2 . 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.

Can Birdsong Make You Happier?

If you are able to step outside and hear many types of birds, you might also have a greater feeling of well-being. Two studies show that hearing diverse birdsongs may help increase our happiness.

One study was done by the researchers at California Polytechnic State University. The team studied the effects of birdsong on people walking through a park in the U.S. state of Colorado. Danielle Ferraro, who led the Cal Poly study, says that there could be an evolutionary reason why we like birdsong. The idea is that when we hear birdsong it could signal safety to us. There could be many other reasons too Ferraro states that in some areas around the world birdsong can also signal the arrival of spring and nice weather. Bird diversity, she adds, can also mean a healthy environment.

Similarly, scientists in Germany examined for the first time whether a diverse nature also increases human well-being across Europe. The researchers looked at the European Quality of Life Survey to study the connection between the different kinds of birds in their surroundings and life satisfaction. They looked at more than 26,000 adults from 26 European countries. “Europeans are particularly satisfied with their lives if their surroundings have a high species diversity,” explains the study’s lead author, Joel Methorst, a researcher at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. He and his team found that the happiest Europeans are those who can experience many different kinds of birds in their daily life, or who live in near-natural surroundings that are home to many species.

So, if birdsong is good for our mental health, how can we increase the different types of birdsongs we hear? Scientists also mentioned, “We would recommend planting native trees and flowers because we have a lot of pretty decorative plants in our cities. And they might look nice to us, but birds can’t necessarily use them. So, we think it important to have species that are native to the area to increase bird diversity.”

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3 . The emergence of black holes undoubtedly marks the beginning of a revolution. Black holes have many peculiar properties, such as the alteration of space and time, the radiation of gravitational waves and so on. Scientists are still trying to study the properties and evolution of black holes in order to better understand the origin and evolution of the universe.

Recently, a team of astronomers may have found a solo-wandering black hole using a strange trick of gravity called microlensing (微透镜效应), but the results still have to be confirmed.

Sometimes it’s tough being an astronomer. Nature likes to hide the most interesting things from easy observation. Take, for example, black holes. Except for the strange quantum (量子) phenomenon of Hawking radiation, black holes are completely black. They don’t emit a single bit of radiation – they only absorb, hence their name.

To date, the only way astronomers have been able to spot black holes is through their influence on their environments. For example, if an orbiting star gets a little too close, the black hole can absorb the gas from that star, causing it to heat up as it falls. We can watch as stars dance around the giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

Even the famed pictures of the black holes in the center of the Milky Way and the M87 galaxy(星系) aren’t photographs of the black holes themselves. Instead, they are radio images of everything around them.

But surely not all black holes have other light-emitting objects around them to help us find them. To find these wanderers, astronomers have tried their luck with microlensing. We know that heavy objects can bend the path of light around them. This is a prediction of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, and the slight bending of starlight around our own sun was one of the first successful tests of the theory.

Microlensing is pretty much what the name suggests. When astronomers get extremely lucky, a wandering black hole and pass between us and a random distant star. The light from that star bends around the black hole because of its gravity, and from our point of view, the star will appear to temporarily flare in brightness.

And when I say “extremely lucky” I mean it. Despite trying this technique for over a decade, it is only now that astronomers have found a candidate black hole through microlensing. Two teams used the same data, a microlensing event recorded from both the OGLE (Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment) telescope in Chile and the MOA (Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics) telescope in New Zealand. One team found that the mass was somewhere around seven times the mass of the sun – definitely black hole territory. But the other team estimated a much smaller mass, around 2-4 times the mass of the Sun. If the true mass of the object is at the lower end of that spectrum (光谱), then the wanderer is probably not a black hole.

1. Why does the author say it is hard to be an astronomer?

A．Einstein’s theory is hard to understand.

B．Many things in nature are not easy to observe.

C．Understanding the evolution of the universe is not easy.

D．Whether the black hole has been found remains to be seen.

2. What is the example in Para. 4 trying to prove?

A．Stars’ wandering in black holes.

B．Black holes’ absorbing the star’s gas.

C．The relationship between stars’ heating and black holes.

D．Finding black holes by observing environmental changes.

3. What does the author tell us about the discovery of black holes?

A．People can often find black holes with glowing objects.

B．Research groups can work together to find black holes.

C．Glowing objects around black holes help us find them sometimes.

D．Understanding the properties of black holes helps find them.

4. What conclusion can we draw from the last paragraph?

A．To persevere in the end is to win.

B．Facts speak louder than words.

C．Failure is the mother of success.

D．Things are not always what they seem.

4 . Elephants On The Move

Over the past couple weeks, like many, I have been keeping close tabs on the wandering Asian elephants in southwest Yunnan Province.

    1     A total of 144 emergency personnel and police have been deployed, as well as 139 dump trucks, 22 bulldozers, 70 emergency vehicles and 13 drones capable of real-time surveillance. More than 3,400 people from 1,329 households have been relocated, and 1 ton of food has been handed out.

To divert the elephants from densely populated towns and cities, local people have erected barriers in some places and installed electronic fences in others. To ensure the fences are safe, workers initially tested them on themselves. Most of the time people resort to more subtle tactics, such as leaving trucks of maize and pineapples in select locations to lead the animals to less- inhabited areas.

    2    

Promoting an ecological civilization has always been high on the government’s agenda. Since 1958 when the country set up one of its earliest national nature reserves in Xishuangbanna to protect elephants, more than 10 new reserves have been created, covering 4,253 square kilometers.

    3     The elephants used to feed on sugar cane and maize, which are being replaced by pineapples and dragon fruits planted by local farmers. The change suggests the elephant-human relationship may be positive.

Thanks to protective measures, over the past three decades the number of wild Asian elephants in Yunnan has doubled from 150 to 300. During the 1990s, they were primarily found in 14 towns, but this number has grown to 55.

The gradual expansion of the species over a larger area, while a sign of improving ecology, also fuels the need for more food, which increases instances of encroachment (蚕食) on farmers’ plants. Local governments are studying how to compensate farmers who have suffered losses as a result of the migrating pachyderms.

    4    

A．For one thing, the information is a testament to the meticulous (小心翼翼的) efforts local governments have made to ensure safe passage for the migrating mammals.

B．In a certain sense, all these facts and figures speak volumes for the heightened ecological awareness and capacities of local governments and people.

C．The effectiveness of these efforts can be seen in their dietary changes.

D．In a dramatic way, the elephants’ tour is educational, offering researchers and residents alike an intimate glimpse of their behavioral patterns.

E．As the giants continue their tour, they would be noted by more people, with a strong ecological message about people and elephants living in harmony.

F．Thanks to coordinated efforts between local governments, a lot of timely measures have been taken.

5 . • What are geysers?

Geysers are types of hot springs which periodically shoot a column of steaming water high into the air. They occur in areas of volcanic activity where hot lava is found close to the Earth’s surface. The name comes from the Icelandic verb geysa, to gush.

• How do geysers work?

Geysers only form under very specific conditions. There must be ample groundwater; an underground heat source; and a ‘plumbing system’ made up of reservoirs and vertical passages or ‘pipes’ through which heated water travels on its way to the Earth’s surface.

Cool water on the Earth’s surface trickles down through porous (多孔渗水的) rock. As it approaches the heat source (hot rocks or a magma chamber) it is heated to extremely high temperatures and starts to rise through a ‘pipe’. The water would usually turn to steam but its depth, plus the weight of cooler water above it, creates what is called a confining pressure that prevents the superheated water from boiling and turning to steam. As the water rises this pressure lessens and steam finally forms and is trapped in' the reservoir. Over time the pressure in the reservoir continues to build until the steam forces the water upwards through the passage to the surface of the Earth, where it erupts through a vent in a spectacular column of steaming water.

• Where are geysers found?

Geysers are rare, with only around 1,000 active worldwide. They occur in the United States (US), Russia, Chile, New Zealand and Iceland. Some erupt almost predictably in cycles of minutes, hours or days, and some have years between eruptions. The tallest active geyser in the world is Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park (US) which can shoot water more than 90 metres into the air. Unfortunately, it has only done so five times from 2003 to 2013.

1. The diagram helps to ________.

A．give more detailed explanations of the terms in the text

B．provide additional information through a graphic

C．illustrate why geysers are unpredictable

D．show the information in the text in a graphic form

2. What is the correct order of events as they occur in the formation of a geyser eruption?
①magma heats water
②steam pressure lifts water
③water collects in a reservoir
④groundwater penetrates rock
⑤water rises in a pipe

A．④①③⑤②

B．⑤④③①②

C．①⑤③④②

D．④①⑤③②

3. Where does the passage probably come from?

A．A science fiction.	B．A research plan.
C．An encyclopedia.	D．A travel journal.

8 . 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. generated       B. mechanically       C. partnership       D. reforming       E. powered F. efficiency       G. growing       H. greatly       I. sustainable       J. revolutionize       K. emissions

The Inevitable Plastics Revolution

The Guardian once called plastic “Man’s worst invention”. One of the lesser-known uses of plastic is to reduce carbon emissions. For example, plastics make vehicles lighter thereby increasing their     1    ; it also increases the shelf life of foods, reducing food waste and the need to transport more. So plastics have an important role to play in creating a     2     future.

Currently that isn’t the case. Of the 24.5 million tons of plastic waste     3     in Europe each year, only 14 per cent is recycled. The rest is burned, buried or lost on land or at sea. Indeed, the European plastics industry emits 95 million tons of CO2 each year, about 3.7 per cent of total     4    . One-third of this comes from the burning of waste plastics.

That has to change, says Marc, one of the world’s leading chemicals and plastics manufacturers. “With a     5     population, we need to find a way to make better use of our resources.” In     6     with the recycling technology company, Mura Technology, it wants to     7     the plastics economy by dramatically increasing the amount of plastic that is recycled while also reducing carbon emissions. The approach will change the way we make plastic.

Today most plastic is made from petrochemicals, using processes     8     by fossil fuels. While a great deal is thrown away, a large proportion of plastics waste can be collected and sent to be     9     recycled. This involves washing, drying and grinding the material, then heating and     10     it into a new product. But at no stage is the chemical structure of the plastic changed. In order to reduce pollution, the plastics manufacturing sector needs technological innovation.

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. displaced                    B. feature                 C. grouped          D. headlines        E. house          F. inevitable G. neutral                       H. projected             I. solution            J. sustainable          K. withstand

Floating Cities: The Wave of the Future?

Rainwater pouring into the New York City subway. Towns and roads in Pennsylvania overtaken by floodwater. These dramatic scenes made     1     in September 2021. As many as 40.5 million people have already been     2     by the effects of the climate crisis. Rising sea levels, along with extreme flooding, are putting more and more coastal residents and others at risk. By 2050, more than 1 billion people will live in countries that lack the basic systems and services to     3     sea-level rise, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. And all these climate refugees will need to seek out new homes on dry land.

One     4     architects and others have been exploring with more urgency in recent years is to build floating cities. In 2019, the United Nations brought together a group of innovators, scientists, and marine engineers to discuss the future of     5     sea-based communities. "As our climate and water ecosystems are changing, the way our cities retake to water needs to change, too." said U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed. "Floating cities are a means of ensuring climate adaption, as buildings can rise along with the sea."

These cities can be designed as climate     6     . They can take advantage of plentiful wind and water power for electricity, and grow food using hydroponics（水耕法）. "From traditional houseboat communities to high-tech experiments, there are many examples to learn from," she added.

Some of these experimental floating cities are already in development. Another planned community that's attracting a lot of attention is Oceanix City, which is     7     to have one-third of its 118 islands below sea level within 60 years.

Plans for Oceanix City     8     groups of hexagon-shaped（六边形）islands powered by solar and water energy. Tied to the seafloor, each human-made island would     9     around 300 people; the islands would be     10     together in communities of about 10,000 residents. Oceanix citizens would drink processed ocean water and extracted humidity from the air, and dine on a ready supply of seafood.