🪄 1A 词汇表
📖 课文原文 · THE INCREDIBLE DOLPHIN
Many people say dolphins are intelligent. They seem to be able to think, understand, and learn things quickly. But are they as smart as humans, or are they more like cats and dogs? Dolphins use their brains quite differently from the way people do. But scientists say dolphins and humans are alike in some ways. How?
Like humans, every dolphin has its own “name.” The name is a special whistle. Each dolphin chooses a whistle for itself, usually by its first birthday. Dolphins are like people in other ways, too. They “talk” to each other about a lot of things—such as their age, their feelings, and possible danger. They also use a system of sounds and body language to communicate. Understanding dolphin conversation is not easy for humans. No one “speaks dolphin” yet, but some scientists are trying to learn.
Dolphins live in groups called pods, and they often join other dolphins from different pods to play games and have fun—just like people. Sometimes they chase other dolphins carrying objects (e.g., seaweed) and throw these objects back and forth. Scientists believe playing together is something only intelligent animals do.
Dolphins and humans are similar in another way: They both make plans for getting things they want. In the seas of southern Brazil, for example, dolphins use an intelligent method to get food. When there are fish near a boat, dolphins signal to the fishermen to put their nets in the water. With the dolphins’ help, the men can catch a lot of fish. Why do dolphins assist the men? There is an advantage for the dolphins: They get to eat some of the fish that escape from the net.
Before You Read · p.8
Textbook photo and labels
Reading Skill & Critical Thinking · p.11
The gist of a passage is what the text is mainly about. When you want to get the gist of a passage, don’t read every word. Skim the text quickly to find out what it is mostly about. Look at the title and any headings, photos, and captions. Another strategy is to read the first sentence of each paragraph.
The albatross is one of the world’s largest flying birds. It also has the largest wings of any bird—up to 3.4 meters from tip to tip. These giant birds use their wings to ride the ocean winds. They can fly for hours without rest, or even without moving their wings. Some may even be able to sleep while flying. Most albatrosses spend nearly all their time in the air. In fact, they only return to land to breed. A parent albatross might fly thousands of kilometers to find food for its young. In its lifetime, an albatross can fly a total of more than six million kilometers.
Critical Thinking · Identifying Ideas. Reading A mentions three similarities between dolphins and humans. What are they? Can you think of other ways to tell if an animal is intelligent?
教师参考要点
Communication, play, and teamwork/planning. Possible evidence in other animals includes tool use, selective attention, and recognition of patterns.
📘 1A 核心词汇
点击发音跟读，展开中文释义检查记忆。
中文释义
优势中文释义
相似的中文释义
帮助中文释义
交流中文释义
感受；情绪中文释义
有智慧的中文释义
方法中文释义
聪明的中文释义
特别的；特殊的中文释义
系统Vocabulary Practice A · Definitions (p.12)
There are a few ways to test how smart animals are. One method is to test memory. Scientists in Japan showed a group of college students and a group of five-year-old chimps the numbers 1 to 9 in different places on a computer screen. The test was to see if the groups could remember the position of the numbers in the correct order. Each time, the chimps were faster than the students. Why? Were the chimps special in some way? Did someone assist them? No, but the chimps probably had an important advantage: They were young. As both humans and animals get older, their memory gets worse.
Vocabulary Practice B · Completion
alike · communicate · feelings · intelligent · system
Orangutans and humans are 1____ in some ways. Both are very 2____ animals. For example, to stay dry when it rains, orangutans take leaves from trees and use them like umbrellas. These apes don’t have a complex language 3____ like humans do. But today, some orangutans are learning basic sign language to express their thoughts and 4____. New research also suggests that orangutans can 5____ about the past, just like humans.
If something is complex, it is complicated or made up of many parts.
Vocabulary Practice C · Word Parts
assist · different · intelligent
🏆 Reading Explorer 1 · 1A 荣誉通关证书
THE INCREDIBLE DOLPHIN (不可思议的海豚)