An international team of researchers from the University of Oxford have found that the way people use the Internet is closely tied to the seasonal movements in the natural world. Their online species searches follow the patterns of seasonal animal migrations (迁徙).
Migratory birds (候鸟) flood back to where they reproduce every spring. That migratory behavior is accompanied by some human behavior. “In English-language Wikipedia (维基百科), the online searches for migratory species tend to increase in spring when those birds arrive in the United States,” said the lead author John Mittermeier.
And not just birds. Mittermeier and his team surveyed nearly 2.5 billion Wikipedia search records, for 32,000 species, across 245 languages. They also saw variable search rates for insects, horsetails and flowering plants. Seasonal trends seemed to be widespread in Wikipedia behavior for many species of plants and animals.
This finding suggests new ways to monitor changes in the world’s biological diversity. It also shows new ways to see how much people care about nature, and which species and areas might be the most effective targets for conservation.
Mittermeier is encouraged by the search results. He commented, “I think there’s a concern among conservationists (生态环境保护者) that people are losing touch with the natural world and that they’re not interacting with native species anymore. And so in that sense, it was really exciting and quite unexpected for me to see people’s Wikipedia interest closely related to changes in nature.”
Richard Grenyer, Associate Professor from the University of Oxford, says search data is useful to conservation biologists, “By using these big data approaches, we can direct our attention towards the difficult questions in modern conservation: which species and areas are changing, and where are the people who care the most and can do the most to help.”
1.What have researchers found about species searches?
A. They strengthen ties among people.
B. They affect the animal movements.
C. They differ in language backgrounds.
D. They reflect animal migration seasons.
2.What is the purpose of writing Paragraph 3?
A. To summarize the research process.
B. To further support the research findings.
C. To show the variety of species searches.
D. To present researchers’ heavy work load.
3.How does Mittermeier feel about the search results?
A. Satisfied with Wikipedia’s service.
B. Worried about Wikipedia behavior.
C. Amazed at people’s care about nature.
D. Sad about people’s not getting close to nature.
4.Why does Richard think such search data is useful?
A. It helps to aim at conservation targets.
B. It increases interest in big data approaches.
C. It keeps track of trends in biologists’work.
D. It pushes people to solve difficult problems.
I visited Elba last June, joining Mary and John on a bicycling vacation. They made the arrangements for the car, hotel and bicycles. I studied the history of the island, which of course particularly features Napoleon.
Napoleon (now I know) picked Elba as a place for peace when he was forced to give up the throne (王权) as Emperor of France in 1814. Far from being a prison island, Elba is beautiful with towering mountains, thick forests and sweeping bays and beaches.
It is also an island filled with treasure. Very early on this island, locals discovered rich deposits of iron. Soon outsiders, too, discovered the iron and 150 other valuable minerals on this little piece of land. Long before Etruscans and other Greeks set foot on it, Dorians had moved in by the tenth century B. C. and were mining the island. The Romans ruled next, obtaining the minerals and building grand houses overlooking the sea. From the twelfth century until the nineteenth, the island was traded back and forth and was passed to France in 1802. Then came Napoleon, the new ruler of Elba.
I was eager to visit his house in Portoferraio. The Emperor lived with his court and his mother, but his wife, Marie Louise had ensconced herself in the splendid Viennese palace of her father, Emperor of Austria. She lived safely there and showed little interest in visiting her husband in his mini-kingdom. Apparently, Napoleon wasn’t troubled much by this. He was too busy riding everywhere on horseback, building roads, modernizing agriculture and, above all, sharpening his tiny army and navy into readiness for his escape.
In the formal gardens behind the house it seemed to me that I could imagine the exiled (流放的) conqueror’s anxious thoughts. He might gaze over where I stood now, toward the lighthouse of the Stella fort, the sandy bay, and across it, the green mountains of the Tuscan coast. Napoleon spent only ten months here before making his victorious return to France and the throne.
1.What did the author do for the visit to Elba?
A. He did research on its past.
B. He arranged transportation.
C. He planned bicycling routes.
D. He booked accommodation.
2.Who might be the earliest outsiders to Elba according to the text?
A. Napoleon and his army. B. Etruscans and other Greeks.
C. Dorians. D. Romans.
3.What does the underlined word “ensconced” probably mean?
A. Settled. B. Locked.
C. Cured. D. Controlled.
4.What came to the author’s mind during his visit to Napoleon’s gardens?
A. Beautiful views on Elba.
B. Terrible living conditions on Elba.
C. Napoleon’s ambition to regain power.
D. Hardship of Napoleon’s return to France.
Almost none of us have the time to read everything we’d like to read. Yet we lose countless hours to daily activities that bring us little joy like taking buses and waiting in line. What if we could turn these little blocks of unoccupied time into precious and rewarding moments for learning and reflection?
Founded in 2012, iReader, a micro-learning app on mobile phones, brings the biggest ideas from best-selling books through 15-minute audio (音频) and text. So far, more than 3,000 books have been included, ranging from psychology and parenting to management and economics, with new titles added every day.
Reader is pioneering a new method of reading, with over 9 million users enjoying the benefits already. According to the Pew Research Center (PRC), the British read just 4 paper books a year and over 25% haven’t read a single paper book this year, but reading isn’t dying. There are now more ways for the British to read than ever before, due to the widespread use of e-books and audio books.
The books in iReader are rewritten to ensure it is easy to remember the main content. The way the content is edited has been specifically designed to ensure it is useful in practice. Besides, the content is rewritten with relevant examples in real life, which means users are more likely to remember and apply what is helpful to them.
Holger Seim, German co-founder of this app, declares, “iReader gives you the biggest ideas in the shortest possible time. It transforms great ideas into little packs you can listen to or read in just 15 minutes.”
1.What does the author suggest people do in the unoccupied time?
A. Read and think.
B. Write and share.
C. Avoid taking buses.
D. Bring joy to daily routines.
2.What can we infer from the PRC findings?
A. The British benefit a lot from reading.
B. Reading methods are more important than before.
C. Digital technology are taking the place of paper books.
D. New forms of books are changing the way the British read.
3.How does iReader make the content easy to remember?
A. By bringing fun to it.
B. By making it useful.
C. By using artistic designs.
D. By taking users as examples.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A. iReader Prevents Reading from Dying
B. iReader Unites Worldwide Book-lovers
C. iReader: The Best New App Creation
D. iReader: Big Ideas in Small Packages
Smart Kids Festival Events
Smart Kids is a collection of one hundred events scheduled in October. This year, it is experimenting with Pay What You Decide (PWYD). That is, you can decide to pay what you want to or can afford, after you have attended an event. You can pre-book events without paying for a ticket in advance. Here are some of the director’s picks.
Walk on the Wild Side
Not ticketed, Free
Join storyteller Sarah Law to hear science stories about animals. Along the way you’ll meet all sorts of beautiful creatures and discover life cycles and food chains. Best suited to children aged 5-9. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult.
Introduction to Waves
Pre-book, PWYD
Subjects range from sound waves to gravity waves, and from waves of light to crashing waves on the ocean. Mike Goldsmith explores the fundamental features shared by all waves in the natural world.
Science in the Field
Not ticketed, Free
This storytelling night features a scientist sharing his favourite memories of gathering first-hand data on various field trips. Come along for inspiring and informative stories straight from the scientist’s mouth. Join Mark Samuels to find out more in this fun-filled workshop.
Festival Dinner
Pre-book, £25 per person
Whether you want to explore more about food, or just fancy a talk over a meal, join us to mark the first science festival in London. Which foods should you eat to trick your brain into thinking that you are full? Find out more from Tom Crawford.
1.In which event can you decide the payment?
A. Walk on the Wild Side
B. Introduction to Waves
C. Science in the Field
D. Festival Dinner
2.Who will talk about experiences of collecting direct data?
A. Sarah Law.
B. Mike Goldsmith.
C. Mark Samuels.
D. Tom Crawford.
3.What do the four events have in common?
A. Family-based.
B. Science-themed.
C. Picked by children.
D. Filled with adventures.
假设你是高三学生李华，想去美国的一所大学学习，因此要给该校负责人写一封信。
要点如下：1. 告知你喜欢的专业及原因；
2. 询问如何能被录取；
3. 其他方面的情况。
注意：1. 词数100词左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Sir/Madam,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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（A），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：在错的词下画一横线，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。
Bad eating habits can destroy our health. There are a lot of bad eating habits in our life. For example，watching television while have meals is bad for our health. Doing this mean you don't pay attention to your food，forget what full you are，and often eat too much. Another example is having drinks rather than water. Drinks are usually highly in calorie and sugar，that can cause weight problems. Water is important. It makes your brain cell and every organ in your body to work properly. And eating in front of the computer and staying there after meals may also do harm with our health. For benefit of our health，we should get rid of both of these bad eating habits.
