Question

【题目】 Some caterpillars’ warning signals (信号) may have evolved (进化) from walking. A team, writing in the journal Nature Communications, reported that the hair-like structures the living things use to make sounds evolved from legs.

The team studied caterpillars which use these structures to communicate their ownership of leaves. This means the caterpillars are able to “tell” strangers to go away without risking injury in fighting. “These are really interesting caterpillars,” said Dr. Jayne Yack from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, who led the research. “They make signals using hair-like structures which are on their back ends.”

The caterpillars drag these structures across the leaf to make scraping (刺耳的) sounds when strangers enter the area of their leaves. “When they make this signal, the strangers leave,” explained Dr. Yack. “It’s like saying ‘I’m here, get out of here — I already own this leaf’.”

The scientists looked at other species (物种) within the same group of caterpillars and created their “family tree”. They used chemical markers (标记物) to work out the relationship between the animals, showing which in the group were the more ancient species and which species evolved more recently. “Those more ancient species actually don’t have these sound-producing structures. They have legs that they use to walk towards strangers,” said Dr. Yack. These more ancient species, she explained, walk towards strangers and try to fight against them. “They can kill each other in the fighting,” Dr. Yack added. She said that the evolution of the scraping show had allowed the caterpillars to solve their fighting without injury. “So our idea is that these signals actually avoid harm to both sides — they solve fighting in a more ‘friendly’ way.”

The study also provides a map of an evolutionary process that many other biologists are researching.

【1】What can we learn about caterpillars’ warning structures from the text?

A.They have the same use as hair.

B.They are found in caterpillars’ heads.

C.They are used to fight against strangers.

D.They may have evolved from caterpillars’ legs.

【2】According to the text, Dr. Yack’s team did NOT ________.

A.draw a family tree of caterpillars

B.create a map to show how caterpillars evolve

C.study species within the same group of caterpillars

D.make clear the relationship between different species of caterpillars

【3】What does the underlined word “They” in the fifth paragraph refer to?

A.The ancient species.B.The chemical markers.

C.The sound-producing structures.D.The more recently evolved species.

【4】What is the main idea of the text?

A.How caterpillars evolved.

B.How caterpillars warn strangers.

C.Communication between caterpillars.

D.Caterpillars’ warning signals evolved from walking.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】B

【3】A

【4】D

【解析】

本文是科普类说明文。文章主要介绍了一项研究，研究表明一些毛毛虫的警告信号是从步行进化而来的。

【1】

细节理解题。根据第一段的A team, writing in the journal Nature Communications, reported that the hair-like structures the living things use to make sounds evolved from legs.(在《自然通讯》杂志上发表文章的一个研究小组报告说，这些生物用来制造声音的毛发状结构是从腿上进化而来的)可知，它们可能是由毛虫的腿进化而来的。故选D。

【2】

细节理解题。根据最后一段的The study also provides a map of an evolutionary process that many other biologists are researching.(这项研究还提供了一个许多其他生物学家正在研究的进化过程的地图)可知，Yack博士的团队没有创建一张地图来显示毛毛虫是如何进化的。故选B。

【3】

词句猜测题。根据上文Those more ancient species actually don’t have these sound-producing structures. (那些更古老的物种实际上没有这些产生声音的结构)，可知，划线部分的意思是：它们没有用来走向陌生人的腿，因此推断They指代“那些古老的物种”。故选A。

【4】

主旨大意题。根据文章第一段的Some caterpillars’ warning signals (信号) may have evolved (进化) from walking.(一些毛毛虫的警告信号可能是从行走中进化出来的)以及下文对这个结论的研究的介绍可知，文章主要讲述的是毛毛虫的警告信号是从步行进化而来的。故选D。