Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
Most animals seek shade when temperatures in the Sahara Desert soar to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. But for the Saharan silver ant, 26 from their underground nests into the sun’s brutal rays to 27 for food, this is the perfect time to seek lunch. In 2015 these ants were joined in the desert by scientists from two Belgian universities, who spent a month in the 28 heat tracking the ants and digging out their nests. The goal was simple, to discover how the 29 adapted to the kind of heat that can 30 melt the bottom of shoes.
Back in Belgium, the scientists looked at the ants under an electronic microscope and found that their 31 , triangular hair reflects light like a prism(棱镜), giving them a metallic reflection and protecting them from the sun’s awful heat. When Ph.D. student Quentin Willot 32 the hair from an ant with a 33 knife and put it under a heat lamp, its temperature jumped.
The ants’ method of staying cool is 34 among animals. Could this reflective type of hair protect people? Willot says companies are interested in 35 these ants’ method of heat protection for human use, including everything from helping to protect the lives of firefighters to keeping homes cool in summer.
A)adapting B)consciously C)crawling D)crowded E)extreme F)hunt G)literally H)moderate I)remote J)removed K)species L)specimens M)thick N)tiny O)unique
当撒哈拉沙漠的温度飙升到120华氏度时,大多数动物都会寻找阴凉处避暑。但是对于撒哈拉银蚁来说,这是寻找午餐的最佳时机,它们从地下巢穴 26 爬到烈日下 27 寻找食物。2015年,来自比利时两所大学的科学家们加入了沙漠里这群蚂蚁的行列,他们花了一个月的时间在 28 酷热中追踪这些蚂蚁并找出它们的巢穴。目的很简单,就是要发现这个 29 物种是如何适应那种 30 简直可以融化鞋底的高温的。
回到比利时后,科学家们在电子显微镜下观察这些蚂蚁,发现它们 31 浓密的三角形毛发像棱镜一样反射光线,产生金属反射,保护它们免受太阳酷热的伤害。当博士生昆汀·威洛特用一把 33 微小的刀从一只蚂蚁身上 32 除去毛发,并把它放在加热灯下时,蚂蚁的体温骤升。
这种蚂蚁保持凉爽的方法在动物中是 34 独一无二的。这种反光型的毛发能保护人类吗?威洛特说,一些公司有兴趣将这些蚂蚁的防热方法 35 应用于人类,例如帮助保护消防队员的生命,或在夏天保持房屋凉爽等。
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