閱讀理解。
     When an ant dies, other ants move the dead insect out. Sometimes, the dead ant get moved away very
soon-within an hour of dying. This behavior is interesting to scientists, who wonder how ants know for
sure-and so soon-that another ant is dead.
     One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist.
Choe found that Argentine ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, "I'm
dead-take me away."
     But there's a twist to Choe's discovery. Choe says that the living ants-not just the dead ones-have this
death chemical. In other words, while an ant crawls around, perhaps in a picnic or home, it's telling other
ants that it's dead.
     What keeps ants from dragging away the living ants? Choe found that Argentine ants have two additional
chemicals on their bodies, and these tell nearby ants something like, "Wait-I'm not dead yet." So Choe's
research turned up two sets of chemical signals in ants: one says, "I'm dead," and the other set says, "I'm
not dead yet."
     Other scientists have tried to figure out how ants know when another ant is dead. If an ant is knocked
unconscious, for example, other ants leave it alone until it wakes up. That means ants know that unmoving
ants can still be alive.
     Choe suspects that when an Argentine ant dies, the chemical that says "Wait-I'm not dead yet" quickly
goes away. Once that chemical is gone, only the one that says "I'm dead" is left. "It's because the dead ant
no longer smells like a living ant that it gets carried to the graveyard, not because its body releases (釋放)
new unique chemicals after death," said Choe. When other ants detect the"dead" chemical without the "not
dead yet" chemical, they drag away the body.
     Understanding this behavior may help scientists figure out how to stop Argentine ants from invading new
places and causing problems. Choe would like to find a way to use the newly discovered chemicals to spread
ant killer to Argentine ant nests.
     The ants' removal behavior is important to the overall health of the nest. "Being able to quickly remove
dead individuals and other possible sources of disease is extremely important to all animals living in societies,
including us," says Choe. "Think about all the effort and money that we invest daily in waste management."
1. The underlined word "twist" in Paragraph 3 means _____.
[     ]
A. an unexpected change
B. a clear mistake
C. an important key
D. a shocking conclusion
2. Ants judge whether another one is dead or not depending on _____.
[     ]
A. the sense of taste
B. the sense of smell
C. the sense of touch
D. the sense of sight
3. The result of the research can be used to _____.
[     ]
A. kill troublesome pests
B. solve the problem of endangered species
C. prevent further expansion of the ants' territory
D. keep the balance of nature
4. Why is it important to remove dead individuals?
[     ]
A. Because it is easier to manage the living.
B. Because it can save money to deal with the waste.
C. Because it can provide more space for the living.
D. Because it can keep the living from suffering disease.
5. What might be the best title of the text?
[     ]
A. Dead or living? It is easy to judge
B. Pulling away the dead ants is a difficult task.
C. Ant nests have great undertaking capacity.
D. Leaving it alone or taking it away? Ants feel puzzled.
練習(xí)冊系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目:高中英語 來源:同步題 題型:閱讀理解

閱讀理解。
     One year ago today, seven patients shared their stories of illness and recovery on the New York Time Well
(a blog), according to a report published in April,2009.
     They were the first Patient Voices, a regular series that offers a first person (第一人稱的) description of
the challenges patients face as they deal with different kinds of health problems. Since the first Patient Voices
appeared, New York Times producer Karen Barrow has continued to give a voice to a lot of patient stories.
     We heard from Jacqueline Castine of Bloomfield Hills, Mich,who had bipolar disorder (躁郁癥), and whose
son also suffered from mental (精神的) illness."I could not save him," she said."I could not fix (懲罰 ) him.
He leaves a beautiful daughter and a very sad mother."
     And there is runner Alyssa Johnson,43,who was training for the Boston Marathon in 2003 when she began
showing the first signs of Parkinson's disease." Sometimes when I'm running I'll come to a long downhill, and
my legs work the way they used to work and my arm swings (擺動(dòng)) the way it used to. It's like running before Parkinson's, and that's the best feeling.
     And then there's the voice of Robin Grinsted, 50, of Swansea, S. C.,who has H. I. V. She is refused by her
church and feels lonely."They're not accepting," she said." But I know there will be people putting their arms
around me some day."
      To hear more from these patients and the many others wh. have taken part in the series, explore the links (鏈接) below to all the Patient Voices we've heard from in the past 12 months.
1. When did the seven patients begin to share their stories of illness?
A. In 2009.
B. In 2008.
C. In 2003.
D. In 2002.
2. According to the passage, Patient Voices refers to ______ .
A. a series of suggestions from patients
B. a magazine published by patients
C. a series of patients' stories
D. a blog shared by patients
3. From what Jacqueline Castine said, we know her son  _____.
A. might have killed himself
B. died of bipolar disorder
C. was killed in an accident
D. didn't want to stay at home
4. What do we know about Alyssa Johnson?
A. She tried hard to fight Parkinson's disease.
B. She is preparing for the Boston Marathon.
C. She was depressed at the thought of Parkinson's disease.
D. She didn't like running before she had Parkinson's.

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習(xí)冊答案