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READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
THE STORY OF SILK
The history of the world’s most luxurious fabric, from ancient China to the present day
Silk is a fine, smooth material produced from the cocoons — soft protective shells — that are made by mulberry silkworms (insect larvae). Legend has it that it was Lei Tzu, wife of the Yellow Emperor, ruler of China in about 3000 BC, who discovered silkworms. One account of the story goes that as she was taking a walk in her husband’s gardens, she discovered that silkworms were responsible for the destruction of several mulberry trees. She collected a number of cocoons and sat down to have a rest. It just so happened that while she was sipping some tea, one of the cocoons that she had collected landed in the hot tea and started to unravel into a fine thread. Lei Tzu found that she could wind this thread around her fingers. Subsequently, she persuaded her husband to allow her to rear silkworms on a grove of mulberry trees. She also devised a special reel to draw the fibres from the cocoon into a single thread so that they would be strong enough to be woven into fabric. While it is unknown just how much of this is true, it is certainly known that silk cultivation has existed in China for several millennia.
Originally, silkworm farming was solely restricted to women, and it was they who were responsible for the growing, harvesting and weaving. Silk quickly grew into a symbol of status, and originally, only royalty were entitled to have clothes made of silk. The rules were gradually relaxed over the years until finally during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD), even peasants, the lowest caste, were also entitled to wear silk. Sometime during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), silk was so prized that it was also used as a unit of currency. Government officials were paid their salary in silk, and farmers paid their taxes in grain and silk. Silk was also used as diplomatic gifts by the emperor. Fishing lines, bowstrings, musical instruments and paper were all made using silk. The earliest indication of silk paper being used was discovered in the tomb of a noble who is estimated to have died around 168 AD.
Demand for this exotic fabric eventually created the lucrative trade route now known as the Silk Road, taking silk westward and bringing gold, silver and wool to the East. It was named the Silk Road after its most precious commodity, which was considered to be worth more than gold. The Silk Road stretched over 6,000 kilometres from Eastern China to the Mediterranean Sea, following the Great Wall of China, climbing the Pamir mountain range, crossing modern-day Afghanistan and going on to the Middle East, with a major trading market in Damascus. From there, the merchandise was shipped across the Mediterranean Sea. Few merchants travelled the entire route; goods were handled mostly by a series of middlemen.
With the mulberry silkworm being native to China, the country was the world’s sole producer of silk for many hundreds of years. The secret of silk-making eventually reached the rest of the world via the Byzantine Empire, which ruled over the Mediterranean region of southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East during the period 330-1453 AD. According to another legend, monks working for the Byzantine emperor Justinian smuggled silkworm eggs to Constantinople (Istanbul in modern-day Turkey) in 550 AD, concealed inside hollow bamboo walking canes. The Byzantines were as secretive as the Chinese, however, and for many centuries the weaving and trading of silk fabric was a strict imperial monopoly. Then in the seventh century, the Arabs conquered Persia, capturing their magnificent silks in the process. Silk production thus spread through Africa, Sicily and Spain as the Arabs swept through these lands. Andalusia in southern Spain was Europe’s main silk-producing centre in the tenth century. By the thirteenth century, however, Italy had become Europe’s leader in silk production and export. Venetian merchants traded extensively in silk and encouraged silk growers to settle in Italy. Even now, silk processed in the province of Como in northern Italy enjoys an esteemed reputation.
The nineteenth century and industrialisation saw the downfall of the European silk industry. Cheaper Japanese silk, trade in which was greatly facilitated by the opening of the Suez Canal, was one of the many factors driving the trend. Then in the twentieth century, new manmade fibres, such as nylon, started to be used in what had traditionally been silk products, such as stockings and parachutes. The two world wars, which interrupted the supply of raw material from Japan, also stifled the European silk industry. After the Second World War, Japan’s silk production was restored, with improved production and quality of raw silk. Japan was to remain the world’s biggest producer of raw silk, and practically the only major exporter of raw silk, until the 1970s. However, in more recent decades, China has gradually recaptured its position as the world’s biggest producer and exporter of raw silk and silk yarn. Today, around 125,000 metric tons of silk are produced in the world, and almost two thirds of that production takes place in China.
Questions 1-9
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-9 on your answer sheet.
THE STORY OF SILK
Early silk production in China
Around 3000 BC, according to legend:
- silkworm cocoon fell into emperor’s wife’s 1 __________
- emperor’s wife invented a 2 __________ to pull out silk fibres
Only 3 __________ were allowed to produce silk
Only 4 __________ were allowed to wear silk
Silk used as a form of 5 __________
- e.g. farmers’ taxes consisted partly of silk
Silk used for many purposes
- e.g. evidence found of 6 __________ made from silk around 168 AD
Silk reaches rest of world
Merchants use Silk Road to take silk westward and bring back 7 __________ and precious metals
550 AD: 8 __________ hide silkworm eggs in canes and take them to Constantinople
Silk production spreads across Middle East and Europe
20th century: 9 __________ and other manmade fibres cause decline in silk production
Questions 10-13
Do the following statements agree with the information in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
10 Gold was the most valuable material transported along the Silk Road.
11 Most tradesmen only went along certain sections of the Silk Road.
12 The Byzantines spread the practice of silk production across the West.
13 Silk yarn makes up the majority of silk currently exported from China.
READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.
Great Migrations
Animal migration, however it is defined, is far more than just the movement of animals. It can loosely be described as travel that takes place at regular intervals ?— often in an annual cycle — that may involve many members of a species, and is rewarded only after a long journey. It suggests inherited instinct. The biologist Hugh Dingle has identified five characteristics that apply, in varying degrees and combinations, to all migrations. They are prolonged movements that carry animals outside familiar habitats; they tend to be linear, not zigzaggy; they involve special behaviours concerning preparation (such as overfeeding) and arrival; they demand special allocations of energy. And one more: migrating animals maintain an intense attentiveness to the greater mission, which keeps them undistracted by temptations and undeterred by challenges that would turn other animals aside.
An arctic tern, on its 20,000 km flight from the extreme south of South America to the Arctic circle, will take no notice of a nice smelly herring offered from a bird-watcher’s boat along the way. While local gulls will dive voraciously for such handouts, the tern flies on. Why? The arctic tern resists distraction because it is driven at that moment by an instinctive sense of something we humans find admirable: larger purpose. In other words, it is determined to reach its destination. The bird senses that it can eat, rest and mate later. Right now it is totally focused on the journey; its undivided intent is arrival.
Reaching some gravelly coastline in the Arctic, upon which other arctic terns have converged, will serve its larger purpose as shaped by evolution: finding a place, a time, and a set of circumstances in which it can successfully hatch and rear offspring.
But migration is a complex issue, and biologists define it differently, depending in part on what sorts of animals they study. Joe! Berger, of the University of Montana, who works on the American pronghorn and other large terrestrial mammals, prefers what he calls a simple, practical definition suited to his beasts: ‘movements from a seasonal home area away to another home area and back again’. Generally the reason for such seasonal back-and-forth movement is to seek resources that aren’t available within a single area year-round.
But daily vertical movements by zooplankton in the ocean — upward by night to seek food, downward by day to escape predators — can also be considered migration. So can the movement of aphids when, having depleted the young leaves on one food plant, their offspring then fly onward to a different host plant, with no one aphid ever returning to where it started.
Dingle is an evolutionary biologist who studies insects. His definition is more intricate than Berger’s, citing those five features that distinguish migration from other forms of movement. They allow for the fact that, for example, aphids will become sensitive to blue light (from the sky) when it’s time for takeoff on their big journey, and sensitive to yellow light (reflected from tender young leaves) when it’s appropriate to land. Birds will fatten themselves with heavy feeding in advance of a long migrational flight. The value of his definition, Dingle argues, is that it focuses attention on what the phenomenon of wildebeest migration shares with the phenomenon of the aphids, and therefore helps guide researchers towards understanding how evolution has produced them all.
Human behaviour, however, is having a detrimental impact on animal migration. The pronghorn, which resembles an antelope, though they are unrelated, is the fastest land mammal of the New World. One population, which spends the summer in the mountainous Grand Teton National Park of the western USA, follows a narrow route from its summer range in the mountains, across a river, and down onto the plains. Here they wait out the frozen months, feeding mainly on sagebrush blown clear of snow. These pronghorn are notable for the invariance of their migration route and the severity of its constriction at three bottlenecks. If they can’t pass through each of the three during their spring migration, they can’t reach their bounty of summer grazing; if they can’t pass through again in autumn, escaping south onto those windblown plains, they are likely to die trying to overwinter in the deep snow. Pronghorn, dependent on distance vision and speed to keep safe from predators, traverse high, open shoulders of land, where they can see and run. At one of the bottlenecks, forested hills rise to form a V, leaving a corridor of open ground only about 150 metres wide, filled with private homes. Increasing development is leading toward a crisis for the pronghorn, threatening to choke off their passageway.
Conservation scientists, along with some biologists and land managers within the USA’s National Park Service and other agencies, are now working to preserve migrational behaviours, not just species and habitats. A National Forest has recognised the path of the pronghorn, much of which passes across its land, as a protected migration corridor. But neither the Forest Service nor the Park Service can control what happens on private land at a bottleneck. And with certain other migrating species, the challenge is complicated further — by vastly greater distances traversed, more jurisdictions, more borders, more dangers along the way. We will require wisdom and resoluteness to ensure that migrating species can continue their journeying a while longer.
Questions 14-18
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
14 Local gulls and migrating arctic terns behave in the same way when offered food.
15 Experts’ definitions of migration tend to vary according to their area of study.
16 Very few experts agree that the movement of aphids can be considered migration.
17 Aphids’ journeys are affected by changes in the light that they perceive.
18 Dingle’s aim is to distinguish between the migratory behaviours of different species.
Questions 19-22
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-G, below.
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 19-22 on your answer sheet.
19 According to Dingle, migratory routes are likely to
20 To prepare for migration, animals are likely to
21 During migration, animals are unlikely to
22 Arctic terns illustrate migrating animals’ ability to
A be discouraged by difficulties.
B travel on open land where they can look out for predators.
C eat more than they need for immediate purposes.
D be repeated daily.
E ignore distractions.
F be governed by the availability of water.
G follow a straight line.
Questions 23-26
Complete the summary below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 23-26 on your answer sheet.
The migration of pronghorns
Pronghorns rely on their eyesight and 23 __________ to avoid predators. One particular population’s summer habitat is a national park, and their winter home is on the 24 __________, where they go to avoid the danger presented by the snow at that time of year. However, their route between these two areas contains three 25 __________. One problem is the construction of new homes in a narrow 26 __________ of land on the pronghorns’ route.
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.
Preface to ‘How the other half thinks: Adventures in mathematical reasoning’
A Occasionally, in some difficult musical compositions, there are beautiful, but easy parts — parts so simple a beginner could play them. So it is with mathematics as well. There are some discoveries in advanced mathematics that do not depend on specialized knowledge, not even on algebra, geometry, or trigonometry. Instead they may involve, at most, a little arithmetic, such as ‘the sum of two odd numbers is even’, and common sense. Each of the eight chapters in this book illustrates this phenomenon. Anyone can understand every step in the reasoning.
The thinking in each chapter uses at most only elementary arithmetic, and sometimes not even that. Thus all readers will have the chance to participate in a mathematical experience, to appreciate the beauty of mathematics, and to become familiar with its logical, yet intuitive, style of thinking.
B One of my purposes in writing this book is to give readers who haven’t had the opportunity to see and enjoy real mathematics the chance to appreciate the mathematical way of thinking. I want to reveal not only some of the fascinating discoveries, but, more importantly, the reasoning behind them.
In that respect, this book differs from most books on mathematics written for the general public. Some present the lives of colorful mathematicians. Others describe important applications of mathematics. Yet others go into mathematical procedures, but assume that the reader is adept in using algebra.
C I hope this book will help bridge that notorious gap that separates the two cultures: the humanities and the sciences, or should I say the right brain (intuitive) and the left brain (analytical, numerical). As the chapters will illustrate, mathematics is not restricted to the analytical and numerical; intuition plays a significant role. The alleged gap can be narrowed or completely overcome by anyone, in part because each of us is far from using the full capacity of either side of the brain. To illustrate our human potential, I cite a structural engineer who is an artist, an electrical engineer who is an opera singer, an opera singer who published mathematical research, and a mathematician who publishes short stories.
D Other scientists have written books to explain their fields to non-scientists, but have necessarily had to omit the mathematics, although it provides the foundation of their theories. The reader must remain a tantalized spectator rather than an involved participant, since the appropriate language for describing the details in much of science is mathematics, whether the subject is expanding universe, subatomic particles, or chromosomes. Though the broad outline of a scientific theory can be sketched intuitively, when a part of the physical universe is finally understood, its description often looks like a page in a mathematics text.
E Still, the non-mathematical reader can go far in understanding mathematical reasoning. This book presents the details that illustrate the mathematical style of thinking, which involves sustained, step-by-step analysis, experiments, and insights. You will turn these pages much more slowly than when reading a novel or a newspaper. It may help to have a pencil and paper ready to check claims and carry out experiments.
F As I wrote, I kept in mind two types of readers: those who enjoyed mathematics until they were turned off by an unpleasant episode, usually around fifth grade, and mathematics aficionados, who will find much that is new throughout the book.
This book also serves readers who simply want to sharpen their analytical skills. Many careers, such as law and medicine, require extended, precise analysis. Each chapter offers practice in following a sustained and closely argued line of thought. That mathematics can develop this skill is shown by these two testimonials:
G A physician wrote, ‘The discipline of analytical thought processes [in mathematics] prepared me extremely well for medical school. In medicine one is faced with a problem which must be thoroughly analyzed before a solution can be found. The process is similar to doing mathematics.’
A lawyer made the same point, ‘Although I had no background in law — not even one political science course — I did well at one of the best law schools. I attribute much of my success there to having learned, through the study of mathematics, and, in particular, theorems, how to analyze complicated principles. Lawyers who have studied mathematics can master the legal principles in a way that most others cannot.’
I hope you will share my delight in watching as simple, even na?ve, questions lead to remarkable solutions and purely theoretical discoveries find unanticipated applications.
Questions 27-34
Reading Passage 3 has seven sections, A-G.
Which section contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 27-34 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
27 a reference to books that assume a lack of mathematical knowledge
28 the way in which this is not a typical book about mathematics
29 personal examples of being helped by mathematics
30 examples of people who each had abilities that seemed incompatible
31 mention of different focuses of books about mathematics
32 a contrast between reading this book and reading other kinds of publication
33 a claim that the whole of the book is accessible to everybody
34 a reference to different categories of intended readers of this book
Questions 35-40
Complete the sentences below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 35-40 on your answer sheet.
35 Some areas of both music and mathematics are suitable for someone who is a __________.
36 It is sometimes possible to understand advanced mathematics using no more than a limited knowledge of __________.
37 The writer intends to show that mathematics requires __________ thinking, as well as analytical skills.
38 Some books written by __________ have had to leave out the mathematics that is central to their theories.
39 The writer advises non-mathematical readers to perform __________ while reading the book.
40 A lawyer found that studying __________ helped even more than other areas of mathematics in the study of law.
以上是关于剑桥雅思11阅读Test3原文的介绍,下面我们来了解一下阅读的译文,看不懂原文的小伙伴可以参考以下译文进行学习。
PASSAGE 1 参考译文:
丝绸的故事
世上最昂贵奢华织物的历史,从古代中国直到今天
丝绸是种细软、光滑的布料,产自桑蚕(该昆虫的幼体形态)制作出的蚕茧——即其柔软的保护性外壳。传说中是嫘祖,即大约公元前三千年时期的中国统治者黄帝的妻子,发现了蚕。其中一个故事是这样描述的:当她漫步于自己丈夫的花园之中时,她发现几棵桑树之所以生长遭受破坏正是由于树上的蚕虫。她收集了一些蚕茧并坐下来歇息。正巧在她啜饮着一杯茶时,这些蚕茧中的一粒掉进了热茶中并开始松散成为一根细丝。嫘祖发现她可以将这根丝线绕在自己的手指上。于是,她说服了丈夫允许她在一片桑树林内养蚕。她还设计发明了一种特殊的卷轴来将蚕茧中的纤维纺成丝线,这样它们就能足够强韧以编纺成织物。虽然这个故事中究竟有多少真实成分我们不得而知,但有一点是确定无疑的:丝绸的生产在中国早己存在了数千年之久。
起初,桑蚕业完全是只由女性来进行的,她们要负责种植、收获和纺织。丝绸很快成为了一种社会地位的象征,最早只有皇室成员才有资格穿着丝绸衣物。这些规矩在之后的年月里逐渐变得不那么严苛了,直到最终在清朝(公元1644~1911年)时期,即使是最低阶层的农民也有资格穿上丝绸了。在汉朝(公元前206~公元220年)的某个时期,丝绸的身价昂贵到被用作某种形式的流通货币。朝廷官员的俸禄是用丝绸来支付的,而农夫则用谷物和丝绸来完税。丝绸还被皇帝用作外交礼物。渔线、弓弦、乐器和紙皆由丝绸制作而来。人类最早使用丝质纸的证据发现于一位贵族的墓中,据估计此人大约死于公元168年。
人们对这种异域织物的大量需求最终催生出了现在被称为“丝绸之路”的这样一条一本万利的贸易路线,向西输送丝绸而向东则运来金、银和毛料。之所以叫做“丝绸之路”,正是以其最珍贵的商品而得名,它被视为比黄金更贵重。“丝绸之路”从中国东部一路绵亘6000多公里直达地中海,沿着中国长城的路线,攀越帕米尔山脊,穿过今日的阿富汗并延伸到了中东地区,在大马士革有一个主要交易市场。各种货物从那里再由船运跨过地中海销往各地。很少有商人会走遍整条路线;货物大多是由一系列的中间经手人交接传递的。
由于桑蚕原产于中国,这个国家在许多个世纪里一直是全球唯一的丝绸产地。丝绸制作的秘密最终是经由在公元330~1453年间统治着地跨南欧、北非和中东的地中海地区的拜占庭帝国传到了世界上的其他国家。根据另一个传说,为拜占庭皇帝查士丁尼(Justinian)服务的僧侣们在公元550年将蚕卵藏在空心的竹子手杖里,偷偷带到了君士坦丁堡(即今日土耳其的伊斯坦布尔)。然而,拜占庭人和中国人一样守秘不宣,在很多个世纪里丝绸料子的纺织和贸易都受到帝国的严格把控垄断。然后在七世纪,阿拉伯人征服了波斯,在此过程中掠获了它们的华贵丝绸。丝绸生产由此随着阿拉伯人对非洲、西西里和西班牙的扫荡而传遍了这些地方。西班牙南部的安达卢西亚在十世纪里是欧洲的主要丝绸生产中心。不过到13世纪的时候,意大利则成为了欧洲丝绸生产和出口的领军者。威尼斯商人们到处进行丝绸贸易并鼓励制丝者来意大利定居。甚至是到了如今,意大利北部科莫省加工的丝绸仍然享有盛誉。
19世纪和工业化目睹了欧洲丝绸产业的衰落。更为廉价的日本丝绸,这种货物的贸易得到了苏伊士运河开通的极大推动,是促成这ー衰落趋势的许多因素之一。接下来在20世纪里,新型人造纤维材料,例如尼龙,开始应用在传统上一直使用丝绸的产品中,例如长筒袜和降落伞。两次世界大战切断了来自日本的原材料供应,也扼杀了欧洲丝绸产业。二战过后,日本的丝绸生产再度复工,生丝的制作工艺和品质都有所提升。直到20世纪70年代之前,日本始终是世界上最大的生丝生产者,实际上也是唯一的大规模生丝出口者。但是,在近几十年里,中国逐渐重拾昔日地位,成为全球最大的生丝和丝线生产者和出口国。今天,全世界大约生产125,000公吨的丝绸,其中几乎三分之二的产量出自中国。
TEST 3 PASSAGE 2 参考译文:
大迁徙
动物迁徒,无论如何下定义,都远不只是动物群的移动而已。它可以大致被描述为按照规律的间隔(通常是以年度为循环周期)来进行的旅行,可能会涉及一个种群的许多成员,而且仅仅是在完成了长途跋涉之后才能获得回报。这种行为显示出了遗传的本能。生物学家Hugh Dingle总结出了五条在不同程度上或以不同组合方式,适用于所有迁徙行为的特点。迁徙是旷日持久的长距离运动,将动物们带离熟悉的栖息地;它们往往是沿直线进行,而不是曲折迂回的;它们牵涉到一些与行前准备(例如超量进食)和到达有关的特殊行为;它们需要进行特殊的能量分配。并且还有一样:迁徙中的动物有着一种对更远大使命的格外专注,这使它们不会被任何诱惑转移了注意力,也不会因为任何会让其他动物望而却步的挑战而裹步不前。
一只北极燕鸥,在它从南美洲的最南端飞向北极圈的20,000公里途中,对于一个观鸟者从小船上提供给它的一条散发浓烈气味的美味鲱鱼将会毫不在意。本地海鸥将会贪婪地俯冲下来争食这般馈赠,而燕鸥却会继续向前飞去。为什么?北极燕鸥之所以抗拒了这一分神因素,是因为那时那刻它被一种本能感觉所驱动着,我们人类发现这种感觉十分令人钦佩:它叫做“更远大的目标”。换言之,它下定决心一定要到达它的目的地。这只鸟感觉到它可以稍后再进食、休息和交配。当前它的注意力完全集中在旅程本身上;它的绝对唯一目的就是抵达目的地。去到北极的某个沙砾遍地的海岸,其他北极燕鸥都集结在了那里,这将让它达成那个由进化所塑造出来的更远大目标:找到某个地点、某个时间和一系列环境条件,它可以在其间成功地孵化和养育后代。
然而迁徙是个极其复杂的事件,而生物学家们对它的定义也各有不同,在某种程度上要取决于他们研究的是何种动物。蒙大纳大学的Joel Berger研究的是美洲叉角羚和其他大型陆生哺乳动物,他倾向于使用一个适用于他所研究动物类型的、被他称作简单实用的定义:“从某个季节性栖息区域去到另一个栖息区域然后再回来的往复运动”。这种季节性来回移动的原因通常是为了寻找某些在任何一个区域内都并非全年存在的资源。
但是海洋中浮游生物的每日垂直运动——夜里上浮以寻找食物,白天下潜以躲避捕食者——也可以被视作迁徒。蚜虫的活动也可被认为是迁徙:当一株食用植物上的所有嫩叶都被吃光以后,它们的后代就会飞去另一株宿主植物,没有任何一只蚜虫会回到自己出发的地方去。
Dingle是位研究昆虫的进化生物学家。他的定义比Berger的定义更为细致,列举出了将迁徙行为区别于其他形式动物活动的五条特征。它们考虑到了存在这样的事实情况,例如蚜虫在应该起身踏上它们大行程的时候会对蓝光(来自天空)变得敏感,而在应该下落的时候则对黄光(来自嫩叶的反射)敏感。鸟类在进行长途迁徙飞行之前会大量进食来为自身增脂。(也就是说,Dingle承认每个物种的迁徙行为都存在自身独特之处而彼此各有差异。)Dingle认为,他所下定义的价值在于,它集中关注了角马迁徙与蚜虫迁徙现象的共性,并以此来帮助研究者理解进化是如何导致所有这些共性的产生的。
然而,人类活动正在对动物迁徙产生着有害影响。叉角羚虽然看起来颇似羚羊,但其实二者并无关系,它是新世界(注:New World 是英国人对美洲大陆的旧称;相应地,英美对传统欧洲国家则称之为Old World)里速度最快的陆生哺乳动物。其中一个种群会在美国西部大提顿国家公园的山脉间度过夏天,然后从其山间的夏季牧场沿一条狭窄路径南下,穿过一条河,最后来到平原上。它们在这里熬过最寒冷的几个月,主要靠吃被风吹露出雪面以上的灌木蒿丛度日。这些叉角羚之所以引人注目,在于它们迁徙路线的年复一年从不改变,并且这条路线在三个瓶颈隘口,狭窄难行。如果它们在春季迁徙的过程中不能通过这三个路口中的任何一个,就无法抵达它们水草丰美的夏季乐园;如果它们在秋季再次穿行的时候不能通过路口而向南躲避到这些有风吹袭的平原上,它们就有可能在北方厚厚的雪层中试图过冬而死亡。叉角羚依靠远视能力和奔跑速度来躲避捕食者,一般穿行于平原的开阔凸起地带,在这样的地方它们才能四下张望和撒蹄狂奔。在这些隘口中的一处,两侧林木覆盖的山峦耸立构成了一个V形,留出一条只有大约150米宽的走廊空地,其上还建满了私人住宅。不断的发展正在引发一场叉角羚的生存危机,眼看就要封住了它们的穿越通道。
物种保护科学家们,以及来自美国国家公园管理局和其他机构的一些生物学家和土地管理者们,现在正致力于保护动物的迁徙行为,而不是仅着眼于物种和栖息地的保护。己有一片国家森林将叉角羚的迁徙路径,其中一大部分路程要穿越该森林内部,列为一条受保护的迁徙走廊。但无论森林保护局还是公园保护局都无法操控某个狭窄口的私人土地上到底会发生什么。而且由于另一些物种也会进行迁徙活动,这一挑战变得更加复杂,因为这些影响因素:动物长途跋涉走过的遥远路途、更多的土地管辖权、更多的边境、沿途的更多危险。我们将需要智慧与决心来确保这些迁徙的物种还能再将它们的长途行走活动进行得更长久一些。
TEST 3 PASSAGE 3 参考译文:
《另外那半边如何思考:数学推理探险》前言
A 偶尔,在一些难于演绎的复杂乐章中,会有一些美妙但却容易上手的部分——这些部分如此简单,即使一个初学者也可以演奏它们。数学里也有这样的情况。高等数学中有一些发现并不仰仗专业的知识,甚至并不依赖代数、几何或三角函数。正相反,它们可能最多只涉及一点点算术知识,比如“两个奇数之和为偶数”,再加上常识即可。这本书八个章节中的每一章都能证明这一现象。任何人都能理解这种推理过程中的每一个步骤。
每一章里的思维过程都最多只用到基本算术,有时候甚至连那个也用不上。这样一来所有的读者都将有机会参与一场数学的体验,体会数学的美妙,并逐渐熟悉它那富有逻辑性的然而也是发乎直觉的思考风格。
B 我写这本书的目的之一,就是为那些到目前为止还从未有机会看到和欣赏什么才是真正数学的读者提供一个机会,借此玩味数学的思考方式。我希望展示给读者的,不仅仅是一些引人入胜的发现,而且更重要的还是这些发现背后的思考推理行为。
从以上角度来说,这本书不同于大多数为大众写就的关于数学的书籍。一些书描绘了某些数学家丰富多彩的人生。另一些叙述了数学的重大用途。还有一些虽则深入讲解了数学推演过程,但却假定读者必定在代数运用方面相当娴熟。
C 我希望这本书将能有助于架起一座桥梁,跨越那道臭名昭著的裂隙,从而沟通两种文化:人文与科学,或者我也许应该将之称为右脑(直觉性的)与左脑(分析性的,数字性的)。正如以下书中章节将会展示的那样,数学并不仅仅局限于分析性和数字性;直觉扮演了一个重要角色。那道所谓的鸿沟可以被任何人缩短或完全弥合,部分原因在于我们中的每个人都还远没有充分运用大脑任何一侧的全部能力。为了说明我们人类的潜能,我列举了若干例证:一个结构工程师同时也是一位艺术家,一名电气工程师身兼歌剧演唱家,一位歌剧演唱家发表过数学研究专著,而一个数学家则出版了若干短篇小说。
D 其他科学家们也曾出书向非科学专业人员解说他们的研究领域,但却都不得不省略其中的数学专业知识,即使这些知识构成了他们理论的基石。读者只好全程做一个跃跃欲试而不得的旁观者,而不是加入其中的参与者,因为描述大部分科学领域中细节内容的恰当语言是数学语言,无论话题是膨胀宇宙、亚原子粒子,还是染色体。虽然某个科学理论的大致轮廓可以通过直觉性思维来进行粗略描述,可一旦实体宇宙的某个组成部分最终为人们所理解,对这部分的描述往往还是看起来很像数学课本中的某一页。
E 没有数学专业背景的读者仍然可以在理解数学分析方面走得很远。这本书中给出的细节展示了数学风格的思维方式,这涉及耐心的、一步接一步的分析、实验和深入思考。你在翻动本书页码的时候,会比阅读一部小说或一份报纸时缓慢得多。准备好一支笔和一张纸会有助于你来测试书中理论和展开各种实验。
F 我在写作的时候,脑海中构想了两种类型的读者:有些人本来一直挺喜欢数学的,直到他们被某个不愉快的小插曲转变了看法,通常是在五年级左右;另外一些则是数学狂热爱好者,他们将在整本书内找到许多全新的东西。
这本书同时也能服务于那些仅仅只是想要锻炼自身分析能力的读者。许多职业,例如法律和医药,都需要从业者具备全面、精确的分析能力。每一章都提供了一些可供读者沿一条持之以恒、逻辑严密的思路线索一路探究的练习。数学可以帮你开发这方面的技能,不信请看以下两份大力推荐:
G 一位医生写道:“(数学中)分析性思维加工的训练令我为医学学习做足了准备。在医学领域,一个人在遇到问题时,必须先仔仔细细地分析清楚才能找到解决办法。这个过程与学习数学是类似的。”
一位律师也提出了同样的观点:,但却在一所顶级的法律学校里成绩优异。我将自己在那里取得成功的很大一部分归功于通过学习数学,特別是各种定理,掌握了如何分析复杂的原理。学过数学的律师们有能力以一种大多数其他律师所无法上手的方式掌握法律原则。”
我希望你能分享我的这一份喜悦,去看简单的、有时甚至是幼稚的各种问题引向非同凡响的解决之道,同时纯理论的发现则能找到意料之外的应用之途。
以上是小编为大家分享的剑桥雅思11阅读Test3原文及参考译文,希望能够对大家备考雅思阅读有帮助。