雅思阅读真题（Part 2）
城市生活幸存者：悉尼城市生态与白鹮
本篇也叫：白鹮、垃圾火鸡、悉尼白鹮、城市野生动物、白鹮鸟、垃圾鸟
Part 2 · 考频：超高频 · 最近考试：2024.1.13
本篇为雅思阅读真题（Part 2）《Surviving city life》，共 12 题，2024.1.13雅思考试真题回忆，页面提供完整原文、题目、答案与解析，并支持在线机考模式免费练习。本页同时提供 Markdown 版本 供 AI 助手与搜索引擎直接读取。
文章讲澳大利亚城市化对生态的影响，重点介绍悉尼城市生态学研究。白鹮因内陆湿地退化在1970年代迁入城市，翻垃圾桶觅食被称“垃圾火鸡”；同时城市鸟类组成剧变，小型的细尾鹩莺和黄鸲减少，杂食的噪钟鹊、园丁鸟和噪蜜鸟增多。
Although the colonisation of Australia profoundly affected the continent's natural environment, many plants and animals have actually flourished since European settlement. Some even thrive in the concrete jungle of Australia's biggest city, Sydney.
A
Ecologists often prefer to study plants and animals in exotic locations, but a growing number have turned their attention to the complex interactions of the wildlife that inhabits concrete jungles. Inner-city Sydney is the laboratory of choice for a number of ecologists, and their research is timely. More than half the world's human population resides in cities, and urban development continues to increase all over the world. By 2000, the United Nations projects five billion people will live in cities. Associate Professor Dieter Hochuli, a biologist at the University of Sydney, believes that we need to understand how cities are changing the ecology of the systems they are built on, and how plants and animals are adapting to them.
B
If any species has learnt to thrive in an urban environment, it's the native white ibis. A strange long-legged bird with a long bow-shaped beak, it is known as the 'garbage turkey'. The bird's reputation for digging through inner-city bins and scavenging street garbage has not endeared it to the public. The white ibis began its move to the city in the 1970s, when large parts of its natural habitat of inland wetlands became degraded due to years of low rainfall. The species is a wetland forager, wildlife officer John Martin, from Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens, says. Now it happily forages in city parks and landfill. During the peak of its spring breeding season, there are more than 9,000 of these birds in Sydney.
C
Specimens at Sydney's Australian Museum show that the city's overall bird life has changed dramatically over the two centuries since colonisation. Prior to urban development, Sydney's native bushland was populated by large numbers of small insect-eating birds, such as the superb fairy-wren and the eastern yellow robin. Today, homeowners prefer to landscape their backyards with tall trees and manicured lawns, an environment that provides little protection for small birds. But one bird's trash is another's treasure. Gardens filled with flowering plants and fruit trees favour omnivorous birds such as currawongs, bowerbirds, and the city's most despised resident—the noisy miner bird. 'They're a real winner in cities,' Australian Museum ornithologist Richard Major says. 'The predominant driver in the decline of small birds is that we've made a suitable environment for native noisy miners.'
D
Many invertebrates, such as the golden orb weaver spider and the blue triangle butterfly, also relish living in the city. The golden orb spiders in Sydney are fatter and fitter than species found elsewhere, and Professor Hochuli and his team are trying to understand why. 'We're trying to determine whether it's more food or the urban heat, as it's up to four degrees warmer in the city.' Hochuli has also found some varieties of ant more at home in the city. The green ant, known for its painful bite, will build a nest where there is space and food, regardless of whether it's a backyard or a sports oval. 'It's remarkable how many things persist in city environments,' he says. The decline in birds that eat small invertebrates means these populations grow unchecked, allowing them to chew their way through the foliage of the city's trees.
E
While some species can survive in relatively small areas, mammals have been confined to patches of bushland scattered around Sydney and its nearby national parks. However, the rabbit-sized, long-nosed bandicoot has discovered the advantages of venturing out of Sydney Harbour National Park and into suburban gardens. 'They forage for invertebrates in the grass and like the surrounding habitat to nest and escape from predators,' Catherine Price, a research associate with the University of Sydney, says. Dr Price is trying to understand what encourages the little mammal into urban environments. 'We don't know if it's an overflow from the park, or if they've got particular survival traits that allow them to evade dogs and cats, and use the urban habitat that benefits them,' she says.
F
It's not just native wildlife that has sought comfort in city living. Non-native species such as black rodents, cockroaches and foxes have developed survival strategies too. But weeds are the pest that has gained the most advantage. 'In residential Sydney, there would not be a single area of remnant bushland not infested by introduced plants,' Michele Leishman, a Macquarie University plant biologist, says. Over 20 years, Leishman and her colleagues have shown how Sydney's huge stretches of impermeable concrete, together with the stormwater system, have helped weeds infiltrate the few remaining pockets of bushland. As rain washes over backyards and roadways, it collects chemicals which enter the stormwater system, where it is piped to the edges of bushland. The nutrient-rich water seeps into the earth, favouring the many exotic species that live fast and die young, Leishman says. Indigenous plants prefer a low-fertility soil and struggle to cope with one that is more fertile.
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答案：why natural scientists are interested in studying urban wildlife
原文定位：Ecologists often prefer to study plants and animals in exotic locations, but a growing number have turned their attention to the complex interactions of the wildlife that inhabits concrete jungles;Associate Professor Dieter Hochuli;believes that we need to understand how cities are changing the ecology of the systems they are built on, and how plants and animals are adapting to them
同义替换：「natural scientists」↔「ecologists」，「are interested in studying」↔「turned their attention to」，「urban wildlife」↔「wildlife that inhabits concrete jungles」
答案：creatures which change their shape and colour
原文定位：It is known as the 'garbage turkey';The bird's reputation for digging through inner-city bins and scavenging street garbage;Now it happily forages in city parks and landfill
同义替换：「creature」↔「the native white ibis」
答案：changes in the urban built environment encourage particular species
原文定位：Today, homeowners prefer to landscape their backyards with tall trees and manicured lawns;Gardens filled with flowering plants and fruit trees favour omnivorous birds;The predominant driver in the decline of small birds is that we've made a suitable environment for native noisy miners
同义替换：「encourage particular species」↔「favour omnivorous birds」
答案：insects that thrive in urban areas
原文定位：Many invertebrates, such as the golden orb weaver spider and the blue triangle butterfly, also relish living in the city;The golden orb spiders in Sydney are fatter and fitter than species found elsewhere;Hochuli has also found some varieties of ant more at home in the city
同义替换：「relish living in the city」↔「thrive」，「urban areas」↔「city」
答案：the behaviour of a small animal expanding its territory
原文定位：the rabbit-sized, long-nosed bandicoot has discovered the advantages of venturing out of Sydney Harbour National Park and into suburban gardens;We don't know if it's an overflow from the park... use the urban habitat that benefits them
同义替换：「small animal」↔「bandicoot」，「expanding」↔「venturing out of」
答案：the urban environment encouraging the spread of imported flora and fauna
原文定位：It's not just native wildlife that has sought comfort in city living. Non-native species such as black rodents, cockroaches and foxes have developed survival strategies too. But weeds are the pest that has gained the most advantage;Sydney's huge stretches of impermeable concrete, together with the stormwater system, have helped weeds infiltrate the few remaining pockets of bushland
同义替换：「encouraging the spread」↔「helped weeds infiltrate」，「imported flora and fauna」↔「introduced plants」
答案：Catherine Price
原文定位：We don't know if it's an overflow from the park, or if they've got particular survival traits that allow them to evade dogs and cats, and use the urban habitat that benefits them
同义替换：「not clear」↔「We don't know」
答案：Dieter Hochuli
原文定位：We're trying to determine whether it's more food or the urban heat, as it's up to four degrees warmer in the city
同义替换：「Hot weather」↔「urban heat」
答案：Richard Major
原文定位：Today, homeowners prefer to landscape their backyards with tall trees and manicured lawns, an environment that provides little protection for small birds. But one bird's trash is another's treasure. Gardens filled with flowering plants and fruit trees favour omnivorous birds such as currawongs, bowerbirds, and the city's most despised resident—the noisy miner bird
同义替换：「residential gardens」↔「backyards」，「suit some species better」↔「favour omnivorous birds」，「researcher」↔「Richard Major」
答案：Dieter Hochuli
原文定位：Associate Professor Dieter Hochuli;believes that we need to understand how cities are changing the ecology of the systems they are built on, and how plants and animals are adapting to them
同义替换：「research into」↔「understand」，「natural world's responses」↔「plants and animals are adapting to them」，「urban settings」↔「cities」，「researcher」↔「Dieter Hochuli」
答案：rodents|||cockroaches
原文定位：Non-native species such as black rodents, cockroaches and foxes have developed survival strategies too
同义替换：「insects」↔「cockroaches」
答案：concrete
原文定位：Sydney's huge stretches of impermeable concrete, together with the stormwater system, have helped weeds infiltrate the few remaining pockets of bushland
同义替换：「large areas of」↔「huge stretches of」，「drainage network」↔「stormwater system」