1 . People use laughter to connect and bond with others. It’s how we tell friends that we find their jokes funny, or how kids in a park show that they are having fun. Laughter is so important to humans, even if they belong to different cultures or speak different languages. What about animals? Scientists are studying if there is a connection between animals’ laughing and playing.

Sasha Winkler, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), studies biological anthropology (人类学)，including the study of animal behavior. She noticed that the small monkeys she worked with, liked to play together by chasing each other. While having fun together, they made panting (喘气) sounds, almost like they were out of breath, which reminded Winkler of their quiet laughter. This made Winkler wonder whether other animals did so while they were playing.

To find out whether other animals laugh and play, Winkler teamed up with another scientist named Greg Bryant, a professor and vice chair in the Department of Communication at UCLA. Together, they found and read dozens of reports written by other scientists who study animals. Winkler and Bryant looked for any mentions in any animal of sound signaling like the panting of the monkeys during their playing.

In April 2021, Winkler and Bryant published their findings in a science journal. Through their research, they identified 65 species or groups of animals, which laugh while playing. The animals that laugh the most include primates (灵长类) like monkeys and apes, rodents (啮齿动物) like rats, and mammals that live in the ocean like dolphins. Their work won’t only help us understand animals better but it could also help us understand how humans develop or change over time. Next, they will carry on more study to find more.

1. What is the function of paragraph 1?

A．To conclude the main idea.

B．To put forward the topic.

C．To offer the supporting evidences.

D．To add the background information.

2. What are the small monkeys like when they are having fun?

A．They can hardly breathe.

B．They tend to laugh separately.

C．They laugh at a low sound.

D．They don’t laugh at all.

3. What do we know about Winkler and Bryant’s study?

A．It is great progress in the study of animals and humans.

B．It is only based on the findings in a science journal.

C．Over 65 groups of animals laugh while playing.

D．They do the research only by studying primates and rodents.

4. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Science.

B．Education.

C．Health.

D．Entertainment.

2 . Winter can usually kill most wildfires. But in the far North，some forest fires just don’t die. They are thought of as “zombie (僵尸) fires”.

“Zombie fires” usually sleep underground in winter. Covered by snow, they smoke through the cold. Fueled by carbon-rich peat (泥炭) and soil in the North, most of these hidden fires spread slowly for less than 500 meters during the winter. When spring comes, the flames (火焰) of the fires appear near sites that they burned in winter, and they turn to burning fresh fuels around. This may happen well before the traditional fire season in the far North.

“Zombie fires” had been known mostly from firefighters’ stories. Few scientists studied them until details in some satellite images attracted one research team. Rebecca Scholten, a member of the team, studies earth systems at Vrije University Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Her team noticed an unusual thing. “New fires have been starting very close to the former years’ fires in recent years，and we wonder how often the fires might survive the winter,” Scholten explains.

These “zombie fires” are rarely seen before, according to a new study from Nature. But in recent years, they are becoming more common, the study warns. It is believed that the “zombie fires” are even on the road of being a threat. Forests in the far North are warming faster than the globe’s average (平均数). Scholten says, “We’re seeing more hot summers and more large fires and strong burning. That could set the stage for the fires to become a bigger problem,” she worries. And the region’s soils hold a lot of carbon—maybe twice as much as earth’s atmosphere. More fires here could give off huge amounts of greenhouse gases. That would drive a cycle of more warming and even higher risk of fires.

1. What do we know about the “zombies fires” in the far North?

A．They will completely die out in winter.

B．Carbon-rich peat helps them burn slowly in winter.

C．They often happen after the traditional fire season.

D．Their flames can only appear in spring.

2. What can we infer from Scholten’s words in paragraph 3?

A．“Zombie fires” appear earlier than the years before.

B．“Zombie fires” happen far from former years’ fires.

C．“Zombie fires” happen more frequently than before.

D．“Zombie fires” appear in different shapes every year.

3. What was a cause of being a threat for the “zombie fires”?

A．The global warming is slowing down.

B．The hot summers are less and less seen.

C．The area’s soils are short of carbon.

D．More greenhouse gases are given off.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Where Are “Zombie Fires” From?

B．Are “Zombie Fires” Frightening?

C．Pay Attention To “Zombie Fires”!

D．“Zombie Fires” Are Caused By Humans!

4 . Not in history has a modern city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone. Nothing remains of it_________memories and a few homes that were near the edge of the city. The factories, great stores and newspaper buildings, the hotels and the huge homes of the very_________, are all gone.

Within_________of the earthquake the fires began. Within an hour a huge tower of smoke_________by the fires could be seen a hundred miles away. And for three days and nights this huge fire moved in the sky,_________the sun, darkening the day and filling the land with smoke.

There was nothing_________the flames. There was no organization, no communication. The earthquake had destroyed all of the modern_________of a twentieth century city. The streets were broken and filled with pieces of fallen walls. The telephone and telegraph systems were broken. And the great water pipes had_________. All inventions and safety plans of man had been_________by thirty seconds of movement by the earth.

By Wednesday afternoon, only twelve hours after the__________, half the heart of the city was gone. I watched the huge fire. It was very__________. There was no wind. Yet from every__________wind was__________upon the city. East, west, north and south, strong winds were blowing upon the__________city.

The__________air made a huge wind that pulled air into the fire,__________into the atmosphere. Day and night the calm continued, and yet, near the flames, the wind was often as strong as a storm.

There was no water to fight the fire.__________decided to use explosives (炸药) to destroy buildings in its__________. They hoped this would create a block to__________or stop the fire. Building after building was destroyed. And still the great fires continued. Jack London told how people tried to save some of their__________from the fire.

1.

A．but

B．and

C．when

D．because

2.

A．poor

B．strong

C．rich

D．weak

3.

A．weeks

B．minutes

C．days

D．years

4.

A．affected

B．destroyed

C．protected

D．caused

5.

A．whitening

B．brightening

C．reddening

D．enlarging

6.

A．shaving

B．opposing

C．entering

D．rejecting

7.

A．inventions

B．telegraphs

C．pipes

D．telephones

8.

A．repaired

B．replaced

C．burst

D．produced

9.

A．created

B．removed

C．protected

D．destroyed

10.

A．earthquake

B．fire

C．storm

D．wind

11.

A．noisy

B．fierce

C．calm

D．boring

12.

A．pavement

B．building

C．orbit

D．side

13.

A．pouring in

B．taking in

C．bringing in

D．resulting in

14.

A．lively

B．dying

C．energetic

D．positive

15.

A．fresh

B．heated

C．cool

D．frozen

16.

A．raising

B．rising

C．lowering

D．keeping

17.

A．Firefighters

B．Engineers

C．Designers

D．Managers

18.

A．platform

B．shape

C．path

D．scan

19.

A．spring

B．sponsor

C．spin

D．slow

20.

A．cars

B．furniture

C．possessions

D．houses

5 . There are so many rabbits across Australia that it may be surprising to learn that they are a non-native species. A few rabbits arrived with British settlers in 1788, but it was not until 1859, when a British-born farmer named Thomas Austin brought 24 European rabbits to his land for hunting, that they began to live there. They are an excellent example of an invasive (侵入的) species, a non-native species that does harm to its new environment.

Rabbits have lived well in many different environments within Australia, such as grasslands, coastal areas, farmland, and even in towns or cities. Their activities have destroyed crops and plants. They compete directly with other wildlife for food and shelter, including taking over burrows (地洞) of other animals. They have led to dangerously reduced populations of many plant and animal species.

Efforts to control the rabbit population have had mixed success. The first main effort was the Rabbit-Proof Fence. In 1901, the government started building a knee in the state of Western Australia to protect farmland from rabbits. By the time it was finished in 1907, the Rabbit-Proof Fence ran some 2,000 miles from north to south. The Acting Chief Inspector of Rabbits, Alexander Crawford, headed a team whose job was to go around keeping the fence in working order. But over time, the fence proved to be no match for the rabbits.

Other main efforts have included programs to destroy rabbit burrows or use viruses that sicken and kill rabbits. Again, these efforts have been less than successful. The big problem to any efforts to control the rabbit population is simply that their population grows so quickly. One female can have 30 young in a year.

If Thomas Austin had known the damage that the rabbits would cause across the country, he might have had second thoughts about bringing rabbits to Australia.

1. Why did rabbits begin to live in Australia?

A．They travelled there by chance.

B．They were brought in by Thomas Austin.

C．They were introduced by the government.

D．They moved there to escape bad environment.

2. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．Some activities of rabbits.

B．Rabbits’ ability to live in the wild.

C．How fast the population of rabbits grows.

D．The damage rabbits have caused to Australia.

3. How successful was the Rabbit-Proof Fence?

A．It failed in the beginning.

B．It didn’t live up to expectations.

C．It was unfinished for lack of money.

D．It failed later for nobody protected it.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Rabbits and farming

B．Efforts to control rabbits

C．Rabbits: experts in burrowing

D．Rabbits: unwelcome newcomers

6 . Scientists today are concerned about the growing number of species in the world that may soon become extinct. The United Nations, along with many governments, are trying to save these endangered species. To help resolve this issue, scientists have been trying to learn why species become endangered.

In the United States, loss of habitats is the main reason for species becoming endangered. As populations grow and cities or towns expand, nature is destroyed and the ecosystem is affected. Even small changes in one part of an ecosystem can have a big impact on another part of it. For example, deforestation may result in a change in ground temperature, which may kill off a certain kind of plant in the forest. Animals that eat this plant may suddenly find that there is no available food so they starve to death.

Another possible cause of endangered or extinct species is climate change and rising sea levels. As the Earth gets warmer, this has profound effects on animal and plant life everywhere. For example, rising sea levels make coastal areas unfit for birds to live in. Warmer temperatures melt the ice where polar bears live, wrecking their habitat and making it harder for them to find food. The rising seas also make it harder for polar bears to swim from the cold waters to frozen packs of ice so many of them drown.

There are several ways that people are trying to help endangered species recover. Ecologists study different species and try to find out more information about them to try and help. In Finland, for example, scientists found that a a decrease in the number of bogs(沼泽) was responsible for the falling butterfly population. Once they understood this, they could manage the butterfly population and help it recover. Governments are also passing laws to protect endangered animals. One example of this is an area near Hawaii with a seriously low fish population. The United States’ government has made it illegal for fishing boats to enter this area.

1. What can we infer from paragraph 2?

A．Most endangered species are located in the United States.

B．Cities and towns in the United States are growing too fast.

C．Ecosystem changes can result in habitat loss and animal death.

D．More trees need to be planted to prevent animals from dying out.

2. What does the underlined word “wrecking” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Conserving.

B．Damaging.

C．Providing.

D．Dominating.

3. Which is the best title for this text?

A．Saving Endangered Species	B．A List of Endangered Species
C．The Causes of Global Warming	D．How Polar Bears Became Extinct

4. What will the author probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?

A．Some other ways to help endangered species recover.

B．A brief discussion of polar bears and their diet habits.

C．The impact of fishing laws on the development of Hawaii.

D．Various opinions and debates concerning the cause of global warming.

7 . 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。

Besides oceans, glacier ice is the largest source of water on earth. A glacier is a sheet of ice that moves     1    (it) under the influence of gravity. Some glaciers travel down mountains or valleys,     2     others spread across a large expanse of land.     3    (heavy) glaciated regions such as Greenland and Antarctica are called continental glaciers. These two ice sheets account     4     more than 95 percent of the earth's glacial ice. The Greenland ice is so heavy that much of the region     5    (press) below sea level so far. Smaller glaciers that occur at higher altitudes are called valley or alpine glaciers (山岳冰川). Another way of     6    (classify) glaciers is in terms of their internal temperature. In temperate glaciers, the ice within the glacier is near its melting point.

The     7    (major) of the earth's glaciers are located near the poles, though glaciers exist on all continents, including Africa and Oceania. Glaciers     8    (form) in high alpine regions generally result from cold temperatures throughout the year. The weight and pressure of ice accumulation causes glacier movement. As a glacier moves, it carves out     9     U-shaped valley similar to a riverbed, but with much steeper walls and a     10    (flat)bottom.

8 . A new study has found that animals feign（假装）death for long periods of time in order to escape capture from their predators. How long they are motionless depends on the circumstances, but they can wait out their predators for quite a long time when their lives are in danger.

Animals stay still to avoid capture for different lengths of time. “Most intriguingly, Charles Darwin recorded a beetle that remained motionless for 23 minutes. Antlions, our favorite study creature in this regard, set a record of 61 minutes,” says lead author Nigel R. Franks from the University of Bristol.

Antlions are members of large group of insects. Antlion larvae（幼虫）dig pits in loose soil and then aggressively attack ants and other small insects that fall into the sandy pits. In another study, researchers dug sandpits to understand the physics of how antlion larvae build their pits. As part of their research they needed to weigh the individual larvae. When they put them onto the microbalance scale to weigh them, they noticed that the larvae remained motionless for long periods of time. “This made it ‘piece of cake’ to weigh them but it aroused researchers’ curiosity, ‘What on earth were they playing at?’” Franks says.

The researchers found that the amount of time the antlions remained stationary after being disturbed was unpredictable and was often quite lengthy. In researching other animals, they found that how long they wait to move again can depend on factors such as hunger and temperature, but it always varies.

This unpredictability is absolutely crucial for their survival, Franks says. For example, if a bird visits these antlion pits and the larvae “play dead”. the birds will fly around the antlions to see if they move. “Imagine if antlions always remained immobile for 5 minutes. In such case, the predator could look for alternate prey（猎物）and then return to its original one when the time is up,” he says. “If that happened, it would be a short life for the predictable death-feigner.” But because the time is unpredictable, the birds leave and go find something else to eat. The predators turn their attention from the unmoving prey that no longer catches their eye to something nearby that is a better alternative.

1. What is the new study about?

A．Animals’ hunting skills.

B．Animals’ living conditions.

C．Animals’ self-protecting behavior.

D．Animals’ means of communication.

2. Why did the author mention another research in paragraph 3?

A．To introduce a new topic for discussion.

B．To offer supporting data for the discovery.

C．To make a comparison between the two studies.

D．To provide some background information on the study.

3. What does the underlined word “stationary” probably mean in paragraph 4?

A．Unmoving.

B．Alarmed.

C．Energetic.

D．Peaceful.

4. How do antlions take advantage of playing dead according to the last paragraph?

A．By scaring away predators.

B．By distracting predators’ attention.

C．By staying still for an uncertain amount of time.

D．By waiting for predators to eat something else

9 . 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。

Wild Chinese sturgeon ( 鲟) are thought to have lived at the same time as dinosaurs and among the first class of protected animals in China. Last week, a wild Chinese sturgeon, which is believed to be the     1     (large) ever found in the past two decades, arrived in Beijing for better treatment. The species is one of the     2     (critical) endangered fish species in China and can be found only in the Yangtze and Pearl rivers.

The Chinese sturgeon “Houfu” ,     3     literally means “good fortune for ever after”, arrived at the Beijing Aquarium on Monday after 22 hours of transport     4     Hubei Province.

When the fish     5     (find) by a fisherman in the Yangtze River Basin, it had been suffering from multiple     6     (injury). It was sent to the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute for treatment immediately. As she was so weak, local care takers had difficulty     7     (feed) it. The Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute decided to move it to Beijing to receive further treatment.

Nicknamed “Aquatic giant pandas” and     8     (list) as a wild creature under state protection, the species has been struggling due to water projects, busy waterway traffic     9     pollution in recent years. The number of Chinese sturgeon living in the wild     10     (fall) sharply to about 50 now from about 1,000 in 1982, according to researchers' estimates.