1 . If you’re thinking about growing apples, now is the time to test different kinds and talk with local growers. This advice comes from gardening writer Lee Reich. His books include The Pruning (修剪) Book and Weedless Gardening. Reich grows an apple called Hudson’s Golden Gem, and he does so for one reason — the taste. He says the fruit’s wonderful taste makes it truly special.

When you buy apples at the store, your choice is limited to the 12 or more kinds available for sale. Gardeners, however, have more choices. They can plant any of more than 5,000 different kinds of apples.

Gardeners can also harvest their apples just as each kind reaches its moment of perfection. Reich says his Macoun apples taste much better than any Macoun apples found in stores. One reason is that his can be left to ripen until they nearly fall off the tree.

Here are some other flavorful apples to plant. The Ashmead’s Kernel apple was first grown more than 200 years ago in a garden belonging to Dr. Ashmead in Gloucester, England. The apple has a reddish, golden brown color. Inside, it has tasty, sharp flesh. Cox’s Orange Pippin is another old apple from England. It was first grown by Richard Cox in 1825. This apple’s orange and red color makes it unpopular in the American market. But it is loved for its strong taste. Ellison’s Orange is another British apple that came from Lincolnshire in 1911. It is a late summer or early autumn apple, golden yellow with stripes, with juicy flesh.

Before you run out to buy trees to grow the kinds you love to eat, Reich does have a warning: Apples are not easy to grow in many parts of the country. The plants require yearly pruning and insect control. But if you’re willing to learn how to keep the unwanted insects away, a few kinds of trees chosen for their taste will give you years of good eating.

1. What can we infer about Lee Reich?

A．He is a teacher.	B．He loves planting.
C．He grows a very rare kind of flower.	D．His books are about how to sell trees.

2. Why are Reich’s Macoun apples tastier than those in the store?

A．They are naturally ripe.	B．They are planted in the garden.
C．They have been picked out carefully.	D．They are genetically modified products.

3. How many types of apples are mentioned in the text?

A．Three.

B．Four.

C．Five.

D．Six.

4. What do you need to do in planting apple trees according to the last paragraph?

A．Water enough.	B．Read many relative books.
C．Pay attention to light and nutrition.	D．Prune the trees and remove insects.

2 . It was a typical weekend for Mitch White and his friends. They were out celebrating a bachelor party, sailing the peaceful waters of the Minnesota River. They never expected that this single party would transform from a relaxed canoe trip into a painful rescue mission. With the sun setting, an unexpected bark changed everything.

Led by Mitch White, the soon-to-be-married man, they searched for the source of the sound along the banks of the river. Suddenly, a weak cry for help came from the mud. They were surprised to find that the head of a 13-year-old St. Bernard named Ed was barely visible in the thick mud. Mitch said, “The dog wasn’t moving on its own, so we should feed it and give it water.” The dog looked like it had used all its strength.

The men took up their oars (桨) and began digging, their festive mood giving way to a focused rescue mission. It took them more than half an hour to free the trapped dog as it was already breathing very feebly after possibly being trapped for 24 hours. When they got the poor fellow out of the mud, he couldn’t walk, so they carried him back to the house. Back home with his owner, George Niskanen, Ed began his slow restoration—a happy ending to a dangerous adventure. George was thankful to the bachelor party heroes.

Now, the people of Carver, Minnesota, have new heroes to cheer for. Indeed, this incredible act of bravery and compassion redefined the meaning of a bachelor party. It became a heroic tale of humanity, friendship, and the instinct (本能) to do what’s right.

1. What can we know from the first two paragraphs?

A．A baby’s cry came from the Minnesota River.

B．Mitch White was about to end his single life soon.

C．A dog named Ed ran into Mitch White and his friends’ party.

D．Mitch White and his friends planned to watch the sunrise by the river.

2. What does the underlined word “feebly” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Excitedly.

B．Smoothly.

C．Quietly.

D．Weakly.

3. What do the locals think of Mitch White and his friends?

A．Ambitious.

B．Creative.

C．Courageous.

D．Independent.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．An Unexpected Rescue at a Bachelor Party

B．The Story Between St. Bernard and Its Owner

C．A Heart-Stopping Competition on the Minnesota River

D．The Weekend Activities for Mitch White and His Friends

4 . Here are some games for high schoolers to improve themselves.

Historical Articles Competition

This province-wide and individual competition requires an original 1,000-word article that discusses how it relates you to the history, based on your view of a family story about a historical event or an issue of specific regional history.

Who: High school students.

When: May 1-May 22.

Prize: $10,000 along with a free year-long membership to a famous history association (协会).

National Robotics Competition

With few resources and only several weeks, students from different places are challenged to design, build and program industrial-size robots to team up and play progressively more difficult field games against other teams. And the final team winner must be the best performer in all-round abilities.

Who: Teams of 10 or more high school students.

When: January 1-January 24.

Prize: The only winning team will receive $300,000.

Shoes Custom Culture Challenge

This personal game wants to empower national high school artists and designers while bringing attention to decreasing arts budgets (预算), which asks high school students to use a pair of blank shoes as a canvas (画布) to show their creativity around a specific annual theme. And its free program will help students learn everything about the shoes.

Who: High school students.

When: August 1-August 8.

Prize: The grand prize winner will receive $20,000, with four runners-up receiving $15,000each.

Solar Cars Challenge

It drives to inspire students in science, engineering and alternative (可供替代的) energy. And its education program will educate high schoolers to build and race solar cars safely. Through hands-on workshops, virtual learning and curriculum materials, the program supports schools nationwide.

Who: Teams include high school students who are legally allowed to drive.

When: June 8-June 17 (race days), with an awards party on June 18.

Prize: Any winner will receive at least $36,000.

1. What do we know about Historical Articles Competition?

A．It is made for all the national schools.	B．It shows history from a one-sided view.
C．It highlights the importance of art.	D．It improves the understanding of history.

2. What is special about National Robotics Competition?

A．It sets an easier level for the disadvantaged teams.

B．It requires the participants to know how to program.

C．It is the only team-based game among the four.

D．Its games are good at making designs with color.

3. What do the last two challenges have in common?

A．Both focus on arts and creativity.

B．Both focus on physical fitness and sports.

C．Both provide educational programs to participants.

D．Both require students to use a pair of blank shoes.

5 . Looking to fill your cultural calendar? These are the biggest and best exhibitions to see around the world this year.

“Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood” at Arnolfini, Bristol

From March 9 to June 2

The complications, pains and joys of motherhood are rarely described with as much care and detail as in this exhibition, which begins its UK tour at Bristol’s Arnolfini art centre in March. With over 100 artworks by more than 60 artists, three themes of motherhood — creation, maintenance and loss — will be explored through paintings, photographs, sculptures, sound and films.

“Inside Other Spaces. Environments by Women Artists 1956 — 1976” at Has der Kunst, Munich

Until July 10

How does our environment shape us? An age-old question. This exhibition takes the concept of environment itself and questions its relationship with art. Impressive artworks by 11 pioneering women artists created between 1956-1976 will be reconstructed for the first time, through which you can explore how artists have challenged and redefined space.

“Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth” at Munch, Oslo

From April 27 to August 25

You’ll know Edvard Munch as the troubled man who painted The Scream, but Trembling Earth, at his eponymous (同名的) museum in Oslo, unearths the artist’s often-underestimated interest in the natural world. Bringing together Munch’s works from the museum’s own collection with a diverse range from public and private collections, the exhibition presents a rare opportunity to see such a series of Munch’s descriptions of nature in one room.

“The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century” at Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), Toronto

In December

Hip hop has had a huge influence on culture over the last 50 years, and this exhibition at Toronto’s AGO is exploring the history and lasting re levance of hip hop. The mediums on display, from fashions and photographs to videos and sculptures, prove hip hop’s great impact on visual arts.

1. Where does the exhibition themed on motherhood take place?

A．At Munch, Oslo.	B．At AGO, Toronto.
C．At Haus der Kunst, Munich.	D．At Arnolfini, Bristol.

2. What does the exhibition that ends on July 10 focus on?

A．The impact of hip hop on contemporary art.

B．The relationship between environment and art.

C．Edvard Munch’s interest in the natural world.

D．The complications, pains and joys of friendship.

3. When can visitors see the exhibition “Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth”?

A．On March 2.	B．On April 8.
C．On August 1.	D．On December 10.

6 . Young people are spending more time in digital spaces. The Internet allows us to connect with people, share ideas, be creative, have fun and discover new things. Unfortunately, young people also face risks online. Common problems include cyberbullying (网络欺凌), receiving unwanted messages, seeing images and content you don’t want to see, or having your private information or photos shared without your permission.

Safer Internet Day (SID) is organized in the second week of February every year, and over 180 countries take part. The aim is to raise awareness of online issues and make the Internet a safer place. SID invites everyone to be part of a big conversation about online issues. This is particularly important for teenagers because they often experience unpleasant situations online, but they don’t always feel they can talk about them.

Cyberbullying is when someone uses the Internet to embarrass, threaten or hurt another person. If you experience cyberbullying, talk to an adult you trust as soon as possible. Don’t reply to any messages but save the evidence.

Going online often means spending time alone. When you feel down, social media can make you feel lonelier. Using social media might be related to higher levels of depression. So you need healthy social media use.

Whatever app you use, make sure you know who sees your posts and personal information. Limit what people can see, decide who can comment on your content and thwart other users’ comment. It may be illegal to share a photo or video of someone without their permission. The SID’s website has advice about what to do if someone shares pictures of you that you feel embarrassed about.

There is still a lot we don’t know about how time spent online affects people’s well-being. But talking about all the issues helps everyone understand common problems and know how to deal with them.

1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?

A．The Internet has both good and bad sides.

B．The Internet is a safe place to share photos.

C．Young people should avoid going online.

D．Young people face more risks than adults.

2. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．What we can do on SID.	B．How to take part in SID.
C．The time of organizing SID.	D．Some information about SID.

3. What should you do if you experience cyberbullying according to the text?

A．Use other social media.	B．Turn to adults for help.
C．Reply to the messages.	D．Deal with it with classmates.

4. What does the underlined word “thwart” in paragraph 5 mean?

A．Admit.

B．Replace.

C．Prevent.

D．Change.

7 . Double rainbows are one thing, but a double aurora (极光)? They can happen, though some kinds are rare. One particular red-and-green aurora is especially confusing. Now, images taken by amateur astronomers may help reveal its secrets.

Citizen scientists living in Canada and Finland used cameras to document an unusual combination of auroras in the night sky. Physicists have studied those images to learn what may have caused the unusual light show.

Alan Dyer was outside his home in Strathmore, Canada, when the dancing Northern Lights caught his attention. He grabbed his camera and started filming. "I knew I had something interesting," says Dyer. At first glance, the double aurora looks like a floating slice of watermelon. The green aurora is well-understood. The fruity looking red st rip is more mysterious. Scientists have known about these red auroras for decades. But there's no agreement on how they form. One idea is that Earth's magnetic field can heat up certain areas of the atmosphere. That heat could knock particles (粒子) around, like in proton (质子) rain.

Researchers had seen these two types of auroras occur together before. But it was always mysterious, says Toshi Nishimura, a space physicist at Boston University. After looking at satellite observations along with the images taken by Dyer and others, Nishimura and his team concluded how the two phenomena might be related. The key is the thin rays in the red aurora. They mark the paths of electrons falling through the Earth's magnetic field. That means electron rain appears to cause the red aurora, just as proton rain causes the green one. Both get powered by the solar wind. But the electrons carry less energy than the protons, so they make for a more reddish color.

Electron rain might not be the only way to produce the stable red auroras, though. The results show that what's going on is more complicated than researchers had thought. The auroras Dyer saw could be danger zones for radio communication and GPS systems, says Nishimura.

The citizen scientists who took the photos were a critical part of the new findings, Nishimura says.

1. Where is the text probably taken from?

A．A news report on astronomic discoveries.

B．A blog about sky phenomena.

C．A review of aurora research.

D．A brochure of aurora tours.

2. What can be inferred about red auroras?

A．They are fully understood by scientists.

B．They were first spotted by Alan Dyer.

C．They are related to Earth's magnetic field.

D．They are generated from proton rain.

3. What may affect the color of the aurora?

A．The path it travels along.	B．The energy particles carry.
C．The wavelength of rays.	D．The source of solar wind.

4. What does the author indicate by mentioning Alan Dyer's example?

A．Photography drives scientific research.

B．The double aurora is a threat to GPS system.

C．Satellite observations lead to aurora discoveries.

D．Citizen scientists help explain the double aurora.

8 . Spiders are master builders, expertly turning silk into complex 3D webs that serve as their home and hunting ground. To gain a deeper understanding of their world, scientists have translated the structure of a spider’s web into music.

“The spider lives in an environment of vibrating (振动的) strings,” says Markus Buehler, the project’s principal investigator. “They don’t see very well, so they perceive their surroundings by detecting vibrations, which have different frequencies.” Such vibrations occur, for example, when the spider stretches a strand of silk during construction or when the wind or a trapped fly moves the web.

The researchers scanned a natural spider web to capture 2D cross-sections and reconstructed its 3D network using a mathematical model. They assigned different frequencies of sound to strands of the web, creating musical “notes” that they combined in patterns based on the web’s 3D structure to generate music. Then they made a harp-like (像竖琴的) virtual instrument and played the spider web music in several live performances around the world, creating an inspiring harmony of art and science.

To gain insights into how spiders build webs, the researchers also scanned a web during construction, transforming each stage into music with different sounds. “The spider’s way of ‘printing’ the web is remarkable because no support material is used, as is often needed in current 3D printing methods,” Buehler says. This knowledge could help develop new 3D printers that work like spiders, enabling them to construct complex structures without using additional materials for support.

The team is also interested in learning how to communicate with spiders in their own language. They recorded web vibrations produced when spiders performed different activities, such as building a web, communicating with other spiders or sending signals to admirers. “Now we’re trying to generate signals to basically speak the language of the spider,” Buehler says. “If we expose them to certain patterns of vibrations, can we affect what they do or can we begin to communicate with them? Those are really thrilling ideas, and I believe they could be achieved in the near future.”

1. What do we know about spiders?

A．They have good eyesight.

B．They adapt to surroundings quickly.

C．They spin a web similar to a musical structure.

D．They sense the environment through vibrations.

2. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Steps to create spider web music.

B．Ways to recreate a web’s 3D network.

C．Challenges of combining music with science.

D．The potential applications of 3D printing methods.

3. What do the underlined words “This knowledge” in paragraph 4 refer to?

A．3D printers can construct complex structures.

B．Spiders’ vibration patterns vary with activities.

C．Spiders build webs without using additional materials.

D．The web-building process can be translated into music.

4. What is Buehler’ attitude towards communicating with spiders?

A．Hopeful.

B．Doubtful.

C．Uncertain.

D．Disapproving.

9 . A team in Europe are working with wood, but not in the usual ways. They are not carpenters (木匠). Instead, they are scientists exploring how wood can lead to a greener electronic device, a transistor (晶体管) made from balsa wood, whose production releases less climate-warming gas into the air.

Transistors play an important role in computers and other devices. They act like tiny switches to control the flow of electricity. Engineers use them to process and store data. Today’s laptops may host billions of them. So they must be tiny — only a little wider than a strand of DNA.

The new transistor being built by physicist Isak Engquist and his team at Sweden’s Linkoping University isn’t as small as those. Big enough to see and hold, it can stand only an electric pressure that pushes electrons along. And it controls a current using charged particles (粒子) called ions.

This new technology shows a “proof of concept” that the idea can work, even if the new device is not yet ready to put into today’s electronics. “While it seems large by today’s standards, such a transistor still might prove useful for electronics that require low electric pressures,” says Engquist.

“The new transistor suggests that future electronic devices might be made in living plants,” Daniel Simon, a physicist in the team, says. “Imagine peeling away some bark from a living tree,” he says, “and stamping electronic circuits into the living wood.”

In fact, Engquist says, “There are so many ways we can use wood and the components of wood that we would never have thought of.” For instance, he can now imagine a wood-based sensor that could monitor crop health, measure pollution or survey a forest for fire risk.

1. Which can best describe the transistor?

A．Costly.	B．Widely used.
C．Time-saving.	D．More environmentally friendly.

2. What is the new transistor’s disadvantage compared to common transistors?

A．It is much bigger.	B．It can’t stand electric pressure.
C．It can’t be seen.	D．It is made from metal.

3. What is Engquist’s attitude to the new transistor’s future?

A．Uncertain.

B．Doubtful.

C．Positive.

D．Indifferent.

4. What may be the best title for the text?

A．Wood’s surprising roles in modern electronic design

B．Wood-made transistors: a step toward greener electronics

C．Scientists are researching the history of transistors

D．Scientists are working as carpenters to invent transistors

10 . The winner of the Natural History Museum of London’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award is Nima Sarikhani, for her image of a polar bear sleeping on sea ice, which is called “Ice Bed”. It was taken in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago.

Sarikhani spent three days looking for polar bears but without success as they were trapped in a thick fog. But then, as the ship came across some sea ice, she saw two polar bears. She and her team tracked them for eight hours. And under the light of the midnight sun, the bear clawed out a bed on a small iceberg before sleeping.

The photograph inspires strong emotions in all its viewers. While climate change is the biggest challenge for humans, the photograph also inspires hope that there is still time to fix the mess we have caused.

Polar bears are known to dig themselves spots to sleep in, which are sometimes referred to as “day bed”. They’re also known to take one-to two-hour-long sleeps, especially after a good meal.

According to the museum, the area where the polar bear was taken on film is among the most isolated (孤立) in the world, and holds a population of 19 polar bears that rely on the sea ice to travel and hunt offshore. But air temperatures in Svalbard have increased by 3℃ to 5℃over the past 40 to 50 years, which has resulted in heavy winter rainfall and some areas being ice-free most of the year. While the bears that follow sea ice may still be able to hunt year-round, this is increasingly over deeper waters, which may be less productive.

Less sea ice for polar bears to use as a way to safely travel has also led to the animals having less genetic (基因的) diversity. There aren’t as many opportunities for different groups to mix. This is leading to increased inbreeding among local bears.

At present, Svalbard’s polar bear population is still considered to be stable, but as global temperatures continue to increase, that may not be the case for long.

1. What made it difficult for Sarikhani to spot polar bears in the beginning?

A．The outdated equipment.	B．The terrible weather.
C．The lack of support.	D．The tight schedule.

2. What poses a risk to polar bears in Svalbard?

A．The loss of sea ice.	B．The extremely low temperature.
C．The isolated position.	D．The increase in genetic diversity.

3. What is the author’s attitude to the future of Svalbard’s polar bears?

A．Uncaring.

B．Worried.

C．Unclear.

D．Optimistic.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Norway’s Svalbard Archipelago	B．The Biggest Challenge for Polar Bears
C．An Award-Winning Photo “Ice Bed”	D．The Reduction in Polar Bear Population