【推荐1】Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

Ecotourism can put wild animals at risk

Ecotourism has become increasingly popular in recent years.     1     There travelers visit natural environments to fund conservation efforts or promote local economies.

Now, scientists have analyzed more than 100 research studies on how ecotourism affects wild animals. They find the presence of humans changes the way animals behave, and those changes may put them at risk. Therefore, they concluded that such trips can be harmful to the animals.

When animals interact in seemingly kind ways with humans, they may let down their guard.     2    . If this transfers to their interactions with predators（捕食者）, they are more likely to be injured or killed.

The presence of humans can also discourage natural predators. It creates a kind of safe place for smaller animals that may make them bolder. For example, in Grand Teton National Park, elk and pronghorns in areas with more tourists are less alert and spend more time eating.

    3     “If animals become accustomed to tourists and if tourism practices enhance this taming, we might create unintended consequences - affecting the behavior or population of a species and influencing the species’ function in its community,” the researchers write.

Ecotourism has effects similar to those of animal domestication and urbanization. Research has shown that domesticated silver foxes become more obedient and less fearful. Fox squirrels and birds that live in urbanized areas are slower to flee from danger.     4    

Scientists hope the new analysis will encourage more research into the interactions between people and wildlife. It is essential to develop further understanding of how various species in various situations respond to human interaction and under what conditions human exposure may place them at risk.

A．As animals learn to relax in the presence of humans, they may become bolder in other situations.

B．This massive amount of ecotourism can be one of the drivers of rapid environmental change.

C．The phenomena result from evolutionary changes, but also from regular interactions with humans.

D．Do not import or release living animals or plants into the wild that could harm native species.

E．In many cases it involves close interaction with wildlife.

F．Interacting with people can cause great change in the characteristics of various species over time.

【推荐2】Escaping predators (食肉动物), digestion and other animal activities—including those of humans—require oxygen. But that essential ingredient is no longer so easy for marine life to obtain, several new studies reveal.

In the past decade ocean oxygen levels have taken a dive—an alarming trend that is linked to climate change, says Andreas Oschlies, an oceanographer at the Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Germany, whose team tracks ocean oxygen levels worldwide. “We were surprised by the intensity of the changes we saw, how rapidly oxygen is going down in the ocean and how large the effects on marine ecosystems are,” he says. It is no surprise to scientists that warming oceans are losing oxygen, but the scale of the drop calls for urgent attention. Oxygen levels in some tropical (热带的) regions have dropped by an astonishing 40 percent in the last 50 years, some recent studies reveal. Levels have dropped less significantly elsewhere, with an average loss of 2 percent globally.

A warming ocean loses oxygen for two reasons: First, the warmer a liquid becomes, the less gas it can hold. That is why carbonated drinks go flat faster when left in the sun. Second, as polar sea ice melts, it forms a layer of water above colder, more salty sea waters. This process creates a sort of lid that can keep currents from mixing surface water down to deeper depths. And because all oxygen enters the surface, less mixing means less of it at depth.

Ocean animals large and small, however, respond to even slight changes in oxygen by seeking refuge in higher oxygen zones or by adjusting behavior, Oschlies and others in his field have found. These adjustments can expose animals to new predators or force them into food-scarce regions. Climate change already poses serious problems for marine life, such as ocean acidification, but deoxygenation is the most pressing issue facing sea animals today, Oschlies says. After all, he says, “they all have to breathe.”

Aside from food web problems, animals face various other physiological challenges as their bodies adjust to lower oxygen levels. Chinese shrimp (虾) move their tails less vigorously to preserve energy in lower oxygen environments. Some creatures, such as jellyfishes, are more tolerant of low oxygen than others are. But all animals will feel the impact of deoxygenation because they all have evolved their oxygen capacity for a reason, says Oschlies. “Any drop in oxygen is going to damage survivability and performance,” he says.

1. According to the first two paragraphs, what worries scientists the most?

A．The worsening deoxygenation in the warming ocean.

B．The survival of predators and various marine animals.

C．The alarmingly changeable oxygen levels in the ocean.

D．The lack of attention to the warming of tropical oceans.

2. Which of the following is a reason for the oxygen loss in the ocean?

A．Polar ice melting consumes much oxygen in the ocean.

B．Global warming reduces the amount of oxygen in the air.

C．The surface polar ice water prevents oxygen going down.

D．Salty water holds less gas in the increasingly warmer ocean.

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Ocean deoxygenation changes some animals’ natural territories.

B．Ocean acidification is more serious a problem than deoxygenation.

C．Not all ocean animals are bothered by the decreasing oxygen levels.

D．Some animals reduce their movements in order to absorb more oxygen.

4. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A．The Oxygen Levels of Marine Life	B．Ocean Warming Affects Food Web
C．The Survivability of Ocean Animals	D．The Ocean Is Running Out of Breath

【推荐1】A new study from MIT has found that piano lessons have a very specific effect on kindergartners’ ability to distinguish different pitches (音高), which translates into an improvement in distinguishing between spoken words. However, piano lessons did not appear to provide any benefit for overall intelligence, as measured by IQ, attention span (注意力集中时间), and working memory.

The 74 children participating in the study were divided into three groups: one that received 45-minute piano lessons three times a week; one that received extra reading instruction for the same period of time; and one that received neither of these. All children were 4 or 5 years old and spoke Mandarin as their native language.

After six months, the researchers tested the children on their ability to distinguish words based on differences in vowels (元音), consonants (辅音), or tone (音调). Better word distinguishing usually comes with better phonological awareness – the awareness of the sound structure of words, which is a key part of learning to read.

Children who had piano lessons showed a significant advantage over children in the extra reading group in distinguishing between words that differ by one consonant. Children in both the piano group and extra reading group performed better than the third group when it came to distinguishing words based on vowel differences.

The researchers also used electroencephalography to measure brain activity and found that children in the piano group had stronger responses than the other children when they listened to a series of tones of different pitch. This suggested that a greater sensitivity to pitch differences is what helped the children who took piano lessons to better distinguish different words, Desimone says.

“That’s a big thing for kids in learning language: being able to hear the differences between words,” he says. “They really did benefit from that.”

In tests of IQ, attention, and working memory, the researchers did not find any significant differences among the three groups of children.

Desimone says he hopes the findings will help to convince education officials who are considering abandoning music classes in schools not to do so.

1. What do we know about the study?

A．The participants were divided into four groups.

B．All the participants spoke English as their native language.

C．The participants were tested after a period of six months.

D．The ages of the participants ranged from 4 to 15 years.

2. What did the researchers find in their study?

A．Children in the piano group had better awareness of the differences among words.

B．Children in the piano group performed better in the IQ test.

C．Children in the extra reading group had better awareness of sounds.

D．Children in the extra reading group performed better in the IQ test.

3. What does Desimone think is an important ability for kids learning a language?

A．The ability to imitate certain sounds.

B．The ability to tell the differences between sounds.

C．The ability to remember new sounds and words.

D．The ability to relate sounds to real objects.

4. With the findings, what does Desimone want education officials to do?

A．To have more music classes in schools.

B．Not to end music classes in schools.

C．To provide more types of musical instruments to schools.

D．Not to force students to study music if they are unwilling to.

【推荐3】Since 1992, people have been talking about “Dunbar’s number,” the supposed upper limit of the number of people with whom a person can maintain stable social relationships. Named for British scientist Robin Dunbar, its value, rounded from 148 to 150, has permeated both professional and popular culture.

The Swedish taxation authority keeps offices under 150 people as a result of it, and the standard facilities of the W. L. Gore and Associates company are based around the concept. Dunbar’s number was cited in the bestselling book Tipping Point, and it also has a fair amount of academic influence.

Despite its fame, Dunbar’s number is probably wrong, according to a new study.

Less well known than the value of Dunbar’s number is how he came up with it. The value of 150 is determined by looking at the ratio(比率) between the size of a certain part of the primate(灵长类动物) brain and the average size of groups they form. These ratios were then applied to data on the human brain, and the average value of roughly 150 relationships was determined.

In the new study, the researchers did similar calculations but with updated information on the size of monkey brains and social networks. When the researchers applied Dunbar’s exact same methods to their new data, they got a 95% confidence interval(置信区间) between roughly 5 and 292 people. This is far too wide a range to be of any use.

Additionally, the researchers noted the fact that human brains often work differently than those of our nearest cousins, as evidenced by our ability to create things. The idea that we would process social information exactly like other primates do is a bold and largely unsupported claim.

So, is there a new Dunbar number? Well, this isn’t the point of this study. The researchers end their paper with: “It is our hope that this study will put an end to the use of ‘Dunbar’s number’ within science and in popular media.”

1. What does the underlined word “permeated” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Well preserved.	B．Deeply affected.
C．Depended heavily on.	D．Take full advantage of.

2. How does the author clarify his point in paragraph 2?

A．By giving examples.	B．By extending definitions.
C．By drawing comparisons.	D．By making classifications.

3. Why did the researchers dismiss the idea of Dunbar’s number?

A．The samples were too small to be of any use.

B．Dunbar’s number has always been the subject of debate.

C．The calculation leading to Dunbar’s number is too complex.

D．The ratio from primates could not be carried over to humans.

4. What might be the purpose of the new study?

A．To replace Dunbar’s number.

B．To offer Dunbar’s number new evidence.

C．To stop the spreading of Dunbar’s number.

D．To find new applications of Dunbar’s number.

【推荐1】Third-hand smoke exposure can weaken your brain and liver, affecting your behavior, increasing your risk of diseases, and ruining your metabolism(新陈代谢). That is according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Riverside who saw significant health issues in people within a month of exposure to smoke.

The research team analyzed how people were affected by absorbing smoke from another person’s clothing, hair, home, or car. In previous studies on mice, the same scientists showed third-hand smoke can cause type 2 diabetes(糖尿病), liver and lung damage. Now, they’ve shown they can even see an impact on brain and liver tissues.

“Our goal was to determine the minimum amount of time required to cause physiological changes in mice when they’re exposed to THS(third-hand smoke), ” said lead author Manuela Martins-Green. “We found that THS exposure as early as one month resulted in liver damage. THS exposure for two months resulted in further molecular damage, and at four to six months caused even more such damage. So THS is a stent killer.”

Third-hand smoke, which cannot be seen but can be smelled, remains on surfaces for many years, and are resistant to even strong cleaning agents(清洁剂). Further, hotel rooms, car and homes that were occupied by smokers are very likely to be polluted with THS.

Because THS is absorbed through skin and breathing, and children frequently put their hands in their mouths, children are especially susceptible, given their close contact with household surfaces.

“Clearly, THS is affecting the behavior of mice. ”said Martins-Green, “It’s not hard to imagine what the impact is on children. Although our work was done on mice, we’re confident our results will apply to humans.”

1. What can we learn from what lead author Manuela Martins-Green said?

A．They corrected the mistakes in the previous studies they had made.

B．Their goal to study the influence of THS is clearer than that of the previous studies.

C．The longer mice were exposed to THS, the more serious damage they suffered.

D．Two groups of scientists came to the same conclusion.

2. What can we know about third-hand smoke from the passage?

A．It is not difficult to see.

B．It is quite difficult to remove.

C．It has a bigger impact on mice than humans.

D．It has caused much concerned.

3. What does the underlined word “susceptible” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Likely to break.	B．Hard to cure.
C．Difficult to hurt.	D．Easy to influence.

4. What should be Martins-Green’s opinion about the effects of THS on humans?

A．THS has few side effects on healthy adults.

B．The effects of THS on humans remain to be tested.

C．A little exposure to THS is good for health.

D．It is certain that THS affects people negatively.

【推荐3】Most online fraud(诈骗) involves identity theft Passwords help. But many can be guessed. Newer phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers often have strengthened security with fingerprint and facial recognition. But these can be imitated. That is why a new approach, behavioural biometrics(行为生物识别) is gaining ground.

It relies on the wealth of measurements made by today’s devices. These include data from sensors that reveal how people hold their phones when using them, how they carry them and even the way they walk. Touchscreens, keyboards and mice can be monitored(监测) to show the distinctive ways in which someone’s fingers and hands move. These features can then be used to determine whether someone attempting to make a deal is likely to be the device’s habitual user.

“Behavioural biometrics make it possible to identify an individual’s unique motion fingerprint”, says John Whaley, head of Unifyid, a firm in Silicon Valley that is involved in the field. When coupled with information about a user’s finger pressure and speed on the touchscreen, as well as a device’s regular places of use—as revealed by its GPS unit—that user’s identity can be pretty well determined.

Used wisely, behavioural biometrics could be a great benefit. In fact, Unifyid and an unnamed car company are even developing a system that unlocks the doors of a vehicle once the pace of the driver, as measured by his phone, is recognized. Used unwisely, however, the system would become yet another electronic spy on people’s privacy, permitting complete strangers to monitor your every action, from the moment you reach for your phone in the morning, to when you throw it on the floor at night.

1. What is behavioural biometrics for?

A．To identify network crime	B．To ensure network security.
C．To track online fraud.	D．To gather online data.

2. How does behavioural biometrics work?

A．By limiting and discovering users’ passwords.

B．By spotting and revealing where a device is regularly used.

C．By offering and analyzing users’ facial features.

D．By monitoring and comparing how users interact with devices.

3. What’s the author’s attitude towards behavioural biometrics?

A．Doubtful.

B．Concerned

C．Favorable.

D．Objective.

4. From which section of a magazine can this passage possibly be taken?

A．Science and technology.	B．Health and wealth.
C．Finance and economics	D．Books and arts

【推荐1】P.S. 139, in Brooklyn, New York, has a school garden where students grow their favorite fruits and vegetables. It also has a school cookbook filled with recipes that use those foods, as well as a technology club, a soccer club, an artists' club, and a teachers’ lounge.

All of this is partially thanks to a process called PB. Through PB, students, parents, teachers, and P. S. 139 staff decide each year how to use some of the school’s money. Over the past three years, P. S. 139 has spent nearly $50,000 this way. Usually, only school leaders get to decide how to distribute a budget, but PB lets others weigh in. Shari Davis is one of the heads of the PB Project, a nonprofit group based in New York and California. '' PB opens the door and invites folks to participate in decisions. People who are closest to the problems in a community are often also closest to settling them. ''   she told TIME for Kids.

To start the PB process, members of a school community think about changes they’d like to see. Then they submit their ideas to a committee. It organizes the ideas into complete proposals (议案), which include the cost of each project. Lastly, every member votes for the winning projects that will be supported financially.

PB Project co-founder Josh Lerner helped bring the approach to P. S. 139. He finds that leaders are pleasantly surprised by the winning projects, which help them '' better understand what their communities need'', he says.

PB isn't just for schools. It’s also used by city and state governments around the world. New York City has been using PB since 2011. New Yorkers have spent more than $210 million this way. They've provided money for playgrounds, dog parks, and trees for city sidewalks, among other projects.

1. What is special about PB?

A．It allows ordinary people to play a role in decisions.

B．It accepts money from local government.

C．It helps P S. 139 build a school garden.

D．It focuses mainly on public schools

2. What is the first step for the PB process?

A．Applying to the head master.	B．Putting forward project ideas.
C．Gathering members to vote.	D．Making a specific budge.

3. How do the leaders in P.S. 139 feel about the agreed projects?

A．Proud.	B．Shocked.
C．Delighted.	D．Embarrassed.

4. What is the author' s purpose in writing the text?

A．To introduce the PB approach.	B．To bring up a social problem.
C．To offer proposals to communities.	D．To help leaders make better preparation.

【推荐2】Does anything symbolize the throwaway culture better than coffee chains? Everyone is piled high with by-products of a culture which in the past 10 years has gone from thinking that a cup of coffee is best enjoyed sitting down, in a break from a busy day, to one where if you’re not constantly rushing, you may get to work to find your desk gone. Gone are the thick white mugs, washed and reused until they broke. Instead, we’ve a vast new industry of disposables (一次性用品) for coffee on the go.

Cosla Coffee alone uses more than 100 million disposable coffee cups a year. Add to that Starbucks, Caffe Nero and other coffee shops; and you get something approaching 500 million paper cups and a billion napkins, plus plastic knives, spoons and sandwich boxes to get rid of, just in the UK, every year.

There are no regulations determining what materials they use or how they dispose of any of it. So they do what they like, which turns out to vary wildly. One reason may be that three different government departments are in charge of waste management. Communities Secretary is responsible for local rubbish collection, Environment Secretary for waste policy, and Energy and Climate Change Secretary the aspect of, well, dealing with climate change. When I1 asked the major chains about their recycling policies, Starbucks said, “We’re aiming to make our cups recyclable in the near future.” Its salad containers are biodegradable (可生物降解的) and its sandwich containers, being a sandwich themselves of paper and film, are only recyclable once they’re torn apart. However, you don’t see many people doing that.

Costa’s cardboard cups can’t be recycled, because although the cardboard is recyclable, the ink and the glue aren’t. So it’s planning to use vegetable ink and degradable glue on its cups.

1. Why does the author compare the old days with today in the beginning?

A．To present a busy day.	B．To recall the sweet past.
C．To introduce the main topic.	D．To show the symbol of a culture.

2. The underlined word “mugs” in paragraph 1 can be best replaced by_______.

A．bowls	B．bags
C．chopsticks	D．cups

3. What can we learn about recycling?

A．The problem of wasting has been under control.

B．There are clear rules about materials disposables use.

C．The sandwich containers of Starbucks can be recyclable.

D．Communities Secretary is responsible for local rubbish recycle.

4. What can be served as the best title of the passage?

A．The Culture of Westerners	B．The Future of Coffee Chains
C．The Change of Mankind’s Lifestyle	D．The Environment Cost of Takeaway Coffee

【推荐3】What would it be like to live on Mars? Volunteers are spending eight months in an area that looks much like the surface of Mars. They are isolated(孤立)high on top of Mauna Loa, a volcanic mountain on the Big Island of Hawaii, living on a simulated(模仿的) or make-believe, Mars Base.

The project called HI-SEAS is in the charge of Kim Binsted. She says this wild environment is as close to Mars as you can find on Earth. Because it is so high, the land is not warm or rich with plants, like the rest of Hawaii.

“You will see there is really no visible plant life or animal life. And you have got this wonderful volcanic material.”

Mauna Loa, 2,500 meters above sea level, is geologically very similar to Olympus Mons on Mars and almost as tall as the Martian mountain. When measured from its base, deep in the ocean, Mauna Loa is the second largest mountain in our solar system, after the one on Mars.

The six member HI-SEAS crew is mostly self-sufficient. Food and supplies are brought to them. But the individuals bringing those supplies cannot communicate with volunteers inside the habitat, or base.

Kim Binsted says this experiment looks at how the astronauts get along with each other. “We study how well they work together, how we can keep them happy and supported, and not wanting to kill each other over these long durations (期间).”

Crew members communicate with the outside world through e-mail and blogs. They also produce video on the YouTube website, like this one from mission commander Martha Lenio. “I am really enjoying this opportunity to live here and pretend that I’m on Mars and get to learn all sorts of new skills.” One of them said. “Whoever gets there first, the trip will not be easy”, says Kim Binsted, “It is going to be challenging.”

1. What do we know about Olympus Mons?

A．It is 2,500 meters above sea level.

B．It is geologically similar to Mauna, Loa.

C．It is the second largest mountain on the earth.

D．It is a mountain on the Big Island of Hawaii.

2. What is the purpose of the experiment?

A．To set up a space station.

B．To explore new settlement for human.

C．To prove human can live in whatever conditions.

D．To study how the astronauts treat each other.

3. Which can be the best title for the text?

A．Volunteers First Explore Mars

B．Volunteers Experience Life in Hawaii

C．Volunteers Get Taste of Mars in Hawaii

D．Volunteers Study the Environment on Mars