When scientists accidentally killed 【小题1】turned out to be the world’s oldest living creature, it was bad enough. Now, their mistake has been worsened after further research found it was even older – at 507 years.

The ocean quahog, a type of deep-sea clam, was dredged (捕捞) alive from the bottom of the North Atlantic near Iceland in 2006 by researchers. They then put it in a fridge-freezer, 【小题2】is normal practice, unaware of 【小题3】age. It was only when it was taken to a laboratory 【小题4】scientists from Bangor University studied it and concluded it was 400 years old.

The discovery made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. However, by this time, it was too late for Ming the Mollusc(软体动物), 【小题5】(name) after the Chinese dynasty 【小题6】its life began. Unfortunately, researchers who calculated Ming’s age killed it instantly by opening its shell.

The researchers opened the ancient clam up to judge its age by counting growth rings inside. But the rings were so close together 【小题7】scientists ended up having to count the rings on the outside to be accurate, 【小题8】(lead) CBS journalists to point out that if scientists had just started there, Ming could have lived on. Now, after examining the quahog 【小题9】(closely), and 【小题10】(use) more advanced methods, the researchers have found the animal was actually 100 years older than they first thought.

Dr Paul Butler, from the University’s School of Ocean Sciences, said: “We got it wrong the first time and maybe we were a bit hasty publishing our findings back then. But we are absolutely certain that we’ve got the right age now.” The mollusc was born in 1499 – just seven years after Columbus discovered America and before Henry VIII had even married his first wife, Catherine of Aragon in 1509.

The size of fish in the oceans is shrinking. A new report from Canada states fish may shrink by as much as a quarter in the coming decades, which mainly 【小题1】 (result) from global warming. The research team conducted tests on the effect of 【小题2】 (rise) ocean temperatures on the size and number of over 600 species of fish. They concluded that most fish are likely to shrink by 14-24 percent by the year 2050. The biggest changes 【小题3】(see) clearly in tropical regions. There is 【小题4】 (little) oxygen in warmer water so fish cannot grow normally and many will migrate to cooler waters.

Lead researcher Professor William said: “We were surprised to see such a large decrease in fish size. Marine fish are generally known to respond to climate change 【小题5】 changing distribution and seasonality. But the unexpectedly big effect 【小题6】 climate change could have on body size suggests that we may be missing a big piece of the puzzle of understanding climate change effects in the ocean.” He added that overfishing and pollution will 【小题7】 (worse) the problem. “Our work shows a very 【小题8】 (worry) future for the oceans, 【小题9】 it is very important to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop better fish management policies 【小题10】 (adapt) to these changes,” he said.

In Canada you can find dogs, cats, horses etc. in almost every family. These are their pets. People love these pets and have them as their good friends. 【小题1】 they keep them in their houses, they take them to animal hospitals to give them injections (注射) so that they won’t carry disease afterwards. They have special animal food stores, 【小题2】 they can get animal food in almost every kind of store. Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food. 【小题3】 you visit people’s houses, they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them. You will also find that almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden. All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal. They are free to come and go and nobody 【小题4】 (allow) to kill any animal in Canada. They have a law【小题5】 killing wild animals. If you killed an animal, you would be punished. If an animal happened to get run over by car, people would be very sad about it.

People in Canada have many reasons to like animals. One of them might be: Their family ties are not as close as 【小题6】. When children grow up, they leave their parents and start their own life. Then the old will feel lonely. But pets can solve this problem. They can be good friends and never leave them alone.