1 . Our dog Bree is a Staffy cross. She
That is, of course, unless I am making toast (烤面包) for my breakfast. She always makes her way to the
This incident
| A．changes | B．behaves | C．works | D．looks |
| A．regardless of | B．in case of | C．because of | D．in search of |
| A．bedroom | B．yard | C．study | D．kitchen |
| A．sound | B．moment | C．smell | D．word |
| A．forgave | B．praised | C．ignored | D．trapped |
| A．applying | B．adapting | C．sticking | D．pressing |
| A．injured | B．annoyed | C．satisfied | D．confused |
| A．touch | B．please | C．impress | D．ruin |
| A．spread | B．offer | C．act | D．meal |
| A．strong | B．delicious | C．small | D．hot |
| A．ears | B．eyes | C．nose | D．neck |
| A．reminds | B．frees | C．clears | D．warns |
| A．usual | B．possible | C．great | D．easy |
| A．training | B．raising | C．helping | D．moving |
| A．Therefore | B．Anyway | C．Otherwise | D．Instead |
2 . Scientists in South Africa have found that ceramic (瓷的) nest boxes can protect endangered African penguins from climate change.
In the past, the penguins laid eggs in holes dug into centuries-old layers of their own droppings, most of which was shipped by traders to the United Kingdom as fertilizer (肥料) in the 1800s. Since then, many penguins have nested in the open, exposing their eggs and themselves to the burning heat.
Because penguins evolved to keep heat in cold water, they can easily overheat on land. Typically, penguins leave their nests regularly to cool off in the sea. But without proper holes, this leaves their eggs unprotected. Since 1900, the African penguin population has dropped from three million to only 48,000.
Fortunately, a team of researchers seem to have found a way. Over the past years, the team has put more than 1,500 handmade ceramic nest boxes in five areas where the penguins live, including Bird Island in Algoa Bay, South Africa, which is home to nearly half of the world’s remaining African penguins. Looking like small round houses, the double-walled ceramic nests can keep African penguins cool.
“The nests are so useful,” says Welman, a zoologist, “Even if adults had to leave nests for some reason, their eggs would never be at any risk of overheating.” Christina Hagen of Bird Life South Africa, who was not part of the study, says finding effective conservation solutions is important given the decreasing population of African penguins.
The main threat to African penguins is overfishing of anchovy and sardines, the penguins’ favorite food. Scientists and conservationists are pushing the South African government to close commercial fishing around the five African penguin breeding (繁殖) colonies until populations recover. But without protection from rising temperatures, those efforts alone may not be enough. Ceramic nests could help to give these beloved penguins a fighting chance.
1. What can we learn about African penguins from the passage?| A．They well adapt to high temperatures. |
| B．They are mainly threatened by pollution. |
| C．They are suffering a lot from overheating. |
| D．They have a population of over three million. |
| A．There is a vast population of African penguins. |
| B．It enjoys the best climate for African penguins. |
| C．African penguins there can nest in the open. |
| D．There are holes for penguins to lay eggs. |
| A．To allow the penguins to stay cool inside. |
| B．To protect the penguins from being hunted. |
| C．To provide a place for the penguins to rest. |
| D．To save enough room for the adult penguins. |
| A．Creating more nesting areas for the penguins. |
| B．Stopping people fishing where the penguins breed. |
| C．Introducing new species of fish for the penguins. |
| D．Providing man-made cooling facilities for the penguins. |
3 . The dry land in Gir National Park and Wildlife Preserve, located near India western tip, is the proud — and only — home of the Asiatic lion. By the early 1900s, however, their populations had decreased for homo loss and hunting, leaving fewer than 50 known individuals alive. Though their numbers have risen over the past several decades — climbing to around 670 in 2020, a successful story — the lions are still considered endangered.
One of the biggest challenges to keep the lions’ future is to track them, a hard work. Some animals, like tigers and zebras, have special coat patterns (图案) that provide useful marks to the researchers. But for the Asiatic lions, researchers must look elsewhere.
In 2019, Banerjee, who worked for Indias National Tiger Conservation Authority, developed an AI system to recognize the lions with high accuracy (精准). The AI program, SIMBA, has been applied in practice. “It will be a fantastic tool for long-term lion monitoring,” says Banerjee. He adds, “It could help forest officials arrive at a more accurate estimate (评估) of Gir’s lion population. In a few years, the group will have a rich collection of information — how many lions are male, female, how many will bear babies and how many are dead.”
Despite the advantages, Baneijee also adds his worries. He suggests certain rules be made to prevent main information from being stolen. “Where tools like SIMBA really shine”, he says, “is in helping researchers develop monitoring plans that are keys to the protection of at-risk animals,” he says, “otherwise, all your efforts will be in vain.”
1. What is the greatest difficulty in protecting Asiatic lions?| A．Stopping them from being killed. | B．Keeping track of them. |
| C．Protecting their living environment. | D．Increasing their population. |
| A．By locating lions’ homes. | B．By tracking other animals. |
| C．By monitoring the animal stealers. | D．By providing accurate information. |
| A．It needs to be widely used. | B．It has saved the at-risk animals. |
| C．Its possible risks should be aware of. | D．Its disadvantages should be ignored. |
| A．The Application of AI on Protecting Animals. | B．The AI Program for the Endangered Asiatic Lions. |
| C．The Measures of Protecting Asiatic Lions. | D．The Biggest Challenge of the AI system. |
4 . It’s reported that about 20 percent of the Amazon rainforest has disappeared during the past 50 years. Deforestation is not only threatening the millions of unique plant and animal species native to the Amazon River area, it’s affecting humans worldwide. When it comes to the protection of the Amazon, it’s hard for many people to relate because they don’t feel connected to the area. There are actually a lot of direct connections, no matter how far away we are.
A connection that affects everyone on the planet is climate (气候) change. Planting new trees in the forest is basically a way of removing CO2 from the air. Rain forests have a carbon (碳) reduction nearly equal to half of what is in the air. About half of that is in the Amazon. Another case in point is a big snake called the bushmaster that lives in the Amazon. Today, millions of people use medicines made from its venom (毒液) to treat high blood pressure. So they have longer, fuller, and more productive lives.
In the 1960s, there was only one highway in the entire Amazon. That’s an area as large as the continental United States with one highway and three million people. Today, there are between 30 million to 40 million people, countless roads, and about 20 percent forests have been cut down. But on the plus side, 50 years ago there were only two national parks and a national forest and a reserve in Brazil. Today, more than 50 percent of the Amazon is under some form of protection.
“There’s been a lot of damage done and forest lost, but nothing is gone until it’s gone”, noted National Geographic explorer Dr. Thomas Lovejoy. “We want to see more shared planning between the departments of transportation, energy, agriculture, and the other industries in the area. We think Amazon cities can have higher quality of life and keep people in existing cities so there’s less reason to deforest.”
1. Which can replace the underlined word “Deforestation” in paragraph 1?| A．Planting more trees. | B．Destroying the forests. |
| C．Protecting the species. | D．Polluting the rivers. |
| A．The increase of extreme weather. | B．The removal of CO2. |
| C．More people with high blood pressure. | D．The overgrowth of the bushmaster. |
| A．By making comparisons. | B．By listing reasons. |
| C．By explaining a definition. | D．By making a summary. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Worried. | C．Positive. | D．Uncaring. |
Carved from mountains in Yunnan province, the Hong-he Hani Rice Terraces reach over more than 160 square kilometers to create a most spectacular landscape.
Since ancient times, the local Hani people have channeled spring water from mountains and forests
However, the wonder remained largely unknown to the rest of the world for
Although the terraces shine with bright green during the summer growing season, the landscape is most
6 . Home to the world’s second biggest freshwater lake, as well as its longest lake, Africa hosts some of the best lakes on the planet. Here are some of our picks:
Lake Assal, Djibouti
Sitting at 155 meters below sea level, Lake Assal is in Africa’s lowest point. Its salt levels are 10 times greater than the sea. As such it is also the world’s largest salt reserve (储备量). Visitors will note there is no wildlife around due to its unfriendly desert climate and super salty water.
Lake Retba, Senegal
Photography fans will love Lake Retba for its breathtaking scenery. Also called the Pink Lake of Senegal, it is an impressive pink-colored lake. The color comes from a type of algae (海藻) that grows because of the large amount of salt in the lake. To see the lake at its most pink, you’ll want to visit during the November to June dry season.
Lake Turkana, Kenya
Lake Turkana is the largest long-lasting desert lake in the world, as well as its fourth-largest salt lake. Lake Turkana is most famous for the vapor rising out of the active volcano (火山) within it. A dream place for bird-watchers, it is home to hundreds of bird species that are only found in Kenya.
1. What makes Lake Retba pink-colored?| A．Its depth. | B．The desert climate. |
| C．Its amount of salt. | D．A certain sea-plant. |
| A．The large size. | B．The unique bird species. |
| C．The sandy beaches. | D．The steam from the volcano. |
| A．They are saltwater lakes. | B．They sit below sea level. |
| C．They are rich in wildlife. | D．They share the same tourist season. |
7 . Meat, milk, cheese — just some of the things provided by goats. But now we can also add fire safety to this list. As wildfires damage increasingly large areas of the planet each year, goatherds (牧羊人) may offer a way of reducing the risk.
Wildfires are made possible by hot, dry weather conditions as well as a supply of dead plants that serve as fuel. We may have limited control over the former factor, but we can control the latter. Reducing the fuel load lowers the possibility of wildfires occurring, as well as the amount of damage caused. This is where we can turn to goats to search for a solution, which are being used for landscape management in a number of places around the world, including Greece, Spain, Portugal, Chile and a number of parts of the United States.
Goats have an extremely powerful digestive (消化的) system. Many kinds of plants that are dangerous to other animals can be easily eaten by goats. It’s not just fully-grown plants that goats are able to deal with: any seeds that pass through a goat can’t survive and will not grow. Human clearance teams have to worry about getting to the hard-to-reach places where plants grow but goats don’t. They are skilled mountain climbers and when standing on their hind legs, they can reach up to two metres to the plants that humans would struggle to reach. Because of this, using goats can reduce both the possibility of workplace accidents and the amount of money spent on fire protection measures. Goatherds have been found to clear some parts of land for a third of the price of human control teams.
Cost and safety aren’t the only benefits. Goats are quieter than grass-cutting machines and people usually prefer to see goats eating grass rather than litres of herbicide (除草剂). Children are often attracted to see the goats at work and this provides an opportunity to educate people about preventing wildfires.
1. Why can goats help to prevent wildfires?| A．They are not afraid of bad weather. | B．They are easily controlled by goatherds. |
| C．They have the strongest digestive system. | D．They can remove dead plants causing fire. |
| A．The fire protection measures that people often take. |
| B．The reasons why goats are used to prevent wildfires. |
| C．The difficulty human clearance teams have preventing fire. |
| D．The effects goats have on the natural balance of mountains. |
| A．Herbicide will not be used to remove grass soon. |
| B．Children like goats because of their quiet character. |
| C．It’s a green way to prevent wildfires by using goats. |
| D．Herbicide works better than grass-cutting machines. |
| A．Firefighting Goats. | B．Clever Goatherds. |
| C．Damage Caused by Wildfires. | D．Ways to Prevent Disasters. |
8 . It is late autumn—millions of gardeners across the northern hemisphere, pulled on their thickest sweaters, spent hours clearing large piles of leaves and packed them into plastic bags at the end of driveways.
In the US alone, nearly 10 million tonnes of garden waste go to landfill every year. That is a large amount of effort, not just from an environmental viewpoint but from that of our aching backs, too. So where does this advice come from? Well, it largely comes from the belief that thick fallen leaves can make plants under them unable to breathe, especially shorter grass. They shut down important photosynthesis (光合作用) and get in the way of the growth of the shorter grass. However, this received wisdom has recently been questioned by researchers at Wisconsin University.
The key finding of their new research was that although clearing fallen leaves is one of the most common gardening practices, it makes very little sense. In natural ecosystems, fallen leaves help return nutrients necessary for healthy plant growth to the soil, which greatly improves soil condition. Removing leaves year after year breaks this ecological (生态的) balance. Letting some leaves stick around to cover your garden is a great way to help your grass and the local ecosystem.
They further explained that if up to 50percent of your grass lawn (草坪) is covered by fallen leaves, you might as well go back indoors and put your feet up. The advantages of this light leaf coverage far outweigh the disadvantages—the leaves will quickly break down and help next year’s lawn grow far better than if you had cleared them. Only at over 50 percent coverage do the Wisconsin researchers recommend clearing.
So why not consider leaving the leaves? Save time, carbon and effort, and in exchange get a healthier lawn from this garden waste—that seems like a pretty good deal. And how many plastic bags could be saved by simply not binning fallen leaves every year? In the US alone, about 700 million.
1. What does the author describe in paragraph 1?| A．An amazing autumn game. | B．A common sight in gardens. |
| C．A hot attraction in the north. | D．An extreme weather event. |
| A．Fallen leaves need not be cleared. |
| B．Fallen leaves protect shorter grass. |
| C．Fallen leaves block photosynthesis. |
| D．Fallen leaves are hard to break down. |
| A．it ruins city image | B．it breaks gardening rules |
| C．it affects local economy | D．it causes ecological damage |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. | C．Unclear. | D．Worried. |
9 . The world is lucky when our most brilliant minds choose to work for the common good. Young Ryan Honary is among one of the brilliant minds.
Shocked by the deaths in the 2018 Camp Fire, California’s frightening wildfire, Honary turned his attention to how to decrease future disasters. In 2019, Honary won a $10,000 prize in the Ignite Innovation Student Challenge for his early wildfire detection (检测) network, which provides app technology for firefighters. He was only in fifth grade at the time.
Turning 14 years old and going into the eighth grade this year, Honary is busy working in SensoRy AI, the company he set up. With the help of his father and a team of experts, the company has received a lot of attention.
Honary started creating websites when he was in third grade. He learned Python and JavaScript in a local after-school program. At the same time, he was interested in animals and the environment. He became worried as he saw how much the environment was under pressure.
When wildfires started ruining the air quality, destroying homes and killing some people, Honary thought about how AI can be used to solve environmental problems such as wildfires. In order to get data to train the machine learning models on his fire detectors, he collected real-world data from Google Earth about the Camp Fire of 2018 in California. Once a fire is detected by a fire detector, the information can be sent to the app he created. Also, machine learning can be used to predict where the fires are going.
Honary is hoping to attract more people from his generation to his company. He believes the environment is going to be a big responsibility for all of us.
1. What can be inferred from paragraph 2 and paragraph 3?| A．Honary’s detecting network was free. | B．Honary gained many awards in 2019. |
| C．Honary’s company is facing serious challenges. | D．Honary is young but makes amazing achievements. |
| A．To make a fortune. | B．To enlarge his company. |
| C．To save firefighters! | D．To reduce wildfire disasters. |
| A．By creating websites. | B．By collecting data. |
| C．By taking an after-school program. | D．By sending information to the app. |
| A．Gifted and humorous. | B．Curious and confident. |
| C．Creative and responsible. | D．Friendly and intelligent. |
A black bear was in a dangerous situation when she fell off a 30-meter-high bridge. After a long day in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, the bear probably thought she was taking a shortcut home. She was walking across the bridge when, suddenly, two cars entered from both sides. There was nowhere to run, so the frightened bear jumped and fell over the side.
Luckily, the bear pulled herself onto an arch (拱形门) under the bridge, but she was trapped (困住) there. A driver saw the unbelievable scene and called 911.Robert Brooks, an animal control officer from the nearby town, was sent to investigate. “I thought it was a joke.” he said. But it wasn’t a joke, so he called Dave Baker of the BEAR League-a group that helps bears in trouble.
Unfortunately, the sky was getting dark, so the volunteers had to wait. Early next morning, the two men returned to the bridge with more volunteers. Amazingly, the bear was still there. They needed to help her quickly. Baker had an idea-they should hang a net under the bear, push her into it, and then lower her to the ground.
Firefighters volunteered to lower the 100-kilogram bear once she was in the net. Police officers closed the road, and when the net arrived, it was hung under the bridge. Then, an animal control officer shot a dart (飞镖) containing a sleeping medicine into the bear’s shoulder. Ann Bryant，head of the BEAR League, stood under the bridge. When the bear was sleepy, Bryant shouted “OK, push!” A volunteer rock climber used his feet to push the bear off the arch, right into the middle of the net.
The bear was gently lowered to the ground
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