1 . Mosquitoes are one of the few unpleasant parts of summer. As the temperature rises, these disease-carrying pests become a common sight, especially around standing water. Thankfully, these tiny annoying creatures don’t follow us into the winter, right? Wrong. According to researchers in Florida, climate change will likely keep mosquitoes active even in the colder months of the year. “In tropical (热带的) areas, mosquitoes are active all year, but that isn’t the case for the rest of the world. Outside of the tropics, winter temperatures cause mosquitoes to go into a kind of hibernation called diapause (滞育). We call these mosquitoes ‘cold bounded’ because their activity is limited by these lower temperatures,” says Brett Scheffers, assistant professor in the wildlife eco logy and conservation department, in a university release.
“However, with climate change, summers are to get longer and winters are to become shorter and warmer. What will that mean for those cold bounded mosquitoes? How will they respond?” To see just how adaptive mosquitoes are already becoming to changing temperatures throughout the year, researchers collected these insects during each season in Gainesville, Florida.
Study authors caught over 28,000 insects from 18 different mosquito species during their experiment. Scientists lured the pests by using a trap that produces carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes seek out this gas, which both humans and animals blow out when they breathe. For these pests, the gas signals that a tasty meal is nearby. The team randomly selected 1,000 of these mosquitoes to test in their lab temperature experiment. They placed each insect in a test tube before putting it in water. From there, researchers continued to change the temperature, from cold to hot. At the same time, the team monitored when each mosquito became inactive—marking their upper or lower temperature thresholds (阈点).
As for what is allowing mosquitoes to make these rapid adjustments to the weather, the answer is still unclear. However, researchers believe evolution could be working at a much faster rate in tinier creatures. Study authors believe their findings will help communities better prepare for insect season as climate change continues to lengthen summer.
1. What does Brett Scheffers think of those cold bounded mosquitoes’ behaviors?| A．Less active. | B．More alarming. | C．More annoying. | D．Less consistent. |
| A．To find out why summer gets longer. |
| B．To see how mosquitoes spread in tropical areas. |
| C．To learn how mosquitoes are adapting to climate change. |
| D．To learn why climate change is related to species evolution. |
| A．Killed. | B．Attracted. | C．Changed. | D．Protected. |
| A．Cold bounded mosquitoes are easily trapped |
| B．Wildlife ecology helps better prepare for insect season |
| C．Mosquitoes will be a year-long problem due to climate change |
| D．The cause of mosquitoes’ rapid adjustments to the weather is clear |
2 . Welcome to Santa Cruz County. It is home to rough coastline and it’s the main destination for many hiking adventurers!
California King Tides Are Coming!
California King Tides are coming back to Santa Cruz County, and this season you have even more opportunities to enjoy these impressive tides! These naturally occurring and predictable events are when the highest and lowest tides hit our shores and create an even more dramatic coastline.
Winter Wildlife Getaway!
This season marks the start of the best wildlife watching on the California coast! Migrating whales and many special birds make December and January the perfect time for a wildlife adventure.
Magic Monarch Butterfly!
In Santa Cruz, we like to celebrate all creatures great and small, especially those of the migrating variety. On one hand, we are attracted by the sight of a whale surfaceing from the depths of the sea and, on the other hand, we delight in the attractive magic of a flying monarch butterfly.
County Shores!
Explore Santa Cruz County shores, and you’ll delight in rock y tide pools full of unique sea creatures. While exploring local tide pools, remember to have respect for your surroundings.
Care & Safety
Never turn your back on the ocean. Sleeper waves are a real phenomenon, and can sweep you away at any time.
We know how wonderful it might be to touch a plant or catch a fish from its waters, but disrupting tide pool life harms its inhabitants. Even if you think you’re saving a fish that appears to be pushed out of water, it’s best to leave it be. The tide will finally return it.
1. What are California King Tides like?| A．Unpredictable. | B．Splendid. | C．Ordinary. | D．Destructive. |
| A．Spring. | B．Summer. | C．Autumn. | D．Winter. |
| A．Handle them gently. | B．Catch them immediately. |
| C．Leave them where they are. | D．Take them back to the ocean. |
3 . I grew up in a house with an unusual design feature. The floor of part of the house was made of pieces of chalkboards that my father gathered from the local high school when it was repaired. He added a second large piece on the wall, too.
The result was that we always had a place to write notes, draw pictures, do quick calculations, and keep an ongoing grocery list to which anyone could contribute. The wall chalkboard was used for important notes, while the floor was most handy for messages that were meant to catch someone’s eye the moment they came in the house, things like “I’ve run out to the store, back in 30 minutes” or “Please start dinner at 5:30”.
When I was young, I thought that every house would have a large writing area, but then I moved away and realized that wasn’t the case. For years, especially since having kids, I’ve tried to keep information organized. Though my Moleskine paper planner has given some semblance (表象) of order to my life, it doesn’t make up for a good chalkboard.
But now things have changed. I’m pleased to say that a proper chalkboard has finally been fixed in my kitchen—something that should have happened years ago! My dad recently came for a visit and brought a piece of slate (石板) that fits the wall behind the door, adding a board for chalk.
All of a sudden we have an obvious place to go to store information where all family members can see it, a place where important thoughts can be written down.
I think every house should have a proper-sized chalkboard — a real slate one, if you can find it. It’s a game-changer, a family unifier, and an effective organizer. I may not have a chalkboard floor, but once again I have a chalkboard wall, and now my home feels complete.
1. What developed the author’s love for houses with a chalkboard?| A．His father’s expectation of him. | B．Usual visits to an old house. |
| C．The environment he grew up in. | D．His habit of writing something. |
| A．He was too busy to relax. |
| B．He developed an interest in chalkboards. |
| C．He grew poorer at collecting information. |
| D．He had trouble organizing information at home. |
| A．He bought slate from a school for the author. |
| B．He lived together with the author all the time. |
| C．He got a chalkboard fixed at the author’s home. |
| D．He had a chalkboard wall built in his own kitchen. |
| A．Making one healthier and wealthier. |
| B．Helping to keep the family life in order. |
| C．Increasing one’s sense of belonging. |
| D．Developing children’s interest in learning. |
4 . One November day, two weeks before Thanksgiving, my mom was travelling through Kentucky when her old car had trouble. She pulled over,
Seeing my mom, the driver’s wife didn’t ask any questions, but welcomed her
Two weeks later, my mom wanted to
It
Their actions
| A．excited | B．anxious | C．rude | D．proud |
| A．trouble | B．change | C．power | D．business |
| A．wished | B．invited | C．caused | D．permitted |
| A．coldly | B．angrily | C．formally | D．warmly |
| A．rented | B．painted | C．fixed | D．washed |
| A．know | B．wonder | C．trust | D．remember |
| A．strength | B．safety | C．thought | D．health |
| A．thank | B．blame | C．visit | D．praise |
| A．refused | B．forgot | C．decided | D．agreed |
| A．answered | B．addressed | C．stamped | D．devoted |
| A．horror | B．shame | C．puzzlement | D．amazement |
| A．turned out | B．set out | C．seemed | D．mattered |
| A．offered | B．afforded | C．needed | D．raised |
| A．avoided | B．paid | C．collected | D．borrowed |
| A．truly | B．rarely | C．suddenly | D．toughly |
5 . While some people might view breakfast as optional, most Shanghainese, despite living in arguably the most fast-paced city in China, won’t be caught skipping this meal no matter how busy they are.
In fact, Shanghai was even named by the Ministry of Commerce as a pilot city for the National Breakfast Demonstration Project in 2011. According to the authorities, the project is aimed at improving the quality of life and making high-quality breakfast options more accessible to the masses. Since the beginning of the project, the city has built 24 industrialized and standardized central kitchens which supply food to 7,800 stores selling breakfast items. By August 2020, there were more than 20,000 shops in the city offering breakfast food.
In the current stage of the ongoing project, the focus has shifted from increasing options to improving the convenience of purchasing this meal. To do so, the local government issued a guideline last August to promote digital breakfast services in convenience stores, mobile food trucks, retailers, and Internet platforms. Companies have also been encouraged to come up with new nutritious meals and adopt the use of eco-friendly packaging materials.
For office workers like Qian Li, buying breakfast no longer involves having to brave long queues. Rather, all she has to do now is place an order using the app for the Ego convenience store near her work place before picking up her freshly made meal from a smart locker.
The guideline has also resulted in developments like cooperative deals between e-commerce giant Alibaba and three major food truck enterprises. According to this agreement, mobile breakfast trucks, including those operated by local food company LiangFood, can establish a digital presence on Alibaba’s take-out and delivery platform Eleme, allowing customers to order their meals online without having to queue.
The introduction of more healthy breakfast options is also in preparation. To date, 12 enterprises have developed 208 nutritious breakfast sets catering to specific groups of people—patients with diabetes, the elderly, children and teenagers.
1. What is the original purpose of the project in 2011?| A．To make Shanghai a fast-paced city. | B．To raise the awareness of having breakfast. |
| C．To improve the quality of breakfast served. | D．To help people have more choices for cooking. |
| A．She is tired of making breakfast. | B．She enjoys the new mode of breakfast. |
| C．She has to stand in line for her breakfast. | D．She prefers getting meals at convenience stores. |
| A．Satisfying the need of. | B．Making use of. |
| C．Making a difference to. | D．Being connected with. |
| A．Breakfast does matter for your health | B．Breakfast has gone digital in Shanghai |
| C．Shanghainese think highly of breakfast | D．Joint efforts are made to encourage breakfast |
6 . Sometimes it only takes a shopping trip to change your life. When Shannon Murray-Doffo headed out to buy a shirt for her four-year-old son in 2019, little did she imagine it would be the spark to start her own kid-friendly clothing company. What Murray-Doffo found at not one but six different children’s clothing stores was that boys’ clothing is a disappointment.
“Boys’ clothes in every store were in gray, black or white—I mean, who buys white for a four-year-old boy? The graphics on the shirts were either giant rubbery logos across the chest or grown man or monster (怪兽). I remember coming home empty-handed and disappointed,” she said.
This bothered her, as she felt the fashion industry was sending a damaging message to little boys—that their clothes don’t matter as much as girls’, due to their location in the store and far fewer options, and that they should be violent.
She decided to start her own clothing company called Living Loudly. The result is a collection of T-shirts with fun, creative, and non-violent designs that appeal to boys and their parents.
The material makes a kid keep reaching for the same shirt day after day, and will stand up to hours of rough physical play. The T-shirts are shipped in a plastic-free, zero-waste cardboard tube used as shipping container and packaging. Inside, the shirt is wrapped in a sheet of seed paper, which will bloom if planted. A story is printed on the paper to entertain and educate the child about valuable lessons. “From developing self-control and healthy emotional expression to discovering the importance of being heard, our short stories give families fun, easy, and teachable moments. ”
Being the innovative entrepreneur as she is, Murray-Doffo didn’t stop at T-shirts. While conducting market research into her target audience, she spent a lot of time on online parenting forums to follow trending topics.
1. Why did Murray-Doffo come home empty-handed?| A．The shirts were too expensive. | B．She wanted to make shirts herself. |
| C．The shirts she wanted were sold out. | D．She considered the shirts unsuitable for boys. |
| A．They matter a lot to boys. | B．They should feature monsters. |
| C．They provide too many options. | D．They should lead the fashion. |
| A．Why Living Loudly was originally started. |
| B．How Living Loudly makes shirts appealing. |
| C．What Murray-Doffo plans to do in the future. |
| D．Where Murray-Doffo got the inspiration of her shirts. |
| A．Patient. | B．Generous. | C．Creative. | D．Humorous. |
7 . Students at St. Stanislaus High School in Mississippi are among the volunteers along US coasts raising oysters (牡蛎) to help restore, or repair weakened reefs (礁). Oyster reefs are an important part of coastal environments. Each oyster cleans 95 to 190 liters of water a day. The reefs provide living space for shrimp, crabs and fish. They also protect coastlines. In the states of Maryland, Virginia, Mississippi, and Alabama, now there are more than 1,000 oyster gardens. Most of them are in wire cages hanging from private ports.
Colin Wood, one student looking after the St. Stanislaus garden, said he was excited by the hands-on work. “I didn’t realize oysters had a big influence on the environment. And 50,000 to 55,000 adult oysters grown here each year go to reefs in Mobile Bay,” he said.
In the 1950s, an average of 37,400 tons of oysters were taken yearly from partly salty waters in the US. But US oyster harvests fell sharply in the 1990s. Data showed the cause of the drop could be overharvesting, pollution, pests and other problems. Then oyster gardening started.
Oyster gardening uses many of the same methods as farming. Farmers around the country grow oysters near the surface of water. Oysters develop much faster where the water holds more food they eat and enemies can be more easily removed. But the oysters are not being grown to be eaten. Oyster gardens get pulled from the water every seven to ten days. The time out of the water is used to clear out small animals, keep oysters from growing through the wires, and dry and clean off plant-life growing on the wires.
Bob Stokes, the director of the Galveston Bay Foundation in Texas, says, “Oyster gardening is as much about education as it is restoration.”
1. How does Colin Wood feel about his work?| A．Simple. | B．Tiring. | C．Creative. | D．Meaningful. |
| A．The use of oyster gardening. |
| B．The influence of oyster harvests falling. |
| C．The reason for starting oyster gardening. |
| D．The problems oyster gardening is facing. |
| A．To repair the cages. |
| B．To pick weak oysters out. |
| C．To examine the water quality. |
| D．To keep a good environment for oysters. |
| A．What oyster gardening is |
| B．Oyster reefs are becoming endangered |
| C．Volunteers keep oysters to restore reefs |
| D．Why oysters are growing popular in the US |
8 . For some experienced Chinese travelers who have visited many destinations at home and abroad, their focus has changed toward exploring the less traveled domestic road and sharing their stories online.
Tuotuo and Susu are known for their first-person video blogs about less visited destinations in China. The couple’s short videos attract over 1.66 million followers on Sina Weibo, many of whom are youngsters with an urge to travel.
The couple has traveled to quaint villages where tourists seldom visit. For example, they visited Laozhai village in Lingshan county, Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region (自治区). The ancient Yao ethnic group village only has about 200 residents (居民) in 48 households.
During their travels, Tuotuo and Susu dine and rub shoulders with the locals and enjoy rural life. “These travels allow us to meet many interesting Chinese people and experience their unique lifestyles,” said 33-year-old Tuotuo.
However, the couple’s travels aren’t always without challenges. For example, when they visited a cattle-farming family in Yangdong village, Liping county, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous region in Guizhou, they had to drive on a winding road and a bumpy mud path, but the wonderful view of fields proved to be worthwhile.
“It’s like a Land of Peach Blossom in modern society. Their material life may not be as good as those in big cities, but they lead a life of ease and comfort,” Tuotuo said.
“Rather than common scenic areas, frequent visitors prefer in-depth travel and are interested in the local lifestyles and local people. For them, tourism has become a kind of lifestyle, and lifestyle has also become an essential part of tourism,” said Liu Simin, vice president of tourism at the Beijing-based Chinese Society for Future Studies.
1. Where can we probably learn about Tuotuo’s traveling video blogs?| A．From the advertisement. | B．From the Internet. |
| C．From the travel brochure. | D．From the textbook. |
| A．Old-fashioned and unusual. | B．Newly-built and wonderful. |
| C．Well-known and modern. | D．Long-standing and wealthy. |
| A．They will probably live in the country. |
| B．They hate good material life in big cities. |
| C．They are deeply attracted by local lifestyles. |
| D．They are more interested in traveling abroad. |
| A．The couple’s travels are always challenging. |
| B．The scenery in the country is quite impressive. |
| C．The conditions in Yangdong village are very poor. |
| D．Difficulties on the way won’t discourage the couple. |
9 . Jobs for Teens
Teenagers earn more than just money at a part-time job, they also earn experience, financial independence, responsibility, and savings for college. Here are some popular jobs for teens to earn extra money while getting valuable experience for the future.
Babysitting
Babysitting is a true way for any teenager who enjoys kids to make money. Neighbors, family friends, and relatives with small children often need help and want someone they know and trust. In order to offer more valuable services, teens can take classes on dealing with possible dangerous situations.
Coffee Shop
If your teen enjoys coffee, music, laptops, and people, then working as a waiter at a coffee shop can be a great part-time job choice. Coffee shops often offer a peaceful atmosphere (氛围) perfect for people watching. Besides, he can earn tips (小费)! If your teen wants to serve people, working at a coffee shop part-time could be the job for him.
Dog-Walking
Many elderly neighbors, friends on vacation, and people who work long hours need help washing and walking their pets. If your teen enjoys working with animals and is responsible for his work, then this is the job for him. His part-time business will begin to pick up once he sets himself up as a reliable animal lover.
Food Services
If your teen loves communicating with people, restaurant employment might be right for her. She can choose from such positions as cashier, server, food runner, dish washer, and prep cook. Food industry positions can help your teen develop people skills, self-respect, and responsibility, while enjoying a bit of socializing.
1. Which job is especially fit for pet lovers?| A．Babysitting. | B．Coffee Shop. |
| C．Dog-Walking. | D．Food Services. |
| A．They offer music and laptops. |
| B．They help improve teen’s social skills. |
| C．They have a peaceful atmosphere. |
| D．They provide tips for employees. |
| A．Parents. | B．Teenagers. | C．Teachers. | D．Graduates. |
10 . Animals, including humans, feel sound as well as hear it, and some of the most meaningful communication happens at frequencies (频率) that people can’t hear. Elephants, for example, use these low-frequency sounds to, among other things, find family or a mate across long distances. Whales do it, too.
But you don’t have to weigh a ton to make a sound. In fact, you don’t have to be bigger than a pea. Consider, for example, the tree-hopper, a curious little animal that lives on the stems (茎) of the leaves. University of Missouri biologist Rex Cocroft has spent much of his time listening closely to tree-hoppers with his team.
The team discovers that all the sounds being heard from tree-hoppers are produced by males. They do it by vibrating (振动) their abdomens (腹部) to make a wide variety of strange sounds. There is almost no airborne sound produced with these vibrational sounds. Cocroft explained, “If a tree-hopper were to stand on your finger and produce a sound, you would feel the vibration but hear no sound.”
They showed that some sounds, not surprisingly, seem to be aimed at attracting females. And some are aimed at other males.
Cocroft explained, “When two males meet each other, or when they are mate-searching on a branch, we’re hearing ‘purring, bdddddrrrr…’ sounds that males give.” Normally, a person couldn’t hear any of this, because the sound travels along the stem, inside it. And that’s how other tree-hoppers detect it.
Cocroft said tree-hoppers have very sensitive legs. And they stand around on stems, which are good at spreading vibrations. So they just use what nature gives them to communicate with each other.
“They have so many different forms of social behavior and grouping,” Cocroft explained. “And once there are animals living in groups, then there will be all sorts of interesting possibilities for communication.”
1. What does Cocroft’s research focus on about tree-hoppers?| A．Their variety. | B．Their communication. |
| C．Their living areas. | D．Their numbers. |
| A．They sense sounds by legs. |
| B．They knock the stems to make sounds. |
| C．Their sounds can be easily heard by humans. |
| D．Females make sounds to meet each other |
| A．It is key to their survival. |
| B．It drives an increase in their numbers. |
| C．It often leads to communication. |
| D．It contributes much to the division of animal types. |
| A．A Magic Moment in Nature | B．A Journey to the Wildlife |
| C．Learning From Nature | D．Communication Sounds Among Animals |
