1 . Rumeysa Gurbuz was at home asleep on February 6 in the city of Iskenderun on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast when a magnitude 7. 8 earthquake attacked the region. The quake caused
“If I hadn’t woken up, I would have been in the
After being injured in the quake, Gurbuz was
Kelly Donithan, HSI’s director of animal disaster response who was helping to
| A．potential | B．significant | C．some | D．possible |
| A．struck | B．stopped | C．spread | D．accelerated |
| A．help | B．shout | C．cry | D．escape |
| A．protecting | B．cutting | C．injuring | D．losing |
| A．shelter | B．ruins | C．house | D．square |
| A．love | B．hurt | C．owe | D．cheat |
| A．hope | B．time | C．family | D．home |
| A．sent | B．returned | C．guided | D．released |
| A．memorize | B．honor | C．find | D．miss |
| A．notice | B．post | C．picture | D．letter |
| A．unforgettable | B．shameful | C．satisfying | D．unsuccessful |
| A．catch | B．await | C．expect | D．locate |
| A．pull | B．attract | C．chase | D．frighten |
| A．patience | B．advice | C．passion | D．warning |
| A．happy | B．surprised | C．scared | D．sad |
2 . For many people, it is hard to imagine what it is like to lose their sense of smell. Known as “anosmia”, loss of smell can have a substantial effect on our overall wellbeing and quality of life. But while a sudden respiratory infection (呼吸道感染) might lead to a temporary loss of this important sense, your sense of smell may well have been gradually eroding away for years due to something else- air pollution.
Exposure to PM2. 5 has previously been linked with smell loss, but typically only in occupational or industrial settings. But new research is now starting to reveal the true scale and the potential damage caused by the pollution we breathe in every day. On the underside of our brains lies the olfactory bulb (嗅球). This sensitive bit of tissue is essential for the enormously varied picture of the world we get from our sense of smell. It’s also our first line of defense against viruses and pollutants entering the brain. But, with repeated exposure to PM2. 5, these defenses slowly get worn down.
“Our data show there’s a 1.6 to 1.7-fold increased risk of developing anosmia with sustained particulate pollution (粒状物污染),” says Murugappan Ramanathan, a rhinologist. One Mexican study in 2006, which used strong coffee and orange odors showed that residents of Mexico City which often struggles with air pollution — tended to have a poorer sense of smell on average than people living in rural areas of the country.
So, should we care that air pollution to which we are all exposed -is damaging our sense of smell and causing anosmia? Clearly, the answer is yes. Ramanathan says, “Air quality matters. I think we need tight regulations and control. Many people may not even realize the pollution they are exposed to. But even the everyday, low level air pollution we are exposed to should be taken more seriously.”
1. What do the underlined words “eroding away” mean in paragraph 1?| A．Evolving. | B．Becoming weak. |
| C．Becoming sharp. | D．Appearing. |
| A．Exposure to PM2. 5 has nothing to do with smell loss. |
| B．The pollution we breathe in on a daily basis may cause harm. |
| C．Our nose stops viruses and pollutants from entering the brain. |
| D．Our defenses will disappear quickly with air pollution exposure. |
| A．They have developed anosmia with air pollution. |
| B．Their sense of smell is poorer than rural people’s. |
| C．They often consume strong coffee. |
| D．They tend to have a good sense of smell. |
| A．How we should react to air pollution. |
| B．What we should do to protect the environment. |
| C．What steps we can take to recover from anosmia. |
| D．How we can improve our life quality. |
3 . Have you ever paused to see clouds when you rush to your destination? There’s a group of passionate “treasure finders” dedicated to observing and capturing the beauty in the sky cloud spotters.
Cloud spotters take a more serious approach to make sense of the sky.
Ji Yun, 36, is an expert in cloud spotting. He set up a WeChat group to gather together people with similar hobbies in 2013. As the number of group members continued to grow, Ji and several cloud enthusiasts created dozens of online groups for different regions in China, forming the Sky Enthusiasts Association in 2019.
Power comes in numbers. Three years after the association was formed, cloud enthusiasts from all over China had collected every kind of cloud in the International Cloud Atlas, a reference by the World Meteorological Organization.
Indeed, Jiang Xinwei in Jilin finds cloud spotting relaxing. Even though she is going through her toughest school year in grade 12, Jiang maintains this hobby as a short break from her heavy schoolwork. “Observing the clouds has become a habit for me,” the 17-year-old said. “
“Clouds change in the blink of an eye.
| A．Currently, there are thousands of people across different groups. |
| B．This often leads us to think about the relationship between humans and nature. |
| C．They take photos of the clouds and match them to cloud type names. |
| D．My worries and troubles seem to fade away as I look up. |
| E．But that is not to say all clouds spotters need to go to such great lengths. |
| F．Cloud spotting can also make some people feel blue. |
| G．When they roll over the sky, I feel the passage of time has a concrete shape. |
4 . A lot of people find it difficult to do exercise regularly, even though they know it’s good for their physical and mental (身心上的) health. Yet keeping on a workout routine doesn’t necessarily go to the gym or run around your neighborhood. Gardening is a great example of a popular hobby that can be used as a workout.
Nashville resident Tom Adkinson, 72, is on board with the idea of gardening to stay fit. He has three gardens, which he uses primarily to grow tomatoes, sweet banana peppers and okra. Like traditional exercise, Adkinson does a lot of preparation before gardening, and then he spends hours watering and weeding (除草) all three gardens, involving bending and stretching, which he compares to performing garden yoga.
“It is wise of Adkinson to do so. Even though gardening may not appear difficult, using the body in new ways can make you hurt if you don’t warm up beforehand,” said Zeller, who teaches at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County in New Jersey.
Working in your garden just two hours a week could improve your mood. And the communal gardening, which is done by a number of people as a group in communities and schools, provides social benefits that can reduce stress and help fight against loneliness and even dementia according to studies.
“With all these benefits, gardening for fitness will be a trend (趋势) in the coming year,” announced Mandal, CEO of the fitness coaching app Future, “Our users at Future have already been asking their coaches to add gardening and landscaping activities into their routines because it’s easy to get and fit into their lifestyle.”
1. What do the underlined words “on board with” mean in paragraph 2?| A．In support of. | B．At the risk of. |
| C．Under the control of. | D．In opposition to. |
| A．Having a good rest. |
| B．Getting enough water ready. |
| C．Doing warm-up exercise. |
| D．Preparing tools for weeding. |
| A．Tips for gardening. |
| B．The benefits of gardening. |
| C．The process of garden management. |
| D．The difference between personal and group gardening. |
| A．Running. | B．Yoga. | C．Gardening. | D．Walking. |
5 . Finding a California condor in the wild would be the most unusual treat. perhaps even more unusual than finding a wolf in Yellowstone National Park. In fact, the wolf was what opened my eyes to the fact that humans could bring an animal back to the place where it had disappeared.
In 1987, there were only 27 California condors left, none of which were in the wild, only in captive breeding programs, It was those breeding programs that contributed to their population rise, enough that by 1991 some of them could be freed into the wild.
Still, the hope of seeing a California condor, which remains an endangered species, is very low, let alone getting a photo of one. California condor population dropped mostly due to human factors, such as poaching and living areas destruction-these are challenges California condors still face today.
Although this is just a bird’s-eye view of the challenges California condors face and there are many others, it is part of why the opportunity to work with the US Fish and Wildlife Service team and their partners helping their recovery is so special to me as a photographer. I am not only able to photograph the birds in their wild living areas, but also understand and record how difficult the work is of those people on the front lines of the protection.
I am grateful for the work of the team, and my hope is that California condor population will continue to rise allowing future generations an opportunity I never had when I first got here-to look to the sky and see one flying around.
1. What helped the increase of the California condor population in 1987?| A．Rules for hunters. | B．Captive breeding programs. |
| C．The improved natural environment. | D．The enlargement of wild living areas. |
| A．It is difficult. | B．It is easy. | C．It is boring. | D．It is dangerous. |
| A．He guided ways for them. | B．He made records by photos. |
| C．He helped the birds to recover. | D．He rebuilt the birds’ living areas. |
| A．New Way, New Hope | B．Wolves and California Condors |
| C．A Photo of a California Condor | D．The California Condor’s Coming Back |
6 . Mobile Bay in Alabama is home to a strange and unique occurrence. During the summer months, hundreds of fish and crustaceans (甲壳纲动物) from the deep waters of the bay move to the shallow waters. The free seafood is so plentiful and easy to catch with nets or bare hands that locals gather to fill their buckets with it. This natural phenomenon has existed for centuries.
Sarah Van Winkle, a student at the Alabama School of Math & Science, is no stranger to the scene. Growing up there, the rich plants and animals never stop to amaze her.
As the world’s oceans face numerous issues such as pollution, overfishing, and habitat destruction, she intended to figure out whether Mobile Bay was experiencing similar environmental threats in her most recent science project. Sarah studied the environment of Mobile Bay and she even extended the range of the research to the Mobile Tensaw-Delta, and the canals of a living district in Fairhope, Alabama. She analyzed key nutrient and metal levels in the ocean ecosystem.
Through the project, Sarah found that turbidity, an important indicator of water quality, increased sharply. This result showed, clearly that the area is filled with tiny pieces of matter, making the water there quite opaque.
For the project. Sarah was chosen as one of this year’s 24 Society for Science & the Public Community Innovation Award winners. “To me, this honor symbolizes that the ten months of late night readings, weekend field trips, and after-school sessions in the laboratory have truly come to fruition and impacted lives,” Sarah noted.
“Our local ocean ecosystem is in danger of chemical pollution from a variety of sources,” Sarah explained in an interview. “The bay plays a vital role in our community and every local should value what the bay offers. It’s our responsibility to work together to preserve it.”
1. What’s the unusual scene in Mobile Bay in summer months?| A．The water’s becoming shallow and clear. | B．The decline of the natural environment. |
| C．The flood of seafood into shallow waters. | D．The locals’ growing interest in fishing with buckets. |
| A．Fresh. | B．Cloudy. | C．Clear. | D．Shallow. |
| A．Hard work pays off. | B．Time waits for no man. |
| C．Practice makes perfect. | D．Failure is the mother of success. |
| A．The focus of her future work. | B．Her concern for the local people. |
| C．The complexity of the local ocean system. | D．Her expectation of protecting the bay. |
7 . 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. |
8 . The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre has recently “rediscovered” an ancient shark skeleton that has been sitting in the museum’s collection for nearly 50 years. Could this shark be a part of a newly discovered ancient shark species?
This fossil’s original discovery was in 1975 on a farm just west of Morden, Manitoba. The skeleton was brought into the museum and was forgotten within the ever-growing fossil collection. The skeleton was hidden in the collections room for over 40 years and the center just recently found the fossil in its storage around eight years ago.
Adolfo Cuertara, the director of the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre, explained that “It’s a very special shark for many reasons. It’s highly possible that we are talking about a new species.” Although the shark has not been given a scientific name yet, the museum has unofficially named the skeleton, “Dave”, in honor of the farmer on whose land the skeleton was found.
After the fossil rediscovery, Dave was exhibited at the fossil center museum. Dave is around 15 feet long and is one of the largest well-preserved shark skeletons in the entire world. Within the paleontology (古生物学) world, complete shark fossils are extremely rare due to their soft cartilage (软骨结构) which disintegrates as they age. Dave’s shark species are filter feeders with no teeth, who receive their nutrition by absorbing it out of the water. Cuertara emphasizes Dave’s uniqueness by explaining, “The shape of the jaws and the skull and the kind of structures that it has, because the preservation is really amazing, is telling us that it is probably going to be a new species. The problem is now we need scientific papers and scientific research and this paper is underway.”
The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre is hopeful that more scientific research will provide more information on Dave’s ancient shark species. For now, Dave is currently on display at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre and the museum has the exhibit up to date with their current information.
1. Where probably could you find this article?| A．Science textbook of college. |
| B．Advertising brochure of museum. |
| C．Discovery column of magazine. |
| D．Bulletin board of animal world. |
| A．Die away. | B．Break down. | C．Build up. | D．Lie down. |
| A．The structure of skull and jaw. |
| B．The preservation of jaw and the skull. |
| C．The uniqueness of no teeth structure. |
| D．The rare soft cartilage. |
| A．Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre displays Dave ancient shark species. |
| B．Dave’s shark species is a new species of ancient shark. |
| C．Canadian Museum rediscovers a new ancient shark species. |
| D．Dave’s shark skeleton is in honor of the farmer who rediscovered it. |
9 . Recycling is a way to take rubbish and turn it into new products. It’s helpful to our environment. There are a number of different recycling steps that allow materials to be used more than once.
All kinds of materials can be recycled. Some of the most common things in use today include recycling plastic, glass, metals and paper. Things made of these materials include soda cans, plastic milk boxes, newspapers, computers and cardboard boxes.
There are a number of advantages for recycling. These include: Landfills—Recycling materials means less rubbish and saves space in landfills. Resources—When we use materials again, this means we can take fewer resources from the earth. Pollution—in general, recycling materials can produce less pollution, helping to keep our environment clean.
Be sure to recycle everything you can in your house and school. There is almost a “recycle” rubbish can around. Be sure to drop your used aluminum (铝) cans and plastic bottles there. At home, be sure to put paper things like the newspapers, paper boxes, and homework pages into the recycling box.
Plastics are usually marked with an identification code that shows a recycling symbol and a number from 1 to 7. This shows that the type of chemicals or materials is used in making the plastic. Used paper can be recycled around seven times.
It is high time we set up a recycling station in every street, across the city and the country, so the cleaners can transport the rubbish smoothly. This is the only way out for handling rubbish without causing danger to the environment and our health. For ourselves, our children and our children’s children, let’s take action NOW!
1. From the first paragraph, we know that ________.| A．we can make more money from recycling | B．recycling is helpful to our environment |
| C．recycling is common and popular | D．there is too much rubbish around us |
| A．less rubbish | B．more space | C．less pollution | D．much waste |
| A．Paper. | B．Plastics. | C．Glass. | D．Metal |
| A．处理 | B．生产 | C．收购 | D．变卖 |
| A．We should recycle everything in our daily life. | B．Many resources can be saved by recycling. |
| C．We should take action to recycle rubbish. | D．Recycling stations should be set up in the street. |
10 . Going for a picnic is a good experience to be in nature, but it’s terrible to have a picnic that will do harm to the environment. Here are some ways to keep your picnic green.
Use reusable plates and cups. You don’t need to wash disposable (—次性的) plates and cups because they pollute the environment. It’s greener and cheaper to bring metal plates and cups from home. After the picnic, you can take them home and wash them.
Try to buy food from local farmers’ markets. In general, if you bring less food for your picnic, you’ll create less pollution.
Try to have an all-vegetarian picnic. Modern production of meat uses lots of energy and creates lots of pollution.
Instead of driving, ride a bike or walk to the park. If the park you want to visit is too far from your home, you can take public transportation like buses or subways.
After your picnic, remember to pick up all your trash. Try to keep the picnic area clean. If possible, try not to create any trash at all and reuse whatever you can.
1. It’s ________ to have a picnic that will do harm to the environment.| A．good | B．useful | C．bad | D．possible |
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
| A．Because they are very hard. |
| B．Because we can bring them home to reuse them after washing them. |
| C．Because they are cheap. |
| D．Because they look nice. |
| A．buy the food from the big shop in the city |
| B．buy the food from local farmers’ markets |
| C．buy the food from the supermarket near your house |
| D．buy the food from the restaurants in the city |
| A．pick up all your trash |
| B．try to keep the picnic area clean, if possible |
| C．try not to create any trash at all |
| D．Above all. |
