1 . Historical accounts often described the now-extinct California grizzly bears as huge beasts ready to attack humans and livestock at any time. But according to a new paper, scientists say the truth might have been less dramatic: The bears ate a mostly vegetarian diet and were smaller than previously described. California grizzly bears once roamed in the Golden State. But European settlers often hunted, poisoned and trapped the creatures. Over time, because of these human activities, the California grizzly population declined. The last reliable sighting of a California grizzly bear occurred 100 years ago in 1924, and the animals disappeared completely sometime after that.
Researchers wanted to get a better understanding of the factors that accelerated the bears’ extinction. They also hoped to gain more insight into the creatures’ behavior, size and diet. To do so, they turned to documents and California grizzly specimens in natural history collections. They measured the animals’ skulls and teeth and analyzed their bones and pelts. The researchers found that California grizzly bears were much smaller than the 2,000 pounds often reported at the time. Historical accounts might not necessarily have been wrong, but they might have only included the largest bears. In addition, analyses of the animals’ bones and skins suggest the bears were primarily eating plants, which stands in contrast to their fear some hyper carnivorous (超级食肉的) reputation. “The bears likely increased meat consumption due to landscape changes coupled with the arrival of livestock,” says study co-author Alexis Mychajliw. However, researchers found the animals still ate a majority vegetarian diet and killed far less livestock than historical accounts suggested.
By digging beyond the bears’ reputation, the researchers gained a more accurate understanding of the California grizzly’s biology and natural history. And since scientists and land managers often rely on historical accounts when reintroducing animals to their former habitats, the study serves as a reminder that those old newspapers and journals do not tell the whole story.
1. What does the underlined word “roamed” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Disappeared. | B．Declined. | C．Fought. | D．Wandered. |
| A．They mainly fed on livestock. |
| B．Their diet consisted mostly of plants. |
| C．They ate a balanced diet of plants and meat. |
| D．The absence of livestock changed their dietary habit. |
| A．They are unique. | B．They are one-sided. |
| C．They are accurate. | D．They are comprehensive. |
| A．The natural habitats of California grizzly bears. |
| B．The extinction process of California grizzly bears. |
| C．The reveal of the truth of California grizzly bears. |
| D．The significance of the arrival of California grizzly bears. |
2 . A big sandstorm hit northern China several months ago. It covered many cities with thick clouds of yellow dust (尘土).
The storm, which came from Mongolia, was the largest sandstorm in China in the past 10 years. Many flights and classes were canceled (取消) because the visibility (能见度) was lower than 500 meters.
The storm was the result of warm and dry weather in the area, together with the strong winds from Mongolia. “There has been little rainfall so far this spring and the temperature is rising. So now it is a worrying time for sandstorms,” said an expert from Beijing.
In recent years, sandstorms haven’t been as common in northern China as before. The land with desertification (沙漠化) has been falling by 7, 585 km per year in China, and the area of sandy land has been decreasing by 1, 284 km a year. This is thanks to China’s Three-North Shelter Forest Program (TNSFP, 三北防护林工程) which started in the 1970s. Millions of trees have been planted in northern China to prevent sandstorms and protect the environment.
Besides, China has a color-graded weather warning system (预警系统) for sandstorms, with red meaning the most serious, followed by orange and yellow. Therefore, people would have time to get prepared for the sandstorm.
Sandstorm visibility < 1 kilometer
Severe (严重的) sandstorm visibility < 500 meters
Super severe sandstorm visibility < 50 meters
1. What caused (造成) the sandstorm from Mongolia?
| A．Cold and wet weather, together with the strong winds. |
| B．Cold but sunny weather. |
| C．Warm, wet weather and the strong winds. |
| D．Warm, dry weather and the strong winds. |
| A．In the 1970s. | B．In the 1980s. | C．In the 1960s. | D．In the 1990s. |
| A．Red. | B．Orange. | C．Yellow. | D．Blue |
3 . Since tea spread from China worldwide, it has become one of the most popular drinks in the world. Different countries have their own tea cultures, like afternoon tea in England.
The tradition of afternoon tea is a very special part of English culture. The custom of drinking tea became popular in England during the 1660s. It was not until the mid-19th century that the idea of “afternoon tea” first appeared.
Afternoon tea is served in the mid-afternoon, between lunch and a late dinner. The idea came from Anna, the seventh Duchess(公爵夫人) of Bedford, in 1840. At the time, many families would eat a late dinner at about 8 p. m., which was one of only two main meals each day, and the other was a mid-morning meal.
With a long time between breakfast and dinner, Anna would become hungry around 4 o’clock in the afternoon. So she asked some tea, bread, butter and cakes to be brought to her room during the late afternoon. This became a habit of hers and she began inviting friends to join her.
Later, Anna continued it, sending cards to her friends asking them to join her for “tea and a walking in the fields”.
Others soon picked up on the idea. By the 1880s, afternoon tea became an event for many ladies. They would be dressed beautifully to be served in the sitting room between four and five o’clock, talking about the latest news, their daily life and fashion.
Today’s afternoon tea is simpler than traditional afternoon tea. It is just a biscuit or small cake and a cup of tea. However, there is one thing that has never changed - the meaning of afternoon tea.
1. When did the idea of “afternoon tea” first appear in England?| A．In the 1660s. | B．In the 1880s. |
| C．In the mid-19th century. | D．In the 1840s. |
| A．Because she felt hungry. | B．Because she loved drinking tea. |
| C．Because she needed to treat friends. | D．Because she wanted to change the meaning of afternoon tea. |
| A．Afternoon tea has spread all over the world. |
| B．People used to drink tea more often than now. |
| C．Afternoon tea gives people a chance to communicate. |
| D．Women like afternoon tea much more than men. |
4 . It was the first time Moham went to a restaurant in his new neighborhood. He looked up at the menu board, and
“It’s the soda you ordered,”
He smiled at the waitress, pointed at one of the
Moham took the cake and his unexpected soda to a table and sat down to eat. Why was it that English had been so
Just then, a girl, who sat at the next table and had watched the whole
Hearing this, Moham felt much better. He wasn’t the only one
| A．imagined | B．remembered | C．described | D．wondered |
| A．even | B．just | C．never | D．also |
| A．wish | B．suggestion | C．order | D．dream |
| A．Inside | B．Under | C．Above | D．Near |
| A．moved | B．bored | C．tired | D．surprised |
| A．he | B．she | C．I | D．you |
| A．cakes | B．salads | C．drinks | D．strawberries |
| A．spread | B．work | C．develop | D．read |
| A．special | B．popular | C．mportant | D．easy |
| A．slowly | B．carefully | C．actually | D．honestly |
| A．process | B．discussion | C．performance | D．argument |
| A．crazy | B．hopeful | C．bad | D．excited |
| A．although | B．if | C．because | D．since |
| A．came up | B．cheered up | C．showed up | D．ended up |
| A．fighting | B．planning | C．regretting | D．refusing |
5 . With a fragrance (芳香) through the bedrooms of older adults for two hours every night for six months, memories skyrocketed. Participants in this study by University of California, Irvine (UCI)neuroscientists gained a 226% increase in cognitive capacity compared to the control group. The researchers say the finding transforms the long-known tie between smell and memory into an easy, non-invasive technique for strengthening memory and potentially preventing dementia (痴呆).
The project was conducted through the UCI Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory. It involved men and women aged 60 to 85 without memory impairment. All were given seven small containers, each containing a single and different natural oil. People in the enriched group received full-strength oils. Control group participants were given the oils in tiny amounts. Participants put a different container into their room each evening prior to going to bed, and it activated for two hours as they slept.
People in the enriched group showed a 226% increase in cognitive performance compared to the control group, as measured by a word list test commonly used to evaluate memory. Participants also reported sleeping more soundly. The researchers say the results from their study bear out what scientists learned about the connection between smell and memory.
Scientists have long known that the loss of ability to smell, can predict development of nearly 70 neurological and psychiatric diseases. These include Alzheimer’s and other dementias, Parkinson’s and alcoholism. Researchers have previously found that exposing people with moderate dementia to up to 40 different smells twice a day over a period of time improved their memories and language skills, eased depression and improved their sense of smell.
The team would next like to study the technique’s impact on people with diagnosed cognitive loss. A product based on their study and designed for people to use at home is expected to come onto the market this fall.
1. What field may the findings be applied to?| A．Controlling sleep. | B．Exploring smells. |
| C．Developing skills. | D．Promoting memory. |
| A．Research results. | B．Research process. |
| C．Research methods. | D．Research purpose. |
| A．By giving the participants a test. |
| B．By scanning the participants’ brain. |
| C．By observing the participants’ actions. |
| D．By asking about the participants’ feeling. |
| A．Developing a smell product. |
| B．The impact of cognitive loss. |
| C．Application of research results. |
| D．Doing market research for their product. |
6 . When trash sculptor Stephanie Hongo meets friends for drinks or dinner, it’s not unusual for one of them to hand her shopping bags full of lids, empty soap bottles, and even a Barbie leg or two. By now, she’s used to neighbors, friends and even strangers giving her their recyclable rejects.
But Hongo doesn’t need any more garbage. She has a large collection of her own at home. “You don’t need to be a trash picker to do this,” she says. “Trash is everywhere.” And for Hongo, where there is trash, there is art. Since 2017, Hongo has crafted complex sea creatures, realistic-looking jungle animals and other creatures out of everything from plastic forks to plastic tubing as well as a hair dryer, a purse, a tooth brush, and even a hair straightener.
Starting with her first piece—a blue deer named Yandoo that she fashioned out of odds and ends laying around her flat, which she screwed together and spray painted in a makeshift basement art studio—she’s gone on to create more than 160 trash sculptures.
“I feel very fortunate,” says Hongo, who loves making a living as an artist. “I care about our environment. The upcycling aspect of it is a lovely byproduct.” Though she doesn’t consider herself a true eco-artist, she hopes she’s inspiring others to reuse items that usually end up in landfills. But for her, she says, “The art comes first.”
Before starting each project, Hongo figures out exactly what pieces of scrap (废旧的) metal, tubing and plastics she’ll need to transform the pile of junk on her worktable into something fantastic, like a majestic octopus (章鱼) rocketing through the coral or a cute koala hugging a tree.
Since her funky creations sell on line at prices starting at $400, she’s been fortunate enough to make trash sculpting her full-time career. “It’s so much more than I ever expected,” she says.
1. Why does Hongo say “You don’t need to be a trash picker to do this”?| A．Because it is hard to pick trash. |
| B．Because there is trash everywhere. |
| C．Because her friends give her enough. |
| D．Because she has a large collection of trash. |
| A．To enjoy art. | B．To collect trash. |
| C．To trash sculptures. | D．To recycle waste. |
| A．Find enough fantastic shapes to copy. |
| B．Put away the things on her works. |
| C．Make out what materials suit her works. |
| D．Figure out what her pile of junk is made of. |
| A．Creative and inspiring. | B．Diligent and practical. |
| C．Helpful and generous. | D．Humorous and determined. |
7 . Lisa was a teacher of my two sons. In 2000, she
Luckily, my younger son, Mike, also studied in Lisa’s class. Lisa made a bigger
Mike’s grades had fallen behind other students. It was a challenge for Lisa to teach him whose grades were at the
In terms of child education, Lisa is a(n)
| A．forgot | B．failed | C．began | D．refused |
| A．send | B．instruct | C．protect | D．accommodate |
| A．got ahead | B．called back | C．turned up | D．looked around |
| A．doubtfully | B．slightly | C．rarely | D．firmly |
| A．drop | B．stand | C．burst | D．go |
| A．trust | B．change | C．silence | D．disagreement |
| A．mistake | B．decision | C．comment | D．impact |
| A．free | B．conventional | C．individualized | D．changeless |
| A．differences | B．secrets | C．habits | D．looks |
| A．beginning | B．level | C．bottom | D．top |
| A．selfish | B．outgoing | C．quiet | D．awful |
| A．praise | B．meals | C．victories | D．company |
| A．needs | B．contacts | C．study | D．housework |
| A．balance | B．start | C．investigate | D．prepare |
| A．memorize | B．plan | C．record | D．display |
| A．tutored | B．amused | C．criticized | D．trapped |
| A．speech | B．sympathy | C．relationship | D．progress |
| A．punctually | B．occasionally | C．forward | D．first |
| A．false | B．awesome | C．abstract | D．humble |
| A．regretful | B．curious | C．anxious | D．grateful |
8 . Last year, there were 38 student members and a full-time teacher in the school band. But over the summer, the director took another job and the school board had no applicants for the vacant position.
“It was such a downer,” remembers Jadyn Lane. “But we were given a choice — we could sign up for other electives (选修课), or find a way to make the band work.” Most students signed up for other electives, but 10 students decided to stay.
“It wasn’t an option to quit,” says Hailey Fitzgerald. “I’ve been in the band for seven years. I love it! It’s too important for too many reasons.” The students elected Hailey as director, a position she accepted on the condition they would all work together and share responsibilities. They recruited Casey Griffith and Jennifer Nail-Cook to be their official faculty advisors. Casey did the paperwork, and Jennifer helped with the music.
They directed themselves. Front and center on the band room whiteboard are a set of rules which they created themselves. In addition, they made a calendar (日历) of their upcoming events, like football games. It included a daily countdown to each event so they’d be prepared.
Perhaps most importantly, they decided which instruments were necessary to make a band of this size work. Most of them were drummers. How could they play those instruments with the people they had? “Several members switched instruments and some even learnt brand new ones,” Hailey says.
The time came last month for their first public performance. It was a home football game against Richwood. They had no idea what to expect. Would it work? Would the crowd cheer them on? Would they cheer up the football team? To their surprise, a group of students made posters for the band and hung them at the entrance to the football field. “We thought some people didn’t even know we still had a band,” says Jadyn. But their classmates had been paying attention and wanted to make their first game special. And their school won.
1. What do the underlined words “a downer” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Something rewarding. | B．Something demanding. |
| C．Something frightening. | D．Something disappointing. |
| A．They redefined their roles. | B．They sought help from parents. |
| C．They learnt to beat drums. | D．They joined the football team. |
| A．It drew little attention. | B．It was a huge success. |
| C．It won lots of bonuses. | D．It was a total mess. |
| A．Confident. | B．Sensible. | C．Devoted. | D．Ambitious. |
9 . A new study reveals that trees can communicate and warn each other of danger. “For the first time, researchers have been able to visualize plant-to-plant communication,” said Masatsugu, senior author of the study.
The idea of talking trees started to take root in the 1980s. Two scientists found that damaged trees began producing chemicals that made their leaves unappetizing and indigestible to discourage insects. The trees then sent chemical signals to one another through the air. Over the past four decades, scientists have observed this cell-to-cell communication in more than 30 plant species.
Past research shows plants communicate with their surroundings by releasing chemicals known as volatile (易挥发的) organic compounds. One class of these compounds are released when a plant is injured: green leafy volatiles. These are released by, as the name suggests, pretty much every green plant with leaves, and are produced when a plant experiences physical damage. An example of these compounds is the smell released from fresh-cut grass.
In the new study, Masatsugu and his colleagues manually damaged leaves and placed insects on tomato plants to trigger the release of various green leafy volatiles. After testing many of them, the team found it seemed to increase calcium ions (钙离子) inside cells. The calcium signaling is like a switch to turn on the defense responses from the plants.
With this new understanding, researchers say plants could be immunized against threats and stressors before they even happen. For instance, exposing healthy plants to insect-ridden plants or the associated green leafy volatiles could boost their genetic defenses, so farmers use less pesticides. The revelation could also help make plants more resilient (有复原力的) during a drought, signaling the plants to conserve more water.
1. What does the new research find?| A．Trees can inform other trees of potential threats. | B．Trees can make themselves attractive. |
| C．Trees will send signals first once damaged. | D．Trees will work together to trick insects. |
| A．They defend insects. | B．They kill insects. |
| C．Some of them can be smelt. | D．Some of them can be seen. |
| A．By protecting trees from insects. | B．By classifying green leafy volatiles. |
| C．By increasing calcium ions inside cells. | D．By causing the release of certain chemicals. |
| A．Its target. | B．Its process. | C．Its application. | D．Its background. |
10 . Many of us are disgusted by spiders’ furry legs, or even afraid of them. We don’t like to touch them or go near them. But they are more complicated than we can even imagine. Spiders’ legs seem to have minds of their own. According to a new study, each leg of a spider functions as a semi-independent “computer”, with sensors reading the immediate environment and causing movements accordingly. This helps spiders quickly build perfect webs. The researchers imitated surprisingly simple rules to govern this complex behavior, which could eventually be applied to robotics.
The study involves “morphological computation (形态计算)”, the idea of a function controlled by a body part instead of relying on the brain for instructions. Examples include the human knee jerk reflex (膝跳反射) and the act of walking. “Basically there’s a shortcut, and the brain doesn’t even know what’s happening down there,” says Oxford biologist Fritz Vollrath, the lead author of the paper.
Roboticists also show interest in morphological computation: It saves computing power and time. But few studies have deeply looked at the phenomenon in nature. Spiders, Vollrath says, are ideal for an experiment to bridge this gap — not only because it is easy to spot design changes in their webs but also because spiders reproduce broken-off legs.
Vollrath and his co-author, Thiemo Krink, a computer scientist, filmed and digitized the movements of several cross spiders, each with partially reproduced, half-length legs at certain positions. These spiders built webs as quickly and perfectly as those with eight full-length legs. If the brain were computing how to compensate for shorter legs, the researchers say, they would have seen tiny but measurable delays in operation. Instead the study hints a spider’s leg receives basic brain commands but adjusts its movements based on local input from sensors, which include hairs and slits in the body covering.
The researchers tested the rules by programming a simulated virtual spider, and Vollrath says the next step is to build a physical spider robot.
“I find this work extremely interesting, telling us more about spiders and also about morphological computation,” says Cecilia Laschi, a bio-roboticist, now at the National University of Singapore, who wasn’t involved in the study. “You never know what amazing innovations basic science like this could bring.”
1. Why does the author mention spiders at the very beginning?| A．To introduce morphological computation. |
| B．To stress the unique features of their webs. |
| C．To draw attention to their potential applications in medicine. |
| D．To present the common functions that spiders and humans share. |
| A．To highlight the specialties of spiders in the wild. |
| B．To explain the benefits of morphological computation. |
| C．To illustrate the principle of morphological computation. |
| D．To show the cause of selecting spiders for the research subjects. |
| A．The spiders didn’t need half-length legs to make better webs. |
| B．The spiders’ brains has a relatively small role to play in their web designing. |
| C．The spiders’ brains didn’t know what legs were doing down there. |
| D．The spiders with broken-off legs were seen obvious delays in action. |
| A．Study Shows Spiders Could Make Webs with Half Legs |
| B．Researchers Are Trying to Make Semi-independent “Computer” |
| C．Morphological Computation Draws the Attention of Researchers |
| D．Researchers Study the Secret to Spiders’ Ability to Stick |
