1 . One of the things that make humans mammals (哺乳动物) is that we’re warm-blooded — our bodies have high metabolism (新陈代谢) that maintains our internal temperature independent of the surroundings, unlike cold-blooded animals that have to lie in the sun for heat. Among modern animals, only mammals and birds are warm-blooded and our ability to keep ourselves warm has enabled us to survive in icy weather and make long migrations. But it’s been a mystery exactly when mammals evolved their high metabolism. In a new study, scientists point to an unlikely source for determining when ancient mammal ancestors became warm-blooded.

The ears of all living creatures that have backbones contain tiny canals (管道) filled with fluid that helps us balance. The runniness (流动性) of that fluid changes based on temperature, and our inner ears have evolved different sizes so that the fluid can flow correctly. Cold-blooded animals’ ear fluid is cooler and thicker, so it needs wider spaces to travel through, while warm-blooded animals have runnier ear fluid, so our canals are different.

“Canals were generally used to predict the movement of fossil organisms. However, by carefully looking at their biomechanics (生物力学) , we figured that we could also use them to infer body temperature,” says Romain David, one of the study’s lead authors. “This is because, like honey, the fluid inside canals gets runnier when temperature increases, impacting function. Therefore, during the transition to endothermy (温血性) , physical adaptation was required to keep best performances, and we could track ear canals in mammal ancestors. ”

To track these evolutionary changes, the researchers compared the sizes of the inner ear canals of over 300 animals, including 243 living species and 64 extinct ones. They found that mammal ancestors didn’t develop the kinds of inner ear structures ideal for warm-blooded animals until 233 million years ago.

The origin of mammalian endothermy is one of the great mysteries to be solved. Many different approaches have been used to try to predict when it first evolved, but they have often given unclear or conflicting results. This method shows real promise because it has been confirmed using a very large number of modern species.

1. Which of the following might be the key to mammals’ long migrations?

A．The large body size.	B．The rich food resources.
C．The warm-bloodedness.	D．The adaptability to surroundings.

2. What can we learn about warm-blooded animals compared to cold-blooded ones?

A．They have much bigger backbones.

B．Their inner ear canals are relatively narrow.

C．They are much more sensitive to outside sounds.

D．Their ear fluid seldom changes with temperature.

3. What do Romain David’s words in paragraph 3 mainly tell us?

A．Theories on the evolution of mammal ancestors.

B．The reason for studying the inner ears of mammals.

C．The importance of physical adaptation to mammals.

D．Possible ways to predict the movement of fossil organisms.

4. What’s the author’s attitude to the new method of tracking evolutionary changes?

A．Appreciative.

B．Doubtful.

C．Negative.

D．Unconcerned.

2 . Vicky Barlow is a volunteer for a non-profit environmental organization. She was overturning stones in a rock pool in Falmouth, England when something “extremely bright and unusual” caught her eye. Under a large seaweed-covered rock, she made a very rare find: a rainbow sea slug (蛞蝓).

Rainbow sea slugs are very uncommon in England — they’re usually found in warmer waters, such as those along the west coasts of Spain, Portugal and France. In fact, there have only been three previously documented sightings of the species in the UK. But those were all found by divers rather than rock poolers. “It’s a warm-water species but it looks as if it has arrived here,” said the sea biologist Ben Holt. He adds that waters around the UK have seen rapid warming due to climate change. By the end of the century, water temperatures in the UK will rise by more than 3℃.

Sea slugs are particularly useful in related research. Most sea slugs only live up to about one year, which means they can make a very quick response to the changes in water temperatures caused by climate issues. In Australia, climate scientists have been collecting information on sea slugs for over 10 years to record the species and learn about changes in their distribution (分布), including their arrival in historically cooler waters.

Around 3,000 species of sea slugs exist in waters worldwide. They mainly feed on seaweed and other sea slugs. Unlike snails, adult sea slugs don’t have shells to protect them from being eaten by hungry marine animals. Instead, many of them have formed bright colors to scare off their enemies such as sea turtles, starfish and crabs. Some species may even have the unusual ability to steal stinging cells (刺细胞) from animals they feed on and shoot them out when threatened.

Before sending it back where it came from, Barlow placed the sea slug in a pot to get a better look at its colors. “It is absolutely amazing that I could find it on our rocky coasts,” Barlow writes in her blog. “It’s a perfect example of the incredible wildlife we have on our doorstep.”

1. Why are rainbow sea slugs rare in England?

A．They prefer to live in deep waters.

B．Divers are unable to recognize them.

C．Rock pools are poorly managed here.

D．The environment is normally unfavorable.

2. What can we say about sea slugs according to Paragraph 3?

A．They are important in studying climate change.

B．Their overall population continues to decrease.

C．They mostly choose to live in cooler waters.

D．Their sea habitats have been badly polluted.

3. What does Paragraph 4 mainly tell us about sea slugs?

A．Their survival abilities.	B．Risks caused by their colors.
C．Changes in their feeding habits.	D．Their common marine enemies.

4. How does Barlow probably feel about her discovery?

A．Calm and peaceful.	B．Surprised and glad.
C．Curious and doubtful.	D．Shocked and worried.

3 . Tropical cyclones(热带气旋), including hurricanes and typhoons, are now moving at a slower speed than they did decades ago, new research shows.

While having a cyclone travel with less speed may seem like a good thing, it’s actually just the opposite. Wind speeds within the storm remain high, but the whole system itself moves slower, allowing punishing rains to stay longer over communities. “Nothing good comes out of a slowing storm,” says James Kossin, author of the paper. “It can increase the amount of time that buildings suffered from strong wind. And it increases rainfall.”

In his paper, Kossin showed that from 1949 to 2016, tropical cyclones across the globe slowed their movement by 10 percent on average. In some regions (地区), the speed of those storms slowed even more as they hit land. In the western North Pacific, the decrease was much more manifest—almost a third. That means a storm that may already hold more moisture (水分)will have time to drop more of it in each spot.

Kossin’s work was based on details of almost 70 years’ worth of storms, but he didn’t try to determine what was causing the slowdown. Still, the change is exactly what he and other cyclone experts said, which would be expected from climate change. With the polar regions warming faster than other parts of the globe, that is changing the pressure and reducing the winds that push these storms.

Christina Patricola, a scientist, called Kossin’s work important and new and said she found it reliable. “I was not surprised by his findings,” she says. “But I was surprised by the speed of the slowdown.”

Kossin hopes that scientists will begin building models that show which places are likely to face the most risk. Given that storms in some regions are moving towards polar regions and already increasing in intensity(强度), cyclones causing unusually powerful rain may threaten places not normally in their paths. Scientists must take action to make those places suffer less from the disasters.

1. Why is the decrease in cyclones’ speed a bad thing?

A．It leads the cyclones to move faster on the ground.

B．It causes the cyclones to have higher wind speed outside.

C．It makes hard rains and strong wind last longer in one place.

D．It results in more typhoons taking place in some communities.

2. What does the underlined word “manifest” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Obvious.

B．Satisfying.

C．Confusing.

D．Impossible.

3. What does Paragraph 4 suggest?

A．Climate change in the polar regions is under control.

B．Scientists find it hard to understand the slower cyclones.

C．Scientists should do further experiments in polar regions.

D．Climate change may be the cause of the slowdown of the cyclones.

4. Why does Kossin want scientists to build models in the last paragraph?

A．To find out the normal paths of serious cyclones.

B．To prove the speed of the cyclones can be controlled.

C．To reduce the damage from cyclones to possible areas.

D．To call on scientists to focus on the danger of climate change.

4 . Manatees — often called sea cows — are an anomaly in the animal kingdom. Neither predator nor prey, these peaceable creatures, which can grow to 13 feet and weigh more than 2,000 pounds, are evolutionarily devoid of aggression. Crystal River — “Manatee Capital of the World” — is the epicenter of their presence and recovery.

Yet despite some gains, manatees still face grave threats. Three-quarters of Florida’s 22 million people live along the coast, many in prime manatee habitat, where the strain of human-presence has degraded the state’s enchanted springs, waterways, and wetlands. In Indian River Lagoon, for example, an important manatee habitat along Florida’s densely populated east coast, decades of human waste, sediment from real estate development, and fertilizers from lawns and farms have clouded the water. That has killed seagrass, manatees’ main food source there. More than a thousand manatees have died in the lagoon during the past two years.

What people don’t understand is the need to help support them in waterways. That means restoring seagrass beds and freshwater aquatic vegetation, the basis of their existence and of the overall health of Florida’s waters. Steps to reverse the damage started small. Neighbors gathered with rakes, scooping up algae by hand. Ironically, it was Save Crystal River — the group environmentalists had opposed during their fight over the manatee’s endangered status — that spearheaded the restoration of aquatic vegetation. With funding from the state government, Save Crystal River hired Sea& Shoreline, an aquatic restoration firm, to remove the waste and replant the river bottom with eelgrass, which grows long, ribbon like leaves.

While the prospect of replanting the entire river was daunting, after vacuuming more than 300 million pounds of detritus and planting some 350,000 individual eelgrass pods by hand, the groups have flipped the river back to an ecosystem no longer dominated by algae.

Instead of spending the few short winter months in Crystal River before heading back out into the Gulf of Mexico to graze, some manatees now linger here year-round, enjoying fat times. Aerial surveys from January 2022 revealed the highest number of manatees ever recorded in these waters — more than a thousand in Kings Bay alone.

1. What is a feature of manatees?

A．They are gentle animals.	B．They feed on small creatures.
C．They are slightly aggressive.	D．They look cute for their shape.

2. What is the main reason for manatees’ decline?

A．Climate change.	B．Habitat loss.
C．Low food supply.	D．Human activities.

3. How did Save Crystal River help improve manatees’ endangered situation?

A．By removing wastes from the river.

B．By raising funds from the government.

C．By replanting algae in the river bottom.

D．By refining manatees’ living surroundings.

4. What can we learn about manatees from the last paragraph?

A．They enjoy the cold winter of Mexico.

B．They remain in Manatee Capital for long.

C．They head towards the warmer waters during winter.

D．They have the largest population ever recorded globally.

5 . On August 15,a team of researchers and conservationists set off on a two-year voyage from Plymouth, England,on board the Dutch tall ship Oosterschelde. They will sail more than 46,000 miles(74,000 kilometers)and drop anchor in 32 different ports across four continents,before ending their journey in Falmouth,U.K.

The expedition, named Darwin200,comes more than 190 years after Charles Darwin sailed the globe collecting specimens and shaping ideas of his theory of evolution. The team will closely follow Darwin’s original voyage aboard the HMS Beagle, which set off on Dec.27,1831,and returned to England on Oct.2,1836.

Darwin was 22 years old when he joined the expedition with the intention of seeing the world before joining the church. But during the trip, Darwin became fascinated by the wide range of different species he encountered, which eventually led to him creating his theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwin’s account of the journey, published after his return, also helped him establish his reputation as one of Victorian Britain’s academic elite.

The main aim of the new expedition is to train and inspire 200 young environmentalists, between 18 and 25 years old, who will each spend a week on board the Oosterschelde studying threatened species that Darwin encountered on his voyage.

“We wanted to create a similarly transformative experience(for the young naturalists),”Stewart MePherson, mission director of Darwin200,said in a statement. They have” the potential to be the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)and conservation leaders of tomorrow,” he added.

Every week, the team will broadcast interactive “nature hour” sessions live from the ship for people across the world. They will also collect important data on ocean plastics and coral reef health,as well as survey seabirds, whales and dolphins.

1. What can we learn about Darwin200 from the first two paragraphs?

A．It takes along 200 naturalists.	B．It takes a shortcut for the journey.
C．It is to mark Darwin’s Beagle voyage.	D．It lasts longer than Darwin’s voyage.

2. How did Darwin’s voyage affect him?

A．It established his writing style.	B．He gained a sense of adventure.
C．He earned great fame and fortune	D．It changed the direction of his life.

3. What is Stewart McPherson’s wish for the young naturalists?

A．To be more creative.	B．To keep an open mind.
C．To develop scientific skills.	D．To challenge Darwin’s theory.

4. What does the team’s research work focus on?

A．Ocean conservation.	B．The exploration of ocean.
C．The art of navigation.	D．Scientific education.

6 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式.并将答案填写在答题卡上

In downtown Xiamen, Fujian Province, a 6-meter-high mound(土堆) that stretches for 60 to 70 meters stands in contrast to the high-rise     1    (construction) all around. It is a vital place for the blue-tailed bee-eaters. Now they are under second-level state     2     (protect).

The blue-tailed bee-eater, or Merops philippinus, is known for its colorful plumage and on the Chinese mainland it     3     (find) in coastal provinces, such as Fujian and Hainan.

    4    (establish) in 2011 as Xiamen’s inaugural city-level nature reserve in an urban area, the Wuyuanwan Nature Reserve provides     5     crucial habitat for the species.

In recent years, with improved environmental conditions in Xiamen and the city government’s commitment    6     nature conservation, the blue-tailed bee-eaters have become regular visitors.

In 2015, the center     7     (observe) some 70 to 80 birds in the area while in 2023, over 200 of the birds were watched at the nesting site.

The birds,     8     are sensitive to smell, build a new nest every year. Therefore, the mound must be cleared and refilled after the blue-tailed bee-eaters fly south.

    9     (safeguard) their habitat better, the city government issued a notice in 2017, setting up a protective zone around the nesting site, where noise and pollution-producing industries are prohibited     10     (strict).

The 13-year experience of preserving blue-tailed bee-eaters has given the center a grasp of their habits and made the Wuyuanwan Nature Reserve a stable home for them.

7 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What can we say about the weather on Sunday?

A．It was fine.

B．It was hot.

C．It was changeable.

2. What do the locals think of small balls of ice in midsummer?

A．It’s beyond their expectations.

B．It’s a common phenomenon.

C．It’s caused by climate change.

8 . How to limit your environmental impact while travelling

Travelling unlocks a world of endless possibilities and adventures, allowing us to hike through breathtaking landscapes, encounter kangaroos and deer in their natural habitat, and witness the power of volcanoes.     1     Increased plastic waste and noise pollution can damage ecosystems. Thankfully, there are ways to limit our impact on the environment.

Try to travel by land instead of air. While air travel can often be quicker, it is typically one of the most polluting forms of transport.     2     For example, if you’re heading to Las Vegas from Los Angeles, driving for around four hours emits (排放) around 75% less CO₂ compared to the one-hour flight (provided you have several friends with you).

    3     A typical hotel uses about 73,000 gallons of water per year. As laundering towels (洗熨毛巾) is an energy-and-water-consuming process, many hotels often put up signs asking you to re-use your towels. By doing so, you’ll reduce your environmental impact.

Make the most of safe tap water (自来水). Drinking tap water may come as a shock to many travelers. But when you’re in countries where tap water is safe to consume, avoid bottled options. Not only are they more expensive, but they have a higher level of pollution compared to treated tap water.     4    

Respect the local environment. When visiting different destinations, we should recognize the importance of protecting the natural beauty. We mustn’t throw rubbish everywhere.     5     Additionally, supporting local conservation (保护) efforts, such as participating in community-led clean-up projects, can make a positive impact on the local environment.

A．Be a responsible hotel guest.

B．Explore with green tour companies.

C．Instead, carry a bottle and refill it wherever you can

D．And we should avoid activities that may harm wildlife.

E．However, tourism can also be harmful to the environment.

F．Low-cost airlines have made it much more affordable to travel.

G．Taking the train or driving in some countries may be better options.

9 . Historical accounts often described the now-extinct California grizzly bears as huge beasts ready to attack humans and livestock at any time. But according to a new paper, scientists say the truth might have been less dramatic: The bears ate a mostly vegetarian diet and were smaller than previously described. California grizzly bears once roamed in the Golden State. But European settlers often hunted, poisoned and trapped the creatures. Over time, because of these human activities, the California grizzly population declined. The last reliable sighting of a California grizzly bear occurred 100 years ago in 1924, and the animals disappeared completely sometime after that.

Researchers wanted to get a better understanding of the factors that accelerated the bears’ extinction. They also hoped to gain more insight into the creatures’ behavior, size and diet. To do so, they turned to documents and California grizzly specimens in natural history collections. They measured the animals’ skulls and teeth and analyzed their bones and pelts. The researchers found that California grizzly bears were much smaller than the 2,000 pounds often reported at the time. Historical accounts might not necessarily have been wrong, but they might have only included the largest bears. In addition, analyses of the animals’ bones and skins suggest the bears were primarily eating plants, which stands in contrast to their fear some hyper carnivorous (超级食肉的) reputation. “The bears likely increased meat consumption due to landscape changes coupled with the arrival of livestock,” says study co-author Alexis Mychajliw. However, researchers found the animals still ate a majority vegetarian diet and killed far less livestock than historical accounts suggested.

By digging beyond the bears’ reputation, the researchers gained a more accurate understanding of the California grizzly’s biology and natural history. And since scientists and land managers often rely on historical accounts when reintroducing animals to their former habitats, the study serves as a reminder that those old newspapers and journals do not tell the whole story.

1. What does the underlined word “roamed” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Disappeared.

B．Declined.

C．Fought.

D．Wandered.

2. What did the researchers discover about California grizzly bears?

A．They mainly fed on livestock.

B．Their diet consisted mostly of plants.

C．They ate a balanced diet of plants and meat.

D．The absence of livestock changed their dietary habit.

3. What can we learn about historical accounts of animals from the last paragraph?

A．They are unique.	B．They are one-sided.
C．They are accurate.	D．They are comprehensive.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．The natural habitats of California grizzly bears.

B．The extinction process of California grizzly bears.

C．The reveal of the truth of California grizzly bears.

D．The significance of the arrival of California grizzly bears.

10 . Until recently, gravitational waves could have been the stuff of Einstein’s imagination. Before they were detected, these waves in space time existed only in the physicist’s general theory of relativity, as far as scientists knew. Now, researchers are on the hunt for more ways to detect the waves. “The study of gravitational waves is booming,” says astrophysicist Karan Jani of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. “This is just remarkable. No field I can think of in fundamental physics has seen progress this fast.”

Just as light comes in a variety of wavelengths, so do gravitational waves. Different wave lengths point to different types of origins of the universe and require different kinds of detectors. Gravitational waves with wavelengths of a few thousand kilometers—like those detected by the United States, Italy and Japan—come mostly from pairs of black holes 10 or so times the mass of the sun, or from collisions of dense cosmic blocks called neutron stars (中子星). These detectors could also spot waves from certain types of exploding stars and rapidly moving neutron stars.

In contrast, huge waves that span light-years are thought to be created by orbiting pairs of bigger black holes with masses billions of times that of the sun. In June, scientists reported the first strong evidence of these types of waves by turning the entire galaxy (星系) into a detector, watching how the waves make slight changes to the timing of regular blinks from neutron stars throughout the Milky Way.

Physicists now hope to dive into a vast, cosmic ocean of gravitational waves of all sorts of sizes. These waves could reveal new details about the secret lives of exotic objects such as black holes and unknown parts of the universe.

Physicist Jason Hogan of Stanford University thinks there are still a lot of gaps in the coverage of wavelengths. “But it makes sense to cover all the bases. Who knows what else we may find?” he says. The search for capturing the full complement of the universe’s gravitational waves exactly could take observatories out into the moon, to the atomic area and elsewhere.

1. What does Karan Jani think of the current study on gravitational waves?

A．It is rapid and pioneering.

B．It is slow but steadily increasing.

C．It is interrupted due to limited detectors.

D．It is progressing as fast as any other field.

2. What do the detected gravitational waves mostly indicate?

A．The creation of different kinds of detectors.

B．Collisions of planets outside the solar system.

C．The presence of light in different wavelengths.

D．Activities involving black holes and neutron stars.

3. How did scientists manage to find huge waves’ evidence?

A．By analyzing sunlight.

B．By locating the new galaxy.

C．By using the whole galaxy as a tool.

D．By observing the sun’s regular movement.

4. What can be inferred about the future study according to the last paragraph?

A．It’ll exclude the atomic field.

B．It’ll focus exactly on the mapping of the galaxy.

C．It’ll require prioritizing certain wavelengths on the moon.

D．It’ll explore potential places to detect gravitational waves.