1 . One explanation for this strong statistical pattern is that traveling requires time and energy, and people have limited resources for it. At the core is the effort that people are willing to invest collectively to travel to certain locations, trying to optimize their days.
What does the underlined word “optimize” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
| A．Slow down. | B．Keep a record of. |
| C．Think back on. | D．Make the most of. |
2 . The yogurt that’s past its sell-by date. The banana in your lunch that turned brown. The leftovers in the fridge that you forgot to eat. For most people, all that food goes right into the garbage can.
Eight to ten percent of global greenhouse gas emissions (放) are related to food waste, according to a report by the U. N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “When you throw away an egg or a sandwich,” says Yvette Cabrera, food waste vice director at the Natural Resources Defense Council (N. R. D.C.) ,“you’ re also throwing away all the resources that went into producing those things.”
That includes not only all the water, land, and fertilizer (化肥) that went into producing that food, but also the massive amounts of fossil fuels used to power the farms, transport the food, and create the packaging.
What does the underlined word “That” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．The leftovers in the fridge. | B．The packaging for products. |
| C．The thrown egg or sandwich. | D．The resources to produce food. |
3 . Besides, 10% of rich countries greenhouse gas emissions come from food that was grown and never eaten. Food waste not only contributes to climate change, but also food insecurity and extreme poverty. As stated above, in the greatest food wasting countries, there are laws that confine produce from being donated to people in need.
What does the underlined word “confine” in paragraph 3 probably mean?
| A．Refuse. | B．Restrict. | C．Contact. | D．Protect. |
4 . 30 years later, Bob and his wife, Jill Welch, decided to turn their wedding into a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Their wedding guests financed two wishes for local children, more being planned. Many donated generously to the cause, spending more, perhaps, than they might have if it was just to buy the couple a wedding gift like fine china or a kitchen appliance. Bob said their wedding donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation isn’t going to be “one and done”. The two plan on continuing to contribute going forward.
What does the underlined part “one and done” in Paragraph 2 mean?
| A．Once-only. | B．Non-stop. | C．Sizable. | D．Personal. |
5 . The world is getting greener, according to a new study published in Nature this week.
Chi Chen, lead author of the study, and his colleagues have been mining data collected by an orbiting NASA camera that monitors green vegetation on Earth’s surface, day by day. Even more interesting: They are able to show the exact causes of increasing or decreasing leaf cover in particular areas.
In some cold places, increase in leaf cover apparently resulted from global warming. Since the climate is becoming more and more temperate and the growing season is getting longer and longer, the plants are growing bigger and leafier there.
Which of the following best explains the underlined word “temperate” in paragraph 3?
| A．Warm. | B．Wet. |
| C．Cold. | D．Dry. |
6 . Merebeth’s pet delivery service satisfies her wanderlust. It has taken her to every state in the US except Montana, Washington and Oregon, she says proudly. If she wants to visit a new place, she will simply find a pet with transport needs there. She travels in all weathers. She has driven through 55 mph winds in Wyoming, heavy flooding and storms in Alabama and total whiteout conditions in Kansas.
The word “wanderlust” in paragraph 2 means a desire to_?
| A．make money. | B．try various jobs. |
| C．be close to nature. | D．travel to different places. |
7 . As Ginni Bazlinton reached Antarctica, she found herself greeted by a group of little Gentoo penguins (企鹅) longing to say hello. These gentle, lovely gatekeepers welcomed her and kick-started what was to be a trip Ginni would never forget.
Ever since her childhood, Ginni, now 71, has had a deep love for travel. Throughout her career (职业) as a professional dancer, she toured in the UK, but always longed to explore further. When she retired from dancing and her sons eventually flew the nest, she decided it was time to take the plunge.
Which of the following best explains “take the plunge” underlined in paragraph 2?
| A．Try challenging things. | B．Take a degree. |
| C．Bring back lost memories. | D．Stick to a promise. |
8 . A hungry badger (獾) searching for food seems to have uncovered what turned out to be hundreds of Roman coins in a Spanish cave, according to a new study.
Archaeologists (考古学家) first discovered several coins laying on the ground at the entrance to a small cave in the woodlands outside Grado in northern Spain in April 2021. The researchers suspect that the coins were unearthed by a badger from a nearby den (兽窝) after a heavy snow which made it harder for animals to find food. The hungry badger probably got into the cave looking for food but came across the coins instead.
After fully exploring the cave, researchers collected 209 coins dating to between the third and fifth centuries A. D. “To date, this is the largest amount of Roman coins found in the cave in northern Spain,” the researchers wrote in their paper. They described the discovery as an “exceptional find”.
What do the researchers think of the discovery in 2021?
| A．It’s dangerous. | B．It’s timely. | C．It’s meaningless. | D．It’s unusual. |
9 . ...We spoke our own language. And my favorite: Safe. Safe meant cool. It meant hello. It meant don’t worry about it. Once, when trying a certain trick on the beam(横杆), I fell onto the stones, damaging a nerve in my hand,and Toby came over, helping me up: Safe, man, Safe. A few minutes later,when I landed the trick,my friends beat their boards loud, shouting: “Safe! Safe! Safe!” And that’s what mattered-landing tricks, being a good skater.
What do the underlined words “Safe! Safe! Safe!” probably mean?
| A．Be careful! | B．Well done! | C．No way! | D．Don’t worry! |
10 . Researchers say they have translated the meaning of gestures that wild chimpanzees (黑猩猩)use to communicate. They say wild chimps communicate 19 specific messages to one another with a “vocabulary” of 66 gestures. The scientists discovered this by following and filming groups of chimps in Uganda, and examining more than 5, 000 incidents of these meaningful exchanges.
Dr Catherine Hobaiter, who led the research, said that this was the only form of intentional communication to be recorded in the animal kingdom. Only humans and chimps, she said, had a system of communication where they deliberately sent a message to another group member.
“That’s what’s so amazing about chimp gestures,” she said. “They’re the only thing that looks like human language in that respect.”
Although previous research has shown that apes and monkeys can understand complex information from another animal’s call, the animals do not appear to use their voices intentionally to communicate messages. This was a significant difference between calls and gestures, Dr Hobaiter said.
Chimps will check to see if they have the attention of the animal with which they wish to communicate. In one case, a mother presents her foot to her crying baby, signaling: “Climb on me.” The youngster immediately jumps on to its mother’s back and they travel off together. “The big message from this study is that there is another species (物种)out there that is meaningful in its communication, so that’s not unique to humans,” said Dr Hobaiter.
Dr Susanne Shultz, an evolutionary biologist from the University of Manchester, said the study was praiseworthy in seeking to enrich our knowledge of the evolution of human language. But, she added, the results were “a little disappointing”.
“The vagueness of the gesture meanings suggests either that the chimps have little to communicate, or we are still missing a lot of the information contained in their gestures and actions,” she said. “Moreover, the meanings seem to not go beyond what other animals convey with non-verbal communication. So, it seems the gulf remains.”
What does the underlined word “gulf” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Difference. | B．Conflict. |
| C．Balance. | D．Connection. |
