题型：阅读理解 题类：常考题 难易度：普通
安徽省合肥市肥东县合肥新城高升学校2019-2020学年高二上学期英语期中考试试卷
The fiddler crab (蟹) is a living clock. It indicates the time of day by the colour of its skin, which is dark by day and pale by night. The crabs changing colour follows a regular twenty-four hour plan that exactly matches the daily rhythm (节奏) of the sun.
Does the crab actually keep time, or does its skin simply answer to the sun's rays, changing colour according to the amount of light strikes it? To find out, biologists kept crabs in a dark room for two months. Even without daylight, the crab's skin colour continued to change exactly on time.
This characteristic(特性) probably developed gradually in answer to the daily rising and setting of the sun, to help protect the crab from sunlight and enemies. After millions of years it has become completely regulated (受控制) inside the living body of the crab.
The biologists noticed that once each day the colour of the fiddler crab is especially dark, and that each day this happens fifty minutes later than on the day before. From this they discovered that each crab follows not only the rhythm of the sun but also that of the tides (潮水). The crabs period of greatest darkening is exactly the time of low tide on the beach where it was cought!
The World's Coolest Places
There's nothing wrong with a relaxing week at the beach. But travel can also be an education, a step toward empathy(共鸣) and international understanding, so for those longing to escape the crowds this summer, encounter new worlds and return with a tale, here're a few little-known travel destinations I recommend.
⒈Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands. This coral island in the Pacific Ocean, site of nuclear weapons tests decades ago, is now brilliantly beautiful and the deserted white-sand beaches are lined with coconut palms and scattered with seashells. The island is a reminder of the redemptive(救赎的) power of time and nature. |
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⒉Potosi, Bolivia. No city in Latin America is more beautiful than Potosi, Bolivia, where Europeans discovered a huge silver mountain centuries ago. Tourists can descend(下降) the silver mines to experience extremely hot and dusty tunnels, talk to the miners, get a glimpse of life image for Bolivians there and have new empathy for the miners. |
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⒊Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Maybe our family start at Victoria Falls, which wets you with spray, making Niagara Falls a backyard stream. Then we rent a car and make our way to Hwange National Park, empty of people but crowded with various animals. Zimbabwe has fewer tourists than South Africa, and there's less crime as well. |
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⒋Amritsar, India. The Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine(神殿), is a delightful place to contemplate the draw of faith. A four-century-old temple set in a lake attracts Sikhs(锡克教徒) worldwide. Walking the circuit of the lake, with your head covered, and putting up in temple buildings can be a full experience. |
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