Grasshoppers are having to change their song — one of the iconic sounds of summer — to make themselves heard above the noise of road traffic, ecologists have discovered. The study, published in the British Ecological Society's journal Functional Ecology, is the first to show that human-made noise affects natural insect populations. Animals use sound to communicate for many reasons, including marking out territory, warning of predators and finding mates, and although previous research shows birds, whales and even frogs change their calls in noisy environments, the impact of human-made noise on insects has been neglected until now. Ulrike Lampe and colleagues from the University of Bielefeld in Germany caught 188 male bow-winged grasshoppers, half from quiet locations and half from beside busy roads. The grasshoppers use their song to attract mates.
The team then studied the differences in the two groups' songs in the laboratory. To encourage them to sing they exposed the males to a female grasshopper, and then recorded their courtship songs. Analysis of almost 1,000 recordings revealed grasshoppers living beside noisy roads produced different songs to those living in quieter locations.
According to Lampe: "Bow-winged grasshoppers produce songs that include low and high frequency components. We found that grasshoppers from noisy habitats increase the volume of the lower-frequency part of their song, which makes sense since road noise can mask signals in this part of the frequency spectrum(频谱)."
The team's findings are important because traffic noise could be upsetting the grasshopper's mating system(交配系统). "Increased noise levels could affect grasshopper courtship in several ways. It could prevent females from hearing male courtship songs properly, prevent females from recognizing males of their own species, or impair females' ability to estimate how attractive a male is from his song," Lampe explains.
Having discovered that human-made noise affects insect communication, the researchers now want to learn more about how the mechanism works, and whether the grasshoppers adapt to noise during their development as larvae（幼虫）, or whether males from noisy habitats produce different songs due to genetic differences.
The bow-winged grasshopper is a common species in Central Europe. Adults occur mainly between July and September, preferring dry grasslands. Around 1.5 cm long, they vary in colour from green and browns to red and purple. The male's song consists of 2 second-long phrases that increase in amplitude (振幅) towards the end. The beginning of a phrase is characterized by slower ticking sounds that increase in speed and amplitude, leading to a buzzing sound towards the end of the phrase. A courtship song usually includes 2 phrases.
1.The author wrote the article to _________________.
A. introduce how grasshoppers make noises to attract mates.
B. raise the awareness of protecting bow-winged grasshoppers.
C. inform us of a recent discovery of ecological research.
D. warn us that human-made noise has changed ecological system.
2.Which of the following could be the main idea of the passage?
A. Bow-winged grasshoppers use their songs to communicate.
B. Grasshoppers change their songs to adapt to the noisy environment.
C. Grasshoppers’ songs include both low and high frequency components.
D. Bow-winged grasshoppers are a common species in Central Europe.
3.What does the underlined word “impair” in the fourth paragraph mean?
A. repair B. develop
C. weaken D. improve
4.Which of the following statements is true according the passage?
A. Road noise can cover the lower-frequency part of their song.
B. Animals make sounds only for the purpose of finding mates.
C. Grasshopper larvae learn to adapt to human-made noise.
D. Bow-winged grasshoppers grow up into adults in spring.
Since 2004，Time magazine has six times made a survey to name the l00 most influential people in the world．Only one person has appeared on it for six times, Oprah Winfrey．
Born in l954 in Mississippi，Oprah Winfrey spent her early years living in poverty with her grandmother and later her absent mother, followed by unfair treatment by her unfriendly relatives．Worse still，she was addicted to drugs and at the young age of l4，she gave birth to a baby, who died after a few months．Finally she was sent to live with her strict father in Tennessee. Amazingly though，her father’s rules did make sure she received a good education and finally overcame her problems．
Oprah’s media career began at age l7．She became the co-author of local news in Baltimore in her early 20’s．Her first local talk show, People Are Talking, was first performed in l978，when she was 24．
In l986，Oprah moved to Chicago to host a low-rated half-hour morning talk show, AM Chicago．Oprah talks like a family member in your and my house．Within months she took over，the show became the highest-rated talk show in Chicago．It was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show．
Only two years after hosting the show, she was able to set up her own production company Harpo, and buy the full rights to The Oprah Winfery Show．She is also involved in magazine publishing，book
s，education and a lifestyle channel for women with the aim of improving people’s lives, inspiring and praising good honest values，making the world a better place for present and future generations．
As her business grew, so did her wealth and power, and she became the first ever black billionaire in 2003 and the most powerful woman in media broadcasting．The amazing influence she has over a large part of the American public means that anything she promotes on her shows is guaranteed to succeed.
1.What do we know about Oprah’s childhood?
A．She lived with her mother for 14 years．
B．She married young and brought up a baby．
C．she lacked concern and care．
D．She couldn’t stand her father's rules．
2.Why was The Oprah Winfrey Show so popular?
A．Oprah was very famous in the world．B．Oprah talked in a family way in the show．
C．Oprah was the co-author of the show．D．Oprah had the full rights to the show．
3.Which of the following is true according to the text?
A．Oprah Winfrey was the most influential woman in America．
B．Oprah Winfrey hosted her first local talk show in her 20’s．
C．AM Chicago became the highest-rated immediately after Oprah hosted it.
D．Oprah Winfrey was the first billionaire in media broadcasting．
4.What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?
A．Oprah was a quite successful woman．
B：Oprah aimed to be wealthy and powerful．
C．What Oprah promoted was sure to succeed．
D．Oprah became the most influential woman．
WASHINGTON The head of the World Bank says for the first time in human history, it is possible to end poverty around the world. Jim Yong Kim told a Washington audience Tuesday, he wants to make ending world poverty by 2030 a top goal for the bank and governments around the world.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim says that the problems of poverty, hunger and inequality are wide, urgent and a matter of survival of millions.
“We know that despite the great successes of the last decade, there are still about 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty, 870 million who go hungry every day, and 6.9 million children under five dying every year,” he said.
But Kim told a Washington audience that the previous successful efforts to cut the number of people living in extreme poverty by half give them hope.
“We are at an auspicious moment in history, when the successes of past decades and an increasingly favourable economic outlook combine to give developing countries a chance－for the first time ever－to end extreme poverty within a generation,” he said in a speech at Georgetown University. “Our duty now must be to ensure that these favourable circumstances are matched with deliberate decisions to realize this historic opportunity.”
Kim says success will require increasing the speed of economic growth, particularly in South Africa and South Asia.
But he warned that civil unrest could happen if economic growth does not help people at all income levels, and also include women and youth．
Kim says that the World Bank and other development agencies will have more resources to get this job done right. “Meeting this 2030 goal will take extraordinary effort,” he said.
However, Kim warned that all the progress in fighting poverty could be destroyed by climate disasters unless the nations of the world do more to prevent climate change.
1.In the opinion of Jim Yong Kim, world poverty _____．
A. is difficult but hopeful to end by 2030
B. exists only in Africa and Asia
C. is not quite hard to end by 2030
D. will be sure to disappear by 2030
2.Which of the following gives Jim Yong Kim the hope to end world poverty?
A.Economic growth is increasing in developing countries．
B.Great successes have been achieved in science and technology．
C.A decreasing number of people are living in poverty．
D.All countries have started to fight poverty．
3.The underlined word "auspicious" in Paragraph 5 most probably means "_____"．
A. unforgettable B. lucky
C. disappearing D. important
4.What’s the passage mainly about?
A.The key of ending world poverty is preventing climate change.
B.A top goal－ending world poverty will possibly be achieved by 2030.
C.The success of ending poverty－economic growth.
D.The progress in fighting poverty.
My parents had always prepared for hurricanes. It is what people do in Florida because “you never know”. For us, that a white metal cabinet (储藏柜) in our utility room (杂用间) filled with cans of food. We could eat anything out of the cabinet because “you never know” when a hurricane will come.
As a kid, I was about the white cabinet. I thought it was kind of strange to have food in the utility room. But, one look from my mother me from opening the door to glance inside.
One year, Channel 4 reported that Hurricane Dora was for the northern part of Florida. Soon the storm got and the wind blew. Then, the tall pine trees started to sway. And, “sway”, I meant “ fall over or crash down on anything in their way”. We were lucky, as the went other directions and didn’t take our power out.
However, when my mother started cooking, the power was out. I calculated it was time to crack open that white cabinet. But, Dad thought it was time to up the charcoal grill（烧烤架 ） outside where it was raining and windy. To this day, I never a man’s love for his grill.
Our power came back for a while. So, my mother began cooking everything she could and it away, to the neighbors, to friends without power, to anyone with . I was hoping that the fried chicken was going to find its way to our . But, it didn’t. And, just as the last of the food was sent out and she began to work on our dinner, yes, we lost our . It was time for 20 minutes’ eggs on the grill.
Oh, the white metal cabinet. No. We never it. We weren’t “that bad off” as I understand it. And, for years I how bad off we would have to be to eat out of that cabinet. Perhaps it was just the of it, the thought that it was there watching our backs we wanted a can of beans or some potted meat. I don’t know if that was what was in there. Anyway, I never looked inside.
1.A. braveB. seriousC. generousD. smart
2.A. said B. meantC. showedD. presented
3.A. forever B. alwaysC. never D. ever
4.A. doubtfulB. concernedC. anxiousD. curious
5.A. banned B. keptC. defendedD. protected
6.A. reachingB. lookingC. headingD. going
7.A. round B. downC. farD. close
8.A. by B. withC. forD. to
9.A. wallsB. polesC. treesD. bushes
10.A. YetB. OtherwiseC. NeverthelessD. So
11.A. startB. useC. breakD. hold
12.A. questionB. mentionC. investigateD. appreciate
13.A. puttingB. turningC. giving D. clearing
14.A. loveB. powerC. diligenceD. difficulty
15.A. cupboardB. roomC. bedD. table
16.A. foodB. powerC. waterD. money
17.A. openedB. lockedC. fixedD. cleaned
18.A. examinedB. analyzedC. wonderedD. imagined
19.A. purposeB. problemC. thoughtD. conclusion
20.A. whereverB. wheneverC. howeverD. whatever
－Jack, how can I turn on this ipod?
－__________.
A. Allow me! B. So what?
C. Hold on. D. Nothing much.
Clean water ______the village people in the flooded area.
A. is not easily accessible to B. has no easy access to
C. is not easily accessible for D. has no easy access for
