1 . I entered the cat section of the shelter, observing all the ears turning as my footsteps echoed (回响) down the hall. Then I was _______ to a cage with a large message written in red marker: “_______, He Bites!” The slim, brown cat was _______ in the back of the cage, but as I looked inside he opened an eye and smiled—sort of—showing two tiny white fangs (尖牙).

The young cat, less than a year old, quickly _______ and came to the front of his cage, loud purring (咕噜声) coming out. I wanted to touch his long, soft fur (毛皮) but I remembered the sign and hesitated. I had never _______ a cat with a warning label before. He continued purring as I _______ stuck my index finger between the _______ and touched the soft fur behind his ear. Then he _______. The purring stopped.

I didn’t move my finger _______ he’d move faster than I could. I waited to see what he would do. One paw (爪子) was lifting slowly as if to hold my arm in place—I ________ so he could give me a good bite. I prepared myself for the ________ but then the purring began again.

For half an hour I stood at his cage letting him get used to me ________ him. In the end he did not bite me, much to the shelter manager’s ________. I took this wonderful cat home and for seventeen years he stood by my side—biting when necessary, but purring much more ________. If I had listened to that warning and ________ him by, I’d never have known one of the best friends of my life.

1.

A．drawn

B．forced

C．sent

D．dragged

2.

A．Proposal

B．Warning

C．Patience

D．Safety

3.

A．playing

B．circling

C．awkward

D．asleep

4.

A．settled down

B．hid away

C．got up

D．took over

5.

A．tracked

B．hurt

C．encountered

D．hunted

6.

A．confidently

B．carefully

C．rudely

D．purposely

7.

A．bars

B．cages

C．fangs

D．paws

8.

A．froze

B．left

C．protested

D．relaxed

9.

A．so that

B．as if

C．for fear

D．only if

10.

A．regarded

B．assumed

C． dreamed

D．found

11.

A．trap

B．amazement

C．relief

D．pain

12.

A．challenging

B．petting

C．cheating

D．selecting

13.

A．sorrow

B．annoyance

C．embarrassment

D．surprise

14.

A．often

B．severely

C．seldom

D．lightly

15.

A．dropped

B．drove

C．passed

D．stopped

2 . The Mysterious World of Deep-Sea Creatures

The deep sea remains one of the least explored and understood environments on our planet. Lying below the sunlit upper layers of the ocean, the deep sea is a region of permanent darkness, freezing temperatures, and massive pressure. Yet, life thrives (茁壮成长) here in some of the most astonishing ways.

* The Black Dragonfish *

Residing at dephs of up to 2,000 meters, the black dragonfish is a predator with a thin and long body and sharp teeth. What makes it unique is its ability to produce its own light, a phenomenon known as bioluminescence. This helps it attract prey (猎物) and communicate with potential mates.

* The Giant Squid *

Long a stuff of legends and tales, the giant squid, which occasionally attacks whales, can reach lengths of up to 43 feet. Its massive eyes, the size of dinner plates, allow it to detect weak light in the deep dark waters. Encounters with this enormous creature are rare, and much of its life remains unknown.

* Tube Worms at Hydrothermal Vents *

In the depths of the ocean, hydrothermal vents (热液喷口) shoot superheated water packed with minerals. Around these vents, communities of tube worms thrive, reaching lengths of up to 2 meters. They possess no mouth or digestive system; instead, bacteria inside them process the minerals from the vents to produce energy.

Modern technology has enabled humans to explore deeper into the ocean than ever before. Using remotely operated vehicles and deep-sea submersibles (潜水器), scientists can now study these creatures in their natural habitats, uncovering secrets that could hold the key to understanding life’s adaptability.

1. What ability is unique to the black dragonfish?

A．Generating light for itself.	B．Attracting and capturing prey.
C．Discovering light in the deep water.	D．Communicating with other creatures.

2. Which creature relies on internal bacteria for energy?

A．The black dragonfish

B．The tube worm.

C．The giant squid.

D．The whale.

3. Where is this text probably taken from?

A．An academic article.	B．An experimental report.
C．A travel guide.	D．A natural science magazine.

3 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What is the main topic of the talk?

A．Energy conservation.

B．New housing construction.

C．The number of bicycles and cars.

2. What is the purpose of building new houses facing north or south?

A．To keep out the cold.

B．To keep other houses warm.

C．To avoid being overheated in summer.

3. How did the City Council reduce the number of cars in the city?

A．By cutting back on parking.

B．By building 24 miles of bicycle paths.

C．By encouraging university students to use bicycles.

4. Why do people in Davis choose to drive small cars according to the speaker?

A．To save gas.

B．To relieve traffic jams.

C．To test new energy alternatives.

4 . Several art projects are on show to warn people of the climate change happening around us.

Video on the walls

Photographer Camille Seaman has traveled to both the North Pole and the South Pole, where she has captured the disappearing ice in photographs and video. Camille Seaman made a video with some of her most powerful photos of melting ice for people in four coastal cities to display on their buildings. The video ends with a prediction that sea level will rise by 2050 without relative action.

Mural (壁画)changing color

Temperatures in Austin, Texas, are on the rise, and climate change will put the city at higher risk of extended drought, wildfires, intense rain and flooding. Artist Lope Gutiérrez-Ruiz designed a unique mural that changes color as it gets hotter. This art work calls for people to change the world and change climate change, underlining the importance of individual actions to the collective future.

Public billboard   (广告牌)

Artist Christine Sun Kim released a public billboard on the 710 Freeway called The Sound of Temperature Rising. It points to the reality of climate disaster that has become all too clear on the West Coast and the need for significant change now. The illustration features a graph (图表) of music notes that get progressively longer and redder.

Anti-Extinction Library

Globally, species are disappearing at an unheard-of rate. In response, architect Mitchell Joachim created The Anti-Extinction Library in New York. The sculptural piece is not only beautiful but also functional. Their unique egg-shaped library has a special freezer storing test tubes with the frozen cells and DNA of rare animals and plants. It’s important for people to realize we must quickly work to protect the rights of different species in our area.

1. What is the key feature of the mural?

A．It lights up at night.

B．It moves with the wind.

C．It plays music when it rains.

D．It changes color with temperature.

2. Whose work contains frozen cells?

A．Camille Seaman’s.	B．Lope Gutiérrez-Ruiz’s.
C．Christine Sun Kim's.	D．Mitchel l Joachim’s.

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

A．To praise artists’ participation.

B．To call for people to take action.

C．To show the severe result of climate change.

D．To facilitate the combination of art and climate.

5 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What’s the weather like in the morning of May and June in Costa Rica?

A．Cloudy and warm.

B．Rainy and cold.

C．Dry and hot.

2. What are the advantages of travelling in May and June in Costa Rica?

A．There are more interesting things.

B．The weather is better.

C．The prices are lower.

3. When does the dry season start in Costa Rica?

A．In January.

B．In May.

C．In December.

4. When is the weather perfect in Costa Rica?

A．From February to April.

B．From May to June.

C．From July to August.

6 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Which season is it now?

A．Summer.

B．Fall.

C．Winter.

2. On which coast will winds reach up 50 kilometers per hour?

A．The northeast coast.

B．The northwest coast.

C．The southwest coast.

3. What is expected in the South Pennines?

A．Rain.

B．Snow

C．Wind.

4. Where is the hurricane season starting?

A．In the west of Ireland.

B．In the north of Scotland.

C．In the south of America.

7 . The problem with a catchy name is that sometimes it catches on too well. Take the hygiene hypothesis (卫生说) outlined in 1989 by David Strachan of St George’s, a hospital and medical school in London. It suggests that the rise of allergenic (致敏的) sensitivity observed in rich countries over the course of the 20th century may have been caused by a shift from rural to urban living, so that children are no longer routinely exposed to farm animals.

Dr Strachan’s work still has much to recommend it. What the catchy label has encouraged, however, is a false belief that cleanliness is not necessarily a health benefit. In reality, says Thomas Marrs, an allergist at King’s College, London, hygiene is usually about bacteria (细菌) causing infection—and the bacteria that may be beneficial are different from those which do that. But it is plain to see why alternative descriptions, such as “the high turnover and diversity hypothesis” or the “the microbial deprivation hypothesis (微生物剥夺假说)”, have not caught on, more accurate though they may be.

In an attempt to collect further data on the matter, Hisao Okabe of Fukushima Medical University and his team have looked through the Japan Environment and Children’s Study, which tracked over 100,000 births between 2019 and 2022.

Pursuing the animal connection, they looked for correlations between household pet ownership before and immediately after a child’s birth, and any food allergies found in that child’s first three years.

Of the 66,000 or so children they chose to look at, 22% had been born into households with pets. Children in households with dogs, the researchers found, had lower rates than average of allergies to eggs, milk and nuts. Those cohabiting with cats seemed more tolerant of eggs, wheat and beans. However, children whose parents kept turtles (龟) appeared unaffected. And, curiously, those exposed to hamsters (仓鼠) appeared more likely than average to be allergic to nuts.

Confirming or denying this will need more study. Nevertheless, Dr Okabe’s contribution is an interesting addition to the debate about Dr Strachan’s brainchild.

1. What does the hygiene hypothesis suggest?

A．Children in rich countries are more likely to have allergies.

B．Urban living leads to less exposure to allergens.

C．Allergies are linked to bacteria that cause infection.

D．Farm animals reduce childhood allergies.

2. What is the author’s attitude to the microbial deprivation hypothesis?

A．Doubtful

B．Favorable

C．Critical

D．indifferent

3. Okabe’s research aimed to find out the relationship between ________.

A．pet ownership and uncomfortable childbirth	B．pet ownership and child food allergies
C．environments and animals	D．food and allergies

4. Which animals help fight allergies?

A．Dogs and cats

B．Dogs and turtles

C．Cats and hamsters

D．Turtles and hamsters.

8 . Amphibians are animals that can live both on land and in water. A new global assessment has found that 41% of amphibian species that scientists have studied are threatened with extinction. That’s up from 39% reported in the last assessment in 2004.

The study, published on Wednesday in the journal Nature, found that the loss of habitat from the legal and illegal expansion of farming and ranching (放牧) contributes most to the extinction risk of amphibians worldwide. But a growing percentage of amphibian species are now also pushed to the edge of extinction by novel diseases and climate change, the study found.

Amphibians have distinct life stages that each often require separate habitats, so they can be disturbed by changes in either water or land environments, said University of Texas biologist Michael Ryan, who was not involved in the study. They are also at risk because of their delicate skin. Most amphibians absorb oxygen to breathe through their skin, and so they do not have scales (鳞), feathers or fur to protect them. Chemical pollution, bacteria and fungal (真菌的) infections impact them quickly, as do heightened swings in temperature and dampness levels due to climate change.

For example, frogs are active usually at night. If it’s too hot, they won’t come out even at night because they would lose too much water through their skin, said co-author and researcher Patricia Burrowes. But remaining in sheltered resting places limits frogs’ ability to eat and to produce.

Juan Manuel Guayasamin, a frog biologist at the University San Francisco of Quito, Ecuador, said that advances in technology to track animals and climate variations allowed the new study to use much more precise data than the 2004 assessment. “We have a much better understanding of some risks,” said Guayasamin.

The study identified the greatest concentrations of threatened amphibian species in several biodiversity hot spots, including the Caribbean islands, the tropical Andes, Madagascar and Sri Lanka. Other locations with large numbers of threatened amphibians include Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, southern China and the southeastern United States.

1. What has the new study found?

A．Amphibian populations are now extinct.

B．The number of amphibians is rising slightly.

C．The extinction risk of amphibians has declined.

D．More amphibian species are endangered than before.

2. Which of the following is the single biggest threat to amphibians?

A．Habitat loss.

B．Illegal hunting.

C．Novel diseases.

D．Climate change.

3. What does the author want to show by the example in paragraph 4?

A．The unusual living habits of frogs.	B．The unique features of the frog skin.
C．The effect of climate change on amphibians.	D．The urgency of protecting amphibians’ habitats.

4. What does Guayasamin think of the new study?

A．Its methods are debatable.	B．Its findings are more reliable.
C．It needs to be better organized.	D．It covers wide geographical areas.

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。

A 5,100-year-old dam, capable of flood control and irrigation (灌溉), has been identified as China’s earliest     1     (know) water engineering project. The Xiongjialing Dam is part of the Qujialing relics site in Jingmen, China’s Hubei Province.

The dam was initially built around 5,100 years ago on a branch of the Qingmudang River. The     2     (exist) dam measures 2 meters in height, 13 meters in width and 180 meters in length. It has a water storage area to the east, equal to the size of three West Lakes, and     3     8.5-hectare irrigation area to the west, with the     4     (late) found to have been an expanse of prehistory rice field. A floodway at the northern side of the water storage area allowed for discharge (排放) of extra water during flood seasons. The dam     5     (construct) with local earth, which was mixed with plant roots     6     (increase) the structure’s toughness.

The design of the water project suggests that prehistoric     7     (ancestor) in the area had learned to control water use rather than     8     (simple) defending against floods and droughts. The Qujialing relics site is famous for witnessing the first-ever discovery     9     carbonized rice along the midstream of the Yangtze River. Researchers say the dam further illustrates that, in the Neolithic Age, the area had a mature rice-growing agriculture. That’s     10     this relies heavily on irrigation.

10 . Nanako Hama gets a lot of mail, mostly from strangers who live in her home city of Tokyo. In light envelopes, they send locks of their hair, hoping to recycle it.

People generate a huge amount of hair waste. Nearly all of that waste ends up in landfill, where it can release harmful greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

But hair possesses useful qualities that it’s a shame to simply throw it away. That’s why people all around the world, like Hama, have been collecting hair and finding innovative ways to recycle it, including making mats (垫子)out of it for removing oil leaks.

Hama is part of the nonprofit Matter of Trust (MoT) members working at more than 60 centers dotted across 17 countries, using machines to make hair donated from local salons and individuals into square mats, which are then used to clean up the floating oil.

Hair is particularly well-suited for this, says MoT co-founder Lisa Gautier. “That’s because its rough sort of outer layer lets oil stick to it.” MoT’s mats have been used in major oil leaks. including the 2010 Deepwater Horizon and 2007 Cosco Busan incidents.

In a 2018 study, Murray, an environmental scientist at the University of Technology Sydney, in Australia found that mats made of recycled human hair could absorb 0.84 grams of oil onto its surface for every gram of hair—significantly more than polypropylene (聚丙烯), a type of plastic that’s typically used to clean up floating oil.

Besides, hair is also useful as fertilizer (化肥). Hair contains a relatively high nitrogen (氮), a chemical element crucial for plant growth, and each lock of hair is made of roughly 16 percent of this essential nutrient. Last year, more than 560 gallons of liquid fertilizer made from human hair was sold to farmers in northern Tanzania and the feedback from the farmers has been very encouraging.

“It’s just a great way to use hair in a productive way. Hair is an answer literally hanging in front of our eyes—for oil and soil,” Hama says.

1. How does the author introduce the topic in paragraph 1?

A．By detailing the background.	B．By presenting a scene.
C．By describing the feedback.	D．By supporting evidences.

2. What can the mat made of human hair do?

A．Fertilize the soil.	B．Prevent oil leaks.
C．Clear the sea of oil.	D．Take in harmful gas.

3. Which qualities of hair contribute to its innovative use?

A．Its color and strength.

B．Its length and amount.

C．Its weight and flexibility.

D．Its structure and component.

4. Which best describes the future of hair waster as fertilizer?

A．Debatable.	B．Applicable.
C．Irreplaceable.	D．Uncontrollable.