Blue whales, the earth’s largest animals, call to others of their kind, though exactly what these cries communicate remains a mystery. But these sounds have begun evolving (演变). Since at least the 1960s, the pitch (音调) of Antarctic blue whales has downshifted. Scientists have theories as to why: all involving humans.
The deepening of their sounds is not unique. Many blue whales around the world have also dropped their pitch. In a study last year that analyzed more than 1 million individual recordings of whale calls, scale shifts were found across species, and among populations that don’t necessarily interact with one another. This is to say, whatever has caused the change doesn’t seem to have a specific geographic origin.
The underwater noises caused by ocean traffic and at-sea industries might seem a likely criminal. However, scientists have identified lowered pitches even across populations of whales that live in seas without major shipping routes.
One possible explanation for the change is the achievements of global conservation efforts. As their populations have grown, then, the whales may have decreased their volume because they are more likely to be communicating over short distances.
Last year’s study of whale calls also suggests a threatening reason for the drop in pitch, however. Perhaps whales don't need to be so loud because sound waves travel farther in oceans made acidic by the absorption of carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, meanwhile, may also indirectly influence whale voices in other ways. Recent study shows that, during the summer, the whales must use their top volume to be heard in the cracking ice — a natural sound increased by unnatural processes, as rising temperatures worsen ice-melt. So the impacts of a warming planet may modulate animal sounds even in remote places.
1.To what extent is whales’ pitch drop?
A.Across the species.
B.In the Antarctic Ocean.
C.Among some populations.
D.Within one million individuals.
2.What causes the evolving of whales’ pitch according to the text?
A.Less communication and more threat.
B.Protection efforts and acidic sea water.
C.Sharp decrease of whales’ populations.
D.Underwater noises by ships and industries.
3.What does the underlined word “modulate” mean in the last paragraph?
A.Produce. B.Damage. C.Balance. D.Change.
4.What can we infer from the text?
A.Man is the soul of nature.
B.Man and nature are in one.
C.Nature pardons no mistakes .
D.Nature has the final say over man.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题
Blue whales, the earth’s largest animals, call to others of their kind, though exactly what these cries communicate remains a mystery. But these sounds have begun evolving (演变). Since at least the 1960s, the pitch (音调) of Antarctic blue whales has downshifted. Scientists have theories as to why: all involving humans.
The deepening of their sounds is not unique. Many blue whales around the world have also dropped their pitch. In a study last year that analyzed more than 1 million individual recordings of whale calls, scale shifts were found across species, and among populations that don’t necessarily interact with one another. This is to say, whatever has caused the change doesn’t seem to have a specific geographic origin.
The underwater noises caused by ocean traffic and at-sea industries might seem a likely criminal. However, scientists have identified lowered pitches even across populations of whales that live in seas without major shipping routes.
One possible explanation for the change is the achievements of global conservation efforts. As their populations have grown, then, the whales may have decreased their volume because they are more likely to be communicating over short distances.
Last year’s study of whale calls also suggests a threatening reason for the drop in pitch, however. Perhaps whales don't need to be so loud because sound waves travel farther in oceans made acidic by the absorption of carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, meanwhile, may also indirectly influence whale voices in other ways. Recent study shows that, during the summer, the whales must use their top volume to be heard in the cracking ice — a natural sound increased by unnatural processes, as rising temperatures worsen ice-melt. So the impacts of a warming planet may modulate animal sounds even in remote places.
1.To what extent is whales’ pitch drop?
A.Across the species.
B.In the Antarctic Ocean.
C.Among some populations.
D.Within one million individuals.
2.What causes the evolving of whales’ pitch according to the text?
A.Less communication and more threat.
B.Protection efforts and acidic sea water.
C.Sharp decrease of whales’ populations.
D.Underwater noises by ships and industries.
3.What does the underlined word “modulate” mean in the last paragraph?
A.Produce. B.Damage. C.Balance. D.Change.
4.What can we infer from the text?
A.Man is the soul of nature.
B.Man and nature are in one.
C.Nature pardons no mistakes .
D.Nature has the final say over man.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Blue whales are the largest animals ever known to have existed on the planet, and they can grow to a length of 100 feet and weigh more than 330,000 pounds. But recently researchers have found that these whales are on the move and they have migrated from California waters to areas off Canada and Alaska for the first time since commercial whaling ended in 1965.
The researchers identified 15 blue whales that have appeared off the coast of British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska since 1997. Four of these whales were recognized as ones that were once sighted off California shores, suggesting that the whales are returning to an old migration pattern between the coasts.
Before commercial whaling began in the early 1900s, blue whales were found widely throughout the North Pacific and California waters. But from the 1920s to the 1960s,whaling severely reduced the whale populations. Blue whales never recovered in the Northern Pacific, making sightings in this area rare. However, much larger groups of whales have been observed close to California since the 1970s.
The scientists had previously thought that the California population was separate from the population that had historically lived in North Pacific waters. But the current study shows that whales off the coast of British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska are likely part of the California population.
To identify the blue whales, the researchers looked at photos of cetaceans taken in the North Pacific Ocean and compared them with a library of blue whale pictures taken along the West Cost of the United States and Southern Pacific. Up to now, the researchers are not quite sure why the whales are changing their migration patterns, but they suspect that the whales may be following their food moving farther north by the changes in ocean conditions.
1.According to the passage, blue whales are .
A. following a fixed route of migration
B. dying out due to commercial whaling
C. moving from the south to the north
D. rarely found in the Southern Pacific
2.The whale population in the northern Pacific .
A. is different from the California population
B. is probably part of the California population
C. has become the largest group since the 1970s
D. has lived there since the 1960s
3.The underlined word "cetaceans" in Paragraph 5 probably means .
A. land creatures B. whale species
C. ocean conditions D. migration patterns
4.What might make blue whales migrate according to the researchers?
A. Commercial whaling. B. Weather conditions.
C. Life reproduction. D. Food resources.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Blue whales are the largest animals ever known to have existed on the planet, and they can grow to a length of 100 feet and weigh more than 330,000 pounds. But recently researchers have found that these whales are on the move and they have migrated (moved) from California waters to areas off Canada and Alaska for the first time since commercial whaling ended in 1965.
The researchers identified 15 blue whales that have appeared off the coast of British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska since 1997. Four of these whales were recognized as ones that were once sighted off California shores, suggesting that the whales are returning to an old migration pattern between the coasts.
Before commercial whaling began in the early 1900s, blue whales were found widely throughout the North Pacific and California waters. But from the 1920s to the 1960s, whaling severely reduced the whale populations. Blue whales never recovered in the Northern Pacific, making sightings in this area rare. However, much larger groups of whales have been observed close to California since the 1970s.
The scientists had previously thought that the California population was separate from the population that had historically lived in North Pacific waters. But the current study shows that whales off the coast of British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska are likely part of the California population.
To identify the blue whales, the researchers looked at photos of cetaceans taken in the North Pacific Ocean and compared them with a library of blue whale pictures taken along the West Coast of the United States and Southern Pacific. Up to now, the researchers are not quite sure why the whales are changing their migration patterns, but they suspect that the whales may be following their food moving farther north by the changes in ocean conditions.
1.According to the passage, blue whales are __________.
A. following the fixed route of migration
B. dying out due to commercial whaling
C. rarely found in the Southern Pacific
D. moving from the south to the north
2.The whale population in the northern Pacific __________.
A. is different from the California population
B. has become the largest group since the 1970s
C. is probably part of the California population
D. has lived there since the 1960s.
3.The underlined word “cetaceans” in Paragraph 5 probably means __________.
A. whales species B. land creatures
C. ocean conditions D. migration patterns
4.What might make blue whales migrate according to the researchers?
A. Commercial whaling. B. Food resources.
C. Weather conditions. D. Life reproduction.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Imagine trying to test the memory of the blue whale—the biggest animal that exists or has ever existed, a 190-ton behemoth that dwarfs (使相形见绌) even the largest dinosaur, a leviathan that is rarely seen except when it comes up for air. How would you subject such a creature to a psychological test?
You can’t, exactly. But there is another way to get a sense of how their minds work. For years, scientists have been fitting radio tags to these giants to track their whereabouts (下落). By analyzing a decade’s worth of that data, Briana Abrahms from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has shown that these animals fine-tune the paths of their migrations to track the historical abundances of krill—the tiny crustaceans that they eat. Rather than finding where their prey (捕获物) currently is, they go after the places where their prey was in years past. Their migrations, in other words, are guided by memory. So what happens in a world where memory might lead them away from the right path?
Countless species of animals migrate over long distances to exploit far-flung sources of food, but these voyages aren’t just about getting to the final destination. The journey itself can be a sort of food tour, too. Migrating animals often adjust the pace and timing of their movements to hit pulses of seasonal food that spring up along their path. The ecologist Sandra van der Graaf described this as “surfing the green wave” after first observing it among barnacle geese. Others have found the same pattern among wasps, elk, mule deer, and brown bears.”
The blue whales of the North Pacific spend their winters in their breeding grounds off California and Costa Rica. Come spring, they swim up the coast of North America toward the food-rich summer waters of the Pacific Northwest. They could make the journey in two months (and they do, on the reverse trip back south). Instead, they take twice that time, pausing to gorge (狼吞虎咽) themselves on blooms of krill that appear along the way. It’s a leisurely season-long tour of a continent-wide buffet line.
Scientists can get a good sense of this changing buffet by measuring the concentrations of chlorophyll in different patches of ocean. This green pigment (色素) reflects the amount of plankton, which in turn is eaten by krill. The more chlorophyll there is, the more food a blue whale might find.
By comparing chlorophyll counts to whale movements, Abrahms and her team expected to see that “they follow the timing of their prey, as it becomes available,” she says. But they were surprised to learn that the animals very rarely tracked contemporary waves of krill. Instead, their movements were strongly correlated (相关联) with 10-year historical averages of chlorophyll. Put it this way: You could predict a blue whale’s movements with far more accuracy by looking at where their food has been than where their food currently is.
1.How are the scientists carrying out a psychological test on the blue whales?
A. They wait for the blue whales to approach the sea surface.
B. They induce the blue whales to accept the memory test.
C. They count on a tracking technique to accumulate data.
D. They compare the blue whales with the large dinosaurs.
2.What might migrating animals do if they are misguided by memory?
A. They might try their best to get to the final destination.
B. They might fall back on the seasonal food along the way.
C. They might accelerate the pace to cover longer distances.
D. They might surf the ocean wave to save time and energy.
3.What does the continent-wide buffet line in Paragraph 4 indicate?
A. The breeding grounds of the blue whales are lacking in food.
B. Chlorophyll can be defined as the beginning of the food chain.
C. Contemporary waves of krill can reflect whale movements.
D. The season change determines the hunting route of the whales.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest- and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and underbushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas . In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
1. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Disappearance of African elephants.
B. Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.
C. The effect of African elephants' search for food.
D. The eating habit of African elephants.
2. What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
A. Fixing the time.
B. Worsening the state.
C. Improving the quality.
D. Deciding the conditions.
3. What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
A. They result from the destruction of rain forests.
B. They provide food mainly for African elephants.
C. They are home to many endangered animals.
D. They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds.
4. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A. The African elephant is the largest animal on earth.
B. African elephants have 300 pounds of plants every day.
C. The African elephant is in a way the builder of the environment like all the other land animals.
D. If the African elephant disappears, the whole ecosystem won’t be affected.
5. The passage is developed mainly by ________.
A. showing the effect and then explaining the causes
B. pointing out similarities and differences
C. describing the changes in space order
D. giving examples
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The largest land animal remaining on the earth, the African elephant is of much importance to African ecosystem. Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a giant plant-eater, it significantly shapes the forest-and-savanna (大草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore deciding the conditions of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it both a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and underbushes, as well as pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in not only deep tropical forests but also the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth, which attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants create open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large-hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small-sized plant-eaters to obtain their food as well.
Scientists are worried now that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant dies out, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Disappearance of African elephants.
B. Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.
C. The effect of African elephants' search for food.
D. The eating habit of African elephants.
2.The African elephant influences the ecosystem in the following ways except that .
A. it creates open areas in deep tropical forests as well as woodlands
B. it pulls off the branches and leaves, shutting out the sunshine
C. its eating habit can be made use of by large-hoofed and small-sized animals
D. it encourages some kinds of plants growing in an indirect way
3.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
A. Numerous grown plants are the favorites of plant-eaters.
B. The extinction of the African elephant has nothing to do with the ecosystem.
C. Quantities of plants are consumed by African elephants, including branches and underbushes.
D. The forest floor in rain forests is scarcely dotted with new shoots.
4.The passage is developed mainly by .
A. presenting the changes in time order
B. making comparisons and giving examples
C. classifying similarities and differences
D. showing the effect and then explaining the reasons
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The African elephant,the largest land animal remaining on earth,is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统).Unlike other animals,the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment.As a big plant-eater,it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives,therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat(栖息地).
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat.In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day,it kills small trees and underbushes,and pulls branches off big trees.This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas.In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example.In their natural state,the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor.By pulling down trees and eating plants,elephants make open spaces,allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor.In such situations,the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species.If the elephant disappears,scientists say,many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna,greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A.Disappearance of African elephants.
B.Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.
C.The effect of African elephants’ search for food.
D.The eating habit of African elephants.
2.What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?
A.Fixing the time.
B.Worsening the state.
C.Improving the quality.
D.Deciding the conditions.
3.What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
A.They result from the destruction of rain forests.
B.They provide food mainly for African elephants.
C.They are home to many endangered animals.
D.They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds.
4.The passage is developed mainly by ______.
A.showing the effect and then explaining the causes
B.pointing out similarities and differences
C.describing the changes in spare order
D.giving examples
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The biggest whale is ___ blue whale, which grows to be about 29 meters long—the height of ___ 9-story building.
A. the; the B. a; a C. a; the D. the; a
高三英语选择题简单题查看答案及解析
The biggest whale is ___ blue whale, which grows to be about 29 meters long—the height of ___ 9-story building.
A. the; the B. a; a C. a; the D. the; a
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
The biggest whale is ___ blue whale, which grows to be about 29 meters long—the height of ___ 9-story building.
A. the; the B. a; a C. the; a D. a; the
高三英语单项填空困难题查看答案及解析