Time in the Animal World
Rhythm controls everything in Nature. ___1___.
The sun provides a basic time rhythm for all living creatures including humans. Nearly all animals are influenced by sun cycles and have developed a biological clock in their bodies following these cycles. The moon also exerts its force and influence on the sea. Its gravitational attraction causes the rising of the tide. ___2___. When the moon is behind the Earth, centrifugal force causes the second tide of the day.
Animals living in tidal areas must have the instinct of predicting these changes, to avoid being stranded and dying of dehydration. Since the time of the dinosaurs, the king crab has been laying eggs at the seaside in a set way. To avoid predator fish, the eggs are always far from seawater and protected by sand. In the following two months, the eggs undergo dramatic changes related to the cycles of the moon. When the second spring tide comes, the young king crabs have matured. ___3___.
Most of the mammals, either the giant elephant or the small shrew, have the same average total number of heartbeat in their lifetime. Shrews live only for two and a half years, and spend their life at a high speed and high tempo. Animals like shrews with a pulse rate of 600 per minute have an average total of eight hundred million heartbeats throughout their life. The African elephant has a pulse rate of 25 beats per minute, and a life span of 60 years. The size of the body determines the speed of life. ___4___.
As we get older, our sense of time is being influenced by the physiological changes of our body. The elderly spend more time resting, and do few sports. ___5___. For a child, a week is seen as a long time.
练习：
A.For an adult, time goes fast year by year.
B.It controls, for example, the flapping of birds' wings, the beating of the heart and the rising and setting of the sun.
C.The larger the animal is, the longer its life span is and the slower its life tempo is.
D.The tide goes out when the moon moves away and its attraction is weaker.
E.We always tend to think all the animals have the same sense of time as human beings.
F.The second spring tide takes them back to the sea.
解题思路：
1.读文章标题，了解文章主题(提示： 如果被选项偏离文章主题，则该被选项成为答案的可能性较小)
2.仔细读被选项，体会被选项之间在语意， 在用词， 在结构上的相互关系(答案往往出自有关系的被选项中)
3.找出被选项中的典型篇章词汇(人称代词， 指示代词， 定冠词结构)---判断答案选项的关键;
4.如果被选项中出现了“we(us， our， ours)”或“you(your， yours)”这样的人称代词， 这样的词汇在上下文的使用中应该是一致的。
5.如果被选项出现时态差异， 则时态是一个重要的解题线索 (提示： 相邻语句使用的时态一致(基调时态)： 同为现在时态或同为过去时态; 但是， 如果一个句中带有自己的时间状语，则其可以使用自己独特的时态，而不受所在句群的基调时态的影响)
6. 空格前句如果是观点句,则空格处常常出现用于解释论证的例子或解释性的话语; 空格前句如果是概括句(讲述一种通常的情况, 往往出现some, most, a few, generally, usually等词语 ), 则空格处可能会出现转折句, 或出现解释性的话语.
7. 最长句, 转折句常常是答案;
编辑推荐：
