题型:阅读理解 题类:常考题 难易度:普通
江苏省启东中学2018-2019学年高一下学期英语3月月考试卷
Wolves travel shorter distances and move slower during snowfall events, according to new research by University of Alberta biologists. The effects were most pronounced at night, when wolves hunt, and behaviour returned to normal within a day. Wolf tracks across snow in northeastern Alberta.
"Our findings suggest that there is something about actively falling snow that causes wolves to slow down," said Amanda Droghini, a former MSc student in the Department of Biological Science and lead author on the study. "We don't know the exact mechanism behind that. It's unlikely that they were staying still because they were feasting on a recent kill. Instead, active precipitation(降雪量)might affect wolves' hunting abilities. Like rain, snow clears the air column of scent molecules. So, maybe falling snow makes it harder for wolves to detect the smell of prey."
Over the course of two winters, the researchers used remote cameras to disclose snowfall events and estimate snow depth. To study wolf movement, they collected telemetry(测距仪) data from 17 wolves to calculate travel speed and duration, as well as resting periods. It is the first study to examine how large flesh-eating animals respond to snowfall events.
With the effects of climate change on precipitation in the north forest region uncertain, it is difficult to predict the implications for wolf populations. Studies such as these increase our understanding of how large mammals react to normal snowfall events, but the type and amount of winter precipitation will likely have an impact on animal behavior and the energetic cost of movement.
"Winter is already challenging for many wildlife species because moving through snow requires more energy. Snow can also make it harder for animals to access food resources," said Droghini, who conducted the research under the supervision of Professor Stan Boutin, Alberta Biodiversity Conservation Chair.
"Anything that increases those costs, such as increased rain-on-snow events, could lead to lacking in nutrition, poor body condition, and even starvation as animals are unable to make up for those additional costs. That is one of the worst-case scenarios(设想)but, in truth, we know very little about potential changes to precipitation patterns and how wildlife will respond to those changes."
Welcome to the online Macmillan Dictionary of the BUZZWORD of the month. Word entry-JOMO JOMO is an acronym (首字母缩略词) standing for the expression , and is simply refers to the gratifying feeling you get when you break away from the(real or virtual)activities of your social group and spend time doing exactly what you most want to do. JOMO is often described as a resist against the hyper-connected society we live in, where technology pushes both social and professional activity constantly in our faces, so that it's virtually impossible to be happily unaware of what everyone else is doing. This often forces us into spending time in ways which we wouldn't necessarily have chosen. JOMO then, is about stepping off the social fashion and reconnecting with what really makes us happy. Background-JOMO The concept of JOMO first appeared in 2012, its early use often credited to blogger Anil Dash who, having to withdraw from both on-and offline activity for a period after the birth of his son. realized that he'd enjoyed himself greatly and didn't feel he'd missed out on anything at all. JOMO is a play on the earlier acronym FOMO, meaning "fear of missing out", which is used to describe the feeling of anxiety that people experience when they discover, often via social media, that they've let go on a social event or other positive experience. The existence of expressions like JOMO suggest that, although we're unlikely to resist technology completely, the more deeply we immerse(沉浸)in it, the more we're beginning to evaluate its hold on us. Other newly created combined words reflecting this zeitgeist include ringxiety. the constant need to check your phone or mistakenly thinking it's ringing. nhubbing, the related condition of being impolite in social situations by checking your phone, tablet, etc., and infobesity, continuous addiction to digital information in which affects your ability to concentrate. |
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