1 . Have you noticed how evenings cool off more in rural areas than they do in cities? Urban areas also tend to get hotter during the day than any nearby areas with lots of greenery.    1    

It’s mainly caused by the difference in materials that cover the ground in urban areas and the countryside. In the country, evaporation(蒸发)of water from soil and the leaves of plants helps to cool the air.    2    Having fewer plants, cities have less evaporation and are unable to cool down the temperature.

Dark colours are another problem. Dark objects absorb all wavelengths of light, making the temperature increase more noticeably. In contrast, white objects reflect all wavelengths of light energy.    3    Sadly, most parts of cities are covered by asphalt(沥青), steel, roofs and bricks which are often dark in colour.

    4    As people drive cars, heat buildings, and run air conditioners, cities are generating waste heat and pouring it into the atmosphere directly. The waste heat adds to the solar energy trapped by the tall buildings.

But cities don’t have to be so hot. Some cities have lightened their streets. This is done by covering black asphalt streets, parking lots, and dark roofs with a more reflective gray coating.     5    

Having more green spaces also helps. Plants serve as a natural air conditioner. They catch heat, release vapour(蒸汽)into the air, and take away heat, contributing to cooler, fresher cities.

A．Cities also produce more heat than suburban areas.

B．The higher the temperature, the shorter the wavelength.

C．This phenomenon is known as the urban heat-island effect.

D．So it will not be transformed into heat which makes the air hot.

E．Changes in building materials have a minimal effect on city temperatures.

F．Much of the soil in cities, by contrast, has been covered with roads and buildings.

G．These changes can decrease air temperatures dramatically, especially in summer.

3 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Sam was a junior high school student. He lived in a community in Charlotte and usually had little exposure to country life. So much of what he knew about plants came from text-books. Sam was a kind-hearted person. He longed for a chance to explore nature and he wanted to do his part to beautify the world.

Finally, the opportunity came. On Arbor Day (植树节), his class organized a trip to a local village to plant trees. Sam was excited about it and couldn’t wait to tell his mom the good news. So the next day, Sam and his mom went to buy some tools for planting trees, including a shovel(铲), a bucket, gloves and so on.

On the day of the event, Sam and his classmates arrived early at the starting point. It was a beautiful day and everyone looked particularly happy. With the tools in hand, Sam got into the bus with everyone else and headed off to their destination.

As soon as they reached the village, all the students were divided into three teams by their teacher. One team was responsible for planting the trees, one team for shovelling the soil and one team for watering the trees. At the teacher’s command, everyone started to do their job.

However, it was the first time that many of the students had taken part in planting trees, so they had no idea about how to start. Of course, Sam was one of them. Fortunately, their teacher was a middle-aged man from the countryside who had some knowledge of planting trees. In order to set an example to the students, the teacher started to plant trees himself. After watching the teacher plant the trees, everyone also became busy. Before long, they planted hundreds of trees. Sam watched very carefully, not wanting to miss any of the details. Finally, Sam learned how to plant trees by himself and felt happy.

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。

A few days later, a storm damaged some young trees in the community.

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The neighbours praised Sam for what he had done.

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4 . Beavers(海狸), like humans, change their surroundings to fit their needs. Known as nature’s engineers, they tear trees down to build homes to live in and dams to raise water levels for protection from enemies. Dams also slow water’s flow while blocking sediment(沉积物)that would otherwise flow downstream. The resulting wetlands often attract wildlife diversity where none had existed. There are challenges, though. Beaver dams sometimes cause flooding, and most people prefer trees alive and upright.

Communities face a delicate balancing act, learning to coexist with beavers. Last winter, many people enjoying Winston Path became beaver fans as one furry family transformed Swallow Pond into an oasis for birds, frogs, turtles and deer.

Yet such activity caused concern. As beavers worked, they raised water levels about five feet. The increased depth allows beavers to survive underwater if the pond ices over. But county officials were concerned about how higher water would affect the soil bank supporting Winston Path.

To find a good balance between protecting the path and the beavers, the county introduced a“ beaver baffle”— a pond leveler.Beavers often rush to fill holes in their dams.Baffles stabilize water levels by creating a hidden exit for high water to escape through the dam, unnoticed by the beavers.

People love the beavers but they also love the mature trees. Recently, Catherine Jones,18, organized a tree-caging event — putting wire cloth around large tree trunks to discourage beavers from biting them. It also protects people from injury due to random trees falling.“We cover the trees we don’t want them to eat, while planting periodically others they like,“said Jones.“We need-to learn to give up a little of our wants to share the Earth’s resources.”

Swallow Pond’s 2023 project will restore proper water depth and improve wildlife habitat without creating problems for the path. The balancing act continues.

1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A．Where beavers’ favorite surroundings are.

B．What effects beavers have on their habitat.

C．Why beavers are called nature’s engineers.

D．How beavers help attract wildlife diversity.

2. Why did the beaver family’s activity cause concern?

A．Swallow Pond would flood often.

B．Sediment would flow downstream.

C．The popular path might be damaged.

D．Beavers might have to live underwater.

3. What do the underlined words“beaver baffle”refer to in paragraph 4?

A．A block to keep beavers away.	B．A tool to fix holes in the dams.
C．A device to maintain water level.	D．A material to protect the soil bank.

4. What is the theme of Swallow Pond’s 2023 project?

A．Biological diversity.	B．Harmonious coexistence.
C．Prevention of natural disasters.	D．Preservation of wildlife habitat.

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。

2024 is the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar and it is the first time that the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)    1     (include) the term “Chinese dragon” in its dictionary. The Chinese dragon has two definitions in the OED, with the first one about its physical image and the second one on its figurative and allusive (典故的) nature.

Emperors in ancient dynasties were dressed in a Dragon Robe, a traditional silk-woven costume with dragon designs,     2     (symbolize) imperial power and authority. Jade Seals (玉玺), often     3     (carve) with dragons, also symbolize the authority of the emperor.

Contrary     4     the Western dragon, the image of the Chinese dragon, despite undergoing constant changes, has represented various’ positive     5     (quality) including prosperity, authority, strength and good fortune.

In ancient Chinese belief, dragons     6     (associate) with the control of the weather, particularly rain. The dragon’s ability to bring rain was seen as crucial for agriculture, which made it     7     positive symbol for the fertility of the land.

With the rising China Chic trend and the country’s booming cultural creative industry, the Chinese dragon in folktale is now     8     (common) seen in creative products such as tear-off calendars, dolls, dragon-themed jewelry as well as the “dragon blind boxes”     9     appeal to young consumers.

Whether it is through the hands of a national-level intangible (非物质) cultural heritage inheritor     10     the hands of a Generation Z “blind box” designer, the Chinese dragon carries forward the Chinese cultural spirit.

7 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

The power of Chinese emperors rose and fell with their control of the Grand Canal. Today, this waterway is shorter than it was once,     1     it is still the longest man-made river in the world.     2     (important), the Grand Canal continues to provide a vital cultural and economic link for modern China.

The original Canal system began around the year 605,     3     China’s emperor Yang realized that he needed a better way to move food and feed his army, so the emperor ordered the construction of the first section of the Grand Canal,     4     (connect) those existing canals, lakes and rivers.

For more than a thousand years, goods     5     (transport) along the Grand Canal. Even today the country’s watery highway plays an important economic role in China. Boats continue to carry tons of coal, food and other goods     6     Hangzhou and Jining. However, local governments eager to increase     7     (tour) and city development have torn down almost all of the older canal-side buildings. In 2005 a group of citizens proposed that the historic Grand Canal be made     8     UNESCO world heritage site, hoping this status would protect both the waterway and the architecture around it. With UNESCO status officially     9     (grant) in 2014, the world’s greatest engineering accomplishments continue to link north and south China for     10     (century) to come.

8 . When adult humans meet a baby, many can’t help speaking in a higher-pitched (更高音的), sing-song y voice. This shift, known as parentese, is not unique to humans — it has also been observed in animals like monkeys and gorillas. Now, scientists are adding one more species to that list: bottlenose dolphins.

Dolphins are intelligent animals that live and hunt in groups. They communicate in a unique way: every individual produces its own signature sound that acts much like an ID card, usually by its first birthday. But how does each come up with its distinctive whistle? For babies, it might have something to do with listening to Mum. To solve this mystery, researchers examined the sounds mother dolphins, make.

Scientists studied 34 years’ worth of recordings of sounds made by 19 female bottlenose dolphins. When the mother dolphins were near their young, they continued to make their signature sound, but at a higher frequency. They also used a wider range of frequencies than they did when their babies were not nearby.

This discovery suggests that using these modifications mother dolphins assist their young in learning how to produce these calls themselves. Since dolphin babies often spend some years with their mothers before living on their own, it makes sense that this adaptation would help them learn to communicate. At the very least, the higher-pitched whistle likely gets the babies’ attention. “It’s important for a baby to know,’ Oh, Mum’s talking to me now,’” says marine biologist June Mann.

This kind of research could help us understand how language developed in humans. “It is absolutely essential to have basic knowledge about other species and how they communicate,” says Mann. “I would be really interested to see whether dolphins also change their sounds when interacting with babies of others, which is what happens in humans.”

1. What do the underlined words “this mystery ”refer to in paragraph 2?

A．Why dolphins live and play in groups.

B．How dolphins develop their unique sounds.

C．What aspects of intelligence dolphins possess.

D．Whether dolphins can use parentese like humans.

2. How did the researchers carry out their study of dolphins?

A．By analyzing mother dolphins’ sound features.

B．By recording parent-child interaction frequency.

C．By measuring the distance between parent and child.

D．By examining the speech organs of mother dolphins.

3. What is a suggested reason why dolphin mothers use parentese with their young?

A．To help them learn to talk.	B．To teach them hunting skills.
C．To express worry and care.	D．To distract their attention.

4. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To compare the parentese of humans and dolphins.

B．To illustrate the development of dolphin intelligence.

C．To share new findings about dolphin communication.

D．To highlight the value of studying dolphins’ language.

9 . A good conversation should proceed like a tennis match: players each take turns responding, knowing instinctively (本能) when to speak and when to listen. This kind of complicated and back-and-forth talk is often considered to be possessed only by humans. However, according to a recent study, animals also seem to know when to speak and when to listen.

The study involved over 300 animals including birds, mammals (哺乳动物), insects, and frogs which practice turn-taking behavior. These animals alternate their call and response in a similar way humans communicate. Monkeys, for example, often exchange calls to locate each other in the wild and figure out whether they know one another.

While forms of communication are mostly sound-based, several species have more creative forms of viewable communication. Baby monkeys let their parents know they want to be carried with arm gestures, while birds, insects and frogs can get their messages across through colorful displays.

Kobin Kendrick, the main co-author on the study, says that making comparisons among animals that take turns when communicating can give us a better understanding of how this feature evolved in humans and our ancestors. “We know very little about the evolution and origin of the human language, so any possibility of gaining insight into it is worth going after,” he says.

Additionally, while the idea of turn-taking might bring to mind a picture of orderly, well-mannered animals, Kendrick stresses that this isn’t always the case. Owl (猫头鹰) chicks may try to outdo each other by making louder sounds in an effort to attract favor from their mothers during feeding. “This can be seen as an exception to the rule, highlighting the importance of turn-taking in general,” says Kendrick.

One problem with the study is that researchers themselves don’t know how to communicate with others outside their particular species of interest. Kendrick stresses another goal of the study is to create a wider framework that can bring together all the different researches on turn-taking, allowing scientists to conduct more cross-species comparisons. “We all believe strongly these fields can benefit from each other, and we hope the study will drive more crosstalk between humans and animals in the future,” says Kendrick.

1. What can we learn about the turn-taking behavior?

A．It is a unique human quality.

B．It is an acquired athletic skill.

C．It occurs between familiar relations.

D．It features complexity and interaction.

2. Which of the following is a form of visual intercommunication?

A．Frogs show skin colors.

B．Bees release smells.

C．Eagles scream in the sky.

D．Monkeys exchange calls.

3. Why are “owl chicks” mentioned in paragraph 5?

A．To propose a definition.

B．To give a contrast.

C．To present an argument.

D．To make a prediction.

4. What aspect of research does the last paragraph highlight?

A．Research budget.

B．Research range.

C．Research frequency.

D．Research background.

10 . Honeybees fly much longer distances in the summer than in the spring and autumn to find good sources of food, a new study has found.

Researchers at Sussex University spent two years decoding the “waggle (摇摆) dance” of honeybees, a form of communication by which the bees tell their nestmates where to go to get the best source of food to bring back to the hive (蜂箱).

By measuring the angle of the dance in relation to the sun and the length of time the bee waggled its body while moving in a figure of eight pattern, researchers have been able to map the distance and location where bees forage (觅食) from month to month.

With a one second waggle equal to a foraging distance of 750 metres, the bees dance language revealed that the area they covered in search of food is about 22 times greater in the summer (July and August) than in spring (March) and six times greater in summer than in the autumn (October). In the summer the area they cover is 15.2km sq, compared to 0.8km in spring and 5.1km in the autumn.

Honeybees will not waste valuable time and energy travelling to find food if they don’t need to, so the researchers say the results show that the summer is the most challenging season for bees to collect the nectar and pollen from flowers.

“There is a large quantity of flowers in the spring and autumn, but it is harder for them to locate good blocks of flowers in the summer because agricultural intensification means there are fewer wildflowers in the countryside for bees,” said Frances Ratnieks, author of the study.

The researchers say the results can be used to focus efforts to help bees better. “The bees are telling us where they are foraging so we can now understand how best to help them by planting more flowers for them in the summer,” said Ratnieks.

1. What is the recent research mainly about?

A．Sources of honeybee food.

B．The honeybee dance language.

C．Honeybees’ eating behaviour.

D．Relationship between honeybees.

2. What makes summer the most challenging season for bees to find food?

A．The high wind.

B．The strong heat.

C．Lengthening days.

D．Shortage of flowers.

3. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about concerning the research finding?

A．Its appeal to the public.

B．Its practical application.

C．Expectations for future studies.

D．Scientists with new perspectives.

4. Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A．Honeybees are really highly intelligent

B．Scientists decode honeybee “waggle dance”

C．Lack of food sources puts honeybees at risk

D．Why summers are bad news for honeybees