Cities are diverse ecosystems. In addition to visitors from the wild, such as coyotes (丛林狼) in Los Angeles or boars (野猪) in Berlin, a large number of species share our urban areas. As our cities spread, we need to think about what it is like for other species to have human neighbors.
Because cities are built for humans, they do not always provide suitable habitats for wildlife. For example, most city parks are kept neat and tidy so that humans will find them beautiful. But when we cut grass or plant flowers, we destroy natural habitats.
Our actions sometimes help other species. When a bridge in Austin, Texas was repaired, engineers added small gaps running along the length of its bottom. This made a good home for bats, and soon the bridge was the home of thousands of bats. At first, people were afraid of the bats and tried to get rid of them. Now, they have come to value their winged neighbors. The bats are a tourist attraction, and they eat lots of bugs every night.
There are also structures built with the aim of bringing wildlife into the city. The Beijing Olympic Forest Park is a good example. The park used native plants and created open, natural spaces for wildlife. The result is a zone in Beijing with over 160 species of birds. In many ways, the park is the opposite of a zoo. Instead of being kept in cages, wildlife can move about freely.
Another example is a 2011 proposal for a tall “Birdscraper” building in New York. The building is intended to protect birds and fight pollution at the same time. It would be in the middle of a lake, birds would sit on it, and their droppings would fall into the water. The droppings would help water plants grow well and then create oxygen through photosynthesis (光合作用). If we learn to share our space, we can become better neighbors to the wildlife around us. If we do not, more species will become extinct and our own future will be endangered.
1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?| A．Other species like to have human neighbors. |
| B．There are many kinds of wildlife living in city areas. |
| C．Coyotes or boars always attack cities like Los Angeles or Berlin. |
| D．People should think about their neighbors when having visitors. |
| A．To get rid of the bats. |
| B．To make it an attraction. |
| C．To help other species to live conveniently. |
| D．To make it convenient for bugs to go through. |
| A．The structure of wildlife zoo in Beijing. |
| B．The parks built to grow native plants. |
| C．The wildlife of Beijing Olympic Forest Park, |
| D．The structures built to attract wildlife into city. |
| A．waste | B．voice |
| C．rubbish | D．appearance |
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【推荐1】The harsh winters and modern cities can make life tough for a wild animal, especially when they get lost and are outside their natural habitat for too long. Animal shelters are crowded with animals in desperate need of help, especially during the winter season.
One day, a man found a small owl (猫头鹰) that was soaking wet and appeared to be struggling. He brought it into a local shelter.
The owl weighed 245 grams, which was 33% more than the upper limit of what an owl that size should weigh. The reason for the weight gain was quite natural. The owl was eating too much. The winter had been unusually warm, and as a result, the area had a higher than normal population of mice.
The shelter staff put the owl on a systematic plan of diet and exercise, and it started to lose weight quickly. After some time, the owl was back to its normal health and was released back into the wild.
The question of whether this obesity issue is a strange result of climate change or just a coincidence (巧合) is difficult to say.
| A．Different types of animal shelters have different purposes. |
| B．Animal shelters are not just a place for injured or sick animals. |
| C．This meant that it was like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the little owl. |
| D．They are really important when animals struggle to survive in cold weather. |
| E．After a thorough check-up, the shelter staff found out that it was not injured at all. |
| F．However, it is clear that it is vital to care for wild animals and to ensure their safety. |
| G．However, recently, a wild animal was brought to a shelter for a very different reason. |
【推荐2】In December, the intense cold turns dripping water into ice within seconds. Yet, 63-year-old Ren Jianguo gets up early before 5 am every morning to sprinkle (撒) 150 kilograms of corn on the river banks to make sure thousands of migratory birds have enough energy to make it through the winter. Over the past 26 years, Ren has been one of many volunteers protecting migratory birds on Changbai Island, where local residents label him as “Uncle Bird”.
For Ren himself, a cottage near the riverbank has almost become his “second home”, a place from which he can observe the dynamics of the birds, provide help for injured birds, educate the public about bird conservation and, after a long day of work, light a fire and enjoy a warm meal. Winter is the busiest time for Uncle Bird. When the harsh season makes it difficult for birds to find food, he calls for donations or sometimes even pays for the food himself to guarantee their survival during the winter. “I simply want this to be a warm and welcoming place for birds when they choose to stay here for a temporary rest,” he said.
A report in 2021 shows that many migratory birds have changed their habit of just passing through China as they head to the Pacific Ocean or South Asia for the winter. Instead, more and more are choosing to spend winter within China’s wetlands. However, when Ren settled in the city in the 1990s, only hundreds of migratory birds would come every winter. Since then, China has stepped up protection of wetlands and nature reserves by introducing new regulations and high technology.
“Thirty years ago, it was impossible to see more than 8,000 birds together in the urban area. But now, thousands of the birds attract an increasing number of tourists every year. As long as they choose to stay in this city, there should be people to take care of them. However tough it is, I will stick to my choice and try to raise public awareness,” Ren said.
1. Why is winter the busiest time for Mr. Ren?| A．He has to receive more tourists. | B．He must treat more injured birds. |
| C．He needs to feed more migratory birds. | D．He is more engaged in observing birds. |
| A．Long distance. | B．High technology. |
| C．Food shortage. | D．Improved environment. |
| A．Migratory Birds Boost Tourism |
| B．“Uncle Bird” Devoted to Bird Protection |
| C．Great Achievements in Wildlife Protection |
| D．Environmental Impacts on Bird Migration |
【推荐3】When Yang Fan was taking a walk around the Yuliang Island, she saw a black swan (天鹅) in the grass. Yang Fan knew that swans could be fierce (凶猛的). But as she got close to this one, it didn’t move.
She was sure that the swan needed help. So Yang covered the bird’s head with her jacket to keep its cool, picked it up carefully, and held it in her arms. She decided to send it to the Animal Care Center, but the center was across the Han River, far from the park. She didn’t know how to carry the swan there. Luckily, some strangers driving by gave her and the swan a lift to a nearby bus stop.
On the bus, no one seemed surprised by “the unusual passenger”. Instead they were worried. Someone helped Yang Fan call the center on the way. And Li Tao, an animal-care manager, picked her up at the bus stop and drove them to the center. There, the animal doctors found that the swan was poisoned, caused by eating something used to kill mice. The swan was well looked after at the center. She even made a friend—a little dog. Thanks to people’s love and care, luckily, she was cured (治愈) two months later.
“It’s a moving story. Yang Fan travelled about two hours and it was really a long way.” Says Li Tao. “And all the strangers wanted to give her and the swan a hand.” He adds, “I am happy to see that more and more people have realized the importance of protecting the wild life since Xiangyang began to build the civilized (文明) city.”
1. Which is the correct order of the things that happened to the swan?①She was found by Yang Fan.
②She ate something wrong.
③She was cured.
④She made friends with a dog.
⑤She was sent to the Animal Care Center.
| A．①②⑤③④ | B．①⑤②④③ |
| C．②①⑤④③ | D．⑤②①③④ |
| A．困住 | B．中毒 | C．射伤 | D．掉队 |
| A．Yang Fan didn’t try her best to save the swan. |
| B．The swan could be helped in a much better way. |
| C．Li Tao cared more about the swan than Yang Fan. |
| D．People went out of their way to protect the wild life. |
| A．Ways to Protect the Animals |
| B．More Animal Care Centers Are Needed |
| C．A Swan Meets a City Full of Love |
| D．Efforts the Animal Doctors Have Made |
【推荐1】Gautam Shah had spent 20 years working in IT—and his whole life caring about nature. He saw advances in conservation that got mentioned only in science journals, “but the story lines within that data are amazing; they’re fascinating,” Shah says. ‘They’re absolutely things that can engage an audience. ”
Eager to use his techie skills for wildlife conservation, Shah—a National Geographic explorer—founded a game company called Internet of Elephants in 2016. The Kenya-based start-up designs digital experiences to tell real conservation stories based on real data. One example: Wildeverse, an improved reality mobile app like Pokemon Go, launched in April 2020. In the game, players can “track” apes (类人猿) by collecting environmental samples such as fruit and animal waste. Rather than putting lots of high-tech tricks in a game, Shah says, the company prioritizes (优先) telling an interesting, true story through whatever technology is best suited to it.
Shah believes that gaming has a unique ability to connect audiences with wildlife in a deep, personal way that will show much concern and advocacy. His goal is for Internet of Elephants to reach more than 50 million people by 2027.
Hopefully, he says, “we can create an entire industry where creating games and these types of digital experiences about wildlife conservation becomes as common things as creating a wildlife documentary. ”
1. We can learn from paragraph 1 that Gautam Shah ________.| A．has got a creative idea of doing something interesting |
| B．has found some amazing data in science journals |
| C．thought science journals should be amazing |
| D．had devoted his life to IT industry |
| A．To improve reality mobile apps. |
| B．To win more than 500 million online players. |
| C．To collect money for a wildlife conservation project. |
| D．To use digital experiences to promote wildlife protection. |
| A．Play high-tech tricks in the game. |
| B．Tell interesting, true stories about animals. |
| C．Find apes by following their movements. |
| D．Have “conversations” with many animals like apes. |
| A．Considerate and ambitious. | B．Creative and responsible. |
| C．Caring and tolerant | D．Curious and generous. |
【推荐2】Traditionally, it has been assumed that cultivating food leads to a loss of biodiversity and negative impacts on an ecosystem. In a recent study, researchers looked at 28 urban community gardens across California over five years and quantified biodiversity in plant and animal life, as well as ecosystem functions such as carbon sequestration (碳封存), food production, pest control and human well-being.
“We wanted to determine if there were any biodiversity and impacts on ecosystem function in those unban gardens,” says Shalene Jha, the lead author of the study in Ecology Letters. “What we found is that these gardens, which are providing tremendous nutritional resources and increasing well-being for gardeners, are also supporting incredibly high levels of plant and animal biodiversity. It’s a win-win.”
Previous assumptions by scientists about the negative effect of food production on bio diversity have been almost entirely based on intensive rural agriculture enterprises that tend to grow on one or two types of crops, often at a massive scale. Urban community gardens, private gardens, and urban farms and orchards tend to grow more types of plants in smaller areas. The new study is the first to explore the effects of urban gardens across a wide range of biodiversity measures and ecological services.
“It’s estimated that by 2030, about 60% of the world’s population will live in cities,” Jha says. “And urban farms and gardens currently provide about 15%-20% of our food supply, so they are essential in addressing food inequality challenges. What we’re seeing is that urban gardens present a critical opportunity to support both biodiversity and local food production.”
The study also found that the choices that gardeners make can have a large impact on their local ecosystem. For instance, planting trees outside crop beds could increase carbon sequestration without decreasing food production from too much shade. And covering only within crop beds could help improve soil carbon services, while avoiding negative effects on pest control.
1. What’s the purpose of the study conducted by Shalene Jha?| A．To analyze the cause of loss of biodiversity. |
| B．To increase well-being of gardeners. |
| C．To study the influence of urban gardens on ecosystem. |
| D．To quantify nutritional levels in plants and animals. |
| A．Inefficient pest control. | B．Intensive agricultural pattern. |
| C．Limited planting scales. | D．Unsatisfactory ecological services. |
| A．Urban gardens play a significant role in ecosystem. |
| B．Urban gardens will replace rural agriculture enterprises. |
| C．Urban gardens will be gradually decreasing. |
| D．Urban gardens provide the majority of our food supply. |
| A．Urban Farms Address Food Inequality |
| B．Urban Gardens Challenge Rural Agriculture |
| C．Urban Biodiversity Increases Well-being of Gardener. |
| D．Urban Gardens Boost Biodiversity |
【推荐3】The beauty industry produces many units of one-time use containers every year. More and more consumers are asking how they can keep themselves clean and beautiful without trashing the planet.
It’s a question Women of the Future winner, Natassia Nicolao, considered during her years working in product development for beauty and wellness companies. Raised by a strong and supportive mother, Natassia used her skills and passion to make a difference. In 2021, she created her waterless beauty brand.
She said, “Water is involved in every stage of a product life cycle. Everything we use, buy, sell and make has a huge water footprint. On top of that, the beauty industry adds water as the main ingredients in its products, despite it having no direct benefit to our skin.”
Having lived through water restrictions in drought-ridden Australia, Natassia felt it necessary to stop the overuse of water in the beauty industry. Natassia has always loved beauty. Her company tries to be sustainable in every step of the way, but at its core, it is about removing water from our beauty routines.
“It’s really rooted in water conservation first, and then managing your water footprint, your carbon footprint and your waste footprint,” Natassia said. “We create waterless beauty products to help conserve water.” The glass bottles and jars of her products can be recycled. The oils and wipes are formulated without any water, requiring no water to use. The company also has a piece of game-changing beauty technology: face-wipes and masks that completely dissolve in water.
“The company is still in its beginning,” Natassia said. With the prize money from Women of the Future, she plans to purchase a machine to simplify the creation of the wipes and masks. The publicity, meanwhile, will help her spread the message central to the company’s existence that beauty must do better. Natassia believes that, with a little courage and innovation, it can do.
1. What does the underlined word “trashing” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Studying. | B．Damaging. | C．Exploding. | D．Supporting. |
| A．Her pursuit of profit. | B．Her best beauty skills. |
| C．Her growth environment. | D．Her love of extreme beauty. |
| A．Environmentally friendly. | B．Relatively cheap. |
| C．Elegant. | D．World-famous. |
| A．It has died out. | B．It’s promising. | C．It develops well. | D．It’s worth analysis. |
【推荐1】Look up in the sky. See that French poodle? Before your eyes it morphs into an elephant. A few seconds later, it becomes the profile of Taylor Swift floating by. Cloud-watching has captured our imaginations since we were children. Many people even have found the International Cloud Appreciation Society.
In 2003 Gavin Pretor-Pinney was living in Rome while on holiday. After seven months glancing into the heavens at the mostly clear blue Roman skies, he discovered he missed the constantly changing cloud formations that were an everyday event in his native United Kingdom. He returned home and was engrossed in learning about clouds. The subject dominated his conversation for a year. Then a friend invited him to speak about clouds at a small literary festival. Pretor-Pinney titled his presentation "The Inaugural Lecture of the Cloud Appreciation Society." Afterward, he had to inform audience members who wanted to join the society that it did not exist. A few months later he launched a website, and the society was born. Five years ago it became his full-time occupation.
Today, the Cloud Appreciation Society enjoys a membership of more than 50,000 people scattered in 120 countries, all united through their appreciation of celestial mist. It is divided into local groups that include a chapter in St. Louis, and another in central Missouri. Illinois cloud spotter groups are near Chicago.
Pretor-Pinney thinks of the society as reconnecting people with their early relationship to the sky as children finding images in the clouds. "Clouds are for dreams, and a deep thinking of them benefits the soul. If you consider the shapes you see in clouds, it will save you money on psychoanalysis bills," Pretor-Pinney jokes.
In a positive Ted Talk about the Cloud Appreciation Society accessible on the Internet, Pretor-Pinney points out that clouds are common to everyone no matter where they are in the world. They are the most egalitarian (平等主义者) of nature's displays, because people all have a fantastic view of the sky.
1. What is the purpose of Paragraph 1?| A．To explain a natural phenomenon. | B．To recommend an international society. |
| C．To lead in the main topic of the text. | D．To stimulate readers' imaginations. |
| A．Was involved in. | B．Was absorbed in. | C．Took pride in. | D．Participated in. |
| A．The Cloud Appreciation Society enjoys popularity. |
| B．The Cloud Appreciation Society has three groups. |
| C．The society attracts a lot of children with dreams. |
| D．The society helps people save money and heal their souls. |
| A．A fantastic cloud-watching society | B．A group full of imagination |
| C．A society benefiting souls | D．A positive Ted Talk |
【推荐2】Olivia de Havilland, the honorable and strong-willed Oscar-winning actress and last surviving star of Gone with the Wind died in her sleep on Saturday, July 25, 2020. She was 104.
During a screen career that lasted for more than 50 years, de Havilland won two Best Actress Oscars, her first for 1947’s To Each His Own and then for 1950’s The Heiress.
De Havilland and Fontaine, a Best Actress winner for 1942’s Suspicion, claimed a statue in the lead-acting categories. De Havilland was nominated (提名) for a total of five Academy Awards. Other notable awards include The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Snake Pit.
Her most famous screen image was Melanie Wilkes in Gone with the Wind. Released in 1939 when de Havilland was just 23, the Civil War epic won eight Oscars and remained as the all-time box-office champ for more than 25 years. The movie remains Hollywood’s top money-maker, though this year it has been at the center of controversy regarding its description of slavery.
Born July 1, 1916, in Tokyo to British parents, de Havilland first made an impression as the girl to Errol Flynn’s arrogant boy in a series of films, starting with 1935’s Captain Blood, and including the early color entry 1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood.
In 1944, a de Havilland complaint against Warner Bros resulted in a court ruling that said studios couldn’t unilaterally (单方面的) keep their stars under contract for longer than seven years. After challenging the situation then, de Havilland saw career grow to greater heights. Both of her Oscars and three of her nominations came in the wake of the court case.
In the 1950s, de Havilland moved to Paris for a marriage that didn’t last. And while she returned to Hollywood for work, she never returned to the industry town to live.
Like many actresses of her time, de Havilland turned to thrillers and horror in the 1960s. The 1970s saw turns in the all-star disaster movies Airport’77 and The Swarm. Audiences of 2017’s Feud saw de Havilland acted by Catherine Zeta-Jones.
1. In which film did de Havilland win Best Actress Oscars first?| A．Gone with the Wind. | B．The Heiress. |
| C．The Adventures of Robin Hood. | D．To Each His Own. |
| A．It reflects the life of slaves. | B．It describes the Civil War. |
| C．It remains box-office champ for 25 years. | D．It proves the cruelty of war. |
| A．She was disappointed at her social status. |
| B．She made greater achievements in her career. |
| C．She lost interest in living in Hollywood. |
| D．She stopped contact with studios. |
| A．Love. | B．Horror. | C．Disaster. | D．War. |
【推荐3】While it may seem like only a handful of languages are used around the world, the reality is that a vast number are spoken by people in different countries and cultures. In fact, linguists suggest that around 6,500 languages are now used for daily communication. The diversity in languages, however, is declining. Over 400 languages were lost over the last 100 years, and about 50% of the languages remaining today are expected to disappear over the next century. In other words, one language will go extinct every two weeks.
Thousands of the current living languages are spoken by indigenous individuals. These languages are usually only spoken at home by older generations and not taught in schools, and thus children do not become fluent speakers. Additionally, once they become adults, they are less likely to need knowledge of the indigenous language in their daily lives and instead adapt more commonly spoken tongues like English. Because of this movement toward more powerful languages, the language will become extinct over time.
Researchers are currently recording and documenting some of the most severely endangered languages to ensure a record remains after the last speaker is long gone. The idea behind this practice is that the language could be revived at some point in the future if a person or group of people should be interested in bring the tongue back to life. Another way of protecting languages is by teaching children the language. By encouraging children to study and become fluent in a language, linguists hope it will survive through them and be passed along to future generations.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．The reason for language dying. | B．The influence of powerful languages. |
| C．The approach to saving languages. | D．The analysis on language speakers. |
| A．Reintroduced. | B．Preserved. | C．Mastered. | D．Invented. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By analyzing cause and effect. |
| C．By making comparison. | D．By presenting problem and solution. |
