1 . Sara Dykman is on a 10, 000-mile bike trip, following the monarch butterfly from Mexico through the UnitedStates and Canada and back again. The purpose of her journey is not just to mark the butterfly’s migrating (迁徙) road, but to warn about the threat it faces — and what we can do to help it.
When I reached Dykman by phone, she was biking through Iowa cornfields. She said she feels more upset than usual, because of what she is seeing — or not seeing — on her travels: Fewer butterflies and milkweed. “In the last two decades, the butterfly population has declined by about 90 percent as a result of the loss of milkweed, a native plant that the butterflies need as part of their life cycle,” she said.
Butterflies go through a four-stage life cycle. In February and March, the adult monarch butterflies come out of winter sleep to look for a mate. Then they migrate north and east to lay their eggs on milkweed plants. It takes about four days for the eggs to hatch. Then the baby caterpillars (毛毛虫) spend much of their time eating milkweed in order to grow. About two weeks later, the fully grown caterpillars will attach themselves to plant branches or leaves to change into butterflies.
But Dykman is not in total despair. A solution, she says, exists within the reach of everyone who owns a home; simply planting some milkweed in the yards to help the butterflies on their journey.
Dykman lives a life as simple and rootless as the butterflies she loves. She doesn’t own a house or car or eat out at restaurants. She carries only what she needs; a sleeping bag and clothing. People help along the way by providing a place to stay and a meal.
“I have failed at everything normal, but I’m pretty good at doing the less normal things,” she admits in her new book Cycling With Butterflies.
“But this trip is about solutions, and it’s about helping people see the consequences of their actions,” she said on the phone.
1. What is the main purpose of Sara Dykman’s bike trip?| A．To live-stream the migrating butterflies. | B．To ask people to grow more native plants. |
| C．To warn about the environmental problems. | D．To encourage people to protect the butterflies. |
| A．Baby caterpillars are very harmful to various crops. |
| B．Milkweed plays a vital role in a butterfly’s life cycle. |
| C．Non-native plants are growing too fast in Iowa cornfields. |
| D．Adult butterflies come out of winter sleep later than they did. |
| A．She is a determined conservationist. | B．She is a good bread-earner. |
| C．She is a competent employee. | D．She is a comfort seeker. |
| A．A diary entry. | B．A book review. | C．An interview. | D．A news report. |
2 . The Coral Sea is home to an amazing variety of turtles, sharks, whales, dolphins, large fish, birds, corals, plants, and many other species. Many of these species are endangered elsewhere in the world, but still survive in the healthy environment of the Coral Sea.
The Coral Sea is a large series of coral reefs located off the northeast coast of Australia. This area is three times larger than Australia’s famous Great Barrier Reef, which the Coral Sea borders.
The Coral Sea is one of the few coral reef environments that have remained largely undamaged by overfishing, oil and gas exploration and pollution. However, statistics show that coral reefs around the world are disappearing five times faster than rainforests. It is very likely that in the near future the Coral Sea will face the same threats to its existence.
The Australian government is currently looking at options for protecting the Coral Sea but has made no decisions. Environmentalists are pushing for laws to declare the Coral Sea area a marine protected area. This would mean a large “no-take zone” for fishermen, a no-exploration zone for gas and oil companies and a no-dump zone for pollution. This would make the Coral Sea a marine park larger than any in the world.
We can write letters to Australian leaders, Australian environmental protection agencies, and Australian friends, to let them know that people worldwide support this protection of the Coral Sea. To lose this last great marine wildness would be a loss for the whole world.
For more information, CLICK here please.
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?| A．To teach people how to protect the Coral Sea. |
| B．To call for the public awareness to protect the Coral Sea. |
| C．To show the amazing features of the Coral Sea. |
| D．To explain the function of the Coral Sea. |
| A．The Coral Sea, home to many species, will disappear soon. |
| B．The Coral Sea is rich in oil and gas. |
| C．The Coral Sea is three times larger than Great Barrier Reef. |
| D．The Coral Sea will be a marine park larger than any in the world. |
| A．in a guidebook | B．on a website |
| C．in a science textbook | D．on a TV show |
| A．The reason for protecting the Coral Sea. |
| B．The way to protect the Coral Sea. |
| C．The location of the Coral Sea. |
| D．The money-raising for saving the Coral Sea. |
3 . Sleep is a necessary biological(生物的)function that has long interested scientists.
As we all know, most animals sleep. Scientists have studied everything from mice to fruit flies in the lab to get a better understanding of what happens when animals sleep—and why so many do it. However, gathering data on how animals sleep in their natural habitat has always been tricky and hard to do.
But scientists did just that with wild chinstrap penguins(帽带企鹅)in Antarctica. In doing so, researchers found birds in the nesting colony took over 10,000 microsleeps throughout the day-amounting to 1l hours of sleep. The microsleep last only seconds. Researchers think that microsleeps might help the animals avoid enemies that might be more likely to strike if the penguins are asleep for longer—especially when one parent goes out feeding in the ocean for days, leaving the other parent to protect the eggs.
Vladyslav Vyazovskiy, a sleep scientist who was not involved in the study, is excited about this new data. “Most of what we know about the fundamental biology of sleep was obtained in laboratory conditions, which were completely different from conditions where sleep evolved. Context matters,” says Vyazovskiy.
Microsleeps are much shorter than the minutes-long micronaps that have been shown to benefit humans. And study co-author Paul-Antoine Libourel is careful to not mix this insight about the success of microsleeps in penguins with that in humans. “This is not related to human physiology, and won’t tell us more about the function of human sleep.”
To study the penguins, scientists implanted devices into a small group of penguins’ brain and neck muscles. These brainwave and location data coupled with filming these birds in the nest gave sleep data about them. But the equipment had never been used before, so this data collection was only supposed to be a test.
The study is an early insight into a relatively large amount of scientific knowledge about sleep. “Pretty much every study on sleeping birds discovers something new, something we didn’t know before,” says Libourel.
1. What is the penguins’ taking microsleeps aimed at?| A．Surviving the severe cold. |
| B．Ensuring enough rest for growth. |
| C．Securing themselves from attackers. |
| D．Building up energy to hunt for food. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Tolerant. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．Micronaps are of great benefit to humans. |
| B．Animal microsleeps differ from human micronaps. |
| C．The function of human sleep has yet to be figured out. |
| D．The research contributes to the understanding of human micronaps. |
| A．Most animals need to take microsleeps |
| B．Micronaps are important for human health |
| C．The penguins take over 10,000 microsleeps a day |
| D．Scientists show interest in animals’ sleep quality |
4 . A dog can be a person’s best friend, or so the theory goes. But that relationship can be tested when a dog begins barking at an empty comer of a room, at a door, or anywhere where there doesn’t appear to be any activity at all taking place. Is the dog hallucinating? Is it communicating with ET? Or does it simply want to drive its owner crazy?
According to the American Kennel Club, the most common explanation for dogs’ barking without reasons is that it’s not really unprompted at all. Dogs are, obviously, equipped with superior hearing, including the ability to detect sounds that are higher in pitch. It is said a dog could be reacting to a noise that a person wouldn’t be able to hear. If a dog barks seemingly for no apparent reason at night, it might be because the noise nearby is lessened and some barking of other dogs become more clearly. Because dogs are territorial, one dog barking can turn into many others to guard themselves.
Dogs are also able to see better in the dark than humans thanks to their ability to get more light into their retinas (视网膜). If a dog is reacting to what looks to you like an empty backyard at night, it’s possible that something has caught their attention, be it a wild animal, a leaf, or a stranger.
That’s not to say that dogs only bark because of their cute senses. Some dogs might bark out of boredom in which case more exercise or play time is probably needed. They might also be trying to get their owner’s attention.
The AKC recommends that owners avoid scolding their dogs for barking, since they’re simply trying to remain alert, instead, you can try calming the dog to let them know you’re aware of their concern. If they tend to bark while gazing out a window, you can also try to pull the curtains. If you suspect the source is an audio cue, some white noise, like a television or radio can help.
Less often, chronic barking might be a sign of cognitive issues. If barking is persistent and no fugitive is hiding out in your bushes, then you might consider a trip to the vet.
1. According to the passage, which factors won’t make dogs barking at nothing?| A．Its madness. | B．Its visual sense. | C．Its acute hearing. | D．Its boredom. |
| A．A dog barks in order to make friends with other dogs. |
| B．The surrounding noise being lessened will make a dog frightened. |
| C．A dog can react to a noise as acutely as a person. |
| D．A dog always has the awareness of its domain. |
| A．Leaving it alone. | B．Scolding it seriously. |
| C．Comforting it. | D．Playing some soft music. |
| A．an experiment report | B．a mental discovery |
| C．a school textbook | D．a science fiction |
5 . A homeless man rescued all the animals at a shelter after it caught on fire, which made a local headline news. Hamlin, the
Keith Walker, 53, a homeless man,
“I was nervous as hell. I was really
“He is my guardian angel (天使),” Hamlin told the media. “Even the firefighters didn’t want to
Hamlin
Walker was on his way to
“
| A．tailor | B．founder | C．donator | D．conductor |
| A．risked | B．gave | C．lost | D．put |
| A．tied | B．limited | C．trapped | D．attached |
| A．thrilled | B．upset | C．annoyed | D．scared |
| A．walked | B．rushed | C．slid | D．squeezed |
| A．without | B．beyond | C．except | D．with |
| A．Before | B．Since | C．Until | D．While |
| A．spot | B．search | C．handle | D．touch |
| A．putting out | B．pulling out | C．pushing out | D．digging out |
| A．previously | B．eventually | C．independently | D．fortunately |
| A．find | B．protect | C．keep | D．train |
| A．put up | B．hold up | C．take up | D．pick up |
| A．Despite | B．Though | C．In face of | D．With |
| A．surprise | B．relief | C．understanding | D．disappointment |
| A．fighter | B．employee | C．partner | D．hero |
6 . It sounds like something from the field of science fiction — a space exploration into vast outer space, heading towards the Red Planet While we’re not quite ready to put a person on it, the question we ask today is:
The space race saw the USSR (the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and USA compete to achieve firsts in spaceflight. The USSR released Sputnik 1, an artificial satellite, before anyone else,
However, not everyone agrees. Leading astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has said the concept of changing habitability of a planet is not always practical.
It seems that the main reason at the moment is the search for alien (外星的) life.
| A．and the US landed on the moon first. |
| B．Instead, it makes no sense when we can simply terraform Earth because of the damage we have done to it. |
| C．One of these could be the survival of our species. |
| D．Why are so many countries interested in going to Mars? |
| E．It has been believed that, at one time, a certain form of life did exist in this red planet. |
| F．Surely inspiring a new generation to visit the stars is reasonable enough. |
| G．May landing on Mars inspire more people to become interested in exploring space? |
7 . Dog ownership may be associated with longer life, especially for heart attack and stroke (中风) suvivors who live alone, according to a new study.
Previous studies have shown that dog ownership alleviates social isolation (隔绝), improve physical activity and social bonds, even lowers blood pressure, leading researchers to believe dog owners could potentially have better health outcomes compared to non-owners. They sought to determine how dog ownership affected health outcomes.
Researchers compared the health outcomes of dog owners and non-owners after a heart attack or stroke using health data provided by the Swedish National Patient Register. Patients in the study were Swedish residents aged 40 to 85 who experienced a heart attack or stroke. Compared to people who did not own a dog, researchers found that for dog owners, the risk of death for heart attack patients living alone after hospitalization (住院) was 33% lower and 15% lower for those living with a partner or child. The risk of death for stroke patients living alone after hospitalization was 27% lower and 12% lower for those living with a partner or child.
The lower risk of death associated with dog ownership could be explained by an increase in physical activity and decreased depression and loneliness, both of which have been connected to dog ownership in previous studies.
While this study drew the conclusion from a large sample (样本), potential misclassifications (错误分类) of dog ownershipin couples living together, death of a dog and change of ownership could have affected the outcomes of the study.
The results of this study suggest positive effects of dog ownership for patients who have experienced a heart attack or stroke. However, more research is needed to confirm a cause-effect relationship. Moreover, from an animal welfare perspective (角度), dogs should only be owned by people who feel they have the ability and knowledge to give the pet a good life.
1. What does the underlined word “alleviates” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．reduces | B．increases | C．causes | D．shows |
| A．Healthy dog owners and those with illnesses. | B．Dog owners and non-owners in hospitalization. |
| C．40- to 85-year-old dog owners around the world. | D．Middle-aged and old heart attack or stroke survivors. |
| A．Dogs make people physically and mentally active. | B．Dogs give warning of heart attacks or strokes |
| C．Dogs encourage social participation. | D．Dogs save lives in emergencies. |
| A．Approving | B．Uncertain | C．Objective | D．Critical |
| A．She is frightened of dogs. | B．She already has fish as a pet. | C．She can’t take good care of it. |
The Making of a Believer
It was Christmas Eve morning, and I awoke with a mission: to find my lost cat, Baby-Girl, who is chubby and cute, fond of sitting in her one-and-only spot near the nearth (壁炉). AS I got ready, I could hear icy rain pouring down. I said a quick prayer for Baby-Girl. She was out there somewhere in the storm, I could just feel it. Sure, it had been six months since she’d gone missing, but I still had faith. It was the season for miracles, after all.
That summer, my sweet cat had disappeared from my parents’ house in Indiana. Baby-Girl had been staying with them. At the time, I lived and worked in Washington, D.C. Baby-Girl had gotten out of my parents’ house three days before I was set to fly back home to pick her up.
My dad and I spent that entire visit searching for her. Dad was the family’s resident “realistic”, which mean the spent a whole lot of time trying to prepare me for the worst. She’s either been hit by a car or been taken in by someone who found her” he said. I rolled my eyes. Dad always supported me, but he was so skepticat. He could do with a little more faith!
Besides, though I couldn’t explain it, I knew I’d see her Baby-Girl again. If any cat could do the impossible, it was my Baby-Girl. Even after T returned to D.C. without her and the weeks stretched into months, deep down I had this feeling that we’d be reunited.
How, home again for the holidays, I was de tem mined to pick up my search. I grabbed Baby-Girl’s cat carrier and loaded it into the car, then persuaded Dad to drive me to the shelter, hoping she’d been found.
“Sharon, you have to be realistic,” my dad said as we headed to the garage. “She’s been gone too long. You’re not going to find her.”
“Well, I just have a feeling,” I said
Dad raised an eyebrow a she climbed into the driver’s seat to take me to the shelter.
注意：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。
We were led to the room where the abandoned cats lived.
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Shortly after, my shocked Dad drove us back home.
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On market days when the farmers brought their goods to the little town to sell, I used to walk by them to chat. One of the farmers was telling me about a little stray (流浪) dog hiding among the market stalls (货摊). The thing that made us notice the dog was that he was sitting up, paws (爪) dangling (悬垂), staring at the passers-by hopelessly, begging for something that can remove his hunger.
“Look at that little fellow(家伙),” the farmer said, “I wonder where he’s from and how he can end up like this.” As he spoke, the stallholder (货摊主) threw the dog some bread, but when the man approached, the little poor thing ran away. I was standing there, trying to see where he had gone, when a young policeman came up to me. “I’ve been watching that dog begging all morning,” he said, “but I haven’t been able to get close to him.” “Yes, it’s strange. You can see he’s cute and friendly, but he’s also afraid. I wonder who owns him.” “I don’t think he has an owner, Mr. Harriot. I know just about all the dogs around here. But this one is a stranger to me.” I nodded. “I’m sure you’re right. He could have been treated badly by somebody and run away, or he could have been abandoned.” “Yes,” the policeman replied, “I don’t know how anybody can leave a helpless animal to watch over itself like that. I’ve had a few attempts (尝试) to catch him but it’s no good.”
Days later I met the policeman again and he told me that the dog had been caught, because it was against the law for a dog to go begging in the market. I couldn’t believe such a ridiculous (荒唐的) thing and asked him to take me to see the dog.
Paragraph 1:We walked a short way to a dog cottage(笼舍).
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
Days later, I revisited the cottage and felt a wave of relief (放心).
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