Years ago, many zoos kept all kinds of animals in small cages. Small cages made it easy for people to see the animals, but a small cage is not a good place for an animal to live in.
Today zoos keep animals in different kinds of cages. The cages are very big and open. They usually have plants and a little lake. The cages look like the animals' habitats (栖息地).
Zoos help to protect all kinds of animals. They protect animals in the zoo and they protect animals in the wild. How do they do this? Zoos teach people how animals live in the wild. Zoos want people to help protect the animals' wild habitats.
Many plants and animals are going extinct. Mammoths, which are related with Asia elephants, are now extinct. There are no mammoths in the world today. Scientists say that seventy four different kinds of living things go extinct every day!
Zoos are working together to stop animals from going extinct.
Scientists have recently discovered that animals that live in groups, such as elephants, foxes, and wolves, are more likely to follow rules. If they don't, and each does its own thing, the group will probably break apart. Group members would be forced to live alone, and would have a harder time hunting and raising their young. That's probably why a traveling wolf pack was seen stopping and waiting for its limping (跛行的) leader to catch up. Similar social ties are believed to be responsible for an elephant saving her friend from drowning.
Sometimes, though, animals try their best to do what's right, even when there's nothing in it for them. Nobody knows exactly why. "It might simply feel good to be kind, just as it does for humans." says Bekoff. If your friend wasn't nice to you, what would you do? Maybe you would just walk away. That's exactly what a wild red fox did when she was playing boxing with another fox.
Toby was a generous cat. For ten years, the kind kitty shared his food with a spaniel (长耳狗) named Katie. After supper, owner Linda Gustafson always divided the food. She'd drop some in Katie's bowl on the floor and some in Toby's dish on the kitchen counter. Gustafson kept the cat's dish up high to keep Katie from stealing Toby's treats. As it turned out, Katie didn't need to steal; she only had to beg. Every night, the spaniel ate her food in a few seconds. Then she'd sit and stare at the cat and every night, Toby would be nice. Using his paw, he'd get several pieces of tasty food down to the waiting dog. Apparently, Katie appreciated it, because whenever she was curled up in her beanbag bed and the cat walked over, she would give up her nice, warm spot. "Toby would then lie down in the center of the beanbag," says Gustafson, "and Katie would lie on the floor."
Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going. When the world was still populated by hunter gatherers, small, tightly knit (联系) groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other. Some language experts believe that 10,000 years ago, when the world had just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12,000 languages between them.
Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number. In recent centuries, trade, industrialisation, the development of the nationstate and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalisation and better communications in the past few decades, all have caused many languages to disappear, and dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over.
At present, the world has about 6,800 languages. The distribution of these languages is hugely uneven. The general rule is that mild zones have relatively few languages, often spoken by many people, while hot, wet zones have lots, often spoken by small numbers. Europe has only around 200 languages; the Americas about 1,000; Africa 2,400; and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3,200, of which Papua New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800.The median number (中位数) of speakers is a mere 6,000, which means that half the world's languages are spoken by fewer people than that.
Already well over 400 of the total of 6,800 languages are close to extinction (消亡), with only a few elderly speakers left. Pick, at random, Busuu in Cameroon(eight remaining speakers), Chiapaneco in Mexico (150), Lipan Apache in the United States (two or three) or Wadjigu in Australia (one, with a question mark): none of these seems to have much chance of survival.
As scientists in the Netherlands tried to figure out how to build a super flying robot, they learned from one of nature's flyers: the humble fruit fly. And by building this robot, they've gained new understanding of how the fly carries out one of its dangerous tasks.
The robot is called the DelFly Nimble. Its wingspan (翼展) is about a foot wide. It has four wings that can beat at 17 times per second, which appear very delicate because they're made of the same material as space blankets.
"In previous designs, they always had a tail, like a traditional airplane tail," said the robot's main designer Matej Karasek. He's based at the Micro Air Vehicle Laboratory at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and he and his colleagues published their findings on Thursday in Science.
"In previous generations," he said, "flapping wings drove the robot forward while the tail helped to guide and stabilise (稳定) it. But now the DelFly Nimble is completely controlled by the wings." "The challenge then was actually combining the control into the wing movement, and that's what we achieved," Karasek said.
"In the latest generation, the wings can each move individually or rotate (旋转) around the body of the robot. The robot can remain in one place in the air for about five minutes on a full battery or fly for more than a kilometre," Karasek said, "and because the scientists are controlling all the movements, they can use the robot to learn more about how fruit flies actually carry out their dangerous tasks, which has caught the attention of biologists. "
If you want to have a garden full of life and motion, you have to attract some wildlife.
It's not as difficult as it may sound. Your garden will attract insects, bugs, birds and mammals. You will make yourself happy and at the same time you will provide a living space for these beautiful creatures. All you need to do is to follow this advice and you will have the garden of your dreams. If you think your garden has to be messy and untidy, you're wrong. You need waves and long living plants and strong curves of hedges (树篱) and paths. It's advisable to have the grass.
Provide water. It's important to provide water. Some animals can even use your pool to have a bath. Bees love shallow water. It's vital to change the water in your pond regularly to avoid breeding mosquitoes.
Provide food. Planting native plants is what you have to do in order to attract wildlife. Plants like roses, honeysuckle and lavender attract different insects like bees and butterflies. Humming birds are fans of fuchsia and geraniums. Trees and shrubs that produce fruit, berries and seed are good sources of food for your little friends.
Provide some shelters for wildlife. You need to plant evergreen plants, too, because they are a suitable place for wildlife to take shelter.
Some species will overtake your garden and make it unfriendly. If there are wild cats that threaten the wildlife in your garden, it would be wise to take steps to keep those out.
A. Keep attacking species away.
B. Kill attacking species once it appears.
C. It's reasonable to keep native species.
D. This can be as simple as placing a bird feeder.
E. You can have a fountain and a small artificial pond.
F. Silence won't bother you anymore and you won't be alone.
G. It's important to provide everything animals will need to live in your garden.
I had just started my second year studying at Cambridge University when I was faced with the news I had never expected. A lump in my neck turned out to be cancer. I would 1 six months of chemotherapy (化疗).
After the shock, I was struck by this thought: my 2 didn't have any room for cancer. I had so much I wanted to achieve and so many goals I wanted to chase.
I was faced with the 3 job of telling my friends and family. Then, I had to decide whether to 4 in Cambridge and take five exams at the end of the year. My doctor advised against it, and so did my parents and teachers.
My doctors and teachers tried to convince me that taking some time off to 5 and relax would be the best thing for me. I could not think of anything 6. I did not want to 7 a year of my life receiving pity from those around me.
Together with my parents, I tried to persuade the university to 8 me to stay at Cambridge and study only half the courses. At the end of the year I would take two exams. It was really a 9 to persuade them to agree.
Treatment began and I was up and down from Cambridge to London every other week. It made me feel 10 ， but to a much lesser degree than I had expected. I was able to read, eat and socialize exactly as I used to. I slept a lot and rested a lot, but I also worked hard at my studies. It gave me focus, and it also gave me purpose. Completing my 11 at the end of the term felt like a great personal victory.
I took a 12 of continuing studying while undergoing treatment, and it 13. I was successful in my exams—and more 14 ， I made a full recovery.
Every person facing a disease like cancer must make the 15 that are right for them. I am proud that I made the decision that was right for me.
English has developed over a long history.
Old English consists of a (mix) of Celtic language and the languages spoken by two Germanic groups from the (Europe) mainland. At the end of the 9th century, the Vikings moved to Britain, (bring) with them their languages. Their languages also mixed Old English, which had become the official language of England by the 10th century.
Middle English refers to the English (use) from around the 12th to the 15th centuries. In 1066, Normans, French speaking people, defeated England. French did not replace English as the first language, it (play) an important role in the formation of English.
During the Renaissance in the 16th century, Modern English appeared, in many Latin and Greek words were included. Now English is (wide) spoken around the world.
Cody and his sister April decide they want to have a pet dog. They head down to the local pet store and have a look around. It is a very small pet store that does not have many animals.
The owner of the shop is a nice old man named Mr Smith. He walks over and greets Cody and April.
"How can I help you?" he asks.
"We would like to buy a dog."April responds.
"Ah, well, we are not a big pet shop," Mr Smith tells her. "So we only have two dogs to choose from."
They ask Mr Smith to show them the dogs.
Mr Smith leads them to the back of the store where the two dogs are. One of them is a very big Bulldog named Buster. It looks strong and fierce. The other is a very tiny Chihuahua named Teacup. It looks cute and lovely.
April wants Teacup the Chihuahua, while Cody wants Buster the Bulldog. To make a decision, they walk outside to discuss.
Even after they have a discussion, they cannot agree on a dog. April suggests they race home for it. The winner of the race will choose the dog.
Cody agrees. Before the race starts, Cody tells April that her shoelace is untied. When April looks down, he runs off and gets a head start.
Cody runs as hard as he can. He really wants that Bulldog as a pet. He looks back. April is so far behind he cannot even see her.
Cody finally gets home. He is tired but he is happy. He knows he is the winner.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为100左右；
2）应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1：
April arrives a few minutes after Cody. ……
Paragraph 2：
Mr Smith tells them the details.……
