Question

【題目】 It is well known that male humpback whales(座頭鯨)are skilled singers.Their songs are thought to attract females in high frequency sounds while to compete with other males in low frequency sounds.Research led by the Wildlife Conservation Society has now made a new discovery.

The study looked at the songs of two humpback whale populations, based on sound recordings collected from 2013 to 2018.One group was based in the South Atlantic, off the coast of Gabon, and the other in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar.Analysis of the recordings showed that the two groups picked up musical ideas from each other and borrowed phrases and themes into their latest song.This suggested that the males from the two groups came into contact with each other over the five years and shared songs.

To uncover this musical cooperation, researchers recorded the songs and transcribe them into more than 1,500 individual sounds and patterns, or song units.They found that the units were composed into larger phrases, which were then repeated to form themes.These themes were sung for hours at a time, or even days.By 2018, both populations have been singing largely the same songs.

"This similarity in the songs shows that these two populations come into closer contact than other southern populations, explains Dr Melinda Rekdahl, leading author of the study.As well as being an interesting phenomenon, she explains that those songs allow even greater insight into the workings of the humpback whale populations.

【1】What do people usually think of the purpose of male humpback whales' songs?

A. To have fun.

B. To attract other fish.

C. To increase the population of their group.

D. To attract females and compete with other males.

【2】How could the two groups of humpback whales in research sing similar songs?

A. They were born with those songs.

B. The researchers composed similar songs for them.

C. The male whales from the two groups learned singing from each other.

D. The male whales taught the females songs from the other group.

【3】What does the underlined word"transcribe in Paragraph 3 mean?

A. Change.B. Describe.

C. Create.D. Enjoy.

【4】What is the best title for the text?

A. A Kind of Magic Whales.B. Male Humpback Whales Share Songs.

C. The Biggest Ocean Animals.D. The Workings of Humpback Whale Populations.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】C

【3】A

【4】B

【解析】

本文是一篇說明文，講述了雄性座頭鯨的聲音，以及他們聲音的傳播分享。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段“Their songs are thought to attract females in high frequency sounds while to compete with other males in low frequency sounds.” 人們認(rèn)為，雄性座頭鯨的歌聲能在高頻吸引雌性，而在低頻與其他雄性競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。吸引雌性并與其他雄性競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。故選D項(xiàng)。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)最后一段“This similarity in the songs shows that these two populations come into closer contact than other southern populations” 這兩首歌的相似性表明，這兩個(gè)族群的接觸比其他南方族群更為密切�？芍�這兩組雄性鯨魚互相學(xué)習(xí)唱歌。故選C項(xiàng)。

【3】詞義猜測(cè)題。第三段“To uncover this musical cooperation, researchers recorded the songs and transcribe them into more than 1,500 individual sounds and patterns,”為了揭示這種音樂上的合作，研究人員記錄了這些歌曲，并將它們轉(zhuǎn)錄成1500多個(gè)單獨(dú)的聲音和模式。由“songs”到“1,500 individual sounds and patterns,”是一個(gè)“轉(zhuǎn)變，改變”。故選A項(xiàng)。

【4】主旨大意題。文章首句“It is well known that male humpback whales(座頭鯨)are skilled singers.”開始到最后一的研究報(bào)告，通段通篇在研究雄性座頭鯨的聲音，以及他們聲音的傳播分享。故選B項(xiàng)。