1 . CLIMATE CHANGE REQUIRES THE WORLD’S ATTENTION
We have known about climate change for decades. There is little doubt that Earth is getting warmer and warmer (see the graph). A warming ocean and atmosphere along with melting ice and rising sea levels provide evidence of a dramatic change in the global climate.
In 2013, a lot of people were shocked by a news photo of a dead polar bear that was found on Norway’s Arctic island of Svalbard. According to the scientists who found its dead body, all that remained of the polar bear was “skin and bones”. An expert who has studied polar bears for many years said that from the position of its dead body, the bear appeared to have starved and died. Experts claimed that low sea-ice levels caused by climate change meant the bear could not hunt seals as before, so it had to travel greater distances in order to find food. This alarming case showed how the increase in temperature had an impact on Earth’s ecology.
Then what is causing the increase in the global average surface temperature? Climate scientists often mention a key climate process called the “greenhouse effect”, which has two common meanings: the “natural” greenhouse effect and the “man-made” greenhouse effect. The “natural” greenhouse effect refers to the fact that heat from the sun enters the atmosphere and warms Earth’s surface as short-wave radiation. The heat is released back into space at longer wave lengths. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as methane and carbon dioxide, trap some of the heat, keeping Earth’s climate warm and habitable. Without this process, Earth could not sustain life. However, the “man-made” greenhouse effect has now become a big problem. When people produce huge amounts of extra greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuels, more heat energy is trapped in the atmosphere and causes Earth’s surface temperature to rise quickly.
There is strong and comprehensive evidence that the rise in temperature has led to an increase in extreme weather and natural disasters worldwide, not only causing serious damage, but also costing human lives. Climate scientists have warned that if we do not take appropriate actions, this warming trend will probably continue and there will be a higher price to pay. In fact, news reports are frequently broadcast about extreme rainstorms and heatwaves causing deaths and economic losses.
Continued greenhouse gas emissions will result in further warming and long-lasting changes to the global climate. This requires the attention of people all over the world. Governments need to consider making policies and taking appropriate actions and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We as individuals can also reduce our “carbon footprint” by restricting the amount of carbon dioxide our lifestyles produce. It is our responsibility to seize every opportunity to educate everyone about global warming, along with its causes and impacts, because this is the most serious issue affecting all of us on this planet. So what will you do to help?
1. What type of writing is this passage?| A．Argumentative writing. | B．Narrative writing. |
| C．Expository writing. | D．Advertising writing. |
| A．Entertainment. | B．Economy. |
| C．Education. | D．Environment. |
2 . The shark was not an accident. He had come up from deep down in the water as the dark cloud of blood had settled and dispersed in the mile deep sea. He had come up so fast and absolutely without caution that he broke the surface of the blue water and was in the sun. Then he fell back into the sea and picked up the scent and started swimming on the course the skiff and the fish had taken.
Sometimes he lost the scent. But he would pick it up again, or have just a trace of it, and he swam fast and hard on the course. He was a very big Mako shark built to swim as fast as the fastest fish in the sea and everything about him was beautiful except his jaws. His back was as blue as a sword fish’s and his belly was silver and his hide was smooth and handsome. He was built as a sword fish except for his huge jaws which were tight shut now as he swam fast, just under the surface with his high dorsal fin knifing through the water without wavering. Inside the closed double lip of his jaws all of his eight rows of teeth were slanted inwards. They were not the ordinary pyramid-shaped teeth of most sharks. They were shaped like a man’s fingers when they are crisped like claws. They were nearly as long as the fingers of the old man and they had razor-sharp cutting edges on both sides. This was a fish built to feed on all the fishes in the sea, that were so fast and strong and well armed that they had no other enemy. Now he sped up as he smelled the fresher scent and his blue dorsal fin cut the water.
When the old man saw him coming he knew that this was a shark that had no fear at all and would do exactly what he wished. He prepared the harpoon8 and made the rope fast while he watched the shark come on. The rope was short as it lacked what he had cut away to lash the fish.
1. Which of the following books is the excerpt from?| A．Charlotte’s Web | B．The Old Man and the Sea |
| C．Tow Sawyer’s Adventure | D．Robinson Crusoe |
| A．To show what a shark is like | B．To draw readers’ attention |
| C．To demonstrate the coming danger | D．To introduce a sea monster |
3 . Who're happier, men or women?Research shows it's a complex question and that asking whether males or females are happier isn't really that helpful, because basically, happiness is different for women and men.
Women's happiness has been declining for the past 30 years, according to recent statistics.And research shows that women are twice as likely to experience depression compared with men.Gender（性别） differences in depression are well confirmed and studies have found that biological, psychological and social factors contribute to the difference.
Early studies on gender and happiness found men and women were socialized to express different feelings.Women are more likely to express happiness, warmth and fear, which help with social bonding and appear more consistent with the traditional role as a primary caregiver, while men display more anger, pride and disrespect, which are more consistent with a protector and provider role.
Recent research suggests that these differences are not just socially, but also genetically related.Studies have looked into these findings further and discovered that females use more areas of the brain containing mirror neurons（镜像神经元）than males when they process feelings.Mirror neurons allow us to experience the world from other people's view, to understand their actions and intentions.This may explain why women can experience deeper sadness.Women tend to experience more negative feelings, such as more guilt, shame and to a lesser degree, embarrassment.
Psychologically it seems men and women differ in the way they process and express feelings.With the exception of anger, women experience feelings more strongly and share their feelings more openly with others.Studies have found in particular that women express more appreciation﹣which has been linked to greater happiness.This supports the theory that women's happiness is more dependent on relationships than men's.
1. Which feeling are men more likely to show compared with women?| A．Warmth. |
| B．Depression. |
| C．Happiness. |
| D．Disrespect. |
| A．Psychological factors. |
| B．Biological factors. |
| C．Educational factors. |
| D．Social factors. |
| A．a science fiction |
| B．a culture brochure |
| C．a nursery guide |
| D．a health magazine |
| A．Men and women differ in biology and psychology. |
| B．Men and women experience happiness differently. |
| C．Social roles have a great effect on men and women. |
| D．Women's happiness has declined in the past years. |
4 . When he was two years old, Ben stopped seeing out of his left eye. His mother took him to the doctor and soon discovered he had cancer in both eyes. After possible treatments failed, doctors removed both his eyes. For Ben, vision was gone forever.
But by the time he was seven years old, he had developed a technique for feeling the world around him: he clicked with his mouth and listened for the returning echoes. This method enabled Ben to determine the locations of open doorways, people, parked cars, garbage cans, and so on. He was echolocating: bouncing his sound waves off objects in the environment and catching the reflections to build a mental model of his surroundings.
Echolocation may sound like an improbable feat for a human, but thousands of blind people have perfected this skill, just like Ben did. The event has been written about since at least the 1940s, when the word ''echolocation" was first invented in a science article titled “Echolocation by Blind Men , Bats, and Radar.”
How could blindness give rise to the amazing ability to understand the surroundings with one's ears? The answer lies in a gift on the brain; huge adaptability.
Mother Nature filled our brains with flexibility to adapt to circumstances. Just as sharp teeth and fast legs are useful for survival, so is the brain's ability to reset, which allows for learning, memory, and die ability to develop new skills.
In Ben's case, his brain's flexible wiring repurposed his visual cortex for processing sound. As a result, Ben had more neurons available to deal with listening information, and this increased processing power allowed Ben to interpret soundwaves in shocking detail. Ben's super-hearing proves a more general rule: the more brain area a particular sense has, the better it performs.
1. How did Ben “see” after he had his eyes removed?| A．By using a walking stick. | B．By asking others for help. |
| C．By inventing a new system. | D．By echolocating surroundings. |
| A．Skill. | B．Task. | C．Sense. | D．Invention. |
| A．He laughs best who laughs last. | B．Actions speak louder than words. |
| C．God shuts one door but he opens another. | D．Man becomes learned by asking questions. |
| A．Culture Shock. | B．Human Biology. |
| C．Scientific Technology. | D．Environmental Protection. |
5 . 
The Paint Creek Recreation Trail is the flagship pathway of a planned trail network in the Ohio counties of Fayette, Ross and Highland. Nearly 35 miles of paved trail are currently open linking the communities of Washington Court House, Frankfort and Chillicothe.
The vast majority of the trail occupies a former railroad corridor acquired by the local nonprofit trails group in 1994. However, the trail does leave the original corridor where the right-of-way could not be acquired from its current owners. The diversions are usually short, with the longest stretch being a 2.5 mile stretch of highway cast of the Washington courthouse.
Because most of the trails through rural Ohio are dominated by seemingly endless fields, trail users are exposed to the sun for long periods of time. Fortunately, the path occasionally winds through a more wooded corridor near local waterways, such as Paint Creek and the Scioto River.
The Paint Creek Recreation Trail also passes through the downtown areas of the three towns along the way, offering many opportunities for rest and energy. Just before Chillicothe, trail users will want to stop at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. The Hopewell Mound Group, a part of the park visible from the trail along Sulphur Lick Road, features earthworks and tombs built by the local people nearly 2,000 years ago.
The existing Paint Creek Recreation Trail will one day make a significant contribution to local leisure and transportation. There are plans nowadays to develop new trails along former railroad corridors from Washington courthouse northwest to the existing Xenia-Jamestown Connector, southwest to Wilmington and cast to Circleville in Pickaway County.
1. Which of the following is true about the trail?| A．Most of the trail is not well remodeled. |
| B．Most of the trail used to be a railway passage. |
| C．Most of the trail goes through the centers of 13 towns. |
| D．Most of the trail is close to the local railway lines. |
| A．It will take on a new look. |
| B．It will be part of a national historic park. |
| C．It will be bought by a nonprofit company. |
| D．It will play an important role in leisure and transportation. |
| A．An American website on travel. | B．An English scientific magazine. |
| C．A lecture by a professor of geography. | D．A travelers' notebook. |
6 . Interested in becoming a skydiver? Learn to skydive in SC with Skydive Carolina.We offer the most comprehensive skydive training in the United States with our AFP — Accelerated Freefall Progression program. All jumps are video recorded and are used during video debriefs (任务报告) after the skydive for immediate feedback and learning.
What is AFP?
AFP is a comprehensive, 16 jump program designed to train an individual with a strong foundation to become a solo, certified skydiver by building strong freefall and canopy skills. Upon completion of the AFP program, students will need to make 9 solo jumps and learn to pack in order to attain an A license.
What is an A license?
An A license certifies that a skydiver can safely jump with other skydivers and visit other skydiving centers.Attaining an A license requires a physical test, passing of a written test, a United States Parachute Association membership, a minimum of 25 jumps and showing ability to pack a parachute.
How is AFP different from tandem training?
Unlike a tandem skydive, your first jump will have you at the controls flying your very own parachute! On your first skydive, two instructors will jump alongside you giving you feedback using hand signals throughout the skydive. At the end of the freefall, you will deploy your own parachute and our ground crew will then talk you down via wireless radio giving you instructions based on the flight plan introduced during the first jump course. Click here to see an example of what jump number one looks like!
1. When you have skydive training with AFP,________.| A．you can watch video before skydiving |
| B．your jumps will be set down immediately |
| C．you will get feedback by watching videos |
| D．you must do some video debriefs first |
| A．will be flying your very own parachute |
| B．will be accompanied by two instructors |
| C．can talk to the instructors via wireless radio |
| D．can get feedback by watching video |
| A．A travel journal. |
| B．A sports magazine. |
| C．A newspaper. |
| D．A website. |
7 . Beijing will provide COVID-19 vaccinations(接种疫苗）for certain groups in nursing homes, including the elderly and caregivers, on a voluntary basis to prevent a renewed outbreak at nursing homes during autumn and winter, the local government said.
Those who will receive the vaccines include nursing home kitchen workers, security guards and cleaners. Beijing Daily reported on Friday.
Xing Yinli ,director of Jingkangyuan, a nursing home in Fengtai district with about 290 elderly residents(居民），said they have received the document(文件）recently and will strictly follow its guidance.
It’s our top duty to strengthen prevention and control.,"Xing said,adding they have been using methods such as keeping detailed records of resident contacts outside the nursing home,and encouraging online visits for family members..
As to vaccinations, she said they will ask for permission from residents,their family members and workers before giving vaccines.
In late October,Shaoxing,Zhejiang province carried out an emergencyCOVTD-19 vaccine program,allowing the public to ask for injections(注射）in advance,with key groups first. A similar program was also organized in Jiaxing,Ningbo and Yiwu in Zhejiang.
Nationwide,emergency use of home grown COVID-19 vaccines was approved in June and launched in late July. China now has four coronavirus candidate vaccines in the third stage clinical trials(临床试验）.
The document from Beijing also said nursing homes should conduct nucleic acid testing(核酸检测） every month among kitchen workers and residents who leave the nursing homes to see a doctor. Tests will cover all people in nursing homes considered at high risk if new infections are reported in the city. Besides, routine disinfections (消毒） should be strengthened in kitchens, storerooms and restrooms, it said. The document also recommended noncontact visits from family members.
1. Where can you probably find this article?| A．In a newspaper. | B．In a fashion magazine. |
| C．In a book review. | D．In a travel journal. |
| A．The nursing home kept detailed records of residents, |
| B．All the members will make preparations for injections. |
| C．The nursing home takes prevention and control seriously. |
| D．Jiaxing is the first city to have carried out an emergency program. |
| A．China is providing vaccinations nationwide. |
| B．China has made great progress in coronavirus vaccines. |
| C．Chain has taken the lead in coronavirus vaccines worldwide. |
| D．The four candidate vaccines have finished clinical trails |
| A．Nursing homes should conduct nucleic acid testing. |
| B．Beijing nursing homes are to be provided vaccines. |
| C．Certain groups will have vaccines first in late June. |
| D．Routine disinfections should be strengthened in kitchens. |
8 . Female seals don’t change their spots, according to a new study by University of Alberta biologists. In fact, individual differences in boldness remain consistent over time. The study is among the first to examine boldness in wild marine mammals in the field of animal personality. Animal personality influences many ecological processes, like how individuals interact with other species or respond to changing environmental conditions.
Researchers studied female seals on Sable Island, home to the world’s largest grey seal colony. Over a period from 2008 to 2016, biologist Christi Bubac and a field team led by Fisheries and Oceans Canada measured boldness responses in the female seals when defending their young.
“During the breeding season, we saw that females tend to behave consistently, not only between years, but also within the lactation period of a given year,” explained Bubac, lead author and PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences studying with wildlife geneticist David Colman. “This provides an example of animal personality, with consistent individual differences observed over time.”
Bubac also examined how reproductive success is related to a seal’s boldness or shyness. Rey seals nurse for 16 to 18 days, so mother seals have a very short window to get baby seals as fat as they can. During this time, baby seals triple in body mass. Body mass is a good predictor of reproductive success because it indicates the puppies’ chances of survival. “On average, we found that bolder females stop feeding those that are two kilograms heavier, compared with the shyest females, improving their chances of surviving the first year of life,” said Bubac.
These results present some very interesting biological questions, explained Coltman, professor of biology. “This research shows that young grey seal moms that are bold tend to stop feeding larger puppies compared with shy moms. However, older grey seals also tend to be bolder. If bolder animals have bigger pups and live longer, why does variation in boldness remain? Why be shy?”
1. What is the purpose of the study of seals?| A．To test their effects on ecological processes. |
| B．To study how seals interact with each other. |
| C．To check how the environment affects mammals. |
| D．To examine marine mammals’ personality difference. |
| A．Animals have remained their personality since they were born. |
| B．Female seals behave more boldly in the lactation period. |
| C．Seals’ boldness responses remain the same over time. |
| D．The study on seals’ personality has been very mature. |
| A．Bolder female seals adjust the nursing time to their babies’ weight. |
| B．Mother seals tend to get babies as slim as possible. |
| C．It usually takes mother seals 20 days to nurse. |
| D．Bolder female seals feed less than shy ones. |
| A．In a travel guide. | B．In a textbook. | C．In a magazine. | D．In an art gallery. |
9 . 
No one can doubt the fact that education plays an important role in a person's life. However，different people prefer different ways of education. Recently，a survey in Canada found that about 40 percent of high school students are not in favor of daily homework，which quickly led to a heated discussion about whether daily homework should be ended or not in schools.
Some people insist that daily homework helps students a lot. Yet others are for the opinion that homework is nothing more than a routine activity that cuts time for leisure or physical exercise. It’s true that outofclass activities should be valued in a student's development，but from my point of view，homework still plays an important role in one's life.
Doing daily homework is a way to build a foundation for a person's selfdevelopment. In the long run，students' study habits will be more developed and their awareness of the importance of learning will be raised by doing homework every day. An experiment carried out by the University of British Columbia found that former students who did homework every day still take part in selfstudy every day even though they have already graduated. Homework also helped give them a deeper understanding of how important education is in a person's life.
Students doing homework every day also have better time management skills，since daily academic exercises can help them plan their free time more effectively. Take me as an example，I spent a lot of time playing video games when I was in primary school when there was little homework to do. After I got to middle school，the time I spent on homework began to increase greatly. But it did not become a burden for me. Instead，it helped me get rid of my gaming habit as well as improve my ability to manage time.
Doing homework not only develops students' good habits and knowledge，but also improves their ability to manage their spare time. Although doing daily homework isn't ideal for everyone，people have to admit that the advantages it brings are more valuable than the harm.
1. What's the author's attitude toward doing homework?| A．Favorable. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Neutral. | D．Critical. |
| A．there is no point in doing homework |
| B．doing homework takes up their spare time |
| C．there is too much homework for them |
| D．their daily homework is too easy |
| A．Science. | B．Health. |
| C．Business. | D．Education. |
a. Doing homework develops students' good habits.
b. Students have to waste their free time doing homework.
c. Doing homework does good to students' health.
d. Students improve time management skills by doing homework.
| A．a，d | B．b，c |
| C．a，c | D．b，d |
10 . If you’d like to go sightseeing, the following World Heritage Sites may be your best choices.
Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area
Jiuzhaigou Valley, which lies in the northern part of Sichuan Province, China, reaches a height of more than 4,800 m, with a series of different forest ecosystems (生态系统). It’s particularly famous for its excellent waterfalls. About 140 kinds of birds live in the valley, as well as a number of endangered plants and animals, including the giant panda. Jiuzhaigou Valley was recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1992.
Khami Ruins National Monument
The city of Khami, which developed after the capital of Great Zimbabwe had been given up in the mid-16th century, is of great archaeological (考古的) interest. The discovery of objects from Europe and China shows that Khami was a major centre for trade over a long period of time. It joined the World Heritage List in 1986.
Henderson Island
Henderson Island, which lies in the eastern South Pacific, is one of the few atolls (环礁) in the world whose ecology has been untouched by humans. It’s particularly famous for the 10 plants and 4 birds that can only be seen on the island. It was recorded in the World Heritage List in 1988.
The Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is considered to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and the finest example of the late style of Indian architecture. It was built by the emperor Shah Jehan, who ruled India in the 17th century. It was in memory of his favourite wife who died in 1631. The architecture was given a World Heritage Status in 1983.
1. Which of the following can be found in Jiuzhaigou Valley?| A．Wonderful waterfalls. | B．Ancient objects. |
| C．Beautiful buildings. | D．Untouched ecology. |
| A．It doesn’t exist now. |
| B．It was built by an emperor’s wife. |
| C．It has become a place of interest. |
| D．It looks more beautiful than other buildings. |
| A．Industry. | B．Travel. |
| C．Science. | D．Business. |
