Elephants don’t forget-at least, female(雌性的) elephants don’t. Elephant families are matriarchal. And the social knowledge gained by the oldest females is the key to a family group's survival (生存), according to a study published in April by Karen McComb, a biologist at Sussex University in England.
Elephants announce their presence by making a deep, long sound, a practice referred to as contact calling(联络呼叫). An unfamiliar call may mean that an elephant from outside the family group is nearby. A stranger can cause trouble. Interrupting feeding or disturbing the young. So an elephant matriarch signals the family to gather around her; then they all lift their trunks in the air to smell the unfamiliar caller. False alarms can disturb the group and take time and energy away from feeding, so survival may depend in part on getting it right.
Working with Cynthia Moss, who founded the Amboseli Elephant Research Project in Kenya 30 years ago, McComb tested the social knowledge of 21 Amboseli elephant families with matriarchs 27 to 67 years old. She played recordings of contact calls to each family and found that the oldest matriarchs were much better at picking out unfamiliar calls. In fact, a group with a matriarch in her fifties was several thousand times more likely to form into a group upon hearing an unfamiliar contact call than when hearing a familiar call. However, families with younger matriarchs were less than twice as likely to gather together upon hearing an unfamiliar contact call as compared with a familiar call. And they gathered together a lot. Moreover, the social knowledge of older matriarchs translated into favorable results: Families with older matriarchs produced more baby elephants in each female-reproductive year.
This finding shows how difficult it is to protect the oldest members of elephant families. As elephants age, they continue to grow larger, as do their much wanted tusks(象牙). So the older-and wiser-a matriarch is, the greater the chance she will be killed. About 800,000 elephants have been killed by people in the past 20 years.
1.What does the underlined word in Para 2 "matriarch" mean?
A. An old member of an elephant family
B. A female head of an elephant family
C. A wise elephant
D. A large elephant
2.The research with recordings of contact calls shows .
A. How fast elephants form into groups
B. How important the age of a leading elephant is
C. How frightened elephants are when hearing a strange call
D. How frequently old elephants call other members of the family
3.When do elephants form into a group?
A. When they are feeding the young．
B. When they see a familiar elephant．
C. When they are giving birth to baby elephants．
D. When the leading elephant gives out a warning．
4.The older a female elephant is, _____.
A. the stronger she will be
B. the poorer memory she will have
C. the more useless her tusks will be
D. the more likely she will be killed
高二英语阅读理解困难题
Elephants don’t forget-at least, female(雌性的) elephants don’t. Elephant families are matriarchal. And the social knowledge gained by the oldest females is the key to a family group's survival (生存), according to a study published in April by Karen McComb, a biologist at Sussex University in England.
Elephants announce their presence by making a deep, long sound, a practice referred to as contact calling(联络呼叫). An unfamiliar call may mean that an elephant from outside the family group is nearby. A stranger can cause trouble. Interrupting feeding or disturbing the young. So an elephant matriarch signals the family to gather around her; then they all lift their trunks in the air to smell the unfamiliar caller. False alarms can disturb the group and take time and energy away from feeding, so survival may depend in part on getting it right.
Working with Cynthia Moss, who founded the Amboseli Elephant Research Project in Kenya 30 years ago, McComb tested the social knowledge of 21 Amboseli elephant families with matriarchs 27 to 67 years old. She played recordings of contact calls to each family and found that the oldest matriarchs were much better at picking out unfamiliar calls. In fact, a group with a matriarch in her fifties was several thousand times more likely to form into a group upon hearing an unfamiliar contact call than when hearing a familiar call. However, families with younger matriarchs were less than twice as likely to gather together upon hearing an unfamiliar contact call as compared with a familiar call. And they gathered together a lot. Moreover, the social knowledge of older matriarchs translated into favorable results: Families with older matriarchs produced more baby elephants in each female-reproductive year.
This finding shows how difficult it is to protect the oldest members of elephant families. As elephants age, they continue to grow larger, as do their much wanted tusks(象牙). So the older-and wiser-a matriarch is, the greater the chance she will be killed. About 800,000 elephants have been killed by people in the past 20 years.
1.What does the underlined word in Para 2 "matriarch" mean?
A. An old member of an elephant family
B. A female head of an elephant family
C. A wise elephant
D. A large elephant
2.The research with recordings of contact calls shows .
A. How fast elephants form into groups
B. How important the age of a leading elephant is
C. How frightened elephants are when hearing a strange call
D. How frequently old elephants call other members of the family
3.When do elephants form into a group?
A. When they are feeding the young．
B. When they see a familiar elephant．
C. When they are giving birth to baby elephants．
D. When the leading elephant gives out a warning．
4.The older a female elephant is, _____.
A. the stronger she will be
B. the poorer memory she will have
C. the more useless her tusks will be
D. the more likely she will be killed
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
At least 200 elephants have died in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe in the past two months due to a serious drought (干旱) in the country. National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesman Tinashe Farawo told The Associated Press. Other animals, including giraffes, zebras , hippos and buffaloes are also dying due to the drought."The situation cannot improve until it rains, "Farawo said.
"Almost every animal is being affected," Farawo said. "Of course, elephants are easily noticed, but some bird species are seriously affected because they can only breed (繁殖) in certain tree heights and those trees are being knocked down by elephants."
"In a desperate attempt to locate food and water, animals have come in the park and nearby communities, threatening human populations as well. Thirty-three people have died because of these animals this year," the park said.
"Six hundred elephants and two lion prides will be moved to less crowded parks. A pack of wild dogs, 50 buffaloes, 40 giraffes and 2,000 impalas will also be relocated, " Farawo said.
"The animals have exceeded their ecological carrying capacity (生态承载力)," he added."If the populations go unchecked, the animals will threaten the very ecosystem they depend on for survival."
Typically, park leaders follow a policy of not intervening (干预) to help the animals , but the hard conditions have persuaded them otherwise. Fearing more deaths before the rainy season, they have started bringing in food to help the animals, which usually rely on natural vegetation.
"We used to say nature should take its course,"said wildlife officer Munyaradzi Dzoro."We are now forced to intervene. We are not sure when and how we will receive the rain. To avoid losing animals, we have to intervene to maintain population sizes.
In addition to a lack of food and water, muddy ponds have turned into death traps for the animals. Many have gotten stuck in the clay (泥土) while attempting to reach Long Pool, the park's largest watering hole, which has shrunk to 5% of its normal size, the Associated Press reports.
The drought has affected an estimated 11 million people, according to the World Food Program, which is planning large-scale food distribution.
1.Why are some bird species being affected?
A.They can't find enough food and water.
B.They lose many proper breeding places.
C.They are often killed by big land animals.
D.They become ill easily because of other animals' death.
2.What measure will be taken to improve the serious situation?
A.Building fences between the park and nearby communities.
B.Killing the animals which went into human communities.
C.Providing enough water for the animals in the park.
D.Moving some animals to less crowded places.
3.What did Farawo think is the basis for the survival of animals?
A.A healthy ecosystem. B.A policy of not intervening.
C.Large populations of animals. D.Limited ecological carrying capacity.
4.Muddy ponds have become deadly to the animals because_________.
A.their clay is very attractive B.much of their water is gone
C.they have become much deeper D.there is much food in their water
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Zoo elephants don’t live as long as those in the wild, according to a study sure to cause debate about keeping the giant animals on display. Researchers compared the life spans of elephants in European zoos with those living in Amboseli National Park in Kenya and others working on a timber enterprise in Buma. Animals in the wild or in natural working conditions had life expectancies twice than or more of their relatives in zoos.
Animal care activists have urged in recent years to discourage keeping elephants in zoos, largely because of the lack of space and small numbers of animals that can be kept in a group.
The researchers found that the median life span for African elephants in European zoos was 16.9 years, compared with 56 years for elephants who died of natural causes in Kenya’s Amboseli Park. Adding in those elephants killed by people in Africa lowered the median life expectancy there to 35.9 years. For the more endangered Asian elephants, the median life span in European zoos was 18.9 years, compared with 41.7 years for those working in the Burma Timber Enterprise. Median means half died younger than that age and half lived longer.
There is some good news, though. The life expectancies of zoo elephants have improved in recent years, suggesting an improvement in their care and raising, but “Protecting elephants in Africa and Asia is far more successful than protecting them in Western zoos.”
There are about 1,200 elephants in zoos, half in Europe, researchers concentrated on female elephants, which make up 80 percent of the zoo population. One amazing thing was that Asian elephants born in zoos had shorter life spans that those brought to the zoos from the wild.
Zoos usually lack large areas that elephants are used to in the wild, and that zoo animals often are alone or with one or two other unrelated animals, while in the wild they tend to live in related groups of 8 to 12 animals. In Asian elephants, baby death rates are two to three times higher in zoos than in the Burmese logging camps, and then, in adulthood, zoo-born animals die young. People are not sure why.
1.What is argued about in this passage?
A．Zoo elephants don’t live as long as those in the wild.
B．Elephants should not be on display.
C．Asian elephants are in danger.
D．Asia is far more successful in protecting elephants in zoos.
2.What does the underlined word “median” mean according to the passage?
A．Average B．Longest. C．Shortest. D．Ordinary.
3.Which of the following is Not the disadvantage of keeping elephants in zoos?
A．Limited number of relatives. B．Lack of space.
C．Shorter life expectancy. D．Less attention.
4.Who are expected to pay more attention to the issue addressed?
A．Zoologists. B．Animal care activists.
C．Zoo visitors. D．The public.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
It’s known to us all that elephants are the biggest animals on land.
There are two kinds of elephants: African elephants and Indian elephants. The African elephant has a round head and very big ears. It has long teeth. Each of them can be as long as 3.4 meters and as heavy as 103 kilograms. African elephants live in forests in Africa. They eat leaves, roots and fruits. Indian elephants are smaller than African elephants. They are found in forests in India, Malaysia and some other countries in South Asia. They live on grass. They can be trained to do a lot of heavy work and amuse(逗乐)people.
An African elephant lives as long as a man does. But an Indian elephant does not live that long.
Title: 1._____________——Biggest Animals on Land
| 2. _________ | Differences | Similarities (相似点) |
| African elephants | eating leaves, 3.________________ living longer | The biggest animals living in 4._____________ in Africa or India. |
| Indian elephants | living on grass being trained to do much 5.________ and amuse people. |
高二英语其他题简单题查看答案及解析
Pinnawella Elephant Orphanage
Pinnawella is an orphanage for baby elephants that have been found abandoned in the wild.There are 60 small elephants on the site and they are fed, trained and cared for by the orphanage. If you visit Pinnawella during feeding time, you may be given the opportunity to bottle-feed an elephant during your Sri Lanka holiday. Bathing time is also popular with visitors and accompanying a baby elephant to a nearby river is a wonderful experience.
Colombo Zoo
After seeing an elephant in the wild, seeing one in the zoo may seem a little uninspiring; however this is one for the children.The Colombo Zoo is famous for its elephant shows，where six Indian elephants do all kinds of tricks，from playing the music instruments to shooting basketballs with their trunks.
Wasgamuwa National Park
Wasgamuwa National Park is located in the town of Mahiyangana, an ancient city and important site in the Buddhist religion.It is one of the best places to see wild elephants in their natural habitats(栖息地)and is closest to six other national parks.The park and nearby area also provide ample bird watching opportunities.
Yala National Park
Yala is the largest national park in Sri Lanka and home to the majority of the islands wildlife，including Indian elephants and rare leopards.Arranging a tour here is the best way to spot an elephant，and if you're particularly lucky you may also spy a leopard lying lazily around on an overhanging tree branch.
Maduruoya National Park
This Park has a huge reservoir and if you get up before sunrise，you may spot some elephants playing about in the large expanse of water. You can also ride an elephant through the dense forests, which is perhaps one of the strangest forms of transportation to use on your Sri Lanka holidays.
1.Which place should visitors go to if they want to have closer contact with elephants?
A．Maduruoya National Park
B．Wasgamuwa National Park
C．Colombo Zoo
D．Pinnawella Elephant Orphanage
2.According to the author，Colombo Zoo________.
A．actually causes harm to elephants
B．can bring pleasure to children
C．has a good way to protect elephants
D．is not inspiring at all
3.It can be inferred from the passage that________.
A．Wasgamuwa National Park is the best place to watch birds
B．Yala National Park has nothing special to watch
C．visitors can watch birds in Yala National Park
D．a leopard can climb up trees and stay there
4.What may cause the tourists' curiosity in Maduruoya National Park?
A．The huge reservoir which has a large expanse of water.
B．The beautiful and charming scene of sunrise.
C．Riding elephants through the dense forests.
D．A group of elephants playing in the water.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
When elephants retire, many head for the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn. They arrive one by one, but they tend to live out their lives two-by-two. "Every elephant that comes here searches out someone that she then spends most all of her time with," says sanctuary co-founder Carol Buckley. It's likely having a best girlfriend, Buckley says - "Somebody they can relate to, they have something in common with."
Debbie has Ronnie. Misty can't live without Dulary. Those are pachyderm-pachyderm pairs. But perhaps the closest friends of all are Tarra and Bella. Tarra, an 8,700 pound Asian elephant; Bella, a stray dog, are closest friends.
Bella is one of more than a dozen stray dogs that have found a home at the sanctuary. Most want nothing to do with the elephants and vice versa. But not this odd couple. "Bella knows she's not an elephant. Tarra knows she's not a dog," Buckley adds. "But that's not a problem for them." "When it's time to eat they both eat together. They drink together. They sleep together. They play together," Buckley says.
Tarra and Bella have been close for years — but no one really knew how close they were until recently. A few months ago Bella suffered a spinal cord injury. She couldn't move her legs, couldn't even wag her tail. For three weeks the dog lay motionless up in the sanctuary office. And for three weeks the elephant held vigil: 2,700 acres to roam free, and Tarra just stood in the corner, beside a gate, right outside that sanctuary office. "She just stood outside the balcony - just stood there and waited," says Buckley. "She was concerned about her friend." Then one day, sanctuary co-founder Scott Blais carried Bella onto the balcony so she and Tarra could at least see each other.
"Bella's tail started wagging. And we had no choice but to bring Bella down to see Tarra," Blais says.
They visited like that every day until Bella could walk. Today, their love — and trust — is stronger than ever. Bella even lets Tarra pet her tummy - with the bottom of her enormous foot. They harbor no fears, no secrets, no prejudices. Just two living creatures who somehow managed to look past their immense differences.
Take a good look at this couple, human beings. Take a good look at the world. If they can do it — what's our excuse?
1.The underlined part “Those are pachyderm-pachyderm pairs.” in Para. 2 means ______.
A. both of the pairs are elephants.
B. both of the pairs look strange.
C. animals there have different kinds of friends.
D. they are friends of the same kind.
2.The last paragraph infers that _____________.
A. different animals can become closest friends.
B. people should learn something from each other.
C. people all over the world should cooperate.
D. People all over the world should become the closest friends.
3.Which would be the best title for the passage?
A. Unlikely friends. B. Lasting friendship.
C. Unselfish love. D. Magic nature.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
People have been wondering why elephants do not develop cancer even though they have lifespans (寿命) that are similar to humans, jiving for around 50 to 70 years.
Now scientists believe they know why. A team at the University of Chicago, US has found that elephants carry a large number of genes that stop tumors (肿瘤) developing. To be precise, they found 20 copies of an anti-tumor gene called TP53 in elephants. Most other species, including humans, only carry one copy.
According to the research, the extra copies of the gene improved the animal’s sensitivity to DNA damage, which lets the cells quickly kill themselves when damaged before they can go on to form deadly tumors.
“An increased risk of developing cancer has stood in the way of the evolution of large body sizes in many animals,” the study author Dr Vincent Lynch told The Guardian. If every living cell has the same chance of becoming cancerous (癌变的), large creatures with a long lifespan like whales and elephants should have a greater risk of developing cancer than humans and mice. But across species, the risk of cancer does not show a connection with body mass.
This phenomenon was found by Oxford University scientist Richard Peto in the 1970s and later named “Peto’s paradox (悖论)”. Biologists believe it results from larger animals using protection that many smaller animals do not. In the elephant’s case, the making of TP53 is nature’s way of keeping this species alive.
The study also found that when the same genes were brought to life in mice, they had the same cancer resistance as elephants. This means researchers could use the discovery to develop new treatments that can help stop cancers spreading or even developing in the first place.
“Nature has already figured out how to prevent cancer,” said Joshua Schiffman, a biologist at the School of Medicine, University of Utah, US. “It’s up to us to learn how different animals deal with the problem so that we can use those strategies to prevent cancer in people.”
1.Why are elephants unlikely to develop cancer?
A.They have a rather large body size.
B.Their genes suffer no DNA damage.
C.Certain genes in their body kill existing tumors.
D.They carry many genes to prevent tumors developing.
2.According to the passage, what has been a risk in the evolution of large animals?
A.Deadly tumors. B.The huge body mass.
C.Cells killing themselves. D.Sensitivity to DNA damage.
3.What does the underlined part “This phenomenon” in Paragraph 5 probably refer to?
A.Larger animals have protection from TP53.
B.The risk of cancer is not related to body size.
C.Larger animals suffer the same risk of cancer as smaller ones.
D.The larger animals are, the bigger risk of cancer they will have.
4.What can be concluded from the passage?
A.Depending on nature is surely enough to fight against cancer.
B.The TP53 genes have proved useful in stopping cancer in people.
C.Humans are expected to prevent cancer with the making of TP53.
D.The extra copies of elephants, genes are used to cure cancer patients.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Elephants born without tusks(长牙) normally make up just 2 to 6 percent of the herd population. However, that is not the case at Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, where 33 percent of female elephants born after the country’s civil war ended in 1992 are tuskless. While that might be just a coincidence(巧合), Joyce Poole, an elephant behavior expert, has another theory.
The researcher thinks we may be witnessing an unnaturally evolution of the species due to the hunting of the elephants for their valuable tusks. Unlike our permanent teeth, tusks of elephants grow throughout the animal’s life, becoming longer and thicker with age. For decorative purposes, poachers usually first target older males due to their impressive tusks, and females are not spared either. As a result, in areas where hunting goes unchecked for long, the number of tuskless females increases. This allows them to gain a biological advantage, resulting in a larger than average population of female offspring (后代)with no tusks.
Poole believes this phenomenon explains the rise in the number of tuskless females at Gorongosa National Park. The researcher says before the war, the park was home to over 4,000 elephants. However, by the time the conflict ended in 1992, about 90 percent of the elephants had been slaughtered for tusks to help finance weapons and meat to feed the soldiers. Of the less than 200 survivors, over 50 percent of the females had no tusks. Hence, it is not surprising that the park’s tuskless elephant population has grown greatly.
So far, the hunting has largely influenced female elephants. Poole explains, “Very few males are tuskless because males require tusks for fighting. Without tusks, males have a much harder time breeding and do not pass on their genes(基因) as often as tusked ones.” If the hunting of males for tusks continues at this pace, it could result in a generation of elephants with much smaller tusks.
1.How does the writer draw readers’ attention to the topic?
A.By comparing figures. B.By offering explanation. C.By giving an example. D.By introducing an expert.
2.What might be the reason for the increase of tuskless females?
A.Illegal hunting. B.Pure coincidence.
C.Natural evolution. D.Effective protection.
3.What does the underlined word “slaughtered” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.Raised. B.Protected. C.Killed. D.Trained.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.The future of African elephants.
B.The protection of African elephants.
C.The increasing number of tuskless elephants.
D.The genetic consequence of hunting elephants.
5.In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?
A.Health. B.Science. C.Education. D.Finance.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Elephants are able to differentiate between ethnicities(种族) and sexes, and can tell an adult from a child --- all from the sound of a human voice.
This is according to a study in which researchers played voice recordings to wild African elephants.
The animals showed more fear when they heard the voices of adult Masai men.
Livestock-herding Masai people do come into conflict with elephants, and this suggests that animals have adapted to specifically listen for and avoid them.
The study is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Prof Karen McComb and Dr Graeme Shannon from the University of Sussex led the study. They explained that in previous research they had used similar playback experiments to show that elephants could tell --- from the sound of a lion’s roar --- whether the animal was a female or a more dangerous male.
Prof McComb wanted to find out if the animals used their very sharp sense of hearing to identify a potential danger from humans.
The scientists recorded Masai men, women and children saying, in their own language, “Look, look over there, a group of elephants is coming”.
They also recorded Kamba men saying this phrase.
While cattle-herding Masai people often come across free-ranging elephants, which can result in violent conflict, the Kamba people’s more agricultural lifestyle does not generally bring them into aggressive touch with the animals.
When the team played recordings of these different voices through a hidden loudspeaker, they found that elephant family groups reacted more fearfully in response to the voice of a Masai man, than to a Kamba man’s voice.
And the adult male Masai voices encouraged far more of these defensive reactions than the voices of women or boys.
1.An elephant can tell a man from a woman by sense of ________.
A. touch B. sight C. smell D. hearing
2.How did the researchers get to know the elephants’ special ability of identification?
A. By observing the elephants in the zoo.
B. By playing voice recordings to them.
C. By recording the behaviours of elephants.
D. By communicating with them in a special way.
3.We can learn from the passage that elephants are especially afraid of ________.
A. Masai men B. Masai women
C. Kamba men D. Kamba women
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A. Elephants and human beings
B. Differences between human voices
C. Elephants recognise human voices
D. Elephants conflict with human beings
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Kenya is the first country to protect elephants by text messages. Mobile phone SIM cards are inserted(插入) in the collars of elephants. The cards will send a text message when the elephants wander too close to farms, allowing wildlife protectors to drive them off rather than shoot them.
Hungry elephants cause big problems for farmers and villagers in some parts of Kenya when they are searching for food. Two years ago the Kenyan wildlife service had to unwillingly shoot five elephants who continued to destroy crops.
In order to prevent such bad activities, the Elephants charity put a mobile phone SIM card on a huge bull elephant called Kimani. The conservationists(自然保护者) then set up a virtual(虚拟的) fence. Each time Kimani came near the fence, a text message was sent to farmers. So far he’s been stopped from going into the danger area fifteen times.
The project seems to be working successfully as Kimani hasn’t come near a farm for four months. A similar system has now been put into operation in another part of the country.
One of the biggest benefits of the project is that elephants seem to learn from one another, which can help a whole group change their habits.
The elephants can also be tracked using Google Earth software. This is also helping the protectors know where to use their resources to protect the animals well.
1.Elephants often cause problems in Kenya, because ______.
A．they are attacked B．they are angry
C．they are sad D．they are hungry
2.What does the underlined word “he” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A．The protector. B．The writer.
C．The elephant. D．The conservationist.
3.From the passage, we know that ______.
A．the text messages are of little help to the wildlife protectors
B．the project has worked out to be a great success in Kenya
C．a mobile phone SIM card has been put in all the elephants
D．the project has been introduced to all parts of the country
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析