正文

2013年职称英语考试理工类冲刺试卷及答案(3)

2013-03-18来源:和谐英语

　　第2部分：阅读判断(第16～22题，每题1分，共7分)

　　下面的短文后列出了7个句子，请根据短文的内容对每个句子做出判断：如果该句提供的是正确信息，请选择A；如果该句提供的是错误信息，请选择B；如果该句的信息文中没有提及，请选择C。

Irish Dolphins May Have a Unique Dialect

　　Irish scientists monitoring dolphins living in a river estuary in the southwest of the country believe they may have developed a unique dialect to communicate with each other.

　　The Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife Foundation (SDWF) has been studying a group of up to 120 bottle-nose dolphins in the River Shannon using vocalisations collected on a computer in a cow shed near the River Shannon.

　　As part of a research project, student Ronan Hickey digitised and analysed a total of 1, 882 whistles from the Irish dolphins and those from the Welsh dolphins on a computer and separated them into six fundamental whistle types and 32 different categories. Of the categories, he found most were used by both sets of dolphins — but eight were only heard from the Irish dolphins.

　　“We are building up a catalogue of the different whistle types they use and trying to associate them with behaviour like foraging, resting, socialising and the communications of groups with calves,” project leader Simon Berrow said. “Essentially we are building up what is like a dictionary of words they use or sounds they make.”

　　Berrow, a marine biologist, said the dolphins’ clicks are used to find their way around and locate prey. The whistles are communications. “They do a whole range of other sound like barks, groans and a kind of gunshot,” he said. “The gunshot is an intense pulse of sound. Sperm whales use it to stun their prey.”

　　“When I first heard it I was surprised as I thought sperm whales were the only species who used it. We can speculate the dolphins are using it for the same reason as the sperm whales.” Borrow said.

　　References in local legend indicate there have been dolphins in the Shannon estuary for generations and they may even have been resident there as far back as the 6th century.

　　They are regularly seen by passengers on the Shannon ferry and an estimated 25, 000 tourists every year take special sightseeing tours on local boats to visit them.

　　16. The difference in eating habits between the bottle-nose dolphins and the sperm whales interested the SDWF scientists.