1 . For children, space is magical — a whole world is out there, with so many things to learn and stories to read. Here are some children’s books about space and the solar system.

Mae among the Stars by Stasia Burrington

This beautifully illustrated picture book is attractive to young kids. It was inspired by the first African American woman in space, Mae Jemison. It tells the story of Mae as a little girl, who always knew she had big dreams about space. This is a great addition to a young kid’s collection, as a reminder to hold tight to dreams and never give up.

Space by Libby Jackson

This beautifully illustrated book gives kids a look at 50 women from around the world who were involved in exploring space in some way, from the 19th century to the present day. This is a perfect gift for young kids who want to know more about some of the lesser-known scientific achievements related to space exploration.

Chasing Space by Leland Melvin

This is Melvin’s story about being a football player-turned-astronaut, along with his recovery from an injury that nearly left him deaf. Kids will love reading his story about how he faced challenges and advanced ahead, and he also includes DIY experiments for kids to try, and a section of full-color photographs.

System and Beyond by David A. Aguilar

The book is full of beautiful illustrations of space, and is perfect for kids of all ages, exploring various planets and the solar system. Unlike other kids’ space book, this is a National Geographic book written and illustrated by an award-winning astronomer and space artist. Aguilar is also the former Director of Science Information and Public Outreach at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

1. What do Mae among the Stars and Space have in common?

A．They include less-known astronauts.	B．They tell about scientists’ childhood.
C．They cover women exploring space.	D．They are suitable for children of all ages.

2. Whose book attracts children showing interest in experiments?

A．Stasia Burrington’s.	B．Libby Jackson’s.
C．Leland Melvin’s.	D．David A. Aguilar’s.

3. What is unique to System and Beyond?

A．It has beautiful pictures.	B．It tells about space artists.
C．It has won many grand awards.	D．It was written by an astronomer.

2 . 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。

Mount Tai, a typical representative of the Chinese famous mountains, is a mountain with     1    long history and a special historic status. In 1982, Mount Tai was designated as the National Park of China and it     2    (list) formally in the directory of the World Natural and Cultural Heritage in 1987. It becomes a precious heritage of human beings.

Mount Tai,     3    (locate) in the east of North China Plain and the middle of Shandong Province, is known to the world for its splendid scenery. Standing out among the Shandong Hills, it is of     4    (significant) around other hills. The south of Mount Tai is     5    (high)than the north. In Mount Tai, the transportation is convenient with the Jinghu railway     6     (pass) by in the west. The distance     7     Mount Tai and Qufu City is 83.1 kilometers. Many roads and railways meet in Tai’an City,     8     just lies in the south of Mount Tai.

As a mountainous     9     (scene) spot, Mount Tai has a high value in terms of aesthetics( 美学) and science, especially the aesthetic value, which     10    (be) the foundation for Mount Tai to become a famous mountain in the history and an unparalleled heritage today.

3 . As cities balloon with growth, access to nature for people living in urban areas is becoming harder to find. If you’re lucky, there might be a pocket park near where you live, but it’s unusual to find places in a city that are relatively wild.

Past research has found health and wellness benefits of nature for humans, but a new study shows that wildness in urban areas is extremely important for human well-being.

The research team focused on a large urban park. They surveyed several hundred park-goers, asking them to submit a written summary online of a meaningful interaction they had with nature in the park. The researchers then examined these submissions, coding (编码) experiences into different categories. For example, one participant’s experience of “We sat and listened to the waves at the beach for a while” was assigned the categories “sitting at beach” and “listening to waves.”

Across the 320 submissions, a pattern of categories the researchers call a “nature language” began to emerge. After the coding of all submissions, half a dozen categories were noted most often as important to visitors. These include encountering wildlife, walking along the edge of water, and following an established trail.

Naming each nature experience creates a usable language, which helps people recognize and take part in the activities that are most satisfying and meaningful to them. For example, the experience of walking along the edge of water might be satisfying for a young professional on a weekend hike in the park. Back downtown during a workday, they can enjoy a more domestic form of this interaction by walking along a fountain on their lunch break.

“We’re trying to generate a language that helps bring the human-nature interactions back into our daily lives. And for that to happen, we also need to protect nature so that we can interact with it,” said Peter Kahn, a senior author of the study.

1. What phenomenon does the author describe at the beginning of the text?

A．Pocket parks are now popular.	B．Wild nature is hard to find in cities.
C．Many cities are overpopulated.	D．People enjoy living close to nature.

2. Why did the researchers code participant submissions into categories?

A．To compare different types of park-goers.	B．To explain why the park attracts tourists.
C．To analyze the main features of the park.	D．To find patterns in the visitors’ summaries.

3. What can we learn from the example given in paragraph 5?

A．Walking is the best way to gain access to nature.

B．Young people are too busy to interact with nature.

C．The same nature experience takes different forms.

D．The nature language enhances work performance.

4. What should be done before we can interact with nature according to Kahn?

A．Language study.	B．Environmental conservation.
C．Public education.	D．Intercultural communication.

5 . For some people, nothing matches the beauty of Canada’s national parks. Supported by Parks Canada, these parks protect the country’s ecosystem.

Prince Edward Island National Park

Built in 1937, the park on the north shore of Prince Edward Island contains 10 square miles of red sandstone cliffs (悬崖), freshwater lakes, and Acadian forests. It is home to the endangered piping plover (笛鸻). Visitors to the park will be attracted by the enough wildlife found there— from the Atlantic white-sided dolphin to the snowshoe hare.

Vuntut National Park

Located in the northwest of Yukon Territory, the park is one of the most faraway national parks in Canada. The 4,345-square-mile park, which was built in 1995, has large wetlands in the south, known as Old Crow Flats, which are home to half a million birds and many kinds of other animals such as grizzly bears and muskrats.

Banff National Park

Banff National Park in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, which was built in 1885, is famous for the clear waters of Lake Louise, the amazing glaciers (冰川) of Icefields Parkway, and the 11,850-foot-tall Mount Forbes. The town of Banff is also within the park, which hosts the Banff Mountain Film Festival and is home to many cultural museums.

Waterton Lakes National Park

The park has high mountains, thick forests, colorful grassland, impressive rivers, and clear lakes. Built in 1895, Waterton Lakes is home to the 9,547-foot-tall Mount Blakiston—a popular climbing spot and the highest point within the park. The park protects over 60 species of mammals and more than 250 species of birds.

1. Of the four national parks, which is the youngest?

A．Banff National Park.	B．Vuntut National Park.
C．Waterton Lakes National Park.	D．Prince Edward Island National Park.

2. Who may be attracted by the third park?

A．Those who are interested in culture.

B．Those who want to protect the environment.

C．Those who are studying the old town.

D．Those who want to take an adventurous trip.

3. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To introduce Canada’s national parks.

B．To praise the effort made by Parks Canada.

C．To call on people to protect wild animals.

D．To show the importance of national parks

7 . It’s unlikely that we’ll see a dodo, a flightless bird, walking this earth anytime again, according to Beth Shapiro, a evolutionary molecular biologist.

“When most people think about de-extinction, they’re imagining cloning,” Shapiro said. Cloning, the approach that created Dolly, the sheep in 1996 and Elizabeth Ann, the black-footed ferret in 2020, creates an identical genetic copy of an individual by putting DNA from a living adult cell into an egg cell from which the nucleus (细胞核) has been removed. Adult cells contain all the DNA needed to develop into a living animal. Egg cells then use that DNA as a blueprint to turn themselves into many kinds of cells——skin, organs, blood and bones——the animal needs.

“But no living cells from dodos exist. Instead,” Shapiro said, “you’d have to start with a closely related animal’s genome (基因组) and then change it into one similar to dodos.” For example， mammoths (猛犸) are also extinct，but they were very closely related to modern Asian elephants, so researchers are attempting to bring mammoths back from extinction by creating a hybrid mammoth with some mammoth genes replacing part of the elephant genome in an elephant egg cell. However, there are likely millions of genetic differences between the genome of an Asian elephant and that of a mammoth according to Shapiro.

As for the dodo, its closest living relative is the Nicobar pigeon. Mammoths and Asian elephants are pretty closely related, whereas it had been more than 20 million years since the dodo and the Nicobar pigeon had any common ancestors. Genetic differences between the two bird species are therefore much greater, making it a formidable task to create a successful hybrid in the lab, Shapiro said.

Even if scientists manage to bring dodos back, the island where they once lived is a very different place nowadays, which make it impossible to reintroduce dodos without major intervention.

1. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The special role of DNA.

B．The process of cloning.

C．The development of cloning.

D．The complexity of cloning.

2. What does Shapiro want to show by the example of mammoths?

A．Dodos are harder to bring back to life.

B．Their living cells are hard to preserve.

C．Cloning can be used to recreate extinct animals.

D．They share a similar genome with Asian elephants.

3. What does the underlined word “formidable” mean in Paragraph 4?

A．Urgent.

B．Possible.

C．Tough.

D．Different.

4. What is Shapiro’s attitude towards the rebirth of dodos?

A．Favorable.

B．Intolerant.

C．Objective.

D．Negative.

8 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Sam was a junior high school student. He lived in a community in Charlotte and usually had little exposure to country life. So much of what he knew about plants came from text-books. Sam was a kind-hearted person. He longed for a chance to explore nature and he wanted to do his part to beautify the world.

Finally, the opportunity came. On Arbor Day (植树节), his class organized a trip to a local village to plant trees. Sam was excited about it and couldn’t wait to tell his mom the good news. So the next day, Sam and his mom went to buy some tools for planting trees, including a shovel(铲), a bucket, gloves and so on.

On the day of the event, Sam and his classmates arrived early at the starting point. It was a beautiful day and everyone looked particularly happy. With the tools in hand, Sam got into the bus with everyone else and headed off to their destination.

As soon as they reached the village, all the students were divided into three teams by their teacher. One team was responsible for planting the trees, one team for shovelling the soil and one team for watering the trees. At the teacher’s command, everyone started to do their job.

However, it was the first time that many of the students had taken part in planting trees, so they had no idea about how to start. Of course, Sam was one of them. Fortunately, their teacher was a middle-aged man from the countryside who had some knowledge of planting trees. In order to set an example to the students, the teacher started to plant trees himself. After watching the teacher plant the trees, everyone also became busy. Before long, they planted hundreds of trees. Sam watched very carefully, not wanting to miss any of the details. Finally, Sam learned how to plant trees by himself and felt happy.

注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

A few days later, a storm damaged some young trees in the community.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The neighbours praised Sam for what he had done.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9 . On a hot summer afternoon along the Mandavi River, Shweta Hule wraps her sari around her ankles and bends to pick wild “weeds” from the river and drop them into a bowl. The plants will be made into fritters (炸果饼), to be served at the little restaurant attached to the B&B Hule manages in the Indian coastal town of Vengurla.

Wild edible (可食用的) plants are common in kitchens here. Hule’s weed is juicy, which is found in mangrove forests. Harvesting some of the plant is helping conserve the mangroves, a globally endangered ecosystem of salt-tolerant trees that stop coastal erosion (侵蚀) and absorb storm damage.

Hule is head of Swamini, a self-help group set up by nine women from a fishing community in Vengurla who started Mandavi Eco Tourism in 2017. Vengurla is known for its beautiful beaches and seafood, but the climate crisis has made fishing for a living unsustainable, so people are trying to find other sources of income. They came up with the idea of running mangrove safaris (观光游) for tourists in Vengurla’s Mandavi River.

The safaris offer visitors a unique hour-long tour of the mangroves. Food has also become a key attraction: local spicy coconut curries, with homegrown or wild vegetables. Tourists are encouraged to go crabbing, and their catch is cooked and served.

Hule only discovered recently that the weed was edible when she met tourists from another coastal city. She researched these leaves and learned that the salty plant is rich in vitamins. She made her own version of the fritters, with chickpea flour, and presented it at the wild vegetable festival. “It was an instant hit. This boosted the confidence to include these fritters in our restaurant menu,” says Hule.

Swamini’s lodging house also serves vegetarian meals and plates of fish and crab sourced from the river. “The satisfaction after the visitors enjoy our meal is the real currency. We had guests from London who were so happy with our food that they took down the recipe. Such people help our business grow. What more can we want?” says Hule.

1. Which of the following can best describe the example of Shweta Hule?

A．Do as the Romans do.

B．Strike while the iron is hot.

C．Kill two birds with one stone.

D．Bite off more than you can chew.

2. What does Swamini offer to visitors?

A．Eco-tours and accommodation.

B．Fishing guide service.

C．Vegetable growing techniques.

D．Hands-on cooking classes.

3. Why were Hule’s fritters well-received?

A．They were less expensive.

B．They were traditional.

C．They had their own features.

D．They got strongly promoted.

4. How did Hule feel about tourists’ obtaining her food recipe?

A．Lost.

B．Proud.

C．Worried.

D．Curious.

10 . 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。

For centuries, Tibet has not been explored as much due to its remote    1    (locate), extreme climate and geographic environment. Since 2006, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway    2    (become) the most popular way to connect Tibet to the rest of China.    3    (know) as the “sky road” and a man-made wonder in transportation, the railway begins in Xining and ends in Lhasa. The scenery along the railway offers not only a feast for the eyes, but also    4    journey for the soul.

Qinghai Lake is the    5    (large) inland lake in China. Be it the blue sky and water, the green grassland or breathtaking landscapes-Qinghai Lake has great charms that are worth exploring. It is    6    (definite) a perfect place for bird lovers as many different kinds of birds fly here in May and June due to the mild weather.

The high peaks of the Kunlun Mountains are covered with snow and mist all year round,    7    (create) an amazing view. The geographic and severe climatic conditions have made this place a “forbidden zone for humans”, which is also a reason    8     its biodiversity.

Lhasa offers almost every aspect of Tibetan culture. If one must pick a name card for Lhasa, the Potala Palace is very likely     9    (be) the answer. No one can really say that he has visited Lhasa     10    he has been to the Potala Palace.