1 . Suzanne Simard, a professor of forest ecology who called herself a “forest detective”, was raised in mountains in Canada. Few scientists make much impact with their PhD thesis, but, in 1997, she did just that. Her research on the “wood wide web” made the cover of Nature and transformed our understanding of forests. What was then a challenge to traditional ideas is today widely accepted.
A mushroom is the part of a fungus (真菌) that sticks up above the ground. Thin, white threads grow from its stem deep into the soil. These threads are called hyphae (菌丝). Hyphae connect themselves to tree roots. They also stretch from root system to root system, like an underground network. This network may go for miles. Hyphae pick up nutrients and water from soil. The fungus threads that connect to tree roots share their nutrients and water with the trees. In return, they sip a bit of the sugar the trees make. Sharing helps both trees and mushrooms live. It’s also how trees communicate.
When a tree is being eaten by bugs, it makes chemicals to shoo them away, sort of like bug repellent (驱虫剂). The chemicals travel through the tree, down its roots, and into the hyphae network. Other trees connected to the network taste the chemicals. That tells them a nearby tree is under attack, so they start to make their own bug repellent. Trees do more than share warnings through the hyphae. They also help each other. In the fall, paper birch trees drop their leaves and can no longer make sugar. So, a fir tree that stays green all winter uses the network to send extra sugar to the birch until spring comes again. This system of sharing information and nutrients through the hyphae is sometimes called the “wood wide web”, because it works a bit like the Internet.
Local climate sets the stage for the wood wide web, researchers say. In cool temperature and boreal forests, where wood and organic matter decay slowly, network-building EM fungi rule. By contrast, in the warmer tropics where wood and organic matter decay quickly, AM fungi dominate. These fungi form smaller webs and do less intertree swapping, meaning the tropical wood wide web is likely more localized.
Ecologist Thomas Crowther’s results suggest that as the planet warms, about 10% of EM-associated trees could be replaced by AM-associated trees. Microbes in forests dominated by AM fungi deal with carbon-containing organic matter faster, so they could liberate lots of heat-trapping carbon dioxide quickly, potentially accelerating a climate change process that is already happening at a frightening pace.
1. What do we know about Suzanne Simard?| A．She was a professor and a forest detective. |
| B．Growing up in the countryside, she made the cover of Nature. |
| C．Like many other scientists, she made big influence on her PhD thesis. |
| D．Her idea of the “wood wide web” used to challenge people’s thoughts. |
| A．They facilitate tree communication. | B．They form an underground network. |
| C．They produce sugar and share it with trees. | D．They share nutrients and water with the trees. |
| A．They release warning signals through leaves. |
| B．They produce real bug repellent to kill insects. |
| C．They make use of hyphae to produce chemicals. |
| D．They send chemical signals through the network. |
| A．It might slow down carbon release. | B．It would break down organic matter. |
| C．It might speed up climate change. | D．It might lead to faster tree growth. |
2 . According to the United Nations, 60 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come directly from the way that we currently produce our electricity.71 percent of the earth is covered in water yet only around 1.5 percent of the global energy is produced through wave power. That’s what inspired Eco Wave Power CEO, Inna Braverman to take on the challenge.
Two weeks after she was born in Ukraine in 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred and she got hurt, suffering from breathing arrest and a clinical death. But thanks to her mother, who was a nurse, she was saved. Growing up, she felt it her purpose to find green and sustainable energy.
Inna found that previous wave energy developers have decided to pursue offshore technologies, contributing to huge installation and maintenance costs, incredibly vulnerable stations in storms, and consequently lack of funding. Her innovative version, however, is to install the power station on land. The only part of the system in the water is the floaters which bob up and down with the waves. These push compressed air into a tank where the energy is stored to produce electricity. The floaters are attached to existing man-made structures such as banks, piers, and breakwaters.
The simplicity of the design makes it cheaper to install and maintain as well as being better protected from rough weather and therefore, insurable. Once a commercial plant producing 20 megawatt s or more (enough for 20,000 homes) is in place, the unit cost significantly reduces. “Our price of energy decreases to about $0.05 US (€0.05) per kilowatt hour, which is comparable to the prices of onshore wind,” Inna explains.
A pilot station was installed in Gibraltar in 2016. It was the first wave energy system to be connected to the grid in Europe. More tests of the wave energy system have been arranged in different countries and regions.
1. What do we know from the first two paragraphs?| A．Inna was inspired by a UN program to focus on green energy. |
| B．Inna’s early experience enabled her to explore green energy solutions. |
| C．Inna came up with the idea of green energy thanks to her mother. |
| D．Green and sustainable energy solutions are greatly influenced by the nuclear disaster. |
| A．To demonstrate the environmental impact of wave energy. |
| B．To highlight Inna Braverman’s innovative approach to wave energy. |
| C．To outline the challenges faced by other wave energy developers. |
| D．To provide information about wave energy production around the world. |
| A．Its maintenance on the sea floor. | B．Its dependence on government funding. |
| C．Its installation on land. | D．Its exclusive focus on offshore technologies. |
| A．Eco Wave Power: Pioneer in Sustainable Energy |
| B．Chernobyl Survivor’s Vision: Endless Power for the Future |
| C．Land-Based Wave Power: Innovation for Green Electricity |
| D．Onshore Energy: Eco Wave Power’s Fight Against Gas Emissions |
3 . Humans have many unique behaviors among animals. For example, we have a formal language that permits communication about things that exist in the past, present, and future. Yet we share at least one emotion with many other species fear.
To really understand our fears we have to go further to study how animals long before humans came into being assessed (评估) and managed predation (捕食) risk in the wild. All animals, past and present, must assess life-threatening predation risks (风险) and make decisions to avoid or otherwise manage those risks. It is a proper balance: being too fearful is costly if fear means that you miss out on getting food, mates, or other important resources. However, being too brazen could end very poorly indeed. It is the context that influences all decisions. If they’re hungry, it’s wise to take more risks or they will go hungry. And, if they’re powerful and can steal food from others at will, perhaps it’s OK to be a bit more careful. Successful individuals are those that make right assessment, and because of this, leave more descendants.
Natural expressions of fear influence the structure of ecological communities, and the removal of predators changes entire ecosystems. To manage predation risks, animals modify(调整) their activity patterns, habitat selection, and their diet. Fear of predators can also reduce an individual’s reproductive(繁殖)success. All of these fear-driven modifications can have a great influence on both the environment and the diversity of many species. Fear, as it turns out, is an essential part of healthy ecosystems and helps keep biodiversity.
Fear is a natural emotion, and that it’s impossible to completely avoid it. It is comforting to know that fear comes from a long line of ancestors, both human and nonhuman. It is a compass(指南针)that, when used I properly, guides us away from danger and toward opportunity.
1. What do we know about animals’ risk assessment and management according to paragraph 2?| A．Animals are too fearful to make right assessments. |
| B．Animals will fail to get food when they are fearful. |
| C．Animals have to make proper decisions based on different situations. |
| D．Animals which arc more fearful are more likely to make right assessment. |
| A．brave | B．afraid | C．hungry | D．strong |
| A．The ways animals manage fear |
| B．The influence fear has on ecosystem |
| C．The approaches to keeping a healthy ecosystem |
| D．The problems fear brings about to the ecosystem |
| A．Fear from Our Deep Past | B．Survival of the bravest |
| C．Emotion from human and nonhuman. | D．Path to risk management |
4 . You’ve probably eaten a hot dog and felt like the underdog — but have you ever spotted a sundog?
A sundog is a weather event that causes two bright bursts of rainbow colored light to appear on either side of the sun. It is located approximately 22 degrees either left, right, or both, from the sun, depending on where the ice crystals (冰晶体) are. If the sun were a clock, you would see them around 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock. Sometimes sundogs appear with a halo (光环) around the sun. They can be very beautiful, with a reddish glow closest to the sun and a bluish white center. Sundogs can be seen during any season but are most often seen during the winter months when the sun is lower in the sky. You are also more likely to see them early or late in the day, when the sun is near the horizon (地平线).The most brilliant sundogs happen on sunny days.
Conditions need to be just right for sundogs to appear. Sunlight passes through high, cold cirrus clouds (卷云). These clouds contain flat, 6-sided ice crystals. If the plate-like crystals go toward the ground horizontally with the large face towards the earth, light is reflected through the sides. The crystals act as prisms (棱镜), separating the light and making the sundog.
Throughout history, sundogs have been used to predict weather because they often indicate that snow or rain is on its way. Some people believed that sundogs were a sign of good luck or encouragement, while others saw them as a warning from God.
Famous authors such as William Shakespeare and Jack London have described sundogs in stories and poems as both frightening and amazing. Artists have been inspired to catch the beauty of sundogs in drawings, paintings, and photography, and rock bands have even written songs about them.
1. What can we learn about sundogs from the second paragraph?| A．Sundogs can be used to tell the time. | B．Sundogs are most common in winter. |
| C．Sundogs always come after a rainbow. | D．Sundogs predict the coming of sunny days. |
| A．The clouds separate the sunlight. |
| B．The plate turns its face towards the earth. |
| C．The crystals go toward the ground horizontally. |
| D．Ice crystals are positioned with their flat sides horizontal to the ground. |
| A．Because people think they stand for bad luck | B．Because sundogs are beyond their recognition. |
| C．Because a rain or snow often comes after them. | D．Because people consider it as a warning from God. |
| A．To prove sundogs are magical events. |
| B．To show sundogs have long attracted great attention. |
| C．To encourage writers to describe sundogs in their works. |
| D．To remind people that they are good at writing stories and poems |
5 . Last year in early summer, I was walking to my house when I saw two large birds standing in my yard. They didn’t seem to
A few weeks later, the birds
As I inched towards the birds,
The mother put the baby birds under her wings and carefully crouched down over them so her babies were well
I was watching them with respect when I suddenly
I felt sorry to have disturbed them and left quickly. I am amazed by their
| A．remind | B．confirm | C．notice | D．protest |
| A．immediately | B．familiarly | C．creatively | D．slowly |
| A．feeling | B．sense | C．opinion | D．idea |
| A．investigated | B．removed | C．gathered | D．reappeared |
| A．stuck out | B．put down | C．hang out | D．turned around |
| A．collection | B．discovery | C．conclusion | D．mission |
| A．jumping | B．fighting | C．seeking | D．marching |
| A．curious | B．patient | C．worried | D．careful |
| A．neater | B．simpler | C．longer | D．stronger |
| A．fed | B．hidden | C．raised | D．identified |
| A．tripped | B．moved | C．alarmed | D．responded |
| A．target | B．defence | C．threat | D．escape. |
| A．shooting | B．spilling | C．folding | D．spreading |
| A．military | B．individual | C．brave | D．average |
| A．gratitude | B．respect | C．emotion | D．pleasure |
For weeks, Eva Hachey had fancied adopting a golden Chihuahua with a white spot on its forehead. As a chiropractic(脊椎按摩疗法)assistant, she always believed that there would be a bond between them as strong as one’s spine. “Animals will pick us. ” she often said, “They will come to us. That’s the drive of nature.”
And there he was, at. her local Society for the. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals(SPCA), in Fredericton; New Brunswick. The small aninat had been abused severely by his previous owners and was timid. “He’d come to me, then back away and growl, then come back to me again, ” Hachey said. “After 15 minutes, the attendant picked him up and put him in my lap. He started giving me kisses. He stole my heart in that moment.” She adopted the ten-month-old puppy on the spot and named him Bruno.
Bruno lived happily with Hachey and her 28-year-old daughter, Angel Hutchinson, for five months. The two women loved him so dearly that they officially regarded him as a family member. They fed him, walked him and bathed him, who, at an incredible rate, grew bigger and rounder, with joy sparkling in his eyes. But to Bruno, the best part of living with the two women was the “action-and-response” game played between them. Whenever Hachey or Angel made a movement or sign1, Bruno would immediately know what that meant and responded happily, and it always worked.
Then one evening, Hachey, 52, returned home at 8 p. m. from her job. And as usual, she ate supper in front of the TV in the living room. Around 10:30, a friend called just as Bruno went to huddle in his customary spot next to Hachey’s feet, ready to sleep for the night. Hachey and her friend chatted a bit, and then Hachey felt dizzy and had difficulty breathing. A sharp pain struck from her heart and she lost her consciousness.
Obviously sensing something odd, Bruno felt alarmed. His ears standing up, his eyes wide, he rose to his feet.
注意：
1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式在答题卡上的相应位置作答。
1．续写词数应为150左右;
2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Bruno began barking and jumping on and off the chair to wake Hachey.
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When Hachey came to herself, she found the room was full of people.
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Fine.The big secret is out. A bunch of your finest science nerds have cracked the case and discovered there is life tens of millions of miles away-here, on the beautiful planet of Venus.Yeah, no duh. Congratulations on the big reveal. We have a polite request: Stay away.
We’re serious. No missions to Venus, no exploratory spacecraft, no sleepovers. If we wake up one morning and look out and see Bezos, Musk and Branson wandering around in tailored spacesuits,we’re going to be really ticked off.
We mean no unfriendliness. It’s just that we’re not terribly impressed by what you’ve got going on down there.
Earth looks like a mess. You’ve got health crises, environmental crises,political crises.You keep fighting about face masks. You haven’t figured out how to deliver French fries without having them get soft and disgusting. No wonder so many of you want to abandon Earth for another planet.
We know you’d like it here.That’s what scares us. You’d all move to Venus in an instant.
But we live in a fragile solar system. We can only handle so much. If we start having you all up here, pretty soon, the Martians and Jupiterians are going to want to come, too.
In the meantime, cool your enthusiasm. Tell Elon, Jeff and Sir Richard to settle down and stick to cars, books and planes. We’re not your escape plan. Venus is not Earth 2.
We wish you the best in figuring it out. We have every faith you can save your planet. If not, try Pluto. They’re pretty lonely and bored out there.
Sincerely,
Venus
1. What is the tone of the text?| A．Humorous. | B．Apologetic. | C．Serious. | D．Cheerful. |
| A．Humans could move to Venus in an instant. |
| B．Humans could handle all the crises on Earth. |
| C．Humans took Venus as a substitute for Earth. |
| D．Humans discovered the existence of life on Venus. |
| A．as mad as a wet hen |
| B．as cool as a cucumber |
| C．as busy as a bee |
| D．as cheerful as a lark |
| A．To congratulate Earth on the new discovery. |
| B．To offer advice on settling crises of Earth. |
| C．To discourage humans from moving to Venus. |
| D．To encourage humans to save their planet. |
8 . The State of the World’s Birds — report from conservation group Bird Life is the latest critical survey that highlight the scale of the current biodiversity crisis. It says, more than half the world’s bird species are in decline, as human activities including agriculture and expansion into habitats continue to wreak havoc on bird populations.
“We have already lost over 160 bird species in the last 500 years, and the rate of extinction is accelerating,” said Lucy Haskell, who is lead author of the report. “Historically, most extinctions were on islands, but worryingly there is a growing wave of continental extinctions, driven by landscape-scale habitat loss.”
The report reviewed data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. Analysis showed that 5,412 of bird species worldwide, or 49 percent, have declining populations, while 38 percent are stable, 6 percent are increasing, and 6 percent have unknown trends. One in eight species is threatened with extinction, and also highlighted the massive scale of population loss in several well-surveyed areas.
The expansion and intensification (集约化) in agriculture is the leading threat to birds, the report said, impacting at least 73 percent of threatened species. Unsustainable logging and management of forests is another significant threat, impacting nearly half of threatened bird species.
Birds play an essential role in the health of ecosystems around the world. They are predators, pollinators, seed dispensers, and scavengers, and help to move and cycle nutrients across wide ranges. “Birds tell us about the health of our natural environment — we ignore their messages at our peril,” Lucy said.
Authors of the report said that governments must prioritize more sustainable agriculture practices and the protection of natural habitats in order to slow population decline in bird species. There are numerous examples of populations bouncing back with the help of well-coordinated conservation programs. “If we give nature a chance, it can recover,” said But chart, who is chief scientist for Bird Life. “There is no denying that the situation is terrible, but we know how to reverse these declines.”
1. What does the underlined phrase “wreak havoc on” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Gradually change. | B．Sharply increase. | C．Slightly disturb. | D．Seriously damage. |
| A．By listing causes. | B．By making comparisons. | C．By analyzing data. | D．By answering questions. |
| A．Illegal hunting for birds. | B．The development of agriculture. |
| C．Poor management of forests. | D．The loss of landscape-scale habitats. |
| A．Birds play a vital role in maintaining biodiversity. |
| B．Governments have protected natural habitats greatly. |
| C．Conservation programs need to be updated more frequently. |
| D．Scientists are confident about slowing population decline of birds. |
9 . Some of the most attractive pictures to come out of the Alaska earthquake are the photos that show slope (斜坡）failures, in which parts of formerly solid hills caved in，tore or let loose. And if there happened to be a road or building on top of the slopes that failed，the result was horrible.
Slopes can fail without earthquakes, as the result of pouring rain qr w：eathering. But the shaking caused by a quake — particularly a large one like what occurred near Anchorage on Friday — can either speed up the process or create entirely new failures that wouldn't have otherwise happened.
Several slope failures were documented in the Anchorage area in the hours after the earthquake Friday, the most interesting of which was on Vine Road southwest of Wasilla. It’s as if someone came along with a large destroying ball and dropped it on Vine Road, which wrinkled like a broken egg.
Scientists seemed surprised at how many slope failures occurred as a result of the 7.0-magnitude (震级）quake. The center of the quake was deep, at 27 miles below the surface — a key reason why the damage in Anchorage was relatively light. Such an earthquake would be expected to produce shaking over a large area, but probably with reasonably modest top ground accelerations, Friday’s earthquake would certainly be felt, but the surface of Earth wouldn't be moving badly enough to produce widespread landslides.
Photos from Alaska show a lot of lateral (横向的）spread, in which the ground tears open. Whatever is on top of the ground at the place it tears in half is also torn in half afterwards, like highways or buildings. The buildings surrounding the spread are also at risk of damage because of the force of the ground spreading out away from the tear. There’s also documentation of block spread，in which part of the ground breaks off a hill and slides away mostly perfect.
1. What do we know about slope failures?| A．They may cause earthquakes. |
| B．They usually happen with a road on top. |
| C．They always happen with earthquakes. |
| D．They may pull parts of the hills apart |
| A．Earthquakes have great effect on slope failures. |
| B．Most slope failures occur after the pouring rain. |
| C．Earthquakes result in slope failures immediately. |
| D．Slope failures occur mainly with large earthquakes. |
| A．It produced shaking over a large area. |
| B．It caused fewer slope failures than expected. |
| C．It wasn’t felt for its deep center. |
| D．It didn’t produce landslides. |
| A．Land slides. | B．Slope failures. | C．Lateral spread. | D．Block spread. |
| A．The one with the white face. |
| B．The one beside the black horse. |
| C．The one with two black legs. |
