【推荐1】For many travelers these days, finding a way to make travel more meaningful has become a top priority. They are increasingly pursuing journeys that include time to volunteer, work on a conservation project, protect endangered animals or to do other activities that allow for giving back while exploring a new part of the world. Here are some opportunities that combine travel with doing good deeds.

The Azores

The trips offer the opportunity to work on carefully selected projects alongside famous scientists while also enjoying encounters with some of the world’s most fascinating sea creatures in water. It allows participants to join a research team in the Azores that is studying the animals to support future conservation of the species. Advanced diving experience is required.

Red Sea, Egypt

Combining an opportunity for world-class diving with being part of an important research effort conducted by Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association, the seven-night trip includes learning how to gather water data with state-of-the-art scientific equipment and conducting onboard and underwater experiments.

Australia

Explore Queensland, Australia, while also supporting a registered charity that rescues farm animals from abuse (虐待), neglect, and situations where they’re in danger. Participants help with daily cleaning of barns (牲口圈) and cages, feeding, health checks, light repair, monitoring animals’ movements, and intensive care of ill, old and baby animals. The experience includes free accommodations with Wi Fi and a swimming pool.

Romania

Work with bears at Romania’s largest bear sanctuary (庇护所), a place that was created as a heaven for bears that have been abused. Located in the Carpathian Mountains, the sanctuary needs volunteers to help with preparing food, monitoring animal well-being and leading conservation tours. The sanctuary is home to 84 bears, with 20 more due to be rescued.

1. What do the last two trips have in common?

A．Both include conducting experiments.

B．Both provide free accommodations.

C．Both require advanced diving experience.

D．Both involve protecting animals from abuse.

2. Which place best suits a girl who likes sea creatures?

A．The Azores.	B．Red Sea.
C．Australia.	D．Romania.

3. What do volunteers need to do in the sanctuary in Romania?

A．They conduct experiments.	B．They gather water data.
C．They monitor animal well-being.	D．They need to clean barns and cages.

【推荐2】According to a team of researchers, an animal’s ability to perceive (感知) time is linked to their pace of life.

“Our results lend support to the importance of time perception in the animal kingdom where the ability to perceive time in a very short time may cause the difference between life and death for fast moving creatures,” commented the lead author Kevin Healy from Trinity College Dublin.

The study was conducted with a variety of animals using phenomena based on the maximum speed of flashes of light an individual can see before the light source is seen as a constant. Dogs, for example, have eyes with a refresh rate higher than humans.

“One example of this phenomenon at work,” the authors said, “is the housefly and its ability to avoid being hit.” The research showed “flies observe motion within a shorter time than our own eyes do”, which allows them to avoid being hit.

Professor Graeme Ruxton of the University of St Andrews in Scotland, who worked jointly on the research project, said in a statement, “Having eyes that send updates to the brain at much higher frequencies than our eyes do is of no value if the brain cannot process that information equally quickly. Thus, this work highlights the perceptual abilities of even the smallest animal brains. Flies might not be deep thinkers,   but they can make good decisions very quickly.”

In comparison, the tiger beetle (虎甲虫) runs faster than its eyes can keep up, basically becoming blind, which requires it to stop periodically to reevaluate its prey’s (猎物) position.

1. What is the research mentioned in the passage mainly about?

A．The pace of life of animals.

B．The impressive abilities of animals.

C．The lifetime of small animals.

D．The time perception of animals.

2. What does Kevin Healy’s comment mean in Paragraph 2?

A．The survival of fast moving animals relies on their ability to perceive time.

B．Animals with quicker pace of life have better perception of time.

C．The ability of animals to perceive time depends on their high moving speed.

D．Animals with the poor ability to perceive time have a shorter life.

3. Why can houseflies avoid being hit?

A．They can think very deeply before they act.

B．They can process the information as quickly as they receive it.

C．They can fly much faster than their eyes can keep up.

D．They can send information to the brain more quickly.

4. What will a tiger beetle have to do to catch a moving prey (猎物)?

A．Slow down to gain its time perception.

B．Prevent itself from becoming blind.

C．Stop occasionally to spot the prey again.

D．Try to run as fast as it can.

【推荐3】Can dogs and cats live in perfect harmony in the same home? People who are thinking about adopting a dog as a friend for their cats are worried that they will fight. A recent research has found a new recipe of success. According to the study, if the cat is adopted before the dog, and if they are introduced when still young (less than 6 months for cats, a year for dogs), it is highly probable that the two pets will get along swimmingly. Two-thirds of the homes interviewed reported a positive relationship between their cat and dog.

However, it wasn’t all sweetness and light. There was a reported coldness between the cat and dog in 25% of the homes, while aggression and fighting were observed in 10% of the homes. One reason for this is probably that some of their body signals were just opposite. For example, when a cat turns its head away it signals aggression, while a dog doing the same signals submission (服从).

In homes with cats and dogs living peacefully, researchers observed a surprising behavior. They are learning how to talk each other’s language. It is a surprise that cats can learn how to talk “dog”, and dogs can learn how to talk “cat”.

What’s interesting is that both cats and dogs have appeared to develop their intelligence.

They can learn how to read each other’s body signals, suggesting that the two may have more in common than we previously suspected. Once familiar with each other’s presence and body language, cats and dogs can play together, greet each other nose to nose, and enjoy sleeping together on the sofa. They can easily share the same water bowl and in some cases groom (梳理) each other.

The significance of the research on cats and dogs may go beyond pets-to people who don’t get along, including neighbors, colleagues at work, and even world superpowers. If cats and dogs can learn to get along, surely people have a good chance.

1. Which below is closest in meaning to the word “swimmingly” in Paragraph 1?

A．Smoothly.

B．Briefly.

C．Quickly.

D．Early.

2. When are some cats and dogs likely to fight with each other?

A．They are introduced at an early age.

B．They are cold to each other.

C．They misunderstood each other’s signals.

D．They stared at each other.

3. It is suggested in Paragraph 4 that cats and dogs ________.

A．are less different than we thought

B．have common interests

C．are less intelligent than we expected

D．have a common body language

4. What can we human beings learn from cats and dogs?

A．To live in peace with animals.

B．To live in harmony.

C．To know more about animals.

D．To learn body signals.

【推荐1】Many studies have shown how playing video games can lead to structural changes in the brain, including increasing the size of some regions, or to functional changes, such as activating the areas responsible for attention. New research from the University at Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) has gone further to show how cognitive changes can take place even years after people stop playing.

The study involved 27 people between the ages of 18 and 40 with and without any kind of experience with video gaming.

“People who were video gamers before adolescence, despite no longer playing, performed better with the working memory tasks, which require mentally holding and processing information to get a result,” said Marc Palaus, the author of the study.

The results show that people without experience of playing video games as a child did not benefit from improvements in processing and avoiding irrelevant stimuli. Indeed, they were slower than those who had played games as children, which matched what had been seen in earlier studies.

“People who played regularly as children performed better from the outset in processing 3D objects, although these differences were narrowed after the period of training in video gaming, when both groups showed similar levels,” said Palaus.

The study lasted a month and the researchers analyzed participants’ cognitive skills, including working memory, at three points: before starting the training in video gaming, at the end of the training, and fifteen days later. The video game used was Nintendo’s Super Mario 64.

According to Palaus, what most video games have in common is that they involve elements that make people want to continue playing, and that they gradually get harder and present a constant challenge. “These two things are enough to make it an attractive and motivating activity, which, in turn, requires constant and intense use of our brain’s resources.”

“Video games are a perfect recipe for strengthening our cognitive skills, almost without our noticing. However, it’s not the reason for playing too much,” he said.

1. What can be learned about the study?

A．It looks at different games.	B．It is aimed at adult gamers.
C．Its participants are adults.	D．Its author likes playing games.

2. How did people playing no video games as children behave in the study?

A．They tended to ignore irrelevant stimuli.	B．They failed to physically hold 3D objects.
C．They performed very slowly after training.	D．They did worse in working memory tasks.

3. What may Mare Palaus suggest doing?

A．Finding recipes for better cognitive skills.	B．Avoiding getting addicted to video games.
C．Trying less challenging video games.	D．For bidding video games for the young.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Playing Video Games as Kids Can Cause Changes in Brain

B．Video Gamers Memorize Information Much More Quickly

C．Video Games Help to Improve Children’s Working Memory

D．Playing Video Games Benefits Cognitive Skills Even Years Later

【推荐3】If you don't want people to know too much about you, then you had better keep your fridge contents secret according to a British market research document released last week.

Researchers peered(凝视) into the fridges of 400 people in Britain and compared the contents with the owners' lifestyles.

They say those people can be divided into five categories: nutrition nerds (no social sense), food faddiest (whatever's in style), martyr mums, fast food fanatics and restaurant regulars.

Nutrition nerds care much about what they put into their bodies. Their fridges are filled with fruit, vegetables and healthy meat.

People in this category tend to be highly organized and usually work in law or accountancy. The vast majority is single, but if they have a partner, that person will be similar.

A fridge full of vitamins-enriched juices implies its owner works in media or fashion. They tend not to eat the foods they buy. Known as the food faddies, they just want to be seen as purchasing the latest important things.

A fridge full of everything from steak to frozen fish suggests the martyr mum. Her fridge tends to be stocked with every kind of product, except what she herself would want.

This fridge suggests difficulty balancing family and work life. Fast food fanatics always buy mineral water for soda pop; the nearest they will get to fresh fruit is tomato sauce. Their fridges hint(暗示) at someone who works hard and plays hard. Also, someone who is not into long term planning.

Finally, a fridge filled with nothing more than a bottle of white wine and some sparkling mineral water implies an owner who is single, lives in a big city and enjoys the finer things in life. The fridge is empty because this person regularly eats in restaurants.

1. We can know from the first two paragraphs that                 .

A．some researchers are fond of staring at other people's fridges

B．people don't want others to know about their secrets

C．the food you put in the fridge has something to do with your character

D．there are mainly five kinds of lifestyles among British people

2. According to the passage, people who belong to food faddiest                 .

A．don't care much about money when buying things

B．will try their best to stay healthy

C．often stay up late to finish their job

D．prefer to ask others about what to do next

3. What will those who often eat out put in the fridge?

A．All kinds of food they like.	B．Only something to drink.
C．Fruit, vegetables and meat.	D．Food rich in vitamins.

4. What might be the most suitable title for the text?

A．Keep your fridge a secret	B．You are what's in your fridge
C．What to put in the fridge	D．Be careful about your fridge

【推荐1】About 20,000 years ago,much of Europe,Asia,North and South America was covered by huge sheets (片) of ice,each many kilometres thick.Since then,the ice has gradually melted and the ice sheets have retreated.Today,the only ice sheets on Earth’s land masses are found in Antarctica and Greenland.Some ice also occurs as glaciers in mountainous regions and as floating ice floes (浮冰块) in the Arctic Ocean and around Antarctica.

At first sight,these remote left-overs from the last Ice Age seem of little importance for most of us today.However,nothing could be further from the truth.Many scientists believe that our planet is warming as a result of the greenhouse gases that we are pumping into the atmosphere.If the planet becomes warmer,the ice sheets will start to melt,causing sea level to rise perhaps several metres by the end of this century.Such a rise would cause widespread flooding of low-lying coastal areas and threaten many large cities.

Observations from space suggest that parts of the major ice sheets are beginning to melt more rapidly.Meanwhile,recent satellite images have also shown that unusually large areas of sea ice have been melting during the Arctic summer.Although sea level will not be affected by the melting of the floating ice,there will be other important environmental changes.For example,ice sheets act like a mirror,reflecting sunlight and cooling Earth.If the ice disappears,Earth is likely to become warmer and major climate changes could occur.Wildlife living in the polar regions may also be destroyed.

1. What does the underlined word “retreated” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Grown.	B．Reduced.
C．Formed.	D．Disappeared.

2. What’s most common people’s attitude towards the ice sheets?

A．Optimistic.	B．Critical.
C．Sincere.	D．Unconcerned.

3. What would happen if the greenhouse gases continue to increase?

A．Vast amounts of land will be flooded.

B．Large cities in the world will disappear.

C．The sea level will drop to its lowest level.

D．Global temperatures will see ups and downs.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Ice sheets melt faster than floating ice.

B．The melting of floating ice isn’t damaging.

C．Sea ice melting will have disastrous effects.

D．Space research contributes to climate changes.

【推荐2】While the human world is suffering from the novel coronavirus outbreak, our planet is actually showing certain signs of "recovery" from the damage caused by human activity. According to BBC, new satellite images released by the European Space Agency showed that the levels of air pollutants and greenhouse gases have "fallen sharply" in major cities in Europe and the United Stated ever since the lockdown started.

This is a great example of how the world can change overnight as soon as people change their behavior—especially after recent discoveries in Antarctica. An international team of 89 scientists found that the ice in Greenland and Antarctica was melting six times faster in the 2010s than it was in the 1990s. And in February Argentina's Marambio research station in Antarctica recorded a record high temperature of 20.75℃ in the continent.

So what exactly will happen if the temperature keeps rising and the ice keeps melting? A third study might give you an idea. A team of scientists drilled a hole into the seafloor in west Antarctica and obtained material from underground, in which they found traces of roots, spores and pollen— typical products of a rainforest — that dated back to 90 million years ago. In other words, Antarctica was very likely a rainforest back when the dinosaurs walked on Earth. But given the fact that the South Pole has four months of darkness during winter — even millions of years ago—scientists believe that the rainforest could only exit if the greenhouse gas concentration were extremely high back then to keep the continent warm when there was little or no sunlight. "We didn't know that this Cretaceous greenhouse climate was that extreme," Johann Klages of the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany and a co﹣author of the research told the Guardian. "It shows us what carbon dioxide is able to do. "

Ice or no ice, Antarctica will be—and has always been fine with extreme changes. The human world, however, may not be. Now, during the coronavirus lockdown, we've seen the changes resulting from less human activity. Hopefully, we'll hold on to those changes—not for Antarctica or the planet, but for ourselves.

1. What does the author mainly want to tell us in Paragraph 1？

A．The novel coronavirus has spread all over the world.

B．The environment of our planet has improved greatly.

C．Europe and US should be responsible for the air pollution.

D．Reducing human activity does good to the environment.

2. What can prove that Antarctica was likely a rainforest 90 million years ago？

A．The traces of typical products of a rainforest.

B．The existence of high greenhouse gas concentrations.

C．The recording of extreme Cretaceous greenhouse climate.

D．The evidence of dinosaurs living in rainforests.

3. Which of the following would the author probably agree with？

A．Human activities don't cause much threat to Antarctica.

B．Little can be done to stop extreme change in Antarctica.

C．The lockdown can be used to slow down global warming.

D．We should reduce carbon dioxide emissions for our own sake.

4. What is the best title for the article？

A．Antarctica Is Melting at a Fast Speed

B．It Is Our duty to protect the Planet

C．Less Human Activity Makes Nature Recover

D．Lockdown Reduces Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gas

【推荐3】Some places in the world have strange laws. It's important for you to know about them before going there.

Whoever likes to chew gum (口香糖) may have to leave Singapore. The government really wants to keep the city clean and will fine you for chewing gum.

Before you leave for the United Arab Emirates, you'd better make sure you aren’t visiting during Ramadan (斋月). During that time you aren’t allowed to eat or drink in public. Tourists have been fined up to $275 for drinking in public.

In Thailand it's against the law to drive a car or motorcycle without a shirt on, no matter how hot it is. Punishments are different in different areas and can include warnings and tickets costing about $10. No joke--the local police will stop you.

Studies in Denmark have shown that cars with their headlights on are more noticeable by other drivers than those with their headlights off. Drivers there are required to leave their headlights on even during the day, or they may face a fine up to $100.

Make sure you know about these laws before your next trip. Better safe than sorry.

1. What is mainly talked about in the text?

A．How to make your trip around the world safe.

B．Why there are strange laws in the world.

C．Interesting places you can go to around the world.

D．Some strange laws you should know about for your trip.

2. If you are driving a car in Thailand, ________

A．you should wear your shirt even though it's hot

B．the police will play a joke on you

C．the police will give you tickets costing about $10

D．you should always keep your headlights on

3. What can we learn from the text?

A．In Thailand it's against the law to drive a car or motorcycle with a shirt on.

B．The Singaporean government cares a lot about its environment.

C．Tourists in the United Arab Emirates shouldn't eat in public.

D．You can turn your headlights off in daytime in Denmark.