specific figure in the sandpainting. In this way the patient absorbs the power of that particular supernatural being and becomes strong like it. After the ceremony, the sandpainting is destroyed and disposed of so its power will not harm anyone.

The art of sandpainting is handed down from old "singers" to their students. The materials used are easily found in the areas the Navaho inhabit: brown, red, yellow, and white sandstone, which is ground by being crushed between 2 stones much as corn is milled into flour. The "singer" holds a small amount of this sand in his hand and lets it flow between his thumb and forefingers onto a clean, flat surface on the floor. With a steady hand and great patience, he is thus able to create designs of stylized people, snakes and other creatures that have power in the Navaho belief system. The traditional Navaho does not allow copying of sandpaintings, since he believes the supematural powers that taught him the craft have forbidden this; however, such reproductions can in fact be purchased today in tourist shops in Arizona and New Mexico. These are done by either Navaho Indians or by other people who wish to preserve this craft.

56. Which of the following might be the best title of the text？

[A] Ancient Art.

[B] The Navaho Indian.

[C] Sandpaintings.

[D] Functions of Art.