1 . 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.

2 . 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.

3 . 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.

4 . 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.

5 . 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.

6 . 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.

7 . 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.

8 . 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。

Elephants may be known for their size and     1     (strong) , but tourists who ride on their backs can still do great harm.

    2     picture provided by the Wildlife Friends Foundation in Thailand (WFFT) describes Pai Lin, a 71-year-old female whose spine (脊柱)     3     (become) out of shape after 25years of working in the tourism,     4     she was forced to carry up to six tourists at a time. The group said, “This pressure on elephants’ bodies can worsen the tissue (组织) and bones on their back,     5     (cause) serious physical damage to their spines.”

Elephant     6     (ride) are a popular tourist activity in countries across Southeast Asia, but activists say the practice is a form of animal ill-treatment as their bodies are not designed to be ridden. They also say many are     7     (actual) worked to death.

“Pai Lin was given up by her owner who felt that she was too slow and always painful     8     (work) well anymore,” Edwin Wiek, founder of the WFFT, told CNN.

Tom Taylor, the group’s project director, added that elephants’ backs were not designed to carry heavy weight. Their spines go upwards. Continuous pressure on their backbones from tourists can result     9     forever physical damage—which can     10     (see) in Pai Lin. The group was sharing Pai Lin’s story to remind people never to ride elephants.

9 . Last summer on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, Tina Taniguchi worked close to the ground. Her coconut leaf hat covered most of her thick brown hair. Wet soil had gotten on her clothes and her smiling face.

Taniguchi smiles a lot while working on the Hanapepe salt land on the west side of Kauai. It is a piece of land about half a hectare in size with pools of salty water. The salt becomes crystals (晶体)as the water dries.

“The work is tiring, but for me it’s also play,” Taniguchi said with a laugh. Taniguchi’s family is one of 22 families who make salt, following a cultural and spiritual tradition. Hanapepe is one of the last remaining salt lands in Hawaii. Its salt can be traded or given away but must never be sold. Hawaiians use it in cooking, healing, and as protection.

Over the past 10 years, there have been several threats to this field. They encompass development, pollution from a neighboring airfield, damage to the sand from vehicle traffic and waste left by visitors to the nearby beach. In addition, rising sea levels and weather might stop the practice.

The process of turning sea water into salt can be slow. The season begins once the rain stops and water starts to disappear from the salt beds. Ocean water travels underground and enters the wells. Each family has their own well. As water enters the well, so do tiny, red brine shrimp. These small ocean animals give Hanapepe salt its unusual, sweet taste.

The families first clean the salt beds and line them with black clay (陶土). Then they move water from the wells into the beds. There, salt crystals form. The top level, or layer, is the whitest. It is used for table salt. The middle layer is pinkish and is used in cooking, while the bottom layer, which is a deep red color, is used in blessings.

1. What do we know about Taniguchi?

A．She gives salt to others as a gift.	B．She works hard but with pleasure.
C．She has found a new way to make salt.	D．She fears old traditions will disappear.

2. What are Hawaiians not allowed to do with their salt?

A．Trade goods with it.	B．Use it as a treatment.
C．Make money from it.	D．Cook vegetables with it.

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

A．Prevent.

B．Include.

C．Improve.

D．Discover.

4. What does a small sea creature bring to the traditional salt?

A．The special taste of the salt.	B．A thicker middle layer of salt.
C．More water in the wells.	D．A quicker process of making salt.

10 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Where is the weather forecast mainly about?

A．The United States and Britain.

B．The United States and Canada.

C．Columbia and San Francisco.

2. What will the temperature be in San Diego?

A．58.

B．68.

C．78.

3. What will the weather be like in Oklahoma?

A．Sunny and warm.

B．Sunny and windy.

C．Cloudy and windy.

4. When is the weather forecast given?

A．In the morning.

B．In the afternoon.

C．In the evening.