1 . NatureScot, an organisation that looks after Scotland’s natural world, has agreed to release(放出) Scottish wildcats into the UK’s largest national park.

About 60 wildcats have been raised at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig. They will be released in June into an area of the Cairngorms National Park in the Scotish Highlands. Researchers will monitor the cats through GPS, tracking their movements as they live in their new home.

Wildcats already live in the Cairngorms, but researchers say they are under threat from extinction because of habitat loss and disease. Wildcats look a bit like pet cats but they are about twice the size and have thicker fur. They have longer legs and their ears are more sticked out to the side.

Wildcats were once found in England and Wales too, but they were hunted for their fur and lost a lot of their natural habitat because of human activity. They haven’t been seen in the wild outside Scotland for more than 100 years. However, another protection programme is planning to release around 40 of the animals into secret countryside locations in Cornwall, in southern England. Wildcats hunt small animals, so wildlife experts are hoping that the cats will keepdown the numbers of rabbits and mice, which damage young trees and crops such as corn, fruit and wheat.

The Scottish wildcats will be released in a part of the park called Caimgorms, where experts are working to restore(恢复) woodland areas. The plan is for as many as 20 cats to be set free every year, and it is hoped that other sites in Scotland will be considered too. Dr Helen from Saving Wildcats said, “The fight to restore Scotland’s wildcat populations is just beginning.”

1. How will researchers keep an eye on the released wildcats?

A．By using technology.	B．By working in the park.
C．By observing their new home.	D．By controlling their movements.

2. Why are wildcats going to be released to the national park?

A．They are being hunted by human beings.

B．They need a new home due to habitat loss.

C．They can catch animals damaging the environment.

D．They haven’t been seen in the wild for a long time.

3. What does Dr Helen say about wildcats?

A．It is difficult to restore wildcats’ habitat.

B．Wildcats will begin to fight with humans.

C．The number of wildcats has greatly increased.

D．There is a long way to go to increase wildcat populations

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Wildcats in danger.	B．Wildcats set free in highlands.
C．Wildcats’ habitat destroyed.	D．Wildcats different from pet cats.

2 . For a period of more than 10 years, improvements were seen in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Deforestation rates(毁林率) dropped and stayed below 10,000 square kilometers a year. But that changed in January 2019, when President Jair Bolsonaro took office.

Researchers and environmentalists have blamed(贵备) Bolsonaro for causing sharp increases in deforestation rates. Bolsonaro is set to leave office on January 1, 2023, after recently losing re-election to former President Silva.

“Part of the tree cutting and burning during the dry season happens in areas that are supposed to be protected. In recent years, deforestation has reached protected areas where previously there was almost no destruction,” said Jakeline Pereira, a researcher with the Amazon Institute. Pereira told the AP, “In Paru’s region, rainforest was destroyed to enlarge land for crops and cows.” Bolsonaro has been blamed for weakening environmental agencies to support economic development.

Brazilian President-elect Silva recently promised cheering crowds at the U.N. climate meeting in Egypt to end all deforestation across the whole country by 2030. “The climate problems will be more serious if the Amazon isn’t protected,“ he said.

The Amazon rainforest covers an area twice the size of India. It acts as a buffer against climate change by taking in large amounts of CO2 . It is also the most biodiverse (多种生物的) forest in the world, and the home of tribes that have lived in the area for thousands of years.

1. How much might the forest lose in 2018?

A．9,400 square kilometers.

B．10,000 square kilometers.

C．11,000 square kilometers.

D．13,000 square kilometers.

2. Why was President Jair Bolsonaro blamed?

A．He ignored the development of the economy.

B．He lost the re-election to former President Silva.

C．He took actions to reduce the area of rainforest.

D．He focused more on economy at the cost of deforestation.

3. What does ”buffer“ underlined in paragraph 5 refer to?

A．Railway.

B．Shelter.

C．Computer.

D．Person.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Silva was researching the rainforest.

B．Brazilian people hated deforestation.

C．Brazilian rainforest in danger needs protecting.

D．Silva was a better president than Jair Bolsonaro.

3 . When ivory hunters target elephants, the hunters can affect more than just animal numbers. In Mozambique, past hunting pressure led to an increase of naturally tuskless (无长牙的) elephants in one park, a study finds.

During 1977 to 1992, people hunted elephants and other wildlife for food and ivory. This caused the number of these large animals to drop more than 90 percent in the country’s Gorongosa National Park. Records show that as elephant numbers plummeted, the proportion of tuskless female African savanna elephants rose from about 18 percent to 51 percent.

Decades of poaching appear to have made tusklessness more beneficial from an evolutionary perspective in Gorongosa, encouraging the rapid increase of tuskless females with mutations (变异) in two tooth genes, researchers report in Science.

“The rapid killing of tusked individuals changed the makeup of features in the elephant population in only two decades, leaving behind more tuskless individuals,” say evolutionary biologist Shane Campbell-Staton and his colleagues. “The tuskless feature is heritable (可继承的), and the evolutionary change in the population may stick around for several generations at least, even as poaching eases.”

The team also analyzed the genetic instruction books of 18 tusked and tuskless females, zeroing in on two genes with mutations in tuskless females. “In humans, the influence of one of those genes can cause tooth fragility and the absence of a pair of upper teeth at the front of their mouth,” Campbell-Staton says, “Abnormalities in the other gene’s protein product can cause incorrect formation of the tooth root and tooth loss.”

Hunting “changing the course of evolution” in Gorongosa’s elephants, Campbell-Staton says, can have profound effects through the ecosystem given elephants’ dramatic impact on their surroundings. “Tusks are not just decorative. They serve a purpose,” he says, detailing how elephants use tusks to dig for water and strip tree bark for food. “If an elephant doesn’t have the tool to do those things, then what happens?”

1. Which of the following is true according to the study?

A．Ivory hunters killed elephants for their tusks.

B．Elephants lost their tusks due to natural evolution.

C．Hunting affects the number and appearance of elephants.

D．Human activities brought about great changes to the ecosystem.

2. What does the underlined word “plummeted” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Decreased.	B．Increased.
C．Remained stable.	D．Became Unpredictable.

3. What do we know about the tuskless elephants?

A．They have the same genes as the tusked.

B．Their tuskless feature can be passed down.

C．Their tuskless feature doesn’t exist in males.

D．They have a biological advantage over the tusked.

4. Why does Campbell-Staton mention the example of human teeth?

A．To explain the cause of gene mutations.

B．To show the impact of mutated tooth genes.

C．To raise humans’ awareness of protecting teeth.

D．To call for actions to protect tuskless elephants.

5 . LOS ANGELES ( AP ) — Hollywood’s response to climate change includes donations, protests and other social activities, but it’s apparently missing out on an approach close to home. Only 2.8% of screen fiction refers to climate change-related words, according to a new study of 37.453 film and TV scripts from 2016 to 2020. A blueprint for ways to turn that around was released Tuesday.

“ Good Energy: A Playbook for Screenwriting in the Age of Climate Change ” was created with feedback from more than 100 film and TV writers, said Anna Jane Joyner, editor-in-chief of the playbook and founder of Good Energy, a nonprofit consulting company. “ A big barrier that we encountered was that writers were associating climate stories with disaster stories, ” she said in an interview. “ The main purpose of the playbook is to expand that menu of possibilities … to a larger range of how it would be showing up in our real life. ”

Dorothy Fortenberry, a TV writer and playwright, said the industry needs to broaden its view of who it writes about, not just what. “ Climate change is something that right now is affecting people who aren’t necessarily the people that Hollywood tends to write stories about. It’s affecting farmers in Bangladesh, farmers in Peru, farmers in Kentucky, ” Fortenberry said. “ If we told stories about different kinds of people, there would be opportunities to smoothly integrate climate in. ”

The entertainment industry’s failure to use its storytelling powers more effectively on the issue seems unsurprising to Joyner, who’s been working on climate-change communications in various sectors and communities for 15 years. For the first decade, it felt like “ screaming into the empty space ” because of the lack of response, Joyner said. But there is evidence of increasing concern among Americans regarding climate change, including those who are in Hollywood. “ We’ve all gone through a kind of awakening, ” she said. There are a number of documentaries and news programs about climate change, she said, expressing optimism that fiction creators will make steady progress.

1. What does the underlined word “ that ” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Hollywood failing to react to climate change.

B．Hollywood overlooking screen fiction about home.

C．Hollywood missing the screen fiction about climate change.

D．Hollywood lacking approaches to solving climate problems.

2. What did Dorothy Fortenberry suggest?

A．Hollywood should expand its perspective.

B．Hollywood should tell real disaster stories.

C．Hollywood should provide much more entertainment.

D．Hollywood should cover climate stories of average people.

3. What is Joyner’s attitude towards Hollywood’s future response to climate change?

A．Positive.

B．Tolerant.

C．Indifferent.

D．Doubtful.

4. What is this text?

A．A news report.

B．A short story.

C．A movie review.

D．An advertisement.

7 . The prickly pear cactus (仙人掌) is such a powerful symbol in Mexico that it occupies a prime spot on Mexico’s national flag. The plant was considered sacred(神圣的) by the ancient Aztecs, and modern-day Mexicans eat it, drink it, and even use it in medicines and shampoos. Now scientists have come up with a new use for the bright green plant: producing renewable energy.

Known locally as nopal, the prickly pear is farmed on a massive scale in Mexico. Over the years, only the edible(可食用的) soft inner flesh has been used. The cactus’s thick outer layer (i.e., husk), with all those spines(刺), had always been viewed as a waste product until researchers developed a biogas generator to turn the husks into electricity.

The pilot project(试点项目) devoted to developing the cactus biogas generator began in the south of Mexico City. The area produces 200,000 tons a year of prickly pear cactus—up to 10 tons of which ends up as waste on the floor of the cactus market each day. Then, a local green energy startup company got the idea to turn that waste into energy. The generator is now in place at the cactus market, where the vendors(商贩们) are enthusiastic about this new way to make use of the tons of cactus husks that once went directly into the trash.

The prickly pear has a number of advantages over other biofuel crops, such as wheat, sugarcane(甘蔗), and soybeans(大豆). For one thing, only the husk of the cactus is used for generating biofuel, while its inner flesh is still preserved for food. Therefore, using the plant as a fuel source will not put pressure on food prices.

Moreover, the cactus requires minimum water, and thus is not grown on traditional agricultural lands. This means that no increased competition arises for the water or land presently used for food production.

The project in Mexico City has brought new hope to reducing the use of fossil fuels. If it can be expanded, the prickly pear could be the key to Mexico’s energy future.

1. What is the main purpose of this text?

A．To argue for the benefits of nopales.

B．To introduce a new source of energy.

C．To predict the future agriculture policy of Mexico.

D．To change people’s ideas about energy consumption.

2. What can you learn from the text?

A．Its soft inner part is often discarded.

B．It was not discovered until the modern era.

C．It turns into 200,000 tons of waste in Mexico each year.

D．It appears in an eye-catching place on Mexico’s national flag.

3. What advantage does the prickly pear cactus have over other biofuel crops?

A．It generates more energy.	B．It will not influence food prices.
C．It may replace feed for livestock.	D．It can increase global food production.

9 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

California is burning.In recent weeks, hundreds of fires    1    (destroy) structures, torched thousands of acres and blackened the sky with smoke.Fear of the blazes has also led to strategic blackouts that have left millions    2    power.

Fire has always been a part of life California.     3    a series of    4    (factor) have combined to make recent blazes more damaging.Ten of the most destructive fires in the state’s history have happened in the past decade.Things hit new extremes last year with the Camp Fire,     5    caused 85 deaths and burned more than 150,000 acres.

The forces working in concert to spark and spread wildfires pose    6    incredible challenge for California.Climate change is bringing    7     (high) temperatures and more powerful winds that spread the flames.The state’s electrical system is    8     (age), and equipment has been    9     (link) to causing some of the wildfires.There are more than 100 million dead trees in the state’s forests that act    10    material for the blazes.Meanwhile, a statewide housing crisis has pushed more residents to build homes in dangerous fire zones.

10 . Yong male songbirds usually learn their songs from adult songbirds. But when those young birds do not have older ones to teach them, they have less success attracting mates.

For five years, ecologist Ross Crates with Australian National University has studied the singing ability and mating success of birds called regent honeyeaters (王吸蜜鸟).

Male birds once formed large groups in the winter. Now they are spread out across the country, so many fly alone. That means fewer honeyeater adults are nearby during the young birds first year of life.

“Song learning in many birds is a process similar to humans learning languages—they learn by listening to other individuals,” said Crates.

“If you can’t listen to other individuals, you don’t know what you should be learning.”

Researchers found that a large number of male birds appear to be learning tunes only used by other species. About 12 percent of male regent honeyeaters end up producing versions of songs usually sung by friarbirds and lack-faced cuckoo shrikes, among other birds.

The scientists released their research in the publication Proceedings of the Royal Society B. They found that males who sang unusual songs were less successful in attracting mates.

Peter Marra is a conservation biologist at Georgetown University and was not involved in the study. He said, “This research suggests that the loss of a song language once the population reaches a very small size could accelerate their decline.”

Scott Ramsay is a behavioral ecologist at Wilfried Laurier University in Ontario, Canada. He was not involved in the research. He said the songs were like an advertisement: “When male birds sing, it’s like putting out an ad saying, ‘I’m over here...and I’m really interested in finding a partner.”

Ramsay added that female honeyeaters may not even recognize these unusual singers as possible mates, and so do not approach them. Or it could be that they approach, “but then things go wrong if the males do not behave as expected.”

1. What might be the scientists’ attitude towards the regent honeyeaters?

A．Positive.

B．Concerned.

C．Optimistic.

D．Critical.

2. What’s the result if regent honeyeaters learn songs from other species?

A．It’s more possible for them to fail in mating.	B．They attract other species successfully.
C．Most regent honeyeaters will follow them.	D．Female honeyeaters like other versions of songs.

3. What can we learn according to Peter’s or Scott’s study?

A．People can understand the language of honeyeaters.

B．Males sing wrong songs because they’re not interested in mating.

C．Females are likely to mistake male honeyeaters for other birds.

D．Regent honeyeaters can put out an advertisement apart from singing songs.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Singing is an important skill for every bird.

B．Honeyeaters and other birds have a close relationship.

C．The failure to acquire the song language may speed up the decrease of honeyeaters.

D．Honeyeaters are losing their capability of learning singing from other individuals.