1 . To grow sugary dates（海枣） in the sand, Siwa’s farmers must first make the desert suitable for farming. An oasis（绿洲）in Egypt, Siwa has been home to humans for thousands of years. Since ancient times, the oasis has hosted farms producing some of the most valuable dates in Egypt, and the sugary dates have appeared on Egyptians' tables.
The desert environment in Siwa is not quite fit for plants to grow. For example, the water there contains much salt. However, it is with local people's effort that date trees, crops and other plants grow in harmony despite the complex agricultural fields, which impressed me a lot during my visit to the oasis. To make a new piece of field, farmers first remove the top soil and replace it with a mixture of sand and waste matter from animals. The first plants are medicinal plants. Then, farmers plant date trees and olive trees. These farming skills are passed down from generation to generation.
To grow date trees is demanding. And it takes 10 years for a new date tree to mature, but once it does, the tree produces generous fruit: around 110 pounds of dates per year. Each farmer picks dates with the skilled hands. They climb the trees using nothing more than a belt. In total, Siwa grows more than 25,000 tons of dates from 280,000 trees per year.
The dates can be eaten fresh, or made dry. Every part of the date tree is significant in Siwa, from leaves made into beds and boxes to wood used to build houses. And then, of course, there's the fruit itself. The dates can be cooked with goat meat or mixed with eggs for breakfast. They can also be mixed with flour, water, and olive oil, and boiled slowly to make a local dessert.
1. What can we learn about sugary dates from Paragraph 1？| A．They're introduced to Egypt from abroad. |
| B．They're the most valuable fruit in Egypt. |
| C．They can adapt to tough environment. |
| D．They have existed for a long time. |
| A．The great variety of plants grown there. |
| B．The hard but happy life of local people. |
| C．The great complexity of the local agriculture. |
| D．The local farmers' wisdom and contribution to farming. |
| A．It's worthwhile to make an effort to grow date trees. |
| B．It' s easy for farmers to pick dates from the trees. |
| C．It costs a lot to grow date trees in the oasis. |
| D．It's necessary to develop agriculture in Siwa. |
| A．Education. | B．Health. |
| C．Nature. | D．Entertainment. |
2 . Henderson Island in the South Pacific Ocean has always been known for its remarkable biological diversity and untouched ecology. Now, the remote UNESCO World Heritage site that lies 3，100 miles from the closest human settlement can also lay claim to being one of the most polluted places on Earth.
Jennifer Lavers, a researcher from the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies who has been studying the island for a few years, says the tiny island is home to over 38 million pieces of waste.
The amount of waste is surprising given that the island, the largest of the group of four Pitcairn volcanic islands, has no residents and is visited by scientists only once or twice every decade. However, as it turns out, humans do not need to be physically present to pollute an area. In this case, the waste is brought in by the South Pacific Gyre, an ocean current that sends garbage moving through the sea to Henderson.
What’s even worse is that the unsightly rubbish scattered (分散)across the island’s sandy beaches is just the tip of the iceberg. According to the researchers, over 68% of the waste is buried under the sand. This means their estimates, based on the waste found up to 10 centimeters below the sand, may be underestimating the full extent of the pollution.
Besides being aesthetically(审美地) unpleasing, the waste is also harmful to the island’s wildlife. Lavers and study co-author Alexander Bond discovered sea turtles that come to the island to lay eggs caught inside fishing lines. The waste is also harmful to seabirds and fish that mistake the colorful plastic pieces for food.
Environmentalists like Boyan Slat, who founded The Ocean Cleanup in 2011 after discovering “more bags than fish” while diving in Greece, are trying to clean up the mess. However, their efforts will only make a difference if we all join them by avoiding plastic altogether or reusing and recycling.
Unless we find ways to change the situation, this ever increasing pollution will cause a serious risk to the health of our planet and all its residents, including humans.
1. What do we know about Henderson Island？| A．There are no animals on it. |
| B．There are no people living on it. |
| C．It’s known for its various resources. |
| D．It’s the largest island in the South Pacific Ocean. |
| A．Humans presence caused most of the pollution on the island. |
| B．The volcanic eruption and the closest human settlement lead to the pollution. |
| C．Most of the rubbish is scattered across the island’s’ beaches. |
| D．An ocean current has carried the garbage to the island. |
| A．The impact of sea waste. |
| B．The level of sea pollution. |
| C．How to deal with ocean trash. |
| D．How to protect the island’s wildlife. |
| A．To introduce famous volcanic island. |
| B．To praise environmentalists for their efforts. |
| C．To call on people to take action on pollution. |
| D．To explain the consequences of the South Pacific Gyre. |
3 . Our fascination with Mars has never stopped. However, in the early days of space exploration, visits were restricted to “fly-bys”, such as those by Mariner Space Probes, by means of which craft would simply pass the planet, taking pictures and collecting data as they went. The Viking “orbiters” were next, and later craft in the Viking series, known as “Landers”, began to study the surface, equipped with instruments which continued to collect data about the environment until they stopped working.
The more recent “Rovers” move around the planet’s surface as they gather information. Current proposals include missions to study geographic features, climate, and soil components, in order to determine, among other things, whether the planet can ever have supported carbon-based life forms. Scientists now believe that at some stage the planet cooled dramatically, resulting in the near-loss of its atmosphere and, thanks to the wearing away of some surface features mineral deposits and other factors, it is also believed that liquid water once flowed here.
One of the most famous craft is “Phoenix”, which landed in November 2008. Its mission was to obtain samples from beneath the surface by digging into the arctic ice while its camera provided geological data and other equipment scanned the atmosphere, measuring temperature and pressure in an attempt to discover whether the chemicals necessary for life might exist beneath the surface. The craft was expected to send back data for three months, but managed to hold out for further two. An especially important part of the project was the need to keep absolute cleanliness of the equipment in order to ensure that any organic material collected was not contaminated by microbes(微生物).
In the future manned landings may probably come true-and though it may seem an extremely difficult undertaking, plans have already been discussed for the “terraforming(行星地球化)”of the planet, giving it an atmosphere, oceans and other elements similar to earth, with, the possibility of human settlement.
1. According to the text, what is “fly-by”?| A．A type of UFO. | B．A photograph of a planet. |
| C．A planet of the solar system. | D．A way of collecting information. |
| A．There is ice on it. |
| B．It once had some mineral deposits. |
| C．It once had carbon-based life forms. |
| D．There are some damaged areas on its surface. |
| A．Polluted. | B．Protected. | C．Controlled. | D．Reduced. |
| A．It will happen very soon. |
| B．It may be hard, but it’s possible. |
| C．It will be full of uncertainties, but it’s worth the efforts. |
| D．It relies on different countries working together. |
4 . If you live in certain parts of the world, you will see something magical happen each fall. It is the changing of the color of the leaves on many different trees. Each year deciduous (落叶的) trees go through a process in which their green leaves become bright yellow, gold, orange and red before turning brown and falling onto the ground.
Photosynthesis (光合作用) is the process for trees to make their food taking energy from the sun, water from the ground, and carbon dioxide from the air, they make sugar to “eat” so they can grow into strong, healthy trees. The leaves of a tree are where photosynthesis happens because the chlorophyll (叶绿素) in the leaves is what makes photosynthesis possible. Chlorophyll also has another job—it is what makes leaves green. When the seasons change in places where deciduous trees grow and the days get shorter and the weather gets colder, it is harder for the chlorophyll in the leaves to make the food needed to stay green. So instead of making more food, the leaves start using food they have stored away for this time of year.
As the leaves use the food that has been stored away, cells form at the bottom of each leaf. These cells act like a door between the leaf and the rest of the tree—a door that closes very slowly and doesn’t shut until all the leaf’s food is gone. While this is happening, the colors in the leaves of the trees are able to show through. In fact, the red, yellow, gold and orange colors are hiding in the leaves all summer long. The colors just can’t be seen in the summer because of all the chlorophyll in the leaves.
You might be wondering how the rest of the tree keeps growing when the weather turns cold and the leaves die and fall. Doesn’t the rest of the tree need the food made by the tree’s leaves?
Not really. The tree trunk and branches get food from the roots of the tree. The roots supply water, vitamins and minerals they get from the ground. Trees need sunshine and warm weather to grow, but they also need time to rest like bears that sleep during the winter.
1. Why do leaves change colors?| A．They save some energy to stay alive. |
| B．The chlorophyll stores some food away. |
| C．They have to get used to the cold weather. |
| D．They can’t get enough energy from the sun. |
| A．When there is no sunlight any longer . |
| B．When the food stored away in the leaves is use up. |
| C．When the chlorophyll in the leaves stops working. |
| D．When cells start to form at the bottom of each leaf . |
| A．By getting food from the ground. |
| B．By storing food in their branches. |
| C．By storing food in their roots. |
| D．By making the most use of the dead leaves. |
| A．To study how trees survive in winter. |
| B．To tell about the importance of photosynthesis. |
| C．To explain why leaves change colors. |
| D．To show the changes of trees in the whole year. |
5 . Fire ants dig tunnels efficiently by only a small percentage of the group doing most of the work. Free-loaders just sit around while their hard-working colleagues get things done. But might freeloaders actually be necessary for society to function efficiently? The answer could be yes.
Fire ants are highly social organisms. So, Goldman, a physicist at Georgia Tech, and his colleagues wanted to know how individual ants knew what to do without a central leader issuing orders. To find out, Goldman's team labeled individual fire ants with paint and then watched them dig their narrow tunnels —barely wide enough for two workers. Turns out, just 30 percent of the ants did 70 percent of the labor. “I was surprised that we ended up with so few workers actually doing the work at any one time. ” A quarter of the ants never even entered the tunnel. Others crawled inside, but left without digging single grain of dirt. These idling behaviors ensured the tunnels did not get clogged with insect traffic, which would make the construction process stop.
And when the scientists removed the five hardest working ants from the colony, others immediately jumped in to compensate (补偿) — with no reduction in the group's productivity. It seems that it doesn’t matter which ants are working or freeloading at a given time, as long as there is some division of labor to keep the tunnels flowing smoothly. The findings are in the journal Science.
The study could have implications for robotics. Imagine groups of robots sent to search rubble (碎石) for disaster survivors. Or nanobots (纳米机器人) coursing through our bodies to diagnose illness and deliver targeted medical treatment. Such robot groups will need to avoid getting jammed up in tight spaces. It might be necessary to program them so some just sit back and watch their comrades work.
1. How do fire ants get the work done when digging tunnels?| A．Only the leaders do most of the work. |
| B．They all work under the order of one leader. |
| C．They all cooperate together to do the work efficiently. |
| D．Individual fire ants know their tasks and work efficiently. |
| A．crowded | B．transported |
| C．organized | D．covered |
| A．The ants will have no idea what to do. |
| B．Other ants will take their place and do the work. |
| C．The tunnels will get blocked and the work will stop. |
| D．The leader will compensate them and give them food as the reward. |
| A．fire ants are the most diligent insects. |
| B．scientists may diagnose illness more easily. |
| C．people may feel happy when they watch their colleagues do nothing. |
| D．scientists can deal with robotics better when coming to specific programs. |
6 . Humans are no strangers to widespread viruses,and each time a vaccine(疫苗）is developed, it gives us hope for the future. Now, the world is waiting for a vaccine to fight COVID-19.
Scientists worldwide have been rolling up their sleeves to work toward an effective novel coronavirus vaccine.
Under the coordination(协调）of the World Health Organization (WHO),up to 172 countries have been engaging with the "largest and most diverse COVID-19 vaccine portfolio",a plan known as the COVAX Global Vaccines Facility.
COVAX is a system for joint purchasing and balancing the risks of multiple vaccines. When a vaccine proves to be safe and effective, all countries within the facility will be able to access it, according to Xinhua.
The plan is aimed to ensure that all countries, no matter their economic status, can get the vaccine in a timely manner when one is available. It also makes sure that prices will be kept as low as possible.
＂A number of vaccines are now in the final stage of clinical trials," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Aug 24,adding that the goal of COVAX is to deliver at least 2 billion doses of a vaccine by the end of 2021.
According to the WHO, at present, nine potential vaccines are part of the portfolio.
To guarantee the equal access and fair assignment of COVID-19 vaccines,the WHO has said that the world needs to prevent vaccine nationalism-countries putting their own interests ahead of others in trying to secure supplies of a possible vaccine.
＂Vaccine nationalism only helps the virus,"Tedros said, warning that it would lead to a prolonged pandemic(疫情） if only a small number of countries got most of the supply.
＂Like an orchestra,we need all instruments to be played in harmony to create music that everyone enjoys," he said.
Vaccine development looks promising,as several countries have made great progress. Russia began production of its first batch of a COVID-19 vaccine on Aug 15, according to its health ministry. It's the world's first registered vaccine. Four Chinese vaccine candidates have started international stage-3 clinical trials.
1. Which of the following is true according to the passage?| A．Russia is the first country to have made progress in fighting COVID-19. |
| B．COVAX ensures all the countries get the vaccine at the same time. |
| C．WHO plays an important role in fighting COVID-19. |
| D．Scientist have produced 2 billion doses of vaccines. |
| A．Supportive. |
| B．Critical. |
| C．Optimistic. |
| D．Sympathetic. |
| A．show his deep love for music |
| B．make the passage more interesting |
| C．illustrate the similarities in between |
| D．stress the importance of cooperation |
| A．United for vaccine |
| B．Vaccine on the way |
| C．Fighting against COVID-19 |
| D．Say goodbye to COVID-19 |
7 . China is determined to land its astronauts on the moon and set up a scientific station there,according to a project leader.
Zhou Yanfei,deputy chief designer of China's manned space program,said on Friday that China wishes to use the manned lunar missions to carry out scientific surveys and technology demonstrations,explore ways to develop lunar resources and strengthen the nation's space capabilities.
＂A new wave of lunar explorations has been emerging in the world,with participants aiming to make sustainable missions to deepen knowledge of the moon and exploit resources there,"he said in a report delivered at the 2020 China Space Conference in Fuzhou,Fujian province."Unlike other nations,China must depend on its own science and technology to realize our goals."
The country is independently able to land its astronauts on the moon because it has the technologies,a group of well-trained,innovative professionals and high-efficiency research and management systems,Zhou said."However,our existing carrier rockets can't perform landing missions to the moon because they are not powerful enough.The Shenzhou- series manned spaceships are not suitable for lunar expeditions.We don't have a lunar landing capsule,"he said."Our ground support system was designed for operations in low-Earth orbit rather than on the lunar surface.
To solve the problem, we set out to produce a powerful launch vehicle. Zhou said researchers thought about two approaches-making a new heavy-lift rocket,or adjusting the next-generation rocket designed to carry astronauts,which is under development.Researchers prefer the latter approach because it would be easier to design and make and would become operational earlier.
The new rocket is being designed at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.Its main body will be 87 meters tall,with a diameter of 5 meters,which would make it almost twice as tall as the Long March 5,currently the biggest of China's rockets.
1. Which is NOT the goal of the manned lunar mission?| A．To explore lunar resources. |
| B．To perform scientific experiments. |
| C．To set up a scientific station. |
| D．To strengthen the national space power. |
| A．China is not capable of pursuing the manned lunar program. |
| B．There are still difficulties in pursuing the manned lunar program. |
| C．There are a series of steps in the Manned Lunar program. |
| D．It is manageable to carry out the Manned Lunar program. |
| A．Nations must depend on themselves to explore the moon. |
| B．The Long March 5 is the biggest of China's rocket. |
| C．The newly-designed rocket will not carry astronauts. |
| D．Producing a powerful launch vehicle is the most difficult part in the program. |
| A．The new rocket is big enough to perform landing missions. |
| B．The new rocket is being made to launch lunar spaceship. |
| C．China's scientific power has improved. |
| D．The new rocket will be put into use soon. |
8 . At just 11 years old, Vince Weishaus runs his own hair salon(发廊) in his parents' basement in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, doing different hairstyles for free.
For Vince, his love of hair started at a very young age. "He has an older sister who had dolls and he would just, at 2 or 3, be playing with the dolls' hair,” recalled Emily Weishaus, Vince's mother.
Not long afterward, he also fell in love with braiding(编辫子). "He watched me do a braid, and then he undid the braid and redid it without me ever showing him how to do it,” his mother said. He found his true passion as a hairstylist when he started cutting his grandmother's hair before he was 5. “At the very beginning, I feel like that's what gave him the confidence to be who he is,” she added.
Vince's hairstyling dream became a reality when his parents presented him with a special surprise on his ninth birthday: his very own salon in their basement. His neighbor had a salon in her home, but she decided to pass on her supplies to Vince when she moved.
Family members and friends have stopped by for appointments—all free of charge—at Vincent Charles Salon. The kid's services range from coloring, to braiding the for proms (舞会), family parties, talent shows and more. He has dyed his own hair different colors, from rose gold to purple. He even colors his friends' hair tips before they head off to camp.
Vince loves learning different practices and tricks of the trade from other hair mentors, such as his own stylist, Chelsea, who teaches him many styling skills.
The sky is the limit for Vince—his eventual goal is to become a world-famous hair colorist one day. His advice to anyone who wants to pursue their own dreams: “Do what they love and be themselves.”
1. What inspired Vince's interest in hairstyling when he was very young?| A．Reading fashion magazines. | B．Playing with dolls. |
| C．Seeing cartoon movies. | D．Visiting a hair salon. |
| A．Opposing. | B．Indifferent. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Concerned. |
| A．Students. | B．Employees. |
| C．Traders. | D．Instructors. |
| A．He is ambitious. | B．He is humorous. |
| C．He is intelligent. | D．He is generous. |
9 . The animal kingdom is full of beautiful and attractive creatures, and it is inviting to purchase exotic animals and call them pets. But undomesticated(未驯化的) pets may affect the health and safety of both the animals and the people who keep them.
The umbrella cockatoo, for instance, is a type of parrot, which can live up to seventy years. It is often purchased as an exotic pet. It requires a very large living place and a great deal of attention. When its specific needs are unmet, the bird commonly bites itself or becomes aggressive. Similarly, the ball python one of the most popular pet snakes, requires special conditions to survive. Like the umbrella cockatoo, the snake's long lifespan—up to forty years—presents serious practical challenges to any owner, no matter how devoted.
Exotic pet owners are most likely identified as animal lovers who purchased their animals in order to feel a deep connection to the natural world. However, the mere ownership of such an animal means it's probable that the person participated in the illegal trade. This trade—the capture and sale of wild animals——is often cruel to species. Countless animals suffer and die each year.
The problems continue when exotic pets are sold to non-professional owners. When they find they cannot care for them, owners take their exotic pets into the wild and abandon them, as proved by the case of Burmese pythons in Florida. This non-native species multiplied quickly seriously threatening the Florida ecosystem. Also , exotic pets pose a danger to their owners: some emerging infectious diseases, which thousands of people per year are stricken with, and especially occurred in children.
Wild animals are undoubtedly attracting, but they should be admired in their own natural environments. Penning animals as exotic pets harms their quality of life. Pet ownership of any kind is a serious responsibility, and that's why animal lovers should choose domesticated animals that will Boom under the care of humans.
1. What can we infer about exotic pets in paragraph 2?| A．They can live longest in the animal kingdom. |
| B．They need professional care from the owner. |
| C．They require special training from their owner. |
| D．They can’t have a satisfying life under human care. |
| A．To get high income. |
| B．To build a bond with nature, |
| C．To help prevent illegal pet trades. |
| D．To make exotic pets' life comfortable. |
| A．Improving the native ecosystem. |
| B．Increasing the number of rare species. |
| C．Losing control of illegal wildlife trading. |
| D．Putting humans and exotic wildlife at risk. |
| A．Wild animals are more dangerous than ordinary pets. |
| B．It's inappropriate to keep undomesticated exotic pets. |
| C．Exotic pets should be kept in better conditions. |
| D．Rules of the exotic pet trade should be updated. |
10 . Corals are often described as undersea forests, but they are declining far more quickly than the Amazon. The coral reefs( 珊 瑚 礁 )are likely to be among the first ecosystems to be wiped out by climate change.
A temperature rise of just 1 to 2℃ can lead to the death of the algae( 海 藻 ) upon which corals depend, draining them of color and making the structure more fragile. These bleaching( 褪 色 的 ) events can be temporary if waters cool, but the more frequent they are and the longer they last, the greater the risk of damage is.
But that’s exactly what is happening. Bleaching was first observed in 1983. It was seen on a global level in 1998, then 2010, and then from 2015 to 2017. Most available scientific evidence tells us that unless we do something to limit warming to 1.5℃, we will lose 99% of the world’s coral reefs in coming decades.
But there are other threats beyond warming. Off the Philippine island of Palawan, its old reefs have been badly damaged by dirty water from the tourist holiday center, pollution from boats and overfishing. The area ought to be a shelter because it’s one of the ocean regions most tolerant of climate change. “Even here, we are losing our corals,” said David Obura, chair of the Global Specialist Group in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. “We need to reduce stress from overfishing, coastal development, pollution and tourism.”
“I am a generation of scientists watching them disappear. It is very depressing.” Obura said. “Above 1.5℃, in about 50 years, they will be a treasure of historic movies and pictures, but very little to see in real life. Children born today may be the last generation to see coral reefs in all their glory.”
1. The rising temperature affects corals by .| A．darkening their color |
| B．harming their structure |
| C．cutting their food sources |
| D．narrowing down their living area |
| A．Coral bleaching first became a global issue. |
| B．The ocean temperature went up steadily. |
| C．We lost 99% of the world’s coral reefs. |
| D．Worldwide coral bleaching lasted longer. |
| A．Illegal fishing |
| B．Climate change |
| C．Ocean pollution |
| D．Global warming |
| A．Experts worry about global warming. |
| B．Philippine coral reefs are under threat. |
| C．Record undersea forests before it is too late. |
| D．The next generation may never see coral reefs. |
