1 . Though fireworks (烟花) on bonfire night bring joy to many people, it is likely to be a night of fright and pain for the UK’s geese (鹅).
Research by Anglia Ruskin University has found that fireworks displays (表演) cause wild birds to suffer significant pain, and researchers have recommended that displays should not take place in areas with large wildlife populations. A study, published in the journal Conservation Physiology, is one of the first carried out into the effects of fireworks on wildlife. It found that the heart rate (率) of geese increases by 96% when they are influenced by fireworks displays.
The study involved 20 wild grey lag geese fitted with recorders to record their heart rate and body temperature, which are measures of physiological stress. Claudia Wascher, who led the research, found that the average heart rate increased from 63 to 124 beats per minute, and their average body temperature increased from 38℃ to 39℃, in the first hour of fireworks displays. It took the geese about five hours before the birds displayed normal body temperatures, with average readings returning by 5 am.
“Ours is one of the first scientific studies to examine whether fireworks disturb wildlife. There have been previous studies showing that fireworks can cause anxiety in pets, for example in dogs, but little research has been done into how animals in the wild react. We need to carry out further research to conclusively tell whether the geese are reacting to the noise or the light pollution from the fireworks, or a combination of both. Many people get a lot of enjoyment from fireworks but it’s important that we consider animals both pets and wildlife — whenever planning a display,” Wascher said.
1. What advice do researchers give according to the findings of the study?A.Geese should be protected especially at night. |
B.Great attention should be paid to the UK’s geese. |
C.Fireworks displays should be held without harming wildlife. |
D.Fireworks displays should take place to bring joy to people. |
A.To compare the heart rates between them. |
B.To make them safe and sound in the wild. |
C.To keep their body temperature normal. |
D.To measure their physiological stress. |
A.About five hours. | B.About four hours. |
C.About two hours. | D.About one hour. |
A.The relations between light pollution from fireworks and geese. |
B.The effects of noise and light pollution from fireworks on geese. |
C.Whether fireworks influence other wild animals. |
D.The influence of a display on pets and wildlife. |
2 . One of the ocean’s noisiest creatures is smaller than you’d expect — snapping shrimp (鼓虾). They create a widespread background noise in the underwater environment, which helps them communicate, protect their homes and hunt for food. When enough shrimp snap (发出噼啪声) at once, the noise can be deafening.
Aran Mooney, a biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, suggested that with increased ocean temperatures, snapping shrimp will snap more often and louder than before. This could raise the background noise of the global ocean. “They make a sound by closing a claw so fast. This makes a bubble (泡泡) and when that bubble bursts, it makes that snapping sound,” said Mooney.
Mooney discovered a strong relationship between warmer waters and more frequent snapping shrimp sounds after experimenting with the shrimp in tanks in the lab and by listening to the shrimp in the ocean at various water temperatures. “As the temperature rises, the snap rate increases,” he said. This makes sense because shrimp are essentially cold-blooded animals, meaning their body temperature and activity levels are largely controlled by their living environment. “We can actually show in the field that not only do snap rates increase, but the sound levels increase as well.”
How the louder snapping shrimp would affect or benefit the surroundings remained to be seen. “We know that fish use sound to communicate,” Mooney said. “If the environment gets noisy, it has the possibility to influence that communication. That’s something we have to follow up on.” There is also the possibility that the change of snapping shrimp affects machines humans use to discover mines, which could lead to unpleasant results.
1. What can we know about the snapping shrimp’s sound?A.It aims to protect the shrimp. | B.It is important to the ecosystem. |
C.It has different uses for the shrimp. | D.It is hard to be discovered by other creatures. |
A.By observing snapping shrimp in the field. | B.By recording the snap rates in the lab. |
C.By analyzing the way shrimp make noise. | D.By comparing shrimp’s sound in different places. |
A.Other uses of shrimp’s sound. | B.Influences of the noise on other creatures. |
C.Means of communication among fish. | D.Methods of stopping shrimp’s snapping. |
A.Underwater World Is No Longer Quiet | B.Small Animals Make a Big Difference |
C.Warming Oceans Are Getting Louder | D.Snapping Shrimp’s Noise Speaks Much |
1. 班会的主题;
2. 班会的简要过程;
3. 班会的意义。
参考词汇:垃圾分类—waste sorting;班会—class meeting
注意:
1. 写作词数应为80左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
Dear Mike,
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
4 . Discover how you can help endangered species! Volunteer to help conserve endangered species around the world with GoEco.
Sea turtles, Sri Lanka
The species is threatened by human hunters. The Sri Lankan government has approved the creation of hatcheries (孵化场) in order to protect this species. Volunteers on this program spend 60% of their time working in the hatchery and the other 40% is spent on activities such as beach cleanups and creating awareness within the local community.
Program Fees: $1,280 for 2 weeks and $1,680 per month for volunteers.
Wildlife Rescue, Western Australia
Adult kangaroos and wallabies are hunted for food, leaving thousands of their babies without parents. Many are killed or injured in road accidents. At the wildlife rescue center in Perth, Western Australia, volunteers live and help in the bushland caring for sick, injured, and displaced animals.
Program Fee: $2,095 for four weeks. Volunteers stay on-site in a small room. Due to very limited space, applications must be sent at least 9-12 months in advance.
Endangered Species Reserve, South Africa
The project will give you an incredible wildlife experience while learning about conservation efforts. For the rest of the time between monitoring sessions, volunteers are required to enter all the data that they have collected into our databases. At times, volunteers need to operate on night shifts. We also give lectures and presentations over the lunch period.
Program Fee: $1,750 for 2 weeks
Big Cat Refuge, South Africa
As a volunteer on this project, you will be involved in a wide variety of activities. Volunteer’s work ranges from enrichment activities, such as toy-making and farm work, to educating the visitors. Volunteers will also directly care for the cats by preparing food or feeding them as well as maintaining their living space.
Program Fee: $1,450 for 2 weeks
1. What is the monthly project fee for volunteers in Sri Lanka?A.$1,280. | B.$1,680. | C.$2,560. | D.$2,960. |
A.Having previous experience. |
B.Working night shifts sometimes. |
C.Applying for the project in advance. |
D.Having a good knowledge of wildlife. |
A.Study the habits of big cats. |
B.Help to sell some toys about cats. |
C.Guide visitors to the habitat of the cats. |
D.Do daily routines in the cats’ living space. |
5 . Large amounts of waste, or garbage, are filling streets in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, after protesters blocked a road leading to a landfill outside the city. People in Bancharedanda where the garbage is kept blame the government for not doing enough to protect them from the waste.
One British tourist, Richard McSorley, recently talked about the problem. He remembered how clean Kathmandu was when he first visited it many years ago. “If I were a new tourist, I would be despondent now,” McSorley said, while pointing to a load of garbage next to a city street. For weeks, treatment of waste has been a continuous problem in the city surrounded by hills. The problems started after people in the village of Bancharedanda refused to have the garbage thrown at a nearby landfill.
Biswas Dhungana was one of the protesters. He said the villagers were refusing to permit trucks loaded with garbage to enter. They say government officials have done little to provide basic equipment and effective ways to deal with the garbage. He added, “We have been forced to live like pigs in terrible conditions for several years as the government has not done anything to keep the village clean.”
Last week, hundreds of villagers built a wall of rocks on the road leading to Bancharedanda. It forced about 200 trucks filled with Kathmandu’s garbage to return without dumping their load. It was said that protesters also threw stones from surrounding hills.
Sunil Lamsal is an official to watch over how Kathmandu’s garbage is treated. He said, “I am working to deal with the concerns of the locals in Bancharedanda. But now, garbage continues to grow on the streets of Kathmandu. This has led to increased danger for people living in the capital. In the light of it, the government will soon take further positive measures to tackle the problem, as the environment affects every family.”
1. How does the author begin the text?A.By listing statistics. | B.By asking questions. |
C.By describing a phenomenon. | D.By drawing a comparison. |
A.Disappointed. | B.Dependent. | C.Dynamic. | D.Disabled. |
A.Government officials. | B.Foreign visitors. |
C.City residents. | D.Truck drivers. |
A.Punish the protesters. | B.Meet the villagers’ demand. |
C.Stop the villagers’ illegal actions. | D.Urge every family to clean their village. |
6 . Every year, painted lady butterflies (小红蛱蝶) born in Europe head south on a long journey to Africa. But pinpointing exactly where painted lady butterflies overwinter and breed (繁殖) was the last unknown piece of their roughly 15,000-kilometer migration. Scientists knew that the painted ladies went to Africa, but where on the continent they waited out European winters from December to February was a mystery. Researchers had predicted that subtropical regions close to the equator might provide suitable habitat. To know for sure, the researchers needed to find butterflies in the field.
From late 2017 through early 2020, researchers conducted fieldwork at a wide variety of sites across sub-Saharan Africa during the months of December and January. Another 15 sites were monitored all year round for about two years. In total, the team looked for adults and their young in nine countries, including Benin, Cameroon, and Kenya.
The researchers found more than 2,700 caterpillars (毛虫) and nearly 2,000 adult butterflies, from as far west as Cote d’Ivoire and all the way east to Kenya and Ethiopia. From September to November, the butterflies occupy the tropical grasslands. As those areas dry up, the painted ladies shift south to slightly damp regions from December to February. Central Africa’s tropical rainforests stop the butterflies from going any farther south. Three to five generations might be born in sub-Saharan Africa before any surviving adults head north in February.
Knowing where painted lady butterflies breed could help researchers understand why there are occasional population booms with 100 times as many butterflies in some years as others. In 2021, researchers linked the phenomenon to rains in sub-Saharan Africa — perhaps giving butterflies more plants to stop and lay eggs on. But the part of West Africa identified in that study is different from the newly identified breeding grounds. Now, scientists can confirm the link by looking at rainfall and other conditions where baby butterflies are found growing up.
But the next mystery researchers hope to solve is why painted lady butterflies make such a long journey at all.
1. How do the researchers confirm the painted ladies’ wintering location?A.By comparing their habitats. |
B.By spotting them in the field. |
C.By doing experiments with them. |
D.By tracking them on their migration. |
A.In the Europe. | B.South of Africa. | C.South to Sahara. | D.In the rainforest. |
A.Rains. | B.Foods. | C.Droughts. | D.Temperatures. |
A.To protect them. | B.To make use of them. |
C.To know about their habits. | D.To know how they relate to climate. |
7 . 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 |
8 . One afternoon in 2022, something on the Internet caught my eye:a tiny hedgehog (刺猬) held by a big hand. The post read: “HELP! My hedgehog abandoned (抛弃) her two babies, and I cannot raise both of them because I have to go to school fulltime. Good home with experience needed as soon as possible!”
I had no experience with baby hedgehogs. I was an animal person through and through and had raised cats, dogs, birds, and guinea pigs. But this tiny animal was new to me, and it touched me that he was abandoned, that maybe I could love him and be the best mom for him.
I wrote the most heartfelt email I could. That was how I found my Louie. True to my word, he was my baby. Louie didn’t know he was a hedgehog. He never curled (蜷缩) into a ball, and he liked my two cats, no fear. The cats, however, were afraid of him, as he often moved into the room, running after the cats and blocking my way.
By the time he reached old age, Louie had only three feet. However, he still managed to climb the stairs to visit other animals. He helped me realize my dream of hedgehog photography, a hobby that began during childhood with cats and dollhouses. I love showing off his modeling.
Life has meaning because of the purpose we have. Louie needed a good home and mom, and in return, I got to be a good mother and be needed. Hedgehogs require great amounts of patience, trust, and knowledge—but the payoff (回报) is pretty great.
1. The author got Louie from .A.a pet shop | B.a family friend |
C.a hedgehog owner | D.a hedgehog rescue center |
A.Frightened. | B.Relaxed. | C.Lonely. | D.Tired. |
A.He disliked climbing stairs. | B.He enjoyed being left alone. |
C.He always refused to be in photos. | D.He was active despite his difficulty in moving. |
A.It was easier than expected. | B.It gave her a sense of safety. |
C.It made her lose her patience. | D.It was satisfying and meaningful. |
9 . How to Prepare for and Survive a Flood
Flooding is a common natural disaster around the world.
Pay close attention to the radio, television, community announcements or your cellphone for official flooding updates.
If you have time before you leave, secure your home. Bring in outdoor furniture. Move necessary items to the highest part of the upper floor of your home. Turn off all the appliances (家电) like TV, refrigerator, washing machine, air-conditioner.
Do not walk through moving water. Six inches of moving water can sweep you off your feet. If you have to walk in water, walk where the water is not moving.
A.Have an emergency survival kit on hand. |
B.Are you in a frequently flood-stricken area? |
C.How to ensure your safety in a serious flood? |
D.Take as many useful furniture as possible when you leave. |
E.Know the difference between a flood “watch” and “warning”. |
F.Use a stick to check the firmness of the ground in front of you. |
G.Do not touch electrical equipment if you are wet or standing in water. |
10 . Asteroids (小行星) are believed to have formed early in our solar system’s history — about 4.5 billion years ago — when a cloud of gas and dust called the solar nebula (太阳星云) collapsed and formed our sun and the planets. By visiting these near Earth objects to study the material that came from the solar nebula, we can look for answers to some of humankind’s most arresting questions, such as: How did the solar system form and where did the Earth’s water and other organic materials such as carbon come from? In addition to unlocking clues about our solar system, asteroids may provide clues about our Earth. By understanding more about asteroids, we may learn more about past Earth impacts and possibly find ways to reduce the threat of future impacts.
If we don’t want to go the way of the dinosaurs someday, we need to protect ourselves against the threat of being hit by a big asteroid. According to NASA, typically about once every 10,000 years, a rock y or iron asteroid the size of a football field could crash into our planet and possibly cause tidal waves big enough to flood coastal areas.
But what we really have to fear is asteroids about 328 feet across or bigger. Such an impact would cause a firestorm and fill the atmosphere with sun-blocking dust, which would wipe out forests and farm fields and starve the human and animal life that it didn’t immediately kill.
That’s why it’s vital to develop a way to neutralize such a threat to Earth. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, launched in late November 2021, was the first mission to demonstrate a technology called asteroid redirection by manmade impactor. A robotic spacecraft will be crashed into an asteroid named Didymos, in an effort to show that it’s possible to slightly change the path of an asteroid. That would enable NASA to redirect potential threats to miss Earth.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?A.How solar system came into being. |
B.How long asteroids have existed. |
C.Why asteroids are to be explored. |
D.When asteroids will impact Earth. |
A.To make the text more interesting. |
B.To introduce the topic of the text. |
C.To grab readers’ attention to asteroids. |
D.To show the disaster from an asteroid impact. |
A.strengthen | B.avoid | C.beautify | D.realize |
A.Dinosaurs may live on some of them. |
B.They were formed earlier than Earth. |
C.Exploring them helps us know Earth. |
D.NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test failed. |