According to new research from the University of Cambridge in England, sheep are able to recognize human faces from photographs. The farm animals, who are social and have large brains, were previously known to be able to recognize one another, as well as familiar humans. However, their ability to recognize human faces from photos alone is novel.
The recent study shows the woolly creatures could be trained to recognize still images of human faces, including those of former President Barack Obama and actress Emma Watson.
Initially, the sheep were trained to approach certain images by being given food rewards. Later, they were able to recognize the images for which they had been rewarded. The sheep could even recognize images of faces shown at an angle, though their ability to do so declined by about 15 percent—the same rate at which a humans ability to perform the same task declines.
“Anyone who has spent time working with sheep will know that they are intelligent, individual animals who are able to recognize their handlers,” said Professor Jenny Morton, who led the Cambridge study. “We’ve shown with our study that sheep have advanced face-recognition abilities, comparable with those of humans and monkeys.”
Recognizing faces is one of the most important social skills for human beings, and some disorders of the brain, including Huntington’s disease, affect this ability. “Sheep are long-lived and have brains that are similar in size and complexity to those of some monkeys. That means they can be useful models to help us understand disorders of the brain, such as Huntington’s disease, which develop over a long time and affect cognitive abilities. Our study gives us another way to monitor how these abilities change,” Morton said.
1.According to the new research, what’s unusual about sheep?
A.They have large brains.
B.They can recognize their owners.
C.They can tell animals from humans.
D.They can recognize human faces from photographs.
2.How did the researchers train the sheep?
A.By giving food rewards.
B.By showing photos of famous people.
C.By guiding them to follow their handlers.
D.By showing photos of humans and monkeys by turns.
3.What can be inferred from the passage?
A.Sheep have a higher face-recognition ability than monkeys.
B.Sheep recognize faces same well when shown photos at any angle.
C.The new discovery is beneficial to the study of cognitive ability changes.
D.The sheep’s face-recognition ability may prevent some disorders of the brain.
4.What’s the best title of the passage?
A.A Wonderful Scientist
B.The Life of Sheep
C.The Sheep’s Recognition of Each Other
D.A New Discovery about Sheep
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题
According to new research from the University of Cambridge in England, sheep are able to recognize human faces from photographs. The farm animals, who are social and have large brains, were previously known to be able to recognize one another, as well as familiar humans. However, their ability to recognize human faces from photos alone is novel.
The recent study shows the woolly creatures could be trained to recognize still images of human faces, including those of former President Barack Obama and actress Emma Watson.
Initially, the sheep were trained to approach certain images by being given food rewards. Later, they were able to recognize the images for which they had been rewarded. The sheep could even recognize images of faces shown at an angle, though their ability to do so declined by about 15 percent—the same rate at which a humans ability to perform the same task declines.
“Anyone who has spent time working with sheep will know that they are intelligent, individual animals who are able to recognize their handlers,” said Professor Jenny Morton, who led the Cambridge study. “We’ve shown with our study that sheep have advanced face-recognition abilities, comparable with those of humans and monkeys.”
Recognizing faces is one of the most important social skills for human beings, and some disorders of the brain, including Huntington’s disease, affect this ability. “Sheep are long-lived and have brains that are similar in size and complexity to those of some monkeys. That means they can be useful models to help us understand disorders of the brain, such as Huntington’s disease, which develop over a long time and affect cognitive abilities. Our study gives us another way to monitor how these abilities change,” Morton said.
1.According to the new research, what’s unusual about sheep?
A.They have large brains.
B.They can recognize their owners.
C.They can tell animals from humans.
D.They can recognize human faces from photographs.
2.How did the researchers train the sheep?
A.By giving food rewards.
B.By showing photos of famous people.
C.By guiding them to follow their handlers.
D.By showing photos of humans and monkeys by turns.
3.What can be inferred from the passage?
A.Sheep have a higher face-recognition ability than monkeys.
B.Sheep recognize faces same well when shown photos at any angle.
C.The new discovery is beneficial to the study of cognitive ability changes.
D.The sheep’s face-recognition ability may prevent some disorders of the brain.
4.What’s the best title of the passage?
A.A Wonderful Scientist
B.The Life of Sheep
C.The Sheep’s Recognition of Each Other
D.A New Discovery about Sheep
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
According to a new study from Cornell University, about one-fifth of the global population, of 2 billion people worldwide, will be forced to resettle or go deeper inland by 2100 due to the continuous rise in sea level.
The study, published in the journal Land Use Policy, showed that the growing global population could make the matter worse. The researchers expected that there are about 1.4 billon “climate change refugees(难民)” in the world by 2060 and by 2100 the number of the displaced people due to the rising sea level could reach up to two billion.
“We’re going to have more people on less land and sooner than we think,” said lead author Charles Geisler, professor at Cornell. “The future rise in global average sea level probably won’t be gradual. Yet few policy makers are observing the significant barriers that coastal climate refugees, like other refugees, will run into when they move to higher ground.”
For the study, the researchers reviewed(回顾) potential problems that climate change refugees may face if they go deeper inland. The researchers identified these land difficulties with relocation using three organizing groups. Including depletion(损耗) zones, win-lose zones and no-trespass(不得擅自进入) zones. By doing so, the researchers were able to provide primary estimates of their toll(损失) on inland resettlement space. The researchers found that some inland regions were unlikely to support new waves of climate change refugees due to the remains of war, road developments and rare natural resources.
Apart from the rising sea level, increasing storm weather and the booming global population are also having a huge influence on the number of climate change refugees. Storm can push seawater further inland. The increasing global population requires more land even as the ocean swallows up rich costal zones and river deltas(三角洲). These force people to search for new places to move to higher ground.
1.What would happen if the sea level were to rise?
A.2 billion people would be “refugees” by 2060.
B.50% of the population would lose their homes.
C.Inland regions would become more crowded.
D.Coastal regions would be polluted seriously.
2.What can be inferred from Charles Geisler’s words?
A.The sea level will go up in a little-by-little way.
B.Moving to higher land isn’t the key solution.
C.Land and population vary according to climate change.
D.Policy makers should think more for climate change refugees.
3.Why do climate change refugees fail to move to some inland regions?
A.Because they can’t live a common life there.
B.Because they can’t adapt to the climate there.
C.Because they may consume more than expected.
D.Because they will destroy the natural resources.
4.What does the author stress in the last paragraph?
A.Global warming is a double-edged sword.
B.In the future climate will become worse.
C.The earth will see more climate change refugees.
D.Sea will bring humans more disadvantages.
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
The technique can lead to new ways to produce medicines, the researchers from the universities of Istanbul and Hawaii hope.
As part of an effort to improve treatments for life-threatening illnesses, a team of scientists have created rabbits that glow(发光) in the dark.
Their efforts produced two rabbits out of a litter of eight that went from being a normal, fluffy white to glowing green in the dark. The rabbits were born at the University of Istanbul as part of a collaboration(合作) between scientists from universities in Turkey and Hawaii.
The rabbits glow to show that a genetic manipulation technique can work efficiently, though the specific color is more cosmetic than scientific. "The green is not important at all – it's just a marker to show the experiment can be done successfully," said University of Hawaii associate professor Stefan Moisyadi.
To produce the glowing effect, researchers injected jellyfish DNA into a mother rabbit's embryos. Those altered embryos(胚胎). Those altered embryos were then inserted back into the mother. Similar experiments have resulted in glowing cockroaches and cats.
Eventually, the researchers hope the technique can lead to new ways to produce medicines, Moisyadi said. “The final goal is to develop animals that act as barrier reactive to produce beneficial molecules in their milk that
can be cheaply extracted, especially in countries that can’t afford big pharma plants that make drugs, that usually cost $1bn to build, and be able to produce their own protein-based medication in animals," Moisyadi said.
The rabbits are expected to have the same life span as their non-glowing counterparts(副本), but Moisyadi said he understands people can object to this kind of experimentation involving live animals.
"To the people against, I say: think about, what are the benefits and what are the injuries?" Moisyadi said. "And if the benefits outweigh the injuries, let's go with the benefits."
Moisyadi, a native of Turkey who is now with the University of Hawaii, started developing the project in 2006, and researchers are now waiting to see if pregnant sheep produce similar results.
1.Moisyadi’s attitude towards this kind of experiment is .
A. doubtful.
B. indifferent.
C. supportive.
D. objective.
2.How did glowing effect produce?
A. It was just the result of genetic selection.
B. Put a light into a mother rabbit’s embryos.
C. Injected glowing cats DNA into a mother rabbit’s embryos.
D. Injected Jellyfish DNA into a mother rabbit’s embryos.
3.The final goal of this research is .
A. To make animals cuter.
B. To make nights brighter.
C. To produce all kinds of glowing animals.
D. To produce beneficial molecules in animals’ milk.
4.What can we learn according to the passage?
A. The life span of glowing rabbits is much shorter than that of non-glowing ones.
B. The glowing rabbits were born only at the University pf Hawaii.
C. Scientists have created glowing cockroaches and cats before.
D. Three rabbits out of eight can glow in the experiment.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Researchers at the University of Bedforshire have developed a new technique for powering electronic device(装置). The system, developed by Professor Ben Allen at the Centre for Wireless Research, uses radio waves as power.
Believed to be a world first, the team claims it could eventually eliminate (or get rid of) the need for conventional batteries. The university has now filed a patent application to secure the only rights to the technique.
Professor Allen and his team have created a system to use medium wave frequencies to replace batteries in small everyday devices like clocks and remote controls.
The new technique uses the “waste” energy of radio waves and has been developed as part of the university’s research into “power harvesting”. Professor Allen said that as radio waves have energy---like light waves, sound waves or wind waves---in theory, these waves could be used to create power.
“The emerging(新兴的)area of power harvesting technology promises to reduce our reliance on conventional batteries,” he said. “It’s really exciting way of taking power from sources other than what we would normally think of.”
The team is now waiting for the results of the patent application to secure recognition of the technique. Professor Allen said that the team’s achievements had all been done in their “spare time”. “Our next stage is to try and raise some real funds so that we can take this work forward and make a working prototype(模型)and maybe partner up with the right people and take this to a full product in due course,” he said.
“Power harvesting has a really important part in our future, because, just in this country, we dispose of somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 tones of batteries in landfill(垃圾填理)sites every single year-that is toxic chemicals going into the ground.”
He added that development of the product could also be “commercially beneficial”. “The market for this is several billion pounds. We’ve seen market predictions for 2020 which have these kinds of figures, so there’s a lot of commercial potential in this area,” he said.
Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Bedfordshire, Professor Carsten Maple, said, “This type of work is a reflection of the university’s growing reputation and experience in conducting innovative(创新的)research.”
1.From the text we know the new technique for powering electronic devices_____.
A. can be applied to all electronic devices.
B. uses radio waves to create power.
C. has replaced conventional batteries.
D. produces many toxic chemicals.
2.According to Professor Allen, power harvesting technology______.
A. makes every use of radio waves.
B. takes power from usual sources.
C. reduces our dependency on conventional batteries.
D. aims at huge commercial benefits.
3.What can we learn about Professor Allen and his team from the text?
A. They have made use of radio waves in their daily life.
B. They have raised a big fund to support their research.
C. They have gained a patent for their new technology.
D. They mainly did their research in their spare time.
4.What is Professor Carsten Maple’s attitude toward the new technique?
A. Critical. B. Favorable.
C. Conservative. D. Negative.
5.What is the text mainly about?
A. A new technique to create power.
B. A crisis concerning conventional batteries.
C. Some special sources of power.
D. The development of power harvesting.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Researchers at the University of Bedforshire have developed a new technique for powering electronic device(装置). The system, developed by Professor Ben Allen at the Centre for Wireless Research, uses radio waves as power.
Believed to be a world first, the team claims it could eventually get rid of the need for conventional batteries. The university has now applied for a patent(专利) application to secure the only rights to the technique.
Professor Allen and his team have created a system to use medium wave frequencies to replace batteries in small everyday devices like clocks and remote controls.
The new technique uses the “waste” energy of radio waves and has been developed as part of the university’s research into “power harvesting”. Professor Allen said that as radio waves have energy---like light waves, sound waves or wind waves---in theory, these waves could be used to create power.
“The new area of power harvesting technology promises to reduce our reliance on conventional batteries,” he said. “It’s really exciting way of taking power from sources other than what we would normally think of.”
The team is now waiting for the results of the patent application to secure recognition of the technique. Professor Allen said that the team’s achievements had all been done in their “spare time”. “Our next stage is to try and raise some real funds so that we can take this work forward and make a working pattern and maybe partner up with the right people and take this to a full product in due course,” he said.
“Power harvesting has a really important part in our future, because, just in this country, we leave somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 tons of batteries in landfill(垃圾填埋)sites every single year-that is poisonous chemicals going into the ground.”
He added that development of the product could also be “commercially(商业) beneficial”. “The market for this is several billion pounds. We’ve seen market predictions for 2020 which have these kinds of figures, so there’s a lot of commercial potential in this area,” he said.
Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Bedfordshire, Professor Carsten Maple said, “This type of work is a reflection of the university’s growing reputation and experience in carrying out creating research.”
1.From the text we know the new technique for powering electronic devices_____.
A. can be applied to all electronic devices.
B. uses radio waves to create power.
C. has replaced conventional batteries.
D. produces many poisonous chemicals.
2.According to Professor Allen, power harvesting technology______.
A. makes every use of radio waves.
B. takes power from usual sources.
C. reduces our dependency on conventional batteries.
D. aims at huge commercial benefits.
3.What can we learn about Professor Allen and his team from the text?
A. They have made use of radio waves in their daily life.
B. They have raised a big fund to support their research.
C. They have gained a patent for their new technology.
D. They mainly did their research in their spare time.
4.What is Professor Carsten Maple’s attitude toward the new technique?
A. Critical. B. Favorable.
C. Disapproving. D. Negative.
5.What is the text mainly about?
A. A new technique to create power.
B. A big problem concerning conventional batteries.
C. Some special sources of power.
D. The development of power harvesting.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
A nice warm cup of tea a day might keep glaucoma (青光眼) at bay,according to new research published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
Risk of developing glaucoma — one of the leading causes of blindness around the world that currently affects nearly 58 million people — might be lowered by drinking hot tea daily. The disease causes fluid to build up inside the eye that puts pressure onto the optic nerve (视神经). Previous research said that caffeine (咖啡因) might prevent this build-up but the new findings showed that drinking decaffeinated and caffeinated coffee, iced caffeinated tea and caffeinated sodas had no effect on glaucoma risk.
In the new study, researchers looked at the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for the 2005 — 2006 year of 10,000 adults and children. The data is from interviews with the patients, their physical exams and blood tests. That specific year also included eye tests for glaucoma in 1678 adults and showed that about 5% had the disease. Those patients were asked how many caffeinated and decaffeinated drinks they consumed during that year and how often. The results of the questionnaire showed that those who drank hot tea daily were 74% less likely to develop glaucoma than their peers who didn’t.
“Tea has long been recognized to have various chemicals that contribute to lowering the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes,” the researchers said. But further study is needed to determine if things like the size of the cup,type of tea and length of brew (冲泡) time influence the results.
1.What can we learn about glaucoma?
A. It can be cured by drinking hot tea daily.
B. It is a great threat to people’s eyesight.
C. It affects nearly 58 million people yearly.
D. It is caused by too much pressure on the eyes.
2.What did previous research find?
A. Drinking coffee reduces glaucoma risk.
B. Iced tea has no effect on glaucoma risk.
C. Caffeine does good to glaucoma patients.
D. Caffeine causes fluid to build up in the eyes.
3.How was the new study carried out?
A. By interviewing patients.
B. By testing participants’ eyes.
C. By handing out questionnaires.
D. By studying data from previous studies.
4.What does the underlined phrase “those patients” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A. The 10,000 adults. B. The 1,678 adults.
C. The 5% adults. D. The 74% adults.
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
A latest research led by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found a clear link between the color of a taxi and its accident rate. An analysis of 36 months of detailed taxi, driver and accident data from two fleets of yellow and blue taxis in Singapore suggested that yellow taxis have fewer accidents than blue taxis. The higher visibility of yellow makes it less difficult for drivers to avoid getting into accidents with yellow taxis, leading to a lower accident rate.
The study was led by Prof Hou. To test whether there was a relationship between the color of a taxi and the number of accidents the taxi had, the research team analyzed data collected by the largest taxi company in Singapore. The researchers found that yellow taxis have about 6.1 fewer accidents per 1,000 taxis per month.
They also studied the economic effect of changing the color of the entire fleet of taxis to yellow. The Singapore taxi company involved in the study owns about 16,700 taxis in a ratio (比例) of one yellow to three blue taxis. If a commercial decision is made to switch from blue to yellow taxis, 76.6 fewer accidents will occur per month or 917 fewer accidents per year.
Assuming an average repair cost of $1,000 per car and a downtime of six days, the color of all taxis to yellow could produce an annual saving of $2 million.
“We are eager to continue to validate(证实) the findings of our study by looking at the use of yellow in other types of public transport, such as school buses. For example, we hope to compare the accident rates of yellow school buses against those of other colors to find out if yellow is indeed a safer color for school buses. Besides, we’re also interested to look at private-hire vehicles and do a comparison of the accident rates of vehicles that are of different colors, ”explained Prof Hou.
1.Why do yellow taxis result in fewer accidents?
A. Because yellow can be seen more easily.
B. Because yellow signals a warning of danger.
C. Because drivers tend to be more careful in yellow taxis.
D. Because people act more quickly in yellow surroundings.
2.What’s Prof Hou’s study based on?
A. Physical risks of taxi passengers’ experience.
B. The economic effect of changing taxi color.
C. Personal reports from taxi drivers worldwide.
D. Data from Singapore's largest taxi company.
3.What do Prof Hou’s words in the last paragraph suggest?
A. School buses should be painted yellow. B. Their findings are worth popularizing.
C. Their study will be furthered. D. Yellow should be widely used in public transport.
4.What can be the best title for the text?
A. Safer to ride in yellow taxis B. Caution: yellow taxis ahead
C. Why are yellow Taxis preferred? D. How can colors help prevent accidents?
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
An international team of researchers from the University of Oxford have found that the way people use the Internet is closely tied to the seasonal movements in the natural world. Their online species searches follow the patterns of seasonal animal migrations (迁徙).
Migratory birds ( 候 鸟 ) flood back to where they reproduce every spring. That migratory behavior is accompanied by some human behavior. “In English-language Wikipedia ( 维基百科), the online searches for migratory species tend to increase in spring when those birds arrive in the United States,” said the lead author John Mittermeier.
And not just birds. Mittermeier and his team surveyed nearly 2.5 billion Wikipedia search records, for 32,000 species, across 245 languages. They also saw variable search rates for insects, horsetails and flowering plants. Seasonal trends seemed to be widespread in Wikipedia behavior for many species of plants and animals.
This finding suggests new ways to monitor changes in the world’s biological diversity. It also shows new ways to see how much people care about nature, and which species and areas might be the most effective targets for conservation.
Mittermeier is encouraged by the search results. He commented, “I think there’s a concern among conservationists (生态环境保护者) that people are losing touch with the natural world and that they’re not interacting with native species anymore. And so in that sense, it was really exciting and quite unexpected for me to see people’s Wikipedia interest closely related to changes in nature.” Richard Grenyer, Associate Professor from the University of Oxford, says search data is useful to conservation biologists, “By using these big data approaches, we can direct our attention towards the difficult questions in modern conservation: which species and areas are changing, and where are the people who care the most and can do the most to help.”
1.What have researchers found about species searches?
A.They strengthen ties among people. B.They affect the animal movements.
C.They reflect animal migration seasons. D.They differ in language backgrounds.
2.What is the purpose of writing Paragraph 3?
A.To further support the research findings.
B.To show the variety of species searches.
C.To summarize the research process.
D.To present researchers’ heavy work load.
3.How does Mittermeier feel about the search results?
A.Sad about people’s not getting close to nature.
B.Worried about Wikipedia behavior.
C.Amazed at people’s care about nature.
D.Satisfied with Wikipedia’s service.
4.From which is the text probably taken?
A.A scientific magazine. B.A biology textbook.
C.A biography. D.A travel brochure .
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
Blue is the most attractive eye colour according to a new research.
Blue eyes like those belonging to sexy star Angelina Jolie are the most appealing colour according to a pool of 3,000 18-24yearolds by Fresh Look One Day Colour. Angelina,her partner Brad Pitt and his exwife Jennifer Aniston all have blue eyes and all been named in a top twenty of the world's most desirable eyes.
The survey found that young folk with blue eyes is generally seen as being more flirtatious,sexy and kind.
And when asked if they would change the colour of their eyes if they could,only one in ten blueeyed people wanted to,significantly less than people with other colour eyes.
One in three people who didn't have blue eyes wanted a change.
One quarter of respondents have considered wearing coloured contact lenses to change their eye colour temporarily—and blue is the most wanted colour.
Green was the second most popular colour for those wanting a new look,with respondents saying greeneyed people were usually mysterious and creative.
People with brown or hazel eyes were perceived to be more trustworthy than people with other eye colours.
People with grey eyes were generally thought to be more intelligent than other people,and they were also described as usually being shy.
Blue was the most common eye colour among respondents,with 41 percent of those who answered the survey having baby blue peepers and 39 percent having brown or hazel eyes.
The survey also found that 18 percent of people don't know what colour eyes their partner has.
1.According to the new research,when considering changing their eye colour,the
number of the people who will choose ________ ranks the second.
A.brown B.green C.grey D.hazel
2.According to the study result,if you were a manager and you wanted to find a
most reliable person,you'd better hire one who has ________ eyes.
A.green B.blue C.brown D.grey
3.The underlined word “peepers” in the passage could be replaced by________.
A.babies B.colours C.respondents D.eyes
4.Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A.Who have the most charming eyes in the world?
B.Blue—the most attractive eye colour.
C.A survey result on eye colours.
D.Different eye colours in the world.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
In a report from Psychological Science, researchers at the University of Lyon report sleeping between two learning sessions improve your learning.
In this study, 40 French adults were randomly assigned to a “sleep” or “wake” group. They all were given 16 French-Swahili words in pairs in random order. After studying a pair for seven seconds, the Swahili word appeared on a screen and the participants were asked to type the French translation. If they made a mistake, the words appeared again until every word-pair was correctly translated. Twelve hours later, they did it again. The wake group did their tests first in the morning and then in the evening so they had no time to sleep in between. The sleep group members did their first session in the evening and the second came the next morning, after a good night’s sleep.
The sleep group members did much better at recalling the correct translations and were quicker to learn when they make a mistake. Both groups were eventually able to learn all the word-pairs but getting some sleep allowed the sleep group to learn in less time and with less effort. A follow-up showed that the sleep group still did better than the wake group a week later and even six months later.
So, if you have to learn something, study and then get a good night’s sleep.
1.What is the difference of the two groups’ tasks?
A. Who to learn. B. What to learn.
C. When to learn the words. D. How to learn the words.
2.How did the participants deal with a typing mistake they made?
A. Translating the same word again. B. Leaving the wrong word alone.
C. Asking for a correct answer. D. Redoing the typing twelve hours later.
3.What does the underlined word “it” in Para. 2 refer to?
A. Correcting the mistakes.
B. Typing the Swahili words.
C. Typing the French translation.
D. Showing the Swahili word on the screen.
4.Compared to the wake group, those in the sleep group _________.
A. typed more quickly
B. learned all the word-pairs
C. learnt with more effort
D. made fewer translation mistakes
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析