As shocking as the idea of baby birds growing up in a cigarette-filled home sounds, a new study suggests that some birds may benefit from putting the stuff from cigarette butts (烟蒂) into their nests. The nicotine(尼古丁) remaining in smoked filters (滤嘴) may serve as a natural insecticide( 杀虫剂) , driving harmful insects away from the nests and the baby birds living within. Tobacco plants produce nicotine because it defends against insects that would otherwise eat the plants.
The butts are undoubtedly smelly. But birds are actually quite fond of smelly chemicals, such as those found in aromatic(芳香的) plants. Some nest-building species regularly fill their nests with fresh aromatics, possibly because tbe chemicals are good for the immune system or the development of the chicks. Alternatively, the plant chemicals might act as insecticides.
In the study, researchers at the Autonomous University of Tlaxcala in Mexico set up heat traps, which attract harmful insects, in 55 nests around Mexico City. Some traps were lined with the stuff in smoked cigarette filters. The others were lined with the stuff from unsmoked cigarette filters, which did not contain nicotine and other smoking by-products. Whether the nest held eggs, chicks or nothing, the unsmoked cigarette traps collected more harmful insects, suggesting that it is the chemicals that drove harmful insects away.
In a second experiment, the researchers collected 28 house sparrow nests and 29 house finch( 朱雀 ) nests from Mexico City immediately after the chicks flew out for food. They found that the more smoked filter stuff filled a nest, the fewer harmful insects it had.
The missing piece of the puzzle is whether the reduced number of harnfful insects in the nests actually provided any benefit to the chicks. It is also unclear if nicotine or another chemical found in cigarettes may have turned the harmful insects out of the nests.
If' the results hold, then this study is an example of wildlife adaptation to Urhanization--or at least evidence that birds are smart and can still follow their noses in urban enviromnents.
67. What may be the fimction of nicotine in cigarette butts for birds?
A. To drive harmful insects away from bird nests.
B. To provide building materials for bird nests.
C. To protect the plants from being eaten by insects.
D. To attract baby birds to stay in the nests.
68. What is the first experiment aimed at?
A. Proving that heat traps attract harmful insects in Mexico City.
B. Comparing smoked cigarette filters with unsmoked ones.
C. Analyzing what is produced from smoked cigarette filters.
D. Studying what it is that drives harnfful insects away.
69. What can you infer from the passage?
A. Birds tend to use insecticide to protect the baby birds.
B. Nicotine is the only chemical that drives harmful insects away.
C. Some insects are afraid of smelly chemicals in aromatic plants.
D. Unsmoked cigarette traps attract more harmful insects.
70. Where could you possibly see the passage?
A. In a science report.
B. In an urbanization essay.
C. In a tobacco advertisement.
D. In an anti-smoking brochure.