| decide, express oneself, fortunate, in addition, remove, therefore, free |
The French owner of a rooster called Maurice was taken to court by neighbors who insisted the rooster is too noisy. An elderly couple from Limoges, complained that the rooster cut short their sleep with its dawn crowing (啼叫) next to their home. The couple wanted it
The rooster’s owner, a retired waitress who has been on the island for 35 years, argued, “A rooster needs to
Mayor of the main town on the island where they live, said, “Today it’s the rooster, but what will it be tomorrow? The noise of the wind? Our accents? ” He has issued a municipal law showing the need to “preserve the rural feature of the town.”
Finally, the court rejected the neighbors’ complaints of the noise pollution and ordered them to pay E1, 000.
1. What caused the closure of Pittwater Road?
| A．A fallen tree. | B．A flooded river. | C．A car accident. |
| A．A police officer got hurt. |
| B．A passenger went missing. |
| C．The station roof was broken. |
| A．Drive at low speed. |
| B．Postpone their trips. |
| C．Follow traffic signs. |
3 . The Grand Canal is the mother river of Yangzhou. Simultaneous (同时) with her, Yangzhou city was built, developed, achieved prosperity, and even went into less importance with her downfall. Pi Rixiu, a poet of the TangDynasty, once made the following comment on Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty who had the Grand Canal built: “Everyone complains that the Sui Dynasty ended because of the canal; however, it is still an important way for people to travel. If he hadn’t had so many palaces and dragon boats built, his merits could have been compared with Dayu.” The poet not only criticized the emperor’s dissolute behavior, but also fully recognized his achievements. Nowadays, the Grand Canal still shoulders the responsibilities of transporting coal from the North to the South, transporting grain from the South to the North, and delivering water from the South to the North.
The ancient Guazhou Ferry is located where the ancient canal and the Yangtze River meet. The following is a famous ancient poem eulogizing the Guazhou Ferry. Moonlight on the Spring River by Zhang Ruoxu, a Yangzhou citizen in the Tang Dynasty, described the beautiful scenery of Guazhou of the dim moonlight with gently flowing river.
In spring the river rises as high as the sea,
And with the river’s tide uprises the moon bright,
She follows the rolling waves for ten thousand li,
Where the river flows, there overflows her light.(Zhang Ruoxu)
According to the government’s planning, every effort will be made to maintain the original style of the ancient neighborhoods and streets in the old town of Guazhou.
1. We can know from the passage that__________.| A．Yangzhou city achieved prosperity all the time |
| B．Pi Rixiu was a poet of the Qing Dynasty |
| C．the Grand Canal still plays an important role nowadays |
| D．Sui Dynasty ended because of the Grand Canal |
| A．Producing. | B．Praising. | C．Presenting. | D．Painting. |
| A．bright | B．li | C．light | D．river |
| A．culture | B．nature | C．novel | D．Science |
E-waste, the world’s largest and fastest growing type of waste, doesn’t only come from computers but other electronics as well.  |
In 2019, the world produced 53. 6 million tons of e-waste.  |
The world’s e-waste will reach 74.7 million tons by 2030. That’s almost a doubling of e-waste in just 16 years.  Today, only 15-20 percent of all e-waste is collected and recycled. |
Why should we recycle e-waste? E-waste has many valuable things in it, such as gold, silver and copper(铜). One smart phone battery can pollute 600,000 liters(升)of water. |
What can we do? ●Try to repair your electronics instead of buying new ones. ●Check for recycling organizations and give away your broken electronics. ●Remove any batteries (电池) because they need to be recycled separately. ●Tell others to recycle e-waste. |
1. In___________, the amount of e-waste reached about 37.3 million tons.
| A．2014. | B．2019. | C．2022. | D．2030. |
| A．E-waste only comes from computers. |
| B．In 2019, 53.6 million tons of e-waste was recycled. |
| C．We need to recycle batteries with other electronics. |
| D．We should consider repairing rather than buying new electronics. |
| A．instruction | B．novel | C．newspaper | D．comic book |
5 . Every living thing has DNA that can be used to identify it. They leave bits of DNA behind them wherever they go. DNA left behind like this is called “environmental” DNA, or eDNA. Scientists can use it to tell what kinds of animals are in a certain place.
Testing eDNA isn’t a new idea. Most of the time, scientists used to look for eDNA in water. Now, there are two teams of scientists who have come up with a new way of identifying animals in an area by testing eDNA in the air.
Both teams chose to test in zoos because there were rare animals not naturally found in the area. One team collected samples from different locations at Denmark’s Copenhagen Zoo, and the other team did it at Hamerton Zoo Park in the UK.
Basically, both teams used vacuums and fans to collect tiny bits of eDNA in the air. After collecting samples, they went back to the laboratory and compared their samples with examples of DNA from different animals. Therefore, the scientists were able to identify many different animals at the zoos.
Both teams have tracked different animals, even endangered ones without interfering with them in this new way. They are so excited about their new way that they combine their results of the test and publish a paper together in order to invite more scientists to join them.
However, it’s still unknown that whether this new way will work out fine or not in the wild nature. If scientists know where the wild animals live, they can do a better job of protecting them.
So the next step is to figure out how to take this new method into nature.
1. The two teams of scientists did the following things EXCEPT_________.| A．using vacuums and fans to collect tiny bits of eDNA in the air |
| B．knowing how to collect eDNA samples in the wild nature |
| C．comparing their samples with examples of DNA from different animals |
| D．working together to publish a paper |
| A．Two Teams of Scientists Find Rare Animals | B．Differences Between DNA and eDNA |
| C．Scientists Identify Animals by eDNA in the Air | D．How to Track Endangered Animals |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
6 . Maggie, a girl of thirteen years old, lived on the west coast of the United States. She had never experienced an earthquake before; she only prepared for it. As long as she could remember, preparing for an earthquake was common at her school. Her family had made plans as well in case of a natural disaster.
One day, Maggie arrived home from school at the usual time. However, it was not the same as usual. She was home alone. Her mom would be driving home on the busy freeway and her dad was to arrive at the airport. He was coming home from a two-week business trip.
After finishing her homework, Maggie felt a little hungry, so she went to the kitchen to find something to eat: Just then she felt a shake, then the violent shaking. Maggie quickly ran under the large table in the dining room. The sounds of breaking glass and the crashing of many things were deafening, and Maggie hugged herself in fear.
After what seemed like a very long time, the earthquake appeared to be over. Maggie could hear the sound of water rushing below her in the basement. And there was the smell of natural gas in the air. Maggie knew where the main water valve(阀门) was and how to turn it off. Dad had ever shown her before.
Slowly and carefully she came out from under the table. The once tidy home was then almost unrecognizable. Walls had fallen down and many things in the room were in a mess. As Maggie approached the open basement door, she could see the steps. Carefully she made her way down into the dark basement.
While placing her feet firmly on the floor, Maggie felt a sudden pain as a large wood hit her head and shoulder. She fell unconscious onto a pile of boxes. An hour later, she woke up and found her parents beside her. She was happy that she was still alive!
1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?| A．Earthquake are the main natural disasters in the US. |
| B．Maggie’s parents taught her how to survive in an earthquake. |
| C．Earthquakes occur often in the west of the US. |
| D．Magpie has some self-help knowledge in earthquakes. |
| A．Very loud. | B．Quite familiar |
| C．Very distant | D．Quite strange. |
| A．She was the only child in her family |
| B．She was not afraid at all during the earthquake. |
| C．She was hurt on the way to turning off the water valve. |
| D．She had experienced an earthquake before. |
| A．A story of a girl in an earthquake. | B．The importance of preparing for an earthquake. |
| C．The ways to escape from an earthquake. | D．The danger of an earthquake. |
1. What weather is the woman expecting?
| A．Rainy. | B．Sunny. | C．Cloudy. |
| A．It will rain this afternoon. |
| B．The woman owns a farm. |
| C．The weather report made mistakes. |
1. What is the ship captain going to do?
| A．Speed the ship. | B．Change the direction. | C．Stop the ship. |
| A．Sunny and nice. | B．Windy and rainy. | C．Stormy and cold. |
| A．Run for safety. | B．Stay in their rooms. | C．Call 911. |
9 . Many people are familiar with the horrible image of wildlife — including sea turtles, dolphins and seals — trapped in abandoned fishing nets. The main issue behind Nylon-6, the plastic inside these nets, carpet and clothing, is that it is too strong and durable to break down on its own. So, once it’s in the environment, it exists for thousands of years, littering waterways, breaking corals and killing birds and sea life.
Now, Northwestern University chemists have developed a new catalyst (催化剂) that quickly, cleanly and completely breaks down Nylon-6 in a matter of minutes — without generating harmful byproducts. More importantly, the process does not require poisonous solvents (溶剂), expensive materials or extreme conditions, making it practical for everyday applications.
Current methods to dispose of Nylon-6 are limited to simply burying it in landfills. When Nylon-6 is burned, it produces poisonous pollutants such as nitrogen oxides. Although other labs have explored catalysts to degrade Nylon-6, these catalysts require extreme conditions (such as temperatures as high as 350 degrees Celsius), high pressure steam (which is energetically expensive and inefficient) and / or toxic solvents that only contribute to more pollution.
To bypass these issues, the researchers looked to a novel catalyst already developed in the lab of Tobin Marks, the leader of the research. The catalyst takes advantage of yttrium — an inexpensive Earth-abundant metal. When the team heated Nylon-6 samples to melting temperatures and applied the catalyst without a solvent, the plastic fell apart — returning to its original building blocks without leaving byproducts behind. In experiments, Marks and his team were able to recover 99% of plastics’ original building blocks.
“Our research represents a significant step forward in the field of polymer recycling and sustainable material management.” said Marks. After filing a patent for new process, Marks and his team have already received interest from many potential industrial partners. They hope others can use their catalysts on a larger scale to help solve the global plastic problem.
1. What is Nylon-6 according to the text?| A．A chemical that causes wildlife extinction. |
| B．The strongest plastic invented in history. |
| C．A material that is hard to degrade. |
| D．The nest used to trap sea creatures. |
| A．Eco-friendly. | B．Zero-waste. | C．Carbon-free. | D．Time-consuming. |
| A．The use of yttrium. | B．The anticipated result. |
| C．The research objectives. | D．The experiment process. |
| A．Tapped Sea Creatures Deserve Due Attention. |
| B．New Catalyst Found to Degrade Plastics. |
| C．A New Method to Address Pollution. |
| D．Ocean Pollution Settled for Good. |
10 . A team of psychologists led by Dr. Karen McComb at the University of Sussex in the UK have discovered an effective way for humans to communicate with cats through slow blinking (眨眼睛), similar to how cats interact with each other.
Dr. McComb and her team conducted two experiments to study this phenomenon. In the first study, owners were instructed by researchers Tasmin Humphrey and Andrew Wood to slowly blink at their cats from a distance while being recorded. Humphrey and Wood found the cats were more likely to respond with slow blinking of their own compared to when no interaction took place.
To follow up on these findings, McComb, Humphrey, and Wood designed a second experiment without considering the exsisting relationship between humans and cats. Researchers, including McComb, performed the same slow blinking action. Like in the first experiment, the cats in this study also responded more favorably to slow blinking by returning the gesture and more readily approaching an extended hand, according to Humphrey’s analysis.
The slow blink expression involves partially closing the eyes briefly, copying a relaxed, friendly facial expression in humans. McComb notes that for cats, it appears to signal good intentions as constant staring could be seen as threatening. Wood says that cats may have developed this language to acknowledge humans who react positively to the signal. Being able to effectively communicate acceptance in this subtle cat way seems to strengthen the bond between cats and their owners, McComb adds.
McComb, Humphrey and Wood hope their findings can provide insight into cat behavior and thinking. They also aim to apply this knowledge of cross-species communication to evaluate cat health in various places like veterinary (兽医的) clinics and shelters, according to Humphrey. A deeper understanding of how cats interpret and respond to humans can improve our ability to properly care for household and outdoor cat populations, McComb concludes.
1. How was the second experiment different from the first one?| A．It recorded the interactive behavior of cats. |
| B．It required cat owners to blink from a distance. |
| C．It studied how cats communicate with each other. |
| D．It focused on how cats react to strangers’ slow blinking. |
| A．To attract their owners’ attention. |
| B．To show friendliness to other animals. |
| C．To respond to humans’ positive reactions. |
| D．To send out a signal for help to their partners. |
| A．Improving cat behavior and habits. |
| B．Assessing health conditions of cats. |
| C．Developing ways to treat cats’ diseases. |
| D．Helping cat owners train their cats quickly. |
| A．Humans can communicate with cats by blinking slowly. |
| B．Extending hands to cats can strengthen the bond with them. |
| C．Cats respond favorably to humans’ friendly facial expressions. |
| D．Understanding cat signals improves humans’ ability to care for them. |
