职称英语在线答题

每日一练：职称英语考试理工类每日一练(2017/12/1)
【单选题】

Irish Dolphins May Have a Unique Dialect

Irish scientists monitoring dolphins living ina river estuary in the southwest of the country believe they may have developeda unique dialect to communicate with each other. The Shannon Dolphin andWildlife Foundation (SDWF)1 has been studying a group of up to 120 bottle-nosedolphins in the River Shannon2 using vocalisations collected on a computer in acow shed3 near the River Shannon.

As part of a research project, student RonanHickey digitised and analysed a total of 1,882 whistles from the Irish dolphinsand those4 from the Welsh dolphins on a computer and separated them into sixfundamental whistle types and 32 different categories5. Of the categories, hefound most6 were used by both sets of dolphins7 — buteight were only heard from the Irish dolphins.

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

Berrow, a marine biologist, said the dolphins’ clicks are used to find their way around and locate prey. Thewhistles are communications. “They do a whole range ofother 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 Ithought sperm whales were the only species who used it. We can speculate thedolphins are using it for the same reason as the sperm whales.” Borrow said.

References in local legend8 indicate there havebeen dolphins in the Shannon estuary for generations and they may even havebeen resident there as far back as the 6th century9.

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

练习：

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

A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

2. Ronan Hickey analysed almost 2,000 differentdialects of the bottle-nose dolphins.

A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

3. Of the 32 categories, eight were producedonly by the Irish dolphins.

A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

4. Whistles could also be used to communicatebetween adult dolphins and baby dolphins.

A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

5. Sperm whales can produce stronger ultrasonicwaves to kill their prey than dolphins.

A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

6. As early as the 6th century, Irish fishermenstarted raising dolphins in the Shannon estuary.

A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned

7. Irish dolphins attract tourists and over25,000 people come to see them every year.

A Right B Wrong C Not mentioned