1 . At Sho Farm in northern Vermont, farmers Melissa Hoffman and Shawn Smith work hand in hand with the land and its inhabitants, and among them are hundreds of ducks. The ducks at Sho Farm are not being raised to be killed for food. Rather, they are naturally involved in farming operations, helping to manage pests and add fertilizer (肥料) to the soil.
In the beginning, Hoffman, who has a background in organic farming and ecology action, worked with ecologists and biologists to survey the plants and wildlife all around the area. This was “to understand who was living here, so that everything we did was in relationship to the life already here,” he says.
So, at Sho Farm, focus is placed on living harmoniously alongside other life and working with traditional ecological knowledge. Food is seen not as a commodity (商品) but as a relationship with land and life.
The methods of food production at Sho Farm, as well as the farmers’ philosophy of working with rather than against nature, are in sharp contrast to most modern agricultural systems. And that’s the point. “We’ve been talking a lot about the broken food system and the consequences of it to the environment, to wildlife, to the animals in animal agriculture and to human health,” says Hoffman, adding that it’s not just the food system that’s broken. “It’s the relationship between humans, non-human animals, land and nature.”
The ducks play a vital, integrated role on the farm, explains Hoffman, by naturally providing pest control, fertilizer and (fuel-free) land maintenance (维护), just as by-products of their existence. “We noticed where we summered groups of ducks and parts of the food system that were not doing very well. The following year, the food system was efficiently improved,” he says.
It’s a symbiotic relationship that works well. “Animals don’t have to be part of a farm in a commodity sense. They can be part of the farm as a partner,” Hoffman says. “They are wonderful partners.”
1. Why did Hoffman do a survey in the beginning?| A．To get familiar with the surroundings. |
| B．To have a good relationship with other people. |
| C．To live in harmony with other life on the farm. |
| D．To have a good understanding of organic farming. |
| A．The causes of the broken food system. |
| B．The reasons for Hoffman’s farming methods. |
| C．The changes in modern agricultural systems. |
| D．The process of food production at Sho Farm. |
| A．Animals are treated well at Sho Farm. |
| B．Animals are not to be sold for money. |
| C．People and animals play the same role in organic farming. |
| D．People and animals work together and benefit each other. |
| A．Efficient. | B．Modern. | C．Natural. | D．Economical. |
2 . Grace and her family thought they had lost Thor forever when they moved to Windsor, Nova Scotia from British Columbia last August.
“We probably spent seven or eight months looking for Thor,” Grace said. “What made it worse was that there were rumors(谣言) going around that there was dogfighting in our area. We still always hoped that somebody had taken him to be a pet, but you just never knew.”
“It was terrible. My daughter Bronwyn would try to find Thor everywhere, which had been a Christmas present for her. Even while watching TV programmes, she would say, ‘Oh, look! That dog looks like Thor!’” Grace said. Then the family moved, and the hope became impossible.
But one day, the phone rang. It was their former vet in British Columbia, saying Thor was in a rescue shelter(收容所) in High River, Alberta. He had been found at a work camp in the northern part of the place and taken to south by a man planning to keep him. But the man was forced to turn him over to the shelter when he couldn’t keep Thor in his rented home. Luckily, the ring on Thor’s neck gave people some information.
Thor was flown to Nova Scotia last week. The family picked him up at the airport. “Thor was just lying in his box and looking down, and my daughter walked over and said, ‘Hey Thor.’ He immediately stood up, trying to greet my daughter. We let him out and he jumped on her as if he was giving her a big hug and he kissed her face. Then he sat down suddenly at her feet and rolled over for attention. He was cute.” Grace said.
1. Who helped Thor back home?| A．The author. | B．Grace. | C．The former vet. | D．Bronwyn. |
| A．He came back by air. |
| B．He was killed in the dogfighting. |
| C．He was given to Grace by Bronwyn. |
| D．He moved to British Columbia with the family. |
| A．Anxious and shocked. | B．Excited and joyful. |
| C．Confused and annoyed. | D．Hopeful and calm. |
| A．A travel brochure. | B．A news report. |
| C．A geography text book. | D．A health magazine. |
China will establish a new batch of national parks, including Huanghekou, Qianjiangyuan-Baishanzu and Kalamayli, in a steady and
Speaking at the second National Park Forum held in Xining, capital of Qinghai province, Guan said China has adopted the strictest measures
China’s national parks are specific land or sea areas
In 2021, China established the first batch of national parks, with
“The Sanjiangyuan park realized the full protection of the source of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang
“Efforts
4 . When micro-plastics end up in farm fields, the pollution can damage plant growth. But two young researchers now report that combining fungi (真菌) with certain farm wastes can partly overcome that problem.
May Shin, 20, and Jiwon Choi, 18, met in a research design class at the Fryeburg Academy, a high school in Maine. May had desired to explore how micro-plastics might affect the ecosystem. Jiwon was crazy about plants and fungi. The young scientists cooperated to test how long-lived plastics might affect farm crops.
Scientists have shown certain fungi can aid root growth and a plant’s nutrient uptake. Those organisms are named arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Certain farm wastes, like straw, can provide nutrients to plants and help stabilize their roots. Such wastes are also known as mushroom substrate (基质) and people often grow mushrooms in them.
May and Jiwon planted over 2,000 scallion (大葱) seeds in pots of soil. Half the seeds got soil polluted with micro-plastics. The rest grew in plastic-free soil. The plants then were further divided into four groups. The young scientists added AMF to the soil in one group. Another group had a top layer of mushroom substrate. A third group got both treatments. The last group got none. For three weeks, the pair tracked how many scallions sprouted (发芽) in each group and measured the plants’ height once each week.
About twice as many scallions sprouted in clean soil compared to that containing plastic bits. But among plants surviving in the polluted soil, a combination of AMF and mushroom substrate helped them out. Those getting both treatments grew 5.4 centimeters per week. That was faster than either of the treatments alone or those getting none.
Jiwon and May then looked at the plant roots with a microscope. Where AMF had been added, it grew into those roots. That increased the scallion roots’ surface area, May said, which should promote their uptake of nutrients. So “I see this project as coming up with a sustainable solution for plant growth in polluted soils,” said May.
1. Why did May and Jiwon work together?| A．To see the effects of long-lived plastics on farm crops. |
| B．To find the relationship between plants and fungi. |
| C．To design a research on the growth of plants. |
| D．To explore the way that the ecosystem works. |
| A．To prove the existence of micro-plastics. | B．To compare fungi with farm wastes. |
| C．To tell the advantages of farm wastes. | D．To provide some related information. |
| A．Its purpose. | B．Its design. | C．Its findings. | D．Its reasons. |
| A．By keeping the plants more resistant to pollution. | B．By allowing the plants’ deep area more freedom. |
| C．By making nutrients more available to the plants. | D．By exposing the roots to a larger surface area. |
5 . Astronomers long thought that an odd star system observed by the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite was a simple case of a star orbiting a black hole. But two astronomers are challenging that claim, finding that the evidence suggests something far stranger: a never-before-seen type of star made of invisible dark matter. The system consists of a sun-like star, and its mysterious dark companion, which is much more massive.
What could that dark companion be? Maybe, as suggested, it’s a clump (团) of dark matter. Dark matter is an invisible form of matter that makes up the vast majority of the mass of every single galaxy (星系). We still don’t have a solid understanding of its identity. Most theoretical models assume that dark matter is smoothly distributed in each galaxy, but there are models that allow it to come together on itself.
One of these models supposes that dark matter in this case is a new kind of boson (玻色子). These bosons would have the ability to form clumps. Some of them could be the size of entire star systems, but some could be much smaller. The smallest ones could be as small as stars, and they get a new name: boson stars. Boson stars would be entirely invisible. Because dark matter doesn’t interact with other substances or light, we could detect them only through the gravitational influence on their surroundings. The researchers pointed out that a simple model of boson dark matter could produce enough boson stars to make the two astronomers’ finding reasonable.
While it’s unlikely that this is actually the discovery of a boson star, follow-up observations are still urged. Most importantly, this unique system gives us a rare opportunity to study the behaviour of strong gravity, allowing us to examine Einstein’s theory of general relativity to see if it holds. Secondly, if it is a boson star, this system is the perfect experimental set-up. We can keep studying our models of boson stars, see how well they can explain the orbital dynamics of this system and use that information to glimpse into the dark corners of the universe.
1. What does the evidence show about the odd star system?| A．Its mass is less than the sun. |
| B．It is a simple case for astronomers. |
| C．It is made of a star and a black hole. |
| D．Its star is made of invisible dark matter. |
| A．It can be gathered. |
| B．It is solid and inactive. |
| C．It can be a clump of visible matter. |
| D．It makes up a minority of the galaxy’s mass. |
| A．The smallest dark matter. |
| B．The smallest boson clumps. |
| C．The smallest boson models. |
| D．The smallest star systems. |
| A．Einstein’s theory holds true. |
| B．Boson stars have been confirmed. |
| C．More relevant studies will be needed. |
| D．A perfect model contains a boson star. |
Years ago, the authors conducted human-wildlife conflict surveys in the Tibet Autonomous Region’s counties,
This effort greatly expanded knowledge of the snow leopard’s distribution in this region,
Importantly, in the past few years, a number of major transportation infrastructure (基础设施) projects
7 . The drone (无人机) is flying above the Amazon River in Brazil, but its battery is running low. Andre Coelho, the chief pilot, guides it back to safety with skills perfected by playing video games. Long hours’ practicing has become a surprising benefit in an effort to conserve dolphins that live in the river. Marcelo Oliveira, a conservation specialist, stands on the bow of a boat. He pulls the white drone from the air, changes the battery, and quickly sends it back in the sky.
Later, scientists will examine the video which has recorded for signs of the two species of dolphins that inhabit the river: the pink and bulbous boto (亚马孙河豚), and the smaller, prettier tucuxi (白海豚). Exactly how many live in the basin is a mystery. Some studies have suggested a decline of the pink dolphins in specific areas of the Amazon River, but the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says there isn’t enough data available for either species of dolphins.
“We need to base everything on hard data,” says Miriam Marmontel, a scientist. “We need to focus on what’s really critical to help us get to a real situation that can influence policy. We need numbers. We need information on death and reproduction.”
Marmontel’s biggest concern is that dolphins are being caught in the nets of local fishermen. Scientists have also given a warning against fishermen’s killing botos. Pollution from gold mining is also a concern.
The scientists want to use the information they collect to persuade the IUCN to list the boto and the tucuxi as endangered species. Funding agencies and governments want evidence. Without the IUCN’s categorization, it’s difficult to raise the money for protection measures.
They hope their drone monitoring will do the trick. During three trips to the Amazon last year, the team has recorded about 70 samples (样本) that will contribute to a more accurate estimate of dolphin populations in the Amazon basin.
1. What are Coelho and Oliveira doing in the Amazon River?| A．Playing a video game. |
| B．Recording the video of the flowing river. |
| C．Testing the drone they designed for fun. |
| D．Collecting data on dolphins with a drone. |
| A．The fishermen’s living conditions. | B．The money for protection measures. |
| C．The pollution from the gold mining. | D．The dolphins being caught by fishermen. |
| A．To raise money to protect the Amazon basin. |
| B．To find evidence for the need to take measures. |
| C．To urge governments to record Amazon species. |
| D．To get an exact number of species in the Amazon. |
| A．Worried. | B．Approving. | C．Unfavorable. | D．Unclear. |
Earth Day is an event
In1962, Rachel Carson’s bestselling book “Silent Spring” created an
In the fall of 1969, Nelson announced it and appealed to the entire country to get involved. Consequently, telegrams, letters and telephone calls
Today, Earth Day is celebrated around the world every April 22. Sometimes numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of
9 . Last fall, the Great Salt Lake hit its lowest level since record keeping began. The lake sank to nearly six meters below the long-term average. The lake’s shrinking threatens to upend the ecosystem, disturbing the migration and survival of 10 million birds, including ducks and geese.
Duck hunters aren’t the only ones worried about the Great Salt Lake. The decades-long decline in lake level is raising alarm bells for millions of people who live in the region. The low lake level and increasing salts in the lake water threaten to destroy economic mainstays like agriculture, tourism and mining. Exposed salts can also reduce air quality and so threaten public health.
Saline lakes (咸水湖) are terminal lakes. They have no rivers flowing out of them. As water disappears, salts are left behind. At the same time, the people who live in these deserts use freshwater for crops, homes and industry. Residents get water from streams and rivers into canals, pipelines or reservoirs before it reaches the lakes. And as the lakes shrink, the salt in water increases.
Lake Poopo, a highland lake in Bolivia that used to stretch 90 kilometers long and 32 kilometers wide, is now a salty mud flat. The Aral Sea shared by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, once the world’s fourth largest lake, has at times in recent decades shrunk to a tenth of its historic 68,000-square-kilometer surface area. Some saline lakes, like Nevada’s Winnemucca Lake, dried up so long ago — the waters that fed it were led to agricultural fields — that most people have forgotten they were ever wet.
The good news is that people still have time to halt the Great Salt Lake’s decline by using less water. Cutting agricultural and other outdoor water use by a third to half through a combination of voluntary conservation measures and policy changes would allow the lake to refill enough to support the region’s economy, ecology and quality of life. If this succeeds, the Great Salt Lake can be a model for how to save other saline lakes around the world.
1. What do we know about the Great Salt Lake from the first two paragraphs?| A．It is home to ducks. | B．It will disappear soon. |
| C．It will be less important. | D．It’s been shrinking for years. |
| A．Their current states. | B．The challenges they face. |
| C．Measures to restore them. | D．Reasons why they become saltier. |
| A．Stop. | B．Boost. | C．Adapt. | D．Learn. |
| A．The Great Salt Lake Is Getting Smaller |
| B．The World Is Becoming Drier and Drier |
| C．Saline Lakes Need Freshwater Deadly |
| D．Many Lakes in the World will Disappear |
10 . My 5-year-old daughter Kai walked around a bus stop, picking up candy wrappers and plastic bottles and throwing them in the waste bin. We were a visiting family here, but she was cleaning the sidewalk, which didn’t shock me, nor was I
Our cleanup project began when we drove past an empty field one day and Kai
However, it seems we can never
Now Kai hopes to become a marine biologist to protect sharks one day. She still has many years to
The last time our family was at the beach, we still picked up plastic bottles. Most
| A．embarrassed | B．discouraged | C．concerned | D．frightened |
| A．apologized | B．confirmed | C．spotted | D．explained |
| A．loose | B．magic | C．processed | D．abandoned |
| A．trade | B．mistake | C．replace | D．change |
| A．pulled over | B．blew up | C．turned down | D．gave in |
| A．due to | B．ahead of | C．other than | D．instead of |
| A．official | B．serious | C．optional | D．regular |
| A．deliver | B．remove | C．track | D．produce |
| A．stress | B．comfort | C．anger | D．pride |
| A．mess | B．platform | C．court | D．house |
| A．scary | B．pleasant | C．historic | D．real |
| A．decide | B．struggle | C．survive | D．contribute |
| A．safe | B．giant | C．distant | D．sick |
| A．personally | B．memorably | C．technically | D．universally |
| A．promise | B．threat | C．reminder | D．favor |
