1 . Killer whales, or orcas, are known for their severe attacks on sea animals but they have never posed a threat to humans. However, since late July, the normally social animals have been intentionally attacking sailboats off the coasts of Spain and Portugal.
The strange behavior first surfaced on July 29, 2020, when a 46-foot boat was repeatedly attacked for almost an hour by nine orcas, causing the boat to rotate(旋转) 180 degrees and having its engine switched off. Since then, over 30 more similar incidents have been reported. On September 23, 2020, Spain's government banned boats of less than 50 feet in length from sailing in the 60-mile stretch of the Atlantic coastline between Ferrol and the Estaca de Bares Cape, where the attacks have been occurring.
Researchers across the world are trying to explain the orcas' behavior. Some believe it could be a result of the overfishing of the bluefish tuna - the orcas' primary food source -which has left the area's killer whales starving and unable to feed their babies. "I saw them look at boats carrying fish. I think they know humans are somehow related to food shortages, "says Ken Balcomb, senior scientist at the Center for Whale Research in Washington, USA. The environmentalists believe the sudden increase in boat traffic and fishing activities, after months of absence due to restrictions on human activity last spring, could also be contributing to the agitation.
However, Alfredo López, a biology professor in Galicia, Spain, thinks the attacks are defensive measures the orcas adopted to protect themselves against boat injuries. The researcher came to this conclusion after looking at the of the videos of a few incidents and noticing that two of the young killer whales involved had serious injuries. Hopefully, the experts will be able to find a way to restore the harmony between the animals and the humans soon.
1. What do we know about orcas in paragraph 1?| A．They are friendly to humans. | B．They have changed their behavior. |
| C．They are famous for hunting skills | D．They have met tough living conditions. |
| A．Ken Balcomb. | B．The environmentalists. |
| C．Alfredo López. | D．Spain's government. |
| A．The attacks. | B．Food shortages. | C．The overfishing. | D．Human activities. |
| A．How do killer whales attack humans? |
| B．Why Are Killer Whales attacking Boats? |
| C．How can we live in harmony with animals? |
| D．Why are boats banned from sailing on the sea? |
2 . Did you know roughly one third of food for human consumption goes to waste? Most of it is fresh fruit and vegetables that go bad. The produce dries out or goes bad, which has led scientists to develop ways of coating or sealing the food to keep it fresher for longer. Now research at Rice University reveals there might be a better way.
Scientists discovered that dipping produce like strawberries and bananas into an egg-based wash is remarkably good for preserving it. The coating is extremely thick, and made from a mixture of powdered egg whites and yolks(70%), and some wood-sourced cellulose to act as a barrier preventing water loss.
What the scientists found was that the egg wash made a significant difference in helping produce stay fresh over a two-week observation period. The appearance of the coated fruits and vegetables didn’t change much, while the uncoated produce ripened and. even rotted within the same time frame. The egg-based coating, as it turned out, reduced each fruit’s chance to get exposed to oxygen.
The non-poisonous coating was found to be flexible and tests showed that it was just as tough as other products, including synthetic films, used in produce packaging. For anyone with an egg allergy, the coating can be removed by thorough washing in water and is tasteless.
The scientists hope this could be a breakthrough in the fight against food waste. "Reducing food shortages in ways that are not related to genetic modification, uneatable coatings or chemical additives is important for better sustainable living ,”said materials scientist and study author Pulickel Ajayan.
What’s great about this discovery is that it fights food waste in more than one way: even the coating was made from eggs that would otherwise have been discarded because they weren’t fit for consumption. The researchers said roughly 200 million of US produced eggs go to waste annually. So if this were scaled up, it could be a win-win situation all around.
1. How does the egg-based wash help keep food fresh?| A．By limiting its oxygen exposure | B．By making its coating less thick. |
| C．By removing its cellulose slowly. | D．By improving its absorbent ability |
| A．To stress the seriousness of food shortage. | B．To offer the method of cutting food waste. |
| C．To show the significance of the discovery. | D．To give brief description of the research. |
| A．Eaten up. | B．Taken in. | C．Picked out. | D．Thrown away. |
| A．How to use eggs creatively. | B．A new way to preserve food. |
| C．How to recycle food waste. | D．A breakthrough in technology. |
The best known puppet characters in Britain are Punch and Judy, glove puppets with woodenheads. In summer, one basic play of about half an hour is performed on beaches all around Britain .Mr. Punch, who has an enormous nose and wears a curved hat, gets into trouble and has argumentswith his wife, Judy. A policeman, a crocodile, and a hangman, and all of them run after Mr. Punch. He ,of course, invariably manages to survive to fight another day .
In Belgium wooden puppets first appeared in the 1820s in cities like liege . The liege puppetsare in fact string puppets without strings！They have a single rod (棒) attached to their heads, whichmeans the puppeteers aren’t able to raise the arms and legs, but can move the body up and down and the head from side to side. Many of the stories used to be historical or religious but it is Tchantches,a comic character wit patched trousers and a big black hat, who is the best loved character today. LikeMr. Punch, he is a simple man who is also greedy, quarrelsome and lazy. He makes fun of everyone, but is often warm--hearted and tender.
1. We can learn from the first paragraph that______________.| A．puppets are much more popular nowadays . |
| B．people prefer puppets to special effects |
| C．puppets were mainly intended for children |
| D．people used puppets to make fun for adults |
| A．constantly | B．naturally |
| C．immediately | D．bravely |
| A．performing time |
| B．operating ways |
| C．producing material |
| D．decorating characters |
| A．different kinds of puppets |
| B．how puppets came into being |
| C．why puppets are popular |
| D．story---telling through puppets |
4 . I was 16 when my father finally decided he would send me to a wilderness camp for several months. He had threatened to do it many times before, but my mother had always managed to prevent him from doing so. This time he insisted on doing it.
The latest incident was the last straw. Impulsively （(冲动地)）, I had pushed Mr. Ford, my math teacher, down a flight of steps at school. He broke his arm in two places. Anyway, he had agreed not to accuse me as a favor to my dad, who was in the middle of a tight race for sheriff （警长） in our town. But my reckless behavior had my dad's closest advisor talking.
“John, he's your son and he's a kid, but he is dragging you down,” I heard Jake Hutch tell my dad through his closed office door the night after I pushed Mr. Ford. “If you can't make your son obey the rules, how can you make the law obeyed in this town?”
So, off to Pisgah National Forest I went. I imagined hours of untold abuse at the hands of some strong sergeants （军士）. I was determined not to be broken. I was who I was.
Nearly every day for six months, a small group of other troubled teens and I carried our 30-pound backpacks on a difficult journey covering about 10 miles. We hiked in a rough wilderness that seemed untouched by civilization.
Our sergeants were firm but kind, not frightening as I had imagined. We learned how to make a fire without matches and create a shelter with branches and grass. We learned which plants were safe to eat out in the wild. I felt myself change. I was calm and often reflective. My old, impulsive self was gone.
One morning, six months later, my dad came to pick me up. I ran to hug him and saw happiness and love in his eyes.
“So what's it like being sheriff?” I asked on the ride home.
“I lost the race, Danny,” he said.
“I'm sorry, Dad.” I knew my behavior probably had a lot to do with the defeat.
Dad squeezed my shoulder and brought me close. “As long as I don't ever lose you, I'm okay.”
1. The author was finally sent to a wilderness camp for the reason that _______.| A．he could learn how to survive in the wild |
| B．he had pushed his math teacher down the stairs |
| C．his teacher insisted on giving him a lesson |
| D．his mother feared that he would be accused |
| A．courageous | B．careless |
| C．strange | D．rude |
| A．He was still what he used to be after camping. |
| B．He was not satisfied with his life in the camp. |
| C．He changed a lot after camping. |
| D．He became friends with other troubled teens at the camp. |
| A．Relieved | B．Upset. |
| C．Disappointed. | D．Anxious. |
5 . I realized I would not see a real person named Sophie at Sophie’s Eatery because, like most new restaurants these days, Sophie’s is a robo-restaurant.
When I walked in, a cute little manager robot appeared, looking rather like a toaster with blinking (眨) blue eyes. It escorted me to a nice table in the back. The menu monitor popped out of my table and showed me pictures of my dining choices. I tapped my choices and clicked OK, and the screen slid back down.
I watched as full plates rode the conveyer belts that moved along each aisle (过道) of tables. In just a few minutes, my dish stopped at my table, and I took it from the belt. Later, I placed my empty plate back on the conveyer belt, and it was taken away into kitchen to be cleaned.
I watched the little toaster showing customers to tables while I ate my main dish. The food was delicious, but I was starting to feel extremely angry because dealing with robots always makes me feel inhuman. Pretty soon, I wanted to talk to someone real, even if it was just a few sentences.
So when my dessert arrived, I took action. I dropped my plate on the floor with a satisfying crash. I was so happy when I saw the manager toaster’s blinking red eyes—at last, a real live person would arrive!
But instead, a crew of two robots quickly appeared. A robot broom rushed over and started to sweep the piece of the broken plate into a robot garbage can. They finished and moved back into the kitchen.
My plan to get a little reality into Sophie’s Eatery failed. I hope the robo-restaurant trend ends soon. I want to deal with people again!
1. What does the underlined word “escorted” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Registered. | B．Guided. |
| C．Conducted. | D．Rushed |
| A．To deal with a real human. | B．To catch attention from the robots. |
| C．To play jokes on the robots. | D．To complain about the bad service. |
| A．Satisfied. | B．Shocked. |
| C．Annoyed. | D．Curious. |
| A．The trend of dining with robots. |
| B．The advantage of robo-restaurants. |
| C．The food variety of a robo-restaurant. |
| D．The dining experience at a robo-restaurant. |
6 . Kyle Cassidy and three other members of the Annenberg Running Group were stretching on the grounds of the University of Pennsylvania, waiting for a few latecomers. The Penn colleagues and other community members meet three days a week for a roughly 30-minute jog and an occasional lecture. That's right― during some runs, one of them delivers a talk. Topics range from the brain to Bitcoin.
But on this day last January, it would not be their normal run. The first clue that something was off was the man who sprinted past them. "Running at an amazing pace," Cassidy told Runner's World admiringly. Cassidy discovered why the sprinter was so fleet of foot when another man ran by, yelling, “Help! He took my phone and laptop!"
At that, the group did what running clubs do: They ran, trailing the suspect down the streets of Philadelphia until he ducked into a construction site. The runners split up. Cassidy ran around to the far side of the site to cut the thief off while the others wandered the neighborhood hoping he had dumped the loot （赃物）in a backyard.
No luck. So they decided to ask residents whether they'd seen the guy. When they knocked on the door of one row house, they were in for a surprise. Unknown to them, he had already emerged from the construction site—and was hiding behind a bush by that very house. As the owner opened the door, the suspect darted out from behind the bush ... and right into the arms of campus police, who'd joined the chase shortly behind the runners.
The members of this running group are not hard-core athletes. But they do understand the benefit of a little exercise. ''Running is typically a useless sport where you turn fat cells into heat," Cassidy told The Philadelphia Inquirer. "But occasionally it can be useful, and here was one of those opportunities."
1. Why do the group members gather together?| A．To do some stretching. | B．To have a regular run. |
| C．To deliver a lecture. | D．To cover some topics. |
| A．Dashed. | B．Pushed. |
| C．Jumped. | D．Escaped. |
| A．the assistance of the runners | B．the owner of the row house |
| C．the campus police on patrol | D．the joint efforts of the people |
| A．Athletic and generous. | B．Courageous and ambitious. |
| C．Helpful and humorous. | D．Thoughtful and demanding. |
7 . Running on the beach can certainly be a good thing. It's completely different from running on the pavement，a track or trails with soft surfaces.
For starters，sand can be a challenge because it has an uneven（不平的）surface and constantly moves under your feet. As you push off，you're going to lose some of your push as the sand moves. So，you're not going to be able to push yourself forward as you would on a track or pavement！But this unevenness has an upside: It gives your body an extra workout，forcing you to exercise muscles that don't get as much use during runs on firm surfaces.
You also might feel painful afterward because beaches tend to slope（倾斜）downward，toward the water. If you're going for a long run on the beach，you might notice that one side of your body-including your ankle，leg or knee-might feel more painful because you're putting more pressure on it due to the slope.
Some beach runners tend to run barefoot. However，if you're not used to barefoot running，start slowly and run short distances at first. That's because running barefoot uses different muscles than running with shoes does，and it's important to strengthen these muscles and adapt your feet.
Despite these challenges，running on sand can be a smart choice for athletes because running on it can decrease the bad influence on your body during high-intensity workouts. This could potentially lead to less muscle damage and less pain. Women had less myoglobin（肌红蛋白）--- a protein that can be a sign of muscle pain-in their blood after running on the sand than they did after running on grass. This suggests running on softer ground surfaces，such as sand，may reduce muscle damage.
1. What makes running on sand difficult for starters？| A．The smooth surface. | B．The moving surface. |
| C．The sloping surface. | D．The hard surface. |
| A．Advantage. | B．Reason. |
| C．Surprise. | D．Challenge. |
| A．Starting slowly. | B．Adapting your feet. |
| C．Developing some muscles. | D．Running long distances. |
| A．Having no muscle damage. | B．Becoming much healthier. |
| C．Feeling less painful. | D．Having a good feeling. |
8 . “Birds” and “airports” are two words that, paired together，don’t normally paint the most harmonious picture. So it really raises some eyebrows when China announces plans to build an airport that is for birds.
Described as the world’s first-ever bird airport, the proposed Lingang Bird Sanctuary(保护区）in the northern coastal city of Tianjin is, of course,not an actual airport. Rather，it's a wetland preserve specifically designed to accommodate hundreds-even thousands-of daily takeoffs and landings by birds traveling along the East Asian-Australian Flyway. Over 50 species of migratory (迁徙的）water birds，some endangered, will stop and feed at the protected sanctuary before continuing their long journey along the flyway.
Located on a former landfill site，the 150-acre airport is also open to human travelers.(Half a million visitors are expected annually.) However，instead of duty-free shopping，the main attraction for non-egg-laying creatures at Tianjin’s newest airport will be a green-roofed education and research center, a series of raised “observation platforms” and a network of scenic walking and cycling paths totaling over 4 miles.
“The proposed Bird Airport will be a globally significant sanctuary for endangered migratory bird species, while providing new green lungs for the city of Tianjin.” Adrian McGregor of an Australian landscape architecture firm explained of the design. Frequently blanketed in smog so thick that it has shut down real airports, Tianjin is a city---China’s fourth most populous----that would certainly benefit from a new pair of healthy green lungs•
1. The underlined phrase “non-egg-laying creatures” in Paragraph 3 refers to?| A．Visitors. | B．Designers. |
| C．Endangered water birds. | D．Planes. |
| A．People cannot watch birds up close here. |
| B．It is located on a 150-acre landfill site. |
| C．It functions as an actual airport and a wetland preserve. |
| D．It provides migratory birds with food and shelter. |
| A．The airport will become a permanent home for birds. |
| B．Tianjin will win worldwide fame in the future. |
| C．Tianjin’s air quality will improve thanks to the airport. |
| D．Tianjin will be able to accommodate more people. |
| A．Airports shut down and open up. |
| B．China is to open the first Bird Airport. |
| C．Airports turn into green lungs. |
| D．Birds are no longer enemies to airports. |
