1 . While going to the aquarium（水族馆）is a great way to learn about sea animals, some have raised concerns about the animals' quality of life. But Edge Innovations, a company in New Zealand, has a very special way to solve the problem.
Edge Innovations is working with American creators of some of Hollywood's most famous animals to develop robot dolphins that look like almost exactly the same as real-life animals.
The ocean park industry has had falling interests for over ten years because of ethical（道德的）concerns and the cost of live animals, yet people's hunger for learning about and experiencing these animals is still as strong as ever. Developers believe that it's time to make a change in this industry and that this method shows humans' mercy and brings more interests at the same time.
One robot dolphin could cost an aquarium at least $ 26.3 million. But the robot would be controlled by humans and be able to play with humans as a regular dolphin would. The price at the moment is very high, but Edge Innovations notes that since the robots last longer than a real animal, the returns will be worth the price.
The robot dolphin weighs just about 600 pounds but is amazingly life-like. According to The Guardian, a test audience was actually not able to tell it apart from a real dolphin. As for aquarium visitors, the developers forecast that they won't mind not seeing a "real" dolphin. "For people in New Zealand, for me, I prefer natural animals," said Li Wang, the business developer for Edge Innovations. "But when we think about the new generation who spend far more time than us playing electronic games online, we think the robot dolphins will be accepted.”
The development of robot animals may be the future of zoos and aquariums, making it easier for animal lovers to enjoy nature in a kind way.
1. What is Edge Innovations doing?| A．Designing robot dolphins. |
| B．Stopping animal shows. |
| C．Improving dolphins' living conditions. |
| D．Making Hollywood films about dolphins. |
| A．Why the ocean park industry closes down. |
| B．How the ocean park industry can develop. |
| C．How robot dolphins can succeed. |
| D．Why robot dolphins are created. |
| A．Their price is too high to be accepted. |
| B．They look smaller in size than real ones. |
| C．They save aquariums' cost in the long run. |
| D．They can serve longer than creators thought. |
| A．Robot Dolphins Are Coming |
| B．The Rise and Fall of Robot Dolphins |
| C．The Aquariums Are Facing the Ethical Problem |
| D．Robot Dolphins Will Bring an End to Ocean Park Industry |
2 . A mother has taken her celebration（颂扬）of great women in history to the next level—by dressing her baby daughter up as some of the most famous women of all time. Jenelle Wexler, a hair stylist from Chicago, the USA, came up with the idea when she noticed similarities in appearance between her four-month-old baby, Liberty, and a Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
Wexler took photos of Liberty who was dressed up as the Mexican artist. And after that, Wexler wanted to go on with what she did. "The pictures came out wonderfully, and soon after that, I thought about other women in history that contributed to the benefit of women and people as a whole," she says.
Wexler takes the photos with her iphone. Up until now, she has dressed Liberty up as a series of famous women, including Marie Curie, Coco Chanel, Madonna and Amelia Earhart.
Once she decides which woman she would like Liberty to play, she researches the person and learns about some of the historic achievements this woman has made. Wexler checks photos of each woman, which she then uses to design clothing and setting that will show their character and achievements.
It takes Wexler around 20 minutes to take each photo, and for every dress-up activity, Wexler usually takes nearly 50 pictures in total. "Liberty has acted 34 women of influence," she says. She just wants to draw people's attention to those who should really be admired in our society—there are so many great women who need to be remembered and have their stories told.
1. What made Wexler dress Liberty up as Frida Kahlo?| A．Frida Kahlo is popular among women. |
| B．Wexler admires Frida Kahlo very much. |
| C．Liberty and Frida Kahlo looked like each other. |
| D．Wexler wanted Liberty to be an artist like Frida Kahlo |
| A．Show how the dress-up activity goes on. |
| B．Offer some suggestions on picture-taking. |
| C．Value women's contributions to the world |
| D．Introduce some research on famous women |
| A．She enjoys taking photos to record life. |
| B．She devotes all her time to her daughter. |
| C．She works hard to protect the rights of women |
| D．She puts lots of effort into the dress-up activity. |
| A．To introduce some excellent women. |
| B．To advise people to take pictures of kids. |
| C．To call on people to remember famous women. |
| D．To choose proper role models for young people. |
3 . I'm always surprised when I hear the stats (统计数据) about how little time kids spend outside. One study found children are spending less than half the amount of time outdoors than they did just 20 years ago. Meanwhile, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that kids spend an average of seven hours a day using electronic media.
My own childhood was filled with outdoor time. I built forts in the woods, rode my bike with friends, went ice skating in the winter, climbed trees and rocks, and read books on a platform in a tree on hot days.
But my nature time wasn't limited to after-school and weekend activities. I attended a public school in New York's Hudson Valley, and we spent almost all our gym outside. We spent science classes on the acres that surrounded our school, collecting samples from trees and learning about everything from chemistry to physics.
All that outside time isn't just about health and getting kids to exercise more. Several studies also have linked outside time to higher test scores, lower anxiety and aggression, more creativity and improved attention spans.
A public school in Vermont, is taking these results seriously. Eliza Minnucci’s kindergarten class there engages in Forest Mondays, during which the students spend the whole day in the woods, rain or shine.
Minnucci said that playing outdoors involves plenty of learning. It’s fairly easy to weave lessons into nature play. Kids wanted to know the names of birds, plants, rocks and clouds. We followed streams into larger streams into larger streams into a pond and created bridges with logs and stones. We even made up stories about ants and butterfly. For the older kids, we had more defined lesson plans, but we were still outside the whole time, and we would often go off on a tangent(转向)if something interesting was happening, so the learning experience was always fresh and engaging. Besides learning and moving around freely instead of sitting at desks, the kids were having fun while they learned, which made them excited for the next lesson.
1. Why does the author mention little outdoor time kids spend at the beginning of the passage?| A．To make the official data known. |
| B．To focus on children s mind and body. |
| C．To introduce the topic for the passage. |
| D．To explain the reason for little outdoor time. |
| A．Bad for kids, attention. |
| B．Harmful to kids, anxiety. |
| C．Doubtful of kids' test scores. |
| D．Beneficial to kids’ mind and body. |
| A．Physics and teamwork. |
| B．Chemistry and investigation. |
| C．Biology and geology. |
| D．Language and creativity. |
| A．Kids Get Creative in Playing Outdoors |
| B．Why Outdoor Education for Kids Matters |
| C．Learning Outdoors Is the Goal of Education |
| D．Outdoor Lessons Involve Kids' Learning |
4 . I was shocked at the news that Daisy-May Demetre, 9, became the first child double amputee(截肢)to walk on the runway at New York Fashion Week in September on the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Daisy-May, of Birmingham, was born with fibular hemimelia (腓骨半肢畸形).The condition is rare, occurring in 1 in 50,000 births. When she was 18 months old, Daisy-May's parents chose to have both of the young girl's legs amputated-the right above the knee and the left below the knee-in the hopes of giving her a better quality of life with prosthetics(假肢).Later on, she used prosthetic legs to help her walk and move.
“We had the choice for her to live like that or to go for the operation,” Alex, Daisy- May's father, said. “We didn't know at the time that Daisy-May would be as good as she is now. Instead of being discouraged by prosthetic legs, she is inspiring everyone by showing them who she is.”
She is, in many ways, just like any fifth-grader.、In school, she prefers English over math, and loves gymnastics. She is a gymnast as well as a model. But it's her moves on the runway that shed the most confidence.
She's been modeling for 18 months and has already dominated London Fashion Week, having worked. for Nike, River Island and several other high street brands in the UK. She was even named Child of Courage in the Pride of Birmingham Awards for inspiring other children to dream big in the face of immense challenges.
In the opinion of Daisy-May's father, modeling doesn't define Daisy-May. Rather, it's a small part of who she is. She just does Daisy. It is the way she goes about life with a smile on her face. Whether it's dancing, singing-she is a very special little girl.
1. What caused Daisy-May to miss her both legs while still a baby?| A．A rare birth illness. |
| B．An expected accident. |
| C．A Paris Fashion Show. |
| D．An unsuccessful operation. |
| A．Daisy-May was unwilling to go to operation. |
| B．Daisy-May was disappointed by her missing legs. |
| C．Daisy-May's father thinks Daisy-May is amazing. |
| D．Daisy-May's father considers Daisy-May is modest. |
| A．Speaking English fluently. |
| B．Working out math problems. |
| C．Doing graceful(优雅的)gymnastics. |
| D．Walking on the runway as a model. |
| A．Singing and dancing in a special way. |
| B．Taking on life with a smile on her face. |
| C．Pursuing to become a global inspiration. |
| D．Being determined to be a world-famous model. |
5 . While it's not impossible for birds to fly in the rain, they usually choose not to. You may see birds fly for a few seconds in poor weather, but most of them prefer to stay put on rainy days.
Why does rain make it harder for birds to fly? You might imagine that moving through the air while being pelted by raindrops would be pretty unpleasant. However, it's not the rain itself that makes flying difficult. Instead, birds are influenced by the drop in the air pressure that comes with most rainstorms. When pressure drops, the air is less thick, which makes it harder for birds to fly. Moving through the sky in areas of low air pressure takes a lot of energy.
Most birds need to eat several times a day—rain or no rain. Luckily, most birds' feathers（羽毛）are highly waterproof（防水的）, protecting the skin beneath. Many birds can also make oil that they can spread over their feathers to further protect themselves from the rain. Most birds don't like rain. In fact, in a 2010 study, a team of researchers studied birds living in a Costa Rican rainforest. They found that the birds had higher levels of stress hormone（应激激素）on rainy days. That may not surprise you. After all, many animals feel stressed out during storms. Pet owners often find that rain and thunder make their animals nervous. Some animals are so strongly influenced by nature that they almost seem to forecast the future.
No one really knows how many birds die during a storm or series of storms. But the number is certainly higher than usual. They fly into trees or windows; they get lost over the ocean or a large lake; their food sources are made more difficult to get but, at the same time, they need more food to get warm. However, if rain continues for some time, birds will have to challenge the storm.
1. What makes it harder for birds to fly in the rain?| A．The wet air. | B．Food shortage. |
| C．Raindrops. | D．The low air pressure. |
| A．Cleaned. | B．Hit. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Protected. |
| A．Why birds can fly in the rain |
| B．How birds are influenced by rain. |
| C．How birds survive long rainy days. |
| D．Why birds' feathers are waterproof. |
| A．Birds will develop the ability to fly in the rain |
| B．Birds fly only when necessary on rainy days. |
| C．Birds have nowhere to hide in rainstorms. |
| D．Birds need less food on rainy days. |
6 . “The world’s loneliest elephant” Kaavan, has reached Cambodia—on a flight of over 4,000km from Pakistan—and will spend his days at the Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary in the country’s northwest.
Animal experts began the task of airlifting Kaavan on November 29. His departure from Pakistan marks the end of a campaign led by local activists and American singer and actress Cher, who has been campaigning for the elephant’s freedom since 2016. She is the co-founder of the NGO Free The Wild, which has played an important role in Kaavan’s relocation. Earlier in October, a veterinarian(兽医) from Four Paws, Dr Amir Khalil, took the responsibility of moving Kaavan, whose rescue has been described as “the heaviest one” the organisation has undertaken. Cher tweeted to thank Pakistan’s prime minister for making the rescue possible.
A special crate(板条箱) was especially built for the elephant, who weighs more than five tons and is more than three metres high. Kaavan was also trained by an elephant expert for several weeks to make sure that he could enter the crate safely. On the journey, Kaavan was accompanied by wildlife veterinarians and over 200kg of food. Kaavan is also Pakistan’s last Asian elephant and with his departure, the zoo where he was housed for over three decades may close soon, because many animals have been reported missing or dead in recent years. The zoo has repeatedly made headlines for its increasingly awful conditions.
According to the animal welfare organisation Four Paws, Kaavan came to the Pakistan zoo 35 years ago and shared his room with Saheli. After his “only companion” Saheli died in 2012, Kaavan was reported to be listless and even started showing signs of mental illness.
Luckily, Kaavan has found his relocation. Cambodian deputy environment minister Neth Pheaktra said, “Our zoo is pleased to welcome Kaavan. No longer will he be the world’s loneliest elephant. We expect to breed Kaavan with local elephants. This is an effort to save the gene.”
1. What can we learn from paragraph 2?| A．Kaavan is the heaviest elephant in the world. |
| B．Joint efforts have been made to rescue Kaavan. |
| C．Veterinarians tried to cure Kaavan of its diseases. |
| D．Experts helped Kaavan to adapt to his new home. |
| A．Because Cambodia had more experienced experts. |
| B．Because his living conditions went from bad to worse. |
| C．Because it served as the bond between the two countries. |
| D．Because the Pakistan zoo he stayed in was to shut down. |
| A．Depressed. | B．Useless. | C．Dependent. | D．Missing. |
| A．He will get freedom. |
| B．He will be well trained. |
| C．He may live a long life. |
| D．He may have the next generation. |
7 . Forty-nine years ago, on April 22,1970, twenty million Americans took to the streets to voice their concern about the deteriorating environment. The movement led to Earth Day.
Unfortunately, our planet is in worse shape now than it was when Earth Day was first celebrated. The good news is that it’s still not too late to reverse (转变) climate change if we all do our part. This Earth Day, take the first step towards helping our planet by participating in one of these fun activities.
NASA is putting our planet up for adoption so you and your friend can claim a portion of the planet as your own. The space agency has divided the globe into 64,000 sections, each about 55 miles wide. All you have to do is type your name into NASA’s “Adopt the Planet” site to claim a certificate that will give you the location of your slice of paradise (天堂) complete with details of its environment. NASA hopes that this exercise will stimulate interest and care in our planet.
Search giant Google is also trying to engage the public with an updated Google Earth focused around Earth Day events. Through a new Voyager feature, users will be able to discover stories from around the world, learn about new places by reading “Knowledge Cards” and send postcards.
If you happen to be anywhere near the nation’s capital on April 22, join the millions that are expected to participate in the Earth Day March at the National Mall. The mission of the event that will feature guest speakers and musical performances is to mobilize (动员) citizens into taking action by promoting this year’s Earth Day theme: climate and environmental science literacy.
While participating in the above-mentioned activities is a great idea, it is just the beginning. All that is required are small lifestyle changes. Planting a tree or two, going meatless just one day a week, or switching your plastic water bottle for a reusable one will go a long way to help reverse the damage we have caused.
1. The underlined word “deteriorating” is the closest in meaning to ________.| A．cleaner | B．better |
| C．worse | D．colder |
| A．air quality | B．ancient history |
| C．local customs | D．tourist attractions |
| A．They can create “Knowledge Cards” online. |
| B．They can discover stories from around the world. |
| C．They can receive postcards coming from Google. |
| D．They can adopt a slice of paradise in the world. |
| A．dream big | B．fly high |
| C．go meatless | D．start small |
8 . Rosie Dutton teaches a weekly class for 10- and 11-year-olds. During a recent class, Dutton used apples to brilliantly explain the effects of bullying.
Rosie Dutton started out by showing the class two perfect-looking apples. But unknown to the students, she had dropped one of the apples repeatedly on the floor. She picked up the dropped apple and began insulting (侮辱；损害) it.
“I started to tell the children how I disliked this apple, that I thought it was ugly and it was a horrible color,” Dutton wrote. “I told them that because I didn't like it, I didn't want them to like it either.”
They passed that apple around in a circle and the kids joined in on the insults. Then, Dutton took a completely different approach with the other apple.
“We then passed another apple around and started to say kind words to it,” the 31-year-old wrote.
She eventually cut both of them open to reveal that the apple that had been insulted was bruised (青肿的) inside. The apple that received praise wasn't.
“When people are bullied, especially children, they feel horrible inside and sometimes don't show or tell others how they are feeling,” Dutton wrote in her post. “If we hadn't cut that apple open, we would never have known how much pain we had caused it.”
“Unlike an apple, we have the ability to stop this from happening. We can teach children that it's not OK to say unkind things to each other,” the 31-year-old explained in her post. She later added, “More and more hurt and damage happens inside if nobody does anything to stop the bullying. Let's create a generation of kind, caring children.”
1. What didn't the students know in advance?| A．She had dropped one apple repeatedly on the floor. |
| B．She had dropped two apples repeatedly on the floor. |
| C．The two apples were perfect-looking in appearance. |
| D．She had picked the two apples from the same tree. |
| A．By reading famous sayings. | B．By listing the numbers. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By quoting some examples. |
| A．brave | B．considerate |
| C．active | D．honest |
| A．One woman found an incredible way to teach a history lesson. |
| B．People have the ability to stop bullying from happening again. |
| C．A teacher encourages students to put what they learned to use. |
| D．A teacher uses a bruised apple to show bad effects of bullying. |
9 . A great deal of personal protective equipment （PPE）— for example, disposable masks, rubber gloves — has been used since the pandemic began. It is estimated that medical waste, including masks which take 450 years to decompose （分解）in nature, has increased by 60 percent during the pandemic. A survey by Indonesian Institute of Sciences （LIPI） Research Centre found that masks and other healthcare garbage made up 16 percent of the total floating in the Cilincing and Marunda river in Jakarta Bay in March and April last year. Finding ways to change this is top of mind for some researchers.
The team at LIPI is experimenting with the disposable masks containing polypropylene （聚丙烯）a type of plastic that is tough but stretchable, which makes good raw material to produce various plastic products. At RMIT university in Melbourne, Australia, researchers are making a mix of mask pellets （颗粒），which help to add hardness and strength, and process building rubble （砾石）designed to be used for base layer of roads and pavements. One kilometer of a two-lane road will use around 3 million masks, preventing 93 tons of waste from going to landfill.
For the broader demand in mask recycling, TerraCycle, a waste management and recycling company, offers a Zero Waste Box that works like a recycling bin for used safety and protective equipment. Waste from hospital and medical centers is not included. The box comes with prepaid return label. Once full, it can be sent back to the company. All Zero Waste Boxes are quarantined（隔离）on arrival for a minimum of 72 hours to protect the workers handling the waste, separating the collected waste into fibers and plastics mechanically or manually. At last they will be transported to the company’s various third-party partners to manufacture a variety of new products including outdoor furniture, watering cans and storage containers, etc.
“To adopt the new recycling methods on a large scale would require a steady supply of waste masks in order to keep the machine running”, an official from the Plastic Recycling Association said, “but this never means those innovations are white elephants.”
1. What do the statistics in paragraph 1 suggest?| A．Seriousness of the pandemic. |
| B．The sufficient supply of protective equipment. |
| C．Environmental pressure brought by the pandemic. |
| D．The great effects of overusing medical resources. |
| A．By experimenting them in the research. |
| B．By using chemicals to decompose them. |
| C．By changing them into building materials. |
| D．By burying them in the landfill properly. |
| A．To stop virus from spreading directly. |
| B．To protect the workers against the virus. |
| C．To help the hospital with its waste problem. |
| D．To collect household waste masks efficiently. |
| A．Advocating the less use of masks. |
| B．Guarantee about constant waste mask supply. |
| C．New advances in preventing the pandemic. |
| D．Concerns about the management of the waste. |
10 . City Information Sheet
The city has several services and events each year that may interest you and are listed below:
•The city has an Animal Control Office that enforces laws for dogs and cats running at large in the city. All dogs and cats are required to be leashed (系住) unless they are kept inside your house. You can contact Dispatch to report animals running without the owner’s company.
•Each family is allowed two two-day yard sales per calendar year. You don’t have to get a permit before you hold a yard sale in the city limits.
•The city requires anyone doing business in the city to first obtain a business license. This license can be obtained from the City Hall.
Spring Cleanup — Held for one week in spring each year. Citizens may place unwanted furniture at the road edge in front of their location and the Spring Cleanup Crew (SCC) will remove them at the end of the event. If any nonresident is putting garbage at your address or in your neighborhood, please get the license plate number and description of the vehicles. Call City Council Center at 270-265-2501 to report it. The SCC is not authorized to take your garbage, so please place your daily garbage in the proper trash can.
Harvest Festival — Street festival with live music, children's activities, food stands, arts and crafts, fashion clothing and much, much more! The festival is sponsored by the Community Alliance and is held annually on the first Saturday in October.
Leaf Pickup — During the month of October, citizens may take the leaves to the road edge and the city will remove them. The machine will not vacuum(吸走)up sticks.
Elkton Bike Night — Every Thursday night, currently from May through September, the city welcomes cycle enthusiasts from around the region. Local food stands set up, restaurants have specials and the Todd County Community Alliance provides live entertainment such as live bands, karaoke or radio music. Even if you are not a cycle rider, everyone is welcome to join us for the free entertainment and food!
1. Which organization should you report to when spotting a dog running alone outside?| A．Dispatch. | B．Animal Control Office. |
| C．City Council Center. | D．The Community Alliance. |
| A．A couple preparing to hold a yard sale. |
| B．A retired man planning to open a bike shop. |
| C．A businessman organising a charity event. |
| D．A neighbor placing the unwanted furniture. |
| A．The city events cover all the seasons of a year. |
| B．Machines are used to collect the leaves and sticks. |
| C．The fun of Elkton Bike Night is not limited to cycling. |
| D．The SCC can take daily garbage away if properly placed. |
