Every year, little black-and-white birds called pied flycatchers(斑姬鹟) travel from sub-Saharan Africa to northern Europe to feast on caterpillars (毛毛虫), claim a nest, and have babies. And they fly back a few months later. But recently, some flycatchers have arrived only to find their nesting sites occupied by great tits (大山雀). And those birds don’t just chase flycatchers away—they attack them, kill them, and eat their brains.
Great tits live in European forests all year round. Flycatchers are regular vacationers. Since the 1980s, flycatchers’ reproductive season has been inching up earlier in the month of April. Warm spring temperatures have caused caterpillar populations to boom. To adapt to that, flycatchers arrive a bit earlier, too. That won’t be too big a problem. But now, tits delay their breeding period a bit in April, so they overlap with the flycatchers, and violence begins.
Moreover, there’s limited nesting space in many of these birds’ favorite forests—the trees can be quite young and have very few tree holes where birds can nest. Volunteers and academics have placed nestboxes to help. But with climate change, birds’ breeding schedules getting closer, there aren’t enough nestboxes to go around. Unfriendly hosts—the tits, eat their brains.
“Great tits are superior competitors when it comes down to a fight, ” said Jelmer Samplonius, lead author of a study. “People see it as a cute garden bird, but some of them have a real anger management problem. ” Luckily, the murdered birds were often surplus males that arrive late. The deaths haven’t had a big impact on the population because those late males probably won’t have had babies anyway. But there’s always the chance that it could get worse.
“Whatever the flycatcher population’s future may hold, ” Samplonius said, “this is a good example of why it’s essential to study how climate change can shift animals’ schedules, often with deadly consequences. Understanding different responses to changing environments will be an important part of species assessments in coming years.”
1.What has happened to pied flycatchers recently?
A.They couldn’t get enough food.
B.Their nesting sites were destroyed.
C.Their babies have become less likely to survive.
D.Their lives have been threatened by another kind of birds.
2.Which is one of the causes of the violence between pied flycatchers and great tits?
A.The change in migration of flycatchers. B.The delay of flycatchers’ reproductive season,
C.The reduction of both birds’ favorite forests. D.The two birds’ sharing the same food.
3.Which can best describe great tits?
A.Ugly. B.Smart. C.Aggressive. D.Lazy.
4.What can be the best title for the text?
A.A terrible bird murder B.Birds’ struggle to hunt
C.Birds’ influence on climate change D.The future of mixed species communities
Sleep，considered as a luxury by many, is essential for a person’s well-being. Researchers have found that insufficient sleep and tiredness increase a person’s risk of developing severe medical conditions, such as obesity, high blood sugar levels and heart disease. Now, a new study has found that getting sufficient sleep is also the key to improving academic performance.
Jeffery Gross, the university science professor who led the research, was not trying to find the relationship between sleep and grades when he handed out smartwatches to the 100 students in his chemistry class. Instead, the professor hoped the wrist-worn devices, which track a person’s physical activity, would show a connection between exercise and academic achievements.
While Gross’s data showed no relationship between these two factors, the study found something surprising. As the researchers were analyzing the data, they noticed a linear(线性的)relationship between the average amount of sleep the students got and their results in the course’s 11 quizzes, three midterm tests and the final exam.
Even more interesting, it was not sufficient for students to just head to bed early the night before the test. Instead, it’s the sleep you get during the days when learning is happening that matters most.
When students went to bed each night was similarly important. Those went to bed in the early hours of the morning performed poorly, even if the total sleep time was the same as higher-performing student. “When you go to bed matters,” Gross says. “If you go to bed at 10, or 12, or 1 at night, and sleep for 7 hours, your performance is the same. But if you go to bed after 2, your performance started to go down even if you get the same seven hours’ sleep. So, quantity isn’t everything.”
Perhaps the most interesting was the huge impact that small differences in sleep patterns had on the students’ grades. The overall course grades of students averaging six and a half hours of sleep each night were 25% lower than students who averaged just one hour more sleep. Similarly, students who varied their bedtime by even one hour each night had grades that dropped 45% below those with more regular bedtime.
Who knows getting straight A’s just required some extra sleep?
1.Based on his original objective, which best describes Professor Gross’s research findings?
A.Accidental B.Complete
C.Convincing D.Doubtful
2.Who were the people taking part in the study?
A.Middle school chemistry students
B.Professor Gross’s own students
C.Volunteers from different universities
D.University student athletes
3.How did Professor Gross’s team measure students’ academic performance?
A.Making the students wear special watches
B.Using students’ university entrance test results
C.Giving the students regular quizzes after class
D.Using the students’ normal test and quiz grades
4.Based on the study’s findings, who is likely to perform best academically?
A.A student who has a good night’s sleep the night before an important test.
B.A student whose normal bedtime varies between 9 p.m. and 12 p.m.
C.A student who sleeps from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. each day.
D.A student who sleeps for a total of 7 hours each night.
On an afternoon in 2014 in Denmark, Decan Andersen saw a baby red squirrel fall from his apartment building and land in the middle of his garden, injured and bleeding. Although concerned, Andersen left the squirrel alone and went inside, thinking that the mother would come and rescue him.
But when that didn’t happen, the 37-year-old former television salesman knew what he had to do. He brought the furry baby back and got in touch with wildlife officials for advice. And while he was on the phone, a strange thing happened: His cat Coco’s motherly instincts took hold, washing him with his tongue and warming him up. Later, after a veterinarian (兽医) had dressed the squirrel’s wounds, Andersen made his new housemate some tiny sweaters and socks to prevent him from scratching his wounds.
Then Tintin---named after the movie his children were watching, “The Adventure of Tintin”---got so used to his cozy home life during his convalescence that the family soon realized they couldn’t release him back into the wild, especially since he now had no fear of cats! Feeding him kitten milk from a bottle until Tintin grew strong enough to crack nuts on his own, Andersen received special permission from Danish Wildlife Preservation officials to keep the red squirrel, since they are considered endangered in Denmark and several other countries.
Using a little harness(甲胄) and leash(安全绳) to protect Tintin from the dogs, eagles and cats that weren’t as tolerant of squirrels as Coco, Andersen began taking his little pet everywhere he went, documenting their adventures on Facebook and Instagram, where they now have almost 40, 0000 followers.
“With so much negativity in the world, I thought it could help lift people up,” Andersen said. “Most people who meet us feel amazed and want to know more. He makes people forget about their troubles for a moment so they can laugh and smile. He’s certainly brought light and enjoyment to me and my family. We have a special bond and are pretty much together, 24/7. ”
1.How did Andersen respond to the injured squirrel at first?
A.He left it as it was
B.He called wildlife officials
C.He went to rescue it right away
D.He hid himself in his apartment
2.What does the underlined word “convalescence” in paragraph 3 mean?
A.Immigration B.Catastrophe
C.Recovery D.Survival
3.What can be inferred about red squirrel in the passage?
A.They are uncommon in Denmark
B.It is generally forbidden to keep them
C.It is hard for them to coexist with humans
D.They can keep on good terms with wildcats
4.What does Andersen think of the relationship with Tintin?
A.It is annoying B.It is discouraging
C.It is solid D.It is uplifting
New Scientist Live
What is it?
New Scientist Live is the world’s greatest science festival, which has won gold in the “event of the year” category at the British Media Awards three years in a row. This year’s event will run at the ExCel Center in London from 10 to 13 October, featuring over 140 talks and a huge range of interactive experiences, workshops and performances.
Who are the speakers?
The main stage lineup features such amazing names as Lee Berger, the discoverer of our ancient human relatives Homo Naledi, biological anthropologist Alice Roberts, the Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, and Christiana Figueres, who led the United Nations climate negotiations from 2012 to 2016.
Then there are 5 more stages with different themes: universe, humans, Earth, technology and engineering. Here you’ll find architect Roma Agrawal, geneticist Giles Yeo, ocean explorer Jon Copley, engineer Mark Miodownik and many more. Plus, you can see TV stars like Konnie Huq and Maddie Moate on our performance stage.
What else is going on?
On top of that, there’re over 150 exhibits including a virtual reality roller coaster, rocket building, the operating room of the future, and a huge moon installation.
Can school groups come?
Absolutely—we have schools’ tickets available on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 October. On Thursday we have a special schools’ program with dedicated content around the curriculum.
Can I come just for the evening?
Yes—On Friday 11 October, we’re open until 9 pm. Friday night tickets allow access from 5 pm onwards for drinks, discussions and after-dark entertainment, like Julia Shaw’s talk on the science of evil.
How can I get tickets?
Head over to the New Scientist Live website—you’ll find much more information there about what’s on and how to get there.
1.How can you benefit from the event?
A.Make friends with many visitors present
B.Have chances to interview many famous stars
C.Learn about different fields of scientific knowledge
D.Develop special habits of making scientific discoveries
2.What do you have to do to attend the festival?
A.Buy a ticket online
B.Join a school group
C.Make an appointment with the speakers
D.Arrive at the ExCel Center in advance
3.When can you listen to Julia Shaw’s presentation?
A.On Oct 10 B.On Oct 11
C.On Oct 12 D.On Oct 13
71请根据下面提供的信息，简要介绍我国大运河。词数80左右。
◆the longest canal in the world
◆runs from Beijing to Hangzhou
◆covers a distance of nearly 1,800 kilometers
◆joins five rivers including the Yellow River and the Yangtze River
◆built in Ad 605, making the journey from the north to the south more direct
◆still plays an important role in travel today
◆every day, ships go up and down the canal, carrying things between the north and the south
The grand canal
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下列句子中各有一处语言错误，请把错误改正，其他部分不得改动。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（∧），并在右边横线上写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉，并在右边横线上写出该词，也用斜线划掉。
修改：在错误的词下划一横线，并在右边橫线上写出改正后的词。
1.That I can pay back the help make me happy.
2.She had a feeling that she was being watched by an tall man.
3.The position of the user can worked out at any time.
4.Either the team leader or the guides is looking after the students.
5.I asked Wang Hua that why he hadn't shown me the data earlier.
