One of the most famous cases of extinction is that of a bird known as the dodo. In fact there’s even a saying in English, ‘as dead as the dodo’, used to refer to something which no longer exists. But for many centuries the dodo was alive and well, although it could only be found in one place, the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. It was a very large bird, about one metre tall, and over the centuries it had lost the ability to fly, but it survived happily under the trees that covered the island.
Then in the year 1507 the first Portuguese ships stopped at the island. The sailors were carrying spices 【Q31】 back to Europe, and found the island a convenient stopping place where they could stock up with food and water for the rest of the voyage, but they didn’t settle on Mauritius. However, in 1683 the Dutch arrived and set up a colony 【Q32】 there. These first human inhabitants of the island found the dodo birds a convenient source of meat, although not everyone liked the taste.
It’s hard to get an accurate description of what the dodo actually looked like. We do have some written records from sailors, and a few pictures, but we don’t know how reliable these are. The best-known picture is a Dutch painting in which the bird appears to be extremely fat 【Q33】, but this may not be accurate – an Indian painting done at the same time shows a much thinner bird.
Although attempts were made to preserve the bodies of some of the birds, no complete specimen survives. In the early 17th century four dried parts of a bird were known to exist – of these, three have disappeared, so only one example of soft tissue from the dodo survives, a dodo head 【Q34】. Bones have also found, but there’s only one complete skeleton in existence.
This single dodo skeleton has recently been the subject of scientific research which suggests that many of the earlier beliefs about dodos may have been incorrect. For example, early accounts of the birds mention how slow and clumsy it was, but scientists now believe the bird’s strong knee joints would have made it capable of movement 【Q35】 which was not slow, but actually quite fast. In fact, one 17th century sailor wrote that he found the birds hard to catch. It’s true that the dodo’s small wings wouldn’t have allowed it to leave the ground, but the scientists suggest that these were probably employed for balance 【Q36】 while going over uneven ground. Another group of scientists carried out analysis of the dodo’s skull. They found that the reports of the lack of intelligence of the dodo were not borne out by their research, which suggested the bird’s brain 【Q37】 was not small, but average in size. In fact, in relation to its body size, it was similar to that of the pigeon, which is known to be a highly intelligent bird. The researchers also found that the structure of the bird’s skull suggested that one sense which was particularly well-developed was that of smell 【Q38】. So the dodo may also have been particularly good at locating ripe fruit and other food in the island’s thick vegetation.
So it looks as if the dodo was better able to survive and defend itself than was originally believed. Yet less than 200 years after Europeans first arrived on the island, they had become extinct. So what was the reason for this? For a long time, it was believed that the dodos were hunted to extinction, but scientists now believe the situation was more complicated than this. Another factor may have been the new species brought to the island by the sailors. These included dogs, which would have been a threat to the dodos, and also monkeys, which ate the fruit that was the main part of the dodos’ diet. These were brought to the island deliberately, but the ships also brought another type of creature – rats 【Q39】, which came to land from the ships and rapidly overran the island. These upset the ecology of the island, not just the dodos but other species too. However, they were a particular danger to the dodos because they consumed their eggs, and since each dodo only laid one at a time, this probably had a devastating effect on populations.
However, we now think that probably the main cause of the birds’ extinction was not the introduction of non-native species, but the introduction of agriculture. This meant that the forest 【Q40】 that has once covered all the island, and that had provided a perfect home for the dodo, was cut down so that crops such as sugar could be grown. So although the dodo had survived for thousands of years, suddenly it was gone.
Complete the notes below.
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
听前预测：定位词为 1507、Portuguese ships、food and water；提示词为 transporting，此处应填名词。
题目解析：本题不难定位，三组定位词都原词出现，录音中提到“The sailors were carrying spices back to Europe … they could stock up with food and water for the rest of the voyage, but they didn’t settle on Mauritius.”，其中 carrying 对应题干中的 transporting，答案不难捕捉。注意单数形式 spice 和复数形式 spices 都符合本题题干的语法和句意要求。
听前预测：定位词为 1638、Dutch；提示词为 a，此处应填以辅音开头的单数名词。
题目解析：本题定位词 1638 和 Dutch 都原词出现，录音中提到“However, in 1638 the Dutch arrived and set up a colony there.”，其中 set up 对应题干中的 established，替换难度不大，因此答案为 colony。
听前预测：定位词为 Dutch painting；提示词为 very，此处应填与 dodo 意义相关的形容词。
题目解析：定位词 Dutch painting 原词出现，接着录音中提到“the bird appears to be extremely fat,”，其中 the bird 对应题干中的 the dodo，extremely 对应题干中的 very，替换难度不大，符合题干要求的形容词 fat 不难捕捉。注意排除录音中随后出现的形容词 thinner，根据录音“an Indian painting done at the same time shows a much thinner bird.”可知，thinner 是印度画中所描述的渡渡鸟的特点。
听前预测：定位词为 only、soft tissue、dried；提示词为 a、dried，此处应填辅音开头的单数名词。
题目解析：定位词 dried 首先原词出现，可迅速定位到出题句“In the early 17th century four dried parts of a bird were known to exist … only one example of soft tissue from the dodo survives, a dodo head.”，其中，另外两组定位词 only、soft tissue 原词出现， 根据题干句意可预判本题答案词应填渡渡鸟的部位，因此答案为 head。
听前预测：定位词为 Recent studies、skeleton、rapid；提示词为 rapid，此处应填名词。
听前预测：本题难度较大，定位词 skeleton 较早出现，录音中先提到早期关于渡渡鸟的研究是不准确的，接着由 but 引出答案句“but scientists now believe the bird’s strong knee joints would have made it capable of movement which was not slow, but actually quite fast.”，其中 scientists now believe 对应题干中的 Recent studies，fast 对应题干中的 rapid，替换难度不大，因此可判断答案为 movement。
听前预测：定位词为 small wings；提示词为 maintain，此处应填名词。
题目解析：本题定位词 small wings 原词出现，接着由 but 引出答案句“but the scientists suggest that these were probably employed for balance while going over uneven ground.”，其中 employed 在本句中意为“使用”，对应题干中的 use，因此答案 为 balance。
听前预测：定位词为 average size；提示词为 Their、was，此处应填表示渡渡鸟的身体部位的单数名词。
题目解析：本题定位词 average size 虽原词出现，但答案词先于定位词出现，因此要求考生能够提前捕捉答案词。在上一题信息出现后，考生需要根据预判，提前捕捉表示渡渡鸟身体部位的词汇。录音中提到“… suggested the bird’s brain was not small,”，可先记下相关词汇 brain，接着录音中提到题干定位词 average in size，因此答案词为 brain。注意排除录音中随后提到的 skull（头骨），因为录音中并未提及它的尺寸。
听前预测：定位词为 sense、find food；提示词为 Their sense of，此处应填与感官相关的名词。
题目解析：本题难度较大，答案词先于定位词 food 出现。定位词 sense 原词出现，录音中提到“one sense which was particularly well-developed was that of smell.”，可先记下相关词汇 smell，接着录音中提到“So the dodo may also have been particularly good at locating ripe fruit and other food in the island’s thick vegetation.”，其中 locating ripe fruit and other food 对应题干中的 find food，因此答案为 smell。
听前预测：定位词为 island、ate the bird’s eggs；提示词为 also，此处应填与动物相关的名词。
题目解析：本题定位词 island 原词出现，但需先排除 dogs、monkeys 这两个干扰信息，因为录音中并未提到这两种动物会吃渡渡鸟的蛋。接着根据提示词 also 定位到录音中的“but the ships also brought another type of creature – rats, which came to land from the ships”，可先记下相关词汇 rats。录音中接着提到“However, they (rats) were a particular danger to the dodos because they consumed their eggs …”， 其中定位词 eggs 原词出现，consumed 此处意为“吃”，对应题干中的 ate，因此答案为 rats。
听前预测：定位词为 The arrival of farming；提示词为 the、was destroyed，此处应填不可数名词或可数名词的单数形式。
题目解析：本题题干的定位词 The arrival of farming 在录音中被替换成 the introduction of agriculture，接着录音中提到“This meant that the forest that had once covered all the island … was cut down so that crops such as sugar could be grown.”，其中 cut down 对应题干中的 destroyed，因此答案为 forest。
