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Section II Reading Comprehension
Part A
Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.
Text 1
Nature has evolved an extensive range of visual codes to allow individuals of one species to pass important messages to those of another. Brightly coloured skin? Potentially poisonous—do not eat. Thorny leaves? Not worth the effort—stay away. The message “Do not collide with this chair lift” has, however, proven harder to communicate.
This state of affairs is especially unfortunate for black grouse, which have for decades been flying into chair-lift cables at Alpine ski resorts, often dying as a result. Twenty years of warning signs have failed to keep the birds away. New research published in Experimental Biology is revealing that most of these signs are in a colour the birds cannot easily see.
The black grouse is a bird with red patches of skin above its eyes that is abundant in Russia and Scandinavia. It also has a small subpopulation in the Alps, but it is getting smaller. An analysis from 2008 revealed that grouse numbers were 15% lower in the vicinity of ski lifts. This reinforced observations made at ski resorts that these birds frequently smacked into their cables.
To make these cables more visible, resorts adorned them with coloured markers 3.5 to 15 centimetres wide. Since the black grouse made up 70% of bird-cable collisions, and the assumption was that a bird with red on its head would be able to see that colour on its nearest and dearest, most markers were made red too. Collisions nonetheless continued. Puzzled by this, Marjorie Liénard at the University of Liège and independent sensory biologist Simon Potier decided to study the vision of captive-bred black grouse. They did this by placing them inside a black box with one clear wall, beyond which lay a screen on which different patterns were projected.
As birds cannot move their eyes nearly as much as mammals, they must move their heads to track moving objects. Dr Potier and his colleagues used this fact to remotely monitor the grouses’ head movements as various stripe patterns were moved across the screen. If the grouse turned their heads to track the stripes, he knew that the birds could see them. Separately, Dr Liénard and her team studied light-sensitive receptor proteins collected from the eye of a dead grouse to determine what colours it might be sensitive to.
The research revealed that the black grouse has poor vision. It can see contrast, but not as well as people can. And although it can see yellow, green, blue, purple and part of the ultraviolet spectrum, it does not see red well. Hence the collisions. The researchers’ findings at last provide the solution that ski resorts have been looking for. Warning markers ought to present strongly contrasting pairs of colour, like purple and yellow or black and white, rather than being monochrome. The contrast markers must also be made larger (no less than 14 centimetres across) and more widespread (at least one every 16 metres) if they are to deter the animals.
As for why a bird that struggles to see red nonetheless bears the colour, Dr Liénard has an answer. She explains that in addition to reflecting red light, those patches also reflect ultraviolet light that people cannot see but grouse can. The collisions are a case of inter-species communication gone wrong.
21. Why did the early warning signs fail to keep the black grouse away?[A] They were designed in a color the birds poorly perceive.[B] They were placed too far apart on the chair-lift cables.[C] They were physically too small for the birds to notice.[D] They lacked the ultraviolet reflection needed by the birds.
22. The initial choice of red markers was based on the assumption that ________.
[A] red strongly contrasts with the snowy Alpine background[B] the grouse associate red with their natural predators
[C] birds with red skin patches would naturally detect the same color[D] red is a universally recognized warning color in nature
23. How did Dr. Potier determine what the captive-bred black grouse could see?[A] By tracking their eye movements as they flew towards a screen.[B] By observing their head movements in response to moving patterns.[C] By analyzing light-sensitive receptor proteins from their eyes.[D] By projecting monochrome images on a clear glass wall.
24. To effectively prevent future collisions, researchers suggest that ski resorts should ________.[A] remove the cables entirely during the birds' mating season[B] deploy monochrome markers with ultraviolet reflections[C] install yellow and green markers at 14-meter intervals[D] use larger markers with strongly contrasting color pairs
25. The red patches on the black grouse's head primarily serve to ________.[A] warn natural predators of its potential toxicity[B] absorb necessary ultraviolet light from the sun[C] communicate with other grouse through ultraviolet reflection[D] disguise the bird against the colorful Alpine vegetation
附注：根据历年考研英语真题阅读题源外刊等，摘选最新文章，模拟仿真出题。
参考答案见以下。
Quick look: ACBDC
21.【正确答案】A【解析】题型：事实细节题定位： 第二段最后一句“New research published in Experimental Biology is revealing that most of these signs are in a colour the birds cannot easily see.”（发表在《实验生物学》上的新研究表明，这些标志中的大多数所使用的颜色，是鸟类不容易看到的。）分析： 原文明确指出，过去20年的警告标志之所以失败，是因为它们采用的颜色是这种鸟类难以看清的。选项 A“它们被设计成鸟类难以感知的颜色（poorly perceive）”是对原文“cannot easily see”的精准同义替换。干扰项：[B] 它们在缆车上放置得太远了，这是第六段提出改进建议时的内容，而非之前标志失败的主要原因；[C] 它们物理体积太小，同样是后来改进建议提及的内容；[D] 它们缺乏鸟类所需的紫外线反射，紫外线反射是最后一段解释松鸡同类交流的内容，而非警告标志失败的核心原因。
22.【正确答案】C【解析】题型：事实细节题定位： 第四段第二句“Since the black grouse made up 70% of bird-cable collisions, and the assumption was that a bird with red on its head would be able to see that colour on its nearest and dearest, most markers were made red too.”分析： 原文解释了为什么最初会选择红色标记：人们的假设（assumption）是，头上有红色的鸟应该能够看到其至亲（同类）身上的这种颜色，所以想当然地认为它们也能看到红色的标记。选项 C“有红色皮肤斑块的鸟会自然地察觉到相同的颜色”完美对应了原文的这一假设。干扰项：[A] 红色与高山雪景背景形成强烈对比，文中并未提及雪景对比；[B] 松鸡将红色与其天敌联系在一起，属于无中生有；[D] 红色是自然界普遍认可的警告色，虽然第一段提到了亮色可能表示有毒，但这并非选择红色缆车标记的具体假设原因。
23.【正确答案】B【解析】题型：事实细节题定位： 第五段第二、三句“Dr Potier and his colleagues used this fact to remotely monitor the grouses’ head movements as various stripe patterns were moved across the screen. If the grouse turned their heads to track the stripes, he knew that the birds could see them.”分析： 原文指出，由于鸟类眼球不能像哺乳动物那样大幅转动，Dr Potier 就通过远程监控松鸡的“头部运动（head movements）”来判断它们能否看到屏幕上移动的条纹图案。选项 B“通过观察它们对移动图案作出反应的头部运动”是对这一实验方法的准确描述。干扰项：[A] 通过追踪它们飞向屏幕时的眼球运动，原文明确说鸟类“眼球转动幅度不大（cannot move their eyes nearly as much）”；[C] 通过分析它们眼睛里的光敏受体蛋白，这是段落最后一句提及的 Dr Liénard 团队所做的实验，并非 Dr Potier 的方法，属于张冠李戴；[D] 通过在透明玻璃墙上投射单色图像，屏幕在玻璃墙之外，且原文说的是“移动的条纹图案（stripe patterns）”，并非强调单色图像。
24.【正确答案】D【解析】题型：事实细节题定位： 第六段第四、五句“Warning markers ought to present strongly contrasting pairs of colour... The contrast markers must also be made larger (no less than 14 centimetres across) and more widespread (at least one every 16 metres) if they are to deter the animals.”分析： 研究人员为滑雪场提供的解决方案是：警告标记应该呈现强烈的对比色对（strongly contrasting pairs of colour），并且对比标记必须做得更大（made larger）。选项 D“使用带有强烈对比色对的更大标记”精准概括了这两项核心建议。干扰项：[A] 在鸟类交配季节完全拆除缆车，文中根本未提及拆除缆车；[B] 部署带有紫外线反射的单色标记，原文明确指出要使用对比色“而不是单色（rather than being monochrome）”；[C] 以14米的间隔安装黄色和绿色标记，原文给出的间隔数据是“每16米至少一个（at least one every 16 metres）”，14厘米是标记的宽度要求，数据混淆。
25.【正确答案】C【解析】题型：推理判断题定位： 第七段（最后一段）第二、三句“She explains that in addition to reflecting red light, those patches also reflect ultraviolet light that people cannot see but grouse can. The collisions are a case of inter-species communication gone wrong.”分析： 文章最后解释了为什么松鸡看不清红色，但头上却长着红斑：因为这些斑块除了反射红光，还会反射只有松鸡自己能看到的紫外线（ultraviolet light）。接着作者总结，缆车撞击事件是“跨物种交流出错（inter-species communication gone wrong）”的案例。由此可以推断，松鸡头上的斑块（能反射紫外线）主要用于它们自己同类内部（即非跨物种）的交流。选项 C“通过紫外线反射与其他松鸡交流”是基于文本的合理推论。干扰项：[A] 警告天敌其潜在的毒性，第一段举的毒性例子是一般性引入，并未说松鸡有毒；[B] 吸收来自太阳的必要紫外线，原文是“反射（reflecting）”紫外线，并非“吸收（absorb）”；[D] 在色彩缤纷的高山植被中伪装自己，文中未提及伪装作用。
【词汇注释】
grouse: noun (BIRD) a fat bird with feathers on its legs that is hunted and eaten for food 松鸡vicinity: noun (AREA) the area around a place or where the speaker is 附近；邻近地区smack: verb (HIT) to hit something hard against something else 撞击；猛击adorn: verb (DECORATE) to add something decorative to a person or thing 装饰；点缀receptor: noun (BIOLOGY) a nerve ending that reacts to a change, such as heat or cold, in the body by sending a message to the central nervous system 感受器；受体monochrome: adjective (COLOR) using only black, white, and grey, or using only one colour 单色的deter: verb (PREVENT) to prevent someone from doing something or to make someone less enthusiastic about doing something 威慑；阻止inter-species: adjective (BIOLOGY) arising or occurring between species 跨物种的；物种间的【参考译文】
大自然进化出了极其丰富的视觉代码，使得一个物种的个体能够将重要的信息传递给另一个物种。鲜艳的皮肤？可能有毒——不要吃。带刺的叶子？不值得费力——离远点。然而，“请勿撞上这架滑雪缆车”这条信息，却被证明很难传达。
这种情况对黑松鸡来说尤为不幸，几十年来，它们在阿尔卑斯山滑雪胜地不断撞上滑雪缆车的缆线，结果往往是死亡。二十年来的警告标志都没能让这些鸟远离危险。发表在《实验生物学》上的一项新研究揭示，其中大多数标志使用的颜色，是这种鸟类不容易看清的。
黑松鸡是一种在眼睛上方有红色皮肤斑块的鸟类，在俄罗斯和斯堪的纳维亚半岛数量众多。它们在阿尔卑斯山也有一个较小的亚种群，但数量正在减少。2008年的一项分析显示，在滑雪缆车附近，松鸡的数量要少15%。这印证了在滑雪胜地的观察结果，即这些鸟经常猛烈撞击缆线。
为了让这些缆线更加显眼，滑雪胜地用3.5到15厘米宽的彩色标记对它们进行了装饰。由于黑松鸡在鸟类与缆线撞击事件中占了70%，而且人们的假设是，头上有红色的鸟应该能够看到其至亲同类身上的这种颜色，因此大多数标记也被做成了红色。尽管如此，撞击事件仍在继续。列日大学的马乔里·利纳尔（Marjorie Liénard）和独立感官生物学家西蒙·波蒂埃（Simon Potier）对此感到困惑，于是决定研究圈养繁殖的黑松鸡的视觉。他们将松鸡放置在一个只有一面透明墙的黑盒子里，墙外是一个投影着不同图案的屏幕。
由于鸟类眼睛的活动范围远不及哺乳动物，它们必须转动头部来追踪移动的物体。波蒂埃博士和他的同事利用这一事实，在各种条纹图案划过屏幕时，远程监控松鸡的头部运动。如果松鸡转动头部去追踪条纹，他就知道这些鸟能看到它们。另外，利纳尔博士和她的团队研究了从死松鸡眼部收集的光敏受体蛋白，以确定它可能对哪些颜色敏感。
研究揭示，黑松鸡的视力很差。它能看到对比色，但不如人类看得好。而且虽然它能看到黄色、绿色、蓝色、紫色以及部分紫外线光谱，但它看不清红色。撞击事件因此发生。研究人员的发现最终提供了滑雪胜地一直在寻找的解决方案。警告标记应该呈现出强烈的对比色对，如紫色和黄色或黑色和白色，而不是单色的。如果要起到威慑动物的作用，对比标记还必须做得更大（宽度不少于14厘米）且更密集（至少每16米一个）。
至于为什么一种难以看清红色的鸟身上却长着红色，利纳尔博士给出了答案。她解释说，除了反射红光外，这些斑块还反射紫外线——这是人类看不到而松鸡能看到的。这些撞击事件，其实是一个跨物种交流出错的案例。
附注：
本篇 Flesch–Kincaid 可读性指标（估算英文文章纯语言阅读难度，数值越大代表难度越大，十分制）评分为6.5。参考：2026年英语（一）真题四篇评分分别为 7.5、7.5、8.5、8.0，英语（二）为5.0、6.0、6.0、5.5；2025年英语（一）四篇分别为 7.0、8.0、7.5、9.0，英语（二）为5.5、6.5、6.0、7.0。在话题熟悉度，逻辑复杂度、段落结构线索丰富度方面综合指标（数值越大代表难度越大，十分制）评分为5.5。参考：2026年英语（一）真题四篇评分分别为 7.0、7.5、9.0、9.5，英语（二）为5.0，5.5、6.0、5.5；2025年英语（一）分别为 6.5、8.5、7.5、9.5，英语（二）为5.0、6.5、6.0、6.5。©图源水印/网络
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