1 . In a groundbreaking achievement, a rhino has successfully undergone embryo (胚胎) transfer, marking the first successful use of a method that holds promise for saving the nearly extinct northern white rhino subspecies.
The experiment, conducted with the less endangered southern white rhino subspecies, involved creating an embryo in a lab using eggs and sperm (精子) collected from other rhinos. This embryo was then transferred into a southern white rhino alternative mother in Kenya. Despite the unfortunate death of the alternative mother due to an infection in November 2023, researchers praised the successful embryo transfer and pregnancy (怀孕) as a proof of concept. They are now ready to proceed to the next stage of the project: transferring northern white rhinoembryos.
Professor Thomas Hildebrandt expressed optimism about the findings, highlighting the significance of the successful embryo transfer in demonstrating that frozen and defrosted embryos produced in a lab can survive. This development offers hope for the revival of the northern white rhino population.
However, challenges facing rhino conservation remain significant. While the southern white rhino subspecies and the black rhino species have shown signs of recovery from population declines due to illegal hunting for their horns (牛角), the northern white rhino subspecies is on the edge of extinction. With only two known members left in the world, Najin and her daughter Fatu, both unable to reproduce naturally, and the recent death of the last male white rhino, Sudan, in 2018, urgent action is needed to prevent the extinction of this subspecies. Dr. Jo Shaw, CEO of Save the Rhino International, emphasized the importance of addressing the primary threats facing rhinos worldwide: illegal hunting for their horns and habitat loss due to development. She stressed the need to provide rhinos with the space and security they need to succeed in their natural environment.
While the successful embryo transfer representsa significant advancement in rhino conservation efforts, organized action is required to address the main challenges facing rhino populations worldwide.
1. What is the purpose of the experiment mentioned in the text?| A．To evaluate the efficiency of a new rhino birth program. |
| B．To observe the behavior of rhinos in a controlled environment. |
| C．To assess the effects of climate change on the southem rhino habitats. |
| D．To develop a way of rescuing the endangered northern white rhinos subspecies. |
| A．Rebirth. | B．Decline. | C．Stability. | D．Decrease. |
| A．Facing extinction. | B．Showing signs of recovery. |
| C．Developing in their natural habitat. | D．Recovering from population declines |
| A．Dr. Jo Shaw’s Call to Action: Addressing Threats to Rhino Survival |
| B．Challenges Facing Rhino Conservation Efforts: Urgent Action Needed |
| C．The Successful Embryo Transfer: A Breakthrough in Rhino Conservation |
| D．Professor Thomas Hildebrandt’s Optimism: Hope for Rhino Population Revival |
1. How do students celebrate Earth Day?
| A．By holding a celebration. | B．By doing some clean-up. |
| C．By promoting a volunteer job. | |
| A．Two hours. | B．Three and half hours. | C．Four hours. |
| A．Go there with parents. | B．Complete an online form. | C．Bring their own gloves. |
1. What will the woman do after the interview?
| A．Advertise the garden. |
| B．Visit the man’s garden. |
| C．Write for a newspaper. |
| A．Being gifted plants by friends. |
| B．Reading about gardening in 1980. |
| C．Visiting Kew Gardens frequently. |
| A．From gardening classes. |
| B．From visiting Kew Gardens. |
| C．From reading gardening books. |
| A．It was a tiny piece of land. |
| B．It was filled with wildflower. |
| C．It was located in West London. |
4 . Not much trash and almost no plastic actually gets recycled. About a third of U.S. garbage gets recycled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s most recent estimate. The rest goes to landfills, which release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and pollute their surroundings.
To make recycling easier, many U.S. cities don’t ask Americans to separate paper, glass, metal and plastic. ‘They just ask people to put anything recyclable into one bin and let waste plants do the sorting. But waste plants don’t catch everything. AI is now an essential tool for the world’s waste management leaders. Greyparrot, a tech company has already installed more than l00 AI trash spotters in about 50 sorting facilities.
Greyparrot’s device is, basically, a set of visual and infrared (红外线的) cameras hooked up to a computer, which monitors trash as it passes by on a conveyor belt and labels it under 70 categories, from loose bottle caps to books to aluminum cans. Waste plants could connect these AI systems to sorting robots to help them separate trash from recyclables more accurately. They could also use the AI as a quality control system to measure how well they’re sorting trash from recyclables. That could help plant managers adjust their production lines to cover more recyclables, or cheek that a bundle of recyclables is free of pollutants, which would allow them to sell at a higher price.
In the next few years, some recycling companies plan to retrofit (改良) thousands of material- recovery facilities with Al trash - spotting tools. Of these companies, Bollegraaf has built thousands of these facilities, including 340 in North America, accounting for a majority of the recovery plants in the world.
The trash-spotting computers could one day help regulators punish companies that produce tsunamis of non - recyclable packaging because the AI systems are so accurate that they can identify the brands on individual items. Putting the AI tools in thousands of waste plants can raise recycling percentage. If the needle can be moved by even 5 to 10 percent, that would be a phenomenal outcome for greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact.
1. What does the author want to show in paragraph 1?| A．People pay little attention to environmental protection. |
| B．Greenhouse gas is a major contributor to air pollution. |
| C．Americans show little enthusiasm for recycling. |
| D．All trash has not been recycled in the US. |
| A．By working with sorting robots. |
| B．By adjusting the production line. |
| C．By monitoring the conveyor belt. |
| D．By controlling cameras in a computer. |
| A．They are well received. |
| B．They are highly profitable. |
| C．They have unpredictable prospect. |
| D．They present a challenge for regulators. |
| A．The Use of the Useless |
| B．AI Assistants in Recycling |
| C．A Pressing Trash Issue in US |
| D．AI Tools with Great Potential |
5 . Are worms the heroes we didn’t know we needed? Silent, slimy and wriggling (扭动), you might think that worms are good for nothing except bait (诱饵) on the end of a fishing pole.
The British naturalist Charles Darwin said that no other animal has “played such an important part in the history of the world as these lowly organised creatures”. They have lived on Earth for 600 million years and have even survived five mass extinctions.
Earthworms literally move the earth, and this is why farmers love them. As they travel, they aerate (使透气) the soil by loosening, mixing and oxygenating it.
In 2022, a group of scientists at the Margarita Salas Centre for Biological Research isolated enzymes (酶) found in wax worm saliva (唾液) which are plastic-eating.
So, next time you see a worm, show it a little respect. They really are changing the world!
| A．So, what do worms do that is so great? |
| B．Worms have a lifespan of a few months. |
| C．And worms are even inspiring the building industry. |
| D．It increases the ground’s capacity to hold and empty water. |
| E．However, there is more to the humble worm than meets the eye. |
| F．Humans produce more than 300 million tons of plastic every year. |
| G．These can break down a very common plastic that normally breaks down over many years. |
6 . Xu Hai’ou has spent most of her life promoting environmental protection work in Beihai, a coastal city in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, by cleaning beaches, protecting mi-grant birds and recycling kitchen waste.
Though her family originally comes from the eastern province of Shandong, the 60-year-old was raised in Guangxi and moved to Beihai for work at age 23, directly after graduating from college. Before she retired, she worked as a reporter for the Guangxi Daily Media Group, a news outlet in the region. In her free time, she became involved in voluntary work.
“In initially, in the 1990s, I helped impoverished children in Guangxi’s rural areas obtain financial aid from donors in Hong Kong, and set up my own NGO in 2004. At the time, it was Beihai’s only nonprofit social organization involved in volunteer work,” she said, “It’s very enjoyable to do this charity work and I have made many friends through it.”
She said her NGO focuses on environmental protection work and organizes a range of voluntary activities, including cleaning up beaches, and protecting mangrove forests and migratory birds.
In 2008, the organization joined a marine life protection event supported by the central government, the UN Environment Programme and the Global Environmental Facility.
Xu and her colleagues at the association arranged a number of voluntary events such as raising awareness of marine biodiversity among local residents and students, and beach-cleaning activities to help promote understanding of the need to protect marine animals and plants.
“Undertaking voluntary activities or charitable work has become my mission, and I want to contribute my own efforts to the nation’s environmental protection work, even if they only produce a small improvement. However, protecting the environment is very hard work. which can’t be done by a single person. I sometimes feel like my ability falls short of my wishes.”
According to Xu, her NGO is currently promoting the classification of waste in Beihai and recycling kitchen waste into compost. “We have mature technologies, but still face difficulties in promoting the program because many residents lack awareness of environmental protection. We hope the government can figure out better ways of managing the garbage after we classify it to make full use of this ‘waste’.”
1. What can we learn about Xu Hai’ou from the first two paragraphs?| A．She grew up in Shandong Province. |
| B．She graduated in Beihai at the age of 23. |
| C．She works as a journalist for a newspaper at present. |
| D．She is a retired reporter volunteering to protect the environment. |
| A．Rewarding. | B．Exhausting. | C．Amazing. | D．Embarrassing. |
| A．To clean beaches and recycle kitchen waste. |
| B．To get support from the central government. |
| C．To raise people’s awareness of marine biodiversity. |
| D．To help people understand the necessity of protecting marine life. |
| A．She wants to win a good reputation. |
| B．She wants to do what others don’t want to do. |
| C．She wants to do her part to protect the environment. |
| D．She wants to make the most of kitchen waste on her own. |
Wang Xin, a marketing manager based in Shanghai, paid special attention to the carbon consumption figures shown on a flight booking platform. “When booking a flight, I will first check the flights
Business travelers like Wang have shown a
Afterwards, the carbon emission data of hotels, trains and cars
According to the US-headquartered Global Business Travel Association, 25 percent of companies worldwide consider carbon footprint and sustainability important in business travel. Among
8 . 
Panda Ya Ya returns home
Ya Ya the giant panda has just arrived in Shanghai, east China on Thursday after 20 years of stay at the Memphis Zoo in the U.S. The flight was around 15.5 hours. Both Chinese and American vets are with Ya Ya.
Ya Ya was born at Beijing Zoo on August 3, 2000. She arrived at Memphis Zoo in April, 2003. Ya Ya has become a bridge of friendship between Chinese and foreign people. She will spend a month in Shanghai before returning to her birthplace, Beijing Zoo.
We do hope all pandas that are in foreign countries can be healthy and happy.
Did you know…?
Baby pandas are born pink and measure about 15cm-that’s about the size of a pencil
Giant pandas spend up to 12 hours a day eating bamboo.
Pandas live for about 20 years in the wild, but in the zoos they can live for up to 35 years.
1. Ya Ya was born in _______.| A．Beijing | B．Chengdu | C．Shanghai ` | D．Guangzhou |
| A．Black and white. | B．Pink. | C．Yellow. | D．Gray. |
| A．Ya Ya spend up to 10 hours a day eating bamboo. | B．Shanghai Zoo is Ya Ya’s final home. |
| C．Ya Ya had a short flight coming back home. | D．Ya Ya helps foreigners know more about China. |
| A．a piece of news | B．an ad | C．a diary | D．a letter |
9 . For generations, Nafisa Bayniyazova and her family have made a living growing melons, pumpkins and tomatoes on farms around the Aral Sea. Bayniyazova, 50, has spent most of her life near Muynak, in northwestern Uzbekistan, tending the land. Farm life was sometimes difficult but generally reliable and productive.
Now, Bayniyazova and other residents say they’re facing a disaster they can’t beat: climate change, which is speeding up the decades-long disappearance of the Aral, once the lifeblood for the thousands living around it.
Decades ago, deep blue and filled with fish, the Aral was one of the world’s largest inland bodies of water. Thousands of migrants from across Asia and Europe moved to the Aral’s shores for jobs popping up everywhere from canning factories to luxury vacation resorts. Today, the few remaining towns sit quiet along the former seabed of the Aral—technically classified as a lake, due to its lack of a direct outlet to the ocean, though residents and officials call it a sea.
Much of its early disappearance is due to human engineering and agricultural projects gone wrong, now paired with climate change. Summers are hotter and longer; winters, shorter and bitterly cold.
Without the moderating influence of a large body of water to regulate the climate, dust storms began to blow through towns. Strong winds caused dunes (沙丘) to swallow entire towns, and abandoned buildings were filled with sand. A dozen fish species went extinct, and businesses closed down. “The fish factories closed, the ships were stuck in the harbor, and the workers all left,” said Madi Zhasekenov, former director of the Aral Sea Fisherman Museum in Aralsk, Kazakhstan. “It became only us locals.”
On her Uzbekistan farm, Bayniyazova’s family has dug an earthen well, hoping to hold on to the precious little water that’s left. “If there is no water, it will be very difficult for people to live,” Bayniyazova said. “Now people are barely surviving.” She doesn’t plan to leave her farm but yet knows more hardships are likely ahead.
1. How is paragraph 3 developed?| A．By reasoning. | B．By making comparison. |
| C．By experimenting. | D．By analyzing data. |
| A．The number of fish in the Aral Sea is increasing. |
| B．Madi Zhasekenov feels hopeful about his future. |
| C．Local people around the Aral have lost their livelihoods. |
| D．Madi Zhasekenov has adapted to the changing climate. |
| A．Ashamed. | B．Worried. | C．Relieved. | D．Embarrassed. |
| A．The Importance of the Aral Sea |
| B．How to Deal With the Aral Sea Disaster |
| C．We Will Face the Challenge of Adapting to Climate Change |
| D．Climate Change Is Quickening the Disappearance of the Aral Sea |
10 . Sleep-deprived human parents know the value of a quick nap, but it turns out chinstrap penguins have us all beat. When nesting, these Antarctic birds take four-second-long “micro- sleeps”, a strategy that allows parents to keep constant watch over weak eggs and chicks, all while having 11 hours of total sleep a day, according to a new study.
Like other penguins, chinstrap parents take turns guarding the nest. While one bird protects the chicks, the partner finds food at sea. Then the penguins trade places. For two months between egg laying and fledging(羽化) , it’s a series of nonstop demands.
To study how penguins manage to accomplish all this and get the necessary sleep, Lee, a leader researcher, first stuck biologgers, small battery-powered devices, to the backs of 14 nesting penguins of both sexes. This device functions like a smart-watch, measuring physical activity, pulse, and the ocean depths of foraging birds.
Next, the team humanely arrested each of the penguins, attaching the devices temporarily into their skull to measure brain activity. When an animal is awake, the brain constantly buzzes with activity. During sleep, however, brain waves slow down and stretch out. When Lee started reviewing the data, he was surprised to discover the birds, slept in four-second intervals throughout the day and night while looking after their eggs or chicks.
“In both humans and penguins, micro-sleeps occur during times of exhaustion, yet nesting chinstrap penguins seem to have a near-exclusive reliance on it,” Cirelli, another scientist, says. Studying sleep in natural environments is difficult, so “the simple fact that they were able to record data in these conditions is incredible. ”
While the data is convincing, Cirelli notes that the researchers only studied the penguins during nesting periods, making it impossible to tell if the birds micro-sleep when they’re not parenting. The other challenge is understanding how micro-sleep impacts the brains and bodies of the pen-guins. Sleep deprivation in humans causes a range of health problems, and it’s not clear whether penguins experience this, too.
1. When do the birds have micro-sleeps?| A．When they lay eggs. | B．When they hunt for food. |
| C．When they care for babies. | D．When they exchange places. |
| A．A charger. | B．A smart-watch. |
| C．A sleep monitor | D．A safety alarm. |
| A．The micro-sleep study is successful. | B．Chinstrap penguins sleep more than human. |
| C．The data from the micro-sleep study is simple. | D．Chinstrap penguins rely entirely on micro-sleep. |
| A．Effects and occurrence of micro-sleep. | B．Short-term strategies for tired bird parents. |
| C．Problems caused by lack of sleep in humans. | D．Approaches of chinstrap penguins’ parenting. |
