1 . 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.

2 . 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.

3 . 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.

4 . 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.

5 . 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.

6 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one more word than you need.

A. conserve             B. wrinkly             C. stationary             D. exceptional             E. oddities             F. nursing       G. timely             H. sounding             I. generalize             J. comprise             K. rules

The Curious World of Bats

Not all bats are unbelievably adorable, like the one below. Many of them have     1     faces and large ears that help them “see” in the dark, using echo location (回声定位). But all bats are, without a doubt,     2     creatures.

Scientists are typically reluctant to     3     about bats because they make up such a large and diverse group of winged animals. With nearly 1, 500 species, bats     4     about one-fifth of all mammal (哺乳动物) species on Earth. But one thing that can be said about them as a group is that they are, in not- so-scientific terms, very odd. “They break all the     5    ,” said Cori Lausen, a bat expert at the environmental group Wildlife Conservation Society Canada.

Being able to fly is just one of their     6    , since mammals rarely fly. Apart from that, bats can also push their heart rate to extreme highs and lows-as slow as one beat per minute. Many bat species can go into a period of deep sleep, known as “torpor”, for a few hours a day or even for weeks to     7     energy when it’s cold or food is unavailable. And while most small mammals have short lives and lots of babies, some bats can live for two decades or more and typically have just one baby per year.

For how much energy they need, it’s also surprising that many bat species, including most of those in the US, rely on insects alone for food. They have to eat ridiculous quantities of them. A mom that is     8     a baby can catch more than 4,000 insects in one night.

Oddly, although bats can fly, they can’t easily take off from a(n)     9     position, like most birds and insects do. That’s one reason why they hang upside down-bats have to gain the momentum they need by falling. “For them, it’s not upside down,” Frick said. “It’s flight-side ready!”

While bats remain highly understudied relative to birds and other mammals, scientists are     10     the alarm. In North America, more than half of all bat species are at risk of severe population decline. Climate change, they say, threatens to only speed up their extinction.

7 . 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.

In 1831, a 22-year-old English biologist called Charles Darwin boarded the HMS Beagle in Plymouth and set off on an incredible voyage. His aim was to observe the natural world in places     1     had not been studied in much detail. Almost 200 years later, another mission, the Darwin 200, has invited a team of conservationists to retrace back the Beagle’s journey.

HMS Beagle’s mission was to map the harbours of South America. Darwin was invited along     2     (survey) the natural world. His observations on the Galapagos Islands, around 560 miles off the coast of Ecuador, changed the way Darwin saw nature,     3     (lead) to Darwin’s most famous work: his theory of evolution (进化论). This explained     4     species change over time to adapt to their environments, a process called natural selection. It has been described as “    5     (big) single idea in the history of human thought”.

What is Darwin 200’s mission? The Darwin200 ship     6     (sail) more than 40,000 miles and stop at 32 ports in four continents. Specially     7     (choose) conservationists will join at different stages for a week each to carry out wildlife studies.    8     the journey, the ship’s crew will make films that explain Charles Darwin’s discoveries.

The Darwin 200 team will travel in a 50-metre-long Dutch sailing ship called Oosterschelde, which     9     (build) in 1918 and has been restored fully for this voyage. The ship’s captain said, “She has sailed the distance from here to the Moon and back twice!    10     I may handle the most difficult situations, I trust her to bring me back home safely.”

The ship is due to reach the Galapagos Islands in April 2025

8 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible. 

Microplastics: Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

People joke that someone suffering from paranoia (妄想症) sees danger everywhere, thinking someone is out to get him. In the case of microplastics, you don’t need to have paranoia to be worried about them being everywhere, because they basically are!

What exactly are microplastics? They are particles (颗粒) of any type of plastic that are less than 5 millimeters in diameter (直径). They have resulted from the plastic pollution widespread in the world today.

When plastic is exposed to environmental forces, it breaks down into these tiny particles, which, in turn, do not disappear but continue to exist for hundreds or even thousands of years. Every piece of plastic that has ever been made is still on Earth today, except for what has been burned. Often mistaken for food, plastics and microplastics in oceans and on beaches are often consumed by marine animals, which is harmful. Research has linked microplastics to cancer and other problems in animals.

Whatever you think about these particles, taking them in is easier than you think. When you heat food in a plastic dish in the microwave, microplastics get into your food. The water from a plastic water bottle contains the particles as well. After taking surveys of microplastics in air, water and seafood, scientists estimate that people may easily be eating 5 grams of plastic a week. Researchers don’t know yet if or how this will affect humans. Microplastics have been found in human tissue samples, and no one yet knows how long they stay in the human body or what problems may arise.

Not until the amount of plastic waste in the world is reduced will microplastics decrease. So, while the evidence is still missing of the effect microplastics have on people’s health, reusing and recycling plastic is a no-brainer.

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9 . 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.

At first, the scientists wondered whether it was a mistake. Just 21 days     1     leaving the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, an arctic fox had arrived in Greenland. And in less than three months, the fox made it to Canada.

The fox averaged nearly 30 miles a day — some days, though, it walked almost 100 miles. The data was real, the scientists decided as the fox kept going. The creature’s traveling last year,     2     (document) in a recent paper, wowed Tarroux and his fellow Norwegian researcher Eva,     3     the animal is known for its endurance and ability to survive in harsh polar areas.

Scientists already knew that some of the foxes, native     4     Arctic areas all around the Northern Hemisphere, made long journeys: DNA exchange links far-flung fox populations in areas connected only by sea ice.

But the fox these researchers followed stood out for just     5     fast it covered more than 2,700 miles — and shed light on far-north fox sighting which explorers wondered about as far back as the 1800s.

“We didn’t really know how they     6     (do) that and how long it would take for an individual to do this kind of trip,” Tarroux said.

The coastal fox the researchers tracked, also known as a blue fox, landed in Ellesmere Island in Canada on 1 July 2018. Of the 50 or 60 animals the scientists put trackers on for a study, it was the only one     7     ventured outside of Norway.

The researchers think the fox     8     have set off because of a food shortage, but they’re not sure. The tracker stopped     9     (work) in February, so researchers no longer know the fox’s whereabouts, but it     10     (detect) for the last time on the same Canadian island in the Nunavut territory.

10 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once.   Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. chaos        B. consume        C. plentiful       D. discharge        E. evolutionarily     F. extent G. freeze   H. mechanism       I. novel          J. subsequently     K. unstable

Science in Images

Oyster mushrooms feature in cuisines around the world, but they should be off the menu for hungry worms -- which these delicious mushrooms will kill and eat. Now researchers finally know how they do it.

A study published in Science Advances details how oyster mushrooms use a particular poisonous substance to freeze and get rid of mushroom-eating roundworms called nematodes (线虫). The mushrooms, which grow on nutrient-poor dead wood, then     1     the worms for nutrition.

“Nematodes happen to be the most     2     animals these mushrooms encounter. So I think,     3    , this cross-kingdom interaction is very interesting,” says study senior author.

The study team of geneticists, biochemists and biologists had previously found that oyster mushrooms release an unidentified poisonous substance that will somehow     4     the worms within minutes and cause a chemical element to flow into their cells, killing them. This     5     differs from those used by other meat-eating mushrooms and could be unique to oyster mushrooms.

For their new work, the researchers grew and analyzed samples of the mushroom’s tissue, finding no noticeable poison even when they broke it up. They reasoned that whatever was killing the worms must be a kind of     6     compound that disappears into air when disturbed. When they damaged the oyster mushroom tissue again and     7     analyzed the nearby air, they finally found a nerve gas that turned out to be contained with tiny, special-shaped structures on the mushroom surface. When nematodes touch the mushrooms, these structures     8     their gas, disturbing the worms’ cell walls to cause immobility and death. The worm is then digested by the mushrooms.

Before this study, “we underestimated the     9     to which wild mushrooms defend against or consume nematodes,” notes Nick Talbot, a geneticist at Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, England. The study demonstrates “a very     10     approach,” he adds. “These organisms are really difficult to work on, and Dr. Hsueh is showing that you can do some really amazing work with them.”