1 . People have always believed that nature is good for health and happiness. According to scientific studies, being in nature makes people less stressed. In a recent experiment in Japan, one group of people were asked to walk through a forest while another group had to walk through a busy city.
Gregory Bratman from Stanford University in the United States found in experiments that a walk in nature could have important cognitive (认知) benefits, improving a person’s memory and creativity.
Why does being in nature bring so many benefits for us?
Scientists also think that being in nature helps our brain recover from a lot of activities that we usually do during the day such as working on math problems or using our cell phone.
| A．The walks were equally long and hard |
| B．Regular workouts are surprisingly helpful |
| C．One idea is that human beings come from nature |
| D．Nature’s benefits have been scientifically confirmed |
| E．In these activities, we use a lot of directed attention |
| F．Being in nature increases people’s mental health as well |
| G．We can see this in schools where outdoor learning has been introduced |
Terry Townshend is an ecologist from the UK. In late October, he climbed to the roof of a building to check out a hand-sized recording device
As a birdwatcher
Though observing the migratory birds in Beijing
“China
3 . 4 Best Places to Travel in 2023
2023 is the year when travel returns in a big way. To get you started, we’ve rounded up some of the best places to travel in 2023. All you need to do is pick the place that appeals to you.
Copenhagen
With its fantastic houses, clean streets and colorful architecture, Copenhagen is regarded as the most livable city on the earth. Named the World Capital of Architecture for 2023, Copenhagen will offer a series of major artistic events and programs sure to delight architects and design lovers.
Bhutan
For travelers with a sense of adventure and a love of discovery, Bhutan has always been a must-go destination. In 2023, travelers can once again explore the Trans Bhutan Trail, which runs 250 miles from east to west, offering visits to the century-old communities along the journey. The trail spans (横跨)18 major bridges and national parks and connects more than 400 historic and cultural sites.
Bordeaux
The coming years will be sporty in the historical wine region of Bordeaux in France. In 2023, the city will host the Rugby World Cup, an intense and stressful game. Beyond sports, Bordeaux is one of the favorite historical cities, with more than 350 structures that are either nationally or regionally listed as historical monuments.
Namibia
Wildlife and adventure lovers looking for a unique path in African Safari trips should head straight to Namibia in 2023 — this country in southern Africa is the perfect place to travel to reconnect with nature and escape the modern stresses of life. On the wildlife front, you may see lions along with giraffes and elephants.
1. What is Copenhagen well-known for?| A．The natural landscape. | B．The adventure travel. |
| C．Eye-catching architecture. | D．Famous art designers. |
| A．Modern communities. | B．Cultural relics. |
| C．Historical wine regions. | D．National monuments. |
| A．Copenhagen. | B．Bhutan. | C．Bordeaux. | D．Namibia. |
4 . Birders get nervous when they see landscapes covered in wind turbines (涡轮机). When the wind gets going, their blades (叶片) can turn around at well over 200km per hour. It is easy to imagine careless birds getting cut into pieces and wind turbines do indeed kill at least some birds. But a new analysis of American data suggests the numbers are negligible, and have little impact on bird populations.
Erik Katovich, an economist at the University of Geneva, made use of the Christmas BirdCount, a citizen-science project run by the National Audubon Society. Volunteers count birds they spot over Christmas, and the society gathers the numbers. He assumed, reasonably, that if wind turbines harmed bird populations, the numbers seen in the Christmas Bird Count would drop in places where new turbines had been built. Combining bird population and species maps with the locations and construction dates of all wind turbines, he found building turbines had no noticeable effect on bird populations.
Instead of limiting his analysis to wind power alone, he also examined oil-and-gas extraction (开采), which has boomed in America over the past couple of decades. Comparing bird populations to the locations of new gas wells revealed an average 15% drop in bird numbers when new wells were drilled, probably due to a combination of noise, air pollution and the disturbance of rivers and ponds that many birds rely upon. When drilling happened in migration centers, feeding grounds or breeding locations, bird numbers instead dropped by 25%.
Wind power, in other words, not only produces far less planet-heating carbon dioxide and methane than do fossil fuels. It appears to be significantly less damaging to wildlife, too. Yet that is not the impression you would get from reading the news. Dr Katovich found 173 stories in major American news media reporting the supposed negative effects that wind turbines had on birds in 2020, compared with only 46 stories discussing the effects of oil-and-gas wells.
1. What does the underlined word“negligible”in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Insignificant. | B．Inaccurate. | C．Inconsistent. | D．Indefinite. |
| A．Previous studies. | B．Relevant data. |
| C．Reasonable prediction. | D．Experiment results. |
| A．Oil-and-gas extraction has expanded in America. |
| B．Birds are heavily dependent on rivers and ponds. |
| C．Many factors lead to the decline of bird populations. |
| D．Well drilling poses a serious threat to birds' survival. |
| A．Wind turbines could share the sky with wildlife. |
| B．More evidence is needed to confirm the finding. |
| C．Wind power will be substituted for fossil fuels. |
| D．Wind turbines deserve wider media coverage. |
“Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…”
Danny sang while his fingers pressed and pulled skillfully at the guitar strings, delivering a slow and peaceful tune. A circle of audience had formed, nodding and moving slowly to the song.
Lying at the feet of the street performer was his most adoring fan: One-Eyed, a white stray (流浪) dog with pieces of brown. Danny felt the name was suitable considering its physical disability. Usually, One-Eyed would bark loudly as Danny performed. Much to his annoyance, people often mistook the pair as owner and pet. At this time, Danny would reply, “My dog? No!”, eyes rolling at the idea. How he wished the dog would leave him alone instead!
On a snowy night, while Danny was performing, a bird flew downward, landing into the midst of the crowd. It cooed happily as if to harmonize with Danny. Unfortunately, that did not sit well with One-Eyed, which immediately bounced at it and the bird flew away desperately.
The unexpected chaos upturned Danny's hat, which could have been filled with notes and coins from his appreciative audience, leaving it ignored on the ground. "Argh! The hateful dog!” Danny broke down, thinking to himself, “Either the dog goes or I go!”
On the next night, Danny tried to find a new place and chanced upon the park. For a while his earnings were good unsurprisingly as there was a steady flow of visitors. However, that didn't last long. One-Eyed came along and appointed itself as Danny's guardian. "Argh! Here comes the hateful dog again!" That night, Danny hadn't made enough money he should have, all thanks to the troublesome dog.
Danny was almost mad with One-Eyed. “What should I do? Call an animal shelter?” Torn by this problem, he walked aimlessly by the lake of the park. With all his mind focused on how to get rid of the dog, Danny didn't watch his steps. Suddenly, he slipped and fell into the lake accidentally. Struggling in the icy water, he cried for help desperately, almost choking to death. Sensing the approach of death, Danny got into overwhelming panic.
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。
Just then, a familiar barking was heard in the distance.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“My hero! Thank you for saving me,” Danny said gratefully with watery eyes.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . Can you imagine someone hunting you down with a gun? Most of us would be terrified. So, it’s no surprise that that’s how animals respond, too.
Orcas, a species that have been systematically hunted- even with machine guns-dramatically decreased in number in the twentieth century. These so-called “killer whales” hunted the same fish that fishermen prized and were therefore seen as competition. Consequently, killer whales began avoiding certain locations and routes. But while North America largely banned their killing in the 1970s, they continue to be hunted in Greenland to this day.
Elephants also have to deal with human hunters. Ivory poachers(象牙偷猎者)have greatly reduced the African elephant population, which used to cover the entire continent. The ivory trade was banned in 1990, but animal habitats and food supplies have still declined. In Kenya, the human population has increased four times over the last 40 years while the elephant population declined by four-fifths.
This has caused the elephants to adopt unique responses to people. For instance, elephants are terrified of the spear-waving Maasai, an ethnic group of Kenya and Tanzania who have often hurt elephants when trying to protect their own cattle.
So once in an experiment by a group of zoologists, when elephants living close to the Maasai were presented with three different T-shirts, one belonging to a Maasai, another to a different local and one to a researcher, they only reacted with fear to the Maasai shirt, literally smelling the danger.
However, neither elephants nor killer whales commonly show anger and hate for people. In fact, elephants are generally friendly to humans. And the only instances of killer whales harming a person occurred when the whales were kept in a water cage. Orcas have even been reported to aid humans in need, protecting them from other animals.
1. Why are killer whales often hunted?| A．They are hugely profitable. |
| B．They harm people’s interests. |
| C．They threaten fishermen’s safety. |
| D．They compete with other wildlife for food. |
| A．Less illegal ivory trade. |
| B．The decline of food supplies. |
| C．Elephants’ traveling to other continents. |
| D．The population change of humans and elephants. |
| A．To prove humans’ influence on animals. |
| B．To show the defensive nature of the Maasai. |
| C．To illustrate the cleverness of the wild animals. |
| D．To highlight the urgency of animal conservation. |
| A．Fierce Animals Can Feel Frightened Too |
| B．Animal Kingdoms Are Sounding an Alarm |
| C．Animals Are Trying to Fit in Human World |
| D．Human Actions Have Shaped Animal Consciousness |
Bird Song
“Let it go!” Caroline yelled. Two boys were bending over a bird, as a third one held the poor creature roughly by its wings. “You’ll hurt it.” Caroline looked fearful for the bird.
“That’s the point.” The boys laughed. The tallest stood up and glared at Caroline. “Here, catch this!” He said as he sailed the now broken-winged bird at Caroline. The poor creature cried in pain, as its wings had been badly damaged. The boys ran off, laughing at their handy work.
Caroline bent down to carefully pick up the bird. The poor feathered soul was wriggling (扭动) about, with a fearful look in its eyes. “Don’t worry,” Caroline whispered softly. She took a handkerchief from her pocket and gently placed the bird on it.
Caroline walked as quickly as she could back to her house, careful not to shake the bird around too much. She found a shoe box, filled it with soft cotton balls and then laid the bird down in its new resting place.
“Let me get you some water and food. That’s the least I can do.” She took a tiny saucer from the kitchen, filled it with water, and placed it in a corner of the box. She managed to find some sunflower seeds, as that was the only bird-friendly food she could think of. Caroline was worried. She didn’t want the bird to die. The poor bird was now fast asleep, no doubt tired out from its earlier suffering. “Please don’t die.” Caroline whispered tearfully.
If there was anyone whom she could turn to, it would be Mr. Roberts. Mr. Roberts was working at the nature museum. He had bird feeders throughout his yard, and sometimes would drop in her science class at school. Caroline never knew there was so much information about birds, until hearing him speak. She figured he would know what to do.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150词左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Caroline called Mr. Roberts and hurriedly told him her tale.
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In the morning, the Blackwell Bird Rescue Society called, informing a car would come to pick up the bird at 10 am.
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8 . When we think of Antarctica, the first thing that comes to our mind is a picture of penguins and large areas covered with snow. Large amounts of white snow spreading over thousands of kilometers is a pretty good description of Antarctica.
Research and observations conducted over the past few years have led to the conclusion that the Antarctic Peninsula's snow is turning green.
Scientists fear that such profound growth of algae can set off more global warming, causing even more snow to melt. To better understand that, we must consider that white snow reflects most of the sunlight that falls on it. However, as the surface of the snow darkens, it absorbs more and reflects less of the sunlight.
| A．This is due to algal growth. |
| B．But, that legendary snow is not completely white anymore. |
| C．Sometimes, they can be present below the surface of the snow. |
| D．The algae grow so quickly that they occupy great areas of the snow. |
| E．The Antarctic is the area of the continent with the most vegetation. |
| F．More sunlight implies more heat trapped on the surface of the Earth. |
| G．Scientists are estimating the area covered by these green snow algae. |
Alexis Langlois, who manages a large farm, heard her neighbor crazily knocking on her front door on a Monday afternoon.
“There’s an emergency”, Amber Countryman yelled. “The horses are stuck in the water.” Langlois was struck with “absolute panic”. She threw on her winter boots — without socks — and rushed toward the small pond on the 80-acre property. She was surprised by what she saw: four horses were in the water up to their necks in 10 feet of ice water.
She immediately called 911.While waiting for help to arrive, “people just started showing up,” she said. “Neighbors were pouring in. People came with ropes, chainsaws, shovels and pick axes.”
“I grabbed a bunch of supplies,” said Countryman, whose two teenagers and their friend also as sited with the effort.
“It was-8℃that day,” she said, adding that she brought out handwarmers and water for the helpers.
Everyone was determined to get the horses out of the pond — which is about 15feetwide.
Beneath a six-inch layer of ice, the water was “just barely above freezing”, said Chris Yerkes, the South Kalispell Fire Department chief who rushed to the pond with about a dozen volunteer personnel.
When the firefighters arrived, neighbors had already attempted to pave a path through the ice toward the edge of the pond using pick axes, sledgehammers and shovels, and “we continued with that effort.” Yerkes said. Unfortunately, “as we got closer to the edge, we realized there was about three to four inches of mud.”
The thick layer of mud — which the rescuers couldn’t cut through — blocked the horses from climbing out. Firefighters enlisted additional support from Flathead County Animal Control, as well as staff from local equestrian organization Rebecca Farm.
“There had to have been at least 60 people here,” Langlois said. “It was very swift action on everybody’s part.”
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。
Paragraph 1
It took nearly two hours to find a workable solution that could bring all four horses to safety.
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Paragraph 2
To get the horses out, they used a powerful tractor (拖拉机) to get the animals out of the mud and ropes to pull them over the edge.
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In southern China, there is a famous road
This road is sure
For the next few months, this road is not above the surface
