The 64-year-old, a former senior officer at the State Bank of India, talks about his disabled and wounded dogs like a father about his children-with the same love, affection, and warmth.
He’s a well-known animal rights activist. the Secretary at People for Animals (PEA). But nothing defines Mahendra better than his love for animals. It was this love that led him to establish India’s first shelter home for dogs living with disabilities.
It all started in 1998 when, while taking a midnight walk, Mahendra came across a very weak dog on the street. Mahendra decided to feed it and for the next couple of days it became the center of his life, until the night when he found it dead.
Since then, Mahendra started providing treatment to all wounded and sick dogs he came across. After some time, somebody told Mahendra about PFA, which is India’s largest animal welfare organization, chaired by Mrs Maneka Gandhi. Mahendra contacted her and, impressed by the work he was doing, Mrs Gandhi asked him to start a PFA chapter in Ahmedabad.
Thus, in 2014, he started the shelter. It took a long time for Mahendra to find land where the shelter could be set up. Finally, Ramesh Bhai Patel, a farmer from a village named Jundal, agreed to give his land for free. Along with a team of four doctors and many volunteers, the shelter now has twenty-five dogs that were unable to walk at all when they were brought in. Today, they’re slowly healing.
Dogs that have healed with proper treatment are sent back to where they came from if the environment there is safe. However, the shelter will be home to the disabled dogs for all their lives. says Mahendra.
The shelter runs on the money coming from Mahendra’s own pocket. He and his wife get a monthly income of 45,000 rupees each. There have been some financial crunches now and then but Mahendra is determined that no matter what challenges come their way, they’ll fight through.
1. What is the most outstanding quality of Mahendra?| A．His love for the disabled. | B．His affection for animals. |
| C．His enthusiasm about work. | D．His attitude towards money. |
| A．His contact with PFA | B．The death of many disabled dogs. |
| C．The encouragement of Mrs Gandhi. | D．An accidental meeting with a sick dog. |
| A．received support from the government | B．financed it out of his own funds |
| C．employed doctors from PFA | D．quitted his job |
| A．Aids. | B．Affairs. | C．Services. | D．Difficulties. |
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【推荐1】Australia is no stranger to wildfires. The country’s weather patterns create heat and dryness, which fuel occasional bushfires in a natural cycle. However, one that started last September continues to burn, and it may not be natural at all. Scientists say that man-made climate change has played a role in the fire’s creation and duration.
Peter Gleick, a US climate scientist, told Time, “the extent, the severity, and the intensity of these fires wouldn’t have been so bad without the fingerprints of climate change.”
According to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, the country’s temperatures have risen by more than one degree Celsius since 1920. The spring of 2019 was Australia’s driest in 120 years. In December, the country saw its hottest day ever, with an average temperature of 41.9℃.
“Due to enhanced (过度的) evaporation（蒸发）in warmer temperatures, the vegetation and the soils dry out more quickly,” Stefan Rahmstorf, a lead author of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report, told Time.
Worse still, researchers at the UK Bureau of Meteorology believe that wildfires like this might become “normal conditions” in the future, according to the BBC. They looked at 57 research papers published since 2013, which examined the relationship between climate change and the risk of wildfires. They found that the link between the two has already been observed in many parts of the world, including the western US, Canada, southern Europe, and even Scandinavia and Siberia.
“These are impacts we are seeing for one degree of global climate change. The impact will get worse if we don’t do what it takes to make the world’s climate stable,” Corinne Le Quere, a professor from the University of East Anglia in the UK, told the BBC. “What we are seeing in Australia is not the ‘new normal’. It’s a transition(过渡)to worse impacts.”
1. What was the wildfire starting last September related to according to scientists？| A．Air pollution. | B．Human activities. |
| C．Environment changes. | D．Natural cycle. |
| A．The meaning of climate change | B．The influence of climate change |
| C．The control of climate change | D．The possibility of climate change |
| A．Plants stayed as lively as usual. |
| B．Australia never suffered a hot day. |
| C．The plants and the soils became dry faster. |
| D．Every season became the driest in the year. |
| A．We might see more wildlife. |
| B．We were to see less disasters. |
| C．It could be impossible to see wildfires. |
| D．It would be more difficult to prevent wildfires. |
【推荐2】Last Thursday, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that six red wolf pups had been born in the wild. That’s great news for endangered red wolves and marks the first time these pups have been born in the wild since 2018. Since only 15 to 17 red wolves are still living in the wild, having six new wild-born pups is a huge deal.
Long ago, red wolves lived all through the US Southeast. But as the wolves were hunted, and as more and more land was taken over for cities, roads and farms, the wolves began to die out.
In 1973, a new law called the Endangered Species Act was passed. It was designed to protect animals that were in danger of dying out, like red wolves. At the time, there were only about 17 red wolves remaining in the wild.
Fourteen of those wolves were caught and kept in captivity (圈养) to protect them. The program was called the Red Wolf Recovery Program and led by FWS. By 1980, red wolves were believed to be extinct in the wild.
Luckily, the wolves did well in captivity, and their numbers continued to grow. Soon, the FWS began releasing (放生) red wolves back into the wild. Between 1987 and 1994, the recovery program released 60 adult red wolves.
Over time, those wolves spread out, paired up, and began to have pups. In 2008, there were 47 wild pups born. By 2012, red wolf numbers had hit a new high point of about 120 wolves in the wild.
Sadly, though, wild red wolf numbers began to drop again. Some wolves were shot and others were hit by cars. As the number of adults fell, the number of pups being born also began to drop. In 2018, a total of four pups were born in the wild. In 2019, 2020 and 2021, no wild pups were born at all. So, the news that six pups were born in the wild this year is a huge success.
1. What is the right order for the events described in the passage?① Six pups were born in the wild.
② 60 red wolves were set free into the wild.
③ 14 red wolves were caught.
④ The Endangered Species Act was passed.
| A．①③②④ | B．②③④① |
| C．③②④① | D．④③②① |
| A．It began in 1980. |
| B．It is a project started by the American government. |
| C．It aims to catch all the pure red wolves. |
| D．It was significant but ended in failure. |
| A．Most of them were killed by other animals. |
| B．Their habitat was destroyed. |
| C．Some adult wolves died in accidents. |
| D．They were caught by humans. |
| A．Endangered red wolf pups born in the wild. |
| B．Laws made to protect wild-born red wolf pups. |
| C．Reasons why red wolves are endangered. |
| D．The importance of protecting wild red wolves. |
【推荐3】Social distancing is not a new concept in the natural world, where infectious diseases are commonplace. Through specialized senses animals can detect certain diseases and change their behavior to avoid getting ill.
In 1966, while studying chimps (猩猩) in a Tanzanian national park, zoologist Jane Goodall observed a chimp named McGregor who had caught a highly infectious virus. His fellow chimps attacked him and threw him out of the troop. In one instance, McGregor approached chimps in a tree. He reached out a hand in greeting, but the others moved away without a backward glance.
“For a full two minutes, old McGregor sat motionless, staring after them,” Goodall notes in her 1971 book In the Shadow of Man. “It’s really not that different to how some societies react today to such a tragedy.”
Not all animals are so aggressive toward their ailing neighbors. Sometimes it’s as simple as avoiding those who may infect you.
When Kiesecker, a lead scientist in America, studied American bullfrog in the late 1990s, he found that bullfrogs could not only detect a deadly smell of infection in other bullfrogs, but healthy members actively avoided those that were sick. Bullfrogs rely on chemicals signals to determine who is sick or not.
Caribbean lobsters also shun diseased members of their community, well before they become infectious. It takes about eight weeks for lobsters infected with the deadly virus Panulirus argus mininuceovirus to become dangerous to others. Normally social animals, lobsters begin keeping away from the diseased as early as four weeks after infection – once the lobsters can smell certain chemicals released by sick individuals.
Overall, it’s important to note that, unlike us, animals don’t realize if they stay home, they might actually reduce the infection rate,” Kiesecker explains. “As humans, we have that ability. It’s a big difference.”
1. What can we learn about the chimps from Goodall’s observation?| A．They kept a distance from one another. |
| B．They became aggressive when infected. |
| C．The infected avoided contact with others. |
| D．The infected were forced to leave the group. |
| A．Avoid. | B．Cure. | C．Get rid of. | D．Get along with. |
| A．Humans are more sensitive to virus. |
| B．Humans are less likely to get infected. |
| C．Humans treat infectious diseases in a wiser way. |
| D．Humans can detect chemical signals more quickly. |
| A．Help Me Out |
| B．Leave Me Alone |
| C．Stay Away From Us |
| D．Stay Home Stay Healthy |
【推荐1】In March 2019, when Sara Cook first got a letter telling her that someone had paid off a part of her medical debt, she thought it was fake. “It seems like one of those e-mails you get saying you have a long-lost uncle and you’ve just inherited two million dollars.” Cook says. Cook called the number listed on the letter and what she learned was that this was not a scam.
A remarkable nonprofit organization called RIP Medical Debt had paid $ 5,000 towards her bills. RIP buys medical debts directly from hospitals at a steep discount, usually paying only a few pennies to retire each dollar of debt. Since 2014, it is estimated that they’ve spent only about $20 million to pay off nearly $1 billion in personal debts. Antic and Ashton, the founders, get their money from individuals and charities that support RIP’s mission. The $5,000 to pay off Cook’s bill was donated by a church in Michigan, which in 2019 raised $53,000, paying off $5 million in debt owed by thousands of people.
Don't bother contacting RIP for help, however. Now, RIP researches potential recipients (接受者) based on three criteria. First, they look for people who make no more than 2.5 times the amount established as the federal poverty level. Then they seek for those whose debt is equal to 5 percent or more of their total income. Third, they look to see whether a person is bankrupt.
For those who do qualify, RIP’s help is life-altering. “After their letter, I realized that my life really wasn’t that awful,” says Cook, who shares her story with anyone who has the willingness to listen. “I may be deprived of the chance to work as a nurse again, but I can sit at the school library and help kid read or serve up food in the soup kitchen. When people do something out of the kindness of their hearts, sometimes they may wonder whether it really makes a difference. I want people to know that this indeed has a positive impact.”
1. What does the underlined word “scam” probably mean?| A．Payment. | B．Cheat. |
| C．Reward. | D．Letter. |
| A．Why RIP performs the act of paying off medical debt. |
| B．Where RIP gets the money for the kindness. |
| C．How much RIP has paid for people’s medical debt. |
| D．How RIP carries out the act of paying off people’s debt. |
| A．Those who support RIP’s mission. | B．Those who struggle financially. |
| C．Those who contact RIP actively. | D．Those who get deadly diseases. |
| A．Goodbye, My Medical Debt | B．A Remarkable Organization |
| C．Cook, a Nurse of Misfortune | D．Antic and Ashton’s Kindness |
【推荐2】I first met Paul Newman in 1968, when George Roy Hill, the director of Butch Cassidy and the Sumndance Kid, introduced us in New York City. When the studio didn’t want me for the film-it wanted somebody as well-known as Paul-he stood up for me. I don’t know how many people would have done that. They would have listened to their agents or the studio powers.
The friendship that grew out of the experience of making that film and The Sting four years later had its root in the fact that although there was an age difference, we both came from a tradition of theater and live TV. We were respectful of craft(技艺) and focused on digging into the characters we were going to play. Both of us had the qualities and virtues that are typical of American actors: humorous, aggressive, and making fun of each other –but always with a feeling of fondness for each other,Those were also at the core(核心)of our relationship off the screen.
We shared the belief that if you’re fortunate enough to have success, you should give something back-he with his Newman’s Own food and his Hole-in-the-Wall camps for kids who are seriously ill, and me with Sundance and the institute and the festival. Paul and I didn’t see each other all that regularly, but sharing that brought us together. We supported each other financially and by showing up at events.
I last saw him a few months ago. He’d been in and out of the hospital. He and I both knew what the deal was, and we didn’t talk about it. Ours was a relationship that didn’t need a lot of words.
1. What brought Paul Newman and the author closer in the beginning?| A．Paul Newman offered him a lot of advice. |
| B．Paul Newman thought of the author as another well-known actor. |
| C．Paul Newman introduced the author to the director of a famous film. |
| D．Paul Newman supported the author when the studio didn’t want him for the film. |
| A．The reasons for the friendship between Paul and the author. |
| B．The activities Paul and the author participated in together. |
| C．The roles Paul and the author played in the films together. |
| D．The fun Paul and the author had together: |
| A．They were both strange and stubborn |
| B．They were both generous and helpful. |
| C．They were both selfish and inconsiderate. |
| D．They were both intelligent and adventurous. |
| A．A Shared Belief | B．A Mysterious Deal |
| C．A Lasting Friendship | D．A Strange Relationship |
【推荐3】There’s a secret spot in Ireland. And the locals don’t want you to know it exists.
I found it by chance. The Irish are world-famous for being a friendly nation and yet you hesitate as you climb to the top of a hill and see a fisherman storing his tools, the dog good-naturedly circling his feet. The camera comes out. The scene is so in line with the postcard Ireland you remember seeing pinned to the wall. Walking closer you drop the camera until you’re close enough to simply watch and listen. The water gently touches his boat. His tools hit the dock(码头), making ringing noises.
The dog has discovered you sitting so quietly on the hill and although he’s been playing in the water he knows no sense of politeness and runs toward you —only a slight delay in his step as his owner shouts out a command. It slows his progress toward you, but only slightly. That dog is about to give you the wettest and hairiest hug you’ve had in weeks.
The dog has opened the door to conversation now and as the dog leads you to the fisherman you glance toward the sound of an approaching car, his wife, here to pick him up and transport his catch back into town. The immediate polite conversations unfold—I’m an obvious American and don’t deny it, they’re curious as to why such a healthy and pretty young lady such as myself is wandering the cold hills in such a remote area of Ireland. “Single are ya? Well why in the world are ya traveling by yourself, you’ll never meet a man that way? ” demands the wife. She’s a tough customer and can’t understand my answer “because I enjoy it,” evidenced by her long-suffering sigh and a muttering(喃喃自语) about “young people”.
There’s a secret spot in Ireland, and I’m not going to tell you where it is. I’m not going to tell where it is because I know there’re other Irish towns out there just like it—all laced with joy of simplicity.
1. What is the writer’s identity?| A．A detective. | B．A traveler. | C．A journalist. | D．A fisherman |
| A．Rudeness. | B．Curiosity. | C．Envy. | D．Worry. |
| A．Full of secrets. | B．Not developed. |
| C．A place with simple joy. | D．A place with beautiful scenery. |
