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
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
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
The fact that ants are fascinating insects has been known for some time. Now, scientists have discovered a large number of wood ants living in an abandoned underground storehouse in Templewo, Poland, despite having no obvious source of food.
Polish zoologist Wojciech Czechowski and his team began studying the underground colony in 2013. They found the ants built a 60-cm high nest in the soil directly over the storehouse vertical air pipe. As years passed, the metal covering on the pipe eroded, leaving behind a hole that thousands of worker ants accidentally slip into each day as they go about their daily chores. The scientists say that there are no sources of food in the storehouse. This means that the insects live in a state of near starvation.
In July 2015, the researchers disturbed part of the ant nest in search of larvae (幼虫), cocoons(茧), and queens. They found nothing, leading them to suspect that the lack of food and cold temperatures made reproduction impossible and that the group tending the nest is entirely made up of non-reproductive female workers. Their population is refilled every year, by a new rain of unfortunate ants that slide down the hole. The researchers say that when they returned in January 2016, the nest had been repaired. It appears that despite the terrible conditions, the worker ants do not stop constructing their nest.
Wood ants are known for their ability to adapt to bad living conditions. In this case, the millions of worker ants trapped in the storehouse have no choice. But instead of losing hope, they are making the best of the situation—a classic example of “when life gives you lesions make lemonade.”
1.How did the wood ants arrive in the storehouse?
A. They fell down there by accident.
B. The research team brought them there.
C. The storehouse builders left them there.
D. They were attracted by the environment.
2.What does the underlined word “eroded” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A. Expanded. B. Rotted.
C. Exploded. D. Melted.
3.What did the researchers find in the nest?
A. Larvae. B. Cocoons.
C. A queen. D. Worker ants.
4.Why did the population of wood ants remain steady?
A. They had enough food.
B. They were able to reproduce.
C. They adapted to the conditions.
D. They had new comers to join them.
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
Both honeybees and ants are social insects that live in groups called colonies. They survive by means of their collective intelligence. Their decision-making power is distributed throughout the group; that is, no one ant or bee makes decisions for the group. Instead, they work together. As Deborah M. Gordon, a biologist at Stanford University, says,” Ants aren't smart. Ant colonies are.”
The same is true for bee colonies. Although bees and ants are quite different physically, they have a lot in common in terms of their social behavior. Specifically, honeybees and ants have similar roles within the colony, both have communication systems, and both have the capacity for learning.
Ants communicate by using chemicals called pheromones, which can alert others to danger or to a food source. For example, when worker ants find a promising source, they let the rest of the colony know how to find it by leaving a trail of pheromones on the way back to the colony. The other ants pick up the message using their sense of smell. Bees, on the other hand, use movement to communicate with each other. Worker bees send messages to each other by means of a “dance”. Different speeds and movements send different messages. For example, when worker bees called scouts go out to find a new home for the colony, they return and do a dance for the other worker bees that indicates the location of the new home and how suitable it is. The faster the scouts dance, the better the new location is.
Honeybees and ants are both capable of learning. One Chinese study found that bees can be trained to learn and remember a route to a food source. The researchers also found that bees can be taught to recognize hidden objects and use the concepts of “sameness” and “difference” to accomplish certain tasks. Ants take this one step further. Recent American research has shown that ants not only have the ability to learn, but also can teach their foraging skills to other younger ants.
They observed that older ants accompany young ants in search of food and teach them the route and how to avoid obstacles.
As we can see, the social behavior of honeybees and ants is quite similar. Both coordinate(协调) complex actions and accomplish survival tasks by cooperating in groups consisting of many individuals. Unintelligent as they may be as individuals, as groups they often show amazing brilliance as they go about their everyday activities.
1.What do ants and bees have in common?
A.They live in similar-sized colonies.
B.They make use of collective intelligence.
C.They have small leadership groups that make all decisions.
D.They use the same methods to communicate with each other.
2.What does the speed of a bee's dance indicate?
A.The quality of a new colony location.
B.The distance to a neighboring colony.
C.The discovery of a new food source.
D.The direction to a potential food source.
3.In paragraph 4, how does the author demonstrate the idea that Honeybees and ants are both capable of learning?
A.By using statistics.
B.By explaining reasons.
C.By referencing opinions.
D.By presenting study findings.
4.What is the benefit of collective intelligence?
A.It allows the colony to reproduce more rapidly.
B.It improves work cooperation within the colony.
C.It reduces the division of labor among members.
D.It enables individuals to teach each other new skills.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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
One day an ant was drinking at a small stream and fell in. She made desperate efforts to reach the side, but made no progress at all. The poor ant almost exhausted was still bravely doing her best when a dove saw her. Moved with pity, the bird threw her a blade of grass, which supported her like a raft, and thus the ant reached the bank again. While she was resting and drying herself in the grass, she heard a man come near. He was walking along barefooted with a gun in his hand. As soon as he saw the dove, he wished to kill it. He would certainly have done so, but the ant bit him in the foot just as he raised his gun to fire. He stopped to see what had bit him, and the dove immediately flew away. It was an animal much weaker and smaller than herself that had saved her life.
1.The ant could not reach the side though ________.
A. she could smell well
B. she asked the dove to save her
C. she tried very hard
D. she cried for help
2.The dove saved the ant because ________.
A. she was the ant's friend
B. she took pity on the poor ant
C. the ant was almost exhausted
D. the ant had been struggled in the water for a long time
3.The ant succeeded in getting on the bank with the help of ________.
A. a leaf B. a piece of wood
C. a blade of grass D. a raft
4.Just as the man shot at the dove, ________.
A. the dove immediately flew away
B. the dove hid himself in the grass
C. the ant told the dove to leave at once
D. he felt something biting him in the foot
5.In writing the story, the writer wants to show ________.
A. how kind the dove was
B. how clever the ant was
C. how the ant and the dove helped each other
D. we often need help from others, therefore we should help others as much as we can
高二英语阅读理解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