1 . Not every architectural landmark is grand in scale, with splendid decorations, or amazing colors. Suzhou Gardens may just be the opposite.
When a group of monks during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) first constructed Lion Grove Garden, they may have just wanted to enjoy a quiet place, hidden away from urban noise, while in the following centuries, this charming garden - most notable for its waterside rockeries resembling the shape of lions—has attracted a constant stream of celebrity guests, who have left a long list of poems, paintings and historical anecdotes (轶事).
In recent years, nine of the best-known classical gardens of Suzhou, including Lion Grove Garden, Humble Administrator’s Garden and Great Wave Pavilion, were registered into the World Heritage List. As UNESCO remarks, “Classical Chinese garden design, which seeks to recreate natural landscapes in miniature (缩略图), is nowhere better illustrated than in the nine gardens, which reflect the profound natural beauty in Chinese culture and inspire people to pursue harmony with the world.”
Nowadays, relevant administrations have been trying to restore the historical landscapes of Suzhou’s classical gardens. Consequently, last year, a new project was launched allowing tourists in small groups to reserve places to enter the garden in the early morning before the regular opening time. Their visit ended with them completing the last step in making a traditional folding fan, adding a poem about the garden on its surface. The experience was also regarded as a way to help people understand the wisdom, elegance and philosophical worldview of the ancient Chinese literati (文人).
The delicate beauty of the gardens still flows via the canals that snake across Suzhou. Hardly felt, their strength in shaping the city’s character seems to last forever.
1. What’s the purpose of building the Lion Grove Garden?A.To share historical anecdotes. |
B.To attract celebrity guests. |
C.To enjoy the beautiful scenery. |
D.To stay far from the madding crowd. |
A.Splendid decorations. |
B.Grand beauty. |
C.Human-nature harmony. |
D.Amazing colors. |
A.It featured traditional Chinese elements. |
B.Small groups without reservation were welcome. |
C.Its main aim was to help people approach poems. |
D.It was launched when the gardens were open to the public. |
A.Suzhou Gardens, a place of national pride. |
B.Suzhou Gardens, a place with natural beauty. |
C.Suzhou Gardens, a place that shows the decorations and colors. |
D.Suzhou Gardens, a place that reflects the philosophy and culture. |
2 . The suburb I live in backs on to a large nature reserve. One morning I saw a koala (考拉) sitting in a palm tree in my front yard. I phoned around to ask what I could
I’ve always been befriending animals. As a young kid I used to pick up lizard eggs and
Once I had accreditation (合格证), I volunteered with the RSPCA in 2014, rehabilitating (使康复) wildlife. I was an ambulance driver,
One day, I thought why not
I cut the leaves of the eucalyptus trees for the koalas to eat and look after the
As a kid I would never have imagined doing this. I feel like I’m the
A.learn from | B.do about | C.require of | D.save for |
A.kicking | B.shooting | C.coaching | D.blowing |
A.together | B.illegally | C.angrily | D.guiltily |
A.roll | B.sell | C.break | D.hatch |
A.rescue | B.admire | C.purchase | D.identify |
A.courses | B.races | C.fairs | D.shows |
A.watching | B.attending | C.recording | D.assessing |
A.made out | B.ran across | C.gave up | D.cared for |
A.leave | B.start | C.dismiss | D.advertise |
A.house | B.hunt | C.train | D.amuse |
A.confuse | B.direct | C.feed | D.test |
A.aggressive | B.hungry | C.deserted | D.injured |
A.sold | B.released | C.thrown | D.dragged |
A.quietest | B.greediest | C.noisiest | D.luckiest |
A.guess | B.calling | C.treat | D.fault |
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a health care system in which patients
According to the World Health Organization, nearly 80 percent of the world's population depends for its primary health care needs
Increasingly, however, modern medicines also contain substances from animals and plants. Given growing populations, increasing wealth, and the spreading
4 . 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.
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.
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.
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.
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. |
5 . If anyone had told me three years ago that I would be spending most of my weekends camping, I would have laughed heartily. Campers, in my eyes, were people who enjoyed insect bites, ill-cooked meals, and uncomfortable sleeping bags. They had nothing in common with me.
The friends who introduced me to camping thought that it meant to be a pioneer.
I was, nevertheless, talked into going on another fun-filled holiday in the wilderness.
A.This time there was no tent. |
B.Things are going to be improved. |
C.The trip they took me on was a rough one. |
D.I was to learn a lot about camping since then, however. |
E.I must say that I have certainly come to enjoy camping. |
F.After the trip, my family became quite interested in camping. |
G.There was no shade as the trees were no more than 3 feet tall. |
The Grand Canal is the oldest and longest man-made waterway in the world with a history of more than 2,500 years,
The canal
In 2014, it was listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. In 2019 China issued a plan
7 . The environmental practices of big businesses are shaped by a fundamental fact that offends our sense of justice. A business may maximize the amount of money it makes by damaging the environment and hurting people. When government regulation is effective, and the public is environmentally aware, environmentally clean big businesses may out-compete dirty ones, but the reverse is likely to be true if government regulation is ineffective and the public doesn’t care.
It is easy to blame a business for helping itself by hurting other people. But blaming alone is unlikely to produce change. It ignores the fact that businesses are not charities but profit-making companies, and they are under obligation to maximize profits for shareholders by legal means.
Our blaming of businesses also ignores the ultimate responsibility of the public for creating the conditions that let a business profit through destructive environmental policies. In the long run, it is the public, either directly or through its politicians, that has the power to make such destructive policies unprofitable and illegal, and to make sustainable environmental policies profitable.
The public can do that by accusing businesses of harming them. The public may also make their opinion felt by choosing to buy sustainably harvested products; by preferring their governments to award valuable contracts to businesses with a good environmental track record; and by pressing their governments to pass and enforce laws and regulations requiring good environmental practices.
In turn, big businesses can exert powerful pressure on any suppliers that might ignore public or government pressure. For instance, after the US public became concerned about the spread of a disease, transmitted to humans through infected meat, the US government introduced rules demanding that the meat industry abandon practices associated with the risk of the disease spreading. But the meat packers refused to follow these, claiming that they would be too expensive to obey. However, when a fast-food company made the same demands after customer purchases of its hamburgers dropped, the meat industry followed immediately. The public’s task is therefore to identify which links in the supply chain are sensitive to public pressure.
Some readers may be disappointed or outraged that I place the ultimate responsibility for business practices harming the public on the public itself. I also believe that the public must accept the necessity for higher prices for products to cover the added costs of sound environmental practices. My views may seem to ignore the belief that businesses should act in accordance with moral principles even if this leads to a reduction in their profits. But I think we have to recognize that, throughout human history, government regulation has arisen precisely because it was found that not only did moral principles need to be made explicit, they also needed to be enforced.
My conclusion is not a moralistic one about who is right or wrong, admirable or selfish. I believe that changes in public attitudes are essential for changes in businesses’ environmental practices.
1. The main idea of Paragraph 3 is that environmental damage__________.A.is the result of ignorance of the public |
B.requires political action if it is to be stopped |
C.can be prevented by the action of ordinary people |
D.can only be stopped by educating business leaders |
A.reduce their own individual impact on the environment |
B.learn more about the impact of business on the environment |
C.raise awareness of the effects of specific environmental disasters |
D.influence the environmental policies of businesses and governments |
A.Meat packers stopped supplying hamburgers to fast-food chains. |
B.Meat packers persuaded the government to reduce their expenses. |
C.A fast-food company forced their meat suppliers to follow the law. |
D.A fast-food company encouraged the government to introduce regulations. |
A.Will the world survive the threat caused by big businesses? |
B.How can big businesses be encouraged to be less driven by profit? |
C.What environmental dangers are caused by the greed of businesses? |
D.Are big businesses to blame for the damage they cause to the environment? |
8 . 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. |
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. |
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. |
A.Biological diversity. | B.Harmonious coexistence. |
C.Prevention of natural disasters. | D.Preservation of wildlife habitat. |
The power of Chinese emperors rose and fell with their control of the Grand Canal. Today, this waterway is shorter than it was once,
The original Canal system began around the year 605,
For more than a thousand years, goods
10 . 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. |
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. |
A.To help them learn to talk. | B.To teach them hunting skills. |
C.To express worry and care. | D.To distract their attention. |
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. |