Question

    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

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章主要说明了一种名为斑姬鹟的鸟类，巢穴被大山雀占据了。这些大山雀不只是追逐捕斑姬鹟——它们攻击它们，杀死它们，吃掉它们的大脑。文章说明了产生这一现象原因，以及人们为了避免斑姬鹟被大山雀杀死所采取的一些措施和看法。

1.

细节理解题。根据第一段中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.可知但最近，一些斑姬鹟来到这里，却发现它们的巢穴被大山雀占据了。这些鸟不只是追逐捕斑姬鹟——它们攻击它们，杀死它们，吃掉它们的大脑。由此可知，最近斑姬鹟的生命已经受到另一种鸟类的威胁。故选D。

2.

细节理解题。根据第二段中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.可知自20世纪80年代以来，斑姬鹟的繁殖季节一直在4月份的早些时候缓慢开始。温暖的春天导致毛虫数量激增。为了适应这种情况，斑姬鹟也会提前一点到达。这不是太大的问题。但是现在，山雀把它们的繁殖期推迟到了四月份，所以它们和斑姬鹟重叠，暴力开始了。结合选项可知，A选项“斑姬鹟迁徙的变化”是引起了斑姬鹟和大山雀之间发生暴力的原因之一。故选A。

3.

推理判断题。根据第三段中Unfriendly hosts—the tits, eat their brains.可知不友好的主人——大山雀，吃掉它们的大脑。以及倒数第二段中“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. ”可知一项研究的主要作者Jelmer Samplonius说：“在战斗中，大山雀是更强的竞争者。人们把它看作是一种可爱的花园鸟，但它们中的一些确实有控制愤怒的问题。”由此可推知，大山雀很具有攻击性，并不友好。故选C。

4.

主旨大意题。根据第一段中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.可知但最近，一些斑姬鹟来到这里，却发现它们的巢穴被大山雀占据了。这些鸟不只是追逐捕斑姬鹟——它们攻击它们，杀死它们，吃掉它们的大脑。结合文章还说明了产生这一现象原因，以及人们为了避免斑姬鹟被大山雀杀死所采取的一些措施和看法。由此可知，A选项“一个可怕的杀鸟凶手”最符合文章标题。故选A。