PTE考生目前最大的问题之一就是练习题缺乏。除了有限的基本官方书（PLUS，Testbuilder, OG）之外，就没有题了。很多英语基础不是很扎实的同学很难找到练习材料。墨尔本文波雅思PTE培训学校专门为墨尔本，悉尼PTE考生准备了适合PTE听力阅读练习的科学60秒。各位PTE同学可以练习PTE听力中的summarise spoken text和PTE口语中的retell lecture，练习记笔记技巧和复述。废话少说，下面开始：
60秒科学：Habitat Loss a Real Buzzkill for Invertebrates
听力内容：
60秒科学节目（SSS）是科学美国人网站的一套广播栏目，英文名称：Scientific American – 60 Second Science,节目内容以科学报道为主，节目仅一分钟的时间，主要对当今的科学技术新发展作以简明、通俗的介绍，对于科学的发展如何影响人们的生活环境、健康状况及科学技术，提供了大量简明易懂的阐释。
Based on the sheer number of ants that have invaded my home this summer, it seems hard to believe. But a new study finds that the number of invertebrates°™which include any animal without a spine°™has fallen by nearly half over the past 35 years°™the same period of time in which the human population has doubled. The estimate appears in the journal Science. [Rodolfo Dirzo et al: Defaunation in the Anthropocene]
When we think of extinction, we usually picture large, charismatic creatures, like the saber-toothed tiger, the wooly mammoth or the even the dodo bird. Over the past 500 years, more than 300 species of vertebrates like these have disappeared.
But what about critters that fly°≠or crawl°≠under our radar? Butterflies, beetles, spiders, slugs and worms are all in the midst of decline. Much of that die-off is due to habitat loss. In the U.K., for example, scientists have recorded a 30 to 60 percent decrease in areas inhabited by common insects, including bees and wasps.
While fewer flying pests might seem a plus, insects also perform functions that are key to human survival, like pollinating crops and recycling nutrients. So crowding out our invertebrate allies could turn out to be a real buzzkill.
-Karen Hopkin
