1 . The Master Gardener Foundation

Aim

The Master Gardener Foundation provides free information to the public on environmentally safe gardening practices and water conservation. The information is research-based and encourages limited use of farm chemicals and fertilizers.

Donation Activities

The master gardeners here did much donation work. They donated over 35,000 volunteer hours, serving 40,000 adults and more than 5,200 children. They did this through about 35 plant clinics, 6 demonstration gardens, 4 youth gardens, as well as a classroom program and dozens of workshops. The Master Gardener Foundation provides roughly two-thirds of the financial support for all these valuable activities.

Washington State University currently provides the salary and benefits of the Master Gardener Program. The foundation funds office space and supplies, as well as a part-time program assistant.

The Master Gardener Program

Safe and green gardening and water use practices are vital to preserving our environment. The Master Gardener Program seeks to provide this kind of education and information to the citizens for free. It is a highly successful example of cooperation between a foundation and volunteers.

Waiting for Your Donations

The Master Gardener Foundation is a non-profit organization, and all donations are allowed by law and support the Master Gardener Program and activities.

Please consider a donation to the Master Gardener Foundation and help keep our environment green!
1. What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Science research.	B．Adopting children.
C．Donation work.	D．Contributing money.

2. What do we know about the Master Gardener Program?

A．It’s very expensive.

B．It proves to be unsuccessful.

C．It provides education just in producing farm chemicals.

D．It’s a bridge between the foundation and volunteers.

3. What is the main purpose of the text?

A．To encourage donations.

B．To describe volunteer work.

C．To spread the agricultural knowledge.

D．To give some suggestions to gardeners.

2 . The State-Of-The-Art-Tech Behind Fighting Fires

How are today’s firefighters dealing with massive wildfires? They’re doing it by using the most advanced technology. Whether it’s with a modified jumbo jet or innovative thermal(热的) imaging cameras, we take a look at the tech behind fighting some of the world’s most overwhelming fires.

Teams fighting against the California wildfires used the Global SuperTanker – a modified jumbo jet that carries almost 73,000 liters (19,200 gallons) of fire retardant(阻燃剂) – alongside the S-64 Aircrane heavy-lifting helicopter, which carries 10,000 liters (2,200 gallons) of water.

These air tankers are used to put out flames and monitor fire spread through sensors and video feeds coupled to GPS data. Fed into hi-tech computer modelling software, they can help predict the fire’s behavior and possible spread patterns. Computer models are able to provide small area coverage only meters wide, mapping territory and airflow. Fires are especially responsive to wind conditions and these tools allow firefighters to determine the passage of flames at ground level.

But manned aircrafts need a large investment in maintenance and crew training. Command and control centers are turning to unmanned aircraft to keep costs down and provide additional capabilities. Small quadcopters(四旋翼机) and larger fixed-wing aircraft can fly over fires for much longer periods.

Smoke can cover the ground for days at a time or pose a severe breathing risk to air crews – However, this is not a problem for drones. Onboard high definition, infrared(红外辐射的) and thermal imaging cameras can provide direction to ground teams, spot vital infrastructure (including power or water lines), and identify dangerous or flammable objects.

Infrared and thermal cameras can see through smoke to monitor ground teams and let them know when conditions change. Unmanned aircraft can provide aerial images, heat maps, and temperature scales of fire zones. Specialist drones can even carry hoses to less accessible areas. In the future, swarms of autonomous drones could be used to track wildfires and spot fire spread.

Thermal imaging technology has become widespread and less expensive to use. Handheld cameras and devices that attach to smartphones allow firefighters to see through smoke and find active fire hotspots, or undergrowth that is burning without producing smoke.

Identifying these hotspots allows crews to target the most active and dangerous parts of a wildfire and divert manpower to tackle it more effectively.

Augmented reality helmets that include breathing appliance alongside computer vision-aided displays are adding to the ground team’s capabilities. Thermal cameras inside the helmets mean that firefighters can operate in environments completely obscured by smoke. At the same time, they can wirelessly transmit information on what is happening at the frontline to command and control points.

Robots are also making a difference. The Smokebot was developed by a Swedish university to assist fire and rescue services. It collects data in environments with reduced visibility using radar, a laser scanner, a thermal camera and gas sensors. Smokebot can help in forest fire situations mapping large areas filled with dust or smoke, where it is too risky to send in rescue personnel.

Earth-observing satellites commonly detect wildfires in wilderness areas. Their cameras and remote sensors are used to estimate the fire’s evolution and provide situational awareness that saves lives.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard the Suomi NPP satellite gives near real-time data to NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) on active fires across the world.

Finally, to get the bigger picture on fire tracking and monitoring, the US Forest Service and US Geological Survey uses data from the Landsat Earth-observing satellites. Data gathered from every major fire in the country since 1984 has been fed into computer models to help predict and prevent wildfires.

1. What does the underlined “they”, in the third paragraph, refer to?

A．Current firefighters tackling massive wildfires.

B．The modified jumbo jets and art thermal imaging cameras.

C．The data gained from sensors and video feeds, plus GPS information.

D．The air tankers used to put out flames and monitor fire spread.

2. Which of the following is not the advantages of drones over manned aircrafts in tackling massive wildfires?

A．Drones don’t need much fuel when putting out wildfires and identifying the causes of fires.

B．Less money is needed in training crews when drones are available.

C．Drones won’t come across any breathing problems when in work.

D．Drones needs much less investment in maintenance.

3. Which of the following advanced technologies is not mentioned in the passage?

A．Swarms of autonomous drones used to extinguish wildfires from air.

B．AR helmets with breathing appliance alongside computer vision-aided.

C．Drones with high definition, infrared and thermal imaging cameras onboard.

D．Earth-observing satellites equipped with cameras and remote sensors.

4. Which of the following statements about Smokebot is true?

A．It was created by a Swiss university to assist fire and rescue services.

B．It can help to send rescue personnel to a fire spot.

C．It can help draw a map of large areas and fill the regions with dust or smoke.

D．It collects data using advanced technology where visibility is reduced due to fires.

3 . Far from the land of Antarctica, a huge shelf of ice meets the ocean. At the underside of the shelf there lives a small fish, the Antarctic cod.

For forty years scientists have been curious about that fish. How does it live where most fish would freeze to death? It must have some secret. The Antarctic is not a comfortable place to work and research has been slow. Now it seems we have an answer.

Research was begun by cutting holes in the ice and catching the fish. Scientists studied the fish’s blood and measured its freezing point.

The fish were taken from seawater that had a temperature of -1.88℃ and many tiny pieces of ice floating in it. The blood of the fish did not begin to freeze until its temperature was lowered to -2.05℃. That small difference is enough for the fish to live at the freezing temperature of the ice-salt mixture.

The scientists’ next research job was clear: Find out what in the fish’s blood kept it from freezing. Their search led to some really strange thing made up of a protein never before seen in the blood of a fish. When it was removed, the blood froze at seawater temperature. When it was put back, the blood again had its antifreeze quality and a lowered freezing point.

Study showed that it is an unusual kind of protein. It has many small sugar molecules held in special positions within each big protein molecule. Because of its sugar content, it is called a glycoprotein. So it has come to be called the antifreeze fish glycoprotein. Or AFGP.

1. What is the text mainly about?

A．The terrible conditions in the Antarctic.

B．A special fish living in freezing waters.

C．The ice shelf around Antarctica.

D．Protection of the Antarctic cod.

2. Why can the Antarctic cod live at the freezing temperature?

A．The seawater has a temperature of -1.88℃.

B．It loves to live in the ice-salt mixture.

C．A special protein keeps it from freezing.

D．Its blood has a temperature lower than -2.05℃.

3. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A．A type of ice-salt mixture.	B．A newly found protein.
C．Fish blood.	D．Sugar molecule.

4. What does “glyco-” in the underlined word “glycoprotein” in the last paragraph mean?

A．sugar	B．ice
C．blood	D．molecule