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(頻譜)."
The team's findings are important because traffic noise could be upsetting the grasshopper's mating system(交配系統(tǒng)). "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（幼蟲）, 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.
【小題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. |
| 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. |
| A．repair | B．develop |
| C．weaken | D．improve |
| 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. |
【小題1】C
【小題2】B
【小題3】C
【小題4】A
解析試題分析：這篇文章主要是告訴我們生態(tài)學(xué)研究的最新發(fā)現(xiàn)，蚱蜢為了適應(yīng)嘈雜的環(huán)境會改變聲音。
【小題1】寫作意圖題：根據(jù)第一段的句子：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. 可知作者寫這篇文章主要是告訴我們生態(tài)學(xué)研究的最新發(fā)現(xiàn)，所以選C。
【小題2】主旨題：根據(jù)文章的內(nèi)容和第一段的句子：Grasshoppers are having to change their song — one of the iconic sounds of summer — to make themselves heard above the noise of road traffic,可知這篇文章的主要內(nèi)容是蚱蜢為了適應(yīng)嘈雜的環(huán)境會改變聲音，所以選B。
【小題3】猜詞題：根據(jù)第四段的句子：It could prevent females from hearing male courtship songs properly, prevent females from recognizing males of their own species,和prevent這樣的詞并列，可知“impair”的意思是“削弱”的意思，所以選C。
【小題4】細(xì)節(jié)題：根據(jù)第三段的句子：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(頻譜)."可知公路上的噪音會覆蓋它們歌聲中的低頻部分，所以選A。
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
I have only once been in trouble with the law．The whole process of being arrested and taken to court was a rather unpleasant experience at the time, but it makes a good story now． What makes it rather disturbing was the arbitrary（隨意的）circumstances both of my arrest and my subsequent （隨后的） fate in court．
It happened in February about twelve years ago．I had left school a couple of months before that and was not due to go to university until the following October．I was still living at home at the time．
One morning I was in Richmond, a suburb of London near where I lived．I was looking for a temporary job so that I could save up some money to go traveling．As it was a fine day and I was in no hurry, I was taking my time, looking in shop windows, strolling in the park, and sometimes just stopping and looking around me．It must have been this obvious aimlessness that led to my downfall．
It was about half past eleven when it happened．I was just walking out of the local library, having unsuccessfully sought employment there, when I saw a man walking across the road with the obvious intention of talking to me．I thought he was going to ask me the time．Instead, he said he was a police officer and he was arresting me．At first I thought it was some kind of joke
But then another policeman appeared, this time in uniform, and I was left in no doubt．
'But what for?" I asked
‘Wandering with intent to commit an arrestable offence,' he said．
‘What offence?' I asked
'Theft,' he said
'Theft of what?'I asked
'Milk bottles,' he said, and with a perfectly straight face too!
'Oh,' I said．
It turned out there had been a lot of petty thefts in the area, particularly that of stealing milk bottles from doorsteps．
Then I made my big mistake．At the time I was nineteen, had long untidy hair, and regarded myself as pan of the sixties' 'youth counterculture'．As a result, I wanted to appear cool and unconcerned with the incident, so I said, 'How long have you been following me? in the most casual and conversational tone I could manage．I thus appeared to them to be quite familiar with this sort of situation, and it confirmed them in their belief that I was a thoroughly disreputable （品行不端的） character．
A few minutes later a police car arrived．
'Get in the back,' they said．'Put your hands on the back of the front seat and don't move them．'
They got in on either side of me．It wasn't funny any more．
At the police station they questioned me for several hours．I continued to try to look worldly and familiar with the situation．When they asked me what I had been doing, I told them I'd been looking for a job．'Aha,' I could see them thinking, 'unemployed'．
Eventually, I was officially charged and told to report to Richmond Magistrates' Court the following Monday．Then they let me go．
I wanted to conduct my own defense in court, but as soon as my father found out what had happened, he hired a very good solicitor （律師）．We went along that Monday armed with all kinds of witnesses, including my English teacher from school as a character witness．But he was never called on to give evidence．My 'trial' didn't get that far．The magistrate （法官） dismissed the case after fifteen minutes．1 was free．The poor police had never stood a chance．The solicitor even succeeded in getting costs awarded against the police．
And so I do not have a criminal record．But what was most shocking at the time was the things my release from the charge so clearly depended on．I had the 'right' accent, respectable middle-class parents in court, reliable witnesses, and I could obviously afford a very good solicitor．Given the obscure nature of the charge．I feel sure that if I had come from a different background, and had really been unemployed, there is every chance that I would have been found guilty．While asking for costs to be awarded, my solicitor's case quite obviously revolved （回轉(zhuǎn)） around the fact that I had a 'brilliant academic record'．
Meanwhile, just outside the courtroom, one of the policemen who had arrested me was gloomily complaining to my mother that another youngster had been turned against the police． 'You could have been a bit more helpful when we arrested you,' he said to me reproachfully （責(zé)備地）．
What did he mean? Probably that I should have looked outraged （暴怒）and said something like, 'Look here, do you know who you're talking to? I am a highly successful student with a brilliant academic record．How dare you arrest me!' Then they, probably, would have apologized perhaps even taken off their caps, and let me on my way．
【小題1】Judging from the first paragraph, the writer's attitude towards his story is _______．
| A．a(chǎn)ngry | B．sad |
| C．a(chǎn)mused | D．more than just one of the above |
| A．a(chǎn) uniformed policeman | B．a(chǎn) policeman in plainclothes |
| C．not a policeman | D．a(chǎn) good joker |
| A．the time for the trial was limited to fifteen minutes only |
| B．the author wanted to conduct his own defense in court |
| C．the case was dismissed before the trial reached that stage |
| D．he was found to be unqualified as a character witness |
| A．the magistrate had been less gentle |
| B．he had really been out of work |
| C．he had been born in a lower—class family |
| D．both B and C |
| A．he had protested strongly at the time |
| B．he had begged to be allowed to go home |
| C．he hadn't wandered aimlessly |
| D．he had tried to look cool |
| A．has broken the law only once |
| B．has never broken the law |
| C．has broken the law on more than one occasion |
| D．once broke the law without knowing it |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：完型填空
Parents feel that it is difficult to live with teenagers. Then again, teenagers have feelings about their parents, saying that it is not easy living with them. According to a recent research, the most common between parents and teenagers is that regarding untidiness and daily routine tasks. On the one hand, parents go mad over rooms, clothes thrown on the floor and their children’s refusal to help with the . On the other hand, teenagers lose their patience continually when parents blame them for the towel in the bathroom, not cleaning up their room or refusing to do the shopping at the supermarket.
The research, conducted by St. George University, shows that different parents have different to these problems. However, some approaches are more than others. For example, those parents who yell at their children for their untidiness, but clean the room for them, have fewer chances of changing their children’s . On the contrary, those who let teenagers experience the of their actions can do better. For example, when teenagers who don’t help their parents with the shopping don’t find their favorite drink in the refrigerator, they are forced to their actions.
Psychologists say that is the most important thing in parent-child relationships. Parents should to their children but at the same time they should lend an ear to what they have to say. Parents may their children when they are untidy but they should also understand that their room is their own private space. Communication is a two-way process. It is only by listening to and each other that problems between parents and children can be settled.
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
It is a tall tale that terrifies most young children. Swallow a piece of chewing gum and it will remain in your body for seven years before it is digested. An even worse tale is that swallowed gum can wrap itself around your heart.
But what does happen if you should accidentally eat a stick of gum? Chewing gum is made out of gum base, sweeteners, coloring and flavoring. The gum base is pretty indigestible一it is a mixture of different ingredients that our body can’t absorb.
Most of the time, your stomach really cannot break down the gum the way it would break down other foods. However, your digestive system has another way to deal with things you swallow. After all, we eat lots of things that we are unable to fully digest. They keep moving along until they make it all the way through the gut and come out at the other end one or two days later.
The saliva in our mouths will make an attempt at digesting chewing gum as soon as we put it in our mouths. It might get through the shell but many of gum’s base ingredients are indigestible. It’s then down to our stomach muscles一which contract and relax, much like the way an earthworm moves一 to slowly force the things that we swallow through our systems.
Swallowing a huge piece of gum or swallowing many small pieces of gum in a short time can cause a blockage within the digestive system, most often in children, who have a thinner digestive tube than adults 一but this is extremely rare.
【小題1】Children might feel terrified after swallowing chewing gum mainly because .
| A．they believe the tall tales about chewing gum |
| B．chewing gum will stay in their body for years |
| C．their heart will be wrapped by chewing gum |
| D．chewing gum is indigestible for children |
| A．It remains in our digestive system forever. |
| B．It will be eventually moved out of our body. |
| C．It will fight against the power of the gut. |
| D．It will stick to the gut for one or two days. |
| A．How does our digestive system work? |
| B．Can chewing gum be swallowed by kids? |
| C．Does swallowing chewing gum matter? |
| D．Why swallowing chewing gum frightens kids? |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
Far from the land of Antarctica, a huge shelf of ice meets the ocean. At the underside of the shelf there lives a small fish, the Antarctic cod.
For forty years scientists have been curious about that fish. How does it live where most fish would freeze to death? It must have some secret. The Antarctic is not a comfortable place to work and research has been slow. Now it seems we have an answer.
Research was begun by cutting holes in the ice and catching the fish. Scientists studied the fish’s blood and measured its freezing point.
The fish were taken from seawater that had a temperature of -1.88℃ and many tiny pieces of ice floating in it. The blood of the fish did not begin to freeze until its temperature was lowered to -2.05℃. That small difference is enough for the fish to live at the freezing temperature of the ice-salt mixture.
The scientists’ next research job was clear: Find out what in the fish’s blood kept it from freezing. Their search led to some really strange thing made up of a protein never before seen in the blood of a fish. When it was removed, the blood froze at seawater temperature. When it was put back, the blood again had its antifreeze quality and a lowered freezing point.
Study showed that it is an unusual kind of protein. It has many small sugar molecules held in special positions within each big protein molecule. Because of its sugar content, it is called a glycoprotein. So it has come to be called the antifreeze fish glycoprotein. Or AFGP.
【小題1】What is the text mainly about?
| A．The terrible conditions in the Antarctic. |
| B．A special fish living in freezing waters. |
| C．The ice shelf around Antarctica. |
| D．Protection of the Antarctic cod. |
| A．The seawater has a temperature of -1.88℃. |
| B．It loves to live in the ice-salt mixture. |
| C．A special protein keeps it from freezing. |
| D．Its blood has a temperature lower than -2.05℃. |
| A．A type of ice-salt mixture. | B．A newly found protein. |
| C．Fish blood. | D．Sugar molecule. |
| A．sugar | B．ice |
| C．blood | D．molecule |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
An experiment was carried out at British school into the performance of new pupils. At the start of the year, the pupils were each given a rating, ranging from “excellent prospect” to “unlikely to do well”. These were totally untrue ratings and did not reflect how well the pupils had previously performed. However, these ratings were given to the teachers. At the end of the year, the experimenters compared the pupils’ performance with the ratings. Despite their real abilities, there was an astonishingly high connection between performance and ratings. It seems that people perform as well as we expect them to.
The Self-fulfilling Effect is also known as the Pygmalion Effect. This comes from an old Greek story. The story was also the basis of George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion”, later turned into the musical “My Fair Lady”. In Shaw’s play, Professor Henry Higgins claims he can turn a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle into a duchess. But, as Eliza herself points out to Higgins’ friend Pickering, it isn’t what she learns or does that determines whether she will become a duchess, but how she’s treated.
The implication (含義) of the Pygmalion Effect for leaders and managers is massive. It means that the performance of your team depends less on them than it does on you. The performance you get from people is no more or less than what you expect, which means you must always expect the best. As Goethe said, “Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.”
【小題1】The underlined word “rating” in Paragraph 1 can be replaced by “_________”.
| A．program | B．regulation |
| C．correction | D．classification |
| A．A new scientific experiment. |
| B．The Self-fulfilling Effect. |
| C．Shaw’s play “Pygmalion”. |
| D．An improved teaching method. |
| A．try out a new teaching method |
| B．pick out the most excellent pupils |
| C．learn if expectations affect performance |
| D．give each pupil a proper rating |
| A．Strict training from Higgins. |
| B．Her own strong will and hard work. |
| C．The proper way she was regarded |
| D．Warm encouragement from Pickering. |
| A．I’m sure you can make it |
| B．I will help you any time |
| C．It is as easy as pie |
| D．It doesn’t matter if you fail |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
Fear may be felt in the heart as well as in the head, according to a study that has found a link between the cycles of a beating heart and the chance of someone feeling fear.
Tests on healthy volunteers found that they were more likely to feel a sense of fear at the moment when their hearts are contracting(收縮) and pumping blood around their bodies, compared with the point when the heartbeat is relaxed. Scientists say the results suggest that the heart is able to influence how the brain responds to a fearful event, depending on which point it is at in its regular cycle of contraction and relaxation.
Sarah Garfinkel at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School said: “Our Study shows for the first time that the way in which we deal with fear is different depending on when we see fearful pictures in relation to our heart.”
The study tested 20 healthy volunteers on their reactions to fear as they were shown pictures of fearful faces. Dr Garfinkel said, “The study showed that fearful faces are better noticed when the heart is pumping than when it is relaxed. Thus our hearts can also affect what we see and what we don’t see一and guide whether we see fear.”
To further understand this relationship, the scientists also used a brain scanner(掃描儀) to show how the brain influences the way the heart changes a person’s feeling of fear.
“We have found an important mechanism by which the heart and brain ‘speak’ to each other to change our feelings and reduce fear,” Dr Garfinkel said.
“We hope that by increasing our understanding about how fear is dealt with and ways that it could be reduced, we may be able to develop more successful treatments for anxiety disorders, and also for those who may be suffering from serious stress disorder.”
【小題1】What is the finding of the study?
| A．One’s heart affects how he feels fear. |
| B．Fear is a result of one’s relaxed heartbeat. |
| C．Fear has something to do with one’s health. |
| D．One’s fast heartbeats are likely to cause fear. |
| A．volunteers’ heartbeats when they saw terrible pictures |
| B．the time volunteers saw fearful pictures and their health conditions |
| C．volunteers’ reactions to horrible pictures and data from their brain scans |
| D．different pictures shown to volunteers and their heart—brain communication |
| A．Order. | B．System. |
| C．Machine. | D．Treatment. |
| A．treating anxiety and stress better. |
| B．explaining the cycle of fear and anxiety |
| C．finding the key to the heart-brain communication |
| D．understanding different fears in our hearts and heads |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
With petroleum reserves (石油儲量) decreasing，the search is on to replace gas with a cleaner，greener alternative.Though much eco－talk has centered on biofuels from corn and soybeans，the biofuel that looks more likely to replace petroleum comes from a most unlikely source：algae (藻類)．
Algae，like corn，soybeans，and other crops，grow via photosynthesis (光合作用) and can be processed into fuel oil.However，they yield 30 times more energy than land crops such as soybeans，according to the U．S.Department of Energy.Many algae species also can grow in saltwater and polluted water－while corn and soy require arable land and fresh water that will be in short supply as the world's population balloons.
“If you replaced all the diesel (柴油) in the U．S.with soy biodiesel，it would take half the land mass of the U．S.to grow those soybeans，”says Matt Caspari，chief executive of Aurora Biofuels，a Berkeley，Calif.－based private firm that specializes in algae oil technology.On the other hand，the Energy Department says that if algae fuel replaced all the petroleum fuel in the United States，it would require 15,000 square miles，which is a few thousand miles larger that Maryland (12,407 square miles)，the 42nd state in land area.
Another bonus：Because algae can be grown just about anywhere in a closed space，they 're being tested at several power plants across the nation as a carbon absorber.Smokestack emissions (煙囪排放物) can be pumped directly into the ponds，feeding the algae while keeping greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.
Although processing technology for algae fuel—also known as “oilgae” in some environmentalist circles—is improving，it's still years away from reaching your local gas pump.“It's just a question of cost，because no large－scale facilities have been built yet，” Caspari says.
【小題1】The underlined word “yield” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by “________”．
| A．control | B．require |
| C．produce | D．grow |
| A．may pollute water and soil |
| B．can grow in poor conditions |
| C．provide much less energy |
| D．need more special care |
| A．it can be used more widely |
| B．it is more easy to produce |
| C．it needs much less land |
| D．it costs much less money |
| A．Algae help protect the environment. |
| B．People can grow algae anywhere. |
| C．Fish can get more oxygen from algae. |
| D．Algae produce less waste. |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
No one knows for sure when advertising first started. It is possible that it grew out of the discovery that some people did certain kinds of work better than others did them. That led to the concept of specialization, which means that people would specialize, or focus, on doing one specific job.
Let's take a man we'll call Mr. Fielder, for example. He did everything connected with farming. He planted seeds, tended the fields, and harvested and sold his crops. At the same time, he did many other jobs on the farm. However, he didn't make the bricks for his house, cut his trees into boards, make the plows(犁), or any of the other hundreds of things a farm needs. Instead, he got them from people who specialized in doing each of those things.
Suppose there was another man we shall call Mr. Plowright. Using what he knew about farming and working with iron, Mr. Plowright invented a plow that made farming easier. Mr. Plowright did not really like farming himself and wanted to specialize in making really good plows. Perhaps, he thought, other farmers will trade what they grow for one of my plows.
How did Mr. Plowright let people know what he was doing? Why, he advertised, of course. First he opened a shop and then he put up a sign outside the shop to attract customers. That sign may have been no more than a plow carved into a piece of wood and a simple arrow pointing to the shop door. It was probably all the information people needed to find Mr. Plowright and his really good plows.
Many historians believe that the first outdoor signs were used about five thousand years ago. Even before most people could read, they understood such signs. Shopkeepers would carve into stone, clay, or wood symbols for the products they had for sale.
A medium, in advertising talk, is the way you communicate your message. You might say that the first medium used in advertising was signs with symbols. The second medium was audio, or sound, although that term is not used exactly in the way we use it today. Originally, just the human voice and maybe some kind of simple instrument, such as a bell, were used to get people's attention.
A crier, in the historical sense, is not someone who weeps easily. It is someone, probably a man, with a voice loud enough to be heard over the other noises of a city. In ancient Egypt, shopkeepers might hire such a person to spread the news about their products. Often this earliest form of advertising involved a newly arrived ship loaded with goods. Perhaps the crier described the goods, explained where they came from, and praised their quality. His job was, in other words, not too different from a TV or radio commercial in today's world.
【小題1】What probably led to the start of advertising?
| A．The discovery of iron. |
| B．The specialization of labor. |
| C．The appearance of new jobs. |
| D．The development of farming techniques. |
| A．praised his plows in public |
| B．placed a sign outside the shop |
| C．hung an arrow pointing to the shop |
| D．showed his products to the customers |
| A．explain the origin of advertising |
| B．predict the future of advertising |
| C．expose problems in advertising |
| D．provide suggestions for advertising |
| A．owned a ship |
| B．had the loudest voice |
| C．ran a shop selling goods to farmers |
| D．functioned like today's TV or radio commercial |
| A．the history of advertising |
| B．the benefits of advertising |
| C．the early forms of advertising |
| D．the basic design of advertising |
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