【推荐1】阅读短文, 按照题目要求用英语回答问题。

It was 3: 34 in the morning. Suddenly the bed moved a little. I woke up. That bed used to move a lot so I just thought it was my wife rolling (翻)over. I looked over to her and she was fast asleep. So I thought it was just another small tremor (轻微地震). We used to get many small tremors in Chile. But then everything in the room started making noise. The tremor got a bit stronger. My wife woke up.

I went to open the front door to make sure it wouldn’t get stuck while my wife went to see how the kids were. They were still fast asleep.

I got to the front door and left it open. When I turned around to go back to the bedroom, the full force of the earthquake started to hit. I couldn’t move forward. While I was trying to hold myself up against the wall, I looked out the window. It was frightening, some buildings coming in and out of view and some already falling down. Then the earthquake made a strong push and our lights went out. In the darkness, I thought, “This is it! We’re not coming out of this alive. ”

Luckily, the violent(剧烈的)shaking gradually slowed down and then stopped. I could finally walk to our children’s room. My wife had been standing over them during the strongest part of the earthquake, making sure nothing fell on them.

After such a big earthquake, we expected the “smaller” aftershocks to be still very strong. There was still a chance that the building could collapse. So we woke the kids up, got some basic things and started to walk down the emergency(紧急情况)stairs. . . all 22 floors of them.

When we finally arrived at the ground floor many other people had already arrived, some in pajamas (睡衣), some half-dressed. The good news was everyone got out of the building safe and sound.

1. What woke the author up? (no more than 10 words)
_______________________________________________
2. When did the earthquake get really strong? (no more than 10 words)
_______________________________________________
3. What happened when the author looked out the window? (no more than 15 words)
_______________________________________________
4. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 5 probably mean? (no more than 3 words)
_______________________________________________
5. When an earthquake comes, what should we do if we are in the room? Please explain. (no more than 25 words)
_______________________________________________

【推荐2】The tools scientists use to study hurricanes change constantly. So though research has suggested the warming world would produce stronger hurricanes, it has been difficult to say that with certainty. A new paper, published online on May 18, proves its certainty-studying a period of 39 years, between 1979 and 2017. Normalizing their data in a certain way, the researchers found a clear trend: Storms are getting stronger in general, and major tropical cyclones（热带气旋） are coming more often

“The main difficulty we have in finding trends is that the data are collected using the latest technology at the time,” said James Kossin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor. “Every year the data are a bit different than last year, and each new satellite has new tools and captures data in different ways, so in the end we have pieces of all the satellite data that have been woven together.”

To create a consistent record to work with, the researchers tried something new. They sanded the edges off their newer, sharper tropical cyclone images to fit an older standard: Images where each pixel（ represents an area 5 miles by 5 miles. They also removed images from newer satellites that provide views of storms from angles unavailable in 1998. That left them with an extensive dataset of about 225, 000 similar-quality images of about 4,000 global tropical cyclones.

The researchers found that the chances of any given tropical cyclone becoming a hurricane have gone up, and that the likelihoods of major hurricanes have gone up by about 15%-with most of that increase happening in the last 19 years of the 39-year study period.

This paper on its own doesn't rule out the idea that the uptick in hurricanes isn't the result of some perfect coincidence of other trends, the researchers wrote. But it shows the increase is happening, precisely during the period of great warming.

1. What does James Kossin consider as a problem with data collection?

A．The lack of high technology.	B．The inaccuracy of old satellites.
C．The constant change of climate.	D．The use of tools of different times.

2. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．How to get consistent record.	B．How to compare different data.
C．How to improve image quality.	D．How to make the pixel change.

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

A．Change.	B．Power.
C．Rise.	D．Danger.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．A New Way to Fight Global Warming

B．Warming Surely Makes Hurricanes Stronger

C．Hurricanes Change Over the Past Years

D．A Special Tool of Monitoring Hurricanes

【推荐1】Health officials in Canada are very busy these days. They are placing chickens at fixed points all along their border with the United States of America. That’s a great distance of 2,500km. It’s not a practical joke, nor have the Canadians gone mad. They are using these chickens to see if the deadly West Nile virus is hiding around. The virus infects birds, so they think that the chickens have a good chance of catching the virus, or the virus will catch the chickens. The Canadians are worried because the West Nile virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. It killed seven people in New York last year.

Countries around the world are realizing something important that it may just be possible to stop certain kinds of people from entering their land, but it is very difficult to stop viruses travelling from one end of the earth to the other. When they travel to new places, they sometimes adjust very easily to those climates and start destroying the local plant and animal life. These biological polluters are called smart polluters, which can be carried across borders of countries unknowingly. Just as we humans are travelling across the globe more often than earlier, these biological polluters have also started journeying much more. They travel in the ballast(压舱物）of tankers. They sneak into aircraft through their wheels. They bore their way into objects that air travelers may be carrying from one country to another.

The customs officials in many foreign countries prevent you from bringing in a small plant, or a decorative item made of wood that is in its natural form. They tell you it’s in the rules. They have these rules because they know that these varieties of plants that are special to specific places have the power to spread new diseases among native plants and animals. They always create problems in places where they do not belong. Viruses causing these new diseases could come with special varieties of plants, bugs or even animals.

1. Which of the following best explains “transmitted” underlined in Paragraph 1?

A．Passed.	B．Supplied.
C．Promised.	D．Addressed

2. Why is it very difficult to stop viruses travelling?

A．They can hide from anyone.

B．They can never be killed in any case.

C．They can be spread by many approaches.

D．They can evolve to suit any environment.

3. What can we infer about customs rules from the last paragraph?

A．Native plants and animals mustn’t be exported.

B．Animals can be brought into any country freely.

C．No plants can be brought across country borders.

D．Special living things are forbidden to be imported.

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

A．Wipe Out All the Viruses	B．The Smart Polluters
C．The Basic Customs Rules	D．A Practical Joke of Canada

【推荐2】Are you afraid of sharks? What about snakes or spiders? Put those fears aside：because in the U.S. you’re far more likely to be killed or injured by a deer skipping across the road．

Deer cause more than 200 humans deaths each year, plus some 29,000 injuries，all because of l.2 million collisions between vehicles and deer．Most incidents occur in the eastern U.S. , where deer prosper without natural predators like wolves and mountain lions．

‘‘That’s the region in the U.S. where deer-vehicle collisions are such a problem，and where it seems like an effective large carnivore reintroduction could make a really big difference．’’ says wildlife biologist Laura Prugh from University of Washington．She thinks it would help to reintroduce predators like mountain lions，also known as cougars，pumas or panthers，to parts of their historic range from which they’ve been driven out．

The researchers say that bringing the predators back to the eastern U.S. would mean 22 percent fewer collisions between cars and deer over three decades．Each year would see five fewer human deaths，680 fewer injuries and a savings of some $50 million．Sophie L. Gilbert thinks there are great socioeconomic benefits of large predator restoration through reduced wildlife-vehicle collisions and she says，“Cougars have shown that they can coexist in short distance with people，with very few conflicts，in a lot of areas out west．”

Still，some folks might be understandably nervous about this kind of plan．After all , reintroducing predators doesn’t come without risks to pets and to livestock，and very occasionally to people．

“Our fear of large predators is so natural and intense that I don’t think it’s possible to just completely clear it with statistics…what I hope is that knowing that there actually can be some measurable benefits might make people a little more supportive and maybe balance that fear a little bit．”says Laura．

Indeed，the statistics show that cougars would prevent five times as many human deaths from deer-related accidents as they would cause by attacks．But it’ll be a tough   sell：the press will cover cougar attacks，but a statistically prevented death does not make the news．Nevertheless，“If people in the west can put up with having mountain lions around．I would hope that New Yorkers would be up for the challenge as well．”
1. The underlined word in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to __________．

A．a meat-eating animal	B．a grass-eating animal
C．a cat-like animal	D．a dangerous animal

2. Why do people want to bring back mountain lions?

A．To minimize the accidents caused by deer．

B．To maintain biodiversity and ecological balance．

C．To take up the challenge from people in the west．

D．To reduce people’s fear of this dangerous creature．

3. Why is it hard to persuade people to accept this measure?

A．Because the risks outweigh the benefits．

B．Because mountains lions like eating people．

C．Because mountain lions tend to get too close to people．

D．Because the benefits are not as eye-catching as its risks．

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Puma：a Tough Sell	B．A New Study on Puma
C．Deer Cause Huge Life Losses	D．Deer or Pumas：a Hard Choice

【推荐1】Criticism of Big Tech is intensifying. At Congressional hearings last week, politicians from across the aisle gave a rough ride to executives of some of the world's most valuable companies. Amid the hubbub(喧哗), the resignation of Google's Meredith Whittaker was less noticed, but significant. Ms Whittaker, a Google artificial intelligence researcher, was a leader of protests insider the company last year. In an internal note to fellow employees, she warned that developers have a “short window in which to act" to stop increasingly dangerous uses of artificial intelligence.

Ms Whittaker' s resignation reflects a growing tendency for tech companies' own staff to try to serve as the moral compass and conscience of their businesses. In companies whose value relies so much on human and intellectual capital ---and in being able to attract the sharpest minds ---employees have considerable potential impact, especially collectively.

The Google Walkouts of which Ms Whittaker was a leader began in response to the search group's treatment of sexual harassment complaints. They snowballed to include broader issues around the company’s technologies. Ms Whittaker’s decision now to resign suggests many Big Tech companies are still not doing enough to attend to employees' concerns over corporate culture. Yet responding to internal calls to action should be an obvious choice. Threats of strikes or resignations by the talented staff who build systems risk undermining technology companies' competitiveness. Employee action can act to strengthen measures by regulators who are increasingly proactive in dealing with the excesses of Big Tech.

The rise of collective action for social good is encouraging. Traditional labour focuses ----such as workers' rights around pay and hours ----- remain important in a sector which still also makes heavy uses of cheap and poorly-skilled workers. Attempts to pressure companies into behaving ethically have more often been driven by single employees. Avenues are needed to ensure that workers can discuss potentially unethical practices without risking revenge.

Ms Whittaker’s proposal for unionisation is part of a broader chorus demanding greater employee oversight. Alphabet, Google’s parent, has already faced calls from union-sponsored pension funds to add a non-executive employee representative to its board. While not successful this year, the move showed that stakeholders such as investors are pressing for culture change within Big Tech companies.

Workers outside the tech sector, too, are forcing companies to try to solve international problems. A global climate strike is planned for September，encouraging workers to join the thousands of school students who have protested over the past year. In the advertising industry, workers at over 20 agencies refused to work on fossil fuel briefs in solidarity, inspired by the Extinction Rebellion protests. Big Tech, facing ever more open criticism should see the message is clear. To regain trust, it will have to engage not just with regulators, but with its own employees and stakeholders.

1. We can learn from the first paragraph that Ms Whittaker _________

A．drew much criticism from politicians.

B．opposed Google's risky uses of AL.

C．disagreed with her colleagues on the future of AI.

D．resigned because her talent in AI was not recognized.

2. The author argues in Paragraph 2 that tech companies' staff _________

A．can serve as the moral models for traditional labour.

B．should keep sharpening their minds.

C．can pressure companies into behaving ethically.

D．should improve internal collaboration.

3. According to Paragraph3, internal calls to action may _________.

A．damage a company's reputation.

B．threaten a company's competitiveness.

C．impair a company' s corporate culture.

D．strengthen a company 's management system.

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．Employees Can Help to Make Big Tech Moral

B．Big Tech Staff Are Different from Traditional Labour

C．The Tech Sector Is Facing Ever More Criticism

D．The Tech Sector Is in a Wave of Resignations

【推荐2】Henderson Island in the South Pacific Ocean has always been known for its remarkable biological diversity and untouched ecology. Now, the remote UNESCO World Heritage site that lies 3，100 miles from the closest human settlement can also lay claim to being one of the most polluted places on Earth.

Jennifer Lavers, a researcher from the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies who has been studying the island for a few years, says the tiny island is home to over 38 million pieces of waste.

The amount of waste is surprising given that the island, the largest of the group of four Pitcairn volcanic islands, has no residents and is visited by scientists only once or twice every decade. However, as it turns out, humans do not need to be physically present to pollute an area. In this case, the waste is brought in by the South Pacific Gyre, an ocean current that sends garbage moving through the sea to Henderson.

What’s even worse is that the unsightly rubbish scattered (分散)across the island’s sandy beaches is just the tip of the iceberg. According to the researchers, over 68% of the waste is buried under the sand. This means their estimates, based on the waste found up to 10 centimeters below the sand, may be underestimating the full extent of the pollution.

Besides being aesthetically(审美地) unpleasing, the waste is also harmful to the island’s wildlife. Lavers and study co-author Alexander Bond discovered sea turtles that come to the island to lay eggs caught inside fishing lines. The waste is also harmful to seabirds and fish that mistake the colorful plastic pieces for food.

Environmentalists like Boyan Slat, who founded The Ocean Cleanup in 2011 after discovering “more bags than fish” while diving in Greece, are trying to clean up the mess. However, their efforts will only make a difference if we all join them by avoiding plastic altogether or reusing and recycling.

Unless we find ways to change the situation, this ever increasing pollution will cause a serious risk to the health of our planet and all its residents, including humans.

1. What do we know about Henderson Island？

A．There are no animals on it.

B．There are no people living on it.

C．It’s known for its various resources.

D．It’s the largest island in the South Pacific Ocean.

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage？

A．Humans presence caused most of the pollution on the island.

B．The volcanic eruption and the closest human settlement lead to the pollution.

C．Most of the rubbish is scattered across the island’s’ beaches.

D．An ocean current has carried the garbage to the island.

3. What is the fifth paragraph mainly about？

A．The impact of sea waste.

B．The level of sea pollution.

C．How to deal with ocean trash.

D．How to protect the island’s wildlife.

4. What is the purpose of the text？

A．To introduce famous volcanic island.

B．To praise environmentalists for their efforts.

C．To call on people to take action on pollution.

D．To explain the consequences of the South Pacific Gyre.

【推荐3】If we planted a lot more trees in just the right places, they could reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere to levels not seen since the 1920s, said study leader Jean Francois Bastin, an ecologist from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. After examining more than 70,000 high-quality satellite photos of trees from all over the planet, ecologists concluded that the earth could support 900 million additional hectares (公顷) of tree cover.

Bastin and his colleagues developed a computer program that estimates how much forested land could be restored both now and in a future warmer world. The team members combed through 78,774 satellite photos of a variety of ecosystems- everywhere from the thick Amazon rainforest to the dry Sahel in Africa-that had been protected from human influence. They counted every tree in every photo to assess the current tree coverage in natural environments. The researchers combined that information with data about the climate, temperature and soil conditions for each ecosystem. Then they taught their program to put it all together to determine how much tree coverage a particular area could support.

The result shows trees currently cover 2.8 billion hectares of land- but they have the potential to populate as much as 4.4 billion hectares. Right now, much of the additional 1.6 billion hectares is being used for agriculture or urban spaces. The researchers took those areas off the table and saw that the earth still has 900 million hectares ready and waiting to be restored with trees an area roughly the size of Brazil. When those trees mature, they could remove 205 gigatonnes (兆吨) of carbon from the atmosphere, the study calculated, That represents about two-thirds of the roughly 300 gigatonnes of atmospheric carbon that can be traced to human actions, they said.

Even if trees are planted in the most mindful way, other actions are still needed to fight climate change, Bastin said.

1. Why did Bastin develop a computer program?

A．To reduce air pollution in Africa.

B．To determine carbon dioxide in the air.

C．To assess the potential forested land.

D．To calculate the area of forest in the world.

2. What does the underlined phrase “combed through” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Looked into.	B．Put away.
C．Brought back.	D．Took in.

3. What can we infer from what Basin said in the last paragraph?

A．Brazil has large areas to plant trees.

B．The tree cover is not enough to control greenhouse gases.

C．Trees removed two-thirds of carbon in the atmosphere.

D．Other actions are equally important compared to planting trees.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the research result?

A．Disapproving.	B．Doubtful.
C．Supportive.	D．Objective.