1 . Mother Nature is a cruel mistress. Why? Read on to find the answer.

Venice

This iconic city is sinking rapidly. The canals that make up the streets of Venice rise 2mm every year, making relics of history go under the surface of water and destroying architecture. Experts warn that without intervention (干预) , this city will disappear back into the water at an even faster rate, consumed by rising sea level from melting polar ice caps.

Machu Picchu

These iconic ruins have drawn adventurous tourists into the mountains of South America. The forces of natural erosion (侵蚀) have been accelerated by tourism and this landmark faces severe influence from increasing foot traffic. The Peruviar government recently suggested a cable car that would cut out the intense hike up to the ruins, making the site instantly accessible to millions, but the future of Machu Picchu remains uncertain.

Glacier National Park

Perhaps you’ve heard that the ice caps are melting. But nowhere is more apparent in the United States than in Glacier National Park. Estimates indicate that the glaciers that are part of the beauty of this national landmark will disappear entirely in the next two decades.

The Great Barrier Reef

Hidden from view beneath the waves, the Great Barrier Reef has been rapidly dying off. Nearly fifty percent of coral which once occupied a large area is gone, destroyed by pollution and disease.

1. What can we learn about Machu Picchu?

A．It’s famous for cable cars.	B．It will soon turn away all visitors.
C．It bears a heavy burden of tourism.	D．It’s well preserved by the locals.

2. Which place probably needs visitors to dive into the water to enjoy its beauty?

A．The Great Barrier Reef.	B．Machu Picchu.
C．Glacier National Park.	D．Venice.

3. What do the above attractions have in common?

A．They all have a long history.	B．They’re all threatened by climate.
C．They’re all in danger of disappearing.	D．They’re all well-known for natural scenery.

2 . When school closes, poor pupils lose the last social institution-one that educates, feeds, and sometimes clothes them-whereas richer pupils are gaining relatively more advantages. Disruptions to schooling tend to lower achievement while increasing inequality.

A new industry of"Learning Pod", where a group of families pool cash to pay for an in-person tutor, is deepening that inequality. Scoot Education, whose normal business is providing substitute teachers for schools, quickly developed a sideline in learning pods in California. For younger pupils, the total cost of a pod, shared among all parents, is $349 a day, which is beyond what a poor family can afford.＂Rich families can always find a way to educate their children, even if COVID-19 pandemic had not started," says Sarah Cohodes, a professor at Teachers College at Columbia University.

Thus, if there would be no extraordinary interventions in the closing of schools, the long-run effects on those poor students are predictable.

A team of five education scholars recently calculated that American schoolchildren in 2020 learned 30% less reading and 50%less maths than they would in a typical year. Despite that, the top third of pupils posted gains in reading. Data from Opportunity Insights, an economic-research team at Harvard University, shows that after lockdowns began in March pupils from low-income neighbourhoods fell permanently behind on online maths coursework, while those from richer areas quickly rebounded.

Then there is the problem of access to online classes. Nearly half of native American pupils and 35% of black and Hispanic ones do not have access to either a computer or the internet at home, compared with 19%of whites. Worsening mental health among poorer families will also hurt achievement. Elizabeth Ananat of Barnard College and Anna Gassman-Pines of Duke University surveyed part-time workers in Philadelphia who had young children; half were showing their anxiety or depression for children's schooling.

1. What do we know about Learning Pod?

A．It was started as the key business by Scoot Education.

B．Families can afford this teaching model with$349 a day.

C．It is a long-existing method to find an in-person tutor.

D．It worsens educational inequality to some extent.

2. What does the underlined word "rebounded" in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Learned maths in advance.	B．Performed poorly in maths.
C．Regained improvement in maths.	D．Showed permanent love to maths.

3. What is Paragraph 5 mainly about?

A．Effects of educational inequality.	B．Psychological problems of the pupils.
C．Opportunities to use online resources.	D．Low academic achievement of the poor.

4. This text is probably selected from        .

A．a health magazine	B．an educational report
C．a science textbook	D．a learning guideline

3 . The standing broad jump is an exercise where the jumpers must jump as far as possible. Unlike other classic Olympic events, the jumper cannot run to build up strength. This exercise takes great attention, and it can be difficult to improve.     1    

    2     Use a form to fill out the greatest distance you have reached every workout. You should also write down which techniques you have used so that you will know what actually works on you. Set a distance goal for a future date, and once you reach this goal, set a new one.

Throughout the jump, jumpers should always look forward, toward their goal distance.     3     Try to achieve a great distance without jumping very high at the takeoff and be sure that all of your energy is pointing forward rather than upward.

Using the power from your upper body to push yourself forward can help you achieve a great distance. This can be a great way to warm up before trying the jump. Start by standing in the correct position with your toes lined up and feet shoulder-width apart.     4     Now bend your knees and jump as your arms move forward again.

Having more strength in your legs will allow you to jump a greater distance. Practicing the standing broad jump will exercise your legs as well, but having strong leg muscles to begin with will help you achieve greater distances.     5    

A．However, improvement is well worth it.

B．This will set the direction they want the body to.

C．The best way to improve is to have a goal in mind.

D．Improving the standing broad jump requires great attention.

E．You must stand in one spot to jump without any kind of lead-in.

F．So you should exercise your legs as much as possible to build muscles.

G．Next, move your arms forward, then backward and up over your head.

4 . An international team of scientists has discovered a stellar black hole in Earth’s “cosmic backyard” containing the mass of 70 suns.

It’s a black hole that forms after stars die, collapse, and explode. Researchers had long believed that the size limit was only 20 times the mass of our sun because as these stars die, they lose most of their mass through explosions that force matter and gas swept away by stellar winds.

This theory has now been toppled by LB-1, the newly discovered black hole. Located about 15,000 light years away, it has a mass 70 times greater than our sun, according to a press release from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“Black holes of such mass should not even exist in our galaxy (星系), according to most of the present models of stellar evolution,” said Liu Jifeng, head of the team that made the discovery.

“LB-1 is twice as massive as what we thought possible. Now theorists will have to take up the challenge of explaining its formation.”

Scientists are now scratching their heads at how LB-1 got so huge.

The team has proposed some theories. LB-1’s sheer size suggests that it “was not formed from the collapse of only one star,” the study said — instead, it could potentially be two smaller black holes orbiting each other.

Another possibility is that it formed from “fallback supernova (超行星).” This is when a supernova — the last stage of an exploding star — ejects (喷射) material during the explosion, which then falls back into the supernova, creating a black hole. This fallback formation is theoretically possible, but scientists have never been able to prove or observe it.

There are several types of black holes and stellar black holes like LB-1 are on the smaller side, according to NASA. Supermassive black holes are much bigger — they can be billions of times the mass of our sun.

Scientists believe supermassive black holes may have connection with the formation of galaxies, as they often exist at the center of the mass star stems but it is still not clear exactly how, or which form first.

1. According to scientists, what might account for the formation of LB-1?

A．The material ejected in the explosion of a supernova.

B．The smaller black holes moving around each other.

C．The evolution of the solar system.

D．The collapse of a certain star.

2. What does the word “toppled” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Confirmed

B．Strengthened.

C．Overturned.

D．Refused.

3. What is the purpose of writing this article?

A．To inform readers of the basic knowledge about black holes.

B．To share the recent development of the black hole discovery.

C．To show the importance of discovering black holes for science.

D．To report achievements scientists have made in black hole theory.

4. What might be the best title for the passage?

A．The Latest Discovery of Galaxies

B．Proposed Theories of Black Holes

C．The Possible Formation of the Black Holes

D．Biggest Stellar-mass Black Hole Discovered

5 . Jane Goodall was born in Bournemouth, England, on April 3, 1934. As a child, she had a natural love for the outdoors and animals. When Jane was about eight she read the Tarzan and Dr. Dolittle series and, in love with Africa, dreamed of traveling to work with the animals.

Finally, at age 23, she left for Nairobi, Kenya. There, Jane met famed Dr. Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey, who offered her a job at the local natural history museum. She worked there for a time before Leakey decided to send her to the Gombe Stream Game Reserve in Tanzania to study wild chimpanzees. He felt her strong interest in animals and nature, and her knowledge as well as high energy made her a great candidate to study the chimpanzees.

In December 1958, Jane returned home to England and Leakey began to make arrangements for the expedition (考察), securing the appropriate permissions from the government and raising funds. In May 1960, Jane learned that Leakey had gained funding from the Wilkie Brothers Foundation.

Jane arrived by boat at the Gombe Stream Game Reserve on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika with her mother. The early weeks at Gombe were challenging. Jane developed a fever that delayed the start of her work. Finally, an older chimpanzee named David Greybeard, began to allow Jane to watch him. As a high ranking male of the chimpanzee community, his acceptance meant other group members also allowed Jane to observe. It was David Greybeard whom Jane first witnessed using tools. Excited, she telegraphed Dr. Leakey about her observation. He wrote back, “Now we must redefine ‘tool,’ and ‘man,’ or accept chimpanzees as humans.”

Jane continued to work in the field and, with Leakey’s help, began her doctoral program without an undergraduate degree in 1962. At Cambridge University, she found herself at odds with senior scientists over the methods she used — how she had named the chimpanzees rather than using the more common numbering system, and for suggesting that the chimps have emotions and personalities. She further upset those in power at the university when she wrote her first book, My Friends, the Wild Chimpanzees, aimed at the general public rather than an academic audience. The book was wildly popular, and her academic peers were outraged. Dr. Jane Goodall earned her Ph.D. on February 9, 1966, and continued to work at Gombe for the next twenty years.

1. It can be inferred from the passage that ______ .

A．Jane was the first to discover chimpanzees use tools

B．a journey to Kenya rooted Jane’s deep love for animals

C．Dr. Leakey easily raised funds from the Wilkie Brothers Foundation

D．Jane’s work at the Gombe Stream Game Reserve went along smoothly

2. What is the academic peers’ attitude towards Jane’s first book?

A．Extremely puzzled.	B．Genuinely pleased.
C．Really angry.	D．Truly sensitive.

3. What does the underlined sentence imply in paragraph 5?

A．Jane’s study of chimpanzees received no support from scientists.

B．Jane’s method inspired more scientists to make further discoveries.

C．Jane’s achievements quickly attracted attention from senior scientists.

D．Senior scientists disagreed with Jane’s method in observing chimpanzees.

4. What message is mainly conveyed in the passage?

A．Passion and hard work can make a difference in scientific research.

B．Cooperation is the key to making significant discoveries.

C．Challenging senior scientists is a must in gaining fame.

D．High energy counts in achieving great success.

6 . Thirty-two cases of illegal hunting or trading wild animals have been uncovered involving 33 suspects since a crackdown against illegal wildlife trade was launched on April 10.

Beijing police seized 74 wild animals grouped in China into the first-grade and second-grade state protected animals, including African grey parrots and cockatoos, as well as nearly 50 wild birds and 21 pangolin scales.

On April 16, police in the capital city’s Chaoyang district caught two suspects, who were respectively identified as Liu and Wang, for buying wild animals, and recovered more than 40 wild birds, including one cockatoo and one African grey parrot, at their homes, the statement said, adding the two suspects have been detained (拘留).

In another case, a 35-year-old man surnamed Hu was also sentenced to imprisonment in Daxing district after he was found selling wild animals through QQ, a popular instant messaging tool in the country. He was caught on April 14.

The bureau highlighted the importance of protecting the wildlife, noting Chinese laws and a new decision adopted by the nation’s top legislature (立法机关) have also shown the country’s determination against illegal trade of wild animals.

The Chinese Criminal Law clarifies that those illegally hunting, buying, selling or transporting wild animals on the state protection list, endangered animals or the wildlife-related products will face an imprisonment of more than 10 years and fines if their behaviors are identified as “extremely serious”.

On Feb 24, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislative body, also passed the decision that clearly states all wildlife on the protection list of the existing Wild Animal Protect Law or other laws, and all wild animals, including those artificially bred and farmed, are not permitted to be hunted or traded.

With the strict crackdown campaign against illegal trade of wild animals on the go in Beijing, the whole nation is attaching great importance to wild life protection.

1. The author mentions the cases at the very beginning of the passage to ______ .

A．explain the new laws on wildlife protection

B．show the present situation of wildlife extinction

C．highlight the problem of illegal trade of wild animals

D．introduce Beijing’s campaign against illegal wildlife trade

2. What can we learn from the first three paragraphs?

A．The number of wild animals is decreasing sharply.

B．Hunting and trading wildlife has become a nationwide concern.

C．Effective actions have been taken to prevent wildlife from illegal trade.

D．The strong action to stop trading illegal wild animals has a long way to go.

3. According to the Chinese Criminal Law, ______ .

A．serious actions of trading wild animals will face fierce punishment

B．people risk heavy fines but no imprisonment for trade of wildlife

C．the trade of wildlife-related products will receive no punishment

D．those who hunt illegally may face 10 years of imprisonment

4. Which best describes the author’s tone in the passage?

A．Determined.

B．Hopeful.

C．Unconcerned.

D．Doubtful.

7 . International Volunteering in New Zealand

If you’re visiting New Zealand and would like to volunteer, DOC (Department of Concentration) welcomes you to get involved.

Before you come to New Zealand

You do not need a work visa to volunteer with DOC. You can volunteer on entry to New Zealand as long as you do not receive payment or benefits.

You may need a police certificate

Depending on the volunteer work you do with us, you may be required to provide a police certificate to DOC. Your police certificate would need to be written and certified in English. It’s easier for you if you get a police certificate before you leave your country.

How to get a new police certificate if you’re already in New Zealand. (Click here)

International students

Volunteering with DOC is an option to gain experience. However, DOC does not offer opportunities to students who study at universities outside New Zealand, or other education providers outside New Zealand.

Insurance

For all volunteers with DOC, we strongly advise you gel comprehensive (综合的) travel insurance and unlimited medical cover. DOC does not accept responsibility for any:

● personal medical or accident events.

● loss or damage to personal items of equipment, or other associated costs while you're volunteering with DOC.

1. What may you offer to DOC if you want to volunteer as a foreigner in New Zealand?

A．A police certificate	B．A work visa.
C．A university diploma.	D．A driver license.

2. Who cannot volunteer with DOC in New Zealand?

A．An American official who is travelling in New Zealand.

B．An English college student who has just been visiting his uncle in New Zealand.

C．A Chinese exchange student in the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

D．A Chinese businessman with some volunteering experiences.

3. Where is this passage probably from?

A．A story book.	B．A newspaper.
C．A travel guide book.	D．A website.

8 . We are surrounded by people trying to make the world a better place. Peace activists bring enemies together so they can get to know one another and feel each other’s pain. School leaders try to attract a diverse set of students so each can understand what it’s like to walk in the others’ shoes.

It is true that people who are empathetic (共情的) are more sensitive to the perspectives and sufferings of others. They are more likely to make sympathetic moral judgments. The problem comes when we try to turn feeling into action. Empathy makes you more aware of other people’s sufferings, but it’s not clear whether it actually motivates you to take moral action or prevents you from taking immoral action. For example, in the early days of the Holocaust, Nazi prison guards sometimes wept as they killed Jewish women and children, but they still did it.

Empathy directs you toward moral action, but it doesn’t seem to help much when that action comes at a personal cost. You may feel painful for the homeless guy on the other side of the street, but the chances are that you are not going to cross the street to give him a dollar. Studies investigating the link between empathy and moral action suggest that empathy is not a major player when it comes to moral motivation. Its contribution is slight in children, modest in adults, and nonexistent when costs are significant.

Nobody is against empathy. However, it’s not enough. These days empathy has become a shortcut. It has become a way to experience delicious moral emotions without confronting the weaknesses in our nature that prevent us from actually acting upon them. It has become a way to experience the illusion (幻觉) of moral progress without having to do the nasty work of making moral judgments. Teaching empathy is a safe way for schools and other institutions to seem blameless without risking dispute or hurting anybody’s feelings.

People who actually perform pro-social action don’t only feel for those who are suffering, they feel it necessary to act by a sense of duty. Empathy is less important. If you want to make the world a better place, help people debate, understand, reform, revere and enact their moral principles. Accept that principles conflict.

1. Why does the author mention the Holocaust in paragraph 2?

A．To show that empathy is limited in preventing people from wrongdoings.

B．To prove that empathic people are more likely to make compassionate moral judgments.

C．To explain that empathy is helpful for moral teaching.

D．To criticize the immoral actions of Nazis.

2. What will empathetic people probably do when they see the homeless?

A．Reach out to them.	B．Ignore them.
C．Feel sorry for them.	D．Raise money for them.

3. According to paragraph 4, which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

A．People are enthusiastic about empathy.

B．Teaching empathy is a quicker way to achieve moral education.

C．Empathy alone is not sufficient.

D．People are unwilling to take actual actions.

4. According to the author, what’s the best way to make the world a better place?

A．Try to understand what it’s like to walk in the others’ shoes.

B．Be more sensitive to the perspectives and sufferings of others.

C．Stop teaching empathy since it is only a sideshow in moral education.

D．Take on the duty to act and make real moral progress.

9 . To many of us, art is obviously a kind of human expression of creativity. But in recent years, you may have read news about artificial intelligence (AI) creating its own art, such as painting or writing poems. Some people worry that AI might someday replace artists.

    1    Many artists today are turning AI into a useful tool. Instead of replacing artists, AI is bringing artists more possibilities.

A piece of music created by AI recently attracted attention. AI was used to turn the novel virus into a piece of nearly two-hour long music based on its protein structure. The project was led by Markus Buehler, an American musician and MIT professor of engineering. He assigned (指定) a unique note to each amino acid (氨基酸) in the protein.    2    

Listeners found the project to be “mind-blowing”. “It allows me to see the virus from a new angle,” said one listener.    3    As The Verge wrote, “AI helps artists play around in unpredictable ways, creating things beyond what they have ever thought was possible before.”

    4    For example, in the comic and animation industries, there are now AI tools that can automatically (自动地) color in black-and-white line drawings. Although the results can be unpredictable and require a little cleanup, it “could give artists room to experiment, by cutting down the time it takes to color each frame (画面)”, said Joao Do Lago, animator of Netflix’s Castlevania.

As Peter Ward wrote for The Culture Trip, art of every kind has always been influenced by technological breakthroughs.    5    

A．The AI then translated these notes into music.

B．AI has become an important part of our everyday life.

C．But this worry seems to be unnecessary, at least for now.

D．AI can become a useful tool to bring change to the art world.

E．Besides the music industry, AI has entered the world of poetry as well.

F．This surprising marriage between science and art could not be achieved without AI.

G．Apart from co-creating imaginative works, AI can also help artists avoid repeating tasks.

10 . 根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Curling(冰壶)is a winter sport played on ice. Therefore, it’s most popular in northern countries like Canada. Curling is played in the USA by about 15,000 people.    1    Scottish winters were long and there were forms of entertainment. So people began making a sport out of sliding heavy stones on the frozen lakes. The game spread, and in the 1700s curling clubs formed. Then Scottish soldiers brought it to North America.

    2    Men, women, and children often compete on the same team, if they can slide a forty-pound stone down the ice! Both teams slide their stones toward the same goal. After all 16 stones have been cast, the team whose stone has slid closest to the goal gets one point.

    3    The ice is so smooth and the stone is so heavy that even the smallest misjudgment in a throw can make the stone slide much too far or stop too suddenly.    4    Water helps the stone slide, but it can also change the stone’s path.

In curling, a broom is part of each player’s equipment. A good curler must know how much force to use. The player must know the exact conditions of the ice on the court.    5    That may explain why the international Olympic Committee decided to make curling an Olympic sport in 1998.

A．Players compete on the court.

B．Then the play begins in the other direction.

C．Curling is played by teams of four people.

D．In other words, a good curler must be a fine athlete.

E．The rules are easy to learn, but playing the game is hard.

F．The melting of the ice makes things tough for the curlers.

G．Curling probably began in Scotland in the 1500s or earlier.