1 . When Earth was just a tiny young thing，it birthed many new continents - then it swallowed them all up, leaving just a few traces behind, a new study shows.
These first continents had a special skill for living fast and dying young, but in doing so, they paved the way for solid continents that eventually led to the emergence of plate tectonics（版块运动）， the new study suggests.
For hundreds of millions of years, the current continents have been more or less stable. But very little is known about the continents that existed early on in Earth's history.
To learn more about that early history, the researchers used computers to model the interactions of rock and magma（岩浆） in the Earth’s crust（地壳） and below. The modeling showed that the earliest continents, known as the Hadean (4.6 to 4.0 billion years ago), were weak and likely to destruction. Modern continents have a comprehensive high tensile strength, meaning it’s hard to tear them apart by stretching.
By the time the Archean (4.0 billion to 2.5 billion years ago) began ending the Hadean, the crust which had first formed was almost entirely replaced by the seeds of the modern continents.
In a sense, the researchers found, those lost Hadean continents made the later, more stable continents possible.
The emergence of continents at the close of the Hadean also contributed fertilizer that would later help seed life on Earth, the researchers wrote. Bits of them broke off and entered the atmosphere and oceans, providing necessary nutrients for the life forms that soon emerged.
1. Compared with the modern continents, the Hadean was________.| A．younger | B．firmer | C．weaker | D．bigger |
| A．It existed 4.0 million years ago. | B．It disappeared before the Archean began. |
| C．It helped make more stable continents. | D．It provided all the necessary nutrients. |
| A．By listing researchers’ findings. | B．By giving a lot of examples. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By listing a lot of numbers. |
| A．A science fiction. | B．A science magazine. |
| C．A travel brochure. | D．An encyclopedia. |
2 . Paired up in the right setting, dogs and horses can have their fair share of fun—at times even playing together and mimicking each other's facial expressions, new research suggests. These findings, published in the journal Behavioural Processes, mark the first example of so-called rapid facial mimicry occurring between play partners of different species, and indicate the existence of a universal language of play. Though the purpose behind play remains unclear, scientists believe the behavior arises to help animals improve hunting and social skills, relieve stress or develop relationship with each other, study author Elisabetta Palagi says, an animal behaviorist at the University of Pisa in Italy.
Learning more about the contexts in which different animals play around—especially across branches of the tree of life—could tell researchers a lot about play's origins and evolution. But apart from a handful of studies featuring humans and their pets, scientists haven't had many chances to analyze examples of interspecies play.
In 2018, when someone sent Palagi a YouTube video featuring a dog and a horse playing together, she took the chance to research further. The two species, she noted early on, were especially good research objects of interspecies friendship, because they had both been shown to recognize facial expressions in other animals.
Putting together a team of research students, Palagi began to collect and analyze hundreds of other videos with dogs and horses partnering in play. Only 20 videos ended up meeting the team's requirements: showing animals freely playing on their own, without human interference, for at least30 seconds.
Several common themes quickly arose. When playing, dogs and horses often mirrored each other's moves, jumping and pushing at each other. They also rolled on their backs and showed their throats and stomachs—a strong sign that they were at ease and even communicating their friendly intentions. Despite millions of years of evolution between them, the two species had found common ground for the only purpose of fun, said Palagi.
The two animals also frequently copied each other's facial expressions, both using the relaxed, open mouths—behayior that had never been noted between a pair of animals of different species. Horses and dogs may look and behave in extremely different ways, says Barbara Smuts, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Michigan who wasn't involved in the study. But fun is perhaps a language that doesn't need to be taught. Two very dissimilar animals, Smuts says, can still discuss how to play in a way that's comfortable for both.
1. What do scientists find about dogs and horses?| A．They share similar facial expressions. | B．They can build up a lasting relationship. |
| C．They often share hunting and social skills. | D．They have a special way to communicate. |
| A．By playing with dogs and horses together. | B．By pairing up dogs and horses in a setting. |
| C．By watching videos showing their play scene. | D．By recording their play for 30 seconds every day. |
| A．Feeling relaxed. | B．Looking similar. | C．Getting smart. | D．Turning sociable. |
| A．It can help humans get along with animals. | B．It studies interspecies play for the first time. |
| C．It explains animals' way of communicating. | D．It analyzes animals' facial expressions in detail |
3 . People have long dreamt of a car that flies through the sky. Japan's Sky Drive has carried out a successful, but modest test flight of such a vehicle carrying a person.
It is just one of the many "flying car" projects around the world. In a video shown to reporters, a vehicle that looked like a motorcycle lined up to two meters off the ground. It flew in circles in a protected area for four minutes. Tomohiro Fukuzawa heading the Sky Drive effort said he hopes the flying car can be made into a real-life product by 2023. However, he noted the importance of safety. "Of the world's more than 100 flying car projects, only a handful has succeeded with a person on board. I hope many people want to ride it and feel safe."
The machine so far can fly for Just 5 to 10 minutes, but if the flight time can be extended to 30 minutes, the car will have more possibilities. Unlike airplanes and helicopters, " electric vertical (垂直的) takeoff and landing" vehicles, or eVTOL, generally offer quick point-to-point personal travel. They could do away with having to deal with airports, traffic jams. Such vehicles could even fly without a pilot.
Sky Drive's flying car began as a volunteer project in 2012. The project received financial support from top Japanese companies including carmaker Toyota, electronics company Panasonic. A demonstration flight three years ago did not go well. But the flying car has improved, and the project recently received additional support of $37 million, including money from the Development Bank of Japan. The Japanese government has expressed support for the futuristic project, with a "road map" for business services by 2023. The goal is to expand the flying car's commercial use by the 2030s. It also has noted possible uses for connecting faraway areas and providing transportation in disasters.
1. What can we learn about the flying car according to the text?| A．It's a kind of motorcycle. | B．It has been put into use. |
| C．Its safety factor is high. | D．Its flight time is limited. |
| A．needs to land at the airport | B．will get stuck in traffic jams easily |
| C．can fly as high as you like | D．may travel automatically |
| A．To increase people s yearly income. |
| B．To ease the traffic pressure nationwide. |
| C．To make flying cars more used in business. |
| D．To improve the transportation in remote regions. |
| A．History of eVTOL Systems | B．Japan's Sky Drive Flying Car |
| C．A Volunteer Project | D．Sky Drive's Bright Future |
4 . Snow leopards (豹) are so hard to photograph that scientists aren’t even sure how many of these endangered animals still live in the wild.
The Snow Leopard Conservancy(SLC) set up 20 cameras in Russia in 2010 to learn more about the big cats. After a full six months, they had exactly zero picture! That’s when the organization understood they needed help. And the only people who could help them in finding the leopards were the very people from whom they wanted to protect the animals—local hunters (猎人).
Hunting snow leopards is against the law in Russia, but in the terrible climate of Siberia, the few people living there had to turn to poaching (盗猎) to feed their families.
In 2013, Russian naturalist Sergei Spitsyn approached Mergen Markov, a local hunter, and told him his project. Markov agreed to set up the camera where he knew he would find leopards, and it worked.
Markov, once a poacher, works full time for the conservationists now and has 10 cameras monitoring leopards. “I visit each camera once a month. I have known this whole region since I was a child,” he said proudly.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) began working with other local villagers in 2015. The village would be paid 40,000 rubles at the end of the year if the image of a snow leopard is caught. WWF also rents horses from the villagers so that they do not need to make money by poaching anymore. “Today there are far fewer leopard poachers but leopards still get caught in traps set for other animals, so I have to stay watchful,” said Markov.
Changing guns for cameras has made a big difference in the lives of these former poachers, the village, and the Russian snow leopards. The number of snow leopards has been rising and their population is expected to recover to normal levels within 10 years.
1. Why was no picture of snow leopards taken in six months?| A．SLC’s 20 cameras failed to work properly. |
| B．The number of snow leopards in the wild was too small. |
| C．The local poachers destroyed these cameras on purpose. |
| D．The researchers knew little about the animal’s living habits. |
| A．Find the poachers. | B．Repair cameras in the forest. |
| C．Catch more leopards. | D．Work for SLC. |
| A．To get some pictures of snow leopards. |
| B．To help villagers make a living. |
| C．To prevent villagers from hunting animals. |
| D．To rent their horses at a low price. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Curiosity kills the cat. |
| C．Kill two birds with one stone. | D．Old habits die hard. |
5 . A new study of 8,000 young people in the journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that although love can make adults live healthily and happily，it is a bad thing for young people. Puppy love（早恋）may bring stress for young people and can lead to depression. The study shows that girls become more depressed than boys, and younger girls are the worst of all.
The possible reason for the connection between love and higher risk of depression for girls is “loss of self”. According to the study, even though boys would say “lose themselves in a romantic relationship”, this “loss of self” is much more likely to lead to depression when it happens to girls. Young girls who have romantic relationships usually like hiding their feelings and opinions. They won’t tell that to their parents.
Dr Marianm Kaufman, an expert on young people problems, says 15% to 20% young people will have depression during their growing. Trying romance often causes the depression. She advises kids not to jump into romance too early. During growing up, it is important for young people to build strong friendships and a strong sense of self. She also suggests the parents should encourage their kids to keep close to their friends, attend more interesting school activities and spend enough time with family.
Parents should watch for signs of depression—eating or mood changes—and if they see signs from their daughters or sons，they need to give help. The good news is that the connection between romance and depression seems to become weak with age. Love will always make us feel young, but only maturity(成熟) gives us a chance to avoid its bad side effects.
1. What’s the main idea of the passage?| A．Romance is a two-edged sword for adults. |
| B．Parents should forbid their children’s love. |
| C．Puppy love may bring young people depression. |
| D．Romance is good for young people. |
| A．Young people who have a strong sense of self. |
| B．Young boys whose parents watch for their behavior. |
| C．Careless parents whose children are deep in love. |
| D．Young girls who always hide their feelings and opinions. |
| A．Lacking love can lead young people to grow up more quickly. |
| B．The older a woman is, the less likely she seems to lose herself in romance. |
| C．Parents should help their children to be aware of the signs of depression. |
| D．Early love makes young people keep close to their friends and parents. |
| A．Confused | B．Disinterested |
| C．Disapproving | D．Scared |
On a cold January afternoon in 1989，I was hiking up the trail that leads to the top of Egypt’s Mt. Horeb. I’d spent the day at St. Catherine’s Monastery and wanted to get to the peak by sunset to see the valley below. As I was winding up the narrow path，I’d occasionally see other hikers who were coming down from a day on the mountain. While they would generally pass with simply a nod or a greeting in another language，there was one man that day who did neither.
I saw him coming from the last switchback on the trail that led to the backside of the mountain. As he got closer，I could see that he was dressed differently from the other hikers I’d seen. Rather than the high-tech fabrics and styles that had been the norm，this man was wearing traditional Egyptian clothing. He wore a tattered， rust-colored galabia and obviously old and thick-soled sandals that were covered in dust. What made his appearance so odd，though，was that the man didn’t even appear to be Egyptian！ He was a small-framed Asian man, had very little hair，and was wearing round，wire-rimmed glasses.
As we neared one another，I was the first to speak.“Hello，”I said，stopping on the trail for a moment to catch my breath. Not a sound came from the man as he walked closer. I thought that maybe he hadn’t heard me or the wind had carried my voice away from him in another direction. Suddenly he stopped directly in front of me on the high side of the trail， looked up from the ground， and spoke a single sentence to me in English，“Sometimes you don’t know what you have lost until you’ve lost it.”As I took in what I had just heard，he simply stepped around me and continued his descent down the trail.
That moment in my life was a small miracle. The reason is less about what the man said and more about the timing and the context. The year was 1989，and the Cold War was drawing to a close. What the man on the trail couldn’t have known is that it was during my Egyptian pilgrimage， and specifically during my hike to the top of Moses’s mountain，that I’d set the time aside to make decisions that would affect my career in the defense industry，my friends，my family，and，ultimately，my life.
I had to ask myself what the chances were of an Asian man dressed in an Egyptian galabia coming down from the top of this historic mountain just when I was walking up，stopping before me，and offering his wisdom，seemingly from out of nowhere. My answer to my own question was easy： the odds were slim to none！ In an encounter that lasted less than two minutes on a mountain halfway around the world from my home， a total stranger had brought clarity， and the hint of a warning， regarding the huge changes that I would make within a matter of days. In my way of thinking，that’s a miracle.
I suspect that we all experience small miracles in our lives every day. Sometimes we have the wisdom and the courage to recognize them for what they are. In the moments when we don’t，that’s okay as well. It seems that our miracles have a way of coming back to us again and again. And each time they do，they become a little less subtle ，until we can’t possibly miss the message that they bring to our lives！
The key is that they’re everywhere and occur every day for different reasons， in response to the different needs that we may have in the moment. Our job may be less about questioning the extraordinary things that happen in our daily lives and more about accepting the gifts they bring.
1. Why did the author make a pilgrimage to Mt. Horeb in Egypt?
| A．He was in search of a miracle in his life. |
| B．It was a holy place for a religious person to head for. |
| C．He intended to make arrangements for his life in the future. |
| D．He waited patiently in expectation of meeting a wise person. |
| A．For what reason did the man stop before me? |
| B．Why did the Asian man go to the mountain? |
| C．What change would I make within a matter of days? |
| D．What was the probability that others told us the right words? |
| A．Apparent. | B．Delicate. |
| C．Precise. | D．Sufficient. |
| A．the Asian man’s appearance had a deciding effect on his future life |
| B．his words were in perfect response to the need he had at that moment |
| C．what the Asian man said was abundant in the philosophy of life |
| D．the Asian man impressed on him the worth of what he had possessed |
| A．Can you recognize a miracle? |
| B．Is a miracle significant to us? |
| C．When might a miracle occur? |
| D．Why do we need a miracle? |
