1 . The Amazon rainforest spreads across nine South American countries but most of it (60%) is in Brazil. Brazilian scientists think they might have found a way to reverse the damage caused by deforestation and turn farmland back into forest. The secret lies in ancient local knowledge of soil.

Amazonian dark earth (ADE) is a thick, black soil found deep in the Amazon rainforest, and it could help restore forests around the world. ADE is a kind of compost — a soil made from dead plants and animals. Various kinds of compost are sold in gardening centers around the world, but ADE is unique. It was created by indigenous people (the descendants of people who lived somewhere before another culture arrived and took over) from the Amazon between 2,000 and 2,500 years ago. The Amazonian people, today known as Amerindians, created ADE using charcoal from fires, animal bones, food waste and poo. It contains microbes, including bacteria that help to turn chemicals in the soil into useful nutrients that feed plants and trees.

Vast areas of the Amazon have been cut down, mostly to make way for grassland for raising cattle. Scientists are looking for a way to turn grassland back into rainforest and revive forest ecosystems. These support thousands of animal and plant species, many of them unique to the area. Forests also absorb lots of carbon dioxide, a gas that cause climate change.

To see if the Amazon’s special soil could help, the scientists grew grasses and trees in ADE, regular earth and a mixture of both. Trees grown in ADE were up to six times taller than those in regular soil. ADE takes hundreds of years to create, so the scientists can’t simply make more. Team member, Dr. Siu Mui Tsai, said that instead they want to try and “copy its characteristics”, especially its helpful microbes, and see if it could help to restore natural habitats.

1. What are Brazilian scientists trying to do?

A．To bring forests back.	B．To measure damage.
C．To reduce farmland.	D．To dig out ancient soil.

2. What made the Amazonian dark earth special?

A．Dead plants.

B．Animal bones.

C．Food waste.

D．Bacteria inside.

3. What is the main idea of paragraph 3?

A．The reasons for cutting down forests.	B．The benefits of raising cattle.
C．The significance of forest ecosystems.	D．The influence of climate change.

4. Which of the following might Dr. Siu agree with?

A．Amazonian dark earth is helpful to microbes.

B．Amazonian dark earth is produced in large quantities.

C．Microbes are beneficial to the revival of forests.

D．Microbes are the characteristics of the natural habitats.

3 . Like dogs, wolves can recognize and respond to the voices of familiar humans more than those of strangers, according to a recent study. The research challenges the belief that dogs ability to differentiate human voices is due to selective breeding (选择性繁殖).

Holly Root Gutteridge and colleagues carried out experiments across five zoos and wildlife parks in Spain, involving a total of 24 gray wolves. The team set up speakers and first played the animals the voice of a number of strangers. Then, they played the wolves the voice of their keeper who would say familiar things to them in Spanish, such as “Hey, what’s up, wolves?” The wolves raised their heads, pricked their ears up, and turned toward the speaker. To test that the effect wasn’t accidental, the researchers went back to playing the wolves recordings of strangers and found that they once more lost interest. Finally, to make sure that the wolves truly knew their keepers’ voices, the team mixed things up and had the keepers say a series of unfamiliar phrases. Once more, the results held up.

Root Gutteridge pointed out the significance of wolves being able to differentiate between humans, despite the fact that our species went our separate evolutionary (进化的) ways tens of millions of years ago.

Before this, there had been a limited number of studies on the topic of how animals differentiate between the vocalizations (发声) of other species. Research has shown that our close cousins, gorillas, listen to people, but that was expected.

Given the new finding, “chances are that lots of species are listening to us and getting to know us as individuals,” Root Gutteridge said. “And it’s not all about us. Dogs could be listening to the neighbors’ cats and understanding the difference between one meow or the other. If the abilities are that general, it means that animals might be having a lot more cross- species interactions than we had thought about before.”

1. What established viewpoint does the recent research call into question?

A．Dogs are the only animals that can differentiate human voices.

B．Wolves recognize the voices of humans better than dogs.

C．Wolves cannot understand human languages.

D．Selective breeding enables dogs to differentiate human voices.

2. How did the researchers test if the wolves truly recognized their keepers’ voices?

A．By letting the keepers say unfamiliar phrases in Spanish.

B．By asking strangers to reproduce the keepers’ voices.

C．By playing recordings of strangers speaking familiar phrases.

D．By changing the playback speed of the keepers’ recordings.

3. Why are gorillas mentioned in paragraph 5?

A．To stress their close relationship with humans.

B．To offer additional evidence for the recent study.

C．To point out another species that can differentiate voices.

D．To explain how animals’ ability to differentiate humans’ voices developed.

4. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A．The focus of the future studies.

B．The limitations of the research.

C．The significance of the research.

D．The uniqueness of the experiments.

6 . Top Piano Players in the World

Martha Argerich

Martha Argerich could be considered the next Beethoven, as she is one of the most outstanding pianists ever to play. Argerich preferred being on stage with others instead of performing solo; therefore, she has been performing in a concerto format since the 1980s. Argerich was not one for the spotlight, as she often avoided public appearances such as interviews; however, her great talent was all the publicity she needed, standing out during concertos and sonatas.

Leif Ove Andsnes

Known for his appealing performances of Edvard Grieg’s works, Andsnes has won praise for his performances at some of the world’s most famous concert halls. Andsnes has certainly made his mark in Norway, as he is the founding director of Norway’s Rosendal Chamber Music Festival. Because of his unique voice and interesting approach, he was praised by The New York Times as a “pianist of authoritative elegance, power, and insight.”

Alfred Brendel

Known for his beautiful interpretations of Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert and Mozart, Alfred Brendel was considered one of the greats. He played in various concertos throughout his career and became known for his interpretive coldness in recreating these works. Brendel was considered one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, as he made his mark in the classical music industry. Brendel was self-taught and learned his love of piano at an early age.

Arthur Rubinstein

Arthur Rubinstein was certainly one of the greats. His career began in the early 20th century when he began to come into contact with some of the world’s most important composers, such as Maurice Ravel, Paul Dukas, and Jacques Thibaud. He made various trips worldwide and visited nearly every continent, where crowds met him with great praise and encouragement.

1. What does the female pianist focus on in her career?

A．Skills in hosting concertos and sonatas.	B．Cooperation with other musicians.
C．Close relationships with the media.	D．Unique ways to interpret music.

2. Who learned music by himself or herself?

A．Martha Argerich.	B．Leif Ove Andsnes.
C．Alfred Brendel.	D．Arthur Rubinstein.

3. How is Arthur Rubinstein different from the other pianists?

A．He was the director of a Norwegian festival.

B．He made a difference in classical music.

C．He was the best musician of the 20th century.

D．He got in touch with some famous composers.

7 . It was October 2005, and the catastrophic earthquake killing some 79,000 people in Pakistan had reduced the valley to mud and ruins.

Yasmeen Lari, a 65-year-old architect, was there to help lead the reconstruction of settlements, but she had never done disaster work before. Lari was known for designing smooth towers of glass and concrete. But here, she’d be drawing plans for earthquake-resistant homes using stone and timber debris(木材碎片). With each passing day, she felt deeply right to do disaster-relief work. So she made it her new mission, spending the next four months working with volunteer architects and engineers from Pakistan and abroad.

Inspired by local buildings made with sustainable materials such as timber debris, bamboo and mud, Lari’s shelters can better withstand disasters. Lari says this local, cost-effective and zero-carbon approach is creating an ecosystem. Anyone can learn by watching DIY videos on Lari’s Zero Carbon Channel on YouTube.

The design won a UN World Habitat Prize in 2018.“We need to believe in people’s capacity to bring about change. I treat displaced people as partners, not victims. They know what to do,” says Lari.

Over the decades, Yasmeen Lari has won many awards as architect and environmentalist. While it may seem like an unlikely path for a girl who was born into a well-to-do family in1941, she had an unconventional upbringing. At home, her father would talk about the desperate need for housing. Listening to her father talk about the housing crisis and need for architects made an impression on Lari. On a family visit to London when she was 15, she applied to architecture school at Oxford Brookes University. She laughs as she recalls her bravery.

At age 83, Yasmeen Lari is still full of ideas about zero-carbon designs, skills building and self-sustaining villages. “Architects can no longer work for just the one percent,” she says. “That doesn’t allow them to serve humanity as much as they could.”

1. What can we learn about Lari from the first two paragraphs?

A．She felt considerably proud to do disaster-relief work.

B．She started a brand-new volunteer working experience.

C．She was good at designing earthquake-resistant houses.

D．She reconstructed the settlements with glass and concrete.

2. How did Lari make her design practical and environmental?

A．By creating an ecosystem.

B．By strengthening local buildings.

C．By using local sustainable materials.

D．By watching DIY videos on YouTube.

3. Why did Lari decide to apply to architecture school?

A．Her interest in architecture drove her.

B．Her father encouraged her to path unusual.

C．Her father talked about the demand for architects.

D．Her rich family allowed her to pursue the most of dream.

4. Which of the following best describes Yasmeen Lari?

A．Sensitive and brave.

B．Determined and cooperative.

C．Honest and generous.

D．Sympathetic and eco-responsible.

9 . More than three billion people rely on the ocean to make a living, most of whom are in developing countries. As the global population increases, the demand for seafood is expected to rise, too.

Although ocean ecosystems are stretched to the limit by climate change, overfishing and more, studies nevertheless suggest that seafood can be expanded sustainably to meet future food demands. Success will depend on small-scale fisheries. These fisheries can be remarkably efficient. Almost everything that hand-to-mouth fisheries catch is consumed. By contrast, around 20% of the fish caught by industrial ships is estimated to be wasted, mainly because of unwanted by-catch.

Small fishers rarely have the right resources to expand their operations, or even to survive. If they do scale up, they might lose some of their current advantages or engage in the same harmful practices as do large commercial fisheries. Managed with care, however, small fisheries could provide win-wins for livelihoods and the environment.

Most nations already have management policies for marine ecosystems that provide for small-scale fisheries. But small-scale fishers’ rights to access are often poorly defined, ineffectively enforced or unfairly distributed (分配). Government subsidies (补贴) also require reform. One estimate found that large-scale fishers receive about 3.5 times more subsidies than small-scale fishers do. Instead, subsidies and other funds should be directed towards small-scale fishers to let them expand their access to markets, while keeping them from adopting the negative practices of large-scale operations.

The total global loss and waste from fisheries is estimated at between 30% and 35% annually primarily due to a lack of technology, good manufacturing practices, and infrastructure such as decent roads and cold storage. Public and private investment in cold-storage facilities and processing equipment could help. One promising strategy is to pair international or national funding with direct contracts for feeding programmes linked to schools, hospitals and similar facilities. Such arrangements would provide small fisheries with large, consistent markets and storage infrastructure that boosts local consumption and does not incentivize (刺激) overfishing.

Moreover, simple incentive programmes could be conducted by funders, managers and local governments trying to promote sustainable fisheries. For example, local markets could display a rating system for individual fishers or small fisheries. This could include various elements of sustainability other than environmental ones — such as providing information on the type of fishing equipment, location of the catch and freshness. Promoting the rating as a social responsibility concept would inform consumers of the need to support sustainable fisheries.

Anyway, only joint problem-solving efforts can deliver seafood protein, sustainably, to a world that increasingly needs it.

1. The passage mainly tells us that ________.

A．small fisheries can help the world if managed with care

B．the global demand for seafood is increasing dramatically

C．small-scale fisheries need to be commercialised urgently

D．people in developing countries are more reliable on fishing

2. Small-scale fisheries are more efficient because ________.

A．what they catch is hardly wasted	B．their by-catch accounts for a larger share
C．they catch fish by industrial means	D．their operation is limited within a small area

3. What can be inferred about small fisheries’ current situation?

A．They gain no support from governments.	B．They are expanding to meet local demands.
C．They have little access to good resources.	D．They impact marine ecosystems negatively.

4. To promote sustainable fisheries, which of the following is one of the author’s suggestions?

A．To initiate a rating system for small fishers to evaluate the local markets.

B．To provide technology for small fisheries to boost their fishing efficiency.

C．To inspire a sense of social responsibility in large-scale fishers and consumers.

D．To facilitate direct cooperation between small fisheries and feeding programmes.

10 . I stopped at the top of the hill, my right foot pressed back against the coaster brake (脚刹) on my bicycle. All I needed to do was to_______ my foot, and I would be swept down the hill. But I _______ . To my 12-year-old eyes, the hill was a mountain and the slope was _______ steep, which prevented me taking up the challenge.

When I returned to my hometown more than three decades later with my friends Dave and Scott, we _______ to the base of the hill and walked our bikes _______ . We stood once more at the top of that hill, looking down from the edge, but this time with a _______ set of eyes. To our surprise, now the _______ seemed more obvious, even larger than we’d imagined as kids. We knew that once we started down, there was no stopping or _______ . And right at the bottom of the hill, we would have to turn left to _______ dumping into the stream.

Dave went first. Then I was next. My heart was pounding. I ________ on the bike for a moment. Then I released the brake and yielded myself to ________ . I skidded to a stop next to Dave. Scott followed. The three of us spent several minutes laughing, draining off the adrenaline (肾上腺素) . We had ________ the childhood challenge of riding our bikes down the steep hill.

We didn’t know it then, but we’d face many similar ________ over the years — leaving home, getting married, moving to a different town, starting a new job, and many others — that would cause us to pause at the ________ and collect our courage ________ we launched ourselves down the trails of our lives.

1.

A．stamp

B．break

C．lift

D．keep

2.

A．paused

B．started

C．charged

D．fell

3.

A．unnecessarily

B．incredibly

C．occasionally

D．hardly

4.

A．ran

B．rode

C．climbed

D．wandered

5.

A．out

B．off

C．away

D．up

6.

A．similar

B．whole

C．different

D．smart

7.

A．risk

B．stream

C．slope

D．assumption

8.

A．turning back

B．looking down

C．giving in

D．breaking out

9.

A．get

B．avoid

C．make

D．search

10.

A．called

B．improved

C．smiled

D．balanced

11.

A．pressure

B．fate

C．gravity

D．difficulty

12.

A．recalled

B．completed

C．forgotten

D．received

13.

A．activities

B．troubles

C．lessons

D．periods

14.

A．corner

B．route

C．edge

D．line

15.

A．when

B．because

C．after

D．before