Humans might be the most highly-evolved species on the planet, but most animals possess skills we can only dream of having. Imagine how much electricity we could save if we could see in the dark the way cats do. Imagine leaping from tree to tree like a monkey. Giraffes, which are otherwise calm and good-natured, sleep only 4.6 hours a day.
We realized a long, long time ago that nature provides the best blueprint for invention. We’ve borrowed canals from beavers and reflectors from cat’s eyes. Although the words “bionics”(仿生学) became popular only after the 1960s, history shows that nature has always provided ideas on solving everyday problems. Our archives(档案) don’t go back to the time of Leonardo da Vinci and his bird-like flying machines, but we can take you to the late 19th century, where we applied those same principles for building our first practical airplanes.
To prepare for their flight at Kitty Hawk, the Wright brothers studied the movements of pigeons to figure out how they stayed high up when they were heavier than air. Their success inspired scores of successors to improve on the airplane by studying various aspects of nature. One of Orville Wright’s pupils caught and stuffed seagulls to examine their wingspan. Meanwhile, two French inventors examined spinning sycamore(梧桐) seeds in an effort to apply those same motions, reversed, to a helicopter .
Some examples are more obvious than others. The outside of the airplane designed by the Wright brothers looks like a minimalistic(简单抽象艺术) structure. On the other hand, Barney Connett’s fish submarine actually looks like a fish.
Some bio-inspired concepts have yet to be invented. In the 1960s, the US Army missioned several university professors to conduct research on the motor skills animals in hope of applying those same abilities to tanks. Tanks that run like horses or jump like grasshoppers(蚂蚱)-sounds shocking, doesn’t it? But imagine how life would change if we could achieve that.
【小题1】“Cats”, “monkeys” and “giraffes” mentioned in paragraph 1 are examples to show .A．they are highly-evolved species as humans B．animals have skills that humans do not possessC．humans can learn animals’ skills D．they are skillful in different ways【小题2】What happened after the Wright brothers’ success?A．People carried out a systematic study on pigeons.B．People studied more animals and plants to develop the airplane.C．People could fly their airplane for fun.D．People kept their airplane at a French gallery.【小题3】Which of the following is true about the research carried out by the US Army?A．It has cost a large sum of money.B．It has changed our life.C．It has improved the abilities of tanksD．It has not succeeded yet.【小题4】What does the writer want to tell in the passage?A．many inventions get ideas from nature.B．Some animals possess unique skills.C．People should protect nature.D．Bionics is far from perfectB
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(答案→)B
解析：人类也许是地球上进化最高级的动物，但是，有许多动物都有着人类无法企及的技能。从莱特兄弟制造飞机开始，人类一直都在从大自然中探索发明创造，这些发明创造给人们的生活带来了很大的改变。
【小题1】根据第一段“but most animals possess skills we can only dream of having.”可知，猫的夜视，猴子的跳跃，长颈鹿短的睡眠时间，许多动物有着人类没有的技能，故选B。
【小题2】根据第三段“Their success inspired scores of successors to improve on the airplane by studying various aspects of nature.”可知，在莱特兄弟之后，许多人开始研究动植物来研制飞机，故选B。
【小题3】根据最后一段“Some bio-inspired concepts have yet to be invented. ...sounds shocking, doesn’t it? But imagine how life would change if we could achieve that.”可知，一些仿生概念尚有待发明，如果美国军方的研究成功的话，会给我们的生活带来什么样的变化？由此可见，美国军方的研究还没有成功，故选D。
【小题4】根据“history shows that nature has always provided ideas on solving everyday problems. ...the Wright brothers studied the movements of pigeons ...One of Orville Wright’s pupils caught and stuffed seagulls ...two French inventors examined spinning sycamore(梧桐) seeds”可知，文章讲的是，人类不断从大自然中获得启发，进而发明出许多解决日常问题的事物，故选A。