When fisheries biologist James Drymon noticed feathers in the vomit of a tiger shark, he first assumed they belonged to some unfortunate seabird: a gull, perhaps, or a pelican. But when he and his team genetically sequenced the feathers, the results surprised them: the feathers came from a land-based songbird called a brown thrasher. So what was it doing in a tiger shark’s stomach in the Gulf of Mexico?
Drymon, a researcher at Mississippi State University’s Coastal Research and Extension Center, and his colleagues sorted songbird from a tiger shark’s stomach through the stomach contents of 105 juvenile tiger sharks between 2010 and 2018. Nearly 40 percent had recently feasted on birds that come from dry land. In all, the scientists counted 11 terrestrial bird species showing up on the sharks’ menu. The results were published online in May in Ecology. Researchers have known since the 1960 s that sharks sometimes eat songbirds. “But what was interesting to us was the prevalence of the behavior,” Drymon says, “This is something that happens every year in a high number of sharks.”
Every fall and spring, songbirds undertake dramatic migrations across the Gulf of Mexico. If bad weather comes along, they can be forced to land on the water—which is effectively a death sentence. “The estimate for the number of migrants that die because of storm-related events is in the billions,” Drymon says. He suspects that sharks have long taken advantage of this twice-yearly nutritional bounty raining down from the skies, but scientists have only recently had the genetic tools to confirm this by identifying partially digested feathers.
“The results stressed how interconnected marine and terrestrial ecosystems can be,” says University of Miami marine ecologist Neil Hammerschlag, who was not involved in the study, “It shows how opportunistic these sharks are.”
1.How did James Drymon and his colleagues identify the feathers?
A.By making comparison. B.By checking their DNA.
C.By observing them closely. D.By analyzing previous data.
2.What do we know about tiger sharks?
A.They dislike terrible weather. B.Most of them feed on land birds.
C.They actively catch songbirds for food. D.They are good at making use of opportunities.
3.According to the passage, what do songbirds fear most when they migrate?
A.Sharks in the sea. B.Other larger birds.
C.The stormy weather. D.The long distance.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.Tiger sharks’ eating habit. B.Researchers’ identification of feathers.
C.Land birds’ suffering a lot when migrating. D.Land birds’ being on the menu of tiger sharks.
What do you do when you need to look something up? Go to the library? Open an encyclopaedia? Click onto the internet? These days, most people go straight to Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia. But how reliable is it?
There’s no denying the popularity and usefulness of Wikipedia. It attracts a massive 78 million visitors every month, and the site is available in more than 270 different languages. It’s one of the most comprehensive resources available, and it’s got much more information than an ordinary encyclopaedia. The site is updated on a daily basis by thousands of people around the world. Anyone with an internet connection can log on and edit the contents or add a new page. And you don’t need any formal training.
Of course, there are some controls. Wikipedia has a team of more than 1,500 administrators who check for false information. But with more than 16 million articles to keep an eye on, it isn’t easy. So, while Wikipedia benefits from being constantly updated with information from all over the world, it’s also open to “destroyers”.
Some of the damage is easy to notice. One prankster(搞恶作剧者) drew devil horns and a moustache on Microsoft chairman Bill Gates’ photo, while another edited Greek philosopher Plato’s biography to say he was a “Hawaiian weather man who is widely believed to have been a student of ‘Barney the Purple Dinosaur’ and to have been deeply influenced by his dog, Cutie.”
But other things are harder to spot. The most common form of vandalism involves adding tiny items of false information into the biography of a famous person. Incredibly, some of this misinformation has appeared in newspapers, with The Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Independent all having fallen victim to the pranks. For example, it was reported that TV theme tune composer Ronnie Hazlehurst had written the S Club 7 hit “Reach”. Of course, not true.
So, if you’re going to use any information from Wikipedia, make sure you double-check it first.
1.According to Paragraph 2, what is right about Wikipedia?
A.It is the most useful look-up tool.
B.Only professionals can edit its contents.
C.New information is added to it every day.
D.You can find information in any language on it.
2.Why does the author mention Bill Gate’s photo in Paragraph 4?
A.To prove Wikipedia is unreliable.
B.To tell us what Bill Gate looks like.
C.To accuse someone of misbehavior.
D.To give an example of people’s pranks.
3.What does the underlined word “vandalism” probably mean in Paragraph 5?
A.Damage. B.Recovery.
C.Repair. D.Protection.
4.What is the author’s attitude toward the information from Wikipedia?
A.Favorable. B.Cautious.
C.Ambiguous. D.Disapproving.
I took a job as a receptionist for a vet almost five decades ago. As a keen animal lover, I accepted the position on the condition that I wouldn’t have to assist with any wounded animals. I couldn’t bear to see any creature in pain.
At the end of my first week, we were closing the office for the day when a young man ran up to us holding a severely injured Doberman puppy in his arms and begging us to save his life. The four- month-old pup had been hit by a car.
The doctor and I ran back into the operating room. The only place the skin was still attached to this poor little animal’s body was around one shoulder. The vet worked tirelessly for what seemed like hours, stitching him back together again. That was the easy part. The puppy had broken multiple bones, including his spine(脊椎). If he survived the next few days, we were quite sure he would never walk again.
That day forever changed my life. The vet mentored me, and I became his assistant in all things medical. One of my first jobs was to give that Doberman puppy daily physical therapy. I remember moving his tiny legs to try to keep his muscles from withering.
Weeks went by until one day, I felt this little fighter push back ever so slightly. And he continued to push back till he could finally use his legs.
Fas-forward about a year, I walked into the clinic’s crowded waiting room and called the name of the next client. Suddenly, a huge Doberman who had been standing quietly with his owner on the opposite side of the room broke loose and rushed toward me. I found myself pinned against the wall with this magnificent dog standing on his hind legs, his front paws on my shoulders, washing my face with abundant and joyful kisses!
I am still amazed at the display of love and gratitude the dog had for me that day all those years ago. I went on to be a vet tech for 14 years, and since retirement, I’ve volunteered at a no-kill animal shelter.
1.Why was the author unwilling to assist the vet with injured animals at first?
A.She didn’t like animals at all. B.She couldn’t stand working with the vet.
C.She had no experience of tending animals. D.She would feel sad seeing animals injured.
2.After the operation, the author thought the puppy___________.
A.would not survive B.would lose the ability to walk
C.would recover soon D.would suffer great pain
3.Which of the following best describes the author?
A.Humorous. B.Caring.
C.Ambitious. D.Demanding.
4.What’s the best title for the text?
A.A dog’s gratitude. B.An experience in clinic.
C.I, an animal lover. D.An incredible miracle.
Receptionist / Clerical(文职人员的) Assistant / Part Time
Overview
Covenant Care was founded in 1994 by healthcare industry professionals who wanted to create a company that would exceed customer expectations through quality care. Through modest and focused growth, our“Family" has grown to include over 8,000 healthcare professionals in over 55 healthcare and rehabilitation centers. We care for over 4,000 residents and patients in our facilities.
Key Job Function
●Provide timely, friendly, accurate and helpful telephone support.
●Provide information and accurately answer resident and patient, family, employee and visitor inquiries.
●Handle volume of calls and visitors, and distribute messages accordingly.
●Timely and accurately maintain all assigned data bases and list, including residents, emergency telephone numbers, clergy, on call personnel, etc.
Minimum Requirements
●Must possess at a minimum a High School diploma or equivalent.
●Must have at least 2 years’ experience in a clerical position or successfully completed a secretarial science program from an accredited school / college.
●Must meet the general health requirements set forth by the policies of the facility or department which may include a medical and physical examination.
To learn more about Covenant Care and our recent successes, please click on the following link to view our Quality Report.
1.What do a Clerical Assistant’s duties include?
A.Visiting every resident. B.Caring for patients.
C.Dealing with telephone calls. D.Asking visitors questions.
2.Which of the following applicants is likely to be employed?
A.A person suffering poor health. B.A person with no work experience.
C.A person who just graduated from high school. D.A person who received training in secretarial work.
3.Where is this passage most likely from?
A.A web page. B.A magazine.
C.A guidebook. D.A textbook.
假如你是李华，将向你的外国朋友Tom介绍你所在城市的休闲广场的情况。要点包括：
1. 积极作用；
2. 利用情况；
3. 展望。
注意：1. 词数100字左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：休闲广场leisure square
Dear Tom,
How is everything going!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
All the best!
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
I bought a book Sister Carrie in your online bookshop for its convenient and good service. I am very glad to receive it yesterday. Therefore, when I opened the package, I was sorry to find something wrong for it.
Firstly, the cover of the novel is breaking and there are some dirty spots on it due to the poor packaging. In an addition, some pages are missing, that makes it impossible to read.
I would like you change it for a new one and post it to me as soon as possible. Please do check the book and being careful with the packaging beforehand this time. I hope you can live up to the expectation of my customer.
