1 . Climate change (气候变化) has brought a serious warning to the living areas of the Siberian crane, increasing the need to better protect the birds and their migratory channels (迁徙路径), an expert said.

The Siberian crane breeds (繁殖) in northeast Siberia in Russia and flies to Poyang Lake for the winter in East China’s Jiangxi Province. About 95 percent of the birds spend the season in Poyang.

Qian Fawen, a research professor from the National Bird Banding Center of China, said that Poyang’s water levels decide whether it is suitable for the birds to live there. However, climate change has made the levels change often. “In some years, the lake experiences floods; in others, it experiences droughts. Both of these situations create food shortages in the cranes’ living area,” he said.

The Siberian crane is listed as seriously endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. “We need to protect their living area, which is mainly wetland, so that we can protect them,” Qian said.

In the recently announced National Action Plan for the Protection of Bird Migration Channels (2021-35), 1, 140 places in China were considered as important breeding grounds, wintering grounds and staying stops, including Poyang and the Yellow River wetland in Ningxia. The plan said that the government should watch and count the number of migratory birds and pay farmers for losses caused by the birds.

Since China joined the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 1992, it has designated (指定) 202,600 hectares of wetland as Wetlands of International Importance. They store and clean water, keep all kinds of living things, help store floods and prevent droughts. According to a plan announced by the central government in October, by 2025, China will have protected 55 percent of its wetlands.

After the Wetlands Protection Law, the nation’s first law to protect wetlands, was introduced on June 1, 2022, complete protection was strengthened. The law clearly explained what the government should do and introduced strict punishment for people who destroy wetland areas. It limits building at important national wetlands and it doesn’t allow harmful activities, including using them as farmlands, leaving wastewater everywhere, harvesting and fishing too much.

Key nature reserve management offices in China have reported more birds wintering in the nation’s wetlands, including some new rare kinds. ▲

1. What can we learn from Paragraph 2 to Paragraph 4?

A．About 95 percent of the Siberian cranes spend their winter in Poyang Lake.

B．Climate change has little influence on the Siberian cranes’ living area in Poyang.

C．The Siberian cranes will live in Poyang all year round if the wetland is protected.

D．Water levels decide that Poyang Lake isn’t suitable for the Siberian cranes to live.

2. Which of the following behaviors is right at important wetlands?
①building houses       ②making farmlands       ③limiting fishing
④leaving wastewater       ⑤watching birds

A．①③

B．②④

C．③⑤

D．②⑤

3. What does this passage mainly tell us?

A．The problem the Siberian cranes face and the ways people protect wetlands.

B．The reason why the Siberian cranes migrate and the place they usually stay in.

C．The importance of protecting the Siberian cranes and the result it will lead to.

D．The loss of wetlands and the actions that have already been taken to help them.

4. What will the writer probably continue to write in “ ▲ ” in Paragraph 8?

A．People have done something to protect wetlands.

B．The number of the birds has increased in wetlands.

C．Experts will go on to do other research on wetlands.

D．The government will make more laws to protect wetlands.

2 . Bicycles have long been a kind of transport in China. In the past, only a small group of people thought cycling a sport. Now more and more people discover the joy of it.

________ Riders share their favourite routes and health tips about cycling on some apps like Xiaohongshu or Sina Weibo. On Xiaohongshu, there are more than 2.5 million posts (帖子) about cycling, and on Weibo, the topic about cycling has been viewed more than 700 million times. A bicycle company says the sales in one of its stores rose 20% to 30%, compared to the same period a year earlier. Cycling activities are also welcomed. According to the Chinese Cycling Association, at least 20 million people have joined in the sport.

People turn to cycling as more people care about their health and their demand for outdoor exercise becomes stronger. For people who have begun cycling, the sport seems to provide a good way to run away from the busy city life. It also gives them a stronger sense of being part of the natural environment. Though the sport cycling sometimes costs a lot, many cyclists think spending money on their own bodies is more valuable than on other items. More people take part in cycling as cities in China are also planning to build more cycle-only lanes (车道). Several years ago, Beijing started building the city’s first cycle-only lane. Since its opening, the lane has seen a larger daily traffic flow. Such lanes are also being built in some other cities.

1. Which of the following sentences is the most suitable for the blank (空格) in Paragraph 2?

A．Cycling has a long history.	B．Cycling becomes a hot topic.
C．Cycling costs a lot of money.	D．Cycling brings several advantages.

2. The underlined word “demand” in Paragraph 3 means ________.

A．need

B．plan

C．design

D．talent

3. What’s the purpose of this passage?

A．It advises cities to build cycling lanes.

B．It shows the sales of cycling are going up.

C．It introduces cycling is becoming popular.

D．It recommends good cycling routes to people.

3 .

You stand in a garden. A low noise reaches your ears. You see a small insect flying near your head. You turn to look, and it flies out of sight. There it is again! You move slowly. You can see yellow and black stripes on it.

Is it a bee? It lands on a flower, and you take a closer look.

Bees fold(折叠) their wings onto their backs when they stop flying. But this insect’s wings reach out like a fly’s. That’s because it is a fly—a flower fly.

Many flower flies look like bees. This helps keep them safe from animals that may want to eat them. Insects with yellow and black stripes usually have stingers(刺). Insect eaters, such as some birds and frogs, need to get stung only once to know that stripes mean trouble. Flower flies can’t sting, but insect eaters see the stripes and leave the flies alone.

Flower flies spend most of their time looking for food. Like bees, flower flies eat pollen(花粉) and nectar(花蜜). This makes them easy to find in a garden full of flowers. They are helpful garden insects just like bees. Adult flower flies move pollen from one flower to another, which helps some flowers grow into fruit.

Flower flies can stay in one place while flying. Most insects move forward when they fly. But flower flies can twist their wings, much like hummingbirds do. Twisting keeps them in one place, so they can remain over flowers, leaves, or even you!

1. In which part of a magazine can we probably see this passage?

A．Nature.

B．Culture.

C．Fashion.

D．Health.

2. In which way are bees and flower flies different?

A．The food that they eat.	B．The colour of their stripes.
C．The way they help garden flowers grow.	D．The shape of wings when they stop flying.

3. What does the underlined phrase “leave the flies alone” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Make friends with the flies.	B．Eat the flies up.
C．Keep away from the flies.	D．Invite the flies in.

4. What might the writer of the passage agree with?

A．People usually prefer bees to flower flies.

B．People sometimes mistake flower flies for bees.

C．People should stop birds eating bees and flower flies.

D．People should have beautiful gardens in their neighbourhood.

4 . Poems play with sounds, words, and grammar. That makes poems difficult to write but very interesting to read. They use colours, feelings, experiences, and images to paint a picture in your mind. Let’s have a look at the following Chinese classical poem:

On the Stork Tower

By Wang Zhihuan

The sun along the mountain bows,

The Yellow River seawards flows,

You can enjoy a grander sight,

If you climb to a greater height,

Translated by Xu Yuanchong

In Chinese classical poems, the form is very important: the correct number of lines and the number of words in each line. Poems often follow special models of rhythm（节奏）and rhyme. However, modern poets begin to reject traditional forms and structures（结构）for poems in the 20th century. As a result, most poems today are written in free style, with lines of different lengths.

Today many Chinese people are becoming more interested in reading poems, no matter in what language they are written. Translations can be good, but being able to read in the original（最初的）language is best.

1. What do the first two lines of the poem On the Stork Tower show?

A．Love.

B．Sights.

C．History.

D．Feelings.

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

A．Throw away.

B．Carry on.

C．Agree with.

D．Take up.

3. What does the writer of the passage probably believe?

A．It is much easier to write classical poems than modern poems.

B．People should develop the habit of painting pictures after reading poems.

C．Chinese classical poems should follow free style with lines of different lengths.

D．No matter how well a poem is translated, some of the spirit of the original work is lost.

5 . Family is very important for everyone, no matter where you are from. So in both East and West, people have festivals to celebrate family reunions(团聚). These festivals include the Mid-Autumn Festival in China and Thanksgiving Day in the US. How are they celebrated and what are the differences? Let’s take a look.

Sharing the moonlight

The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second most important traditional festival in China after the Spring Festival. It’s on the 15th day of the eighth month of Chinese lunar calendar. In ancient China, the day was considered as a harvest festival since fruits, vegetables and grain(谷物) had been collected from the fields. All the family got together and had a big dinner. They ate a special festival food-moon cakes and enjoyed the full moon.

On that day, the moon is full. The full moon is a symbol for family reunions which mean tuanyuan in Chinese. Now people also celebrate the festival by getting together and having a big dinner.

When it gets dark, people look up at the full moon, eating moon cakes and missing friends and relatives who are far from home. “We wish each other a long life so as to share the beauty of this graceful moonlight, even though miles apart!” wrote Su Shi, a famous Song Dynasty poet.

Showing thanks

Thanksgiving Day is one of the biggest holidays in the US. It’s on the fourth Thursday of November. People visit their friends and relatives to remind themselves that they are lucky to have happiness, health and family and also to have a roof over their heads.

In 1621, about 100 English people took a ship, the Mayflower, and arrived in the northeastern US. The winter there was very cold and life was hard. As the American Indians helped them a lot, the English people asked them to have a big meal with then in order to express their thanks. The celebration lasted for three days.

Today, people usually have a family meal on Thanksgiving Day. They enjoy delicious food such as pumpkin scorn and a big, golden turkey.

There are other traditions on the day. For example, the turkey has a V-shaped bone in the breast. It’s called a wishbone. After roasting(烤), two persons each take one end of the bone. They make a wish and then pull it. If one gets the larger part of the bone, he or she will get good luck.

The most important part of Thanksgiving Day is to say “thanks”— this is the spirit of the holiday. People also like to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV.

1. Why did people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in ancient China?

A．Because people could eat moon cakes.

B．Because people enjoyed the full moon.

C．Because people could get together with relatives.

D．Because people had a good harvest from the fields.

2. What does the underlined part “to have a roof over their heads” in the passage probably mean?

A．To have somewhere to live.	B．To have food to eat.
C．To have friends to talk to.	D．To have clothes to wear.

3. What is the spirit of Thanksgiving Day?

A．To pull the bone.	B．To play American football.
C．To say “thanks”.	D．To watch the Parade.

4. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．The background to the two festivals.	B．The introduction to the two festivals.
C．The activities of the two festivals.	D．The customs of the two festivals.

6 .

Pet parrots that are allowed to make video calls to other birds show signs of feeling less isolated, according to scientists.

The study, which involved giving the birds a computer that they could use to make video calls, found that they began to engage in more social behaviors including preening, singing and playing. The birds were given a choice of which “friend” to call on a touchscreen computer and the study showed that the parrots that called other birds most often were the most popular choices.

Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, of the University of Glasgow and a co-author of the study, said that video calls had helped many people feel less isolated in the last few years. She added, “There are 20 million parrots living in people’s homes in the USA, and we wanted to explore whether those birds might benefit (受益) from video calling too. If we gave them the chance to call other parrots, would they choose to do so, and would the experience benefit the parrots and their caregivers?”

Their study of 18 pet parrots suggested that there were, indeed, benefits for the birds. In the wild, many species of parrots live in large groups, but as pets they are, kept alone or in a small group. Living alone can cause birds, to develop mental problems, which include rocking, walking back and forth, or self-harming behaviors such as feather-plucking.

The parrots first learned to ring a bell and then touch a photo of another bird on the screen of a computer to make a call to that bird, with the help of their owners. In total the birds made 147 calls to each other during the study, while owners took detailed notes on the birds’ behavior and the researchers later reviewed the video footage.

Jennifer Cunha of Northeastern University said that the parrots “seemed to know” that they were communicating with other birds. “All the bird owners in the study said they valued the experience, and would want to continue using the system with their parrots in the future,” she said.

“I was quite surprised at so many different behaviors,” said Hirskyj-Douglas. “Some would sing, some would play around and go upside down, others would want to show another bird their toys.”

1. The main purpose of the study is to find out _________.

A．if parrots can learn to make video calls	B．if parrots can benefit from video calling
C．why parrots can have so many benefits	D．why parrots can develop mental problems

2. What can we learn about the pet parrots?

A．Their way to communicate is singing.	B．Most of them used to live in large groups.
C．The most popular ones made most calls.	D．They can make video calls by themselves.

3. Which word has the closest meaning to “isolated”?

A．amazed

B．calm

C．scared

D．lonely

4. The following paragraph can best go after ________.
Video calling could reproduce some of the social benefits of living in a group, according to Rébecca Kleinberger, of Northeastern University and first author of the study.

A．Paragraph 1

B．Paragraph 2

C．Paragraph 3

D．Paragraph 4

8 . Teenagers need eight to ten hours of sleep per night. However, in adolescence (青春期) changes to the body’s sleep cycle make it difficult for teens to fall asleep early. Many cannot fall asleep until 10:30 p.m. or even later and most of them will feel sleepy if they have to get up too early.

Scientists recommend that both middle and high schools begin no earlier than 8:30 a.m. Later school start times support the natural needs of teenagers and increase their sleeping time.

Here are some other benefits of later school start times:

More time for a healthy breakfast

When running late in the mornings, students are likely to go without breakfast. With an empty stomach, one finds it difficult to focus (集中) in class. When they are always in a hurry, students may form unhealthy eating habits.

With extra time before going to school, students can eat a well-balanced breakfast and focus more on learning.

Fewer behavioral (行为的) problems

Teens experience mood changes as a common result of this special period of life. Less sleep may cause worries, stress and unhappiness.

When they get enough sleep, students are calm and peaceful and their moods do not change suddenly. They’re less likely to feel worried, unhappy or get angry. For parents, children with more sleep are easier to live with.

Better performance (表现) in study

Sleep loss hurts attention, memory and brain development. Students with less sleep have difficulty paying attention in class and are likely to have lower grades. Students with enough sleep can be more energetic during the day and more willing to learn. They are also less likely to fall asleep in class and more able to understand what they learn.

In conclusion, starting school later helps students get a better night’s sleep. It improves their chances of eating, behaving and performing better.

1. According to the passage, what may cause teenagers to stay up?

A．Their low grades.	B．Their empty stomachs.
C．Their body’s sleep cycle.	D．Their heavy homework.

2. How can sleep loss influence students’ study?

A．It gives them much energy.	B．It does harm to the brain.
C．It saves more time for study.	D．It improves their memory.

3. What’s the writer’s main purpose in writing this passage?

A．To explain reasons for students’ stress.

B．To describe bad habits caused by sleep loss.

C．To discuss scientists’ research on healthy food.

D．To introduce benefits of later school start times.

4. In which part of the website can you probably find this passage?

A．Education.

B．Fashion.

C．Sports.

D．Technology.

9 .

Confucianism (儒家思想) has been followed by Chinese people for more than two thousand years.

To help people understand how to behave towards others, Confucianism teaches the Five Constants (五常). These are ren, yi, li, zhi and xin. They are general virtues (美德) around the world. The most important two are ren and li.

Ren is the feeling of care and love we should have for others. Confucius explained ren could best be understood as loving others. He is famous for teaching people “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others”. It is quite similar to what is known in the West as the Golden Rule (treat others as you wish to be treated).

While the meaning of ren is easy to understand, li is a little harder to express. It can be thought of as duty or even respect. Generally, li is the way we should connect with people in our everyday life. In Confucian writings, discussions about li include the proper way to drink tea and how to remember ancestors (祖先). While ren is mostly about our opinions and feelings, li is about how we express our opinions and feelings towards others and towards the world around us.

Perhaps the most well-known Confucian virtue is xiao. This is the duty children have to their parents. Xiao means loving, respecting, obeying and taking care of one’s parents in their old age. In Confucianism, xiao is important for a harmonious (和谐的) society: Without it, the whole world would fall into a mess.

1. Which are the most important of the Five Constants?

A．Ren and yi.

B．Ren and li.

C．Li and xin.

D．Yi and zhi.

2. What is the best Chinese for the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3?

A．博学于文，约之以礼。	B．学而不思则罔，思而不学则殆。
C．己所不欲，勿施于人。	D．君子和而不同，小人同而不和。

3. Which of the following is an example of li?

A．Building a peaceful society.	B．Taking care of one’s children.
C．Obeying rules for drinking tea.	D．Learning all through one’s life.

4. What does the passage mainly tell us about Confucianism?

A．Its general virtues.	B．Its long history.
C．Its new challenges.	D．Its golden rules.