老托福分类场景听力文本(精编版)

老托听力文本

目录

校园类

17+4=21

...... .................................................. .................................................. .............

2

第一篇

宿舍噪音

.

.................................................. .................................................. ........

2

第一篇

（打工场景）

.

................................................ ................................................

1

0

生物类

15+13=28

..... .................................................. .................................................. ..........

1

2

第一篇

reptile

...... .................................................. .................................................. .......

1

3

第一篇（实验介绍）

.

............................................. .................................................. .....

2

0

天文类

3+3=6

........ .................................................. .................................................. .............

2

6

第一篇

Jupiter

.

................................. .................................................. .............................

2

7

第一篇（登陆月球和火星）

.

.......................................... ..............................................

2

8

地球科学类

5+12=17

.... .................................................. .................................................. .....

3

0

第一篇恐龙消失

.

< br>............................................... .................................................. ...........

3

0

第一 篇（地球

interior

）

... .................................................. ...........................................

3

2

人类学类

5+3=8

....... .................................................. .................................................. ..........

3

8

第一篇

The origin of farming of prehistoric times

..................... ....................................

3

8

第一篇

.

........................... .................................................. ...............................................

4

1

历史类

16+31=47

..... .................................................. .................................................. ..........

4

2

第一篇建筑

.

................................................. .................................................. .................

4

2

第一篇（舞蹈）

.

< br>............................................... .................................................. ...........

5

0

人体生理心理学类

2+7=9

... .................................................. ................................................

6

6

第一篇（心理学）

................... .................................................. ...................................

6

6

第一篇（

Baby hypothesis

）

................ .................................................. ........................

6

7

Business

类

4

.......................... .................................................. .............................................

7

1

语言学类

3

.

........................... .................................................. ...............................................

7

3

校园类

17+4=21

第一篇

宿舍噪音

W: So how do you like living in the renovated dorms?

M: There aren?t much different than the old dorms, ju

st some new pane and windows. The

windows are nice so they shut off the noise really well. The street?s just outside, but I can

barely hear the traffic.

W: Um, they must be good windows, I bet they must have double panes and glass; they shut

off a lot o

f noise that the single pane wouldn?t stop.

M: Yeah, I wish I had something just the factor between me and my neighbor?s room.

Sometimes he turns up the music so loud that I have trouble getting into sleep. Anyway I

guess I?m better off

than the people

who?ll be moving into the new dorms. Did you see how

thin the walls are that they putting up between those rooms?

W: I haven?t seen them but I did read something about them in the campus newspaper. They

are supposed to be better than the thick concrete wa

ll you?ve got here.

M: Better? How?

W: Well, what they doing is separating each room with 2 thin layer of plasterboards and each

one is nailed to a different frame. That way they vibrate independently.

M: Oh, I see, so the sound from one room doesn?t

just vibrate the wall and go directly into

next room. There is a gap between 2 layers of wall.

W: That?s right.

M: Well, I?m still stuck with this neighbor and I am not sure what to do.

W: You know heavy bear wall doesn?t help. You should hang somet

hing up like some fur

rags or some decorated cross. That would act like a kind of a second wall and absorb some

sound. I got some extras you can use, people hey.

M: I?d appreciate it; anything to get a good night sleep.

第二篇

W: Can I help you find something? Oh, hi, Rick!

M: Oh, hi, Julie. When did you start working here? I thought you were waiting tables in

Teresa?s café.

W: Yeah, I quitted, because I had to work too many nights. I started here just a few days ago.

It?s perfect! I work all afternoon shift. So my mornings are free for classes, and I can study at

night. So what are you looking for?

M: Well, I can?t seem to find the 8th book for English 626. I only found these seven. I?m

probably looking right at it

W: Um…English 626…English 626… Are you sure they are 8?

M: Yeah, they are 8 titles on my syllabus. And look, the card on the shelf had eight listed. But

I can only find seven of the books.

W: You are right. Oh, here they are. They are on the wrong shelves over here by economics

books.

I?ll have to put these into the English books so they are not so hard to find.

M: Thanks a lot. Can you point me the direction of the computer paper?

W: Sure, it?s… 2 or 3 aisles over. Why don?t you follow me? It?s easier

just to show you.

第三篇

选课

M: Janet! Nice to see you again. Ready to plan you schedule for next semester?

W: Yeah, I?ve already looked at the list of classes. And I hope to take business law and intro

to

finance this coming semester.

M: That sounds good. And it is always best plans the courses in your major first and then fit

out the requirements on the electives then.

W: I like to take one other business course, but I am not sure which one?

M: How are about an economics course?

W: I took one

this past semester and got a lot out of it.

M: Oh, that?s right I remember you telling me about it. Well, let?s see what else you need?

W: I need another English course and was thinking about taking a poetry class.

M: Let me see, the prerequisite for all the poetry classes is the English composition.

W: I took that my first semester.

M: Well, modern American poetry fits in your schedule

W: With Doctor Turner?

M: Um-

huh…

W: That?ll be great! I heard all about her from my roommate, the English major.

M: This should up tobe a pretty good semester for you, what else do you need to take?

W: I have to take one more math course but I have been putting it at all. I heard that calculus

is

really tough.

M: It is! But you may want to take it and just take these four courses this semester.

W: That?s not a bad idea! I just hope it doesn?t affect my grade point average!

第四篇

学生抗议食堂

W: Excuse me. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?

M: No I guess not.

M: Great! This is for a student council report; we want to find out what students think the

campus food service the results would tell us what kind of changes to push for.

M: I think everyone has pretty strong opinions about that.

W: Yeah, that?s one thing I found out already. Ok, first how often do you eat

in the cafeteria?

M: Almost everyday, I?ve got a meal contract.

W: And do you usually eat here at Anderson hall.

M: Yeah, I live next door.

W: And you mention that you have a meal contract, is that right?

M: Uh-huh! For breakfast and dinner, Monday to Saturday.

W: What?s your general impression of the food here?

M: Well, people complain a lot, but basically I think it?s ok. The vegetables are usually

overcooked, but I mean they had to feed hundreds of people here. You are not going to get

something freshly prepared just for you.

W: What if I just put down generally satisfactory, would like more fresh vegetables, ok?

M: Sure.

W: So you think the other things like soup and dessert?s okay?

M: Yeah, that?s about right.

W: Is there anything you like to change about the cafeteria?

M: Yes, the hours. Sometimes it?s a real rush for me to get back here before 6:30.

第五篇

学习问题

★

W: Excuse me! I need to a copy of Steven Hakim?s Brief History of Time. And I don?t know

where to look for it?

M: D

id you check the status on the library?s computer?

W: I tried but I couldn?t figure out what to do.

M: Well I can call it up right here. You wanted Hakim?s book right? It looks like it will be out

for another 6 weeks.

W: Oh no, I really need it for paper that due in 2 weeks. Is there anything you can do?

M: Sure, we can try to get it from another library, just fill out this form and it should be here

in 3 or 5 days. But it will cost 2 dollars.

W: What a relief! That?s a really help!

< /p>

**************************************** ******************

★

M: Good morning. Is this where we should come to add or drop a course?

W: Yes, it is. Just write the name of the course you want to drop on this little form.

M: Great! Now where do I write the Astronomy course that I want to add?

W: Sorry it?s too late to add a course. You could only add courses two weeks since this

semester. And Friday was the last day.

M: But I?m senior. And if I dropped the class without adding in one, I wouldn?t have enough

credits to graduate.

W: So, what you have to do then is to get the professor?s approval and have him sign the

special add form. Then bring it back to me, and I put it through.

M: Okay. Thanks. I hope I?ll be able to find them.

*************** *******************************************

★

M: Hi, Lanyard, we missed you in psychology class yesterday.

W: I have a terrible cough. So I stayed at home. Do you take notes?

M: Well, no one can ever recite for my handwriting. Tina was there, too. And you are more

likely to be able to read her notes.

W: Do you know where she is today?

M: I know she has class in the morning. But she always eats lunch in the cafeteria around

noon.

W: Good! I?ll try to catch her then.

第六篇

打工场景

M: So you are going to be writing for the school newspaper?

W: Yes, I?m excited about it. I?m thinking about journalism as a career.

M: Well! Congratulations! How do they decide whom to hire?

W: I have to send the writing sample. I used one of the essays I?ve written for the literature

class, then the editor assigned me a topic to write a short article about it.

M: What did you write about?

W: Actually, it was a lot of fun. I wrote about the students? play that has been performed this

month.

M: Oh, I saw that play. The director is a friend of mine. It really called in a stir around here.

W: Yeah, I know. That?s what I wrote about

--

people?s reaction to it. It?s really interesting.

M: Have you finished the article? Can I read it?

W: Sure. I just made a couple of copies. So you can have one.

M: Thanks. I wish I were a better writer. Working for the paper sounds like fun.

W: Well, they?re looking to add one or two more photographers to the staff.

M: You?re kidding! May be I?ll go over and apply.

W: If you want, I?ll walk over with you to

the newspaper office and introduce you to the

photographic editor and some of the other photographers.

M: That will be terrific! But can we go tomorrow? I have to go to math class now. And if we

go tomorrow, then I?ll have time tonight to put together a

portfolio of photographs to show

them.

W: Sure. And maybe you should call them and set up a time to meeting them tomorrow.

M: Good idea. I?ll do that before I go to class.

W: All right. See you tomorrow.

第七篇学习问题

W: Hey, Kevin, I haven?t seen you since the beginning of the semester, how is it going?

M: Well, I am a little overwhelmed. It?s strange. I always want to go to a big university like

this but now I am here. I am not so sure. I mean the courses ar

e interesting enough, but…

W: What?s bothering you then?

M: Well after going to a small high school and knowing everybody it?s a pretty shagged to be

in huge lecture hall with hundreds of students. And not one professor even knows my name.

W: I know y

ou mean. I?ve so pretty lost myself last year but I know about something that

might help. It?s called the mentor group.

M: The what?

W: The mentor group. It?s like a support group. I joined it last year when I was a first year

student.

M: So what is it?

W: It?s basically professors and small group of students getting together informally to discuss

all kinds of subjects. You have the chance to meet professors and other students.

M: Hem, sounds worthwhile, but doesn?t it take up a lot of studying ti

me

？

W: Not really, you can study all the time you know and this is like a little break.

M: I guess you could meet professor whose course you might take later!

W: Exactly, that?s what happened to me! I am taking the psychology course with Professor

Green

. I didn?t know how interesting psychology was, till I got to talk to him in the mentor

group.

M: You talk to him in the mentor group! Is it too late to join?

W: I don?t think so; if I were you I go over to the dean?s office and sign up.

M: I was going to the library to return a book but I can do it later I guess.

第八篇

注册学校

W: Here we are at registration again; I can?t believe how much tuition has gone up.

M: I know. It?s ridiculous. You know my cousin Anne pays nothing to go her school in

Kentucky.

W: Nothing! Maybe I should transfer there.

M: You can?t, only students from certain part of Kentucky can go. It?s only for students from

the Appalachian Mountains area.

W: So with no tuition how do they run the school?

M: Well, they get a lot of donations.

W: And that pays for everything?

M: Well, they also get some money from the government and besides that all the students are

required to work at the college. That?s why the college doesn?t need to hire a lot of

outside-workers.

W: Oh yeah, that will help cut the school expenses, so what kind of job do they do?

M: My cousin helps to clean the dorms. I think her roommate washes dishes in the cafeteria.

Things like that.

W: That sounds great! Come to think of it. I heard of something in Georgia called hope

scholarship.

M: Hope scholarship? What?s that?

W: I think they used state lottery money to give free tuition. But not everyone from Georgia

qualifies. You need at least B average in high school.

M: I should apply for that. I had really good grades in high school.

W: No, you had to be from Georgia.

M: Just my luck.

第九篇

学习问题

W: What?s the matter? I?ve never seen you look so tense?

M: Oh, I am just frustrated. That?s all. I have been working on this lab report for my biology

class for hours and the results keep coming out wrong.

W: Did you use the right procedures?

M: Yeah, that?s not the problem…it?s just the…well, it?s just, you know every time I do the

statistics I get the different results. Did you ever take biology?

W: No, I fill my science requirement with physics, I really don?t car

e for biology especially

dissection. I must pass it down in high school. We had to cut open that.

M: Ok, I get the picture, I am bit squish myself but biology requires the least math, which

isn?t my best subject. I really don?t see why we even have to t

ake science classes if we are not

major in it. I am never going to use this in the real life.

W: Well that?s not the point really, a college graduate suppose to be well

-rounded it. You

know

with broad education. You can only specialize in grad school.

M: Sure, if I ever get there. It just seems I run one biology lab report could stand in the wave

of brilliant career in sociology.

W: You don?t be silly; you will manage somehow. See how come you don?t have the result

for one of your XXX to write down.

M: Whoops! I must forgot to add it in. No wonder my figures were messed up!

十篇

W: Hi, Mark, how is it going?

M: Well, not so great.

W: What's wrong?

M: I?ve got a big problem with the poetry course that?s required for my major.

W: Is it all sold up?

M: No, no, there's plenty room, but there's prerequisite. I?ve got to take an introduction to

poetry before I can take the special course in poets of the 1960's, and the introductory course

is only offered in the evenings.

W: You don't like evening classes?

M: No, that's not the point. I work in the cafeteria every evening; I need the money to pay my

tuition.

W: Can you ask someone that work to switch hours with you? Maybe you could just switch a

couple of evening since the course probably only needs two times a week?

M: I wish I could, my boss just did me a favor by putting me on evenings. And he'll hit the

ceiling if I ask to change again.

W: Wait a minute, I have an idea, have you checked the course over at the community

college?

They might offer intro-to-poetry course during the day!

M: Hey, that's a great idea! I am free this afternoon, I think I'll go over and check it out.

W: Yeah, their courses are actually cheaper and you can transfer the credits over here!

M: Thank for the advice, Linda. I'll let you know what happens.

W: Sure, Mark, good luck! Oh, while you there, could you find out when the pool is open?

M: No problem.

第十一篇学习问题

M: I'm really glad we got Cindy to be in our study group.

W: That's for sure, his background in art should be a big help getting ready for this art history

final.

M: Now, what we'll have to do is to figure out where we?re going to meet.

W: Why don't we just meet in the library?

M: The six people in the group will probably make too much noise. How about my dorm

room?

W: There is not enough space, where would we all sit?

M: Oh, I know, the snack bar in the student center! It is not too crowd in the evening, and we

can push some tables together.

W: That'll work! I'll let everyone know to be there at 7:00 tonight.

第十二篇买书

M: Excuse me. I am looking for the textbook for a course called Psychology of Personality,

but Ican't find it anywhere.

W: Is that the book for Dr. Peterson's course?

M: That's right, Psychology 3601.

W: Yes, yes, I was afraid of that. It seems we didn't order enough books for that class. You

are the 7th person today who?s come in looking for one.

M: But classes begin on Monday.

W: I wouldn't worry, Dr. Peterson was aware of the problem, and we got another shipment of

books coming in before the end of the month.

M: Can I reserve the copy?

W: No problem. Just give me your name and phone number, we'll call you when the books

arrive.

第十三篇停车

★

M: I?ve got another parking ticket. I don't understand why?

W: What color sticker do you have?

M: It's gold; it's for this lot!

W: Well, where did you park?

M: Over there, next to that green truck.

W: You are right in front of the loading dock; that's where they unload the kitchen supplies.

M: So what?

W: You are lucky you only got a ticket. Normally, security tows any cars that park there.

第十四篇

打工场景

★

Listen to a conversation between an advisor and a student.

W: Come on in, Paul, and have a seat. How can I help you?

M: Well, I need to choose my major, and I guess I am not sure what I want to do for a career.

W: Oh!

M: My problem is that I love philosophy, but my dad doesn't want me to get a degree in the

humanities. He said that I'll be better off financially with a career in something like business.

W: Yes, people in the humanities often do make lower salaries.

M: Yeah, and I don't want to be poor, so I?m doomed.

W: Hem...I guess you know that a lot of famous philosophers work in other fields, too. In

fact,

some of them did ground-breaking work.

M: Like Aristotle?

W: Um, this is just one example. There were doctors, lawyers, historians, mathematicians.

Lock for example, he was trained to medicine.

M: Yeah, but you are talking about geniuses. I get to grades, but I'm not a genius.

W: My point is, you could work in a higher paid field and pursue philosophy on the side. It's

not too late for you to declare a double major.

M: But what other fields what I choose?

W: I can help you with that, there's a special test you can take to determine your talents. You

can take it now and it only takes an hour, then we can match your talents to a variety of job

descriptions and go for there.

M: Ok, that sounds like a good plan!

第十五篇

打工场景

M: Ms. Preska, I am Tim Louis.

W: Nice to meet you, Tim. The work study office called to let me know you will come in.

You are interested in job here this coming semester.

M: Yes, I was hoping the library might be able to use me.

W: We always need some help from work study students. Can you tell me a little about

yourself?

M: Let?s see, I am a sophomore. I live off campus and I major in business.

W: Fine, what about work experience?

M: I have been the lifeguard for 3 summers at city pool. Here on campus I work last year in

the cafeteria. This semester I am at the computer center 3 evenings a week but I prefer the

afternoon job.

W: We have the opening for someone to share books 4 afternoons a week, a total of 16 hours.

Will that suit you?

M: Perfectly, my courses in next semester all meet in the morning.

W: The job is yours then. Please read through this information before your begin, your first

day of work will be 2 weeks from today.

M: Thank you very much, I?ll see you then.

第十六篇暑假出行

M: So where are you going to be this summer?

W: I?ve got a part time job at the gallery in New York. And I will be taking a joining class at

night.

M: That's great. You can learn a lot working in an art gallery, and there's no place like New

York for an inspiring artist. I lived there myself when I was first at the college.

W: I know how lucky I am to have this job but to tell you the truth; I have my heart set on

going out west this summer.

M: Out west? You mean California.

W: No, the southwest, the desert and everything

M: Why the desert?

W: Well, you know, Georgia O'Keeffe is my favorite artist, and she did such good work out

there.

M: That' true. But O'Keeffe didn't start out in the southwest, you know. She lived in New

York for years, and she did some very impressive painting there.

W: I guess you mean the skyscraper series. It's funny I never really thought about where she

paint them before.

M: It was in New York and she got a lot out of living there. She didn't always enjoy it. But

later on she said that being around so many artists that help her to develop her own artistic

vision.

W: That's a new way of looking at the city. Now I can only find affordable place to live.

第十七篇

学习问题

★

Listen to part of the conversation between two college students

M: Could we stop for a few minutes before we go over chapter five? I'm gonna need extra

emerge to get through that one.

W: Why? The first four chapters went really fast.

M: I know, but the professor said the test would go up to chapter five. And that's the one I

understand least. My notes from that day are a mess, circles made of broken lines, the word

W: Ok, well, let's start with the broken lines. There suppose to be an illustration of the

principle of closure. The idea is that your brain doesn't take in information exactly the same

way as your eyes see it. I mean it's not like your eyes are camera and your brain just see the

photographs it takes. The point is that your brain perceives more than your eyes actually see.

Imaging individual broken lines and the shape of the circle, your brain perceives them to be a

circle, even though the shape isn't complete. Your brain fills in the empty spaces because

what it sees is familiar to a complete pattern.

M: Oh, I get it. Our brains? close is based in the circle

--- closure, so is closure the same thing

as GESTALT?

W: Well, closure is part of GESTALT. It's one of the five principles that try to explain how

the

brain organizes the information it perceives.

M: Hem, do you think that the other four principles would be on the test?

W: Probably seems they are all in chapter five. We'd better go over all of them.

M: Yeah, I'm sure you are right. But let's go and get something to eat before we do the rest,

ok? Otherwise, I don't think my brain will be able to perceive anything.

W: Sure, let's go.

第一篇

（打工场景）

It seems like only yesterday that I was sitting where you are, just finishing my first year of

medical school and wondering if I'd ever get a chance to use all my new knowledge on a real

live patient!

Well, I have good news for you! You don't have to wait until your third or fourth year of

Medical school to get some hands-on experience! The dean has invited me here to tell you

about the university's rural opportunity program. If you enroll in this program, you can have

the opportunity this summer, after your first year of medical school, to spend from four to six

weeks observing and assisting a real physician like me in a small rural community. You won't

have to compete with other students for time and attention, and you can see what life as a

country doctor is really like.

The program was designed to encourage medical students like yourselves to consider careers

in rural communities that are still understaffed. It seems that medical students are afraid to go

into rural family practice for two reasons. First, they don't know much about it. And second,

specialists in the cities usually make more money. But, on the up-side, in rural practice,

doctors can really get to know their patients and be respected members of the community.

I participated in the program when it first started and spent six weeks in a small rural town.

Let me tell you, it was really great! I got to work with real patients. I watched the birth of a

child, assisted an accident victim, and had lots of really practical hands-on experience --- all

in one summer. And to my surprise, I found that country life has a lot to offer that city life

doesn't --- no pollution or traffic jams, for instance!

My experience made me want to work where I'm needed and appreciated. I don't miss the city

at all!

第二篇（选课场景）

In the few minutes that remain of today's class, I'd like to discuss next week's schedule with

you. Because I'm presenting a paper at a conference in Detroit on Thursday, I won't be here

for either Wednesday's or Friday's class. I will, however, be here for Monday's. Next Friday, a

week from today, is the midterm exam, marking the halfway point in the semester. Professor

Andrews has agreed to administer the exam. In place of the usual Wednesday class, I've

arranged an optional review session. Since it is optional, attendance will not be taken;

however, attending the class would be a good idea for those worried about the midterm. So,

remember: optional class next Wednesday; midterm, Friday.

第三篇（打工场景）

Good afternoon. I'm here today to talk to you about a career with our airline. We're especially

interested in recruiting people to fill openings for flight attendants.

First of all, to work as a flight attendant with us, you must be accepted into our training

program --- and with so many people applying, it's not easy to be selected. From the

thousands of applications that we receive annually, we choose fewer than a thousand people

for training. So, we require experience serving the public; and it also helps if you've earned

some college credits.

Also, not everybody who gets accepted into the training program makes it through.

The course meets six days a week for five weeks. The training includes extensive classroom

work

in such subjects as first aid and passenger psychology as well as practical training in flight

procedures and meal service. A lot of our graduates say that our fight attendants develop the

skills of a nurse, a headwaiter, and a public relations executive!

But, as a flight attendant myself, I can say that all of the hard work is worth it. Of course, I get

to travel throughout the country, and the airline pays all of my expenses while I'm away from

my base station. And, what I like best of all is that I've made friends with people from all over

the country!

第四篇（

Housing

场景）

I need to make sure you understand how to get housing for next year. When you entered as

first-year students this year, the school assigned you to a dorm and a roommate, but next year

as returning students you'll choose both your roommate and your dorm. But whether or not

you actually get to live in your first choice depends on what number you or your roommate

draws in the lottery system. The system gives priority to the students who have been here

longest. Fourth-year students get the first block of numbers, third-years get the second block,

and second-years --- like you'll be --- get the third. The lower the number you draw, the

sooner you choose. Number one gets the first choice, number two gets the second choice, and

so on.

You can use either your won or your intended roommate's number to make your room choice.

If your roommate for next year has been at the school longer than you have, they'll be in a

better block of numbers and so will have a better number than any second-year student. But

most of you will probably be rooming with other second-year students and so neither of you

may have a great number. You may not get into your first or even second choice. Of course, if

you've made plans to live off campus, you don't need to enter the lottery at all.

Dorm space will be especially tight this year because the dorms on North Campus will be

closed for renovations. This means that those of you who draw the worst numbers won't be

able to get dorm housing at all. In that case, the housing office will help you find off-campus

housing.

生物类

15+13=28

第一篇

reptile

M: Now let?s see professor Stone spent a lot of time talking about how animals walk and run.

I remember she started by describing how humans move, and later we went over the gaits of

different two-legged and four-legged animals. Like cats, camels, lizards...

W: Wait. I think I missed the class when you went over how lizards move. At least, I don?t

have any notes on it.

M: Well, we talked in class about how modern reptiles like lizards run. I think I even copy the

diagram the professor drew on the board. Here it is. Now, look at this. Lizards run with

what?s called as sprawling gait, their feet are well out on either side of their body and they

move diagonally opposite feet together. The left fore foot with the right hind foot and the

right fore foot with the left hind foot. They use this way of moving when they?re going slowly

or quickly. When they move, they bend their bodies from side to side. And they time this

bending so that they increase the length of their steps.

W: Okay. That makes sense. But I remember reading that, in general, animals evolves so that

their feet are right under their bodies. But I don?t see why?

M: That?s because even the sprawling gaits suits lizards pretty well, there?s a major

disadvantage to this arrangement. Reptiles can?t run and breathe at the same time. They stop

briefly between short breaths of anywhere from 2 to 12 strides because when they move from

side to side, the muscles of the left and right sides contract at different times. To breathe

though, these muscles have to contract at the same time. Mammals don?t have this problem

because they don?t move from side to side. Their feet are in the different position.

第二篇

Insect Behavior

M: Let?s see we should probably start by reviewing the four stages the ants go to. You know

when the developing from the eggs.

W: Yeah. Ah…. I wrote that down somewhere on my notes.

M: I got right here! Let?s see, they start off the egg, the ant lays the eggs after… I don?t

remember exactly how long they turn...

W: Oh yeah, yeah here says it. The eggs are very tiny and they hatch in a few days and

become larvae

M: And then they turn into pupae. That?s one not move at all and then they…

W: Oh! Oh! Oh! I remember something interesting about the pupae stage that?s before they

are

full in mature and they can get captured by other ants and they become sort of slaves in other

ants colony.

M: Yeah, Doctor Lucy even use the term slave mak

er ants, they?ll be slave maker ants but go

into other nests and steal the pupae. So when the pupae grow to adults they are like the slave

of the other ants.

W: And these slaves, they actually do the work as the other ants would have to do themselves.

M: Right!

W: But

most of the slave maker ants they could do the work for themselves couldn?t they?

M: I guess so, but then there are those Amazon ants. Amazon?

W: Um... The Amazon ants, oh, those were the slave maker ants that are actually depended

on the ants they slaved. Now where we start again?

M: Let me see, here it is. The size of their mandible yeah, it was because they have these

really long curvy mandibles.

W: Oh, yeah! Those are the jaws.

M: Right! And those mandibles are so big that the

Amazon ants can?t even get their own food

or dig nests for themselves. So they need the slaves to get the food and dig the nests for them.

W: That makes sense! Now could we go back to the part on how they capture the slaves? We

were talking before about how some slave maker ants go into other nest and bring back pupae

to become slave. But they can also take over a whole colony, right?

M: Yeah. Yeah. The queen ant after she mates, she is carrying her own eggs and what she

does is she goes into another colony of another specie. She takes over the colony and those

other ants the slaves start working for her and then she lays her eggs.

W: But the colony she is there is already got its own queen, so…

M: Yeah, if she doesn?t cooperate, the slave maker ant

will kill that queen and then when she

has own eggs, they become adults and they become slave maker ants too.

W: And then they go out to rob other ants nest for pupae to bring back and then slave.

第三篇

bird

You know, it?s kind of fashionable among stude

nts of birds to study well and exhausted

species, especially in danger ones like golden eagles or spotted owls. But I often think that

everyday-birds, birds that really are part of our lives are simply overlooked, so I'd like to

spend some time talking abo

ut a very common bird “black crows.” It might surprise you to

know that crows are among the most challenging birds to observe and study. First of all, they

look alike. Picking out one or several individual crows in a flock in finding them again later is

almost impossible, people study in larger animals can put some kind of mark on them, so they

can tell them apart, well, you can trap large animal like a bear in a mobilized or a tranquilized

gun, then it is easy to put a tag on it. But try doing that to a crow you probably kill it.

Secondly, crows are highly intelligent survivors, they adapt easily to wildly varying situations.

This adds to the difficulty of studying in them, because they pick up so many individual allies

habits, so you can never be sure about any conclusion you reach about crows from observing

them applies to the whole species or just those particular crows you being watching. One

general observation about crows that can?t be made the reasonable degree of certainty is that

in the last forty years, more and more crows have been found living in large cities. They are

attracted by people who produce a normal surmount of garbage and leave them places that

crows can easily get to, it make for distances they must travel to hunt a lot shorter.

第四篇

spider

As you all know, Dr. Nelson's assignment was for each of us to find a little scientific puzzle

to research and solve. Well, mine was why don't spiders get stuck in their own webs--a pretty

good question if you ask me. Someone even read a thesis on it I'm sure. There are actually

several answers depending on the spider. Let's start with one common type of spider. These

spiders usually stay in the middle of their webs and don't put any glue- like material there. But

they do leave a thin strand of sticky material on the outer part of the web. This material is

made of compounds that draw water molecules out of the air. When it draws enough water, it

does what water normally does. It forms little drops. The result is sticky little globs, little balls

of glue-like material. When the spider steps into one of the little glob by accident as it

sometimes does, it is as human beings step on a piece of chewing gum. It is just

inconvenience. But when a fly flies into the spider's web, it hits about 50 of the globs in order

to make stick tightly to the web. What's more, because the sticky material is in the glob

instead of in the uniform coat, the spider uses less of it. By doing this, the spider saves energy

and that means it has to catch fewer flies. It is not of economy really. The spiders do what is

easiest for spiders.

第五篇

animal behavior

We?ve all heard the proverb “Beauty is only skin

-

deep” meaning that the outward appearance

is not a valuable way to judge a person?s worth. But researchers studying why animal

s are

attracted to each other had found that the opposite may be true for animals. For them a

beautiful face and body are reasonably reliable indicators of underline quality and

experiments had shown that many species appear to look for at least one classic characteristic

of beauty mainly symmetry. Now according to this theory, a more selective partner in the pair

usually the female seek the maximum possible balance between the left and right half of a

potential mate?s body. For an example, certain female birds first check to see if the male?s left

wing is the same length and shape of the right to get clues about the bird?s health and strength.

Now what other evidence do we have of this kind of behavior? Well, in one experiment,

researches put color bands on the legs of male finches. The female by far prefers males with

same color on both legs over those that had a different color on each leg. Another experiment

involving male elks indicate the importance of symmetry in the antlers. Asymmetric antlers of

course often indicate that the male has lost a fight to another male and he is therefore not the

strongest.

第六篇

动物预测

Nature often sends signals indicating what is going to do. Some of these signals are pretty

obvious others not so much. Smoke beginning to pour some out of volcano probably means

that it will erupt some time soon. Less obvious and easily overlooked is the fur of the woolly

worm. It's been claiming that it can make a long-range weather forecast based on the

thickness of woolly worm's fur. The thicker the fur, the harsher the winter is predicted to be.

The thinking of course is that the worms know what they have to prepare for in order to

survive. However, I don't know of any research on this. I want to share with you something

biologists have noticed in the last few years. Amphibians, especially frogs, have been

disappearing in alarming numbers. In places where a couple years ago, there were populations,

now there are none. Surely nature is urgently signaling something. But What? What makes

this particularly worrisome is the fact that the phenomenon isn't restricted to any specific

climate, altitude, country. That is no common link, no one element that scientists can point to

and blame. It?ll be easy to say the global warming or loss of habitat due

to the over population.

But these don't begin to explain the scope of the problem. Amphibians evolved around 350

million years ago, which means they came long before the dinosaurs. They have endured

phenomenon change in the earth, all of which add to the mystery in concerns. Why was the

population that such ancient older animals change so suddenly after that much time?

第七篇蜕变

Higher animals like dogs, horses even human being look like their parents when they are

born.

There are some minor changes that occur as these animals grow. But the basic form and the

structure stay the same. Now this is called direct development, which is quiet different from

metamorphosis. When lower animals like ants, flies or sea urchins emerge from the eggs, they

don?t look at all like their parents. Only after series of major changes do they take on the

characteristic of their parents. Butterfly and moth provide the best example of what biologist

call complete metamorphosis because they pass through 4 distinct stages of extreme changes.

Here is the illustration of a butterfly at each of the four stages of complete metamorphosis.

The first stage is the egg. Butterflies usually lay their eggs on plants and these plants provide

food when they transform into larvae, the second stage. After about months in this stage, a

butterfly larva spins the cocoon of silk around itself. A larva in the cocoon is also called pupa.

So it?s known as the pupil stage. The pupil stage is the period of inactivity when larva

structures evolve into adult structure. Depending on the species, the pupil stage can last

anywhere from a few days to several months. When the pupa finally mature into the adult

butterfly, it pushes its way out of its cocoon and cross onto a twig or tree land and pumps

blood into the trunk and wing until they are full size and strong. Now some insects like

grasshopper and roaches have only 3 stages

—

egg, larva and adult. When an animal skips the

pupil stage, it?s called incomplete metamorphosis. It?s not only insects that undergo

metamorphosis. Frogs and toads are the most well know example of other form-changing

animal. Frogs lay their eggs in water and the eggs hatch into tadpole. A tadpole looks more

like little fish because it has tail and no legs. But it gradually loses its tail and develops into a

four-legged frog.

第八篇

Animal cognition

P: All right, ah, Jenison and Clod have been assigned to lead part of our discussion today on

animal cognition, are you both ready?

W: Well, Clod and I looked into tool making ability of wild animals, and we came across an

article about how a scientist named Gavin Hunt has claimed to discover a breed of crows with

superior tool making abilities. He claims that the tools these birds make are different from the

tools that other animals make in several ways. For one thing, the crows make different types

of tools for different situations. Also the tools are very sophisticated. For example, they

design tools with hooks, which they used when they are looking for food. And third... Ah

Clod, what was the third thing?

M: He claims that crows may actually intentionally modify their tools to a specific shape

before using them. Other animals like sea otters do use stone to pound open the shell of crab

and another prey. And chimpanzees have been observed have puzzle be modifying leaves to

use as umbrellas. But these activities don?t meet all 3 criteria for planned tool ma

king.

W: Yeah, and these crows even keep track of their tools when they change hunting sites. For

example, they generally take their tools with them and when they eat they usually hold onto

the tool with their feet.

P: Interesting! And what?s the significance of Hunt?s study?

M: Well, some scientists argued that the crows may have been born with this behavior. But if

Hunt can prove that they really do intentionally modify their tools, their behavior will be

measurably different from that of other animals and could be considered cognitive.

W: Right! No other wild animal has the ability to design, make and standardize tools. This

ability was thought to be unique to human.

第九篇

Animal communication

For the next couple of weeks we?ll be focusing on ho

w animals communicate with each other.

Up to now, we?ve had a rather narrow view of vocal warnings that animals give each other.

Some recent research indicates that this communication is a lot more complex than we?ve

traditionally thought. Let me give you

an example. Take prairie dogs. Of course, they?re not

really dogs at all, but wild rodents who live on the plains in the western part of United States.

In case you can?t visualize them, let me describe them to you. They?re about as big as

squirrels, but without the bushy tail. And unlike squirrels, they live in holes in the ground, and

they spend a lot of time just outside their holes, because they have a lot of enemies: hawks,

coyotes, humans, you name it. When they spot a potential threat, they bark to warn their

neighbor and then escape down into their holes. “Big deal, “you say; well, it turns out, they

can differentiate among predators. Researchers discovered that the bark differs for different

predators; coyote warnings are different from people warnings, for instance. But it goes

deeper than that; there?s actually evidence that the barks differentiate between individual

predators of the same species. The researchers found, for example, that the prairie dogs had a

different bark for each member of the research team.

第十篇

The role UV light plays in birds' lives

As we?ve discussed, the human eye has three different types of color receptors that respond to

three basic colors---red, green and blue or other colors are seem to combinations of these

different types of the receptors. Birds, however, have receptors for these three basic colors

and for ultraviolet or UV light. Thus they have much greater color range. What?s really

interesting though is the role that UV light plays in a bird?s life. Scientists have discovered

that

the bird?s eye is extremely sensitive to ultraviolet light. In one experiment robins were

able to distinguish between two objects: one completely unlit and one lit by very dim

ultraviolet light. Even with the very dim UV light the object was radially apparent to the

robins. In another experiment female birds were exposed to two male birds. One was behind

the filter transparent UV light and one was behind the filter that blocked UV light. The female

birds preferred the male bird behind the transparent filter

. Those birds? feathers may have

appeared colorful. Hunting birds use UV light to track down small animals. This is possible

because small animals use urine to mark the trails and urine observed UV light. The hunting

birds can use the UV light to follow the trail to their prey.

第十一篇海洋生物

OK, class. As I mentioned at the beginning of this semester, we'll be taking a field trip to the

local marina. And that field trip will take place next week. Before we go, there are few things

that I'd like to point out to you. Particularly I'd like to talk about barnacles. As we have

discussed, a barnacles is a shellfish, usually small, less than an inch length. It is related to the

lobsters, shrimp and crab. However, unlike those other shellfish, barnacles are considered

silent organisms. That is they are potentially damaging nuisances. You know because they

attach themselves to wood piers, rocks and ship bottoms, as we'll see next week at the marina.

And they even attach themselves to other living creatures such as turtles and whales. Now

barnacle uses a very powerful cement, it?s a self

-made cement to attach themselves. In fact it

is one of the most powerful glues known. Paleontologists even discovered fossils from 150

million years ago that have the barnacle still attached. So as you can see it is very, very

powerful and long lasting cement. Scientists today are even trying to duplicate that powerful

adhesive. Only a few countries use barnacles for food. People in Chile Greece Spain and Italy

harvest and eat the clam like goose barnacle. However there is one type of barnacle found

here in the United States on west coast. It reaches weight of 3 pounds and actually grows up

to 5 inches tall. It tastes a lot like lobsters or crab.

第十二篇

origin of bird

Birds are sometimes referred to as glorified reptiles. And even though modern birds are

structurally very different from reptile, some show minor evidence of their ancestry, like

scales on their feet or claws on their toes. However flying reptile disappeared more than 70

million years ago, but birds have obviously managed to survive. You remember that

biological success of any group of organism is measured by the number of species and

individuals in the group. There are distributions around the world and of course their ability to

adapt to all kinds of environmental conditions. On the basis of these criteria birds are

considered one of the most successful vertebrate in modern times. Their success means they

were probably not only better adapted than reptile for flying but also for life on land and on

when did the glorification begin and how fast did the changes occur? It was seen

logical to assume that at some time millions of years ago transitional stages between reptiles

and birds existed. And in fact one of the most important clues came with the discovery of the

fossils called Archaeopteryx which literally means ancient bird. The Archaeopteryx dates

back 150 million years to the Jurassic period. Fortunately the fossils not only included the

skeleton but also impressions of the feathers of the wings and the double rare tail feathers. If

it were not for these feathers, scientist would have classified it as a reptile because it has

many characteristics more like a lizard than a bird. Archaeopteryx is not, however, considered

as the ancestor of modern birds. But it probably was deprived from ancestral form that also

gave rise to modern birds. Up until the mid 1980s the Archaeopteryx was considered the most

ancient of all birds. Then in 1986, a fossil was discovered called Portraits that show a mixture

of dinosaur and bird-like characteristics. But it lived 225 million years ago, about 75 million

years before the Archaeopteryx. So clearly the final work is not yet in on the origin of birds.

第十三篇

Predators of human

I like to start today?s lecture by challenging some of the myths about certain animals

considered to be predators of human. Take the case of wolf. People fear wolf because the

tales of how wolves attack and eat people walking into the woods. In fact, if you encountered

the wolves in the wild, it will probably run away. Another animal wrongly accuse to harming

people is the giant octopus. Stories have been told about the terrifying giant octopus attacking

and eating an entire ship. But unless you are the crab or some such, you don't have much to

fear for a giant octopus even the hungry one. One myth probably get by such stories concerns

the size of octopus, biology report that on average it has an arm standard on 2 and half

meters--large certainly, but hardly a ship eating size. Far from being an attacker. The giant

octopuses have a number of talents that make it especially adapted escaping. It has no skeletal

structure, so despite its large size it can squeeze to a hole as small as 5 centimeters wide and if

it?s caught, for example, in the mouth of the shark. It can pull away leaving one or more its

arms. They will grow back or it has been pursued or it squirts black ink which some scientists

believe that takes on the form of another oct

opus and thus confuse the predator. And if that?s

not enough the giant octopus have the chameleon like ability to change the skin color to

match its surrounding.

第十四篇

Animal Behavior

As a way of illustrating our discussion of group behavior of animals, we are going to watch

which I think is a fascinating video tape about eland, one of the 2 major species of antelope in

Africa. They live in herds about 200 individuals. But first, let's go over some of the general

advantages animals get from group association. Probably the most important advantage is

defense against predators. Simply being in a large group decreases the chances that any

individuals will be the victim of the predator. Cooperated defense further increases the

chances of survivor for individuals and species. You'll see in the video that when the herds are

attacked by the hyenas the elands deliberately drive their young into the center of tightly

patched group, the center being safer than the periphery. The herd act in a way that increases

the chances of survival of the offspring. Cooperate defense may even take the form of offence.

Many spices of small birds will join together in groups to attack predators like owls and

hawks. Another advantage to live in the groups is commonsense notion that many eyes are

better than a single pair. It has been demonstrated that large herds detect predators at greater

distance than do individuals. Of course there is a down side to live in groups also. But let's

watch the video before we get into that.

第十五篇寄生菌

Let's look at another way that helath agencies fighting parasitic diseases. One alternative to

drugs and pesticides is the use of biotical agency. In other words, if the parasite is causing

problems, you find something that eats the parasite itself or something that eat the parasite

normal host, then you turn that something lose in the parasite's habitat. For example, consider

the SCHISTOSOMIASIS. Schistosomiasis is the infection with the parasite worm called

SCHISTOSOME. Normally the host for the schistosomiasis is a kind of fresh water snail. But

in the African country Kenya the worm frequently infects humans who are exposed to water

from ponds where the snail lives. The contact commonly occurs when people get their cattle

water or wash their clothes in ponds. In fact in about 2 million Kenyans mostly children are

infected. Once inside the human host, the worm lays eggs and these can result in internal

bleeding, fever, fatigue and sometimes death. The snails are still necessary as hosts though

because schistosome eggs can only hatch inside snail. Now if you are already infected, you

can take a drug to kill the worms. But the drug is expensive and it's easy to get re-infected

when you go back to the ponds. Instead researchers are trying to eliminate the worm's normal

host the snail by introducing Louisiana crayfish into the ponds where the worms and snails

live. Now as you can see a crayfish looks like miniature lobsters and it loves to eat snails.

Snail shells are rich in calcium which crayfish need for their own shell. And crayfish are

already abundant in their nature Kenya rivers, they are imported there in early 1970s and they

are easy to find. So crayfish could end up being a cheap and affective way to reduce receive

schistosomiasis. If they do though, it would be the first time that a biological agent has been

successfully used to control a parasite.

第一篇（实验介绍）

Before we start our first lab, I'd like to tell you a little bit about the workbook we'll be using.

The first thing I'd like to point out is that the workbook contains a very large amount of

material --- far more than you could ever handle in a single semester. What you're supposed to

do is choose the experiments and activities that you want to do --- within a certain framework,

of course. Part of my job is to help you make your choices.

Next, I'd like to mention that in each workbook chapter, there are usually two subsections.

The

first is called

In the

including alternate procedures. Choose the procedure you wish ---- there's plenty of

equipment

available.

In the

time. You'll see that there are usually no detailed instructions for the activities --- you're

supposed to do them your own way.

If there are no questions, let's turn to Chapter One now.

第二篇（

Pest

）

Word comes from California of a new weapon in the war on household pests. Two scientists

working for a firm in Anaheim, California, have developed a method to eliminate insects

without using dangerous chemicals. The new poison? Hot air.

The basic idea is that insects cannot adjust to temperatures much above normal. In laboratory

experiments, cockroaches and termites can't survive much more than a quarter of an hour at

125 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 50 degrees centigrade.

The new method involves covering a house with a huge tent and filling it with air heated to

around 65 degrees centigrade. Hot air is forced in with fans, and the tent keeps the heat inside

the house. Since termites try to escape by hiding in wooden beams, the heat treatment must be

continued for a full six hours. But when it's all over, and the insects are dead, there are no

toxic residues to endanger humans or pets, and no funny smells.

Scientists claim that there is no danger of fire, either, since very few household materials will

burn at 65 degrees centigrade. In fact, wood is prepared for construction use by drying it in

ovens at 80 degree centigrade, which is substantially hotter than the air used in this procedure.

第三篇（

fish

）

To us, the environment in which fish dwell often seems cold, dark, and mysterious. But there

are advantages to living in water, and they have played an important role in making fish what

they are. One is that water isn't subject to sudden temperature changes. Therefore it makes an

excellent habitat for a cold-blooded animal. Another advantage is the water's ability to easily

support body weight. Protoplasm has approximately the same density as water, so a fish in

water is almost weightless. This

get along with a light weight and simple bone structure, and two, limitations to a fish's size

are practically removed.

Yet there is one basic difficulty to living in water --- the fact that it's incompressible. For a

fish to move through water, it must actually shove it aside. Most can do this by wiggling back

and forth in snakelike motion. The fish pushes water aside by the forward motion of its head,

and with the curve of its body and its flexible tail. Next, the water flows back along the fish's

narrowing sides, closing in at the tail, and helping the fish propel itself forward.

The fact that water is incompressible has literally shaped the development of fish. A flat and

angular shape can be moved through water only with difficulty. And for this reason, fish have

a

basic shape that is beautifully adapted to deal with this peculiarity.

第四篇（鸟）

We've just seen two contemporary large birds that cannot fly: the emu and the ostrich. Over

here is an interesting specimen from the past. This stuffed animal is not the giant penguin it

appears to be, but an auk. This particular kind of auk is very rare --- only 78 skins are known

to exist and most are not preserved as well as this one. The great auk, as you can see, was a

rather large bird, and it couldn't fly either. However, evidence suggests that the auk was an

excellent swimmer and diver. Unfortunately, those abilities did not protect it from being easy

prey for hungry sailors who yeas ago sailed the very cold and often icy waters of Greenland,

Iceland, and Scotland. In fact, records indicate that the auk was rather tasty and that its eggs

--- Excuse me... that its eggs and feathers were useful as well. Still, it isn't clear what other

factors led to the big bird's demise around 1844, the last time anyone reported seeing one. Of

course, we believe it's important to take extra precautions to preserve the remaining great auk

skins. After all, these specimens should prove invaluable for future scientific research. Does

anyone have any questions before we move on to our next bird exhibit?

第五篇（

Tyrannosaurus rex

）

Before I tell you about the interesting discovery related to Tyrannosaurus rex, I need to

review

something we studied last semester --- the difference between what are commonly called

cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals. In warm-blooded animals, birds and mammals, for

example, the body temperature normally stays within a narrow range, no matter what the

outside temperature is. As a result, a warm-blooded animal is usually active in both cold and

hot weather because its body temperature can adjust to the temperature of its environment.

On the other hand, cold-blooded animals, such as most reptiles, amphibians, and insects, are

unable to create enough heat internally to raise their temperature above the temperature of the

environment. So, for example, the temperature of a cold-blooded animal falls when the

environment is cool.

I hope this distinction is clear. Now, moving on to Tyrannosaurus rex... you may know that

dinosaurs, being reptiles, are generally believed to have been cold-blooded. Well, a recent

research study found that the chemical composition of the bones of Tyrannosaurus rex was

consistent with the bones of an animal that has a very narrow range of internal temperature,

indicating that it was probably warm-blooded.

第六篇（

electric fish

）

This room is devoted to electric fish. The eel in the tank behind me can produce a strong jolt

of

electricity to stun its prey, but most of the fish in here produce only weak electrical impulses

that are useful for navigating, locating food, and even for communicating.

The knife fish is a good example. This fish navigates using tiny receptors in the skin that are

sensitive to electrical impulses. The knife fish produces an electrical signal, and the receptors

in its skin let it know when the signal it distorted by a tree root, or some other obstacle, so it

can go around it.

Fish also use the ability to produce and detect electrical impulses to communicate. They can

tell each other what species they belong to, how big they are, and whether they're male or

female. We have a tank here that's specially equipped to convert the inaudible signals the fish

produce into sounds you can hear when you put on these headphones. I urge you all to listen

in when I'm done speaking.

Now have a look at the electric rays. Rays are especially interesting to medical researchers

because of the organs they use to produce electricity. These organs contain a chemical that

carries signals from one nerve ending to the next, not only in rays, but also in people. By

studying these organs, scientists hope to learn more about diseases that interrupt the

transmission of impulses from one nerve to another.

< br>第七篇（

Mouse

）

Human populations near the equator have evolved dark skin over many generations because

of

exposure to the fierce rays of the Sun. A similar phenomenon has also occurred in other parts

of the animal kingdom. The African grass mouse is a good example. Most mice are nocturnal,

but the African grass mouse is active during daylight hours. This means that it spends its days

searching for food in the semidry bush and scrub habitats of eastern and southern Africa. Its

fur is striped, like a chipmunk's, which helps it blend in with its environment. Because it

spends a lot of time in the intense tropical sun, the grass mouse has also evolved two separate

safeguards against the Sun's ultraviolet radiation. First, like the populations of humans in this

region of the world, the skin of the grass mouse contains lots of melanin, or dark pigment.

Second, and quite unusual, this mouse has a layer of melanin- pigmented tissue between its

skull and skin. This unique

and three other types of African mouselike rodents that are active during the day. The only

other species scientists have identified with the same sort of skull adaption is the white

tent-making bat of the Central American tropics. Although these bats sleep during the day,

they do so curled up with their heads exposed to the sun.

第八篇（

classification of trees

）

OK. In the last class we talked about the classification of trees, and we ended up with a basic

description of angiosperms. You remember that those are plants with true flowers and seeds

that develop inside fruits. The common broadleaf trees we have on campus fall into this

category, but our pines don't.

Now, I hope you all followed my advice and wore comfortable shoes because, as I said, today

we're going to do a little field study.

To get started, let me describe a couple of the broadleaf trees we have in front of us. I'm sure

you've all noticed this big tree next to Brant Hall. It's a black walnut that must be 80 feet tall.

As a matter of fact, there's a plaque identifying it as the tallest black walnut in the state. And

from here we can see the beautiful archway of trees at the Commons. They've American

elms... the ones along the Commons were planted when the college was founded 120 years

ago. They have the distinctive dark green leaves that look lopsided because the two sides of

the leaf are unequal. I want you to notice the elm right outside Jackson Hall... Some of its

leaves have withered and turned yellow, maybe due to Dutch elm disease. Only a few

branches seem affected so far, but if this tree is sick, it'll have to be cut down.

Well, let's move on and I'll describe what we see as we go.