1 . Animals, including humans, feel sound as well as hear it, and some of the most meaningful communication happens at frequencies (频率) that people can’t hear. Elephants, for example, use these low-frequency sounds to, among other things, find family or a mate across long distances. Whales do it, too.
But you don’t have to weigh a ton to make a sound. In fact, you don’t have to be bigger than a pea. Consider, for example, the tree-hopper, a curious little animal that lives on the stems (茎) of the leaves. University of Missouri biologist Rex Cocroft has spent much of his time listening closely to tree-hoppers with his team.
The team discovers that all the sounds being heard from tree-hoppers are produced by males. They do it by vibrating (振动) their abdomens (腹部) to make a wide variety of strange sounds. There is almost no airborne sound produced with these vibrational sounds. Cocroft explained, “If a tree-hopper were to stand on your finger and produce a sound, you would feel the vibration but hear no sound.”
They showed that some sounds, not surprisingly, seem to be aimed at attracting females. And some are aimed at other males.
Cocroft explained, “When two males meet each other, or when they are mate-searching on a branch, we’re hearing ‘purring, bdddddrrrr…’ sounds that males give.” Normally, a person couldn’t hear any of this, because the sound travels along the stem, inside it. And that’s how other tree-hoppers detect it.
Cocroft said tree-hoppers have very sensitive legs. And they stand around on stems, which are good at spreading vibrations. So they just use what nature gives them to communicate with each other.
“They have so many different forms of social behavior and grouping,” Cocroft explained. “And once there are animals living in groups, then there will be all sorts of interesting possibilities for communication.”
1. What does Cocroft’s research focus on about tree-hoppers?| A．Their variety. | B．Their communication. |
| C．Their living areas. | D．Their numbers. |
| A．They sense sounds by legs. |
| B．They knock the stems to make sounds. |
| C．Their sounds can be easily heard by humans. |
| D．Females make sounds to meet each other |
| A．It is key to their survival. |
| B．It drives an increase in their numbers. |
| C．It often leads to communication. |
| D．It contributes much to the division of animal types. |
| A．A Magic Moment in Nature | B．A Journey to the Wildlife |
| C．Learning From Nature | D．Communication Sounds Among Animals |
2 . By the time Joy Ryan, a US grandma, turned 85, she had never seen the ocean or mountains. For Joy, trips to the local fishing area with her husband were about the farthest place she had ever gone, even if she loved watching the Travel Channel.
But one day Joy’s grandson, Brad Ryan, discovered that he and his grandma had a common interest in their love for traveling, when they began to visit the American great outdoors together.
Brad said, “When I learned my grandma had never seen the great wildernesses of America—deserts, mountains and oceans, I thought there was something I needed to do.” It was after taking his grandma out of Ohio on a visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that he came up with the idea of visiting all the 63 US national parks with her to create inspiring memories.
Going to all the 63 US National Parks is a huge achievement even for a much younger adventurer (冒险家). Brad said his grandmother’s physical strength (体力) grew with their trips. For example, his grandma went water rafting (漂流) at 91, with class three rapids and when walking at the New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia, she broke the record by almost a decade!
It wasn’t always like this, however. Joy was so wobbly (不稳的) on her first trip, challenged by her balance. A group of college students clapped their hands when she reached the top of a path they were following.
Joy broke her age limitation (限制) and at the age of 93, she made history as the oldest living person to visit every US National Park. Joy believes it’s the mix of hopefulness, willpower, and the good health that gives her strength.
1. With whom did Joy Ryan visit all the 63 US national parks?| A．Her grandson. | B．Her husband. |
| C．Her daughter. | D．Her student. |
| A．She had a love for traveling. |
| B．Water rafting is dangerous for the old. |
| C．There is no age limitation for water rafting. |
| D．She had developed a strong body from traveling. |
| A．Her memory. | B．Her balance. |
| C．Her physical strength. | D．Her sense of direction. |
| A．Brave and hopeful. | B．Humorous and outgoing. |
| C．Hard-working and helpful. | D．Thoughtful and self-confident. |
3 . National Parks in Utah
Zion National Park
It’s perfect for scenic drives and outdoor adventures. One of the park highlights is the Zion Canyons, which offers different hiking (远足) opportunities. Late spring or early fall is the best time to visit Zion National Park, since most facilities are open during this time. However, if you don’t mind cold weather, visit during the late fall and winter.
Bryce Canyon National Park
It’s home to the greatest number of hoodoos (石林) on earth, which are one of the natural wonders of the world. You can see most of Bryce Canyon’s highlights in one day by taking the scenic drive and making stops at various views. Most people visit the park between May and September since the weather is warmer.
Canyonlands National Park
Although it’s the 23rd largest National Park in the US, Canyonlands is the largest out of the four national parks in Utah. The best time of the year to visit is when the weather is pleasant in the spring and fall. The park has four main parts: The Maze, Island in the Sky, The Needles, and Horseshoe Canyon. If you plan to visit every part, you can go on a boat tour to explore it.
Arches National Park
Known as a red-rock wonderland, Arches National Park is popular for its stone arches (石拱).The park has over 2,000 stone arches, with Landscape Arch the largest. The park is busiest from March through October. However, the spring and fall temperatures are the most comfortable. So, the best time to visit is April, May, September and October.
1. When is the best time to visit Zion National Park?| A．Late spring. | B．Early summer. | C．Late fall. | D．Early winter. |
| A．It features hike programs. | B．It is known for stone arches. |
| C．It is the largest one in Utah. | D．It requires advance bookings. |
| A．Take a journey down a river. | B．Explore the Zion Canyons. |
| C．Tour Island in the Sky. | D．Admire the red rock. |
4 . If you are struggling with social anxiety, and don’t know how to find good friends, you can use the following important ways to meet new people.
A bookstore is a great place to get to know people with a true sense of curiosity. Meeting new people in the bookstore is lovely because your conversations have depth. You can talk about the different stories you’ve read.
Go traveling
Traveling is one of the most adventurous ways to meet other people. People will be in a good mood, particularly when traveling for a vacation, which opens up chances to meet new people in a happy way.
Attend a music festival
If you love songs, attending a music festival is the perfect choice for you. In this way, you really can’t escape meeting new people since you’re surrounded by hundreds or even thousands of people in one place, enjoying the live music.
Take a course
There’s no better way of making new friends and meeting people than taking a course. You can take a course such as learning a skill.
| A．Visit a museum |
| B．When you travel |
| C．Go to the bookstore |
| D．By taking a course you’re interested in |
| E．If you are fond of exploring the world |
| F．And you can share your ideas about reading and books, too |
| G．The excitement of music festivals can create lasting friendships |
5 . Hidden in the trees, behind the leaves, look closely and you’ll see eyes staring back at you. This is SlothBot, a robot inspired by the famously slow animal-sloth (树獭).
For the next several months, visitors to the Atlanta Botanical Garden will be able to observe the testing of the new high-tech tool in the battle to save some of the world’s most endangered species. Researchers are testing the SlothBot near the Garden’s popular Canopy Walk.
Built to take advantage of the low-energy lifestyle of real sloths, SlothBot demonstrates how being slow can be ideal for certain applications. Powered by solar panels and using innovative power management technology, SlothBot moves along a cable strung between two large trees as it monitors temperature, weather, carbon dioxide levels, and other information in the Garden’s 30-acre midtown Atlanta forest.
“Slowness is a design principle of SlothBot,” says Magnus Egerstedt, professor and chair in the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “That is not how robots are typically designed today, but being slow and energy-efficient will allow SlothBot to stay in the environment to observe things we can only see by being present continuously for months, or even years.”
About three feet long, SlothBot’s imaginative 3D-printed shell helps protect its motors, gearing, batteries and sensing equipment from the weather. The robot is programmed to move only when necessary, and will locate sunlight when its batteries need recharging.
“The most exciting goal we’ll demonstrate with SlothBot is the union of robotics and technology with conservation,” says Emily Coffey, vice president for conservation and research at the Garden. “We do conservation research on endangered plants and ecosystems around the world, and SlothBot will help us find new and exciting ways to advance our research and conservation goals.”
“SlothBot could do some of our research remotely and help us understand what’s happening with pollinators(传粉者), interactions between plants and animals, and other phenomena that are difficult to observe otherwise," Coffey adds.
1. What do the researchers expect SlothBot to do?| A．Guard the garden. | B．Attract visitors. |
| C．Protect real sloths. | D．Help endangered species. |
| A．SlothBot. | B．Slowness |
| C．A design principle. | D．A low-energy style. |
| A．It always stays still. | B．It can pollinate the plants. |
| C．Its shell provides protection for itself. | D．Its design will be used to study the ocean. |
| A．A Slow-moving Sloth Begins Life in a Garden |
| B．A New Robot Helps Raise Endangered Animals |
| C．A New Study Aids Conservation Efforts in Atlanta |
| D．A Conservation Robot Slowly Monitors Endangered Species |
6 . Born blind is unfortunate in any case. But things were even harder for Srikanth Bolla who was born in a small village in India, where the common belief was that kids with disabilities were “of no use” and therefore, better off dead. Fortunately, Srikanth’s parents loved their son and refused to give him up. Instead, they encouraged the blind boy to dream big and reach for the stars.
Srikanth did not disappoint his parents. The now twenty-four-year-old man is the founder and CEO of Bollant Industries.
Of course, getting here was not easy. Being both blind and poor meant that Srikanth had to face hard challenges. As a young boy, Srikanth attended a regular school near his home. Unfortunately, the students and teachers didn’t quite like him because of his disability. As a result, the young boy was largely ignored and often spent the entire day alone.
Concerned this would hold back Srikanth’s development, his family decided to send him to a special school in Hyderabad. Sure enough, the young boy soon rose to the top of his class, earning awards in speech and debate competitions. But Srikanth was prevented from studying science when he reached 10th grade, because it was thought too dangerous for a blind student. Not wanting to give up, Sriksanth took legal action and became the first blind student in the country allowed to study science.
Later, after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Srikanth set up Bollant Industries in 2012. For just four years, it has become a powerhouse with over 450 employees,70% of whom are physically challenged.
Being disabled doesn’t mean being unable. “If the world looks at me and says ‘Srikanth, you can do nothing’, I will look back at the world and say I can do anything,” says the young man.
1. What made little Srikanth live?| A．His luck. | B．His parents’ love. |
| C．A wonderful dream. | D．A village’s common belief. |
| A．By letting the child bear them. | B．By moving to another place. |
| C．By sending him to a special school. | D．By complaining to relevant departments. |
| A．He was too young to study it. | B．He was disliked by his teachers. |
| C．It was illegal for him to do so. | D．It was considered unsafe for the blind man. |
| A．Determined. | B．Dishonest. | C．Outspoken. | D．Impatient. |
7 . The history of Azerbaijani cinema dates back to the end of the 19th century, during which, many excellent movies have been filmed, which are still watched and admired by everyone.
These movies were filmed in many beautiful places: from the comfortable and winding streets of the Icharishahar(Old City)—UNESCO World Heritage Site in Baku—to the beautiful fruit gardens and forests of beautiful areas of Azerbaijan.
Here, on these streets, one of the most famous Azerbaijani films, Arshin Mal Alan, directed by Rza Tahmasib, was filmed.
Filmed in 1945 and characterized by its amazing plot, beautiful music, great singing and acting, Arshin Mal Alan quickly became a box office sensation (轰动).
It remains an important cultural touchstone across Eurasia and has been translated into 86languages and shown in 136 countries.
The film is about pure love, women’s rights, and a young couple’s dreams for a modern way of life.
The plot tells us about a rich young man named Asker. One day, he decides to get married. However, according to the Eastern rule, a bride (新娘) needs to cover her face before the wedding. But soon he finds a solution to this problem. On the advice of his friend Suleyman, Asker dresses up as a street seller of cloth. By selling goods, these sellers can enter houses where the women and girls choosing their cloth don’t cover their faces. Now Asker can go into any yard and choose a bride.
The film has a lot of entertaining moments, songs and humour. The black-and-white version of this film has also been restored and can now be viewed in colour.
However, this is not the only movie that was filmed in the Old City. For example, in the films Amphibian Man and The Diamond Arm, you can see the streets well known to every Azerbaijaní.
1. What can we know about Arshin Mal Alan?| A．It was filmed before 1945. | B．It is popular around the world. |
| C．It is an action film with amazing plot. | D．It can be viewed in black and white only. |
| A．A man must be rich in order to marry his bride. |
| B．A man must dress up as a seller at the wedding. |
| C．A man mustn’t see his bride’s face before the wedding. |
| D．A man must buy a house for his bride before the wedding. |
| A．To choose a bride. | B．To make a film. |
| C．To work in the street. | D．To earn more money. |
| A．The street culture in Azerbaijan. |
| B．The history of black-and-white TV. |
| C．A love story between Asker and his bride. |
| D．A famous movie filmed in Old City—Icharishahar. |
8 . Students at an elementary school in California, with the help of their art teacher, created a telephone hotline that people can call to get cheerful advice from kids during difficult times. In just days, the hotline began getting thousands of calls an hour.
Most people agree that with concerns like COVID-19, extreme weather, and the climate crisis, the last couple of years have been stressful.
Jessica Martin, who teaches art at West Side School in Healdsburg, California, thought her students just might have the magic words to bring calm to people in these difficult times. So Ms. Martin, along with artist Asherah Weiss, worked with students on a project they called “PepToc”.
The project had two parts-one was the hotline, and the other was creating encouraging posters. The two adults worked with students from kindergarten to sixth grade. They had the same basic question for all the students, “What could you say to help or encourage someone else? “Students working on the hotline thought of what they would like to say. When they were ready, Ms. Martin recorded each one. Later, she sorted out the recordings into the different parts of the telephone hotline.
Pressing 1 brings up ideas for people who are “feeling mad, frustrated or nervous”. Helpful suggestions include “punch your pillow” or “go get a cookie”. Pressing 2 results in “words of encouragement and life advice”. By pressing 3, you can hear a group of kindergartners saying together: “You can do it! Keep trying, don’t give up!” Pressing 4 starts the sounds of children giggling and laughing-a sound certain to bring a smile to anyone’s face.
Ms. Martin thought the project would only attract interest from people near the school. But the hotline was soon getting hundreds of calls a day. Words of the hotline spread quickly on social media. The hotline has become incredibly popular with stressed adults, patients in hospitals, older people in homes, and others who just want to hear the happy voices of children.
1. Who came up with the idea of the project?| A．Parents of West Side School. |
| B．Jessica Martin and Asherah Weiss. |
| C．A student of West Side School. |
| D．The government of Healdsburg. |
| A．1. | B．2. | C．3. | D．4. |
| A．The magic of the children. |
| B．The sadness of the people. |
| C．The popularity of the hotline. |
| D．The influence of the social media. |
| A．The Charm of Art Is Beyond Words |
| B．A Project Is Carried Out to Study COVID-19 |
| C．A Hotline Brings Stressful People Hope |
| D．Positive Messages From Kids Make a Hotline a Hit |
9 . Luggage-free travel, boarding queues and self-flying planes will be common for travelers in 20 years' time. You'll even be able to go on a holiday without leaving your sofa. The bold predictions have been made by futurologist and author Ray Hammond, who is based in the UK.
According to Hammond’s predictions published in the Future Travel Report by Allianz Insurance, it's likely that tourists will be flying to and from the moon regularly by 2040. What's more, passports could disappear, as airports move more and more into the land of facial pattern recognition systems at check-in gates. Computer systems that can scan your face and check you into your flight will be standard in 20 years, the report notes.
When you board your flight, after checking in with your smiling dial, don’t expect to be greeted by the pilot. Hammond bets that planes will be flying themselves in 2040. No pilots and no supervision. It'll play well for the special routes of plane travel-extra-long flights, which have raised concerns about the aircraft staffs tiredness. Are you nervous at the thought of a plane under its own control? You'll be calmer by the time you step aboard Hammond says. Well already be used to self-driving cars.
When you do arrive at your destination and check into your hotel, there won’t be a porter carrying your heavy suitcase to your room. By 2040, we'll have the ability to send our clothing measurements to our hotel ahead of our arrival, where they'll have a 3D printer ready to print out our clothing. And when we check out, our clothes will be shipping off for recycling.
Virtual reality will be so advanced within 20 years that it'll allow us to experience other countries and destinations without stepping foot outside our door. The report says, “Multi-sensory virtual reality technology will allow armchair travel planners to ‘step into’ virtual hotel rooms, explore museums or walk into restaurants.” However, it won’t kill the real-life tourism industry-instead, it's expected to give it an even bigger improvement.
1. What did Ray Hammond say about traveling by self-flying plane?| A．It is boring. | B．It is challenging. | C．It is relaxing. | D．It is frightening. |
| A．Make it easier for tourists to book tickets. | B．Make clothes easily available to tourists. |
| C．Make recycling more common in tourism. | D．Make it possible to travel without passports. |
| A．Flying to the moon and back regularly. | B．Having no need to book trips. |
| C．Enjoying virtual reality only in museums. | D．Traveling with anyone as you please. |
| A．Predictions on Travel by 2040 | B．Possible Changes About Life in 2040 |
| C．Changes of the Means of traveling | D．The Bright Future of the Tour Industry |
10 . As you get older, you'll meet a wider range of people from different cultures. Culture is an idea that isn't easy to understand. People often use the term to refer to things like food, holidays, clothing and music.
Maybe you've recently met someone from a different culture you find interesting.
Read books by and about people who are different from you. Reading memoirs (回忆录), biographies and other nonfiction books is an obvious way to learn about a country or someone's life.
| A．Make friends with him/her. |
| B．But it also goes much deeper than that. |
| C．Show respect towards people from other cultures. |
| D．You may think you know a lot about a culture or place. |
| E．Differences between us are what makes life so interesting. |
| F．There are many ways to understand other people's cultures. |
| G．Also don't ignore novels that have been translated from other languages. |
