文字稿
英國人最鐘愛的鳥類 — 知更鳥正受到城市燈光和噪聲污染的影響。英國南安普頓大學的一項研究得出了這一結論，該研究展現(xiàn)了夜間照明和噪聲對居住在城市公園內(nèi)的知更鳥習性的影響?？茖W家們測量了燈火明亮的道路距離知更鳥所屬領地的遠近是怎樣影響其居住環(huán)境的特性的。請聽 Victoria Gill 的報道。
Robins are up and about earlier than most other songbirds, and they are in almost every city park in the UK, making them ideal for this urban study.
The scientists used a stuffed robin and a recording of the bird’s song, setting up this fake avian intruder in different areas. They then measured each bird’s response, recording how much it sang and displayed to defend its territory. This helped them construct a dominance hierarchy of the park’s resident robins. Birds that lived closest to street-lit paths and to busy roads were much lower in this hierarchy. They were less vocal and aggressive.
The researchers now want to establish if night-time light and man-made noise affects birds’ abilities to forage or breed. They hope the findings might be built into urban planning to make city parks spaces designed for wildlife as well as for people.
詞匯表
robins 知更鳥
up and about 開始四處活動
songbirds 鳴禽，鳴鳥
stuffed 塞滿填充物的
avian 鳥類的
intruder 闖入者，侵入者
hierarchy 等級
vocal （愛）發(fā)聲的，（喜）鳴叫的
establish 證實，弄清楚
forage 覓食
測驗
請聽報道并回答下列問題。
1. Why are robins ideal for this urban study?
2. What do the researchers want to discover next, according to the text?
3. True or false? Robins that lived closest to street-lit and busy roads were more vocal and
aggressive.
4. Which word in the text means ‘created by humans rather than occurring naturally’?
答案
1. Why are robins ideal for this urban study?
Robins are ideal for this urban study because they are active earlier than most other songbirds and are in almost every city park in the UK.
2. What do the researchers want to discover next, according to the text?
According to the text, the researchers now want to establish if night-time light and man-made noise affect birds’ abilities to forage or breed.
3. True or false? Robins that lived closest to street-lit and busy roads were more vocal and
aggressive.
False. Robins that lived closest to street-lit and busy roads were less vocal and
aggressive.
4. Which word in the text means ‘created by humans rather than occurring naturally’?
Man-made.
