Spacing in Animals ¹ Flight Distance

    Any observant person has noticed that a wild animal will allow a man or other potential enemy to approach only up to a given distance before it flees. “Flight distance ²” is the terms used for this interspecies spacing. As a general rule, there is a positive relationship between the size of an animal and its flight distance ³—the larger the animal, the greater the distance it must keep between itself and the enemy. An antelope ⁴ will flee when the enemy is as much as five hundred yards away. The wall lizard ⁵’s flight distance, on the other hand is about six feet. Flight is the basic means of survival for mobile creatures.

    Critical Distance

    Critical distance apparently is present wherever and whenever there is a flight reaction. “Critical distance” includes the narrow zone separating flight distance from attack distance ⁶. A lion in a zoo will flee from an approaching man until it meets a barrier that it cannot overcome. If the man continues the approach, he soon penetrates the lion"s critical distance, at which point the cornered lion reverses direction ⁷ and begins slowly to stalk the man.

    Social Distance

    Social animals need to stay in touch with each other. Loss of contact with the group can be fatal for a variety of reasons including exposure to enemies. Social distance is not simply the distance at which an animal will lose contact with his group—that is, the distance at which it can no longer see, hear, or smell the group—it is rather a psychological distance, one at which the animal apparently begins to feel anxious when he exceeds its limits. We can think of it as a hidden band that contains the group ⁸.

    Social distance varies from species to species. It is quite short—apparently only a few yards—among some animals, and quite long among others.

    Social distance is not always rigidly fixed but is determined in part by the situation. When the young of apes and humans are mobile but not yet under control of the mother"s voice, social distance may be the length of her reach ⁹. This is readily observed among the baboons in a zoo. When the baby approaches a certain point, the mother reaches out to seize the end of its tail and pull it back to her. When added control is needed because of danger, social distance shrinks. To show this in man, one has only to watch a family with a number of small children holding hands as they cross a busy street.

 

词汇：

observant[əbˈzɜ:vənt] adj.观察力敏锐的;

barrier["bærɪə(r)] n.障碍物

potential[pəˈtenʃl] adj.潜在的

contact["kɒntækt] n.接触；联系

survival[səˈvaɪvl] n.逃生，幸免;

fatal["feɪtl] adj.致命的

mobile["məʊbaɪl] adj.可动的，活动的;

rigidly["rɪdʒɪdlɪ] adv.刻板的；死板的

approach[ə"prəʊtʃ] v朝……走近

baboon[bəˈbu:n] n.狒狒;

 

注释:

1.spacing in animals :动物的间隔距离

2．flight distance:逃离距离

3．．，．there is a positive relationship between the size of an animal and its flight distance.……动物体积与其逃离距离之间成正比关系。

4．antelope:羚羊

5．wall lizard:壁虎

6.“Critical distance"  includes the narrow zone separating flight distance from attack distance.关键距离指逃离距离和进攻距离之间的狭窄区域。

7．reverse direction:调转方向。

8．a hidden band that contains the group:-条控制群体的隐形带

9．the length of her reach:她手臂够得着的长度

 

The example of the children holding hands when crossing the street in the last paragraph shows that

A:social distance is not always needed B:there is no social distance among small children C:humans are different from animals in social distance D:social distance is sometimes determined by outside factors

非法阻挡(HOLDING)

A（）is a special type of parent company that exercises little operating control over the subsidiary，merely“holding”its stock as an investment.

A:Public company B:holding company C:firm D:conglomerate

第3篇 Shaming Punishments Last month, James Connolly, a junior at the University of Massachusetts, stood in front of a local police station wearing a toga (长袍) as punishment. His crime He was charged with underage drinking, illegal possession of alcohol and excessive noise while holding a party. This shaming punishment has increased in the US in recent years, mostly imposed by local judges for less serious crimes, such as drunk driving and theft. They believe shame is the best petty crime deterrent(威慑). For example, in Tennessee, Judge James McKenzie has made shoplifters (商店货物扒手) stand outside Wal-Mart with signs that read, "I am a thief put here by order of Judge McKenzie" , "Alternative punishments like community service and fines don’t convey moral condemnation (谴责) of the criminal. "said Dan Kahan, a University of Chicago Law School professor, in an article published on the university’s website. "They aren’t shameful enough. " Shaming punishments are sometimes called Scarlet (红色的) Letter punishments. The name comes from US author Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter. In this novel, a woman is forced to wear a scarlet "A" on her clothes as punishment for her adultery (通奸). However, University of Iowa law professor Andrew Hosmanek said there is an important difference between the shaming punishments of colonial America and those assigned in states like Tennessee. "Early societies often had are acceptance ceremony to welcome the offender back into main society. " says Hosmanek. "Contemporary punishments in America lack this. " Supporters of shaming punishment argue that public shaming is a good way of expressing community values. Some judges say shamed offenders seldom repeat their crimes. Others aren’t so sure. "There is little evidence to suggest that shaming punishments are successful in preventing people from committing specific crimes. And a shamed criminal may face a hard battle to regain credibility in society. "said Hosmanek. "So, a shaming punishment may force the offender into more crimes to support himself. " Experts also debate shaming punishment’s damage to human dignity. "Since the point is to shame, it’s of course degrading(侮辱人格的). " said Linda Malone, director of the Human Rights and National Security Law Programme at William and Mary Law School. "US law only prohibits punishment that is ’cruel and unusual’--not ’inhuman and degrading’. It’s very difficult for a thief to prove that holding a sign in front of Wal-Mart is ’cruel and unusual’. "Which of the following punishments does NOT morally condemn a criminal

A:Holding a sign that announces his or her crime. B:Publishing his or her name on a website. C:Apologizing for the crime in front of Wal-Mart. D:Having to do useful work to help others without being paid.

France made soccer history here on Sunday night, when the underdogs beat defending champions Brazil 3-0 to win the last World Cup this century before a delirious crowd of 80000 people.
The host nation fully deserved their ultimate triumph, teaching a static Brazil how to play the disciplined attacking football, which has characterized their campaign at France 98. Players on both sides burst into tears at the final whistle, French President Jacques Chirac raised his arms in triumph and co-organizer Michel Platini broke into a huge grin. Brazil had just played their worst match of the tournament.
French coach Aime Jacquet, who now steps down from the national coaching job, siad: "we are very proud, we worked very hard for this. We didn’t just want to be finalists," the 56-year-old man went on. "We have worked very hard for the last two years and we justified everything on the pitch. We deserved to win. We’ve got huge faith in our players, who have improved as the tournament has gone along. We’ve been through everything in these World Cup finals, with the sending-off of Zidane and Laurent Blanc, and yet we’ve made up for their absences and overcome all the obstacles. And to crown all that, we’ve had the sending-off tonight of Desailly. But this team has extraordinary heart."
France were the better side throughout the tournament. They won all their matches, scored more goals than anyone else and conceded fewer goals than anyone else—only two, to boast the meanest defense of any winning side.
It was the perfect finishing touch for a memorable evening in world sport, rounded off by fireworks, massed singing of "La Marseillaise"(马赛曲) and the image of Deschamps holding the World Cup high above his head.
The memorable evening include all the following EXCEPT ______.

A:fireworks B:singing together a famous song C:a solo by a famous singer D:the holding of the World Cup by Deschamps

Text 3

The memorable evening include all the following EXCEPT ______.

A:fireworks B:singing together a famous song C:a solo by a famous singer D:the holding of the World Cup by Deschamps

Facebook has agreed to make worldwide changes to its privacy policy as a result of negotiations with Canada’s privacy commissioner.
Last month the social network was found to breach Canadian law by holding on to users’ personal data indefinitely. Facebook has now agreed to make changes to the way it handles this information and be more transparent about what data it collects and why. It will also make it clear that users carl deactivate or delete their account.
As well as updating the privacy policy, Facebook has said it will make changes that will give users more control over the data they provide to third-party developers of applications, such as games and quizzes. There are around 950,000 developers in 180 countries that provide applications for the site.
Specifically, the changes will require applications to state which information they wish to access and obtain consent from the user before it is used or shared.
"Application developers have had virtually unrestricted access to Facebook users’ personal information," said Ms Stoddart.
"The changes Facebook plans to introduce will allow users to control the types of personal information that applications can access." The site will also encourage users to review their privacy settings and make it clear to users that they can delete or deactivate an account, and what the difference is between the two.
Facebook’s Michael Richter said if a user chose to deactivate their account, the site would still store theft information "even if it is for 10 years". "We’re committing to that user." he said. "We want them to know that if they change their mind they can always come back."
The social network has said work on the changes will begin immediately but they would take around 12 months to implement. The regulator first started its investigation as a result of complaints by the Canadian Interact Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) at the University of Ottawa. The country is the first to complete a full investigation of Facebook’s privacy practices. Canada has around 12 million Facebook users, more than one in three of the population.
How was Facebook’s privacy policy violating Canadian law

A:By holding on to user’s personal data indefinitely. B:By holding user’s info without permission. C:By spreading user’s data. D:Not mentione

Think of a modem city and the first image that come to mind is the skyline. It is full of great buildings, pointing like fingers to heaven. It is true that some cities don’t permit buildings to go above a certain height. But these are cities concerned with the past. The first thing any city does when it wants to tell the world that it has arrived is to build skyscrapers.
When people gather together in cities, they create a demand for land since cities are places where money is made, that demand can be met. And the best way to make money out of city land is to put as many people as possible in a space that covers the smallest amount of ground that means building upwards.
The technology existed to do this as early as the 19th century. But the height of buildings was limited by one important factor. They had to be small enough for people on the top floors to climb stairs. People could not be expected to climb a mountain at the end of their journey to work, or home.
Elisha Otis, a US inventor, was the man who brought us the lift or elevator, as he preferred to call it. However, most of the technology is very old lifts work using the same pulley system the Egyptians used to create the Pyramids. What Otis did was attach the system to a steam engine and develop the elevator brake, which stops the lift falling if the cords that hold it up are broken. It was this that did the most to gain public confidence in the new invention. In fact, he spent a number of years exhibiting lifts at fairgrounds, giving people the chance to try them out before selling the idea to architects and builders.
A lift would not be a very good theme park attraction now. Going in a lift is such an everyday thing that it would just be boring. Yet psychologists and others who study human behavior find lifts fascinating. The reason is simple. Scientists have always studied animals in zoos. The nearest they can get to that with humans is in observing them in lifts.
"It breaks all the usual conventions about the bubble of personal space we carry around with us and you just can’t choose to move away," says workplace psychologist, Gary Fitzgibbon. Being trapped in this setting can create different types of tensions, he says. Some people are scared of them. Others use them as an opportunity to get close to the boss. Some stand close to the door. Others hide in the comers. Most people try and shrink into the background but some behave in a way that makes others notice them. There are a few people who just stand in a comer taking notes.
Don’t worry about them. They are probably from a university.
Which of the following best describes the experience of going in a lift now

A:Fascinating. B:Uninteresting. C:Frightening. D:Excitin

Think of a modem city and the first image that come to mind is the skyline. It is full of great buildings, pointing like fingers to heaven. It is true that some cities don’t permit buildings to go above a certain height. But these are cities concerned with the past. The first thing any city does when it wants to tell the world that it has arrived is to build skyscrapers.
When people gather together in cities, they create a demand for land. Since cities are places where money is made, that demand can be met. And the best way to make money out of city land is to put as many people as possible in a space that covers the smallest amount of ground. That means building upwards.
The technology existed to do this as early as the 19th century. But the height of buildings was limited by one important factor. They had to be small enough for people on the top floors to climb stairs. People could not be expected to climb a mountain at the end of their journey to work, or home.
Elisha Otis, a US inventor, was the man who brought us the lift--or elevator, as he preferred to call it. However, most of the technology is very old. Lifts work using the same pulley system the Egyptians used to create the Pyramids. What Otis did was attach the system to a steam engine and develop the elevator brake, which stops the lift falling if the cords that hold it up are broken. It was this that did the most to gain public confidence in the new invention. In fact, he spent a number of years exhibiting lifts at fairgrounds, giving people the chance to try them out before selling the idea to architects and builders.
A lift would not be a very good theme park attraction now. Going in a lift is such an everyday thing that it would just be boring. Yet psychologists and others who study human behavior find lifts fascinating. The reason is simple. Scientists have always studied animals in zoos. The nearest they can get to that with humans is in observing them in lifts.
"It breaks all the usual conventions about the bubble of personal space we carry around with us--and you just can’t choose to move away," says workplace psychologist, Gary Fitzgibbon. Being trapped in this setting can create different types of tensions, he says. Some people are scared of them. Others use them as an opportunity to get close to the boss. Some stand close to the door. Others hide in the comers. Most people try and shrink into the background. But some behave in a way that makes others notice them. There are a few people who just stand in a comer taking notes.
Don’t worry about them. They fire probably from a university.
Which of the following best describes the experience of going in a lift now

A:Fascinating. B:Uninteresting. C:Frightening. D:Excitin