1. Why did Tracy bring dogs to the children?
| A．To teach them to love animals. |
| B．To help them gain confidence. |
| C．To protect them from dangers. |
| A．They may misbehave. |
| B．They may get hurt. |
| C．They may carry diseases. |
| A．Give a talk. | B．Meet the children. | C．Take some photos. |
2 . Texan 81-year-old good friends Ellie Hamby and Sandy Hazelip toured the world in 80 days, proving that adventure doesn’t have an age limit.
Their first stop was a location challenging even many experienced travelers: the Antarctic. Getting to the southernmost continent first required crossing the Drake Passage, the waters between the southern tip of South America and the Antarctic’s South Shetland Islands. “For almost two days, we were rocking and rolling, slipping and sliding through the Drake Passage and we were holding on for dear life, “Hamby said. The voyage, however, faded from their mind as they set foot on the ground of the Antarctic, fascinated by the breathtaking beauty of penguins, icebergs and glaciers.
Since that first venture, the pair have visited 18 countries across all seven continents. And despite the challenges international travel presented, the good friends said they had finished their trip without any argument. Though they’re both independent and stubborn, they respect each other’s feelings. And what they remember the most are the people that they met. “We met some of the most wonderful, kindest, friendliest people. We just have friends now all over the world that we love dearly,” Hamby said.
The two shared a crucial piece of advice for travelers worrying about the language barrier on their own adventures.” You know, people often ask us about it,” said Hamby.” We tell them there’s one universal language, and that’s the smile. We found it worked wonders because we were often aware that English was not always spoken and that the smile could cover all languages.”
They also encouraged other older people not to let age hold them back. Aside from some minor changes in plans, their age didn’t affect their itinerary(旅程)abroad. They said they felt confident that if they were injured during their trip, their children would have been at peace knowing that they were doing what they absolutely wanted. And Hazelip described 81 as the perfect age to embark on a trip.”Getting older does give us a little bit of wisdom of making decisions,” she said.
1. What might the pair think of their trip to the Antaretic?| A．Brief but exciting. | B．Tough but worthwhile. |
| C．Interesting but fruitless. | D．Unpleasant but memorable. |
| A．Meeting nice people along the way. |
| B．Experiencing many challenging activities. |
| C．Learning about different cultures from travelers. |
| D．Avoiding conflicts despite their stubborn nature. |
| A．English. | B．The smile. |
| C．Crucial advice. | D．Universal gestures. |
| A．They fell down when riding a bike in Bali. |
| B．They regretted not exploring the world earlier. |
| C．Their children understood and supported them. |
| D．Their wisdom saved them lots of time during their trip. |
3 . Chaudhary weaves (编织) together lengths of rope and grass collected from the nearby riverbank in her village, skillfully shaping the materials into a gift box while instructing a group of women to follow suit.
The ropes being used were once the lifeline for mountain climbers tackling Nepal’s mountains and were then cast away. Diverse measures to remove such discarded materials have rocketed since 2019, when the government launched Clean Mountain Campaign.Around 140,000 tons of waste were collected on Mt. Everest alone, which were handled accordingly, either securely buried or recycled.
Some waste is now finding fresh life, transformed by skilled hands like Chaudhary’s into items to sell, thanks to an initiative led by Acharya, an owner of a waste processing business and an advocate for sustainable waste management. She has been working with the cleaning campaign, aiming at mountains like Mt. Everest.
“Metal waste goes through the recycling process, but we weren’t capable of recycling these ropes and cooking gas cans,” Acharya says. It didn’t occur to her that the waste which couldn’t be recycled could be reused until she met Rai at an art exhibition and a solution emerged.
Rai, a businessman dealing in craftworks, helped connect Acharya with Chaudhary and her team of craftswomen in hopes of unlocking the economic value of the mountain waste. With flexible hours, the project gives the craftswomen an opportunity to earn money even as they maintain their household responsibilities.
“While this seems insignificant compared to waste in the mountains, it’s a start. We can’t supply sufficient raw material with waste sorting and cleaning processes taking plenty of time and money,” Acharya says, desperate to expand the program to involve more women and treat more waste. But progress has been slow. “We need investment to mechanize the cleaning and processing of waste in the initial phase to provide the crafting team with enough materials to meet their demand,” she adds.
1. What were the ropes mentioned in paragraph 2 initially intended as?| A．Tools for tying up weeds. | B．Villagers’ basic necessities of life. |
| C．Raw materials tor unique artworks. | D．Life-saving devices for mountaineers. |
| A．A journey to the rural area. | B．An encounter with a trader. |
| C．Information from a product launch. | D．Attendance at an academic conference. |
| A．Train more senior technicians. | B．Obtain a better reputation. |
| C．Drop waste washing procedures. | D．Bring in advanced equipment. |
| A．Chaudhary: An Eco-Minded Folk Artist |
| B．Nepali Women Are Turning Garbage into Crafts |
| C．Clean Mountain Campaign Has Already Taken Effect |
| D．A Headache: Mt. Everest Is Heavily Littered with Waste |
4 . To appreciate Dubai, you could start by going skiing. The ski resort, located inside one of the city’s shopping malls, looks from the outside like a silver spaceship. You put on a thick coat, pull on your gloves and then marvel at what strong air-conditioning can do. At the exit, you can buy a souvenir T-shirt. A cartoon thermometer in Celsius announces: “I went from +50 to minus 8!”
Indoor skiing in the desert has become a symbol of Dubai’s status as a wealthy, modem metropolis. This small fishing village, Dubai’s fortunes changed forever with the discovery of oil in the 1960s. Since then. it has evolved to become the largest city. But the rapid growth has come at a price. To power its cars and air-conditioning, the city has produced large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO. ) from fossil fuels. Now it is making some big changes.
To reduce its dependence on cars and lower its emissions, Dubai has invested in solar energy, green buildings, and a comprehensive public transportation system. In addition, all new buildings must meet strict energy regulations.
The most striking development can be found where the city’s suburbs meet the desert. Unlike much of Dubai, the Sustainable City to the south feels more like a close-knit-village community. About five hundred low-rise houses are distributed along attractive, tree-lined streets. They all face north, away from direct sunlight, and are close together to provide natural shade. Each building has reflective windows and wall paint, which reduce the heat absorbed from the sun. Rooftop solar panels and energy-saving lights contribute to the community’s energy efficiency. As a result, residents of the Sustainable City now consume 50 percent less energy than people living in other parts of Dubai.
By 2050, the government intends to obtain 75 percent of the city’s energy from renewable sources-mainly solar. It also wants to have the smallest ecological footprint in the world. The plan is ambitious. But if successful, even guilt-free skiing in the desert could become an reality.
1. Why does the writer start the passage by describing a ski resort?| A．To demonstrate the problems of living near a desert. |
| B．To describe an expensive and unsuccessful building project. |
| C．To give an example of how Dubai is a wealthy modern city. |
| D．To provide a warning of what Dubai might be like in the future. |
| A．distinctive | B．isolated | C．massive | D．uniform |
| A．Installation of energy-efficient lights. | B．Avoidance of the sunlight from north. |
| C．Placement of solar panels on rooftops. | D．Arrangement to allow natural cooling. |
| A．How Oil Has Changed Dubai. | B．Dubai’s Economic Future. |
| C．The Costs of Green Living. | D．Building a Sustainable City. |
5 . The Federal Communications Commission of the US recently issued the first-ever fine for space junk, against the Dish Network. The satellite television company failed to properly deal with one of its satellites, leaving it at a lower orbit than it promised when securing its license.
Some space junk was discarded during missions — maybe an astronaut dropped his lucky penny, or released an instrument’s camera cover after it was no longer needed. Other junk, however, is the result of collisions: Even that lucky penny, traveling at 15 times the speed of a bullet, can cause huge damage — ending a satellite’s mission or, worse, breaking that satellite into pieces.
That’s obviously bad news for satellites. The solution isn’t to demand the launch of fewer satellites; these bring real benefits to people on the Earth.
And while traffic management is certainly necessary, pieces of garbage are never going to be able to follow even the most sensible rules of the orbital road. That means two things need to happen: People need to stop littering, and they need to take out some trash.
The professionals, unsurprisingly, have more carefully considered names for these processes — mitigation (减轻) and remediation (补救). Any time a company wants to put a satellite in the sky, it should have a clear plan for the instrument’s end of life. For objects in very high geostationary orbit (地球同步轨道), this usually involves sending the item to the out-of-the-way “graveyard” orbit. For objects lower down, it tends instead to involve moving them lower still, so that they will bum up upon reentering the atmosphere.
Active removal of garbage that has failed to get out of the way is technically tricky, but at least for large objects, remediation is possible.
Encouragingly, some countries are beginning to try. No nation, however, can save space on its own. A global convention (协定) to set a 21st-century code of conduct for space is in order.
1. What does the underlined word “discarded” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Collected up. | B．Thrown away. |
| C．Produced. | D．Ignored. |
| A．The satellites benefit our life a lot. |
| B．We need new satellites to replace old ones. |
| C．Countries are using satellites to occupy space. |
| D．We must make a deeper exploration into the universe. |
① Sending satellites to the “graveyard” orbit.
② Moving objects lower still.
③ Active removal of debris.
| A．①② | B．②③ | C．①③ | D．①②③ |
| A．To provide solutions to space junk. |
| B．To explain the damage of space junk. |
| C．To call upon countries to fine companies making space junk. |
| D．To appeal to nations for the protection off space environment. |
6 . Globally, about 192.1 million animals are used annually for experimental purposes. Iran has conducted animal-based research dating back to the time of Ibn Sina. Although, like many countries, Iran regulates the use and treatment of laboratory animals, it lacks sufficient enforcement. To ensure ethical treatment of research animals, Iran needs better data about their use, and institutions and individuals need to take responsibility for their care.
Iran’s Ministry of Health, which oversees animal testing, requires all animals are treated according to international ethical standards. However, some institutions that produce or use animals provide substandard treatment, disregarding the ministry’s guidelines. To facilitate better enforcement of established regulations, Iran needs clear, accurate and reliable information about the quantity of animals used in research. All Iranian research institutions that use animals should be required to collect and report annual data on the number of animals they use, the conditions in which the animals are kept, and the animals’ research purpose. Such data would allow Iran to track each institution’s adherence (遵守) to the “3Rs”of animal research: Replacing animal-based experiments with alternative strategies, reducing the number of animals used, and refining techniques to minimize the pain and discomfort research animals experience.
In addition to government enforcement, individual institutions should prioritize the replacement, reduction, and refinement of animal use. Iran’s medical schools and research institutions should establish an accessible database with comprehensive experimental details to prevent excessive animal studies. Ethics committees shouldn’t approve experiments that use more animals than necessary or methods that require animals when alternative methods are available. In some cases, technical sampling (using a small sample size) can replace experimental sampling (using a relatively large sample size).
Individuals should also take an active role. All researchers must be trained to adhere to ethical principles and understand unnecessary pain or discomfort in animals could affect the interpretation of data.
Maintaining international ethical standards for animal treatment is vital for Iran to establish its global standing in the field of medical sciences. Iran’s government, institutions, individual scientists, and public can work together to ensure ethical animal research.
1. What is the main idea of paragraph 1?| A．The origin of Iran’s animal-based research. |
| B．The regulations of Iran’s research into animals. |
| C．The development of Iran’s animal-based research. |
| D．Moral concerns for Iran’s research animals’ welfare. |
| A．To follow the ministry’s guidelines. |
| B．To be in control of animal-based research. |
| C．To ensure the adherence to the “3Rs” in animal-based research. |
| D．To replace animal-based experiments with alternative strategies. |
| A．To follow government regulations. |
| B．To reduce unnecessary animal-based studies. |
| C．To make research more visible to the public. |
| D．To ensure the accuracy of experimental results. |
| A．To encourage cooperation for ethical animal-based research in Iran. |
| B．To promote the use of an accessible experimental database in Iran. |
| C．To highlight ethics committees’ role in animal-based research in Iran. |
| D．To stress international ethical standards in animal-based research in Iran. |
7 . Floods can come from multiple sources. It can be a hurricane, failed dam, or overflowing river. The disasters can move quickly.
A flood is simply an event where water overflows a natural area and covers normally dry places. In general, there are two types.
A flood can be caused by many things.
There is no specific flood season.
| A．The rising river threatens people’s lives. |
| B．Floods can be preventable and predictable. |
| C．Flash floods are more common in dry areas. |
| D．And sometimes they come with little warning. |
| E．The weather forecast accurately predicts all disasters. |
| F．They include severe weather, geography, and other man-made factors. |
| G．Generally, the period from spring to fall is considered a heightened risk for floods. |
1. What is the purpose of the speaker?
| A．To forecast the weather. | B．To keep people informed. | C．To make an advertisement. |
| A．A terrible storm. | B．Heavy air traffic. | C．Mechanical problems. |
| A．Allow them to change flight routes. |
| B．Offer them free hotels. |
| C．Return all their money. |
| A．Cairo. | B．Panama. | C．Buenos Aires. |
9 . Laura Sharkey breeds mixed-breed dogs, but they’re not Goldendoodles, Chiweenies, Pomskys, or any other designer crosses. She doesn’t even aim for a specific build, size, or coat. “I’m not concerned with what they look like,” she says of her puppies. “I don’t want any genetic pressure other than health and state of mind.”
Sharkey and Eric a Pytlovany, both dog trainers, founded BosunDogs in 2019 after witnessing clients continually face severe behavioral challenges in adopted dogs. They regularly see owners face rehoming or even euthanizing (使安乐死) their pets due to health issues. “I would really love for all families who want a nice dog to be able to get a nice dog —and we don’t have that right now,” says Sharkey, who also owns WOOFS! dog-training centers in Arlington, Virginia. “I decided that the best way I could do that was to breed them.”
Sharkey is part of the growing functional-breeding movement, which raises dogs in small-scale settings to be friendly and healthy pets, with less focus on purebred (纯血统的) status. “I want to breed dogs for what I think is the actual highest function a dog has, especially in this country, which is as a companion animal,” says Sharkey.
In particular, Sharkey hopes to offer an alternative to purebred puppies, around a third of which are bred in high-volume kennels (犬舍). And while some of these facilities are regulated by the USDA and meet standards such as Purdue University’s Canine Care Certified, many don’t pay as much attention to selecting healthy breeding dogs and providing adequate puppy enrichment as small-scale breeders do, says Sara Reusche, owner of Paws Abilities Dog Training in Rochester, Minnesota.
Some concerned with the health and welfare of purebred puppies choose to adopt shelter animals as an alternative. But this route may not be feasible for everyone—especially in high-demand areas, such as the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, and West Coast. Twenty years ago, many U. S. shelters euthanized dogs to provide space for new intakes, explains Reusche.
1. Why does Laura Sharkey breed mixed-breed dogs?| A．She likes the dog’s appearance. |
| B．Mixed-breed dogs are easy to raise. |
| C．She aims for a specific build and size. |
| D．She cares more about dog’s health and inner nature. |
| A．To breed healthy dogs to accompany people. |
| B．To raises dogs in small-scale settings. |
| C．To adopt shelter animals as a pet. |
| D．To sell dogs to make money. |
| A．They are not so healthy. | B．They get balanced nutrition. |
| C．They are all very tender and mild. | D．They don’t meet certain standards. |
| A．popular | B．acceptable |
| C．dissatisfied | D．inconsistent |
1. Why are the elephants in South Africa a problem?
| A．They’re violent. | B．They damage things. | C．They eat many crops. |
| A．Bees can harm elephants. | B．Bees can be too noisy. | C．Bees can sting (叮，蜇) elephants. |
| A．This spring. | B．This summer. | C．This autumn. |
