In the story of “The crow and the Pitcher” from Aesop’s Fables, a thisty crow (乌鸦)drops stones into a narrow jar to raise the low level of water inside so he can take a drink.
Now scientists have evidence to back up that story. Crows actually do understand how to make water displacement (移位) work to their advantage, experiments show. The results suggest that the birds are, at least in some aspects, as smart as first-graders.
Researchers, led by Sarah Jelbert at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, presented six crows with tubes filled with water. Inside the tubes, a worm or piece of meat on a piece of wood was floating, just out of reach of the crow. In front of the tubes, the researchers arranged several rubber erasers that would sink, and some plastic objects that would float. The crows found out that they could drop the erasers into the tubes in order to raise the water level and get their snack.
However, the birds handled awkwardly in experiments in which they could choose to drop objects in either a wide tube or a narrow one to get a snack, the researchers said. Dropping objects into narrow tube would lift the water level by a greater amount and put the treat within reach after just two drops; while it took around seven drops to raise the snack to the same level in the wide tube. The crows obviously didn’t realize this, and most of them went for the wide tube first.
Previous studies showed that chimps and human children can solve similar tasks. In a 2011 study, chimps and kids found out that they could put water into a tube to reach a peanut that was floating in a small amount of water at the bottom.
1.How did the crows get the snack in Sarah’s experiment?
A.By breaking the tube.
B.By dropping in erasers.
C.By standing on the wood.
D.By removing the wood.
2.What does the author mean by “the birds handled awkwardly” in paragraph 4?
A.They were unable to tell different shapes.
B.They dropped objects only into narrow tubes.
C.They were not aware of the snack at first sight.
D.They mostly avoided the easier way to get the snack.
3.What does the text mainly focus on?
A.Stories of Aesop’s Fables.
B.The development of crows.
C.Crows’ intelligence.
D.Human-animal communication.
4.What can we learn from the passage?
A.Crows are almost as clever as first-graders in some respects.
B.Crows understand water displacement completely.
C.Chimps and children are much smarter than crows.
D.The story of “The crow and the Pitcher” lacks evidence.
Young trees don’t just grow; they develop a personality and learn more about their environment and how they should best behave in it. They also help each other out whenever there’s trouble.
Personality, just as among people, varies among trees. Some are anxious, some bold. On the author’s land, there are three oak trees growing close together. One of the oak trees always starts to shed its leaves two weeks earlier than the others. Since they all experience the same temperature, the same soil and the same length of day, such variables can’t be the explanation. So what’s happening? Well, this tree is simply more careful than the others. Whoever holds on to their leaves longer can do more photosynthesis(光合作用) and store more nutrients. However, the longer a tree keeps its leaves, the higher the risk of injury.
Not only do trees make their own decisions, they also learn from their mistakes. A tree, for example, keeping its leaves too long during one year will never make this mistake again. This leads to several other conclusions:trees must notice the temperature and the length of the day and be able to save their experiences somewhere. Obviously, trees don’t have brains, but it is thought that in the sensitive tips of their roots they keep track of information and experiences.
But trees aren’t only clever when it comes to caring for themselves. They also support each other whenever there’s trouble by giving warnings and even taking care of sick and weak conspecifics with nutrients. For example, one time the author found a very old tree stump. Its insides had rotted a long time ago to topsoil. But the wood on the outside of the stump was still living. How was this possible? Well, the stump was nourished by its neighbors with nutrients from the root system, and had been for at least 400 years!
Why do trees do such a thing？It’s simple: it’s better together. Trees need the forest; it protects them from storms, provides the right microclimate and warns them of attacks.
1.Why does the author mention the three oak trees?
A.To illustrate trees can learn from experiences.
B.To show trees can make independent decisions.
C.To explain trees are quite supportive to each other.
D.To prove trees have the same personalities as humans.
2.According to the text, which of the following best describes general features of trees?
A.Anxious and bold.
B.Smart and adventurous.
C.Helpful and wellbehaved.
D.Adaptable and supportive.
3.What does the underlined phrase “do such a thing” mean?
A.Give warnings. B.Offer assistance.
C.Depend on others. D.Provide nutrients.
4.Where does this text most probably come from?
A.A public lecture. B.A science book.
C.An experiment report. D.A travel journal.
When I was three years old, I couldn’t speak. It was a strange reality that none of the doctors I visited could understand.
One day, I was shadowing（跟随）my mother. She found herself looking in a mirror, and through it our eyes met. She began to speak to me through the reflection, and I slowly began to mimic（模仿）her mouth’s movements until I formed a word.
It turned out I’m deaf in my left ear, and have a slight problem in my right. Being hard of hearing has been difficult, but I’ve never lived in a state of self-hating sorrow.
Imagine being able to shut out all sound as you lay your head down to sleep by simply rolling over onto one side. That’s my reality when I sleep on my “good ear”, and it makes me feel like a superhero sometimes.
People call my deaf side my “bad ear”, but when I wear my hearing aid, I have access to a range of features that some other deaf people don’t. In cinemas, for example, with one click of a button I can enjoy a whole film as though it were whispered to me from the mouths of the actors.
Owning a hearing aid hasn’t always felt good, however. On the first day I got my aid, when I was eight, I took it to school for show-and-tell. As I explained how it worked to my classmates, a boy yelled out, “Aren’t those for old men?” At that moment, I felt different. It took me a long time to get over that sense of being so unlike my peers.
But it’s not just school kids who can make us deaf and hard-of-hearing people feel like burdens. Every video on social media that lacks subtitles（字幕）, for example, means an entire community of deaf people is unable to enjoy it. Completely deaf people are excluded from enjoying many movies too, as subtitles in cinemas are almost impossible to find.
And with hearing aids costing around $2,500 each, it can be hard for many people to afford to be able to listen to the things that others take for granted. As for me, I can listen to music, enjoy films, and catch conversations – I’m lucky. I’m deaf, but I can still hear everything. I’ve been blessed with wonderful life experiences, and I am human. And when it comes to sleeping, I’m even superhuman.
1.How does the author view his hearing difficulty?
A. It’s a disaster and causes him a lot of trouble.
B. It gave him a chance to experience something special.
C. It made him feel embarrassed in front of his classmates.
D. It helped him to live in his own world without being interrupted.
2.What can be inferred from the passage about the author?
A. He was born deaf.
B. He is optimistic and helpful.
C. The hearing aid brings convenience to his daily life.
D. His family and classmates have supported him a lot.
3.What is the author’s attitude toward his life？
A. Excited.
B. Anxious.
C. Grateful.
D. Disappointed.
4.What is the author’s main purpose in writing the article?
A. To give advice on life to disabled people.
B. To show how difficult life is for disabled people.
C. To show the convenience a hearing aid could bring.
D. To share his experience of treating a disadvantage with gratitude.
Some of the best cycling routes in the world pass through its most beautiful scenery. Here are some of world’s best bike routes for cyclists who either are up for breaking a good sweat or simply seeing the world without leaving an ugly carbon footprint behind.
The Great Windy Road, Victoria, Australia
If you like a challenge, take on this 243-kilometer windy road along Australia’s south-eastern coast. If a day is all you’ve got, take the 60-kilometer route from Torquay to Bells Beach. There you’ll cycle through rural farmland, enjoy the sweeping ocean views from cliff tops, and snake past the wetlands around Lake Connewarre.
Udaipur City Tour, Rajasthan, India
Biking is arguably the best way to explore Udaipur, Venice of the East.
Cyclists often need to cycle past herdsmen and their goats and camels, sharing narrow, old pavements in this romantic place. But surrounded by ancient castles, temples and grand palaces, Udaipur brings about one of the best biking experiences, allowing cyclists to truly discover rural India.
The Karakoram Highway, China-Pakistan
The Karakoram Highway is the highest international road in the world, reaching an altitude of 4,700 meters at the Khunjerab Pass. Starting in Kashgar, China, cyclists can travel up to 1,200 kilometers on mostly unpaved roads, but the views are as breathtaking as the riding.
Route of the Hiawatha, Idaho-Montana, United States
Take your family out to Montana this summer and cycle along the most scenic disused railroad in the country. The railroad turned bike trail turns into 24 kilometers of leisure biking that takes you over seven trestles(高架桥) and through 10 tunnels, with the longest one, the Taft Tunnel, stretching for 2.7 kilometers.
1.In which tour can you enjoy the seaside scenery?
A.The Great Windy Road. B.Udaipr City Tour.
C.The Karakoram Highway. D.Route of the Hiawatha.
2.What can you do on the Udaipur city tour?
A.Go to Venice. B.Feed wild animals.
C.Visit cultural relics. D.Enjoy modern architectures.
3.What’s special about the Karakoram Highway?
A.It is a totally undeveloped route. B.It goes along an abandoned railway.
C.It owns the longest tunnel in the world. D.It lies higher than other international roads.
你校正在组织英语作文比赛。请以身边值得尊敬和爱戴的人为题，写一篇短文参赛，内容包括:
1. 人物简介；
2. 尊敬和爱戴的原因。
注意:
1. 词数100左右；
2. 短文题目和首句已为你写好。
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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。
Today I tried cooking a simply dish myself. I like eating frying tomatoes with eggs, and I thought it must to be easy to cook. My mom told me how to preparing it. First I cut the tomatoes into pieces but put them aside. Next I broke the eggs into a bowl and beat them quickly with chopstick. After that I poured oil into a pan and turned off the stove， I waited patiently unless the oil was hot. Then I put the tomatoes and the beaten eggs into pan together. ＂Not that way，＂ my mom tried to stop us but failed. She was right. It didn’t tum out as I had wished.
