Dogs can recognize heat with “infrared sensor”

陜西漢中中學 馮永強

聽力掃障

1.infrared /'?nfr?'red/ adj.紅外線的

2.thermal /'θз?ml/ adj.熱的；熱量的

3.radiation /'re?di'e??n/ n.輻射

4.magnetic /m?ɡ'net?k/ adj.磁性的

5.resonance /'rez?n?ns/ n.共振

6.consent /k?n'sent/ n.準許；同意

7.retriever /r?'tri?v?(r)/ n.尋回犬

8.collie /'k?li/ n.科利牧羊犬

9.predator /'pred?t?(r)/ n.捕食性動物

掃碼聽測

Ⅰ.判斷正誤

聽下段錄音并閱讀3個簡短的陳述， 根據錄音內容判斷這些陳述是否符合所聽內容。考查重點是學生對意義的理解能力和信息獲取能力。

In this section, you will hear a passage.After you hear the passage, decide whether each of the statements is correct (A), incorrect (B) or not mentioned (C).

Ⅱ.聽力理解

聽下面的文章，從題中所給的A、B、C三個選項中選出最佳選項。

1.Where is the dog's infrared sensor?

A.In the front of the nose.

B.In the middle of the nose.

C.On the end of the nose.

2.What can scientists know from the discovery?

A.How some animals recognize their prey.

B.How some animals live in the hot weather.

C.How some animals communicate with others.

3.How many experiments does the study include?

A.Two. B.Three. C.Four.

4.How many dogs were involved in the second experiment?

A.Three.

B.Thirteen.

C.Thirty.

文本解說

研究發現狗的鼻子末端有很多神經末梢，其中一個類似“紅外傳感器”的神經末梢能夠幫助狗識別溫度的變化及熱量的改變，這能幫助狗獵食。

題材篇幅 難度狗識別熱量 說明文體裁 建議用時358詞 ★★6分鐘

Dogs have a kind of sensor on the end of their nose that helps them recognize small changes in temperature, such as when other animals are nearby.

That information comes from scientists at Lund University in Sweden and Hungary's E?tv?s Loránd University.The scientists say the discovery can help researchers better understand how some animals identify their prey.The findings appeared in Scientific Reports, a publication produced by Nature Research.

The scientists reported that the wet skin surface at the end of a dog's nose is full of nerve endings.“It works like a kind ofinfraredsensor,” they said.“Dogs are able to sense the thermal radiation coming from warm bodies or weakthermal radiationand they can also direct their behavior according to this signal,” said Anna Balint.She was the lead author of the published report.

“We tested whether we can find an area in the brain that shows higher activity if they are exposed to a warmer object,” she added.Brain imaging tests showed increased brain activity when dogs were shown objects that were warmer than their surroundings.

The study involved two sets of experiments.In one, Lund University researchers used weak thermal radiation to train three dogs.The other, at the E?tv?s Loránd University, involved 13 dogs.They were given functionalmagnetic resonanceimaging tests to see how the brain reacted if they recognized weak thermal radiation.Researchers were careful to note that all the animals were privately owned.Owners gave “informedconsentfor their dogs to be used in the study”.Among the dogs involved in the experiments were goldenretrieversand bordercollies.

Ronald Kr?ger is a scientist at Lund University.He noted “it is possible that other carnivorans possess a similar infrared sense and that adds a new chapter to the story of prey-predatorrelationships”.The researchers wrote that in the grey wolf, the closest wild relative of domestic dogs, “The ability to detect the radiation from warm bodies would be advantageous for such predators.” Kr?ger added, “Predator hunting strategies have to be re-evaluated and the biology of prey animals has to be revisited with body heat sensing predators in mind.”