1 . Winter can usually kill most wildfires. But in the far North，some forest fires just don’t die. They are thought of as “zombie (僵尸) fires”.
“Zombie fires” usually sleep underground in winter. Covered by snow, they smoke through the cold. Fueled by carbon-rich peat (泥炭) and soil in the North, most of these hidden fires spread slowly for less than 500 meters during the winter. When spring comes, the flames (火焰) of the fires appear near sites that they burned in winter, and they turn to burning fresh fuels around. This may happen well before the traditional fire season in the far North.
“Zombie fires” had been known mostly from firefighters’ stories. Few scientists studied them until details in some satellite images attracted one research team. Rebecca Scholten, a member of the team, studies earth systems at Vrije University Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Her team noticed an unusual thing. “New fires have been starting very close to the former years’ fires in recent years，and we wonder how often the fires might survive the winter,” Scholten explains.
These “zombie fires” are rarely seen before, according to a new study from Nature. But in recent years, they are becoming more common, the study warns. It is believed that the “zombie fires” are even on the road of being a threat. Forests in the far North are warming faster than the globe’s average (平均数). Scholten says, “We’re seeing more hot summers and more large fires and strong burning. That could set the stage for the fires to become a bigger problem,” she worries. And the region’s soils hold a lot of carbon—maybe twice as much as earth’s atmosphere. More fires here could give off huge amounts of greenhouse gases. That would drive a cycle of more warming and even higher risk of fires.
1. What do we know about the “zombies fires” in the far North?| A．They will completely die out in winter. |
| B．Carbon-rich peat helps them burn slowly in winter. |
| C．They often happen after the traditional fire season. |
| D．Their flames can only appear in spring. |
| A．“Zombie fires” appear earlier than the years before. |
| B．“Zombie fires” happen far from former years’ fires. |
| C．“Zombie fires” happen more frequently than before. |
| D．“Zombie fires” appear in different shapes every year. |
| A．The global warming is slowing down. |
| B．The hot summers are less and less seen. |
| C．The area’s soils are short of carbon. |
| D．More greenhouse gases are given off. |
| A．Where Are “Zombie Fires” From? |
| B．Are “Zombie Fires” Frightening? |
| C．Pay Attention To “Zombie Fires”! |
| D．“Zombie Fires” Are Caused By Humans! |
2 . Scientists are worried about the future of the axolotl (蝾螈), an unusual Mexican salamander(蜥蜴), and they’re asking for help. A new program lets people “adopt” an axolotl to raise money to support efforts to save the endangered animal.
If an axolotl loses a leg, or even part of its heart, brain, or lungs, it can regrow them. Scientists have long been interested in this. Some people think the information could help solve some human medical problems.
The Mexican axolotl is only found naturally in Lake Xochimilc o near Mexico City. This is not a big and open lake, but a collection of canals and smaller bodies of water. Sadly, axolotls are in trouble. The number of axolotls in Xochimilco has dropped 99.5% in less than 20 years. Scientists used to find thousands of axolotls in a fairly small area. Now, they’re only finding dozens.
There are a number of reasons for the drop in axolotls. One is that the water in the canals has become more and more polluted. Another is that there are invasive fish in the lake which are eating the axolotl’s food and even their babies.
Scientists at Mexico’s National Autonomous University(UNAM) have been working for years to try to protect the axolotls. Last year, the UNAM scientists started a program they called AdoptAxolotl. They asked people to donate money to help pay for efforts to save the axolotl. The program was a big hit, and raised more than $26,000. The money was used to help clean up some of Xochimilco’s canals and for a program to raise axolotls in a safe environment.
This year, the scientists are trying AdoptAxolotl again. The program offers several ways for people to support axolotls. For $30, you can virtually “adopt” one of the animals for a month. Smaller donations can help pay for food for an axolotl. Larger donations are aimed at improving areas where axolotls live, and include a visit to the protected area where UNAM is raising axolotls.
1. What have the scientists had an interest in?| A．How axolotls cure themselves. | B．Who can address medical problems. |
| C．How soon axolotls will go extinct. | D．Why some people focus on axolotls. |
| A．To promote axolotl research. | B．To blame the Mexican residents. |
| C．To show the severe conditions. | D．To expand the habitat for axolotls. |
| A．collected enough money | B．turned out very popular |
| C．helped to build new canals | D．moved students at UNAM |
| A．New Projects Are Needed to Protect Axolotls |
| B．Amazing Axolotls Live in Hash Environment |
| C．Everyone Can Help to Stop Adopting Animals |
| D．Scientists Work to Save Mexico’s Axolotls |
3 . Not long ago, people could only buy organic food in small shops. Today it is common in most major supermarkets. The reason for the increase is that more and more people are demanding food grown without chemicals. Since the 1990s, organic farm production has gone up continuously. This pattern is expected to continue around the globe.
Australia leads the world in land used as for organic agriculture. It has four times as all of Asia. However, most of the land is not very fertile, and it only produces a modest amount of food. Argentina is a distant second, followed by Brazil, the United States and China. In Africa, only a very small amount of land is registered for organic farming. That does not mean Africa relies on chemicals. In fact, many farmers do not use chemicals because they cannot afford them. Yet there are no programmes for these farmers to prove they do not use chemicals. Without these programmes their food can never be approved organic.
India has had the most dramatic recent increase in organic farming. Like many other countries, India sees continual growth in organic food sales around the world. This, of course, leads to growth in profits. Sales of organic food were more than doubled from 2000 to 2005. Like India, many countries are trying to increase commercial organic farming to get a share of the sales. This has led to criticism. Some people believe that organic farming should not just be about making money. They think the goal is to help the environment. Others say organic farming will not continue if it is not profitable. They say that people should be able to make money while providing healthy food for mankind.
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．Organic food has become much more common. |
| B．Organic farming is growing around the world. |
| C．People do not want to eat food with chemicals in it. |
| D．Countries all want to make money from organic farming. |
| A．More and more people demand chemicals to grow food. |
| B．Organic food is good for Earth and the human beings. |
| C．There are fewer chemicals available to the human beings. |
| D．Profits from organic farming help make approval programmes. |
| A．India uses the least land to organic farming. |
| B．Brazil uses less land to organic farming than China. |
| C．the US is the fourth largest organic farming country. |
| D．China and India have the same amount of organic farmland. |
| A．people who eat food with chemicals have shorter lifespan. |
| B．India will soon become the largest country of growing organic food. |
| C．more countries will farm organically as the environment gets worse. |
| D．there will be fewer organic farms if the demand for organic food goes down. |
4 . My parents, siblings and I took our first camping trip to the Lake Houston Wilderness Park recently.
We had finished putting up the
The rain died down before dark and the sky turned clear. Soon, Mom
The following day, we had a good time
I am very grateful for this camping trip, which has left us unforgettable
| A．roof | B．shelf | C．fence | D．tent |
| A．positioned | B．attached | C．approached | D．checked |
| A．felt | B．chatted | C．argued | D．complained |
| A．strange | B．powerful | C．unique | D．beneficial |
| A．culture | B．society | C．nature | D．space |
| A．happy | B．lucky | C．curious | D．confident |
| A．desired | B．prepared | C．ordered | D．delivered |
| A．impression | B．adventure | C．show | D．conversation |
| A．yelled | B．pointed | C．laughed | D．wondered |
| A．set out | B．went back | C．caught up | D．looked down |
| A．paving | B．cleaning | C．exploring | D．searching |
| A．Due to | B．Apart from | C．Instead of | D．As for |
| A．dramatically | B．casually | C．regularly | D．completely |
| A．goods | B．tools | C．harvests | D．belongings |
| A．encounters | B．coincidences | C．discoveries | D．memories |
5 . “When I grow up, I want to be a runner.” These words are spoken by thousands of Kenyan children. 50 percent of the Kenyan top runners are members of Kalenjin, one minority race of the country. They make up less than two percent of Kenya’s population. This fact has puzzled sports scientists. They have spent considerable time and effort trying to answer one question: What enables the Kalenjin people to run so fast?
Although the question seems simple, finding the answer has proven to be difficult and controversial. A team of Danish sports scientists spent 18 months and discovered the Kalenjins had remarkably slow heart rates even when running long distances. The Kalenjins live in high-elevation（高海拔） villages in the Rift Valley in western Kenya. People living at high elevations produce more red blood cells, which aid in the transport of oxygen throughout the body. Because the air is thinner and contains less oxygen at high elevations, the body produces more red blood cells. Scientists believe there is a connection between increased red blood cells and low heart rates and that both may enable high-altitude athletes to outperform those who train at low altitudes. The Danish scientists also studied the bodies of the Kalenjins and compared them to those of the Danes. They found that the Kalenjins have longer “birdlike” legs. The Kalenjins also have lower body mass indexes (a measure of body fat based on weight and height) and shorter bodies than Danish people.
As a result of the Danish study, some scientists made the conclusion that the Kalenjins possess what is called a “speed gene(基因)”. However, Kenyan runners were offended by this conclusion They credited their success to hard work and endless hours of training.
Although the controversy over the “speed gene” remains unsolved, British runner Mo Farah’s experience offers an interesting perspective on the subject. In 2005, he realized he wasn’t meeting his potential as a runner. A group of Kenyan runners were training in England then. After he accidentally observed the Kenyans’ strict training routines and dedication to their sport, Farah said it was like a switch had been turned on in his head. He began eating healthy foods, going to bed early, and training harder than he had ever trained in his life. As a result, Farah’s running career exploded. He has won seven world and Olympic titles in the 5000m and regularly beats Kenya’s top runners!
Farah’s story proves what Kenyans have known all along. Regardless of genetics, their success would not be possible without hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and mental toughness. Their “secret” is simple. Train hard, run fast, and never give up.
1. What interested the sports scientists?| A．Kenyan sports history. |
| B．Kanlenjins’ running ability. |
| C．Kanlenjins’ training methods. |
| D．Kenyans’ enthusiasm for sport. |
| A．Physical condition. | B．Hard training. |
| C．Living style. | D．Strong will. |
| A．Convincing. | B．Astonishing. |
| C．Unacceptable. | D．Important. |
| A．To show running methods count. |
| B．To encourage British athletes. |
| C．To prove effort pays off. |
| D．To support gene theory. |
6 . Italian diver and gardener Sergio Gamberini decided to see if he could grow vegetables in a plastic balloon underwater. The experiment was a success—so he decided to dive deeper into the world of underwater agriculture.
Today, Gamberini is the founder of a company using “biospheres” off the coast of Italy to grow a variety of plants, introducing the world to a new type of agriculture. The company’s six “biospheres” are air-filled plastic balloons about two meters wide. Each is fixed to the seabed by chains so that it sits between 15and 36 feet below sea level. The biospheres are equipped with cameras and sensors that allow researchers in the company to monitor CO2 levels, humidity, temperature, and more from a control tower on the shoreline. There’s also a device to communicate with divers in the biospheres.
Solar panels (太阳能电池板) on the roof of the control tower power the fans that create airflow inside the biospheres, and because the temperature inside and outside the biospheres is consistent, there’s no need to expend energy on the heating or cooling systems needed for traditional greenhouses.
The underwater garden doesn’t require pesticides (杀虫剂) since bugs can’t reach the plants, and though more research is needed, the company notes on its website that the higher-pressure conditions underwater appear to help plants grow more quickly.
The company is now ready to shift from the research phase of development to optimizing (优化) its biospheres for industrialization, with the goal of expanding them off coastlines around the world. To achieve the aim, the startup is now taking advantage of “digital twin” technology to precisely simulate (模仿) every aspect of its underwater garden.
Even with all the optimization potential offered by technology, Gamberini admits it’s hard to imagine the produce grown in his startup’s biospheres ever competing financially with traditionally grown crops. Still, he hopes the system’s sustainability will be enough to draw customers.
1. What does Gamberini’s company use “biospheres” mainly for?| A．Doing scientific research on marine life. |
| B．Creating a habitat for underwater animals. |
| C．Monitoring climate change effects on coastal regions. |
| D．Growing different types of plants through underwater agriculture. |
| A．By temperature regulation by divers. |
| B．By advanced heating and cooling systems. |
| C．By solar panels on the roof of the control tower. |
| D．By natural climate conditions of underwater environment. |
| A．It has little negative influence on the environment. | B．It negatively affects ocean biodiversity. |
| C．It leads to much use of pesticides. | D．It contributes to climate change. |
| A．Grow Plants Under the Sea | B．The Creative World of Keeping Animals |
| C．Explore the Depths of Underwater Farming | D．The Challenge of Growing Greens Underwater |
7 . In the U. S., speaking more than one language fluently is not very common except in Los Angeles, California.
The city has one of the largest population in the U. S. of young people between the ages of 18 and 34. This generation is often called millennials (新千年一代). More than half of millennials in Los Angeles are bilingual (双语的), which means they speak more than one language.
Maria Elena Burgos is cooking a Mexican breakfast. She says making Mexican food is just one of the many traditions in her home. Another is speaking Spanish to her children.
“We want them to be bilingual. We want to keep the Spanish somewhere in their learning too, not only at home.”
When Ms Burgos first came to the United States from Mexico, she learned English. She knew her children would learn English quickly. So she wanted them to speak Spanish at home and study the language at school.
She says being bilingual will give them more opportunities in the future. Knowing Spanish also means the children can talk with their relatives in Mexico.
“When we had our children, one of the decisions we as parents made was to name them with a name that was easily pronounced in English and Spanish.”
Elizabeth wants to know her family’s culture.” “The culture-to go back to our roots because that’s part of who we are.”
Monica wants to pass on the culture to her children.
“It’s nice to know our culture and then to be able to pass it onto our children and grand- children and everyone to let them know where we come from.”
And, Monica says she does not speak only English and Spanish. She has even learned some Korean in school.
1. Which of the following is a tradition of Maria?| A．Cooking breakfast for her relatives. |
| B．Talking with her children in Spanish. |
| C．Talking with her relatives in Spanish. |
| D．Forcing her children to speak Spanish. |
| A．She doesn’t care where she comes from. |
| B．She looks forward to learning Spanish. |
| C．Everyone should know his own culture. |
| D．She doesn’t like American culture. |
| A．It can give children more chances in the future. |
| B．It can make children feel proud before their friends. |
| C．It can give the children a chance to go to a good college. |
| D．It can let children go to the places where they want to go. |
| A．To entertain the readers with a funny story. |
| B．To inform the readers of a shocking experiment result. |
| C．To encourage more persons to learn a second language. |
| D．To tell a truth that many people in Los Angeles are bilingual. |
8 . Not all waste has to go to waste. Most of the world’s 2.22 billion tons of annual trash ends up in landfills or open dumps. Veena Sahajwalla, a materials scientist and engineer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, has created a solution to our massive trash problem: waste microfactories. These little trash processors— some as small as 500 square feet — house a series of machines that recycle waste and transform it into new materials with thermal technology. The new all-in-one approach could leave our current recycling processes in the dust.
Sahajwalla launched the world’s first waste microfactory targeting electronic waste, or e-waste, in 2018 in Sydney. A second one began recycling plastics in 2019. Now, her lab group is working with university and industry partners to commercialize their patented Microfactory technology. “The small scale of the machines will make it easier for them to one day operate on renewable energy, unlike most large manufacturing plants. The approach will also allow cities to recycle waste into new products on location, avoiding the long, often international, high-emission journeys between recycling processors and manufacturing plants. With a microfactory, gone are the days of needing separate facilities to collect and store materials, extract elements and produce new products,” says Sahajwalla.
Traditionally, recycling plants break down materials for reuse in similar products — like melting down plastic to make more plastic things. Sahajwalla’s invention evolves this idea by taking materials from an old product and creating something different. “The kids don’t look like the parents,” she says. For example, the microfactories can break down old smartphones and computer monitors and extract silica (from the glass) and carbon (from the plastic casing), and then combine them into silicon carbide nanowires. This generates a common ceramic material with many industrial uses. Sahajwalla refers to this process as “the fourth R” adding “re-form” to the common phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle”.
In 2019, just 17.4 percent of e-waste was recycled, so the ability to re-form offers a crucial new development in the challenge of recycling complex electronic devices. “We can do so much more with materials,” says Sahajwalla. “Traditional recycling has not worked for every recycling challenge.” She and her team are already working to install the next waste microfactory in the Australian town of Cootamundra by early 2021, with the goal of expanding around the country over the next few years.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To present the process of recycling waste. |
| B．To introduce a new type of trash processor. |
| C．To prove the seriousness of the trash problem. |
| D．To show the current situation of trash recycling. |
| A．The scale of waste microfactories. | B．The founding of waste microfactories. |
| C．The influences of waste microfactories. | D．The advantages of waste microfactories. |
| A．Extracting materials from the waste. | B．Updating the whole recycling process. |
| C．Generating new materials with waste. | D．Transforming waste into similar products. |
| A．A business report. | B．A science magazine. | C．A chemical textbook. | D．A fiction novel. |
9 . Every festival has its own meaning. Labor Day, for example, celebrates the value of hard work. Thanksgiving is about showing thanks to people around you. And Valentines’ Day is a time when you express love to your loved ones. But somehow it now seems that all festivals we just care about one thing — shopping. And that can be a big problem.
“In a way, over-consumption (过度消费) is the mother of all our environmental problems,” Kalle Lasn once told CNN. Lasn is the organizer of Buy Nothing Day, a day set up in Canada in 1992 to fight against unhealthy spending habits, and has now become an international event. It’s held on the day, which is known as Black Friday — a famous shopping day in the US and Canada.
You can see the irony (讽刺) here.
Even though the idea of Buy Nothing Day was brought up 26 years ago, we seem to need it now more than ever. It’s just as Lasn said, all the different kinds of pollution in our lives today — bad air quality, the reduction of forest area, endangered animal species, and plastic bags found in the ocean — seem to be the same cause: over-consumption.
The latest example is the Singles’ Day shopping craze of Nov 11, which saw a new sales record. But as Nie Li, a campaigner at Greenpeace, told Reuters, “Record-setting over-consumption means record-setting waste.” And it was reported that last year the Singles’ Day packages left more than 160,000 tons of waste, including plastic and cardboard. The Collins Dictionary has also just named “single-use” its Word of the Year, pointing out the problem that there’re too many things we tow out after only using them once.
So, Buy Nothing Day might only be here for one day a year, but it’s not just to remind us to the a break from shopping on that day, but to change our lifestyle completely, focusing on fun “with people we care about” rather than wasting money on useless things.
1. What’s the authors purpose of writing the first paragraph?| A．To express the people’s love for all festivals. |
| B．To talk about the meaning of the festivals. |
| C．To appreciate the value of the festivals. |
| D．To bring out the topic of the passage. |
| A．To help people save money. | B．To cut the cost for daily life. |
| C．To prevent over-consumption. | D．To set up a new sales record. |
| A．Opposed (反对的). | B．Supportive. |
| C．Unknown. | D．Neutral (中立的). |
| A．Creating a New Lifestyle | B．Buy Nothing Day |
| C．Festivals Around the World | D．A Change in People’s Life |
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Rolling, dark clouds covered much of the sky. The warm wind suddenly became cold and picked up wildly, sending some dead leaves flying
Doug, my older brother, and I first rode the bus to a bus stop. Then we
“What are you doing here, Bud? Come on!” said Doug, “There’s no
“You go on, and I’ll
Doug was
trees at the side of the road?
As we struggled through the snow, my hand
“Where are the trees?” I said, as the snow
“Just a few more
As the darkness closed around us, we approached home,
Now, I still think about the lesson learned from our winter
| A．slowly | B．elegantly | C．peacefully | D．fiercely |
| A．snow | B．storm | C．smog | D．fog |
| A．came | B．broke | C．showed | D．got |
| A．melting | B．rolling | C．polluting | D．clearing |
| A．difficult | B．simple | C．available | D．likely |
| A．call | B．shout | C．tone | D．whistle |
| A．surely | B．carefully | C．secretly | D．hardly |
| A．scaring | B．freezing | C．fighting | D．starving |
| A．attraction | B．recreation | C．protection | D．radiation |
| A．catch up | B．fall behind | C．look on | D．hang around |
| A．brave | B．silent | C．proud | D．confident |
| A．Before | B．Unless | C．Although | D．When |
| A．dress | B．boot | C．belt | D．coat |
| A．slipped | B．broke | C．separated | D．shook |
| A．went | B．cleared | C．mixed | D．folded |
| A．stops | B．steps | C．miles | D．blocks |
| A．discouraged | B．dynamic | C．unconscious | D．enthusiastic |
| A．persuaded | B．followed | C．forced | D．pulled |
| A．survival | B．travel | C．exploration | D．research |
| A．hold on | B．took off | C．give up | D．set aside |
