1 . Global warming does more than just kill plant species — it also changes the way plants grow. Researchers at Martin Luther University Halle — Wittenberg(MLU) joined forces with the Leibniz Institute for Plant Biochemistry(IPB) to discover the molecular (分子) process of plant growth. In Current Biology, a scientific journal, they presented their findings on high-temperature plant growth. This could lead to developing plants that can survive global warming.
Plants react to even small temperature changes, but they are unable to move to new locations. “When temperatures rise, plants grow taller ... to cool themselves off. Their stems become taller, and their leaves become narrower and grow farther apart. Yet, this makes the plant more unstable overall,” explains Professor Marcel Quint, an agricultural scientist at MLU. Unstable plants bend faster in the rain and produce less food that’s also less nutritious.
There’s still lots to learn about plant reactions to temperatures. “We are just starting to understand how plants feel the changes in temperature ...,” Quint says. Earlier studies have shown that the protein (蛋白质) PIF4 directly controls plant growth and is also dependent on temperature. When it’s cold, PIF4 is less active, meaning the plant doesn’t grow. At higher temperatures, PIF4 activates growth-promoting genes, and the plant grows taller. This is new information, says Quint.
To understand it, they studied the growth of thale cress (拟南芥) seedlings. Normally, its seedlings form short stems at 20℃. These stems become much longer at 28℃. They discovered a hormone (荷尔蒙) that activates the PIF4 at high temperatures, thus producing the protein.
The findings may help to develop plants that remain stable even at high temperatures and produce many crops.
1. Why did the researchers at MLU and IPB conduct their research?| A．To study the negative effects of global warming. |
| B．To find out how plants help reduce global warming. |
| C．To observe how global warming affects plant growth. |
| D．To understand the ways that plants cause global warming. |
| A．Low temperatures have little impact on plants. |
| B．Plants prefer dry weather to rainy weather. |
| C．Plants are very sensitive to change in soil. |
| D．High temperatures reduce crop production. |
| A．It mainly exists in thale cress seedlings. |
| B．It works differently at different temperatures. |
| C．It is a kind of gene that controls plant growth. |
| D．It is a plant hormone that works at high temperatures. |
| A．Farmers. | B．Teachers. |
C．Researchers.  | D．Environmentalists. |
2 . Did you know that the color of uniforms can influence the performance of an athlete? It may sound strange, but a study suggests this might be true.
Two British scientists studied the results of four sports in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games where the athletes had been given either a red or a blue uniform. They discovered that when there was a big difference in the score, color had no influence on the result. But if it was a close match, the athlete in a red uniform was more likely to win. Then they looked at the uniforms of the soccer teams at the Euro 2004 tournament (锦标赛). Again, teams wearing red won more games.
The two scientists got their idea from earlier studies of wild animals. It had been discovered that when a male shows red on its body, it sends a signal of its power and strength. For example, in many kinds of monkey, the more the male shows off its red scars (伤疤) , the more females it can attract.
Based on this fact, the British scientists thought that the idea might work for humans, too. According to them, when an athlete sees a competitor in a red uniform, he gets a feeling that he couldn’t be stronger than his competitor. And that kind of feeling may have a bad influence on the player’s performance in the actual game.
Although the idea is interesting, most people don’t accept that color signals in the animal world can really be useful to humans in sports. They think that it is unreasonable to develop an idea based on such a small number of examples. Much more research has to be done to prove the influence of uniform colors on the performance of athletes.
1. What did the scientists find out about the 2004 Athens Olympic Games?| A．Athletes dressed in red scored more in a close match. |
| B．Game results had a big influence on the athletes. |
| C．Athletes played equally well in four sports. |
| D．There was a big difference in red and blue teams’ scores. |
| A．danger | B．shame | C．pride | D．weakness |
| A．Interested. | B．Doubtful | C．Satisfied | D．Grateful. |
3 . Passenger pigeons were the most common birds in all of North America in the 1800s. It was common to see large groups of passenger pigeons — group that made a sound like a storm.
But today, they are extinct because of human behavior. Now, some scientists want to bring passenger pigeons back to life by using new technology and scientific ideas. They call this process de-extinction
De-extinction has not happened yet. It is still just an idea. The process of de-extinction is not easy. First, scientists must collect DNA from the bodies of extinct animals. Then they will put it in the eggs of similar animals species. When these animals become adults, they will have babies. And these baby animals will have the DNA of the extinct animals.
Scientists believe it is possible to bring back passenger pigeons and many other animals. However, not everyone think this is a good idea.
Stewart Primm is the world’s leading expert on modern animal extinction. He believes that bringing extinct animals back to life is bad for the earth. On the one hand, these animals no longer have a safe place to live. On the other hand, they could cause other animals to die.
Many other scientists do not agree with Stewart Primm. Stuart Brand, a writer and scientist, is one of them. He believes de-extinction is good for many reasons.
“The current generation of children will experience the return of some unusual animals in their lifetime. It may be part of what defines their generation and their attitude to the natural world. They will take their parents to zoos to see the growing populations of passenger pigeons, and maybe even dodo birds. This will provide a good deal of money for zoos busy with extinct species restoration (恢复). Humans killed off a lot of species over the last 10,000 years. So, it’s right to bring some back to life,” he said.
1. What can we know about the passenger pigeons from the text?| A．They were common sightings. |
| B．They suffered a lot from storms. |
| C．They lived mainly in North America. |
| D．They were the largest in American history. |
| A．It will change the DNA of the extinct animals. |
| B．It was first used in passenger pigeons. |
| C．It is difficult to carry out. |
| D．It proved to be useful. |
| A．They will die very soon. |
| B．They will create other problems. |
| C．They will do great harm to humans. |
| D．They will replace the similar species. |
| A．Wrong | B．Difficult |
| C．Important | D．Wasteful |
| A．A research paper. |
| B．A scientific magazine. |
| C．A travel guidebook. |
| D．A geography textbook. |
4 . Transport has a lot to answer for when it comes to harming the planet. While cars and trains are moving towards greener, electric power, emissions（排放）from air travel are expected to increase massively by 2050. If we want big green sky solutions, we need blue sky thinking. Fortunately, there's plenty of that happening right now, particularly the short - haul flights powered by batteries.
Harbour Air is the largest seaplane airline in North America, flying 30,000 commercial flights in 40 seaplanes each year. Significantly, all Harbour Air routes last less than 30 minutes, making it perfectly fit for electric engines. "As an airline, we're currently in the process of turning all our planes into electric airplanes. says CEO Greg McDougall. To make this happen, the airline has partnered up with MagniX to create the world's first commercial flight with an electric engine.
Making the skies electric isn't just good for the environment, it also makes sound financial sense： a small aircraft uses $ 400 on conventional fuel for a 100 - mile flight, while an electric one costs $ 8 12 for the same distance, and that's before you factor in the higher maintenance costs of a traditional engine. There's also the added bonus that electric planes are just much more pleasant to fly in. No loud engine noise, no smell of fuel, just environmentally friendly peace and quiet.
While there has been real progress in the e-plane industry, the technical challenges that remain are keeping everyone's feet firmly on the ground. A battery, even a lithium one, only provides 250 watt-hours per kilogram； compare this to liquid fuel, which has a specific energy of IL 890 watt-hours per kilogram. Carrying adequate batteries, however, would make the plane too heavy to get off the ground. In aircraft, where every bit of weight counts, this can't just be ignored.
The transition （过渡 ） from gas to electric in the automobile industry has been made easier by hybrids - vehicles powered by both fuel and electricity. Many believe the same pattern could be followed in the air. Fuel consumption could be reduced as the electric component is switched on at key parts of the journey, especially on take-off and landing.
It's certainly an exciting time for electric flying. With companies like Harbour Air taking the lead, battery-powered planes, especially on short-haul journeys, are set to become a reality in the next few years.
1. According to Para l, what is happening in air transport?| A．New explorations of the sky are being launched. |
| B．Pollution caused by batteries is being controlled. |
| C．Efforts are being made to make air travel greener. |
| D．Demand for short-haul flights is increasing massively. |
| A．It runs short routes. | B．It has a strong partner. |
| C．Its planes can land on the sea. | D．It has planes with powerful engines. |
| A．To improve the ground service for e-planes. |
| B．To find qualified technicians for e-plane industry. |
| C．To calculate the energy needed to power e-planes. |
| D．To balance power and weight of batteries in e-planes. |
| A．To produce new electric components. | B．To increase battery consumption. |
| C．To use mixed - power technology. | D．To expand the landing field. |
| A．Short-sighted | B．Wait-and-see | C．Optimistic | D．Skeptical |
5 . Desperate to protect his farmland from a group of monkeys that were always destroying his crops, a farmer in Karnatakas India decided to paint his dog to look like a tiger in the hope that it would scare the monkeys away.
Srikant Gowda, a farmer from Karnatakas Shivamogga region, recently made interactional news headlines after it was reported that he used hair dye to paint his watchdog in the characteristic stripes of a tiger. The dog already had a reddish hair color, so all he had to do was add the black stripes and some white to give it the tiger look. It wasn't that Gowda had always wanted to own a tiger, but that he hoped the disguise(乔装) would help the dog drive away the monkeys destroying his crops.
The Indian farmer told reporters that he got the idea four years ago when he visited Uttara Kannada and came across a farmer in Bhatkal who was using a fake tiger doll to scare away monkeys. It seemed silly, but he tried the idea himself and was surprised to see that it actually worked. However, he was convinced that the toy tiger wouldn't fool the monkeys for long, so he decided to try something else as well.
The trick, strange as it might seem, has worked well and the dog has been able to actually scare off the monkeys.
This year Gowda not only used hair dye to make his watchdog look like a small tiger, but he also placed large posters of real tigers and his own fake tiger all over his farmland, hoping that they would keep the monkeys at bay. The paint job actually doesn't harm the dog. It’s actually hair dye(染发剂) and lasts up to a month before fading away.
1. What did the fanner decide to do to protect his crops?| A．Raise some tigers | B．Draw a dog like tiger |
| C．Set traps for the monkeys | D．Make up his dog as a tiger. |
| A．From a trip. | B．From a friend |
| C．From a toy. | D．From the Internet |
| A．The dye can do harm to dogs. |
| B．The “paint job” will last for only a month. |
| C．More dogs are likely to be painted like tigers. |
| D．Monkeys will never stop destroying crops. |
| A．Farmer Is Friendly to Animals |
| B．Farmer Is Good at Drawing Tigers |
| C．Farmer Protects His Crops from Animals |
| D．Farmer Paints His Dog as a Tiger to Scare Away Monkeys |
6 . Your student ID card identifies you as a student at the University of Bolton. It will provide you with access to University facilities such as University Libraries, Sports Centre, and Computing Services. Please cany your card with, you at all times. Do not lose your card or lend it to others. Your card is valid during the whole time of your studies. It remains the property （财产）of the University of Bolton at all times.
New students~~photographs
You will be requested to upload a passport sized photograph as part of the online registration process. This should be a JPG file with a size of no more than 1 MB. Your photograph should be a portrait image in proportion （比例）to a 6 "x4" portrait photograph. It should be taken in colour and must not have been beautified with image filters （滤光镜）.
Your student ID card will be provided to you by your department during Welcome Week. Please be aware that you will not receive this smart card during Welcome Week if you do not upload your image online by 4 September 2020.
Replacement cards
If your student ID card no longer works or has been damaged, or if you have changed your personal or programme details, you should call into the Student Administration Centre （SAC） to request a new one. Please ensure that you bring your existing card with you. Your replacement card will be produced free of charge.
If your card has been reported to the Police as stolen, please also call into the SAC to request a replacement, bringing with you a copy of your Police Crime Report paperwork. Your card will be Produced free of charge.
If your card has been lost, a fee of £5 is charged for the production of a replacement card. You are requested to use our online payment service.
Note： Replacement cards will be available for you to collect seven working days after making the request. As a security measure, you are requested to collect your card in person at the SAC.
1. Which of the following is a function of the student ID card?| A．To remind students to protect public property. |
| B．To enable students to use resources in the library. |
| C．To help students demonstrate their computer skills. |
| D．To provide information about campus facilities. |
| A．an image saved as a PDF file | B．a colour picture of their passport |
| C．a photo beautified by a photographer | D．a portrait photograph of proper proportion |
| A．The theft of the card has been officially proved. |
| B．The card holder has changed his or her major. |
| C．The card dropped off into a lake by accident. |
| D．The card fails to work properly. |
7 . A thief returned a mobile phone and thousands of yuan he had stolen from a woman after receiving twenty-one text messages from her, a local newspaper reported.
Pan Aiying, a Chinese teacher at Wutou Middle School in Qihe County, in East China’s Shandong Province, didn’t think her text messages would help to get her belongings back.
A young man riding a motorcycle robbed her of her bag, in which there was her mobile phone, bank cards and 4,900 yuan, as she was riding her bicycle home on Saturday evening.
Pan said at first she considered calling the police, but then decided to try to persuade the young man to return her bag. Pan called her lost phone with her friend’s, but couldn’t get through. So she began sending messages.
“Hey, I’m Pan Aiying, a teacher from Wutou Middle School. You must be going through a difficult time. If so, I will not blame you.” Wrote Pan in the first text message, which got no answer. “Keep the 4,900 yuan if you really need it, but please return the other things to me. You are still young. To make mistakes is human. Correcting your mistake is more important than anything,” Pan wrote in another message.
She gave up hope after sending twenty-one text messages without any answer and planned to call the police the next morning. However, as she left her home on Sunday morning, Pan found her stolen bag lying in the courtyard. Nothing was lost.
“Dear Pan: I am sorry. I made a mistake. Please forgive me. You are so kind even though I stole from you. I’ll correct my ways and be an honest man,” said a letter left with the bag.
1. Where was Pan Aiying robbed?| A．In the school. | B．At home. |
| C．In the courtyard. | D．In the street. |
| A．Because she thought the police wouldn’t help her. |
| B．Because it was too late at that time. |
| C．Because she wanted to communicate with the thief first. |
| D．Because her friend asked her not to. |
| A．About two days. | B．About 12 hours. |
| C．About one day and a half. | D．About 24 hours. |
| A．the young man would not steal any more |
| B．Pan didn’t give up hope after sending 21 text messages |
| C．the young man would pay a visit to Pan personally |
| D．Pan teaches English in a middle school in Shandong Province |
8 . “Earthquake!” The word flashed in my brain. A roaring sound filled my ears. I tried to slide beneath my desk. The desk did a wild tap dance, slipping and sliding towards the centre of the room. I twisted my body and grabbed at the windowsill behind me, somehow kicking free of my dancing chair. I tried to stand. My legs skated away as if on a bucking escalator.
My fingers shook, grasped and held the windowsill tightly. Somewhere through the roar sounded the terrified scream of some wounded animal. I looked behind me and tried to steady my gaze on the other kids but the scene was a dizzy nightmare. Some of the class were sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by chairs and desks. One girl was screaming. A boy was trying to claw his way across the floor to the door in a crazy overarm crawl.
My grip froze me to the windowsill.
I cried aloud, “I’m going to die. I’m going to die. Save me. I’m not ready to die. I’m not ready!”
I hunched forward on my knees and pressed my face against my clenched (紧握的) fingers. I looked at the backs of my fingers and stupidly noticed the fragile pale hairs growing out of the pores. The fingers would soon cease to exist. Somehow the impending horror of my death was too terrible to even cry about.
Suddenly, I became aware that the rocking had ceased. Perhaps I wasn’t going to die.
1. The roaring sound was made by .| A．a wounded animal | B．people screaming |
| C．children running | D．an earthquake |
| A．afraid | B．angry |
| C．injured | D．impatient |
| A．injuries suffered by the narrator |
| B．effects of a bad nightmare |
| C．disorder in the classroom |
| D．narrator’s fear of death |
| A．panic | B．hope |
| C．sorrow | D．excitement |
9 . After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, “I love you, but I know this other woman loves you too, and she would love to spend some time with you.”
The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a widow(寡妇) for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. “What’s wrong, are you well?” she asked. My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news.
“I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you,” I responded. “Just the two of us.” She thought about it for a moment, and then said, “I would like that very much.”
That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up, I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Halfway through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic(怀旧的) smile was on her lips.
During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation—nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other’s life. We talked so much that we missed the movie.
As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.” I agreed.
A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her. Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: “I paid this bill in advance. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates — one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.”
At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: “I LOVE YOU” and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till “some other time”.
1. When the mother answered the son’s call, she was __________.| A．worried | B．surprised | C．puzzled | D．thrilled |
| A．Her life after the author’s marriage. |
| B．Her recent life since they met last time. |
| C．Her memory about the author as a child. |
| D．Her expectation about future reunions. |
| A．To show the importance of respecting our parents. |
| B．To tell us to enjoy the present life. |
| C．To teach us to cherish our family. |
| D．To warn us not to put off our work till some time later. |
| A．Mother’s Love | B．Have Dinner on Tim |
| C．Wife’s Love | D．Never Put off Love |
10 . Driving to a friend’s house on a recent evening,I was attracted by the sight of the full moon rising just above my friend’s rooftops.I stopped to watch it for a few moments,thinking about what a pity it was that most city people,myself included,usually miss sights like this because we spend most of our lives indoors.
My friend had also seen it.He grew up living in a forest in Europe,and the moon meant a lot to him then.It had touched much of his life.
I know the feeling.Last December I took my seven-year-old daughter to the mountainous jungle of northern India with some friends.We stayed in a forest rest-house with no electricity or hot water.Our group had campfires outside every night,and indoors when it was too cold outside.The moon grew to its fullest during our trip.Between me and the high mountains lay three or four valleys.Not a light shone in them and not a sound could be heard.It was one of the quietest places I had ever known,a bottomless well of silence.And above me was the full moon,which struck me deeply.
Today our lives are filled with glass,metal,plastic and fibre-glass.We have televisions,cellphones,heaters,ovens,air-conditioners,cars and computers.
Struggling through traffic that evening at the end of a tiring day,most of it spent indoors,I thought:before long,I would like to live in a small cottage.There I will grow vegetables and read books and walk in the mountains.I may become an old man there,and wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled and measure out my life in coffee spoons.But I will be able to walk outside on a cold silent night and touch the moon.
1. The writer felt sorry for himself because .| A．there was too much pollution |
| B．he usually missed the full moon sights |
| C．he didn’t adapt to modern inventions |
| D．there were too many accidents on the road |
| A．No modern equipment. |
| B．Complete silence. |
| C．The nice full moon. |
| D．The high mountains. |
| A．show that the writer likes city life very much |
| B．tell us that people greatly benefit from modern life |
| C．explain that people have few chances to enjoy nature |
| D．show that we can also enjoy nature at home through them |
| A．Touched by the Moon |
| B．The Pleasures of Modern Life |
| C．A Bottomless Well of Silence |
| D．Break away from Modern Life |
