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人类与自然界的动物相比，谁才是真正的 “建筑大师”？虽然没有钢筋混凝土，但蜘蛛、水獭等动物也能利用天然材料建造出精妙的结构。其中，鸟类的筑巢技艺更是别具一格。鸟类有哪些筑巢的 “独门绝技”？这些技术和风格又是如何世代相传的？本文将带你探索科学家对鸟类建筑能力的最新研究成果。

词汇：animals 动物

1 Animals build their homes to achieve different living goals. Bees build hives to store and protect food, spiders spin webs to catch prey and beavers build dams to create pools. But, as you walk around a town or stroll along a countryside pathway, you may notice some unique homes up on the treetops – nests.

2 Like architects, birds carefully engineer their nests before building them. A report named Architectural traditions in the structures built by cooperative weaver birds says that their designs are influenced by those before them. A study released by iScience finds that birds follow a culture that gets passed down. Not the high culture of art, literature and music, but an older process of transmittingtraits and skills through generations.

3 Bird nest building: visions for the future, says that birds who are first-time builders will often copy familiar individuals, highlighting how important this individual, perhaps the parent, is. Sound familiar? An article in the National Library of Medicine explains how children learn by imitating their caregiver.

4 These behaviours, though, can also change in response to pressures of natural selection, a term coined by Charles Darwin in his theory of evolution. Competition is one of the three components of that theory.

5 And it's not just in the human world where certain property locations are highly desirable. Some species of birds even steal nest locations from others. Studies at the Zoological Society of London have discovered that invasive species will compete with native birds for suitable trees to build their nests in. Experiments published in Science Direct also show that most female birds look for fresh, green nests when choosing their mate. A report from RSPB further adds that in some species of birds, such as wrens, the male will build multiple nests from which the female can choose her favourite and even tidy it up. This tells us that, like humans, the quality of a home, in addition to its location and cleanliness, can influence whether a pair of birds decide to live and start a family there.

测验与练习

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 _______
Paragraph 2 _______
Paragraph 3 _______
Paragraph 4 _______
Paragraph 5 _______

a. Bird behaviours can change
b. Bird behaviours never change
c. Birds and other animals' homes
d. Birds compete for the best home
e. Birds copy behaviours
f. Birds have culture

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. You'll often find birds' nests on the grounds in the countryside.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

2. Birds are influenced by …
a. beavers.
b. bees.
c. other birds.

3. Research published in the National Library of Medicine explains that children's ability to learn…
a. can come from copying.
b. can only improve by going to school.
c. comes from their genetics.

4. Charles Darwin created the theory of evolution by…
a. natural competition.
b. natural protection.
c. natural selection.

5. Research from the Zoological Society of London shows us that birds will compete for the nest location to build their homes.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

The 1) _______ of nests is often 2) _______ as part of bird culture. They often learn by 3) _______ other birds around them and will try to build the best nest with hopes of finding a 4) _______. Scientists think that these behaviours are part of birds' 5) _______.

architecture
evolution
imitating
generations
mate
passed down
transmitting

（答案见词汇表后）

词汇表

hive 蜂巢
spin 编织，纺织
prey 猎物
dam 水坝
unique 独特的
nest 鸟巢
architect 建筑师
engineer 设计，筑造
pass down 传承，在世代间传递
transmit 传递，传播
trait 特征
generation 世代，一代
imitate 模仿
caregiver 看护者
selection 挑选，选择
coin 创造，首次使用（某一词语）
evolution 进化
desirable 理想的，渴望获得的
invasive 入侵性的，外来的
native 当地的，土生土长的
mate 配偶

答案

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 c) Birds and other animals' homes
Paragraph 2 f) Birds have culture
Paragraph 3 e) Birds copy behaviours
Paragraph 4 a) Bird behaviours can change
Paragraph 5 d) Birds compete for the best home

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. b. False.But, as you walk around a town or walk along a countryside pathway, you may notice some unique homes up on the treetops – nests.

2. c.Like humans and architecture, birds carefully engineer their nests before building them, and their designs would’ve been influenced by those before them.

3. a.… An article published in the National Library of Medicine explains how children learn by imitating their caregiver.

4. c.These behaviours, though, can also change in response to pressures of selection – or natural selection. Coined by Charles Darwin, competition is one of the three components of the Darwinian theory of evolution.

5. a. True.Studies at the Zoological Society of London have discovered that invasive species of birds will compete with native birds for suitable trees.

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

The architecture of nests is often passed down as part of bird culture. They often learn by imitating other birds around them and will try to build the best nest with hopes of finding a mate. Scientists think that these behaviours are part of birds' evolution.