For most of human history, the stars shone brightly in a dark night sky. But today, cities and towns, increasingly lit by artificial light at night, dramatically reduce the visibility of stars.
Satellite data suggests that light pollution has been increasing in many parts of the world over the last decade. However, satellites miss the blue light of LEDs (发光的二极管), which are commonly used for outdoor lighting, resulting in an underestimate of light pollution.
An international citizen science project called Globe at Night (环球夜景) aims to measure how everyday people’s view of the sky is changing. The data shows that the night sky got, on average, 9.6% brighter every year. For many people, the night sky today is twice as bright as it was eight years ago. The brighter the sky, the fewer stars you can see. If this trend continues, a child born today in a place where 250 stars are visible now would only be able to see 100 stars on his/her 18th birthday.
The main factors leading to increasing brightness of the night sky are industrialization and the growing use of LEDs for outdoor lighting. The loss of dark skies threatens our ability as astronomers to do good science. But everyday people feel this loss too. Starry night skies have inspired artists, writers, musicians and philosophers for thousands of years. Light pollution also has a bad effect on the daily cycle of light and dark that plants and animals use to adjust their lifestyle. Two-thirds of the world’s key biodiversity (生物多样性) areas are affected by light pollution.
Individuals and their communities can make simple changes to reduce light pollution. The secret is using the right amount of light, in the right place and at the right time. Making outdoor lights shine downward, using lights that give out more yellow-colored light instead of white light and putting on light timers can all help reduce light pollution. A view of about 2,500 stars in a truly dark sky might convince you that dark skies are a resource worth saving.
1. How is the first paragraph mainly developed?| A．By giving an example. | B．By making a comparison. |
| C．By reaching a conclusion. | D．By raising a question. |
| A．The light pollution is getting more serious. |
| B．The night sky today gets darker than before. |
| C．It’s difficult to imagine a child’s fast growth. |
| D．LEDs are commonly used for outdoor lighting. |
| A．The bad effects of light pollution. | B．The factors causing light pollution. |
| C．The functions of starry night skies. | D．Key biodiversity areas in the world. |
| A．To explain a phenomenon. | B．To suggest a solution. |
| C．To remember a scientist. | D．To increase public awareness. |
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【推荐1】A RCHAEOLOGISTS have recently made some stunning discoveries at the famed Sanxingdui Ruins site in Sichuan province.
A treasure trove of bronze, gold and jade wares have been uncovered from the site’s six pits. At least 10 of the bronze wares in the trove have never been seen in the history of human civilization.
Researchers described a bronze box with a piece of green jade ware inside of it as the highlight of the 10 relics. The top and bottom of the vessel are covered with turtle shell-shaped lids, each of which resembles a net. And the sides of the box are decorated with dragon head-shaped handles and a few bronze streamers (饰带).
“It would not be an exaggeration to say that the vessel is one of a kind, given its distinctive shape, fine craftsmanship and clever design,” said Professor Li Haichao at Sichuan University. “Although we do not know what this vessel was used for, we can assume that ancient people treasured it.”
Another new find from the past was a bronze altar nearly 0.9 meters tall, upon which researchers believe the people of the Shu civilization made offerings to heaven, earth and their ancestors.
Around these pits, archaeologists also found traces of bamboo, reeds, soybeans, cattle and boars, which suggest that these objects were all offered as sacrifices.
Ran Honglin, an expert of the Sanxingdui cultural relics said that the diversity of the items found at the site indicated cultural exchanges between the various different ancient civilizations of China.
He noted that one of the sculptures with the head of a human and the body of a snake were characteristic of ancient Shu civilization, while ceremonial vessels known as “zun” from the site were culturally symbolic of China’s central plains, known as the Zhongyuan region.
The new finds have mainly been excavated from the No. 7 and No. 8 pits, bringing the total number of items that have been discovered in the six pits to nearly 13000 since 2020.
1. Which of the following vessels is the most impressive?| A．A bronze box. | B．A jade ware. |
| C．A bronze streamer. | D．A green zun. |
| A．Offering heaven and earth. | B．Honoring their ancestors. |
| C．Putting sacrificial offerings. | D．Showcasing Shu civilization. |
| A．The ancient Shu civilization was not an isolated one. |
| B．The ancient Shu civilization refused cultural exchanges. |
| C．The ancient Shu civilization was quite different from others. |
| D．The ancient Shu civilization learned a lot from Zhongyuan region. |
| A．A guild book. | B．A story book. |
| C．A research report. | D．A newspaper. |
【推荐2】From boyhood he was interested in Astronomy, and while at Cambridge he would sit up at night to watch the stars. But he was dissatisfied with the telescopes of those days because they didn't show him a clear picture of things. At first he thought there must be something wrong with the lens（镜头）. But no matter how hard he tried to improve the lens, the trouble was still there.
This set Newton thinking. He began to study the nature of light and colours. In the end he found that sunlight, or white light, is actually made up of a row of colours. He counted seven colours in all. This was of course a great discovery. But Newton still wasn't satisfied. His mind was busy with another problem. Before Newton's time, scientists had already discovered that the sun, not the earth, was the centre of the universe, and they knew that the earth and the other planets moved round the sun. But they couldn't explain why this was so until Newton gave the answer.
One autumn evening while Newton was sitting under an apple tree thinking over these problems, he saw the moon rise in the sky. Why, he asked himself, should the moon round the earth, never leaving the same path? At that moment, he heard an apple drop from the tree. Why should the apple drop to the ground? Why didn't it go sideways or fly up? There seemed to be only one reason: The earth was drawing it-that is the force of gravity. If a stone is tied to the end of a string and whirled around, it flies round and round in circles because of the string. In the same way, the force of gravity, thought Newton, must be the force that keeps the moon going round the earth and the planets round the sun.
1. This passage tells us_________.| A．Newton gave the right answer to the making up of the sunlight |
| B．Newton found that the moon goes round the earth |
| C．how Newton made two of his greatest discoveries |
| D．why Newton made two of his great discoveries at home |
a. Newton found that sunlight is made up of a row of colours.
b. Newton wondered why the apple didn't go sideways.
c. Newton decided that the force of gravity keeps the moon going round the earth.
d. Newton tried every means to improve the lens.
e. Newton counted the number of colours.
| A．e,d,c,a,b | B．e,a,c,b,d |
| C．d,a,e,b,c | D．d,e,a,b,c |
| A．But Newton gave the answer because they couldn't explain why. |
| B．But Newton couldn't explain why unless they gave the answer. |
| C．But it was Newton who gave the answer. |
| D．But Newton was the first to give the answer. |
【推荐3】Owls are equipped with highly developed stealth (隐形；隐身) technology that helps them charge towards prey—an animal hunted and eaten by another animal, a study has shown.
Owls have flight feathers that absorb aerodynamic (空气动力学的) sound and control the vibrations that occur when a bird beats its wings. The result is perfect silence as it approaches a mouse or other prey.
Scientists used lasers and high-speed cameras to analyze and compare long-eared ow, eagle and pigeon feathers during fight. While differing in size, all three kinds of birds have a similar wingbeat style. Professor Jinkui Chu led the research, He said, “Many owls have a unique and fascinating ability to fly so silently that they are out of their prey’s hearing range, duo to their feather structure. This behaviour has long been of interest to engineers, as we seek to apply the owls’ noise-reduction mechanism (机制) to other purposes and situations that benefit society.”
“Now, however, wo know the owls’ silent flight ability is even better than we thought. Of all birds the owl is the king of acoustic stealth. It manages to prevent not only the aerodynamic noise when the owls are gliding, but also the mechanical noise caused by vibrations during flying.”
He added, “This is remarkable, considering the sudden jumping, bending and twisting the wings are subjected to the noise that is created by other birds. In the scientific world, the process used to remove this mechanical noise is called ‘damping’, which means the removal of mechanical energy from a vibrating system usually by changing it into heat and allowing it to remain steady. Our research showed the long-eared owl has amazing damping skill, meaning it can remain amazingly stable and remove the mechanical noise caused by the movement of its feathers—quite an impressive achievement of engineering. This study will hopefully provide a further insight into the owls’ silent flight mechanism and help engineers develop ideas for special materials or structures, such as onshore wind ships, where similar noise removal can be applied.”
1. What can we learn about owls according to the passage?| A．They are active during the day, |
| B．They attract much attention of engineers. |
| C．They have similar wings to eagles. |
| D．They beat wings without vibrations. |
| A．owls are good at capturing prey |
| B．owls have a good sense of hearing |
| C．owls are good at jumping and twisting |
| D．owls have silent flight ability |
| A．The mechanical noise. |
| B．The vibrating system. |
| C．Mechanical energy. |
| D．The removal of mechanical energy. |
| A．Facts about stealth technology. |
| B．Technique that owls use to fly. |
| C．The reason for researching into owls. |
| D．A study about owls’ unique ability. |
【推荐1】Compared with the obvious environmental issues we hear about every day, littering often takes a backseat-but it’s more pressing than we may think.
Some may say that a banana peel out of your car along the motorway would be a harmless action. Actually, they are wrong. A banana peel can take up to two years to decompose(分解)，and with a third of motorists admitting to littering while driving, that’s a whole lot of discarded banana peels, or much worse. An orange peel and a cigarette butt has a similar biodegrading(生物降解)term to that of a banana, but tin and aluminium cans last up to 100 years, and plastic bottles last forever, so do glass bottles and plastic bags.
Despite the fact that longer-lasting materials will serve to damage the environment and its animals for longer, we can’t only measure the severity of a certain type of rubbish by its lifetime. For example, despite having a fairly short biodegrading span, more than 120 tons of cigarette-related litter is thrown away in the UK every day. Similarly, our regular littering here and there has caused the UK’s mouse population to increase by 60 million. This suddenly isn’t so mysterious when you consider that since the 1960s our annual littering has increased by an amazing 500%.
It’s not a cheap habit either: UK taxpayers spent $500 million on keeping the streets clean. So, it’s not surprising that if caught fly-tipping, you could face a $20, 000 fine. Regardless of how severe the punishment might seem, however, among the reported cases only 2, 000 were punished out of 825, 000, so we still have some way to go in making sure people observe the rules.
To take back our beautiful cities, we need to do more than simply not leaving rubbish where it ought not to be. We need to care more about the world around us.
1. Which of the following is easiest to decompose ?| A．An aluminium can. | B．A plastic bag. |
| C．An orange peel. | D．A glass bottle. |
| A．Annual littering has increased a little in UK since the 1960s. |
| B．Shorter-lasting materials will be less harmful to the environment. |
| C．Cigarette-related litter is a severe environmental problem in UK. |
| D．Regular littering has caused the UK’s mouse population to reach 60 million. |
| A．Every little helps. | B．A drop in the bucket. |
| C．No pains, no gains. | D．Fear is often greater than the danger. |
| A．Littering, a surprisingly big issue. |
| B．Environment issue, a big concern. |
| C．Long-lasting material, a hidden danger. |
| D．Rubbish collection, an urgent task. |
【推荐2】The poisonous domoic (藻) acid affected Alfred Hitchcock' s "The Birds" after hundreds of them absorbed the poison in the summer of 1961 and lost their minds.
The sick birds likely consumed poisonous acid via small fish. It also tends to collect in shellfish. And, according to a study published Tuesday, it may become more common as oceans warm, threatening birds and humans alike.
Researchers have studied the rate of poisonous acid over the past 20 years in the Pacific Northwest, and found it strongly related to water temperatures that are warmer than normal.
For now, warmer waters typically comes from events like EL Nino and a decades -long climate cycle called "Pacific decadal oscillation," the study found. It isn't yet clear how climate change, which also warms the oceans, might affect the rate of the poison.
"When water's unusually warm off our coast, it's because the circulation and patterns in the atmosphere has changed, bringing warm water from elsewhere - and this is happening at the same time that we also see high poisonous acid in shellfish, " Morgaine McKibben, the study ' s lead author said.
The poison is produced during warm domoic blooms, and gets passed up the food chain by animals that eat it. Sea lions, dolphins and humans are at risk. While some animals can eventually clean themselves of the poison, the threat can last a long time after the warm water decreases.
Animals poisoned by poisonous acid tend to become weak, and experience death. Symptoms in humans include headache, confusion, loss of short - term memory, weakness and unconsciousness.
It isn't just a health risk. An Oregon State University statement notes that officials have to shut down shellfish harvests when poisonous acid levels are high, causing economic harm.
Since health officials first regarded poison acid as a health threat in 1987, Pacific Northwest shellfish harvests have been stopped in 2005, 2017, and 2018. The West Coast crab（蟹）industry took an estimated$100 million hit in 2017 alone.
1. Why did the birds lose their mind in the summer of 1961?| A．They maybe had a bad memory. | B．They maybe ate poisonous fish. |
| C．They maybe collected the shellfish. | D．They maybe drank warm water. |
| A．When atmosphere has changed, it warms off the coast. |
| B．When circulation comes, the oceans get warmer. |
| C．When climate has changed, the oceans get colder. |
| D．When water becomes warmer, high poisonous acid appears. |
| A．Making humans conscious. | B．Making humans dead. |
| C．Making humans temporarily lose memory. | D．Making humans suffer heart attack. |
| A．High Poisonous Acid Appears in the Animals |
| B．The West Coast Crab Industry Suffer Great Loss |
| C．Climate Change Warms the Oceans in the World |
| D．Warmer Oceans Increase Likelihood of Poisonous Shellfish |
【推荐3】Kitchen waste refers to deserted or uneaten refuse produced by household kitchens. It is heavy in weight and can not easily be disposed(处理)of like other garbage due to dampness.
Separating kitchen waste from other waste can help to reduce organic matter in landfills, reducing smell and waste liquid and protecting disposal equipment. It is therefore necessary to perform garbage classification when disposing of kitchen waste.
There are special garbage trucks to process kitchen waste. Labeled “Kitchen Waste”, the beds of the trucks are covered in a hermetic(密封的) metal topper to contain the smell of the rotting organic waste. There are two sizes of the trucks—the smaller ones are designed to move through narrow streets, especially in the old-fashioned hutong, the larger ones are for wider streets.
Everyday, they stop at the residential(居住的) communities in Xicheng district, pick up their kitchen waste and carry it to the kitchen waste transfer buildings nearby. And Fengrongyuan residential community is one of them. It has 10 residential buildings and 606 families. In the afternoon. Two garbage trucks arrive at the community to collect its kitchen waste. The community now has 31 sets of garbage cans. Every set has three cans in different colors, green for kitchen waste, blue for recyclable waste and grey for other garbage.
Yang Kun, an official of Financial Street office, said that if residents in the community can respect the waste regulations and make it a standard practice in their daily life, they could be rewarded for their efforts.
After the two trucks are loaded with kitchen waste at Fengronfyuan, they will leave for the Xibianmen garbage storage building, where they are weighed before driving to an area to unload. The building has six big boxes to contain the kitchen waste.
To save resources and promote the disposal of household waste, the first step is garbage classification as conducted by residents.
1. What can be learned about kitchen waste from Paragraph1?| A．It is too damp and heavy to easily dispose of. |
| B．It can be as easily disposed of as other garbage. |
| C．It helps to reduce organic matter in landfills. |
| D．It is necessary for garbage classification. |
| A．Trucks with a hermetic metal topper. |
| B．Trucks labeled “Kitchen Waste”. |
| C．Wider streets for garbage trucks. |
| D．Waste transfer buildings nearby. |
| A．Old-fashion hutong. |
| B．Xicheng district. |
| C．Fengrongyuan residential community. |
| D．The Xibianmen garbage storage building. |
| A．Kitchen waste does harm to the disposal equipment. |
| B．It’s a practice to respect the waste sorting regulations. |
| C．The disposal of kitchen waste is aimed to save resources. |
| D．The disposal of household waste begins with garbage classification. |
【推荐1】NASA’s Opportunity rover has reached the end of its life. Initially designed to last 90 days, and to travel only 1,000 meters, Opportunity in fact spent almost 15 years exploring the surface of Mars. During that time, it traveled more than 45 kilometers beyond expectation.
The last signal from Opportunity was on June 10th, 2018, when a severe global dust storm enveloped Mars. Since then, NASA has spent eight months trying to regain communication with the rover, but had no result. On Tuesday February 12th, 2019, NASA made one final attempt to wake Opportunity up, but it was unsuccessful.
Before Opportunity was sent into space the Mars Global Surveyor spotted what looked like sedimentary rocks(沉积岩)from orbit in 2000. An Opportunity team member said, "On the earth, sedimentary rocks preserve the history of the surface of our planet, and within that history, the fossil record of life exists. It is reasonable to look for evidence of past life on Mars.
While the rover didn't find any actual fossils, Opportunity did provide evidence that the environment on Mars was once much better and warmer. This answered what was the major goal of the Opportunity rover. Opportunity identified sedimentary rocks which basically meant the presence of water. But not everything went smoothly for Opportunity to achieve the goal of exploration. At one point in 2005, all its six wheels were stuck in soft sand, and it took five weeks of hard work to get the rover out.
Opportunity was one of the most successful rovers ever. During its journey on Mars, Opportunity discovered “Heat Shield Rock”, a basketball-sized- meteorite which is made mostly of iron and nickel. It also gave us a massive amount of photos of Mars with which people have done some amazing things. Bodrov, a photographer, took images from Opportunity to create a 360-degree view of Victoria crater on Mars.
Although Opportunity has reached the end, the legacy that the rover produced for us will last a long time. With the technological development, perhaps the day is not so far off when brave astronauts walk on the surface of Mars.
1. What do the statistics in paragraph 1 mainly show?| A．Opportunity's journey on Mars came to an end. |
| B．Opportunity was overused for more than a decade. |
| C．Opportunity's performance was better than expected. |
| D．Opportunity explored Mars within the assigned time. |
| A．A meteorite. | B．A dust storm. | C．The soft sand. | D．The broken wheels. |
| A．To explore the environment on Mars. |
| B．To discover the climate conditions on Mars. |
| C．To survey the history of the surface of Mars. |
| D．To find differences between rocks on earth and on Mars. |
| A．To illustrate what contributions Opportunity made. |
| B．To demonstrate how Opportunity worked on Mars. |
| C．To introduce how “Heat shield Rock” was discovered. |
| D．To explain what images Bodrov took from Opportunity. |
【推荐2】You’ve heard of the fat suit and the pregnancy suit; now meet AGNES—the old person suit.
AGNES stands for “Age Gain Now Empathy（换位体验）System” and was designed by researchers at MIT’s AgeLab to let you know what it feels like—physically—to be 75 years old. “The business of old age demands new tools, ” said Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab. “While focus groups and observations and surveys can help you understand what the older consumer needs and wants, young marketers never get that ‘Ah ha!’ moment of having difficulty opening a jar, or getting in and out of a car. That’s what AGNES provides. ”
Coughlin and his team carefully adjusted the suit to make the wearer just as uncomfortable as an old person who has spent a lifetime eating poorly and not doing much exercise. Special shoes provide a feeling of imbalance, while braces on the knees and elbows limit joint mobility. Gloves give the feeling of decreased strength and mobility in the hands and wrists, and earplugs make it difficult to hear high-pitched sounds and soft tones. A helmet with straps（带）attached to it presses the spine（脊柱）.
AGNES has been used most recently by a group of students working on a design of an updated walker. By wearing the suit they could see for themselves what design and materials would make the most sense for a physically limited older person. Coughlin said the suit has also been used by clothing companies, car companies and retail goods companies to help them understand the limitations of an older consumer. An unexpected benefit they’ve found with AGNES is that it has become a powerful tool to get younger people to invest in their long-term health.
1. AGNES has been developed mainly to _______.| A．make the users more comfortable | B．help old people move more quickly |
| C．let people understand the old better | D．remind the young to take care of their health |
| A．ask what old people need and want |
| B．see the efforts old people make to put on clothes |
| C．feel the same way as old people do |
| D．say “Ah ha!” when they meet with difficulty |
| A．how researchers feel wearing AGNES | B．how AGNES has been developed |
| C．how people act when they are old | D．how AGNES works |
| A．someone who travels a lot |
| B．a physically limited old person |
| C．some equipment that helps old people walk |
| D．a company providing service to the old |
【推荐3】Laura Stone is the founder of Sydney by Kayak(皮划艇), a company that offers guided kayak tours of Sydney Harbour in Australia. Not only did their business increase during the COVID-19, but one of their tours is actually more popular than ever.
A few years ago, Laura was paddling in the harbour when she noticed trash floating in the water. For reference, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that about 8 million tons of plastic end up in our ocean each year, causing big problems for wildlife and local plants. Laura was so shocked by the garbage in the water that she decided to dedicate a few paddles each week to trash cleanup. Incredibly, her clients were immediately on board with the idea, so Sydney by Kayak now leads four to five garbage-collecting tours every week!
At the start of the COVID-19, Laura thought her business would drop off as many others had. Instead, desperate for the purpose and a way to get outdoors, people flocked to her “Clean Up Kayak” tours. They now routinely take about 441 pounds of garbage out of the harbour each week! “We’ve been quite surprised, even through the COVID-19, we’ve been very busy,” Laura said, “Because they can’t travel, people are looking for something to do. That is not just good for them, but also good for the environment.”
Each tour begins with participants preparing for some working tools. Some people come back many times for the satisfaction of collecting trash from the harbour. Julie Greening, for example, has done about 10 tours so far and said, “Every little bit is worth it. We have 7 billion people on this planet. If everyone does a little, of course it’s going to help.”
1. What can Laura’s company mainly do?| A．Sell kayaks and paddles. | B．Provide guided kayak tours. |
| C．Offer tourism information. | D．Organise outdoor activities. |
| A．Reading a report about pollution. | B．Hearing of the appeal of the UNEP. |
| C．Talking with her clients on a tour. | D．Seeing the floating trash in the water. |
| A．Business continued dropping off. |
| B．People helped clean up the garbage. |
| C．Business increased because of garbage-cleaning. |
| D．About 441 pounds of garbage were cleaned per week. |
| A．Garbage-cleaning tools are popular in Sydney. |
| B．People actively participate in the garbage-sorting. |
| C．The public had a sense of environmental protection. |
| D．The idea of using tools wins support from the government. |
