After erupting almost continuously for over three decades — from 1983 to 2018 — Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano finally seemed to lose steam , producing no lava (岩浆) for nearly two years. The stillness ended on the night of December 20, 2020, when the active volcano began erupting lava fountains, gas and steam from a crack in the northwest wall of the Halema’uma’u crater (火山口).
By December 31, 2020, the volcano had erupted over 27 million cubic meters of molten rock — enough to fill more than 8000 Olympic-sized swimming pools — and replaced the existing water lake with a nearly 600-foot-deep lava lake. Fortunately, the magma (岩浆) is contained inside the volcano’s crater and does not bring a risk to people or property as it did in 2018, when the molten rock flowed through a residential neighborhood, destroying over 700 homes.
Residents have, however, been asked to limit outdoor activities in areas with high volcanic smog, which is a form of air pollution created when sulfur dioxide and other pollutants sent out from volcanic activity interact chemically with atmospheric steam, oxygen, dust, and sunlight. While not deadly, it can bring unpleasant feelings to skin, eyes, nose and throat, and it can be particularly harmful to individuals with breathing problems.
Now recognized as one of the world’s youngest and most active volcanoes, Kilauea was initially believed to be one offshoot of a bigger volcano. It was only after researchers discovered a magma system extending over 37 miles inside its crater in 1884 that the volcano was finally accepted as a separate unit.
Many locals believe that Kilauea’s eruptions are caused by Pele, a Hawaiian volcano goddess who lives in the mountain. According to a popular folk story, the goddess was forced to leave Tahiti. Upon arriving at Hawaii, she burst with anger, creating destructive fire caves and volcanoes. While Pele was killed during an historic battle with her sister Nāmaka on the island of Maui, her spirit lives on inside the Halema’uma’u crater.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?| A．The volcano is located near a lake. | B．Kilauea was completely dead in 2020. |
| C．Magma seldom erupts out of craters. | D．The 2018 eruption did some damage. |
| A．The roads were ruined after the eruption. | B．The volcano may erupt at any time. |
| C．The volcanic smog can be harmful to people. | D．The atmosphere outside was deadly. |
| A．Branch. | B．Mixture. | C．Ancestor. | D．Product. |
| A．How Kilauea got its name. | B．Why Kilauea became active. |
| C．The origin of Kilauea. | D．A tale about Kilauea. |
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【推荐1】Bats are nature's pest hunter. Every night they fly out of their caves to enjoy millions of insects, including some harmful ones. But habitat（栖息地）loss and climate change, as well as infectious diseases are preventing them from doing their job. A new study adds another item to the list wildfires. But not too many—too few.
In California's Sierra Nevada, bats have adapted to occasional fires. But a century of fire-suppression（抑制）policies has kept some areas unburned for long periods, resulting in thicker forests and undergrowth. "We wanted to see how these changes might be influencing bat biodiversity." says ecologist Zack Steel in University of California, who conducted the research.
Steel and his colleagues tracked bats for over four years at six spots in Sierra Nevada. Three of the areas had been recently hit by wildfires, and three remained unburned.
Seventeen bat species call these forests home. The study revealed that eight of them tended to frequent the unburned areas, whereas 11 used the burned areas（some species visited both）. "We expected to see one group of species benefiting from fire—the more open-habitat-adapted species—and another group to be negatively affected by fire and prefer the unburned areas," Steel says. "But even some of those species were occurring more often in burned areas.”
What is ideal, the researchers write, is a combination of unburned areas and ones burned at different levels of severity. The results were published last December in the journal Scientific Reports.
"When there are changes in habitat after a fire, many species benefit in different ways," says University of Connecticut biologist Andrew Stillman. "On the whole, the community becomes more diverse, and that's a good thing for the landscape.”
Extinguishing wildfires early leads to some species losing out on food and resources. "Fire is a natural part of the ecosystem, and many animals require the disturbance from fire to create the types of habitat that they need," Stillman adds. "It shows another negative consequence of keeping wildfire away from fire-adapted forests in California."
1. What can we learn about the research from the text?| A．The researchers kept track of the bats for six years at four spots. |
| B．11 bat species visited both of the burned and unburned areas. |
| C．The result of the study was out of the researchers' expectation. |
| D．The unburned areas were preferred by most of the bat species. |
| A．Stopping. | B．Observing. |
| C．Causing | D．Catching. |
| A．Negative. | B．Positive. |
| C．Cautious. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．California Forests | B．Bush Fires |
| C．Burn Benefits | D．Bats' Habitats |
【推荐2】The unpredictable nature of disasters is stressful.
When a hurricane is approaching, people in its direct path are often all heading in the opposite direction, which means the traffic on the way out can be extreme.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, winter storms create a higher risk of car accidents and several health conditions such as heart disease.
| A．So, if you’re going to leave, leave early. |
| B．That’s why having an action plan in place is so important. |
| C．To help minimize your risk, you’re advised to stay indoors. |
| D．Cover as much skin as you can with hats, warm socks, gloves, etc. |
| E．During a flood, it’s best to go to a high floor, ideally near a window. |
| F．You can see if your home has a high flood risk through the flood maps. |
| G．It’s important to ensure that all family members “know the plan inside and out.” |
【推荐3】Hurricane Harvey. Hurricane Irma. Hurricane Sandy. These names for hurricanes might sound lovely, but they're not in a mess. So how do scientists pick which name to use?
In the beginning, hurricanes in the West Indies were named after the saints' names when the storm hit. For example, there were two Hurricane San Felipes in Puerto Rico-one that hit on September 13, 1876, and the other that hit on the same day in 1928. By the 1900s, Australian scientists started a new system. Instead of naming hurricanes after the saints, they started using women's names, and the United States followed in 1953. By 1979, men's names were added to the list.
Later, the World Meteorological Organization(WMO) came up with a group of names before the storms hit. The group has six lists with 21 names each—one for every letter except Q, U, X. Y, and Z—to be used each year in the Atlantic. So some of the next Atlantic hurricane names you can expect to see are Katia, Lee, Maria and Ophelia.
The Pacific Hurricane gets its name from six different lists, which include every letter except Q and U. Every time a storm hits, scientists take a name down that year's list. So some of the names for the Pacific Hurricanes this year are: Hilary, Irwin, Jova and Kenneth.
Once six years go by? the naming starts again with the first list. For example, one of the Atlantic Hurricanes was Arlene, and that will be the name for the first hurricane in 2023, too. If there happens to be more than 21 hurricanes in one year (or 24 in the Pacific) , the rest will come from the Greek letters.
Now that the lists are made, it's hard to change the names. The lists only change if there's a particularly bad storm. The WMO decides if it will take any names off the list during its meeting every year.
1. What were hurricanes named after in the West Indies at first?| A．Men's names. | B．The Greek letters. |
| C．Women's names. | D．The saints' names. |
| A．Queen. | B．Ulaina. | C．Selian. | D．Yachila. |
| A．By borrowing the Greek letters. | B．By naming after a famous person. |
| C．By using names like Katia or Ophelia. | D．By choosing a name from the six lists. |
| A．They can't be reused. | B．They were made by American scientists. |
| C．They can't be changed. | D．They are different in the Pacific and the Atlantic. |
She found that personality had a major impact on learning. The braver baboons learnt, but the shy ones did not learn the task although they watched the baboon perform the task of finding the novel food just as long as the brave ones did. In effect, despite being made aware of what to do, they were still too shy to do what the experienced baboon did.
The same held true for anxious baboons compared with calm ones. The anxious individuals learnt the task by observing others while those who were relaxed did not, even though they spent more time watching.
This mismatch between collecting social information and using it shows that personality plays a key role in social learning in animals, something that has previously been ignored in studies on how animals learn to do things. The findings are significant because they suggest that animals may perform poorly in cognitive (认知的 ) tasks not because they aren’t clever enough to solve them, but because they are too shy or nervous to use the social information.
The findings may impact how we understand the formation of culture in societies through social learning. If some individuals are unable to get information from others because they don’t associate with the knowledgeable individuals, or they are too shy to use the information once they have it, information may not travel between all group members, preventing the formation of a culture based on social learning.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?
| A．The design of Dr. Carter’s research. |
| B．The results of Dr. Carter’s research. |
| C．The purpose of Dr. Carter’s research. |
| D．The significance of Dr. Carter’s research. |
| A．Those that have more experience. |
| B．Those that can avoid potential risks. |
| C．Those that like to work independently. |
| D．Those that feel anxious about learning. |
| A．Some baboons are intelligent but slow in learning. |
| B．Some baboons are shy but active in social activities. |
| C．Some baboons observe others but don’t follow them. |
| D．Some baboons perform new tasks but don’t concentrate. |
| A．storing information |
| B．learning from each other |
| C．understanding different people |
| D．travelling between social groups |
“There are factors present in blood from young mice that can recharge an old mouse’s brain so that it functions more like a younger one,”says Dr. Tony from Stanford University School of medicine. In the study published in Nature Medicine, mice aged 18 months were given injections of the blood taken from mice aged 3 months. The injected mice performed better on memory tests than mice of the same age that had not been given the blood. Dr. Tony said it was not known whether the same was true of humans, but a trial was planned.
A research center in UK said the treatment restored certain aspects of learning and memory in mice, but was of unknown importance to humans. The research, while very interesting, did not test the type of brain damage that was seen in dementia, which is not a necessary consequence of ageing.
Meanwhile, two similar studies by a separate team have thrown more light on how young blood may benefit the old, in mice at least. A substance in the blood of mice previously shown to have an anti-ageing effect on heart muscle also improved brain cells, according to a Harvard team. The research, published in Science, found the blood factors encouraged the growth of brain cells in old mice, and restored their sense of smell. The same chemical also improved muscle power of aged mice, the researchers found.
1. The underlined word in paragraph 1 probably means _________.
| A．change | B．destroy |
| C．speed | D．increase |
| A．proving the possibility to live longer. |
| B．showing the importance of scientific research. |
| C．publishing the study in Nature Medicine. |
| D．treating an age-related disease successfully. |
| A．memory | B．muscle power |
| C．fur color | D．brain cells |
| A．supportive | B．objective |
| C．negative | D．doubtful |
【推荐3】Men’s consumption (消费) habits are doing more harm to the planet than women’s, according to a new study from Sweden.
For the study, consumption-based greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions (排放) were measured for the average individual, the average single man, and the average single woman. These were estimated (预估) to be 6.9, 10, and 8.5 tons per capita per year respectively, and more than half of those amounts were due to food, holidays, and furnishings.
What’s interesting is that single men and women spend similar amounts of money on consumer goods, but men’s choices lead to 16% more GHG emissions than women’s. That is because they choose to spend money on things like cars and driving, rather than taking public transportation or trains, as women are more willing to do. More of men’s money goes toward alcohol, tobacco, and eating out, while women are used to spending on clothes, home furnishings, and health-based purchases.
Curiously, there were no major differences in the carbon footprints of men’s and women’s diets. While men tend to eat more meat, women make up for that in dairy products.
Lead study author Annika Carlsson Kanyama said she wasn’t surprised by the findings because previous research had shown similar differences between single men and women regarding energy use, rather than emissions related to consumption.
Kanyama expressed shock at the fact that more studies haven’t been done on gender differences in environmental effect.“There are quite clear differences and they are not likely to go away in the near future.”
The purpose of the study was to examine where individuals could make changes to their consumption habits in order to reduce their carbon footprints. The researchers found that switching to plant-based diets and train-based holidays can reduce emissions by 40%.
Kanyama said she hopes the study findings can “make people aware that their consumption matters for climate change and that there are affordable choices for change on the market.”
1. In which aspect are single men similar to single women?| A．The habits they have in investment. |
| B．The diets they prefer in their daily life. |
| C．The transport means they are in favor of. |
| D．The money they spend on consumer goods. |
| A．Men seldom show interest in dairy products. |
| B．Single men and women are different in energy use. |
| C．The gender differences had existed for such a long time. |
| D．There’re limited studies about gender differences in environmental effect. |
| A．To compare people’s consumption habits. |
| B．To explore ways to reduce carbon emissions. |
| C．To persuade people to turn to plant-based diets. |
| D．To show the seriousness of the global warming. |
| A．Men’s Bad Habits Cause More Damage to the Planet |
| B．Human Habits Are Having a Bad Effect on the Earth |
| C．Men’s Consumption Habits Are Worse for the Environment than Women’s |
| D．The Environment Is Becoming Worse Because of Men’s Bad Habits |
【推荐1】Children will become more and more independent and will do what they would like to do. However, as parents, you ought to take care of your own children and have a better understanding of them in the following cases.
School work becomes increasingly difficult as children grow up. So this is a time when some kids begin to do better in their school work while others struggle to understand more advanced and more difficult lessons. When they get home, talk with them about their school lessons and find out what they don’t understand. It’s a chance for you to stay close with your children as before and get them to relax.
For many families, homework can be a serious struggle. Many school-age kids are reluctant to sit down and study for a spelling test or complete their math homework. It’s natural for them to be bored with their homework, but you have to think of ways to help them form the right habit to finish their homework when they get home.
Many kids are busy with sports, music, and after-school activities. Others, however, may prefer to spend too many hours on the screen. It’s important to keep kids active at this age.
Friends become a bigger deal for children during this time too. Attending birthday parties or playing with kids on the playground can be good for their development.
Bullying (恃强凌弱的行为) can become a problem around this age. It’s important to talk to your child about kindness and respect so he doesn’t become a bully and it’s also quite necessary for you to talk about what he can do if he becomes a target.
1. What would happen with school lessons getting more difficult?| A．Children are divided in their school lessons. |
| B．Children have more homework to do at home. |
| C．Parents have more chances to show themselves. |
| D．Parents find it more difficult to teach their children. |
| A．Excited. | B．Worried. | C．Unwilling. | D．Interested. |
| A．Spend more hours on the screen. |
| B．Be active both mentally and physically. |
| C．Organize parties at home and school. |
| D．Bully other students at school. |
| A．Students. | B．Teachers. | C．Parents. | D．Office workers. |
【推荐2】People have dreamt of flying since written history began. In the 1400s, Leonardo da Vinci drew detailed plans for humman flying machines. You might have thought the invention of mechanised flight would have put an end to such ideas. Far from it. For many enthusiasts, the ultimate flight fantasy is the jet pack, a small piece of equipment on your back which enables you to climb into the air and fly forwards, backwards and turn. Eric Scott was a stuntman in Hollywood for about a decade and has used jet packs to fly into the air more than 600 times. Now he works for an energy drink company that pays him to travel around the world with his jet pack. As Scott says, “I get to do what I love and wherever I go I advertise Go Fast drinks. Existing packs work for little more than 30 seconds, but people are working on designs which could let you fly around for 20 minutes. That would be amazing.”
Paramotoring is another way of getting into the air. A paramotor combines the paraglider with a motor which provides enough force and is now becoming popular. Chris Clarke has been flying a paramotor for five years. “ Getting about is roughly comparable with driving a petrol-powered car in terms of expense. The trouble is that paramotoring is ill-suited to commuting because of the impossibility of taking off in strong winds,” says Clarke.
Another keen paramotorist recently experienced a close call when in the air. “I started to get a warm feeling in my back,” says Patrick Vandenbulcke. “ I thought I was just sweating. But then I started to feel burning and I realised I had to get to the ground fast. After an inspection of the engine later, I noticed that the exhaust pipe had moved during the flight and the equipment had started melting.” This hasn’t put Vandenbulcke off, however, and he is enthusiastic about persuading others to take up paramotoring.
Fun though it is, the sport fails to satisfy many fliers because they cannot soar as swiftly as birds. Then emerged jet-powered flying, a new technology equipped with jet turbines and special wings, just like those of a bird. Yves Rossy, who has been labelled “the Birdman”, is widely recognised as the first jet-powered flying man.
In May 2008, he stepped out of an aircraft at about 3000 metres. Within seconds he was soaring and diving at over 290 kph, at one point reaching 300 kph, about 104 kph faster than the typical falling skydiver. His speed was monitored by a plane flying alongside. Rossy started his flight with a free fall, and then he powered four jet turbines to keep him in the air before releasing a parachute which enabled him to float to the ground. The jet turbines were attached to special wings which he could unfold. The wings were made by a German firm called JCT Composites. Initially he had consulted with a company called Jet-Kit which specialised in small planes, but the wings they made for him weren’t strong enough to support the weight of the engines. Rossy says he has become the first person to keep a stable horizontal flight, thanks to carbon foldable wings. Without these special wings, it is doubtful he would have managed to do this.
Rossy’s ambitions include flying down the Grand Canyon, and to do this, he will have to fit his wings with bigger jets. The engines he currently uses already provide enough thrust to allow him to climb through the air, but then he needs more power to stay there. In terms of the physical strength involved, Rossy insists it’s no more difficult than riding a motorbike. If he makes it, other fliers will want to know whether they too will someday be able to soar. The answer is yes, possibly, but it is unlikely to be more than an expensive hobby.
1. What does Eric Scott expect of the jet pack?| A．It can be used in advertising. | B．It can allow fliers to fly longer. |
| C．It can replace mechanised flight. | D．It can be accepted by Hollywood. |
| A．The wings produced by JCT Composites. | B．The assistance from a plane flying alongside. |
| C．The special jet turbines provided by Jet-Kit. | D．The guidance offered by a falling skydiver. |
| A．How to land his aircraft safely. | B．How to improve his motorbike. |
| C．How to make the jets more powerful. | D．How to use his wings to climb in the air. |
| A．Can Yves Rossy succeed again? | B．Is jet-powered flying safe enough? |
| C．Is flying with jet turbines an expensive hobby? | D．Can humans fly long distances without a plane? |
【推荐3】Cycling has become more popular in the UK recently for a number of reasons. One of those must be the British cycling success at both the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and the London Olympic Games in 2012. Sir Chris Hoy won three gold medals in Beijing and another two in London. He and Jason Kenny are the most successful Olympic cyclists of all time. The UK also won the Tour de Frances six times.
Cycling is not just a sport though, and Tony is just one of the many people who like to cycle long distances because they want to enjoy the natural beauty of the UK. He belongs to Sustrans? a volunteer organization created in the 1980s. Sustrans has combined quieter roads and disused railway tracks to create the National Cycle Network of cycle-friendly routes. Cyclists follow these routes to raise money for charity, but also because they enjoy the scenery across England and like to get away from the busy city life.
Connie lives and works in London and, like half a million Londoners every day，she travels to and from work by bike. Since the introduction of the Congestion Charge where drivers pay to bring a car into the center of London during working hours in 2003, the capital city has seen an almost 50 percent increase in the number of people traveling by bike. Cycling to work takes the same amount of time as it would by bus or tube. Connie says that cycling is cheaper and keeps her fit, too.
Nigel is a campaigner. In addition to traveling to and from work by bicycle, doing some charity rides and generally enjoying cycling, Nigel runs a local campaigning group and helps organize the ‘critical commute’ ---where cyclists gather every last Friday of the month and cycle into work together. For Nigel, cycling is about saving the planet, a cost-effective way of reducing our carbon footprint today.
1. All the factors have contributed to the growth in the number of cyclers in the UK except __________.| A．the cycling success in big sports events |
| B．the desire to join organizations and earn money |
| C．the introduction of the Congestion Charge |
| D．the awareness of protecting the environment |
| A．For health concern. |
| B．For convenience. |
| C．For financial considerations. |
| D．For time management. |
| A．Jason Kenny & Tony. |
| B．Chris Hoy & Connie. |
| C．Connie & Nigel. |
| D．Tony & Nigel. |
