1 . Last month, a study was published that examined climate change’s direct effects on the Earth’s seasons. Scientists found a connection between climate change and the temperature and duration of the summer season. Summers in the Northern hemisphere(北半球) could last nearly six months by the year 2100 if global warming continues, according to the study. With the seasons off-balance, there will be harmful effects on human health and agriculture.

Yuping Guan, a physical oceanographer at the State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his colleagues combined daily climate data from 1952 to 2011 to get a sense of the start and end of each season in the Northern hemisphere. Over the nearly 60-year period, they discovered that, on average, summers grew from 78 to 95 days, while winters shortened from 76 to 73 days. The spring and autumn seasons also shortened. Guan and his team used the findings from the data to create a model to hypothesize (假设) about how the seasons would possibly change in the future. They found that if left untouched, summers in the Northern hemisphere could last nearly six months, while winters could contract to less than two months.

If the Earth’s seasons continue to shift, it will bring negative effects to human health and agriculture. Longer and hotter summers, for example, can cause mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects to potentially expand their scope and land in places where they’re usually not found. “Because seasons influence the life cycles of plants and animals, climate change could disturb species’ ability to adapt,” said Scott Sheridan, a climate scientist. “If seasons continue to change, everything isn’t going to change perfectly as they should. If we take the example of flowers coming out of the ground, those flowers could come out, but bees aren’t there to pollinate them yet or they’re already past their peak.” With negative effects like these, human health and agriculture will face hardship while moving forward.

This study further demonstrates how cruel climate change is to humans, plants and animals, reminding us how much we are all connected with the environment we share.

1. What did scientists find according to the study?

A．Some seasons will disappear in their tracks.

B．Global warming will be at its worst in 2100.

C．Climate change affects the days of summers.

D．Human health remains unharmed by climate change.

2. What does the underlined word "contract" in the second paragraph mean?

A．Add.

B．Extend.

C．Keep.

D．Shorten.

3. What can we infer about the effects of longer and hotter summers?

A．Mosquitoes can survive in more places.

B．The environment will change as we wish.

C．Human health and agriculture are hardly affected.

D．Some species are more able to adapt to the change.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Is the Earth getting warmer?

B．Is climate change bringing hardship?

C．Is mankind to blame for longer summers?

D．Is summer taking over from all other seasons?

2 . Where did the woman visit the rainforest last year?

A．In Oregon.

B．In Alaska.

C．In Washington.

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

In 1972, UNESCO started a program to protect the world’s cultural and     1     (nature) heritage. Since then, a large number of cultural sites     2    (add) to the World Heritage List. The Taj Mahal in India and the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China    3     (be) two of the best known examples.

The Taj Mahal, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, is a masterpiece(杰作) of architecture.     4     took more than 20,000 workers and 1,000 elephants to complete the project, and the stones came from as far away as China.

    5    makes the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties unique is that they bring together architecture and philosophy.      6     (build) between 1368 and 1915, the tombs represent(代表) Chinese cultural and historical     7      (value) that have been handed down from generation to generation for thousands of years.

Human life lasts only a short time     8    art and culture last forever. The program attempts     9     (protect) and preserve the best of human history. Masterpieces such as the Taj Mahal and the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties remind us      10     the things we can achieve at our finest, and inspire us to live up to our great past in the future.

4 . “Leave a place better than you found it.” It’s a ________philosophy (人生哲学), but one that William Lindesay holds dear. On April 22, which was also Earth Day, he led twenty _______to help clean up the Jiankou section of the Great Wall.

“He who ________is the owner”, William said in the opening remarks of the cleanup event in 2000. “The Great Wall _________ China, and is also one of the greatest cultural relics in the world. Everyone has a _________to protect it. Every day should be Earth Day,” he said.

During the past three decades, he has spent most of his time _________and exploring the Great Wall and has made his own __________to protect the cultural relic. “It’s a ________thing that people are going out to enjoy themselves and to _________the great history and heritage, but it’s also quite dangerous if they don’t __________how fragile the historic sites are and how fragile the _________is,” William said.

In 1991, his first _________Alone on the Great Wall was published, and he has published another five books about the Great Wall since then. In 2001, he __________ the International Friends of the Great Wall, an organization whose aim is to protect this _________to the past.

His next step is to _________exhibitions (展览会) about the Great Wall as a monument over the last 400 years. The exhibitions are expected to be held in Beijing, London, Paris and Washington D.C.

1.

A．simple

B．formal

C．classic

D．major

2.

A．experts

B．writers

C．owners

D．volunteers

3.

A．climbs

B．knows

C．cares

D．forgives

4.

A．makes up

B．differs from

C．belongs to

D．depends on

5.

A．duty

B．choice

C．proposal

D．try

6.

A．walking

B．building

C．designing

D．investigating

7.

A．efforts

B．characters

C．agreements

D．factors

8.

A．special

B．creative

C．good

D．curious

9.

A．contrast

B．spread

C．affect

D．discover

10.

A．recommend

B．explain

C．realize

D．admit

11.

A．condition

B．environment

C．situation

D．equipment

12.

A．magazine

B．paper

C．article

D．book

13.

A．established

B．inspired

C．introduced

D．unified

14.

A．contribution

B．image

C．link

D．tradition

15.

A．organize

B．preserve

C．document

D．identify

5 . You can either travel or read, but either your body or your soul must be on the way. The popular saying has inspired many people to read or go sightseeing. Here are four books that you can take on your trip.

1. On the Road, 1957, by Jack Kerouac

The book is a popular spiritual guidebook about youth. The main character in the book drives across the US continent with several young people and finally reaches Mexico. After the exhausting and exciting trip, the characters in the book begin to realize the meaning of life.

2. Life Is Elsewhere, 1975, by Milan Kundera

Jean-Jacques Rousseau once said, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." The book describes a young artist's romantic but miserable life, about how he reads, dreams and has a relationship during his trip to Central Europe. The book invites you to deeply reflects on your current life and to honor the Czech-born writer Kundera.

3. My Name Is Red, 1998, by Orhan Pamuk

The book, a masterpiece of the Nobel Prize winner for Literature Orhan Pamuk, has been translated into more than 50 languages and published around the world. It tells a story of a young man, who was away from home for 12 years, coming back to his hometown in Istanbul. What embraces him is not only love, but a series of murder cases as well.

4. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, 2013, by Rachel Joyce

The novel tells a story of a 60-year-old man who lived a boring and unhappy life, until one day, he received his old friend's letter who got cancer. In deep shock and sorrow, he went out to send his reply letter. 627 miles in 87 days, he walked depending on one belief that “his friend can survive as long as he walks”.

1. Whose book can make you rethink your own life?

A．Jack Kerouac.

B．Milan Kundera.

C．Orhan Pamuk.

D．Rachel Joyce.

2. Which of the following books was sold globally?

A．On the Road.	B．Life Is Elsewhere.
C．My Name Is Red.	D．The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

3. Why did the old man walk 627 miles to send a letter?

A．He walked to keep healthy.	B．He was in deep shock and sorrow.
C．He expected his friend to live longer.	D．He lived a very boring and unhappy life.

6 . A young Dutch inventor is widening his effort to cleanup floating (浮动的) plastic from the Pacific Ocean. He has developed a floating device (设备) to trap plastic waste moving into rivers before it reaches the oceans.

Boyan Slat was just 18 years old when he invented a system for catching waste in the ocean. He also founded an environmental group called “The Ocean Cleanup”. Its purpose is to develop the system. Last year, Slat showed the next step: a floating device which is called Interceptor. It removes plastic out of rivers. The device is powered by energy from the sun. “The 1,000 rivers are responsible for about 80% of plastic going into the world’s oceans,” said Slat. Three of the machines have already been used. Each machine costs about $775, 660, but the cost might drop as production increases.

Since they were used, the machines have been doing very well, collecting the plastic bottles and all the rubbish in the rivers. According to Slat, it is necessary to close “the tap”, which means preventing more plastic from reaching the ocean in the first place. He wanted to clean them all in the next five years. “This is not going to be easy, but if we do get this done, we could truly make our oceans again, ”said Slat.

The device is designed to be safe in rivers. Its nose is shaped to change directions to keep it away from larger floating things. It works by guiding plastic waste into an opening in the front of the device. The waste is then carried inside the machine where it is dropped into containers. The devices ends a text message to local operators that can come and empty it when it is full.

1. What do we know about Interceptor?

A．It needs solar power to work.	B．It is mainly used in the oceans.
C．It is being under test.	D．It can help sort waste.

2. What does “the tap” refer to in Paragraph 3?

A．The waste.	B．The oceans.
C．The machines.	D．The rivers.

3. What’s the function of the device’s nose?

A．To ensure the device’s safety.	B．To send operators text messages.
C．To empty the waste.	D．To serve as containers.

4. Where is the text most likely from?

A．A novel.	B．A magazine.
C．A diary.	D．A guidebook.