1 . Scientists researching climate change in Antarctica are studying penguins in an effort to better understand the area’s environmental health. The scientists are measuring the growth and development of the penguin population on the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula. “We are counting penguin nests to understand how many penguins are in a colony, producing young every year, and whether that number is going up or down with the environmental conditions,” said Alex Borowicz. He is an ecology researcher at New York’s Stony Brook University.
The work is not easy for climate researchers in the icy, faraway reaches of Antarctica. But penguins are easier to follow than some other kinds of animals because they nest on land. Their black bodies and waste droppings can also be identified against the area’s white background.
Michael Wethington, another researcher from Stony Brook, told Reuters the penguin population can represent overall climate conditions and the health of the area’s whole ecosystem. The researchers say counts of individual penguins can be combined with data from satellite images to get a more complete picture of how the animals are progressing.
Gentoo penguins—with bright orange beaks and white markings on their heads—prefer open water without broken pieces of ice floating around. So when temperatures on the Antarctic Peninsula began rising during the latter half of the 20th century, Gentoo populations moved south. Gentoo penguins don’t like sea ice. They mostly forage (觅食) over the continental shelf and don’t go far out to sea. As sea ice has decreased along the western side of the peninsula, Gentoos seem to have gotten used to the changed conditions. But those same conditions have been worse for the Adelie penguin species. This is because the Adelies depend on sea ice for feeding and reproduction.
“When we find Adelie penguins, we typically know that sea ice is nearby,” Stony Brook’s Wethington said. He added that whenever researchers see sea ice decreasing or disappearing, they also see Adelie penguin populations plunge. Even though Adelie penguins are increasing in number overall, some populations have fallen by more than 65 percent, researchers say.
1. Why do scientists studying climate change in Antarctica study penguins?A.To offer them better protection. |
B.To find out about the penguin population. |
C.To have a clearer idea of their living habits. |
D.To learn more about the conditions of Antarctica. |
A.Their various kinds of species. | B.Their unique eating habits. |
C.Their nesting habit and body color. | D.Their unusual hunting ways. |
A.They are quite adaptive. | B.They are in great danger. |
C.They tend to hunt far out to sea. | D.They have a preference for sea ice. |
A.Adelie penguin has been affected by climate change. |
B.Adelie penguin has got used to the changing environment. |
C.Adelie penguin population has fallen by more than 65 percent. |
D.Adelie penguin population represents the area’s whole ecosystem. |
2 . Many years ago,I came across an old friend of mine. He had devoted his life to acting but had never been quite successful. In his middle age, he seemed defeated and sad.
I thought of his dogged(顽强的) perseverance.Was it smart or foolish? What could he have achieved? Had he quit his dream of acting and moved on? Our culture does not look kindly upon quitting. Failure is perfectly acceptable as long as it eventually results in success.
Persistence pays off when it is rewarded with success, but it does not reward every person. For every J.K.Rowling, there are thousands of aspiring writers who will never get published. For every Olympic athlete, there are innumerable(无数的) others who trained every day of their lives and never made the cut.
We all agree that doing the same things and expecting a different result is unwise. So why do we believe that persevering through failure after failure is a good idea? We consider quitting in the face of failure to be weak. We believe that perseverance is the key to success. Perseverance is only one part of success. You need talent or skill, as well as passion and drive. Luck and timing are also the key to any great success.
Our society believes that anything is possible, as long as you “believe”. But not everyone can make it. Quitting when you’re not ahead is sometimes the smartest thing to do. Obviously, if you enjoy a pursuit, regardless of its outcome, you should continue. If you knew your novel would never be published, would you want to write? If you could never be a champion swimmer, would you still train? Sometimes, it is wise to put your energy into something else.
Failure is not always the path to success. Sometimes, failure is the door to something new.
1. What do we know about the author’s old friend?A.He was dissatisfied with his acting performance. |
B.He switched his dream of acting to something else. |
C.He failed in acting because of a lack of persistence. |
D.He failed in all attempts to become a successful actor. |
A.Made out of their dreams. |
B.Met the required standard. |
C.Improved their performances. |
D.Promised to be good players. |
A.Make an effort to try new things. |
B.Stick to our goal until we succeed. |
C.Wait for the right time and good luck. |
D.Ask friends or family members for help. |
A.It makes anything possible. |
B.It is not necessary for success. |
C.It is not the only part of success. |
D.It works well regards of outcome. |
3 . Moving around Bogota can be a bit of a Jekyll-or-Hyde experience. On the one hand, the city is infamous (声名狼藉的)for having the world’s worst traffic. Yet, on the other, its cycling infrastructure is considered a good model of sustainable urban mobility, according to the Copenhagenize Index, which ranks bike-friendly cities. The Colombian capital generated a now-international movement in the 1970s called Ciclovia, which sees 1.5 million people cycle across 128km of car-free streets each Sunday morning.
So, when the pandemic reached its shores in mid-March, Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez, an avid cyclist herself, introduced one of the world’s first plans to encourage bike travel, using traffic cones to create 76 km of temporary lanes.
“Everyone started using a bicycle, and they already knew how to get around on one because we have this bike culture thanks to the Ciclovia,” says Carlos Pardo, a local cycling advocate and senior advisor at the New Urban Mobility Alliance. Pardo got involved at the beginning of the pandemic by partnering with a local bikeshare company to provide 400 free e-bikes to health workers. Now, he’s busy persuading the public that the government’s new bike lanes should become permanent fixture (固定设施).
“Some drivers say, ‘you took away our lane’, but we’re saying, we took one car lane and made a two-lane bidirectional bike lane,” he explains. “So, you’re duplicating the effectiveness of the space, and moving more people per hour, per direction.”
Biking has enjoyed a renaissance (复兴) around the world as urban citizens avoid public transport for the relative safety of a two-wheeled commute. Now, many advocates like Pardo are working with local governments in the hope of turning these pandemic-response measures into lasting changes—ones that are more plausible now than ever after lockdowns provided an unprecedented (空前的)opportunities to fast-track infrastructure trials. The results of these urban planning experiments could not only radically shape the way we commute across global cities, but also make them more adaptable to future shocks.
1. What can best illustrate the underlined sentence?A.Much knowledge that is of help in learning about a new place. |
B.A mixed feeling that is too confusing to express themselves. |
C.An understanding that everything has both advantages and disadvantages. |
D.An idea that human beings are born somewhere between good and evil. |
A.The outbreak of the pandemic in mid-March. |
B.The worldwide bike culture dating back to the 1970s. |
C.The government’s support for the temporary bike lanes. |
D.The local bike company’s contribution to health workers. |
A.The increasing number of cyclists. | B.Duplicated effectiveness of road use. |
C.A well-rounded city expansion plan. | D.The growth of car ownership. |
A.Urban life. | B.Politics. | C.Sports | D.Advice column. |
4 . One day in my class, Maria shared her feelings about money, “Money worries me. I think I want to live without money because I hate it. I HATE MONEY.”We were all touched by Maria’s words as they reminded us of the spiritual burdens that money managing could bring to us. After class I offered to help Maria deal with her financial problems. She hesitated to accept my offer, and I could see from the expression on her face that she was afraid of what it might involve. I quickly promised her that I wouldn’t make her do more than she was able to. I told her frankly that I didn’t enjoy managing my money any more than she did hers and wouldn’t burden her with guilt, judgments, or impossible tasks. All I would ask her to do was let me help her look at her fears and try to make some sense of them.
Maria still resisted my offer, and I can remember the excuses she gave me as they were the repeated complaints I had heard from so many people. “I’ll never understand money,” she said. “My facts are meaningless.” “I don’t deserve to have money.” “I never have enough.” “I have too little to manage.” “My financial position isn’t worth looking at.” And the most devastating one of all, “I just can’t do it.”
Going home that day, I couldn’t get Maria out of my mind:her attitude conveyed the same negativity and fear that I believed annoyed many people. I was sure it was this attitude that prevented people from managing their money effectively. My counseling(咨询) has taught me that these anxieties are inseparably connected to our self-doubts and fear for survival. Many of us are terrified of handling our money because we don’t believe we can do it well, and to do it wrong would put our very existence at risk.
On a deeper level we know that money is not the source of life, but a sense of worth that drives us to act as if it were. It locks us up in self-doubt and prevents us from tapping into the true source of our management power, our spirit.
1. Why would Maria not take the author’s offer of help?A.For fear of being forced to share her money with others. |
B.For fear of having to do something beyond her reach. |
C.For fear of being found guilty of making impossible errors. |
D.For fear of showing her judgment about money. |
A.Convincing. | B.Interesting. | C.Shocking. | D.Valuable. |
A.They were in the same financial trouble. | B.They were in the same financial condition. |
C.They were of the same family background. | D.They were of the same feeling over the issue. |
A.How to overcome her fears. | B.How to make wise decisions. |
C.How to avoid making mistakes. | D.How to learn the necessary skills. |
5 . By now, most people know they should be eating more vegetables. But are there ways to get more from the vegetables you already eat? A research shows that when it comes to vegetables, it’s not only how much we eat, but also how we prepare them, that decides the vitamins and other nutrients that enter our body.
Many studies show that people who eat lots of vegetables have less heart disease, and eye problems and even cancer. But raw vegetables are not always best. The researchers found that 198 Germans who eat raw food were short of lycopene. “For fruits and vegetables, sometimes a little bit of cooking can be helpful.”
A number of factors decide how the vegetables do good to people’s health, including where and how they were grown and stored. No single cooking way is best. Some nutrients are easily lost in cooking if they are cooked in different ways. For example, frying was the worst way to cook.
What cooked with the vegetables can also be important? When the vegetables were cooked with fat, the diners can get more nutrients. Fat can also make the taste of vegetables better, meaning that people will eat more of them.
1. The writer mainly wants to tell us that ________.A.people should eat more vegetables | B.how much vegetables one should eat |
C.eating vegetables is good for us | D.the way people eat vegetables is important |
A.have the eyes problems | B.have heart disease |
C.be in need of lycopene | D.hate eating tomatoes |
A.the place where the vegetables are grown | B.the way how the vegetables are stored |
C.the price at which the vegetable are sold | D.the way how the vegetables are prepared |
A.it’s better to cook vegetables with the fat |
B.the more fat in the cooking, the fewer vegetables people will eat |
C.it’s better to cook the vegetables without salt |
D.the fat will increase the nutrition of the vegetables |
6 . When I first met George, I was in my early 30s. My children were just entering school life, enabling me to escape from endless housework. At 65, George had recently retired and was seeking a rewarding hobby for his golden years. We met at a local painting class. Thus began a friendship that was to last for 25 years — until the day he died.
George was an energetic man who lived life to the full. He loved his family and his friends. As the only male in a painting class full of women, George looked after every woman with the same attention. George took to painting with an inspiring level of passion, even changing the spare bedroom of his home into a studio. George housed many of painting items in a tool box — a red metal tool box. For about six years George and I studied together until the completion of the course.
One day, he rang me and I went to visit him. He was very ill. “Betty!” he said, “I’ve always been hoping to leave my box to you. I’m afraid I can’t paint anymore, and you have the best talent and are most likely to use it.” With tears in my eyes, I accepted the gift with the proviso (附带条件) that he could take it back at any time. He never did. He died two days later.
I still use much of his equipment today. As I paint, I often remember George, his big personality, generosity and unfailing encouragement. The most treasured item is the red tool box, still in good shape. The original shop sticker is still firmly in place although the price has worn off. But that’s all right because to my mind some things, like friendship, are beyond price.
1. Why did George go to the painting class?A.He wanted to please his children. | B.He wanted to enjoy school life again. |
C.He wanted to make new friends there. | D.He wanted to develop a worthwhile hobby. |
A.Humorous. | B.Brave. |
C.Caring. | D.Anxious. |
A.To admit his own failure. | B.To present his painting tools. |
C.To ask the author a favor. | D.To make an explanation. |
A.A Lesson from My Old Friend |
B.Inspiration for Art from My Partner |
C.Nice George: An Artist with Great Passion |
D.A Red Tool Box: A Bond Between Two Friends |
7 . Natural silence — the kind when you hear nothing but the sound of nature around you — is becoming increasingly scarce. The rumblings of man-made noise can be heard even in the remote corners of national parks and deep in the Arctic Ocean.
This is having a troubling effect. In humans, noise pollution has been linked to cardiovascular diseases, mental health problems and cognitive impairment in children. In wildlife, it’s disrupting navigation, mating rituals, communication and can cause hearing loss. “We’re losing the ability to listen to nature without noise pollution,” says sound recordist Matt Mikkelsen. He’s part of the non-profit organization Quiet Parks International, which aims to identify and preserve the planet’s last quiet places.
Recently, this took him to Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeastern Minnesota. No cars, motor boats, electricity or telephone lines are allowed in the 1-million-acre area, making it a strong candidate for Quiet Park status. But listening back to the recording, Mikkelsen can hear the low hum of a commercial jet flying far away.
Quiet Parks hasn’t yet decided if Boundary Waters meets its criteria — it’s one of 260 potential sites around the world that the organization is currently exploring. The team will analyze the sound recordings from each location and consider them alongside other data.
In recent years, the world has been getting louder, with cities and towns expanding and an increasing number of beeping cars, whooshing airplanes and cargo ships with blasting horns. But during the pandemic, there has been momentary respite. In 2020, global air travel was down by 60% and road transport decreased by almost half. Scientists in Europe found that noise caused by humans fell by up to 50% after lockdowns were imposed.
“People relished the silence,” says Mikkelsen. “There were no airplanes in the sky and cars weren’t on the street. It was a miraculous thing to be able to hear the world, all of a sudden, free from noise pollution,” he says. Since the start of the pandemic, Quiet Parks says it has experienced a huge surge in interest for quiet places. “I hope that we can take that desire for a world with less noise forward,” says Mikkelsen, “and appreciate the spots we have, where we can go and not experience noise pollution.”
1. What does the underlined word “scarce” probably mean in paragraph 1?A.Ordinary. | B.Special. |
C.Rare. | D.Typical. |
A.Why we’re losing the ability to listen to nature. |
B.How noise pollution affects humans and wildlife. |
C.Why noise pollution is linked to certain diseases. |
D.How should humans deal with noise pollution. |
A.Supportive. | B.Critical. |
C.Indifferent. | D.Ambiguous. |
A.A journal. | B.An autobiography. |
C.A book review. | D.A science fiction. |
8 . Only you can know what is best for your living room or bedroom. It’s up to you to choose what kind of canvas wall art piece (帆布油画) to decorate your home. To help you choose, we have created a list of the most popular categories of canvas prints.
FoodEveryone loves a good food moment! Food canvases are especially appropriate for the kitchen and dining hall, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot have a canvas with a food theme (主题) in other rooms as well. From bread to wine and fruits or even a picture of a single egg, if you love food theme, explore your strong feeling with wall art!
SayingsSayings are a very popular wall decoration. If you like to be reminded of wise thoughts and good ideas, a saying canvas is perfect for you! It is best to display saying wall art where it is easy to read it. Just make sure the piece has big enough letters to be readable everywhere in the room. What kind of sayings to choose? Go for something that speaks to your heart.
NatureEven though nowadays a lot of us live in the city and love the city life, we still time to time long for a simple country living. Almost everyone enjoys a nice time in nature and canvas print wall art can be a good reminder of the beauty of nature.
AnimalsAnimals are not just for the kids’ rooms. A lion or an elephant, and so on, is excellent for a living room or even a home office. You can always choose the animal print with a clever saying if you want to. If you like cats or dogs and enjoy playful photos of your favorite animals, just have them printed on the canvas!
1. Which theme do you prefer if you want to be inspired?A.Food. | B.Sayings. | C.Nature. | D.Animals. |
A.Hanging it only in your kids’ room. |
B.Turning to an expert for advice. |
C.Choosing the animal print with a saying. |
D.Choosing an animal character from a film. |
A.Product advertising. | B.Environmental protection. |
C.Children education. | D.Indoor decorations. |
9 . Do astronauts get space sick when they travel from Earth to the International Space Station(ISS)? Yes, astronauts can get space sick travelling to the ISS. It is less likely to travel in the cramped (拥挤的) Russian Soyuz space- craft used to transport astronauts there now than the old space shuttle that was used until 2011. The ability to move in the space shuttle increased the chance of space sickness happening.
As you probably know, gravity is lower inside the ISS. The low gravity in space allows astronauts to float around, but it can help cause space sickness.
Recent experiments show that space sickness is related to our inner ear. Two separate parts of the inner ear respond to sudden changes in direction. If you shake or move your head very quickly, you can get dizzy. However, this passes very quickly. This normal response is upset under low gravity: your inner ear thinks you are constantly moving. It takes some time to adapt to the new condition of weightlessness. It is made worse if you move your head while your body is still adapting. This is why previous astronauts travelling in the larger space shuttle were more likely to suffer from space sickness than the current astronauts travelling in the cramped Soyuz spacecraft. The astronauts were less likely to move their heads around very much in a narrow space.
Space sickness was not talked about in the early space missions (任务). The original Mercury Spacecraft and Gemini Spacecraft were, like the current Soyuz, cramped. The astronauts were less likely to get sick, so space sickness no longer became a concern of NASA.
In 1983 the first detailed study was carried out aboard a space shuttle flight by astronaut-doctor Norm Thagard. His later studies were hampered by the astronauts. None of them wanted to admit to being space sick. They were worried that Mission Control might remove them from space walking opportunities, or even worse, that they might not get included on later space missions.
1. What was the problem with the space shuttle?A.It was too slow. | B.It was too small. |
C.It broke down often. | D.It had too much space. |
A.It fools their inner ear. | B.It causes pain in their heads. |
C.It stops them shaking their heads. | D.It prevents them measuring their weight. |
A.The condition had been kept secret to the public. |
B.There were few detailed studies on it. |
C.The old spacecraft were better equipped. |
D.The astronauts were less likely to get sick. |
A.Changed. | B.Improved. | C.Blocked. | D.Compared. |
10 . Retirement hasn’t slowed down 90-year-old great-grandmother Jeanie Shaffer. She has made more than 11, 000 tiny
Hospital staff put a hat on a baby soon after
Jeanie and her husband have a
To honor Jeanie’s years of hard work and selfless volunteerism, the staff decided to
A.shoes | B.socks | C.gloves | D.hats |
A.sold | B.lent | C.donated | D.posted |
A.birth | B.operation | C.breakfast | D.sleep |
A.motivates | B.comforts | C.relieves | D.annoys |
A.outside | B.upward | C.inside | D.downward |
A.doctors | B.moms | C.nurses | D.babies |
A.protect | B.abandon | C.keep | D.throw |
A.seek | B.announce | C.carry | D.attach |
A.normal | B.cute | C.large | D.rich |
A.wealthy | B.kind | C.warm | D.busy |
A.retired | B.married | C.moved | D.died |
A.collect | B.copy | C.deliver | D.took |
A.suggestion | B.survey | C.request | D.search |
A.positively | B.gradually | C.ultimately | D.apparently |
A.reliable | B.available | C.respectable | D.adorable |