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
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 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
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. a; the D. the; a
高三英语单项填空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 ________ 9story 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 ________ 9story 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．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
From July to October every year, about a quarter of the world’s blue whales feed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. But the whales currently face a major threat in their favorite feeding area. Ships carrying cargo (货物）sail in the same area at the same time. All too often, the whales’ paths and the ships’ travel lines overlap (重叠)，and a ship will hit a whale.
According to a new study, these ship strikes have become a serious threat to the overall population of the world’s blue whales. Only about 10,000 of the creatures still exist worldwide. Blue whales are the largest known animals ever to live on Earth. Even so, if hit by a container ship, a blue whale will likely die from its injuries.
In 2007 alone, large ships killed five blue whales in the waters off San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says that because there are so few whales already, losing three to five from the California whale population every year is a significant loss. “The estimated population of blue whales in this part of the Pacific is 2,500”, says Sean Hastings, a NOAA analyst. “So every whale counts toward this species moving off the endangered-species list.”
Now, marine scientists must figure out how to protect the whales from the giant container ships. One very simple program is already under way in the Santa Barbara Channel, a waterway that separates mainland California from the nearby Channel Islands.
The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary has asked large container ships passing through the area to voluntarily slow down. Sailing slower will allow the ships’ crew (船员）more time to change course before hitting a whale.
Several of the world’s largest shipping lines are set to participate in the new program. For every ship that passes through the Santa Barbara Channel at or below the reduced speed of 12 knots (海里 / 小时），the company that owns the ship will be paid $2,500.
1.From Paragraph 1, we can know that_____.
A. people intend to illegally hunt blue whales for money
B. large ships often carrying goods may pollute the sea
C. there is fewer fish in blue whales’ favorite feeding area
D. the container ships may hit the blue whales frequently
2.Why is the death of several whales regarded as significant loss to the world's blue whales?
A. Because other blue whales will be scared away.
B. Because the number of the blue whales is so small.
C. Because blue whales are the largest animals in the world.
D. Because many blue whales get killed throughout the year.
3.According to Sean Hastings，it’s inferred that .
A. the blue whales are still on the endangered-species list.
B. the number of the blue whales is decreasing sharply.
C. most of the world’s blue whales live in the Pacific Ocean.
D. blue whales are often disturbed by other endangered creatures.
4.What are the last three paragraphs mainly about?
A. The basic responsibility of a sailor.
B. The world’s largest shipping lines.
C. Measures to protect the blue whales.
D. Ways to slow down the speed of the ships.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析