With the new year coming, a new website was set up to offer ringtones of the sounds of dozens of rare and endangered species from around the globe. The Center for Biological Diversity started offering free wildlife ringtones for cellphones a year ago to educate people about the _ of the animals, and the campaign enjoyed such success that the environmental group has collected more ringtones and added them to its website for this year. The group plans to release a kind of new ringtones each month, including the sounds of the African elephant and the emperor penguin of the Antarctic, said Peter Galvin, the group's conservation director. "We've hit the 100,000th download in over 150 countries," Galvin said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "It's pretty interesting. We didn't realize how much of an international hit it would become." The response, he said, reinforces the worldwide movement to save endangered and rare species. Available ringtones include the howl of an endangered Mexican gray wolf, the bellows of an Arctic beluga whale and the calls of dozens of other mammals, birds and reptiles. Website visitors can also get cellphone wallpaper and facts for each of the species. And later this year, the website will be available in Spanish and more ringtones from species in Latin America will be added, Galvin said. The new ringtones mentioned in the passage are used to _ . A) raise people' s awareness of wildlife protection B) develop a new website C) add fun to the new year D) develop the cellphone industry
A
(Question)
Bigger-brained birds survive better than their feathered friends with smaller brains, according to a study published on Tuesday. Scientists have suspected that birds with large brains in relation to their body size lived longer because they were able to adapt their behavior to environmental challenges. Now they have provided evidence that it does. "We have tested the hypothesis that the brain can buffer animals against the environment and help them to survive when they face environmental challenges," said Daniel Sol of the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications in Barcelona, Spain. After comparing death rates, brain size and body mass of 236 species of birds from different regions of the world, Sol and scientists in Britain, Hungary and Canada discovered that the bigger the brain the better. Crows and parrots have the largest brains, while pheasants have a relatively small brain. Earlier studies have shown there is a relationship between the size of the brain and an animal's capacity to create new behavior and adapt more easily. "The idea is that if you have a big brain, you are more capable of adjusting behavior and responding to environmental changes. This can help you to survive," said Sol, who reported the finding in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Tamas Szekely of the University of Bath in England and a co-author of the report, said birds were ideal to test the hypothesis because they are the only species in which brain size and behavioral response to environmental challenges such as climate and habitat destruction is understood. The finding of bird's brains recently refers to _ . A) the smaller brain the birds have, the longer they live B) the smaller brain the birds have, the cleverer they are C) the bigger brain the birds have, the larger their bodies are D) the bigger brain the birds have, the abler they are to deal with environment
(Answer)
D
Ques: Spanish explorers called them Las Encantadas, the Enchanted Isles, and Charles Darwin used his studies of the islands as the foundation for his theory of natural selection. The Galapagos are among the world's most important scientific treasures, a group of volcanic islands surrounded by deserted beaches and inhabited by unique varieties of giant tortoise, lizards, and birds. Yet life on this United Nations world heritage site has turned sour. Battles have broken out between fishermen and conservationists. Ecuador, which owns the islands, has sent a naval patrol to put down disturbances. The controversial director of the Galapagos National Park--which controls 97 percent of Galapagos land and the reserve extending to 40 miles offshore--has been fired, while an air of uneasy tension hangs over the islands, as the islanders prepare for election when they pick their representatives in Ecuador's national assembly. "It's a very tense situation," said Leonor Stjepic, director of the London-based Galapagos Conservation Trust, which raises money to help projects on the islands. "We are watching it with concern." The violence has been triggered by an alarming growth in the islands' population. Puerto Ayora, on Santa Cruz island, housed just 45 inhabitants in the 50s. Today there are more than 10,000, while the islands' total population is more than 19,000 and growing by 6 percent a year, despite recently introduced a law to limit waves of immigrants fleeing the poor areas of Ecuador for a life "in paradise ". On top of _ , more than 100,000 tourists visit the islands every year. Such numbers have put the islands, special ecology under intense pressure. Conservationists backed by the Ecuador government, have replied by exercising strict controls to protect the islands* iguanas, blue-footed boobies, and giant tortoises. These moves have angered many local people, however. They want to exploit the islands' waters and catch its protected species of sharks, lobsters and sea cucumbers, which can fetch high prices in... We can learn from the passage that _ . A) the projects of Galapagos Conservation Trust on the islands are profitable B) conservationists get angry when fishermen are killing a goose C) politicians from the mainland government play football on the islands D) the government is trying to ease the tension
Ans: D
Ques: Pete Rose,the famous baseball player,whom I have never met,taught me something so valuable that it changed my life.Pete was being interviewed in spring training the year he was about to break Ty Cobb's alltime hits record.One reporter asked, "Pete,you only need 78 hits to break the record.How many atbats do you think you'll need to get the 78 hits?" Without hesitation,Pete said,"78." The reporter yelled back,"Ah,come on Pete.You don't expect to get 78 hits in 78 atbats,do you?" Mr. Rose calmly shared his rule in life with all the reporters who were anxiously awaiting his reply."Every time I step up to the plate,I expect to get a hit! If I don't expect to get a hit,I have no right to step in the batter's box in the first place! If I go up hoping to get a hit,then I probably don't have a prayer of getting a hit.It is the positive expectation that has gotten me all of the hits in the first place." When I thought about Pete Rose's rule and how it was applied to everyday life,I felt a little embarrassed.As a business person,I was hoping to make my sales meet the quotas .As a father,I was hoping to be a good dad.As a married man,I was hoping to be a good husband.The truth was that I was an adequate salesperson,I was not so bad as a father,and I was an okay husband.I immediately decided that being okay was not enough! I wanted to be a great salesperson,a great father and a great husband.I changed my attitude to one of positive expectation,and the results were amazing.I was fortunate enough to win a few sales trips,I won Coach of the Year in my son's baseball league,and I share a loving relationship with my wife! Thanks,Mr. Rose! Why does the writer thank Mr. Rose at the end of the passage? A) Because Mr. Rose showed him how to be a successful salesperson. B) Because Mr. Rose taught him to face life with positive expectation. C) Because Mr. Rose trained him to win Coach of the Year for his son. D) Because Mr. Rose gave him advice on managing a happy family.
Ans:
B