The idea for a science experiment can come from an unusual place. After watching a YouTube video of a dancing bird named Snowball, a scientist in Californina decided to study the ability of animals to keep the beat.

Bird lovers have long claimed that their pets have rhyhm, and there are many videos of dancing birds online. Until now, scientists have suspected that humans are the only animals that can accurately keep rhythm with music.

Thanks to Snowball, that scientific opinion is changing. Snowball is a cockatoo, a kind of parrot, and his favorite song is “Everybody” by the Backstreet Boys. When he hears the song, he moves his feet and rocks his body with the tempo, or pace of the music, as though he is the only bird member of the boy band.

Aniruddh Patel is a neuroscientist, or a scientist who studies how the brain and the nervous system contribute to learning, seeing and other mental abilities. He works at the Neurosciences Instiute in San Diego. After seeing Snowbaill’s dance online, Patel visited the cockatoo at the bird rescue facility he’s called home for two years. The scientist played “Everybody” for Snowball and also played versions of the song that were sped up or slowed down. Sometimes, Snowball danced too fast or too slowly. Often, when there was a change in tempo, Snowball adjusted his dancing to match the rhythm. In other experiments, scientists have observed the same abilities in preschool children.

Patel isn’t the only scientist who has studied Snowball’s moves. Adena Schachner, who studies psychology at Harvard University, also wanted to know more about the dancing bird. Schachner’s team played different musical pieces for Snowball and a parrot named Alex, as well as eight human volunteers. The scientists observed that the birds and the humans kept time to the music with about the same accuracy.

Schachner and her team watched thousands of YouTube videos of different animals moving to music. Not all the animals could dance, however. From watching the videos, the scientists observed that only animals that imitate sounds, including 14 parrot species and Asian elephants, accurately moved in time to music.

The underlined words “that scientific opinion” in the third paragraph refers to the theory that            .

A.birds like Snowball have the ability to keep the beat

B.humans are the only animals that can accurately keep rhythm with music

C.the brain and the nervous system contribute to some mental abilities

D.bird pets can have their special rhythm under human’s instruction

From the fourth paragraph we may know that         .

A.Patel is the only scientist who has studied Snowball’s moves.

B.Snowball is able to adjust his dandcing to match the rhythm.

C.Snowball cannot dance to the versions of the song Everybody.

D.it is the brain and the nervous system that control the mental abilities.

The idea of studying animals’ ability to keep the beat comes from       .

A.bird lovers’ discovery               B.humans musical sense

C.the same abilities in children            D.videos of dancing birds

According to the scientists, Snowball’s ability to dance to music is probably related to the fact that          .

A.it is the only bird member of thd Backstreet Boys band

B.it has the ability to imitate sounds

C.it is a kind of dancing parrot

D.it has the same abilities as preschool children

【小題1】B

【小題2】B

【小題3】D

【小題4】B


解析:

略

練習(xí)冊系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

A gentle breeze blew through Jennifer’s hair. The golden red sun was setting. She was on the beach, looking up at the fiery (火紅的) ball. She was amazed by its color, deep red in the middle, softly fading into yellow. She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up above in the sky.

The atmosphere relaxed her. After all she had been through, this was what she needed. “It’s getting late,” she thought, “I must go home. My parents will be wondering where I am.”

She wondered how her parents would react, when she got home after the three missing-day. She kept on walking, directing herself where she spent so many happy days with her family. The road was deserted. She walked slowly and silently. Just in a few hundred meters she would have been safe in her house.

It was really getting dark now. The sun had set a few minutes before and it was getting cold, too. She wished she had her favorite sweater on — it kept her really warm. She imagined having it with her. This thought disappeared when she finally saw her front door. It seemed different. Nobody had taken care of the outside garden for a few days. She was shocked: her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, and now... . It all seemed deserted. She couldn’t understand what was going on.

She entered the house. First, she went into the kitchen where she saw a note written by her father. It said, “Dear Ellen, there is some coffee ready. I went looking.” Ellen was her mother but — where was she? On the right side of the hallway was her parents’ room. She went in. Then she saw her mother, lying on the bed, was sleeping. Her face looked so tired, as if she hadn’t slept for days. She was really pale. Jennifer would have wanted to wake her up but she looked too tired. So Jennifer just fell asleep beside her. When Jennifer woke up, something was different... she wasn’t in her mother’s room and she wasn’t wearing the old clothes she ran away in. She was in her snug bed in her pajamas (睡衣).

It felt so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice, “Are you feeling better now, dear? You know you got us very, very scared.”

What does “This thought” in the fourth paragraph refer to?

   A. The idea of going back home soon         B. The anxiety about her worried parents.

C. The feeling of being warm in her sweater.      D. The hope of getting back home safely.

How did Jennifer probably feel when she came back home?

   a. worried       b. crazy        c. tired          d. disappointed  e. astonished     f. excited 

A. a, b, c        B. a, c, e                   C. b, c, e                D. d, e, f

The underlined word “snug” in the last paragraph means ______.

A. clean and tidy         B. nice and expensive  C. small and old             D. warm and comfortable

What can be concluded from this passage?

A. In fact, Jennifer’s mother had been slept for several days.

B. As Jennifer walked towards home, she became increasingly scared.

C. When she found the garden deserted, she realized she got cross.

D. Having experienced a lot outside, Jennifer felt home warm and safe.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2011-2012學(xué)年度江蘇省南通市通州區(qū)高一第一學(xué)期期中考試英語試卷 題型：閱讀理解

One thing that British and Chinese cultures share is a love for fine tea. Today, when we think of Western tea culture, we often think of the English and beautiful china tea cups.
Afternoon tea
People believe that an English lady, Anna, first introduced the idea of afternoon tea. In the 18th and 19th centuries. the English ate only two main meals each day ,breakfast and a heavy supper that would last for several hours in the evening. As a result, people often got very hungry during the long wait between these two meals. To solve this problem, Anna came up with the clever idea of inviting some friends to join her for an afternoon meal between four and five o’clock. This meal included cakes and sandwiches. and tea was served(提供)to wash down the food. In order to make this afternoon meal important, fine china cups and plates, and silver teapots. knives, forks and spoons were used .Soon, afternoon tea parties became popular social occasions. Today, afternoon tea parties continue to play an important part in the social life in modern Britain.
Will you come for coffee?
Coffee also has an important role in British culture. People often use the words“Will  you come for coffee?” to mean “Would you like to come to my home for a chat?” Normally, several different drinks such as tea, hot chocolate or a soft drink like orange Juice will be served as well as coffee. and you will be asked what you would like. However, you will not normally be offered wine at a "coffee" party.
Coffeehouses and the London Stock Exchange
In the 17th century London, coffeehouses were busy and noisy places. Businessmen and  bankers went to coffeehouses to do their business, as well as to drink coffee. In fact, the London Stock Exchange(股票交易所) is believed to have started from these coffeehouses 
【小題1】 Anna introduced the idea of drinking afternoon tee because she _______.
A enjoyed chatting with her friends at home
B loved fine tea and beautiful china tea cups
C. wanted to share nice food with her friends
D found people felt hungry during the long wait between the two meals
【小題2】What does “social occasions” mean in Chinese?

A．集體婚禮B．社交活動C．社區(qū)表演D．公共場合
【小題3】f someone says to you “Will you come for coffee?”, you _______.
A．will be offered coffee only
B．a(chǎn)re asked what you would like to drink
C．will be asked to have a chat with him or her
D．a(chǎn)re invited to take part in an afternoon tea party
【小題4】From the last paragraph (段落) we can see _______.
A．a(chǎn) new business was started in coffeehouses
B．coffeehouses are still used by businessmen and bankers
C．businessmen and bankers went to coffeehouses just for coffee
D．most people wouldn’t like to go to coffeehouses because of the noise

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2012-2013學(xué)年吉林省實驗中學(xué)高一上學(xué)期期末考試英語試卷（帶解析） 題型：填空題

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的選項中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項。選項中有兩項為多余選項。
Active listening is an essential skill in learning. It is when you listen carefully to make sure you understand and learn the information that is being conveyed.     【小題1】  Here are some things which can help you to listen actively.
◆   【小題2】   . Don’t just write everything down. Listen carefully and make sure you understand what the purpose of this lecture is. As you take down notes, keep the main point in mind and make sure you understand how these notes are related.
◆Listen for an organizational structure. Listen carefully to figure out how the ideas are organized and they will make more sense.
◆Pay attention to organizational cues (暗示).    【小題3】   Pay close attention to the introduction, as it will probably show how you should organize your notes. If the lecture begins with, “Today I’m going to talk about three ethnic conflicts (種族沖突) in the Middle East,” then you have a good idea of what’s going to follow. Listen for “signpost” words to show a transition (過渡) from one point to the next, such as “next” and “finally” and numerical signposts like “first” or “third”.
◆Listen with your eyes.   【小題4】   Watch the teacher and be aware of how he or she uses hand gestures, eye contact and other body language to convey points.
◆Remove distractions. Put away the campus newspaper, your cell phone and anything else that might be more interesting than the lecturer.
Learning to concentrate and listen actively is an endurance（耐力） skill.   【小題5】  

A．Speakers communicate information through nonverbal communication.
B．Unfortunately, many students don’t know how to listen actively when they attend classes.
C．If your teacher indicates that something is important, mark it.
D．Make yourself do it, and it will get easier over time.
E. Listen carefully for words and phrases that reflect the organizational structure of the lecture.
F. Your teachers’ notes are probably organized into some kind of outline.
G. Listen for the main point and major sub-points.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2015屆黑龍江友誼縣紅興隆管理局第一中學(xué)高一月考英語卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

__1.__ This was not because the woods and fields were always far away, but because they were too far from the city to permit people to make a day trip between morning and nightfall.

___2.___ He decided to turn his little school house into a dormitory for the summer holidays. Anyone who brought his sleeping bag and cooking equipment along could stay there for a very small quantity of money. The idea was a success. A few years later, the school house was much too small to hold the many young people who wanted to stay there. ___3.___ This was the first hostel (青年招待所).

Today, young students and workers of every country can meet in the hostel and get to know each other. When young people arrive at the hostel, they have only to show their cards of membership in a hostel organization in their own country. ___4.___

Often, at the evening meal, a group of boys and girls from various parts of the country or world will happen to meet at the same hostel. They may put their food together and prepare a dinner with many kinds of dishes. Sometimes a program will be organized after the meal with dances, songs, or short talks followed by a question period．___5.___  For this reason, a few weeks spent ‘hostelling’ can be just as useful a part of one’s education as classes in school.

A．In 1970, a young German school master had an idea which changed this situation.

B．People can stay in the hostel if they brought enough equipment with them.

C．One can learn a lot about other places, just by meeting people from those places.

D．As a result, a dormitory was set up in an old castle nearby.

E. For years, children in the industrial areas of Europe seldom left their cities to see the beauties of the countryside.

F. More and more young people went to the hostel for summer holidays.

G. This card will permit them to stay in a hostel all over the world for very low prices.

 

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語 來源：2013屆黑龍江省哈爾濱市高一下學(xué)期期末考試英語題 題型：閱讀理解

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的選項中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項。

Most people buy a lot of gifts just before Christmas. But some people think we buy too much. They have started a special day called Buy Nothing Day.  1.    .

   Buy Nothing Day is November 29. It’s 25 days before Christmas. It’s after Thanksgiving and often the first day of Christmas shopping.   2.   .

   The idea for Buy Nothing Day started in Vancouver, British Columbia.   3.    . In California, parents and children get together to read stories, sing songs, and paint pictures. The children talk about why they don’t need a lot of toys. This year, in Manchester, England, people dressed up in costumes to tell people that we buy too much.

   In Albuquerque, New Mexico, high school students.wanted to tell other students about Buy Nothing Day. They organized a spaghetti dinner to give people information about Buy Nothing Day.   4.   . They made posters and talked to other students about it.    5.   . The students at high schools liked the idea of this new tradition. Next year, they want to have another dinner to tell more people about Buy Nothing Day.

A. They asked restaurants in the neighborhood to donate the food.

B. At this time, we see ads in Newspapers and, on TV telling us to “ buy, buy, buy!”

C. Buy Nothing Day has successfully persuaded people not buy anything.

D. Many people think highly of the idea of Buy Nothing Day.

E. They don’t want anyone to go shopping on that day.

F. Now people all over the world celebrate Buy Nothing Day.

G. The dinner was a big success, and many students agreed not to buy anything on November 29.

 

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習(xí)冊答案