Earth's longest artificial structure is usually said to be the Great Wall of China while the second-longest is not a wall, but a fence(栅栏). It stretches for 5,614km across eastern Australia and is intended to stop the country's wild dogs, the dingoes, from hunting sheep.
Australia's dingo fence does not stand alone. Millions of kilometres of fences wrap the world. Some are intended to limit the movement of animals, some the movement of people, and some merely to mark the boundary.
Until recently, data on the effects of fences on wildlife have been inadequate. That has changed with the publication of a report by professor Alex McInturff. One discovery he has made is that more than half of published fence research focuses on just five countries—America, Australia, Botswana, China and South Africa. A second is that only a third of these studies examined the impact of fences on anything other than the target species involved, meaning the animals purposely intended to be kept in or out.
Non-target species, however, are often those that have their fortunes most greatly reshaped by the appearance of poles and wire. Australian fences intended to keep out dingoes are also barriers to long-necked turtles, which travel great distances over land when moving between nesting sites. In Botswana fences built to spare cattle from wildlife-borne disease result in serious interference with wildebeest(角马)migrations.
Not every creature fares badly. Hawks(鹰)in Montana gladly sit on newly built livestock fences to hunt small animals, while fence-based spiders in South Africa outperform their tree-based cousins when it comes to catching insects.
Often, though, the winners are creatures that cause trouble for existing ecosystems. Keeping dingoes out of large parts of Australia has allowed aggressive red foxes to multiply. Native rodents(啮齿类动物)have suffered as a result. Some have been brought to the edge of extinction.
1. What is an original purpose of the fences?| A．To expand the boundary of a country. |
| B．To protect wild animals from being hunted. |
| C．To keep livestock like sheep and cattle out. |
| D．To prevent people from moving around freely. |
| A．50% of the studies focus on just five countries. |
| B．About two-thirds of the studies focus on the target animals. |
| C．Non-target animals shouldn't be involved in the studies. |
| D．The studies have reshaped the fortunes of some species. |
| A．Long-necked turtles in Australia. | B．Cattle in Botswana. |
| C．Tree-based spiders in South Africa. | D．Red foxes in Australia. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Objective. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Favorable. |
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【推荐1】Auckland International Airport (AKL) Services
We are open for all international flights and provide high standards of for visitors to New Zealand. We offer information on a range of attractions, and we also offer a booking service for activities, accommodation and transport. Buses into the city centre are provided at a competitive price.
The second floor of the international terminal offers a view of the airfield and all incoming and outgoing flights. There is a café situated here as well as a restaurant, which is available for all airport visitors to use.
Passengers who require immediate medical attention should dial 9877 on any public telephone in the terminal. The chemist’s is located on the ground floor near the departure lounge, and sells a complete range of products.
Departing passengers can put their luggage or packages into recyclable plastic bags to protect them from damage. Luggage storage, charged at $10 per hour, is available on the first floor. Transit（过境）passengers have free access to storage service.
Every international passenger, with the exception of children under 12 years of age, is required to make a payment of $25 when leaving New Zealand. This can be arranged at the National Bank on the ground floor.
As Auckland International Airport has adopted the “quiet airport” concept, there are usually no announcements made over the public address system. Details of all arrivals and departures are displayed on the monitors located in the terminal halls and lounge areas.
The airport meets the needs of business travelers and has several rooms available for meetings or business gatherings. These are located next to the airport medical center on the first floor. For information and bookings please contact the Airport Business Manager on extension 5294.
1. What can airport visitors do at AKL?| A．Have a meal on the first floor. |
| B．Store their luggage free of charge. |
| C．Hold meetings in the rooms next to the medical center. |
| D．Go downtown by taxi at a reasonable price. |
| A．$25. | B．$50. |
| C．$75. | D．$100. |
| A．To discuss the advantage of AKL. |
| B．To comment on AKL’s services. |
| C．To report some news about AKL. |
| D．To provide an introduction to AKL’s services. |
Fine. The big secret is out. A bunch of your finest scientists have cracked the case and discovered there is life tens of millions of miles away—here, on the beautiful planet of Venus. Yeah, no duh. Congrats on the big reveal. We have a polite request: Stay away.
We’re serious. We’re not interested. No missions to Venus, no exploratory spacecraft, no sleepovers. That goes for your space-crazed billionaires as well as your governments. If we wake up one morning and look out and see Bezos, Musk and Branson wandering around in bespoke spacesuits, we’re going to be really ticked off.
We mean no harm. We’re actually a very nice planet. It’s just that we’re not terribly impressed by what you’ve got going on down there. Earth looks like a mess. You’ve got health crises, environmental crises, political crises. You keep fighting about face masks. You haven’t figured out how to deliver french fries without having them get soggy and disgusting. No wonder so many of you want to abandon Earth for another planet.
Leave us alone. Keep right where you are.
We know you’d like it here. That’s what scares us. You’d all move to Venus in an instant. We’ve got beautiful weather (800 degrees Fahrenheit, like August in Scottsdale), light traffic, anaffordable cost of living. On Venus, you can buy a three-bedroom for, like, $135,000. That’s with a two-car garage and outdoor space.
But we live in a fragile solar system. We can only handle so much. If we start having you all up here, pretty soon, the Martians and Jupiterians are going to want to come, too. In the meantime, cool your enthusiasm. Tell Elon, Jeff and Sir Richard to settle down and stick to cars, books and planes. We’re not your escape plan. Venus is not Earth 2.
We wish you the best in figuring it out. We have every faith you can save your planet. If not, try Pluto. They’re pretty lonely and bored out there.
Sincerely,
Venus
1. What is the background of writing the letter?| A．The discovery of signs of life in Venus. |
| B．The happening of health crisis in Earth. |
| C．The wandering of space-crazed billionaires in Venus. |
| D．The launch of exploratory spacecrafts to Venus. |
| A．Extremely excited. | B．Deeply impressed. |
| C．Greatly shocked. | D．Particularly angry. |
| A．Scared and angry. | B．Humorous and informal. |
| C．Serious and formal. | D．Cheerful and playful. |
【推荐3】Many people hate the idea of having to sleep on a plane. But Swedish entrepreneur Oscar Dios thinks they can be persuaded otherwise and he has created a new kind of hostel to prove it.
Dios says it is the world’s first jumbo jet hostel, an actual jet-plane at Sweden’s main airport outside Stockholm which has been converted (改装) into a 25-room guesthouse that sleeps as many as 72 people.
“I learned about this plane that was standing abandoned at Arlanda airport and I’ve been trying the concept of hostels in many different houses and buildings, ”he told reporters. “I thought, ‘Why not a plane? ’”
Jumbo Hostels opened for business on Thursday, giving customers the chance to check in and sleep in a room that can best be described as cozy.
“The most challenging part with this project is trying to build something inside a metal hull (外壳)—it’s just really, really tight. ”
The jet, which was originally produced for Singapore Airlines, was taken out of service in 2002. One thing the hostel has going for it is price—a room starts at 350 Swedish crowns (about﹩41), which is a lot less than hotel rooms outside of major airports.
Another feature: customers can get married on the wing of the plane and live in the plane’s more luxurious honeymoon room situated in the cockpit (驾驶舱).
Instead of walking down the aisle (走廊), lovebirds can take what Jumbo Hostels calls the“wing walk”, where they can be joined in great joy at the wing tip. The hostel has someone ready to perform the ceremony.
But in some respects, this hostel remains a plane—most customers have to share the jet’s nine bathrooms and staff only wear air steward and stewardess clothes. The only room that has its own bathroom is the honeymoon suite.
1. Swedish entrepreneur Oscar Dios creates a new kind of jet hostel in order to______.| A．make people more comfortable |
| B．earn more money from people |
| C．change people’s idea of not sleeping on the plane |
| D．explore the sources of the universe |
| A．flying in the sky |
| B．hung in the sky |
| C．lying on the airport |
| D．buried underground |
| A．Stockholm Airlines |
| B．Singapore Airlines |
| C．Sweden Airlines |
| D．Oscar Dios Airlines |
| A．A new fashion of wedding in the plane. |
| B．For travelers, a new way to get a restful night. |
| C．A new way to enjoy yourselves. |
| D．How to change a plane into a hostel. |
【推荐1】Last week the electricity in my flat went out.
So for me it was an early night,
How would we survive in a world without electricity? Our daily lives go around it. We wouldn’t be able to function.
| A．Yet we know one day we will run out of it. |
| B．Our over-use of electricity is a big problem. |
| C．This left me in complete darkness the whole night. |
| D．It is a real problem to cut down on the use of electricity. |
| E．I know for sure I could cut down on my use of electricity. |
| F．I couldn’t help but think, do we rely too much on electricity? |
| G．I turn on the TV in the background even when Tm not watching it. |
【推荐2】A Day in My Wheel Chair
Alex Johnson was born with a rare disorder and got his first wheelchair when he was 7 years old. When he was 11, he arranged to get a bunch of borrowed wheelchairs and then invited his teachers and fellow students to spend a day in them.
Dozens of volunteers quickly learned how complicated it was for Alex to get around the school. Balancing a lunch tray while also rolling down the cafeteria line? Super tricky. Those who participated also learned about the aches and pains Alex struggles with daily. There’s also the arduous, if not impossible, task of rolling a manual wheelchair up and down slopes.
Doors are the worst, they said, because they’re heavy and difficult to pull open from a rolling chair. And although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) specifies that doorways need to be wide enough to allow a wheelchair and the person’s hands to pass through safely, but many doors in older buildings are just too narrow.
But making the world more accessible for wheelchair users is a public policy issue controlled by government officials, so Alex recently challenged the Tennessee House of Representatives to spend a day in wheelchairs. And 10 men and women took him up on it! For a full day, they worked at their desks and attended all their regular meetings in wheelchairs. The lawmakers had the same eye-opening experiences that Alex’s school pals had.
State Representative Clark Boyd said, “I expected it to be difficult, but I had no idea how frustrating it could be to just simply get around.”
Thanks to comparable wheelchair challenges around the world, more lawmakers are getting the opportunity to learn more about what it’s like for the millions of people living with a mobility disability. “My hope is that through my challenge we can make the world more accessible,” Alex said. “Together, we can change the world, one challenge at a time.”
1. In what way were the students’ experiences of spending a day in wheelchairs and the lawmakers’ experiences similar?| A．Gaining a better understanding of what life is like for disabled people. |
| B．Learning that making the world more accessible is government officials’ work. |
| C．Learning how tiring it is to roll a wheelchair to move around the school building. |
| D．Understanding what it’s like for Alex to balance a lunch tray while in a wheelchair. |
| A．compulsory | B．fruitless | C．ridiculous | D．challenging |
| A．To criticize the ADA for the narrow doors in buildings. |
| B．To show that Clark felt sympathy for wheelchair users. |
| C．To demonstrate that he had decided to change the public policy issues. |
| D．To convince the reader that lawmakers can make the world more accessible. |
【推荐3】Grandparents Answer a Call
As a third generation native of Brownsville, Texas, Mildred Garza never pleased move away. Even when her daughter and son asked her to move to San Antonio to help their children, she politely refused. Only after a year of friendly discussion did Ms. Gaf finally say yes. That was four years ago. Today all three generations regard the move to a success, giving them a closer relationship than they would have had in separate cities.
No statistics show the number of grandparents like Garza who are moving closer to the children and grandchildren. Yet there is evidence suggesting that the trend is growing. Even President Obama’s mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, has agreed to leave Chicago and into the White House to help care for her granddaughters. According to a study grandparents com. 83 percent of the people said Mrs. Robinson ‘s decision will influence the grandparents in the American family. Two-thirds believe more families will follow the example of Obama’s family.
“In the 1960s we were all a little wild and couldn’t get away from home far enough fast enough to prove we could do it on our own,” says Christine Crosby, publisher of Grate magazine for grandparents. We now realize how important family is and how important to be near them, especially when you’re raining children.”
Moving is not for everyone. Almost every grandparent wants to be with his or her grandchildren and is willing to make sacrifices, but sometimes it is wiser to say no and visit frequently instead. Having your grandchildren far away is hard, especially knowing your adult child is struggling, but giving up the life you know may be harder.
1. Why was Garza’s move a success?| A．It strengthened her family ties. |
| B．It improved her living conditions. |
| C．It enabled her make more friends. |
| D．It helped her know more new places. |
| A．17% expressed their support for it. |
| B．Few people responded sympathetically. |
| C．83% believed it had a bad influence. |
| D．The majority thought it was a trend. |
| A．They were unsure of raise more children. |
| B．They were eager to raise more children. |
| C．They wanted to live away from their parents. |
| D．They bad little respect for their grandparent. |
| A．Make decisions in the best interests’ of their own |
| B．Ask their children to pay more visits to them |
| C．Sacrifice for their struggling children |
| D．Get to know themselves better |
【推荐1】When you’re sitting in class or behind your desk waiting for the clock to strike a time when you can go home, it is natural that the mind can wander (走神) a bit. It is common for our mind to wander to a vacation and even travel the world. What if there is a way that you can travel the world without having to pay any money?
A person that managed to make it around the world without spending much was Shantanu Starick. How did he trade off his service? Starick realized that as a photographer he had a service that people would usually be willing to pay money for, but he would instead offer his photography service to anyone who could provide him with food, accommodation and transportation. Starick has been traveling for a surprising 30 months and has visited countries ranging from the United States to Ecuador.
In English-speaking countries, trading off service and communicating aren’t difficult for Starick. However, in farther areas where there isn’t an English-speaking person in sight it can be quite difficult. More than anything, the locals admire the effort behind trying to speak their language, even if he doesn’t exactly sound like a native speaker.
You can do it too!
Honestly, with a bit of confidence, drive and a skill you can trade, you’ll be able to do exactly the same as Starick.
Start thinking about what you can do to get around the world without paying money. With our social networks and the connectivity our world has, you can easily connect with and market yourself to people across the world without any effort.
1. What is the author's purpose in writing the first paragraph?| A．To introduce the topic. |
| B．To describe students in class. |
| C．To give an example of travelling. |
| D．To show peoples state of mind. |
| A．Give up. | B．Exchange. |
| C．Cut down. | D．Improve. |
| A．He is too poor to afford the travels. |
| B．He earns his living by traveling. |
| C．He travels without paying much money. |
| D．He can speak many languages. |
【推荐2】Put your hand over your heart and sit very still. You may notice that the sound of your heartbeat is similar to the beat of a drum. Your heart starts beating before you are born and continues throughout your life. For this reason, the beating of a drum stands for the rhythm of life for many people around the world.
In Ghana, a country in Africa, many schools use drums instead of bells to show the beginning and ending of class. Through the drum, the children of Ghana also learn about their history and culture. They hear old stories passed on through the music of the drum. The stories of the drum also teach children games, rules and lessons about behavior.
For thousands of years in Africa, drums have been used to tell stories of daily life and history. Drums told the coming of a king, the start of a war, or the birth of a child. They also allowed people to share messages. But how does a drum tell a story?
In West Africa, the most common drum used for communication is called a “talking drum”. By making higher or lower drum sounds, the drummer can make the drum “talk”.
In many African languages, words go up and down in pitch (高音) when they are spoken, almost like a song. Depending on the pitch or tone (音调), the same sound can have many different meanings. For example, when spoken with two low tones, the African word “ilu” means “drum”. When spoken with one high and one low tone, “ilu” means “town”.
Drum language works in the same way. Just as in spoken language, the word “ilu” has different meanings depending on how it’s drummed. When “ilu” is drummed with two beats using low tones, the word means “drum”. When “ilu” is drummed with two beats using one high and one low tone, it means “town”.
Drummers create “words” to build ideas, sentences and stories. The next time you hear a song, listen for the heartbeat within the music. Can you hear the story of the drum?
1. The first paragraph mainly tells us________.| A．drums beat like our hearts |
| B．drums have a long history |
| C．drums are widely used in the world |
| D．drums are important for many people worldwide |
| A．are not as useful as before | B．teach children a lot of things |
| C．help bring the war to an end | D．are used in class by teachers |
| A．how a word can have different sounds |
| B．how to speak African languages |
| C．how a drum tells stories |
| D．how to beat a drum |
| A．Know the history of the drum | B．Listen to the story of the drum |
| C．Beat the drum of life | D．Love me, love my drum |
【推荐3】From classic books like A Wrinkle in Time to classic movies like Back to the Future, children and adults both have been fascinated by the concept of time travel for hundreds of years. But is it even possible? Time travel sounds simple: you just move back and forth between different points in time like you would between different points in space. You could jump forward into the future, or you can jump back to sometime in the past.
Time travel sounds simple: you just move back and forth between different points in time like you would between different points in space. You could jump forward into the future, or you can jump back to sometime in the past.
Exactly how would this be done? Most artistic works that feature time travel finish it with the help of a special device usually called a time machine. The time machine features whatever technology has been developed to transport people successfully to other points in time.
But could time travel really happen? Some scientists believe that parts of Albert Einstein’s theories of special and general relativity might allow for the possibility of time travel. These theories are complex and very hard to understand. They involve unusual astronomical things like black holes and wormholes. Traveling faster than the speed of light might also be required.
It can be fun, though, to think about what problems might be presented by time travel. It may create an absurd situation. For example, let’s say that you travel back in time to the day your parents met. What if your showing up on the day your parents met caused a ripple (连锁反应) in time that led to them not meeting? If they had never met, you would never have been born. If you had never been born, how could you ever exist to travel back in time to cause the problem you just caused? Though it may sound confusing, we hope that any scientist who ever manages to make time travel possible works out these problems in advance.
1. What kind of film is Back to the Future most likely to be?| A．An action film. | B．A fantasy film | C．A historical film | D．A romantic film |
| A．Add a topic. | B．Give an example. | C．Explain a concept. | D．Make a conclusion. |
| A．Previous similar cases. | B．Detailed scientific report. |
| C．Some scientific theories. | D．Advanced space technology. |
| A．It will certainly come true one day. | B．It is a possible and absurd idea. |
| C．It will change some historical events. | D．It may cause confusion with time and space. |
