Ants keep traffic flowing by changing their behavior to meet changing conditions，according to new research.
For their experiment，researchers from the University of Toulouse and the University of Arizona focused on Argentine ants，which are only 2-3 millimeters long and frequently move from colony（棲息地） to colony depending on how far food is.Tapping into the ants' talent for fast commutes （通勤），the researchers constructed bridges between their colonies.The bridges varied in width from a fifth to three-quarters of an inch.
Then the researchers sat back and monitored the traffic.To their surprise，even when those narrower bridges were nearly overloaded，there were no 20-ant pile-ups.And traffic remained steady regardless of how crowed the bridges were because ants could adjust to the flow of road conditions.
"When crowding on the path increased，ants assessed it locally and adjusted their speed accordingly to avoid any interruption of traffic flow，" the researchers said. "Moreover，ants avoided entering a crowded path and made sure the bridge was never overloaded."
The lesson for humans？The traffic problem mostly lies in our loss of the quality that the ants have.
You've probably noticed it on your own commute to work.Driving is fun when there're few cars on the road-a lane-change （車道變換） here，a little acceleration there.Then traffic slows down.But some impatient drivers still constantly move between lanes.
"Traffic jams are common in human society where some people are focusing on their own personal objectives，" the researchers said.16 Iri contrast，ants share a common goal：the survival of the colony，thus they're expected to act cooperatively to get food.
The research also suggests that the ever-widening of highways may never free us from traffic jams.As long as we drive along with our own agendas，no matter how many other people are on the road，we'll always end up in a traffic jam.Indeed，less space may be a good thing.It leaves less room for personal choices and forces us to take a page from the driving handbook of ants.
（1）What did the researchers do to the ants in the experiment？ CC
A．They fed them with much delicious food.
B．They trained them to avoid heavy traffic.
C．They built bridges linking their colonies.
D．They improved their colonies constantly.
（2）How did the ants behave during the experiment？ DD
A．They worked together to remove the road blocks.
B．They sped up to get out of the traffic jam quickly.
C．They made their way carefully in the given direction.
D．They adjusted themselves for the flow of the traffic.
（3）What is the biggest cause of the traffic jam in human society？ CC
A．Poor road construction.
B．People's inability to adjust.
C．People's selfish driving.
D．Too many vehicles on roads.
（4）What is the text mainly about？ BB
A．What ants help us do for driving safety.
B．What ants can teach us about traffic jams.
C．Why ants drive much better than humans.
D．Why ants are best at handling traffic jams.
【答案】C；D；C；B
【解答】
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發(fā)布：2024/5/27 14:0:0組卷：6引用：2難度：0.4
相似題
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1．Rainforests provide much of the world's oxygen.People have been trying to protect them for years.But another type of forest，the cloud forest，is just as important to humans.
These forests are at the tops of mountains，generally near the equator （赤道）.These wet，wooded mountaintops are mainly in African and Central and South American countries.They are called "cloud forests" because their height allows for the formation of clouds among the trees.The trees in these forests pull water out of the clouds.The water gathers on the leaves and falls into small rivers below，which flow into towns at the bottom of the mountain.The yearly rainfall in these areas is about 180 centimetres.Cloud forests can pull in up to 60 percent of that.The water is important to the plants and the people in the area.It helps them survive.
Cloud forests are also home to countless species of plants that can't be found anywhere else.One small cloud forest has as many types of plants as there are in all of Europe.In fact，there are so many that scientists haven't made a complete list of them yet.
These forests are being destroyed at increasing speed.Trees are being cut down，and roads are being built in their place.Some people have a goal to get government money to protect the forests.But they have had little success so far.Another way is to take the place of the destroyed plants with new ones.That，too，has been difficult because the plants are so special.There's plenty of work to be done，but saving the cloud forests is still possible with creative solutions.
（1）Where can you probably find cloud forests？
A．In North America.
B．Far from the equator.
C．In an African country.
D．At the foot of mountains.
（2）How much rainfall is pulled in by the cloud forests in those areas every year？
A．About 60 cm.
B．About 108 cm.
C．About 180 cm.
D．About 300 cm.
（3）What is the main idea of paragraph 3？
A．Europe is short of plant types.
B．Scientists are working on a list.
C．Cloud forests are getting smaller.
D．Cloud forests house many plants.
（4）What will be discussed in the following part of the text？
A．Ways to protect cloud forests.
B．Goals of cloud forest protectors.
C．Difficulties in planting new trees.
D．Successes of getting wide support.
（5）Where can we probably find the text？
A．In a storybook.
B．In a travel guide.
C．In a chemistry textbook.
D．In a geography magazine.發(fā)布：2025/1/1 18:0:1組卷：7引用：3難度：0.5 -
2．Photo Research "If you want to be a better photographer，stand in front of better stuff." Photographer Jim Richardson shared it with otjye.airs.He spends a great deal of time doing photo research，looking for great locations to shoot.
Seeing a wonderful place is bread-and-butter photography-it's just part of the job.Getting there is only half of any great photograph's story.The other half is how the photographer prepares to capture the subject once in front of jye.ai.It is believed that groundwork is part of photography，as essential as knowing exposure and lighting or recognizing the decisive moment to take the shot.Research sounds like a boring task for many photographers，while for others digging into a subject in advance is part of the pleasure.
Philosophically，photographers seem to divide along that line.On one side are those who desire only to be in the moment.On the other side are the planners.They would never dream of going out the door without a full list of how they're going to approach the shoot.Actually，there is a third group nowadays.They just take photos of the whole scene and do all the creative work in Photoshop after the event.Most photographers do both：research carefully to prepare their schedule and then act in the moment once on site.
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"Above all，I'll look for places and events that are seasonal and timeless.I open my mind to what might make a great subject for a picture，" Jim said. "Most travelers tend to think only of places they're visiting，without looking deeper into culture，history or meaning.I try to get in time with the rhythm of the place and in tune with its melody.But most of all I just want to be ready.If I'm ready，I can just about count on being lucky."
（1）What does the underlined word "capture" in Paragraph 2 probably mean？
A．Identify.
B．Record.
C．Arrange.
D．Explore.
（2）What point does the author make about photographers in Paragraph 3？
A．They are unable to decide on the best plan of action.
B．It is possible for them to adopt flexible ways of working.
C．The third group is not as imaginative as some of the others.
D．Some of them refuse to try to understand the way others work.
（3）What is the main idea of Paragraph 4？
A．Sound preparation is a must for a satisfactory photo.
B．One should create photo sites in a photographic trip.
C．Taking photos requires vivid imagination in advance.
D．It is essential to do photo research in central locations.
（4）In the last paragraph，Jim states that.
A．he feels good to visit those historical places
B．he refuses to spend too much time in one place
C．he is careful about choosing the right place to visit
D．he likes to go to places that few people bother to visit發(fā)布：2025/1/1 18:0:1組卷：20引用：3難度：0.7 -
3．The baby is just one day old and has not yet left hospital．She is quiet but alert（警覺）．Twenty centimeters from her face researchers have placed a white card with two black spots on it．She stares at it carefully．A researcher removes the card and replaces it by another，this time with the spots differently spaced．As the cards change from one to the other，her gaze（凝視） starts to lose its focus - until a third，with three black spots，is presented．Her gaze returns；she looks at it for twice as long as she did at the previous card．Can she tell that the number two is different from three，just 24 hours after coming into the world？
Or do newborns simply prefer more to fewer？The same experiment，but with three spots shown before two，shows the same return of interest when the number of spots changes．Perhaps it is just the newness？When slightly older babies were shown cards with pictures of objects（a comb，a key，an orange and so on），changing the number of objects had an effect separate from changing the objects themselves．Could it be the pattern that two things make，as opposed to three？No again．Babies paid more attention to squares moving randomly on a screen when their number changed from two to three，or three to two．The effect even crosses between senses．Babies who were repeatedly shown two spots became more excited when they then heard three drumbeats than when they heard just two；likewise（同樣地） when the researchers started with drumbeats and moved to spots．
（1）The experiment described in Paragraph 1 is related to the baby's．
A．sense of hearing
B．sense of sight
C．sense of touch
D．sense of smell
（2）Babies are sensitive to the change in．
A．the size of cards
B．the colour of pictures
C．the shape of patterns
D．the number of objects
（3）Why did the researchers test the babies with drumbeats？
A．To reduce the difficulty of the experiment．
B．To see how babies recognize sounds．
C．To carry their experiment further．
D．To keep the babies' interest．
（4）Where does this text probably come from？
A．Science fiction．
B．Children's literature．
C．An advertisement．
D．A science report．發(fā)布：2025/1/1 17:0:1組卷：3引用：3難度：0.5