【推荐2】A “fierce queen” named “128 Grazer” has been crowned the fattest bear of all of Katmai National Park in Alaska. Grazer, a mama bear to two litters of cubs(幼兽), has been a fixture(固定成员) of the park since 2005.

This is Grazer’s first time winning the contest, an achievement made easier by the fact that she has released her cubs and was able to focus on self-care. When females are caring for cubs, they are often nursing them, helping them hunt for salmon(三文鱼) and providing them protection — all of which detracts from the females’ ability to eat as much as possible, said Felicia Jimenez, a ranger at Katmai National Park.

The brown bears living along Alaska’s Brooks River have spent the summer fattening up on salmon, berries and grasses in preparation for their annual winter hibernation(冬眠). The bears enter hibernation around November and eventually experience a one-third loss of their body weight through the winter season, according to park officials.

The fixed competition has been making the fattest brown bears at Katmai National Park compete against each other since 2014. When the contest first began, it consisted of just a single day in which a few of the park’s most enormous bears competed with each other. By the next year, the contest had transformed into a “globally recognized” event that required more days and more competitors.

The popularity of Fat Bear Week allows park officials to direct attention to conservation efforts in the region, especially for the salmon run on the Brooks River, which the bears rely on for food. The health of the brown bears signifies the overall health of the local ecosystem, according to the park. “Without the ecosystem protected, there would be no Fat Bear Week,” Jimenez said.

1. What contributed most to Grazer’s winning the contest?

A．Hunting for enough salmon.	B．Giving birth to her cubs.
C．Concentrating on caring for herself.	D．Being a fixture in the park.

2. What do the underlined words “detracts from” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Removes.

B．Weakens.

C．Strengthens.

D．Changes.

3. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The process of bears’ hibernation.	B．The reason for bears’ fattening up.
C．The time of bears’ hibernation.	D．The way of bears’ fattening up.

4. What is the significance of the “Fat Bear Week”?

A．To choose the fattest bear globally.	B．To shoot the movie regarding bears.
C．To draw attention to environment care.	D．To highlight the efforts to protect ecosystem .

【推荐3】The World Wide Fund For Nature is concerned about the many species of wildlife that are dying out around the world.

Currently, illegal hunting of wild animals for their valuable parts is still one of the biggest drivers of extinction. Demands for elephant ivory carvings, tiger bone wine and traditional medicine such as rhino horn (角) continue to cause these most endangered animals to die out.

There is still an enormous market for chimpanzee body parts in Africa — for example in Nigeria, a chimpanzee head will sell for $100 at the market. When it exists, it is no surprise that organized crime networks get into the game. The rise in rhino poaching (偷猎) over the past decade has been alarming: between 2016 and 2020, rhino poaching in South Africa increased by an astonishing speed, from just 130 animals in 2016 to 1215 in 2020, making the species functionally extinct.

When it comes to figuring out where illegal hunting is taking place，conservationists face many challenges. But development in technology is putting new tools into the hands the conservation biologists who so eagerly need them, using AI (artificial intelligence), such as machining learning, or drones (无人机). And another solution that Founding Co-director of the University of Southern California Center Professor Milind Tambe came up with is to apply the tools in his work.

The system called PAWS (for Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security) was developed to catch poachers, featuring more than 125,000 observations on animal remains, traps and more — all with GPS coordinates (坐标). Tambe and his team were able to create a system that would predict likely hot-spots for poaching and direct patrols (巡逻) there to get rid of traps before they can kill any animals.

“After researching in the lab, we tested our system in Uganda to show it could work,” he says. “Sure enough, we did seek out snares (捕鸟、兽的陷阱；圈套) and a poached elephant on the spot.” However, Professor Tambe says, “PAWS is just the start. Much remains to be done. What conservationists really need is to continue to dismantle traps, catch poachers in the act, and effectively monitor areas to prevent poachers from approaching animals.”

1. The reason why the poaching has increased rapidly over the past years is ________.

A．the increasing need for medical use

B．the growing population of wild animals

C．the demand for researching rare animals

D．the huge profit from rare animals at the market

2. Which of the following statements about PAWS is true according to the passage?

A．It is a system developed to watch wild animals in the lab.

B．It is developed to accurately predict the possible poaching hot-spots.

C．It is equipped with GPS coordinates to seek out possible illegal hunting spots and catch the poachers.

D．It is designed to prevent poachers from dealing in animal products.

3. What does the underlined word “dismantle” in the last paragraph mean?

A．maintain

B．remove

C．manage

D．conserve

4. What can be concluded from the last paragraph?

A．There is still a long way to protect endangered animals.

B．PAWS has carried out its missions to a great extent.

C．The system has stood the test and worked wonderfully.

D．More effective measures should be taken to prevent rare animals from being hunted.

【推荐1】China’s government is expected to improve work on serving and caring for senior citizens, as the nation prepares for a coming “retirement(退休) wave” over the next decade, experts said.

The nation has faced a growing aging population in past years, which may lead to labor shortages, putting greater pressure on the pension(养老金) industry and slow economic development. Moreover, the aging problem may become more serious around 2035, when the number of over-60s in China is expected to increase over 400 million.

However, these aging people, especially those “younger elderly” — who are around the ages of 55 to 60 years old, show an increasing willingness to be employed again. 51Job, a website that provides job opportunities, conducted a survey among retirees returning to the job market, among whom 46.7 percent of those surveyed said that they got the job to realize their personal and social value, and another 19 percent hope to go after better career development by using their skills. Around 34 percent of surveyed reemployed retirees said that they work to support their family or meet their higher-level consumption(消费) needs.

Pang Shi, director of the Chinese Academy of Personnel Science’s department of employment and entrepreneurship, said people are encouraged to have a more positive attitude toward the aging population to help promote the sustainable development of the pension industry. She said that the large population of the “young elderly”, are in relatively good health with more sound knowledge backgrounds, working skills and social experience, and have great potential to give full play to their talent.

“They are qualified to return to the job market. Developing human resources among the elderly can help relieve labor force shortages the nation has faced,” she said. “Getting seniors reemployed can also help reduce their own financial pressures to avoid being poor, which can also help relieve the nation’s pension pressure.” “It’s necessary to look at the aging problem with a systematic view,” she added.

1. What may be caused by a growing aging population?

A．Pension shortage.	B．Consumption increase.
C．Employment pressure.	D．Economy development.

2. Which one is NOT the reason why the “younger elderly” are willing to be reemployed according to the survey?

A．To kill their time.	B．To earn more money.
C．To achieve their values.	D．To go after better career development.

3. Why are the “younger elderly” qualified to return to the job market?

A．They are more talented.	B．They are more creative.
C．They are more experienced.	D．They are more generous.

4. What is the author’s attitude to the aging population?

A．Negative

B．Positive

C．Critical

D．Uninterested

【推荐2】Top European hotel chains are hiring workers without experience or even a resume as executives admit years of underpaying staff have come back to bite, leaving them unable to meet post-pandemic travel demand.

Thousands of workers left the hospitality industry (酒店业) when international travel shut down during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Many chose not to return, finding better paid employment elsewhere, leaving hoteliers facing a desperate shortage.

Europe’s largest hotelier Accor ACCP. PA is running trial initiatives to recruit people who haven’t previously worked in the industry, Chief Executive Sebastien Bazin said at the Qatar Economic Forum last month.” We tried in Lyon and Bordeaux 10 days ago and this weekend we’re having people interviewed with no resume, no prior job experience and they are hired within 24 hours. The new recruits are given six hours of training and learn on the job,” he said.

In the short term, Accor is filling roles in France with young people and migrants while also limiting services. “It’s students, people coming from North Africa,” Bazin said. “And basically closing restaurants for lunch or opening them only five days a week. There’s no other solution.”

Staff shortages are particularly pressing in Spain and Portugal. Spain’s hospitality industry is 200,000 workers short and Portuguese hotels need at least 15,000 more people to meet growing demand, according to national hospitality associations.

Bazin said that while hotels are only 60 percent or 70 percent occupied they can cope with staff shortages, but the time will come when they’re fully booked.

“In the past, the industry has neither paid enough or focused on developing staff,” Bazin said, “Half of it is that we’ve been blind, we’ve been not paying attention to a lot of people and probably underpaying some people for too long as well,” he said. “So it’s a wake-up call.”

1. What problem is the European hospitality industry facing?

A．Shortage of resources.	B．International travel bans.
C．Staffing challenges.	D．Dissatisfactory service.

2. What’s the essential reason for the problem?

A．The travel demand is increasing.	B．The job is highly demanding.
C．The hospitality industry isn’t developed.	D．The staff hasn’t been fairly paid.

3. What needs to be done before someone starts working in Accor at present?

A．Explaining previous work experience.	B．Sending the resume in advance.
C．Receiving a six-hour training for the job.	D．Going through a competitive interview.

4. Which of the following would Bazin agree with concerning the problem?

A．Hoteliers have been turning a blind eye to the problem.

B．The problem is a reminder that hotel staff deserves attention.

C．The problem is too pressing for hoteliers to address right now.

D．The problem can be solved with the help of students and migrants.

【推荐3】Battle the wave

Hong Kong is racing against time to contain its worst-ever COVID-19 outbreak.

For the past few weeks, surging cases have been seen in the region. Hong Kong health authorities reported 58,991 new COVID-19 cases on March 10 and a record 291deaths in the 24 hours before, reported Xinhua.

The COVID-19 surge is driven primarily by the Omicron variant, reported the ASEAN post. The first local Omicron cases were linked to two Cathay Pacific crew members who broke Hong Kong’s COVID-19 rules and tested positive later in December 2021. Then many new cases increased.

Population density (密度) and mass movements during Spring Festival are the main transmission factors for this wave of the pandemic, David Lam, a member of HKSAR’s Legislative Council told Xinhua.

Although Hong Kong authorities have reacted since the pandemic began, tracing the potential cases is hard. So is completing the survey, according to Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Center for Health Protection. Her department was having trouble connecting with people who may have been exposed to the virus because there’s a lack of travel records to trace.

Meanwhile, another key problem is the low vaccination (疫苗接种) rate among the elderly, noted the experts. By March 10, less than 24 percent of those aged 60 and above had two shots, according to data on Hong Kong government’s official website.

Currently, residents are banned from public gathering of more than two people and most venues including schools, churches and gyms are all shut. Dining in restaurants is banned from 6 pm and most people are working from home. Strict anti-epidemic measures such as early medical treatment of patients, tight control on borders will continue until mid to late April.

As its health care system is facing great pressure, a new triage (分诊) system has been carried out. Treatment priority would be given to the elderly and patients in serious condition, while younger patients with mild symptoms would be asked to stay home in isolation (隔离). The Chinese mainland has also stepped up its assistance to Hong Kong, including sending medical teams and testing supplies, building makeshift (方舱) hospitals and ensuring daily necessities.

1. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Why this wave of the pandemic spread so fast.

B．How this wave of the pandemic came about.

C．The seriousness of this wave of the pandemic.

D．The strictness of Hong Kong’s COVID-19 rules.

2. Why is it hard to trace the potential cases, according to Chuang Shuk-kwan?

A．Authorities were not efficient.

B．Some of them were not in Hong Kong.

C．People’s travel information is not recorded.

D．The numbers are large and rising quickly.

3. What is one of the critical problems Hong Kong authorities are facing?

A．They lack testing supplies.

B．More than 70% of the elderly are not fully vaccinated.

C．Residents refuse to follow the anti-epidemic rules.

D．Chief Executive Carrie Lam has resigned recently.

4. What can residents in Hong Kong do under the current and anti-epidemic measures?

A．Attend a wedding.	B．Go to school every day.
C．Work out at a gym.	D．Work from home.

5. Why was a new triage system started?

A．To give priority to children with COVID-19.

B．To reduce the risks of cross infection.

C．To give patients more efficient treatment.

D．To reduce pressure on hospitals.

【推荐1】Scientists have found something strange has been happening among sensitive bird species in the Brazilian Amazon in recent years. Not only were the birds declining in number, but their bodies were also shrinking in size. “We found that size was not only shrinking for those sensitive species-it was declining for everyone, “said researcher Vitek Jirinec of Louisiana State University. Jirinec’s findingsare contained in a new study published in the journal Science Advances last Friday.

The study examined 77 species over a 40-year period, during which time the rainforest had become warmer. It found they were rapidly evolving perhaps because smaller birds remove heat more efficiently as they have more surface area in relation to volume. Brian Weeks of the University of Michigan explained it this way: “You could imagine lots of little ice cubes in a glass of water, as opposed to one big ice cube, and the little ice cubes melt faster because smaller things have larger surface area-to-volume ratios(比)，so they exchange heat more quickly. “Weeks didn’t work on this particular study, but he did research the size of more than50 species of migratory (迁徙的) birds in North America a few years back. He too found that nearly all of them were shrinking decade by decade.

The two studies strengthen the idea that birds all over the planet, migratory or not, may be changing shape due to a warming climate. Weeks said these sorts of changes should concern all of us. “All around the world, people depend on natural systems. Complete natural systems provide more economic benefits to humanity than the entirety of the world’s GDP, so they matter to you whether or not you know it, Weeks said. Jirinec thought the timing of his paper’s publication could not be more fitting. The study came out on the same day as the conclusion of the UN climate change conference in Glasgow. So those results really stressed the common consequences of the actions for the planet.

1. What was a cause of the birds becoming smaller in size?

A．The decrease of birds’ number.	B．The sensitiveness of birds.
C．A warming climate.	D．The development of birds.

2. How did Brian Weeks explain birds’ getting rid of heat?

A．By example and comparison.	B．By analyzing the data.
C．By giving enough evidence.	D．By observation and research.

3. Which of the following best describes the findings of the two studies?

A．Dangerous.	B．Concerning.
C．Demanding.	D．Fantastic.

4. What’s the purpose of the text?

A．To introduce two studies.	B．To explain a natural phenomenon.
C．To praise the conference in Glasgow.	D．To make people focus on climate change.

【推荐2】When the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) began last Friday, Steve and Janet Kistler of Hart County, Kentucky, joined in. They’ve done so every year since the now-global tradition began 25 years ago.

For Moira Dalibor, who teaches math at a school, this was the first count. She led a group of students and parents to an arboretum (植物园) for an exercise in data-gathering. They were among hundreds of thousands of people around the world counting and recording over four days. Last year, about 385,000 people from 192 countries took part in the GBBC.

This global data goes into the eBird database used by scientists for research on bird populations, which have declined sharply overall in past decades. It’s part of a rise in “citizen science” projects in which volunteers collect data about the natural world for use by researchers.

Many bird-watchers use eBird year-round, and it has collected huge amounts of data — often between 1 million and 2 million bird checklists a month from around the world in the past couple of years, says Becca Rodomsky-Bish, the project’s leader at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in Ithaca, New York. “Observing birds is a good way to connect with the natural world. Birds are everywhere. You don’t have to leave your house. They will come. And they’re charismatic because they’re fun and interesting to watch.”

This is how it works: Participants watch birds, whether that means looking out of the window for 15 minutes or taking a longer trip to a nature area. Organizers recommend the Merlin bird ID app to distinguish birds by size, shape, song or other characteristics. Many participants also carry field guides and binoculars (双筒望远镜) along with their phones. They then enter the findings into the eBird app. Those numbers help researchers track the ups and downs of various species, which then help determine the direction of conservation efforts.

Dalibor prepared her classes with information about local species and practiced with the Merlin app. The kids recorded bird sightings with pencils and drawing boards, and parent volunteers entered those numbers on phones.

1. Why did Dalibor lead her students to an arboretum?

A．To do exercise for health.	B．To observe different plants.
C．To practice their math skills.	D．To collect information about birds.

2. What does the underlined word “charismatic” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Attractive.

B．Beautiful.

C．Rare.

D．Shy.

3. What can people use the Merlin bird ID app to do?

A．To record their findings.	B．To identify different birds.
C．To help determine the birds’ habitat.	D．To track the ups and downs of various species.

4. What’s the best title of the text?

A．Great Backyard Bird Count: a strange activity

B．Watching birds contributes to students’ education

C．Moira Dalibor: a pioneer and responsible teacher

D．Great Backyard Bird Count shows power of citizen science

【推荐3】Esports (electronic sports) are organized competitions where players — often referred to as “athletes” — face off against each other in video games. They are not just games in a sense. Actually, they are a sport that can improve the players’ thinking ability, hand-eye coordination, willpower and team spirit.

The esports industry has experienced significant growth in recent years around the world, though it’s still in the nascent stage, which means it has huge growth potential going forward.

While the assumption is that esports are only a recent phenomenon, in reality the first esports-like event was held back in 1972, when some Stanford University students competed against one another in the game Spacewar. The prize? A year-long subscription to Rolling Stone magazine.

The ’80s saw the first true videogame tournament, with over 10,000 players gathering for the Space Invaders Championship. However, most of the period saw that players focused on beating each other’s highest scores rather than competing in organized tournaments.

As gaming became more popular, the ’90s became the first decade when esports (a term which wasn’t yet coined) began to really take off, with companies such as Nintendo and Sega holding professional gaming tournaments. This is also when we began to see money becoming a factor in professional gaming. But it is the 1997 Red Annihilation Quake tournament that is considered the world’s first real esports event. Only a few weeks later, the Cyberathlete Professional League was formed — an organization which is considered a pioneer of esports.

Due to the normalization of gaming and the Internet (along with technological advances), the real surge ( 激增 ) of esports came in the recent decade. It was then that we began seeing what we now know to be modern-day esports. As streaming platforms such as YouTube took off, people began to show interest in not only playing videogames but watching them too. Popular tournaments now sell out stadiums and professional players can earn millions from prize money, advertising and salaries.

1. What does the underlined word “nascent” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Beginning.	B．Peak.
C．Mature.	D．Final.

2. How does the text mainly develop?

A．By providing examples.	B．By making comparisons.
C．By following the order of time.	D．By following the order of importance.

3. What can be learned about esports?

A．They spread worldwide overnight.

B．Prize money appeared in the 1990s.

C．The first real esports event was held in 1972.

D．The athletes in esports are programmers.

4. What seems to be the author’s viewpoint on modern-day esports?

A．They are getting popular.

B．They become too commercialized.

C．They boost the normalization of the Internet.

D．Their development relies on advertising.