1 . Dogs have facial expressions to use on humans
Scientists have discovered that dogs produce more facial movement when a human is paying attention to them—including making their eyes appear bigger—than when they
This new research goes
“Facial expression is often seen as
The research joins a number of studies exploring the extraordinary relationship between humans and their dogs, including some research that suggests that dogs understand not only words spoken by humans—but also the tone of voice.
A study published
The recordings were then examined by the team frame by frame
“The research tells us that their facial expressions are probably responsive to humans—not just to other dogs,” said Waller. He also said that it told us something about how domestication had shaped dogs, and
| A．are being ignored | B．have been ignored | C．were ignored | D．will be ignored |
| A．beyond | B．within | C．against | D．without |
| A．anything | B．something | C．that | D．whatever |
| A．to depend | B．depended | C．having depended | D．depending |
| A．on | B．by | C．for | D．in |
| A．whether | B．unless | C．either | D．when |
| A．determined | B．to determine | C．determining | D．to have determined |
| A．or | B．than | C．not | D．as |
| A．that | B．why | C．whether | D．where |
| A．could | B．can | C．would | D．will |
2 . I know when the snow melts and the first robins (知更鸟) come to call, when the laughter of children returns to the parks and playgrounds, something wonderful is about to happen.
Spring cleaning.
I’ll admit spring cleaning is a difficult notion for modern families to grasp. Today’s busy families hardly have time to load the dishwasher, much less clean the doormat. Asking the family to spend the weekend collecting winter dog piles from the melting snow in the backyard is like announcing there will be no more Wi-Fi. It interrupts the natural order.
“Honey, how about spending the weekend beating the rugs, sorting through the boxes in the basement and painting our bedroom a nice lemony yellow?” I ask.
“Can we at least wait until the NBA matches are over?” my husband answers.
But I tell my family, spring cleaning can’t wait. The temperature has risen just enough to melt snow but not enough for Little League practice to start. Some flowers are peeking out of the thawing ground, but there is no lawn to seed, nor garden to tend. Newly wakened from our winter’s hibernation, yet still needing extra blankets at night, we open our windows to the first fresh air floating on the breeze with all of the natural world demanding “Awake and be clean!”
Biologists offer a theory about this primal impulse to clean out every drawer and closet in the house at spring’s first light, which has to do with melatonin, the sleepytime hormone our bodies produce when it’s dark. When spring’s light comes, the melatonin declines, and suddenly we are awakened to the dusty, virus- filled house we’ve been hibernating in for the past four months.
I tell my family about the science and psychology of a good healthy cleaning at spring arrival. I speak to them about life’s greatest rewards waiting in the removal of soap scum (浮垢) from the bathtub, which hasn’t been properly cleaned since the first snowfall.
“I’ll do it,” says the eldest child, a 21-year-old college student who lives at home. “You will? Wow!” I exclaim.
Maybe after all these years, he’s finally grasped the concept. Maybe he’s expressing his rightful position as eldest child and role model. Or maybe he’s going to Florida for a break in a couple of weeks and he’s being nice to me, the financial-aid officer.
No matter. Seeing my adult son willingly cleaning that dirty bathtub gives me hope for the future of his 12-year-old brother who, instead of working, was found to be sleeping in the seat of the window he was supposed to be cleaning.
“Awake and be clean!” I say.
1. According to the passage, for modern families, spring cleaning ________.| A．calls for more complicated skills |
| B．is no longer something natural to do |
| C．is a highly-respected tradition |
| D．requires more family members to be involved |
| A．Because spring is the best time for us to relax ourselves. |
| B．Because there will be more activities when it gets warmer. |
| C．Because our garden requires immediate cleaning after winter. |
| D．Because the weather in spring makes it easier for us to do so. |
| A．The reduction of melatonin will give rise to wakefulness in our bodies. |
| B．A dusty, virus-filled house is largely to blame for our sleepiness in winter. |
| C．A role model is needed to help other members grasp the concept of spring cleaning. |
| D．The author’s eldest son agrees to clean the bathtub because she will finance his trip. |
| A．Spring Cleaning Affords No Delay! |
| B．Modernity Kills Spring Cleaning |
| C．Spring Cleaning — to Do or Not to Do? |
| D．The Young Need Spring Cleaning |
3 . On a recent sunny day, 13,000 chickens roam over Larry Brown’s 40 windswept acres in Shiner, Texas. Some rest in the shade of a parked car. Others drink water with the cows. This all seems random, but it’s by design, part of what the $6.1 billion U.S. egg industry bets will be its next big thing: climate-friendly eggs.
These eggs, which are making their debut now on shelves for as much as $8 a dozen, are still labeled organic and animal-friendly, but they’re also from birds that live on farms using regenerative agriculture — special techniques to cultivate rich soils that can trap greenhouse gases. Such eggs could be marketed as helping to fight climate change.
“I’m excited about our progress,” says Brown, who harvests eggs for Denver-based NestFresh Eggs and is adding more cover crops that draw worms and crickets for the chickens to eat. The birds’ waste then fertilizes fields. Such improvements “allow our hens to forage for high-quality natural feed that will be good for the land, the hens, and the eggs that we supply to our customers.”
The egg industry’s push is the first major test of whether animal products from regenerative farms can become the next premium offering. In barely more than a decade, organic eggs went from being dismissed as a niche product in natural foods stores to being sold at Walmart. More recently there were similar doubts about probiotics and plant-based meats, but both have exploded into major supermarket categories. If the sustainable-egg rollout is successful, it could open the floodgates for regenerative beef, broccoli, and beyond.
Regenerative products could be a hard sell, because the concept is tough to define quickly, says Julie Stanton, associate professor of agricultural economics at Pennsylvania State University Brandywine. Such farming also brings minimal, if any, improvement to the food products (though some producers say their eggs have more protein).
The industry is betting that the same consumers paying more for premium attributes such as free-range, non-GMO, and pasture-raised eggs will embrace sustainability. Surveys show that younger generations are more concerned about climate change, and some of the success of plant- based meat can be chalked up to shoppers wanting to signal their desire to protect the environment. Young adults “really care about the planet,” says John Brunnquell, president of Egg Innovations. “They are absolutely altering the food chain beyond what I think even they understand what they’re doing.”
1. The climate friendly eggs are produced ______.| A．at a considerably low cost | B．at the demand of regular shoppers |
| C．as a replacement for organic eggs | D．on specially designed farms |
| A．reducing the damage of worms | B．accelerating the disposal of waste |
| C．creating a sustainable system | D．attracting customers to his products |
| A．are desperate to change their diet | B．are likely to buy climate-friendly eggs |
| C．are enthusiastic about new food | D．are amazed at environmental problems |
| A．market prospects | B．nutritional value |
| C．standard definition | D．moral implications |
4 . El Nino, a Spanish term for “the Christ child”, was named by South American fisherman who noticed that the global weather pattern, which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of fishes caught around Christmas. El Nino sees warm water, collected over several years in the western Pacific, flow back eastwards when winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other way round.
The weather effects both good and bad, are felt in many places. Rich countries gain more from powerful Nino, on balance, than they lose. A study found that a strong Nino in 1997 helped American’s economy grow by 15 billion, partly because of better agricultural harvest, farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total rise in agricultural in rich countries in growth than the fall in poor ones.
But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year drought (干旱）in south-east Brazil is becoming worse. Though heavy rains brought about by El Nino may relieve the drought in California, they are likely to cause surface flooding and other disasters.
The most recent powerful Nino, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000 people and caused damage worth $36 billion around the globe. But such Ninos come with months of warning, and so much is known about how they happen that governments can prepare. According to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), however, just 12% of disaster-relief funding in the past two decades has gone on reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding afterwards. This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.
Simple improvements to infrastructure (基础设施）can reduce the spread of disease. Better sewers (下水道）make it less likely that heavy rain is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger bridges mean villages are less likely to be left without food and medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr Hsiang and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Nino’s harmful effects—and the poorer the country, the stronger the link. Though the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to prepare for disasters would at least reduce the risk that those disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the poorest are least likely to make up for their losses from disasters linked to El Nino, reducing their losses needs to be the priority.
1. What can we learn about El Nino in Paragraph 1?| A．It is named after a South American fisherman. |
| B．It takes place almost every year all over the world. |
| C．It forces fishermen to stop catching fish around Christmas. |
| D．It sees the changes of water flow direction in the ocean. |
| A．Agricultural harvests in rich countries fall. |
| B．Droughts become more harmful than floods. |
| C．Rich countries’ gains are greater than their losses. |
| D．Poor countries suffer less from droughts economically. |
| A．more investment should go to risk reduction |
| B．governments of poor countries need more aid |
| C．victims of El Nino deserve more compensation |
| D．recovery and reconstruction should come first |
| A．To introduce El Nino and its origin. |
| B．To explain the consequences of El Nino. |
| C．To show ways of fighting against El Nino. |
| D．To urge people to prepare for El Nino. |
5 . What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is the largest of the five offshore plastic accumulation zones in the world’s oceans. It is located halfway between Hawaii and California.
PLASTIC
It is estimated that 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic are entering the ocean each year from rivers. More than half of this plastic is less
The strong and floating plastics show resiliency(韧性) in the marine environment, allowing them to be transported over
Once these plastics enter the gyre（环流）, they are unlikely to leave the area until they
LOCATION
Due to seasonal and interannual variabilities of winds and currents, the GPGP’s location and shape are constantly changing. Only floating objects that are
By simulating concentration levels in the North Pacific, the researchers were able to follow the location of the patch and found on average it orbits around 32°N and 145°W. However, the team observed seasonal
IMPACT ON WILDLIFE
Plastic has increasingly become a very common substance in the ocean. Due to its size and color, animals
Studies have shown that about 700 species have encountered marine debris, and 92% of these
IMPACT ON HUMANS AND SOCIETY
Once plastic enters the marine food web, there is a possibility that it will contaminate the human food chain as well. Through a process called bioaccumulation, chemicals in plastics will enter the body of the animal
| A．ACCUMULATION | B．DRIFT | C．FLOATING | D．PROMOTION |
| A．light | B．thick | C．tiny | D．dense |
| A．adjusted | B．overdone | C．deposited | D．extended |
| A．upgrade | B．degrade | C．assemble | D．disassemble |
| A．transportation | B．estimation | C．concentration | D．location |
| A．predominantly | B．rarely | C．previously | D．slightly |
| A．similarity | B．shift | C．boost | D．figure |
| A．exchange | B．substitute | C．leave | D．confuse |
| A．implications | B．interactions | C．interferences | D．influences |
| A．resting | B．feeding | C．risking | D．waiting |
| A．mariner | B．prey | C．tracker | D．predator |
| A．present | B．absent | C．current | D．reliable |
| A．Likewise | B．However | C．Moreover | D．Therefore |
| A．result in | B．remove from | C．stem from | D．bring about |
| A．insufficient | B．adequate | C．insignificant | D．substantial |
6 . Animal-rights activists often complain that cute beasts get more sympathy than equally deserving ugly ones. If so, one would think a lovely creature like the mink (貂)would be easy to protect. Yet in the Netherlands, mink is the only animal that can still legally be farmed for their fur. That is about to change. On August 28th the government brought forward to this year a ban on mink-farming that had been scheduled to take effect in 2024. The timetable was sped up not because mink had become more adorable, but because they can contract covid-19 and spread it to humans.
Dutch farmers normally raised about 2.5 million minks a year, making the Netherlands the world's fourth-largest producer after Denmark, China and Poland. In April, a couple of minks and the farm hands who tended them were diagnosed with covid- 19. Genetic tracing showed that at least two workers had probably been infected by mink, rather than the other way around. The affected animals were destroyed and stricter hygiene rules imposed, but by summer the virus had spread to a third of the country's farms. In June, parliament voted to shut down the industry as soon as possible, and the cabinet agreed.
That was a win for the Netherlands Party for the Animals, which has four seats in the 150-memeber parliament. In 2013, it helped pass the law that gave mink farmers until 2024 to get out of the business.
Now the party and its supporters object to the generous compensation （补偿）the government has offered for bringing forward the deadline: $150 million, or $1 million per farmer. Some members of parliament claim that the compensation paid for destroying the infected minks was higher than the market price for their fur.
Fur farmers any modern standards allow minks to be raised humanely, and that they are not a big reason for the spread of the virus. But minks tend to live by themselves instead of living in groups: animal-rights advocates say they cannot be raised humanely in small cages. As for covid-I9, the worry is that mink could serve as a medium for it to attack human immunization （免疫）programs. The industry's value is modest （framers put it at $150 million 0 $200 million, activists at under $100 million）, and polls show the public overwhelmingly opposes it. "In a democratic country, that widespread belief has to translate into a political decision to ban fur farming," says Esther Ouwehand, leader of the Party for the Animals. The farmers accept they are shutting down. The remaining argument is over money.
1. According to the passage, why did animal - activists have an unexpected win for protecting minks?| A．Because mink's cute appearance won people's heart. |
| B．Because the minks could act as a host for an infectious disease. |
| C．Because the government carried out an act earlier than planned. |
| D．Because the farmers stopped raising minks, considering the great reward. |
| A．The farm-raised minks were born with the virus. |
| B．The fanners were infected with covid-I9 by minks. |
| C．The minks contracted covid- 19 from their caregiver. |
| D．The affected minks had contact with the virus in nature. |
| A．Minks can be easily bred by humans without bringing any harm to them. |
| B．It is acceptable to shut down mink fur industry because it isn't profitable. |
| C．Objection to fur industry is a main reason behind this governmental decision. |
| D．The amount of money to make up for the loss of the mink farmers was too high. |
| A．Cuteness Wins |
| B．An Unexpected Win |
| C．Winter for Minks |
| D．Farmers v.s. Activists |
Now, Mount Everest is actually an interesting comparison of a new approach
The reality of space is that
8 . An argument will break down if one of the premises is not true or if the conclusion does not logically follow from them. For example, consider this argument:
The deer population in our state should be preserved. During the hunting season hundreds of deer are killed. Therefore, the hunting season should be discontinued.
To challenge this argument, the state’s wildlife commission might agree with both the major and minor premises but question whether the conclusion follows logically from them. True, the deer population should be preserved; true, deer are killed during the hunting season. However, in a state where deer have no natural enemies, herds become too large for the natural forest vegetation to support them. The overpopulated herds eat the leaves of the young trees, killing the trees, before dying of starvation themselves. The commission might conclude, therefore, that a limited hunting season helps preserve a healthier and more stable population of deer.
People who already agree with you need no persuasion, although a well-argued case for their own point of view is always welcome. But indifferent and doubting people will tend to resist your argument because they have minds of their own. To convince them, you will need to refute(驳斥)opposing arguments.
To give up a position that seems reasonable, the arguer has to see that there is an even more reasonable one. In addition to presenting your own case, review the chief arguments of the other side and explain what you think is wrong with them.
It is the best way to deal with the other side. Often it is useful to summarize the opposing position. Sometimes a better plan is to anticipate objections as you develop your detailed reasons for your argument. Wherever you decide to deal with opposing arguments, do your best to refute them.
As you refute opposition arguments, try to establish common ground with readers who at first do not agree with your views. If you can show that you share their values, they may be able to switch to your position without giving up what they feel is important. For example, to persuade people emotionally opposed to shooting helpless deer, a state wildlife commission would have to show that it too cares about preserving deer and does not want them to die needlessly. Having established these values in common, the commission might be able to persuade people that a carefully controlled hunting season is good for the deer population because it prevents starvation caused by over-population. However, if those opposed to hunting want to persuade the commission to ban the hunting season, they would need to show that the commission could achieve its goals by some other means, such as expanding the deer preserve or allowing the deer and the food supply to come into a natural balance.
1. What does the underlined word premises mean in the first paragraph?| A．establishments | B．commercials |
| C．assumptions | D．prejudices |
| A．have the hunting season | B．make the hunters happy |
| C．protect the rest of the herds | D．create their natural enemies |
| A．present your case first | B．summarize the position of the other side |
| C．review your own views | D．pretend to be indifferent |
| A．One may give up a position when he sees a more reasonable one. |
| B．You’d better anticipate the possible objections before you give your reasons |
| C．Deer should be preserved but overpopulation will do harm to them. |
| D．Those opposed to hunting don’t have good reasons |
9 . The colours of beautiful feathers are often borrowed. Flamingos, for example, owe their pinkness to chemicals called carotenoids that are made by bacteria known (confusingly) as blue-green algae. The birds, when feeding, both ingest these bacteria directly and consume small crustaceans (甲壳纲动物) that themselves live on such bacteria､Blue-footed boobies obtain their eponymous colour similarly, via the fish they eat.
Carotenoids, though, are dual-use molecules. Besides giving these birds colours, they also help to stimulate the immune system. If a bird has some health issues, its immune system will thus use up some of its carotenoid stock defending against these interlopers, and its colour will suffer. If it is in good shape, by contrast, most of the carotenoids it consumes will be used to create colour. This is a difference that potential mates notice and act on, as dozens of experiments have proved. But a study just published in Naturwissenschaften has gone beyond these observations and shown that bright feather is also an indicator of a healthy digestive system.
Wild animals live in a world of constant food scarcity. Squeezing every last calorie and nutrient molecule from what they eat is crucial to their survival. Since carotenoids are obtained as part of this digestive process. Tuul Sepp of Arizona State University and her colleagues wondered if feather brilliance might therefore be a reliable signal of the efficiency with which a bird draws goodness from its food.
To assess that she turned to a test called the “acid steatocrit”. This involves collecting an animal’s faeces(排泄物) mixing them with perchloric acid to liberate the fat molecules within, centrifuging(使离心) the mixture and then measuring the thickness of the fatty layer which has accumulated at the top. The thinner this layer, the more efficiently the animal in question has been digesting any fats it has eaten. Since most carotenoids are bound to fatty molecules called lipoproteins, Dr Sepp reasoned that those birds which the test suggests are collecting fats efficiently from their food will also be brightly coloured.
To investigate this idea, she and her colleagues collected 36 male house finches—birds known for having brilliant red breasts. They photographed their captives and held them in cages for a short time, in order to collect some faeces from each. They then ran the images of the birds ‘breasts through a computer to analyse how red they were, and studied a sample of each bird’s faeces using the acid stratocrat test.
The result was that there is indeed a correlation between the brilliance of a bird’s breast and the efficiency of its fat digestion. If Dr Sepp’s computer can see this, it seems likely female house finches can, too—and will thus have yet another reason to pick the mates with the prettiest feathers.
1. By “The colours of beautiful feathers are often borrowed” the writer means that ________.| A．the colour of birds’ feathers fades with age |
| B．birds prefer to eat food that look colourful |
| C．birds’ feathers get colour after they are born |
| D．the colours of birds’ feathers are a sign of disease |
| A．more carotenoid is consumed to create colour |
| B．their immune system produces more carotenoid |
| C．they are more likely to defend against certain disease |
| D．their potential mates are more likely to see bright colours |
| A．have a less strong digestive system |
| B．appeal less to female house finches |
| C．are more able to separate fatty molecules |
| D．digest fat collected from food more efficiently |
| A．Female birds choose mates based on their act. |
| B．Birds with poor digestion are literally off colour. |
| C．Faeces are a useful indicator of birds’ immune system. |
| D．How efficiently birds process food remains to be studied. |
91. The Problem of Packaging
A large source of rubbish is packaging material. It often makes up more than 30 percent of the total. To understand why this is true, think of the packaging commonly used for a simple product, such as toothpaste. The packaging includes not only the tube for the toothpaste, but also the box for the tube. This box is put into a plastic wrapper. Then, the boxes are transported in a cardboard container.
Most packaging material ends up in a landfill after it is thrown away. Though necessary, landfills take up valuable space, often stink, and can leak harmful substances into the soil. Landfills not included, the production of packaging material itself is a major source of air and water pollution.
People are now trying to solve the problems caused by packaging materials. In 1991, Germany took the lead by requiring companies to recycle the packaging used for their goods. To do this, the companies set up recycling bins in every neighborhood. Consumers now separate their rubbish into three categories—metal, plastic and paper cartons. They then put it into the appropriate bin. The rubbish sorted, it is transported to recycling company for processing.
The programme worked well at first. However, the amount of rubbish has begun to increase again. One reason for this is that many consumers no longer reduce waste because they think the problem is solved. It seems that to properly deal with the problem of rubbish, everyone must remain alert and do their part.
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