When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I'm dead—take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet” when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait— I'm not dead yet” quickly goes away. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory, Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the “Wait—I'm not dead yet” chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the “not dead yet” chemical is stronger than the “dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining “dead” chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.
1.What is the function of the first paragraph?
A. Leading the following paragraphs.
B. Showing the main idea of the passage.
C. Introducing the background of the passage.
D. Giving a summary of the passage.
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving.
B. When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical.
C. A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical.
D. Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other.
3.Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?
A. Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places.
B. Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants.
C. Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior, and then did some tests to prove his theory.
D. Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own.
4.What is mainly discussed in the passage?
A. experiments about how ants manage to keep their nests clean.
B. experiments about why ants have special chemicals on their bodies.
C. experiments about why ants can have this removal behavior
D. experiments about how to decide whether an ant is dead or not.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题
When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I'm dead—take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet” when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait— I'm not dead yet” quickly goes away. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory, Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the “Wait—I'm not dead yet” chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the “not dead yet” chemical is stronger than the “dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining “dead” chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.
1.What is the function of the first paragraph?
A. Leading the following paragraphs.
B. Showing the main idea of the passage.
C. Introducing the background of the passage.
D. Giving a summary of the passage.
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving.
B. When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical.
C. A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical.
D. Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other.
3.Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?
A. Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places.
B. Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants.
C. Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior, and then did some tests to prove his theory.
D. Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own.
4.What is mainly discussed in the passage?
A. experiments about how ants manage to keep their nests clean.
B. experiments about why ants have special chemicals on their bodies.
C. experiments about why ants can have this removal behavior
D. experiments about how to decide whether an ant is dead or not.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I'm dead—take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet” when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait— I'm not dead yet” quickly goes away. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory, Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the “Wait—I'm not dead yet” chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the “not dead yet” chemical overrides the “dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining “dead” chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.
1.What is the function of the first paragraph?
A. Leading the following paragraphs.
B. Showing the main idea of the passage.
C. Introducing the background of the passage.
D. Giving a summary of the passage.
2.Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “overrides” in the fourth paragraph?
A. is weaker than B. is stronger than
C. is better than D. is worse than
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving.
B. When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical.
C. A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical.
D. Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other.
4.Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?
A. Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places.
B. Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants.
C. Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior,and then did some tests to prove his theory.
D. Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
When an ant dies, other ants move the dead insect out. Sometimes, the dead ant get moved away very soon—within an hour of dying. This behavior is interesting to scientists, who wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist. Choe found that Argentine ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead—take me away.”
But there’s a twist to Choe’s discovery. Choe says that the living ants—not just the dead ones—have this death chemical. In other words, while an ant crawls around, perhaps in a picnic or home, it’s telling other ants that it’s dead.
What keeps ants from dragging away the living ants?Choe found that Argentine ants have two additional chemicals on their bodies, and these tell nearby ants something like, “Wait—I’m not dead yet.” So Choe’s research turned up two sets of chemical signals in ants: one says, “I’m dead,” and the other set says, “I’m not dead yet.”
Other scientists have tried to figure out how ants know when another ant is dead. If an ant is knocked unconscious, for example, other ants leave it alone until it wakes up. That means ants know that unmoving ants can still be alive.
Choe suspects that when an Argentine ant dies, the chemical that says “Wait-I’m not dead yet” quickly goes away. Once that chemical is gone, only the one that says “I’m dead” is left. “It’s because the dead ant no longer smells like a living ant that it gets carried to the graveyard, not because its body releases(释放) new unique chemicals after death,” said Choe. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they drag away the body.
Understanding this behavior may help scientists figure out how to stop Argentine ants from invading new places and causing problems. Choe would like to find a way to use the newly discovered chemicals to spread ant killer to Argentine ant nests.
The ants’ removal behavior is important to the overall health of the nest. “Being able to quickly remove dead individuals and other possible sources of disease is extremely important to all animals living in societies, including us,” says Choe. “Think about all the effort and money that we invest daily in waste management.”
1.The underlined word “twist” in Paragraph 3 means ________.
A.an unexpected change B.a clear mistake
C.an important key D.a shocking conclusion
2.Ants judge whether another one is dead or not depending on ________.
A.the sense of taste B.the sense of smell
C.the sense of touch D.the sense of sight
3.The result of the research can be used to ________.
A.kill troublesome pests
B.solve the problem of endangered species
C.prevent further expansion of the ants’ territory
D.keep the balance of nature
4.Why is it important to remove dead individuals?
A.Because it is easier to manage the living.
B.Because it can save money to deal with the waste.
C.Because it can provide more space for the living.
D.Because it can keep the living from suffering disease.
5.What might be the best title of the text?
A.Dead or living? It is easy to judge
B.Pulling away the dead ants is a difficult task
C.Ant nests have great undertaking capacity
D.Leaving it alone or taking it away? Ants feel puzzled
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
An ant was drinking by a small river when it fell in.It made ______ efforts to reach the side,but made no progress at all.
A. negative B. total
C. desperate D. careful
高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
Small as it is, the ant is ______ any other animal on the earth.
A. much as a creature as B. as much a creature as
C. a creature as much as D. as much as a creature
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
阅读下列应用文及相关信息,并按照要求匹配信息。请在答题卡上将对应题号的相应选项字母涂黑。
下面是几则寓言小故事:
1. An ant went to the bank of a river to quench its thirst, and being carried away by the rush of the stream, was on the point of drowning. A dove sitting on a tree overhanging the water plucked a leaf and let it fall into the stream close to her. The ant climbed onto it and floated in safety to the bank. Shortly afterwards a bird catcher came and stood under the tree, aiming at the dove. The ant, perceiving his design, stung him in the foot. In pain the bird catcher shouted, and the noise made the dove take wing.
2.Two men were travelling together, when a bear suddenly met them on their path. One of them climbed up quickly into a tree and hid himself in the branches. The other, seeing that he must be attacked, fell flat on the ground, and when the bear came up and felt him with his snout, and smelt him all over, he held his breath, and pretended to be dead as much as he could. The bear soon left him, for he will not touch a dead body. When he disappeared, the other traveler descended from the tree, and asked his friend what it was the bear had whispered in his ear. ―He gave me this advice, his companion replied. ―Never travel with a friend who deserts you at the approach of danger.
3. A prince had some monkeys trained to dance. Being naturally good at learning, they showed themselves excellent pupils, and in their rich clothes and masks, they danced as well as any of the courtiers. Their performance was often repeated with great applause, till on one occasion a courtier, bent on mischief, took from his pocket a handful of nuts and threw them upon the stage. The monkeys at the sight of the nuts forgot their dancing and became (as indeed they were) monkeys instead of actors. Pulling off their masks and tearing their robes, they fought with one another for the nuts. The dancing spectacle thus came to an end in the laughter and ridicule of the audience.
4. A cock was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens when suddenly he noticed something shining in the straw. "Ho! Ho!" said he, "that’s for me," and soon rooted it out from beneath the straw. It turned out to be a pearl that by some chance had been lost in the yard. ―You may be a treasure, signed the cock, ―to man, but for me I would rather have a single barley-corn.
5. An old man on the point of death summoned his sons around him to give them some parting advice. He ordered his servants to bring in a bunch of sticks, and said to his eldest son: "Break it." The son tried hard, but with all his efforts was unable to break the bundle. The other sons also tried, but none of them was successful. ―Untie it, said the father, ―and each of you take a stick. When they had done so, he called out to them: ―Now, break, and each stick was easily broken.
请阅读下面的故事寓意,然后匹配与之对应的小故事。
A. Not everything you see is what it appears to be.
B. One man’s pleasure may be another’s pain. / One man’s meat is another’s poison.
C. Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.
D. One good turn deserves another.
E. Union gives strength.
F. Precious things are for those that can prize them
高二英语信息匹配中等难度题查看答案及解析
D
There are an extremely large number of ants worldwide. Each individual (个体的) ant hardly weigh anything, but put together they weigh roughly the same as all of mankind. They also live nearly everywhere, except on frozen mountain tops and around the poles.For animals their size, ants have been astonishingly successful, largely due to their wonderful social behavior.
In colonies (群体) that range in size from a few hundred to tens of millions, they organize their lives with a clear division of labor. Even more amazing is how they achieve this level of organization. Where we use sound and sight to communicate, ants depend primarily on pheromone (外激素), chemicals sent out by individuals and smelled or tasted by fellow members of their colony. When an ant finds food, it produces a pheromone that will lead others straight to where the food is. When an individual ant comes under attack or is dying, it sends out an alarm pheromone to warn the colony to prepare for a conflict as a defense unit.
In fact, when it comes to the art of war, ants have no equal. They are completely fearless and will readily take on a creature much larger than themselves, attacking in large groups and overcoming their target. Such is their devotion to the common good of the colony that not only soldier ants but also worker ants will sacrifice their lives to help defeat an enemy.
Behaving in this selfless and devoted manner, these little creatures have survived on Earth, for more than 140 million years, far longer than dinosaurs. Because they think as one, they have a collective (集体的) intelligence greater than you would expect from its individual parts.
1.We can learn from the passage that ants are ____________.
A.not willing to share food
B.not found around the poles
C.more successful than all other animals
D.too many to achieve any level of organization
2.Ants can use pheromones for______.
A.escape B.communication
C.warning enemies D.arranging labor
3.What does the underlined expression "take on" in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.Accept. B.Employ.
C.Play with. D.Fight against.
4.Which of the following contributes most to the survival of ants?
A.Their behavior. B.Their size.
C.Their number. D.Their weight
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
There are an extremely large number of ants worldwide. Each individual ant hardly weigh anything, but together they weigh almost the same as all of mankind. They also live nearly everywhere, except on frozen mountain tops or around the Antarctic. For animals their size, ants have been surprisingly successful, largely due to their wonderful social conduct.
In groups that vary in size from a few hundred to tens of millions, they organize their lives with a clear distribution of labor. Even more amazing is how they achieve this level of organization. While we use sound and sight to communicate, ants depend mostly on pheromone (信息素), which is a kind of chemical released by individuals and smelled or tasted by fellow members of a group. When an ant finds food, it produces a pheromone that will lead others straight to where the food is. When an ant comes under attack or is dying, it sends out an alarm pheromone to warn the whole group to prepare for a defensive fight.
In fact, when it comes to the art of war, ants have no equal. They are completely fearless and will take on an animal much larger than themselves, attacking in large groups and beating their target. They show so much devotion to their group that not only soldier ants but also worker ants will sacrifice their lives to help defeat an enemy.
United and devoted, these little animals have survived on the earth for more than 140 million years, far longer than dinosaurs. Because they think as one, they have a united intelligence greater than you would expect from one small individual ant.
1.We can learn from the passage that ants are__________.
A. unwilling to share food
B. more successful than mankind
C. not used to living in cold environment.
D. too many to achieve any organization.
2.Ants can use pheromones for __________.
A. tasting food B. communication
C. warning enemies D. arranging labor
3.What does the underlined expression "take on" in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. Help out. B. Give in to.
C. Show favor to. D. Fight against.
4.Ants have survived for so long mainly because of ____________.
A. their social cooperation.
B. their large group size.
C. their fearless attack.
D. their individual intelligence.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Green tree ants are important builders in the rainforest. They’re like the worker bees of the ant world. The native forest of Thala Beach Nature Reserve is the natural home of these insects.
They climb all over the tree that contains their nest and protect it from enemies with great fierceness. The ants are often in the fruiting trees of Tropical North Queensland. When an animal tries to help themselves to some tasty fruit, they find themselves attacked by a powerful, frightening army of green tree ants! Their bite is not very painful but many ants attacking at the same time can be extremely uncomfortable.
The nests are large and constructed by sticking the leaves at the end of branches together to create a home looking roughly like a globe. Most of the nest construction and weaving is conducted at night. A mature colony of green tree ants can hold as many as 100,000 to 500,000 workers and may include as many as 12 trees and contain as any as 150 nests. Green tree ant colonies have one queen and a colony can live up to eight years.
However, the ants are so busy that they fail to spot a dishonest figure. There is a spider called the Salticid spider, or the jumping spider, as they are sometimes referred to, which has excellent eyesight and is only active during daylight, weaving a protective covering of silk to spend the night in. Interestingly, the Salticid spider does not look like a green tree ant. Instead, it chemically copies green tree ants’ smell. Effectively pretending to be an ant, it goes into the green tree ants’ nest, enters the nursery and feasts on their babies. Green tree ants don’t have good eyesight and smell everything with their antennae (two long thin parts on an ant’s head). Therefore, the ants think the spider is another ant and ignore its presence within the nest.
Next time, as you wander around Thala’s native forest, keep an eye out for these busy little creatures. Look up into the trees and you’ll likely spot their nests.
1.What does Paragraph 2 tell us about green tree ants?
A. They often start wars for food. B. They like tasty fruit very much.
C. They leave painful bites. D. They have good defenses.
2.What is special about the green tree ant’s nest?
A. It takes years to weave a nest. B. It is reconstructed yearly.
C. It is made of leaves. D. It can hold up to 500,000 ants.
3.Why do green tree ants regard the spider as another ant?
A. It can communicate with them. B. It can make familiar sounds.
C. It has a similar smell. D. It has an ant’s appearance.
4.What can we say about the Salticid spider?
A. It is the green tree ant’s enemy. B. It helps the green tree ant build bests.
C. It is harmful to fruiting trees. D. It protects the green tree ant.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Next time you need directions,maybe you can ask an ant.These little creatures are masters of navigation(导航)that some can find their way home whether they're walking forward or backward,according to a study in Current Biology.
Ants often travel long to bring back the food to their nests.But how do they know where they’re going?
Researchers went to Spain to mess with some desert ants.They found an active nest and surrounded it with barriers that forced the foraging(搜寻)ants to follow a particular path back home.Once the ants were familiar with the maze,the researchers would take them up,hand them pieces of a cookie and then put them back in a different location,one that required taking a 90 degree turn to get to the nest.
The research found that the ants carrying a small,easy-to-carry piece would run forward with confidence and were able to head on home.Some ants,however,would drop the cookie and turn around to take a look at the scenery, which allowed the six-legged experts to reset their inner maps,catch their cookies and head in the right direction.
These ants seem to use sky clues,like the position of the sun,to keep them on track.When the researchers used a mirror to make it look like the sun on the other side of the sky,the cornered ants would turn tail for the opposite direction.
So ants integrate(整合)a lot of information to successfully bring home the food.
1.What does the word “maze” in Paragraph 3 probably refer to?
A. A nest that active ants live in.
B. An experiment that is done in the desert.
C. A method that helps to locate food.
D. A place that consists of confusing paths.
2.Why did some ants stop to look at the scenery?
A. To get over the man-made barriers.
B. To enjoy the scenery along the route.
C. To ensure they're in the right direction.
D. To check directions with their maps.
3.According to the passage,what probably helps the ants find their way home?
A. The position of the sun. B. One particular path.
C. A 90 degree turn. D. Pieces of a cookie.
4.Where does this passage probably come from?
A. An adventure novel. B. A geography textbook.
C. A science magazine. D. A tourist brochure.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析