1 . Residents of several villages in Russia’s Magadan region have recently reported black snow caused by the black powder produced by an outdated, coal-powered water-heating plant. In Omsukchan and neighboring Seimchan, two villages in the Siberian far east, snow doesn’t always look the way you’d expect. In fact, sometimes it’s quite the opposite. Instead of white snow covering everything as far as the eyes can see, locals are treated to a bad view of black snow that the kids sometimes play in. Photos and videos of this disturbing scenery have been doing the rounds online every winter for years, but locals say that despite the temporary anger they express online, nothing ever changes.
Black often represents tough luck but the black snow isn’t the result of some sinister, unexplained phenomenon. Omsukchan is home to a coal-burning hot water plant that provides heating to several settlements in the area, and as temperatures drop in the winter months, more coal has to be burned in order to keep water temperatures up. This results in increasing black smoke in the atmosphere. The smoke coming out of the plant’s chimneys eventually falls to the ground, covering everything, including white snow. So the black snow that people see is simply the effect of coal pollution.
Oksana Gerasimova, the head of the Srednekansky district, tells Magadan Pravda newspaper that the plant is indeed to blame, but adds that the situation is better than it was a few years ago. It’s true that the ash and smoke collectors at the plant don’t do a perfect job, but the situation is only temporary and the black snow is apparently “not a reason to worry”.
Authorities’ plans to change the filters in the coal-burning plant to stop the pollution are underway, and they want to replace the old plant with an electricity-powered one, but it requires new sources of funding. Most of the people living in Omsukchan and Seimchan have heard that before and they are raising their hopes.
1. What causes the black snow in Russian Magadan Region?| A．Coal smoke. | B．Water pollution. | C．Shooting angle. | D．Video technology. |
| A．Evil. | B．Damp. | C．Sensitive. | D．Recreational. |
| A．It is unrelated to any plants. | B．It will worry people forever. |
| C．It will be solved in the future. | D．It receives less attention than before. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Expectant. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Reserved. |
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3 . It is reported that half the world’s forests have already been destroyed. This widespread destruction is due to deforestation (采伐森林). Deforestation is the removal of a forest or group of trees where the land is later transformed to a non-forest use. Cutting down trees is necessary for man’s survival. However, deforestation has a number of negative effects on the environment and needs to be controlled.
There are two main purposes for cutting down trees and one of them is to use the trees as resources. Essential items like paper, furniture and charcoal are all made from trees. Deforestation is also carried out to clear land for farming and to make room for roads and houses. As the population grows, more of the forest has to be cleared.
Although deforestation is necessary up to a point, it has some negative effects on the environment. Firstly, cutting down forests destroys animal habitats, leaving them with no place to live in. Deforestation also allows erosion to occur, which leaves the land easy to landslides and makes it difficult for plants to grow there. Finally, the removal of trees also worsens air pollution. Trees act as natural air filters that change carbon dioxide into oxygen. When they are removed, carbon dioxide can build up and pollute the atmosphere. Hence, it is obvious that deforestation harms the environment.
Due to the harm deforestation causes, it is necessary to control it. There are a number of ways to do this. One of them is to make better use of farming land. That means we do not need as much land for farming, and hence do not need to cut down so many trees. There must also be laws to limit deforestation and these laws must be enforced strictly. On top of that, reforestation must be carried out systematically. This method involves planting new trees and plants in areas where deforestation has occurred to replace what was destroyed.
To sum up, although deforestation must be carried out, it can harm the environment and must be controlled. Beyond a certain point, this damage to the environment cannot be fixed. Hence, we should do our best to make sure that the damage is never too great to fix.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．How people get farmland. |
| B．What trees mean to human beings. |
| C．Why people carry out deforestation. |
| D．What effect deforestation has on environment. |
| A．Homelessness. | B．Extinction. | C．Disease. | D．Wars. |
| A．By replacing new trees. | B．By banning deforestation. |
| C．By passing laws to limit farmland. | D．By making the best of farmland. |
| A．Carbon dioxide will pollute the atmosphere. |
| B．There will not be any forest left in the world. |
| C．The damage to the environment will be beyond repair. |
| D．People will have no trees as resources for essential items. |
4 . For future humans to survive long periods on Mars, growing food on the planet is a must. It would be too costly and risky to rely upon rocket deliveries to meet the food needs of settlers. With this in mind, scientists are exploring ways to improve space farming.
Researchers work in a controlled greenhouse. They have identified a way that could improve crop production in simulated (模拟的) Martian soil, with different crops grown together. The method is called “intercropping”, invented by ancient Maya farmers in what is now Central America.
In their experiments, the researchers grew cherry tomatoes, peas and carrots together in small, round containers. Tomatoes grown in this way produced about double the amount of tomatoes grown alone — or “monocropped” — in the same simulated Martian soil. The tomatoes were also bigger. They flowered and matured earlier, gave more fruit per plant and had thicker stems. The amounts of peas and carrots did not increase with intercropping.
Rebeca Goncalves, an astrobiologist and lead writer of the study, said the research is the first time the intercropping technique was used in space soil, and that it was a big find — one that they could now build further research on. The crops were grown in simulated Martian regolith, a soil with no organic matter — a near-perfect physical and chemical match to real Martian soil.
The researchers added useful bacteria and nutrients. They also controlled the gases, temperature and humidity inside the greenhouse to match conditions expected in a Martian greenhouse. Intercropping involves growing plants with properties that could help each other grow. The method makes the best use of resources including water and nutrients.
The researchers said the tomato plants in intercropping may have benefited from being close to the pea plants. That is because the peas are good at turning nitrogen from the air, with the help of bacteria introduced into the soil, into an important nutrient. Overall, the tomatoes, peas and carrots grew well, though not as well as in Earth soil in the same greenhouse.
1. What is the benefit of intercropping mentioned in the article?| A．Increasing crop yield. | B．Preventing soil pollution. |
| C．Decreasing sunlight exposure. | D．Reducing water consumption. |
| A．Enhancing growth of carrots. |
| B．Increasing fruit production in tomatoes. |
| C．Transforming nitrogen into a crucial nutrient. |
| D．Improving the variety of bacteria introduced into the soil. |
| A．Carrots benefited the most from intercropping. |
| B．The crops grew as well as they would in Earth soil. |
| C．The presence of peas helped tomatoes produce more fruit. |
| D．Peas and carrots showed significant growth improvement in intercropping. |
| A．Intercropping is developed for growing crops in space. |
| B．The study found Intercropping resulted in higher tomato yields. |
| C．Scientists are struggling to find ways to improve crop production in space. |
| D．Researchers successfully grew some plants in imitated Martian soil using intercropping. |
5 . Sharks may be able to smell blood from miles away, but they probably don’t know how red it is. It is likely that they only see the world in black and white according to a study that is the first to investigate sharks’ visual system.
A team at the University of Western Australia studied the visual systems of many different species of sharks and what they have found is diversity in eye design that mirrors the ecological and behavioral diversity of the shark species. The team looked at the retinal cells of 17 species of sharks caught off Queensland and Western Australia and found out that the cells are responsible for sharks’ color blindness.
According to the study, these animals are color-blind due to the light receptors they have got in their eyes. There are two main types of light-sensitive cells to allow animals to see: rod cells help measure brightness because they are highly sensitive to light and allow night vision but cannot tell colors apart, while various types of cone cells help distinguish colors. They peeked at the structure of sharks’ rod and cone cells in the retina. Human eyes come with red, green and blue cone variations, while sharks appear to have just one kind of cone cells.
The study suggests that contrast against the background, rather than color itself, might be more important for object detection by sharks. Costumes that camouflage swimmers’ bodies in sea water are less likely to draw a shark’s attention than ones with bright, solid colors that emphasize their outline. “It’s the high contrast against the water rather than the color itself which is probably attractive to sharks,” said Professor Nathan Hart who led the study.
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The importance of the research. |
| B．The features of sharks’ retinal cells. |
| C．The process and the result of the study. |
| D．The functions of sharks’ visual systems. |
| A．Their fragile rod cells. | B．Their lack of various cone cells. |
| C．Their dark living environment. | D．Their weak sensitivity to light. |
| A．hide | B．fit | C．beautify | D．protect |
| A．To clear up a wrong belief. | B．To raise funds for a program. |
| C．To show a unique phenomenon. | D．To present a scientific discovery. |
6 . Winter, a dolphin with an artificial tail, died on November 12, 2021, whose story inspired a book and two heartwarming movies. The 16-year-old had been suffering from a terrible disease since November 1, 2021. The doctors at Florida’s Clearwater Marine Aquarium (水族馆) tried several life-saving efforts but in vain.
“She’s the strongest little dolphin that I have ever met, and we learned so much from her and have been privileged to have 16 wonderful years with her,” Dr. Shelly Marquardt, a vet (兽医) with the aquarium stated.
Winter’s uplifting story began in December 2005 when her tail got caught in a crab trap line. Florida fisher Jim Savage released the little dolphin and rushed her to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. While the dolphin—fittingly named Winter—survived, her badly-injured tail had to be cut off.
Believing she would be unable to swim, the aquarium’s health experts placed the young dolphin on a special device in the water. However, Winter was not going to let a “minor” inconvenience like a missing tail get in her way. She began using her broken tail to swim from side to side. While seeing the stubborn dolphin moving was encouraging, doctors feared it would hurt her back. Fortunately, two experts at the Hanger Clinic heard about Winter’s sad situation and made her an artificial tail.
Winter gave hope to people worldwide, especially those living with disabilities. Grace Savage was one of them. The grandniece of the fisher who rescued the dolphin in 2005 suffers from infantile paralysis (小儿麻痹症). “She gives us inspiration to never give up,” Savage told FOX 13 during her 2019 aquarium visit.
1. What may have caused the death of Winter?| A．The improper treatment. | B．An incurable disease. |
| C．Her unbearable suffering. | D．Her badly-injured tail. |
| A．Shelly offered immediate rescue to release her. |
| B．Jim Savage cut off Winter’s tail to save her life. |
| C．Winter was not discouraged by physical disability. |
| D．The vets in the aquarium made her an artificial tail. |
| A．To show Winter’s positive effects on humans. |
| B．To recall the comments Grace made on Winter. |
| C．To prove the aquarium is a good place to visit. |
| D．To tell how Grace lived with disabilities bravely. |
| A．Adversity makes a man wise, not rich. |
| B．What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. |
| C．The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory. |
| D．All things in their being are good for something. |
7 . A North Atlantic right whale calf(幼崽) was discovered dead on the beach of an island off North Carolina. The male newborn was found on North Core Banks, part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. The reports indicate that the animal died during birth or shortly after, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA). Scientists took DNA to determine the calf’s mother.
This is the beginning of the right whale’s reproduction(繁殖) season, which begins mid-November and runs through mid-April. NOAA called this death a disastrous start to the season. Each new right whale calf brings so much hope for this badly endangered animals, and losses like this have a great impact on their recovery, NOAA said.
The right whale is one of the rarest marine mammals(哺乳动物) in the world, according to NOAA. They will soon be extinct unless something is done to save it, researchers warn. This kind of whale has been experiencing an Unusual Death Event over the past three years, according to NOAA. Since 2017, at least 32 dead and 13 seriously wounded whales have been documented by the organization. “This means more than 10 percent of the remaining population,” according to NOAA.
NOAA posted a piece of news on Monday, the same day they announced the calf’s death, warning boaters to be watchful as the whales are migrating(迁徙) nearly 1,000 miles along the Atlantic Coast. The organization calls for boaters to be watchful, slow down and to give these endangered whales plenty of room. They also ask all fishermen to remove their unused nets from the ocean to help avoid possible damage.
1. Why did scientists take DNA of the calf?| A．To save its mother. | B．To confirm its identity. |
| C．To determine the time of its death. | D．To uncover the cause of its death. |
| A．About 40. | B．About 50. |
| C．About 400. | D．About 500. |
| A．Their reproduction season usually last about half a year. |
| B．They are the rarest marine mammals in the world. |
| C．They are experiencing a high death rate of newborns. |
| D．Their habitat runs nearly 1,000 miles along the coast. |
| A．To announce the calf’s unusual death. |
| B．To remind boaters to watch the whales. |
| C．To protect the boats against the whales. |
| D．To assist the whales’ seasonal migration. |
8 . Natural gas, long seen as a cleaner replacement to coal and an important tool in the fight to slow global warming, can be just as harmful to the climate, a new study has concluded, unless companies can cut the leaks (泄露), since it takes as little as 0.2 percent of gas to leak to make natural gas as big a driver of climate change as coal.
The study, which involved researchers from Harvard and Duke Universities and NASA, pokes holes in the idea that natural gas is suitable energy resources to a future powered entirely by renewables, like solar and wind. “Even if gas leaks little, it’s as bad as coal,” said Deborah, the lead researcher. “It can’t be considered a good bridge, or replacement.”
When power companies generate electricity by burning natural gas instead of coal, they produce only half the amount of planet-warming CO₂. But natural gas is made up mostly of me thane (甲烷), which is, in the short term, a far more powerful planet-warming gas than CO₂, when it escapes unburned into the atmosphere. And there’s increasing evidence that methane is leaking from gas systems in far larger quantities than previously thought.
There are other balances to consider. The CO₂ produced by coal-burning power plants lasts far longer in the atmosphere than methane, whose climate effects disappear after a few decades. So focusing on methane leaks from gas systems as a way to control carbon emissions (碳排放) means the world might reduce some short-term warming, but still face a dangerous rise in average temperatures many decades into the future. That said, with the consequences of climate change already spreading around the world, controlling methane would be a way that works faster to slow warming.
“I do hope the world pays attention to this, as I fear too many remain too concentrated on simply reducing coal use, even if it results in more gas consumption,” Deborah said. “What the world requires is to move to a 100 percent renewable energy future as soon as possible.”
1. How can natural gas contribute to global warming?| A．Its huge amount of CO₂ while burning. | B．Its taking in extra heat from the atmosphere. |
| C．Its leaking methane warming the planet. | D．Its combination with methane to produce CO₂. |
| A．Avoid the threats of climate change. | B．Cancel out the impacts of global warming. |
| C．Slow down warming more immediately. | D．Balance carbon emissions with coal burning. |
| A．Lack of attention to reducing gas use. | B．Unbalanced mix of coal and renewables. |
| C．Shortage of renewable energy sources. | D．Difficulty in promoting renewable energy. |
| A．Is Natural Gas Better for the Climate? | B．How Can Carbon Emission be Controlled? |
| C．Is Natural Gas Taking the Place of Coal? | D．How Can Methane Speed up Global Warming? |
9 . Jane Goodall was born in England in 1934. As a child, she liked to learn about animals and watch how they behaved, and dreamed of working with wild animals.
At 11, she decided that she wanted to go to Africa to live with and write about animals. But this was not the kind of thing young women growing up in the 1940s usually did. In 1957, Jane Goodall traveled to Africa. She soon met the well-known scientist Louis Leakey and began working for him as an assistant. Doctor Leakey saw that Jane had a lot of energy and loved animals. He asked her if she wanted to study the chimpanzees living by a lake in Tanzania. Certainly she agreed to take the job.
Observing chimps was not easy work. She learned to watch them from far away using binoculars. Over time, she slowly gained their trust. She gave the chimps human names such as David, Flo and Fifi. This unusual method upset many scientists. Most researchers would have identified the animals using numbers instead of names. But Jane defended naming them. She said that the chimpanzees had emotions, minds and different personalities, with complex family and social relationships. She observed they were meat eaters and skilled hunters. Later, she made an even more surprising discovery. She saw chimps making and using tools to help them trap insects. Her reports also upset many old beliefs. When she wrote to Louis Leakey to tell him about her discovery, he responded by saying: “Now we must redefine ‘tool’, redefine ‘man’, or accept chimpanzees as human.”
Jane Goodall spent many years studying chimps and reported chimp behavior that no one else had ever seen before. She has written many books for adults and children about wild chimpanzees. However, the destruction of the chimp’s natural environment led Jane Goodall to give her full attention to protection efforts. She spends about 300 days out of the year traveling around the world to discuss her many projects and goals. And Jane Goodall’s most recent book is called Hope for Animals and Their World.
1. It can be inferred from the text that __________.| A．Jane Goodall’s love for animals began with the journey to Africa |
| B．Jane Goodall’s work in Tanzania went along smoothly |
| C．Jane Goodall is the pioneer in researching chimpanzees |
| D．Jane Goodall has traveled around the world to do research |
| A．Her method was not agreed with by many scientists. |
| B．Her method seemed impossible to many scientists. |
| C．Her method cheered the achievements of many scientists. |
| D．Her method inspired many scientists to make further discoveries. |
| A．Chimps eat meat. |
| B．Chimps have feelings. |
| C．Chimps use tools to get food. |
| D．Chimps have close family relationships. |
| A．Challenging others is a must in gaining fame. |
| B．Bravery is the key to making important discoveries. |
| C．High energy plays an important role in achieving great success. |
| D．Passion and hard work can make a difference in scientific research. |
1. What will the weather be like later today?
| A．Rainy. | B．Cloudy. | C．Windy. |
| A．10℃. | B．18℃. | C．28℃. |
| A．Take an umbrella. | B．Follow the forecast. | C．Put on more clothes. |
