Several animal species including gorillas in Rwanda and tigers in Bangladesh could risk extinction if the impact of climate change and extreme weather on their habitats is not addressed, a UN report showed on Sunday. Launched on the sidelines of global climate negotiations in Durban, the report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization shows how higher temperatures, the rise in sea levels, deforestation and excessive land use have damaged the habitats of certain species, especially in Africa. "Many ecosystems have already been stressed by increasing population, historical and recent deforestation, unsustainable management practices and even invasive species," Eduardo Rojas-Briales, assistant director general at the FAO's forestry department, said at the launch of the report. The most affected areas include mountains, isolated islands and coastal areas, which limit the possibilities for animals to migrate elsewhere and create new habitats. "The remaining populations become surrounded in very small ecosystems, they have inbreeding problems ... and at the end these species may disappear," he added. Other examples of affected animals included elephants in Mali, lions in the Serengeti and crocodiles in Malawi. The report said an estimated 20-30 percent of plant and animal species will be at higher risk of extinction due to global warming and a significant proportion of native species may become extinct by 2050 as a consequence. Other consequences could include the spread of invasive species and infectious diseases, it said. The report urges more focus on restoration of damaged ecosystems, especially those key to dealing with climate change such as mangroves , inland waters, forests, savannahs and grasslands. The FAO also called for the creation of migration corridors for animals in areas where their movement was limited. The organization said while more resources were flowing to biodiversity conservation, more action at the government and policy level was needed. It also urged local communities... Why are animals living in mountains, islands and coastal areas most affected? A) They are frequently attacked by invasive species and infectious diseases. B) They have difficulty finding enough food for survival. C) They can hardly find mates to produce their young. D) They have little chance of moving to other places.
D
A team of engineers at Harvard University has been inspired by Nature to create the first robotic fly. The mechanical fly has become a platform for a series of new high-tech integrated systems. Designed to do what a fly does naturally, the tiny machine is the size of a fat housefly. Its mini wings allow it to stay in the air and perform controlled flight tasks. "It's extremely important for us to think about this as a whole system and not just the sum of a bunch of individual components ," said Robert Wood, the Harvard engineering professor who has been working on the robotic fly project for over a decade. A few years ago, his team got the go-ahead to start piecing together the components. "The added difficulty with a project like this is that actually none of those components are off the shelf and so we have to develop them all on our own," he said. They engineered a series of systems to start and drive the robotic fly. "The seemingly simple system which just moves the wings has a number of interdependencies on the individual components, each of which individually has to perform well, but then has to be matched well to everything it's connected to," said Wood. The flight device was built into a set of power, computation, sensing and control systems. Wood says the success of the project proves that the flying robot with these tiny components can be built and manufactured. While this first robotic flyer is linked to a small, off-board power source, the goal is eventually to equip it with a built-in power source, so that it might someday perform data-gathering work at rescue sites, in farmers' fields or on the battlefield. "Basically it should be able to take off, land and fly around," he said. Wood says the design offers a new way to study flight mechanics and control at insect-scale. Yet, the power, sensing and computation technologies on board could have much broader applications. "You can start thinking about using them to answer open scientific questions, you know, to study biology in ways that would be... Which of the following might be the best title of the passage? A) Father of Robotic Fly B) Inspiration from Engineering Science C) Robotic Fly Imitates Real Life Insect D) Harvard Breaks Through in Insect Study
C
Q: When we talk about superstitious beliefs , the beliefs associated with Friday the 13th , no doubt , deserve a special mention . In fact , such is the fear associated with this date that people just can't seem to stick to their daily routine on this day . The data from Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute suggests that somewhere around 17 to 21 million Americans are affected by the fear associated with this day , i.e. the combination of Friday and 13 . Even worse , the financial losses caused on this day amounts to as much as US$800 million every year . As we flipped through the pages of history , we realized that Friday the 13th bears the brunt of bad luck associated with number 13 , the unluckiest number , and Friday , the unluckiest day of the week . Number 13 has always been considered unlucky , mainly as a result of it being associated with various occurrences in mythology . While some associate it with the instance of Norse mythology , in which the god of joy and gladness - Balter , was killed in a dishonest manner by Loki - the god of discord and mischief , who was the 13th guest , others associate it with the Last Supper , in which the 13th guest was Judas , who betrayed Jesus to his enemies for 30 pieces of silver . Similarly , Friday has also been a sign of bad luck to many people , with incidents like Jesus being crucified on this unfaithful day , contributing to this belief . It is also widely believed that Cain killed Able on this very day of the week . The fear of Friday the 13th is known as friggatriskaidekaphobia and paraskevidekatriaphobia , the former combining the words frigga , meaning Friday , and triskaidekaphobia , meaning the phobia of number 13 . Over the period , the belief that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day has just become one of the most widely accepted superstitions , which consequently causes much blind panic and unreasonable fear in the world . What does Friday the 13th refer to according to passage ? A) The 13th Friday of a year . B) The fear of the number 13 on Fridays . C) A fixed date of a year that can bring bad luck . D) The 13th day of a month falling on a Friday .
A: D