1 . Nature’s Gigantic Snow Plough

On January 10, 1962, an enormous piece of glacier broke away and collapsed down the side of a mountain in Peru. A mere seven minutes later, when cascading ice finally came to a stop ten miles down the mountain, it had taken the lives of 4,000 people. This disaster is one of the most “destructive” examples of a very common event: an avalanche (雪崩) of snow or ice. Because it is extremely cold at very high altitudes, snow rarely melts.     1     Glaciers are eventually created when the weight of the snow is so great that the lower layers are pressed into solid ice.     2     As snow accumulates on a steep slope, it reaches a critical point at which the slightest vibration will send it sliding into the valley below.

Even an avalanche of light power can be dangerous, but the Peruvian disaster was particularly terrible because it was caused by a heavy layer of ice.     3     As it crashed down the steep mountainside like a gigantic snow plough, it swept up trees, boulders and tons of topsoil, and completely crushed and destroyed the six villages that lay in its path.

At present there is no way to predict or avoid such enormous avalanches, but luckily, they are very rare.     4     In the future, perhaps dangerous masses of snow and ice can be found and removed before they take human lives?

A．It is estimated that the ice that broke off weighed three million tons.

B．It just keeps piling up higher and higher.

C．Scientists are constantly studying the smaller, more common avalanches, to try to understand what causes them.

D．An extremely rare snow and ice disaster hit the south area of China in January, 2008, seriously influencing people’s production and life.

E．But most avalanches occur long before this happens.

F．This year’s snow and ice disaster has caused great harm to power network.

2 . The HISTORY Channel series Alone drops contestants into some of the planet’s most punishing environments, with a bare minimum of clothing, safety and survival gear. In their battle against the elements, contestants are forced to use their fitness, their courage and their creativity to become true survivalists.

Few people choose to be thrown into such extreme situations, but those who do have usually stumbled into some immense bad luck. Just check out one of the famous real-life survival stories:

Mauro Prosperi is an Italian police officer who gained worldwide fame after getting lost in the Sahara Desert in 1994. A keen athlete and long-distance runner, Mauro took part in the 1994 Marathon of the Sands in Morocco, a six-day-long endurance race in one of the driest and barren environments on the planet.

During the race, a sandstorm caused Prosperi, then 39 years old, married and father to three children, to become disoriented. One day after going off track, he found himself in an abandoned Muslim temple in Algeria. In order to survive, he killed and ate bats. For liquid, he was forced to drink his own waste, lick dew off of rocks and suck moisture out of his wet wipes.

Assuming he would never be found, he cut his wrists with a pen knife from his supplies. However, it was such a dry heat that the wounds thickened and concreted, and he was forced to go back into the desert and attempt to find help.

For nine days he walked through the desert and ate insects and cold-blooded animals. Finally, he found a small village. From there he was flown to a hospital, where doctors said his liver had almost completely failed.

Having traveled 180 miles in all, Prosperi lost 35 pounds in body weight during his severe suffering in the desert; it took several months before he could eat solid food again. But he has remained an enthusiastic runner and even returned and completed the race in 2012.

1. Prosperi have to discontinue the Marathon of the Sands because ______.

A．his supplies were running out

B．his children didn’t want to lose him

C．he lost his way for the bad weather

D．he couldn’t tolerate the extreme heat

2. What caused Mauro Prosperi to head back to the desert for help?

A．His intention to heal the wound.	B．His failure to take away his own life.
C．His decreasing interest in food sources.	D．His discomfort with the temple environment.

3. According to the passage, what can be inferred about Mauro Prosperi’s experience?

A．He found an alternative source of water in a traditional way.

B．He demonstrated the determination to survive all the way through.

C．His story was a proof of the worsening relationship between man and nature.

D．His eventual return to the race signified his persistence.

4. What is the primary purpose of the passage?

A．To entertain readers with an awe-inspiring fictional adventure story.

B．To educate readers about the possible dangers of punishing environments.

C．To inspire readers with human’s ability to survive the extreme challenges.

D．To remind readers of the value of essential survival skills and preparedness.

3 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。1.

A．The importance of bees to agriculture.	B．The factors in causing the decline of bees.
C．The reasons for choosing a day for bees.	D．The ways to increase the diversity of bees.

2.

A．The change in their food forms.	B．The disappearance of their homes.
C．The loss of some plants.	D．The poor harvest in agriculture.

3.

A．Raising awareness of protecting bees.	B．Keeping more people away from bees.
C．Inspiring more art works about bees.	D．Encouraging professors to keep bees.

4 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。1.

A．Dogs respond to calls like humans.

B．Dogs and humans had a different ancestor

C．Dogs used to have a more complex brain system.

D．Dogs and humans make sounds in a similar way.

2.

A．22 dogs in all were involved in the experiment.

B．The dogs were all awake while they were being scanned.

C．The dogs were as sensitive to human sounds as to dog sounds.

D．The dogs listened to as many human noises as dog noises.

3.

A．It may not have anything to do with evolution.

B．It provides evidence for dogs’ attachment to humans.

C．It proves that dogs have a sharp sense of sound.

D．It may not be supported by other experiments.

5 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。1.

A．They thinned their coffee crops.

B．They planted too much coffee crops.

C．They occupied Venezuela’s mountains.

D．They drove away red siskins from the forest.

2.

A．They can get funds from the government.

B．They can sell the coffee beans at a higher price.

C．They can prevent coffee plants from disappearing.

D．They can attract more consumers with the quality beans.

3.

A．Organic coffee beans developed to increase the production.

B．Coffee farmers who are devoted to bird protection.

C．A project intended to save an endangered bird.

D．A private zoo serving as a breeding center.

6 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Every year, around 30 million visitors swarm into Venice, a place of under 50,000 residents. The population has shrunk by 70 percent in the past 70 years in Venice,     1     the residents have been driven out by ballooning rents and cuts in services.

Burano—a one-square-mile island in the north lagoon—draws thousands of visitors daily. They take a 40-minute vaporetto (waterbus) ride from Venice     2     (see) the island’s candy-colored cottages and the leaning bell tower.

Now, as residents on the island, some Buranelli are fighting back,     3     (make) the island a launching ground for ecotourism. A clutch of the island’s fishermen are doubling up on their jobs—casting their nets as well as showing tourists the fragile lagoon and why it needs     4     (preserve).

Life on Burano has revolved around the water. A fishing settlement with a history     5     (date) back to the Roman era, the island’s relative separation from Venice, has kept its traditions undamaged     6     medieval times.

Yet     7     (work) with tourists is increasingly important for the fishermen’s livelihoods. Wholesale seafood prices nearly     8     (halve) during the pandemic, and although they recovered, they decreased again in late 2022.

“I’m proud of my work but I’m also aware that in a few years there won’t be anyone left     9     (do) it,” one of the local fishermen says. Numbers of both crabs and fishermen are sharply declining: “When I was a child, there were 100 moecanti on Burano; now we are 19,” he says. Climate change     10     (raise) lagoon temperatures over the last decade. While the crabs aren’t endangered, fewer of them are swimming into fishermen’s nets.

7 . Hanwengong Shrine

Now we come to Hanwengong Shrine, which is beside Hangjiang river and west of Bijia mountain.     1     In the square in front of the hall, an ancient book-shaped stone is carved with two famous sayings of Han Yu on it, meaning hard work is the precondition for success, and deep thought is the guarantee of success.

In the year of A.D. 819, for some political reason, Han Yu was exiled (流放) to Chaozhou, a backland at that time. But he was not depressed by this, and he helped local people to develop education, agriculture, irrigation and release slaves.     2    

The shrine was built against the mountain and divided into two parts, the front part and the back part. Now we play a small game: count the stone steps, and later I’ll tell you a secret. How many steps are there? Yes, 51 steps! Why?     3     The first time Han Yu came to Chaozhou, he was impressed by the beautiful scenery and hospitality of local people. You see that old tree? People say the more flowers in the tree, the more well-educated students are. But in Qing Dynasty, this magic tree, planted by Han Yu himself, died, so people planted this tree instead.

    4     Here is one: when Han Yu was living in Chaozhou, there was a very fierce and cruel crocodile in the Hanjiang river, which was a big social harm. One day, Han Yu drafted a statement against the crocodile and made it public by the river. Incredibly, from the next day on, the crocodile was gone. Later, the statue, made of a portrait of Han Yu, was built and his words were left on the monument to mark his achievements.

A．When Han Yu came to Chaozhou, he was 51 years old.

B．Han Yu was a Confucian figure, and there are many stories about him in Chaozhou.

C．Although Han Yu’s ideas had no obvious practical effect at the time, they had a great impact on society decades later.

D．Built in the Song dynasty, the shrine is the oldest and best preserved monument to Han Yu, one of the greatest literary men in the Tang dynasty.

E．To memorize what he had contributed to the development of Chaozhou, people constructed this shrine and named him Hanwengong respectfully.

F．There are so many tourists that, to relieve the pressure on the monuments, the scenic spot requires that a maximum of 500 people visit at a time.

8 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. perfectly       B. right       C. reach       D. mountainous       E. current       F. convince G. spotted       H. reverse       I. primarily       J. serve       K. worth

“When a snow leopard follows its prey (猎物) among the mountain walls, it moves... softly, slowly,” explains Indian biologist Raghunandan, who has studied animals for years. “If it knocks a stone loose, it will     1     out a foot to stop it from falling and making noise.” One might be moving right now,     2     silent, maybe close by. But where?

Best known for its     3     coat and long distinctive tail, the snow leopard is one of the world’s most secretive animals. These big cats can only be found high in the remote,     4     regions of Central Asia. For this reason, and because they hunt     5     at night, they are very rarely seen.

Snow leopards have been officially protected since 1975, but enforcing this law has proven difficult. Many continue to be killed for their fur and body parts, which are     6     a fortune on the black market. In recent years, though, conflict with local herders (牧人) has also led to a number of snow leopard deaths. This is because the big cats kill the herders’ animals, and drag the bodies away high up in the mountains to eat. Thus, the herders’ animals are in danger of snow leopard attacks, which can push those herders into desperate poverty. To address this problem, local religious leaders have called for an end to snow leopard killings, saying that these wild animals have the     7     to exist peacefully. They’ve also tried to     8     people that it is of great importance to protect those big cats.

As a result of these pressures, the     9     snow leopard population is estimated at only 4,000 to 7,000, and some fear that the actual number may already have dropped below 3,500．The only way to     10     this trend and bring these cats back from their threatened status, say conservationists, is to make them more valuable alive than dead.

9 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。1.

A．Harmful substances in the smoke from homes.

B．Damp chemical gases from factory chimneys.

C．Smoke from homes mixed with dust in the air.

D．Mixture of fog, smoke and other waste gases.

2.

A．Harmful gases rise and fall between layers of cold and warm air.

B．Smoke and chemical gases build up under a layer of warm air.

C．Smoke and waste gases remain near the ground as cold air pours in.

D．Thick smoke and gases blown by the wind pile up above warm air.

3.

A．Temperature inversion.	B．Solar radiation.
C．Automobile exhausts.	D．Foggy weather.

10 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Imagine you are out fishing on the high seas - the wind and water are clean and comfortable and you begin bringing up your first catch of the day. That's when everything goes wrong. Your fishing nets are tangled up (缠成一团) in older, abandoned fishing tool, and you're unable to untangle them. Your equipment    1    (ruin), and all of the fish you have worked so hard to catch are trapped. They will die    2    you are unable to draw or free them. Ghost fishing has claimed yet another victim.

Ghost fishing is what abandoned fishing tool does. It still catches fish, but no one benefits. Trapped fish die and attract scavengers (清道夫)    3     also get caught, creating a vicious cycle. In fact, lost fishing tool, or "ghost tool," is among    4    (great) killers in the oceans. This tool further reduces the already declining number of fish.

Environmental agencies estimate that 10 percent of all seawater litter is lost or deserted fishing tool    5    (equal) 640,000 tons every year. Fortunately, these agencies are asking why this is happening and what    6     be done to stop it.

It's not the intention of the majority of fishermen to lose their tool. In most circumstances bad weather is to blame. But in other cases fishermen throw their tool in the ocean on purpose, risking expensive fines. But to them, it's worth the risk    7    (free) up space onboard, cut fuel costs or avoid paying handling fees.    8     equipment loss is accidental or not, a strategy involving tool identification seems to be a practical solution.

By marking tool with electronic tags and utilizing GPS technology, owners are more likely to recover lost tool and less likely to abandon it. Currently, ownership regulations are reportedly very weak. Leading the effort for tagging fishing tool and creating accountability is the GGTI (Global Ghost Tool Initiative).    9     (launch) in 2015, the GGTI is the first organization of its kind. It's brought together an organization of governments, fishing-industry executives, seafood companies and non-profits. Their efforts to get back and recycle the tool    10    (improve) marine environment, protecting fish and fishermen's way of life.

Ghost fishing poses a serious threat to the fishing industry worldwide, and a global effort is needed to solve it.