With fossil records dating back to 400 million years ago, sharks have lived even
These sharks,
As our oceans are
2 . End of Heat, the 14th solar term of the year, implies that most parts in China are getting rid of the hot summer and entering autumn.
Enjoying clouds
When the End of Heat comes, summer heat is gone. Clouds in the sky scatter around forming different shapes. There is a saying that goes, “Enjoying the clouds of various forms in July and August (lunar month).”
Autumn weariness
There is a saying that goes, “People tend to feel sleepy in spring, doze in summer and feel tired in autumn.” As the weather becomes cool during End of Heat, many people will feel tired and weary, which is called “autumn weariness”.
Eating Duck
Duck has a sweet flavor and according to traditional Chinese medicine it has a “cool” nature.
The Fishing Season Festival
| A．It is a sign that the human body needs rest. |
| B．For fishermen, the End of Heat is a season of harvest. |
| C．End of Heat is also the busy harvest season for farmers. |
| D．People can enjoy many kinds of seafood during this period. |
| E．A folk tradition is to eat duck during the End of Heat period. |
| F．The following are things that you should know about End of Heat. |
| G．The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. |
3 . On Saturday 24 August 1918, it was raining cats and dogs and thundering over a city called Sunderland on the northeast coast of England. The storm lasted for only about ten minutes. People were surprised to see that it was not just rainwater falling from the sky. There were fish falling down, too! People came out to find out what was happening. They could not believe their own eyes. There were thousands of fish — sand eels— lying on the ground. They were about seven centimeters long, and all were frozen solid.
Sand eels swim together in large groups, often in sandy water, and are often found in large numbers in the North Sea, which reaches out to the east of Sunderland. How was it possible for these sand eels to fall from the sky and land on Sunderland?
Scientists believed the heavy thunderstorm that afternoon may have caused a waterspout. Waterspouts can be formed when strong winds move quickly in a circle over water. They are so powerful; anything less than one meter in length can be taken into them and forced into the clouds. The clouds carry whatever has been taken into them for long distances — sometimes over 150 kilometers. It’s very cold up there and everything soon freezes solid.
For hundreds of years there have been reports of small animals being taken into the sky through waterspouts. In 2009, dead tadpoles rained down on the city of Nanao in Japan. In 2012, fifty kilos of prawns fell from the sky over Sri Lanka. In 2017, fish fell on the coastal city of Tampico In Mexico.
It must be a very strange experience to see fish raining down on you. It would probably hurt if one fell on your head! With climate change, global warming and many reports of terrible natural disasters, will the time ever come when it may really begin to rain cats and dogs?
1. What was the rain like on 24 August 1918?| A．It was very heavy. | B．It fell around England. |
| C．It lasted quite a long time. | D．It caused many human deaths. |
| A．They were few in number. | B．They came in different sizes. |
| C．They were still alive when landing. | D．They probably came from the North Sea. |
| A．Clouds. | B．Waterspouts. | C．Strong winds. | D．The waters of the sea. |
| A．Our health. | B．Our environment. |
| C．The wild animals. | D．The news reports. |
4 . Pangolins (穿山甲) are the most trafficked (非法交易) mammals in the world and are facing extinction. To draw attention to these scaly (有鳞片的), anteater-like animals, a new wildlife documentary, Eye of the Pangolin, is attempting a unique way to inspire action and conservation. Partnering with the non-profit organization Pangolin. Africa, the documentary was made available on YouTube in May 2019. The intention is to reach communities wherever the Internet is available, especially African communities, who live near the animal’s habitats.
Over two years, the documentary crew traveled to South Africa, Ghana, Central African Republic and Gabon in search of the four unique species of pangolin, which has never been achieved before. Filmmakers Bruce Young and Johan Vermeulen say that they went into the shoot knowing relatively little about pangolins, but grew to respect and appreciate the animals. Getting close to the creatures over two years was a crash course in these secretive creatures. Johan Vermeulen said, "One thing however that might seem unimportant is that they are actually quite fussy eaters. You would think they would eat any type of ant, but they all prefer a specific type ant."
Pangolins are hunted illegally across Africa for their scales, which are used for traditional medicine, and their meat. In April 2019, Singaporean customs officials conducted two separate seizures of 24 tons of pangolin scales, which equals to the death of 69,000 pangolins.
Though the documentary focuses less on the trafficking of pangolins, and more on the animals in their natural habitat, the aim of the documentary is to inspire viewers around the world to call for action to end trafficking and protecting these unique creatures.
Filmed on location in South Africa, Ghana, Central African Republic, and Gabon, this powerful documentary is the story of two men on a mission to get all four species of African pangolin on camera for the very first time.
1. What is the purpose of the documentary?| A．To study the situation of pangolins. |
| B．To collect fund to protect pangolins. |
| C．To raise awareness of pangolin protection. |
| D．To propose setting up pangolin reserves. |
| A．Picky. | B．Messy. |
| C．Showy. | D．Heavy. |
| A．The illegal trade of pangolins. |
| B．The medical function of pangolin's scales. |
| C．The life of pangolins in their natural habitats. |
| D．The efforts of Pangolin, Africa to save pangolins. |
| A．A brochure. | B．A diary. |
| C．A novel. | D．A magazine. |
In the world today, there are about a billion cars traveling on the roads and each of these cars
Car Free Day is a holiday that originated in France and it falls
The best way to celebrate this holiday is by leaving your car parked in your driveway or your garage on this day. Instead of
6 . Being prepared and knowing the right things you have to do during the flood will give you a greater chance to be safe and survive. You should keep something like the following in mind.
Finding out how long the flood is expected to last will help you take proper measures. So do listen to the weather report. Don’t pay attention to rumors (谣言).
Prepare and keep necessary supplies that will be usable and will last you long enough.
Make sure that necessary items during the flood are ready.
Know the emergency numbers in your place.
In case of emergency conditions where you need further help, you will be able to ask for help.
Stay in a safe place.
| A．Know about the latest weather conditions in your area. |
| B．We’ll keep the weather information updated all day. |
| C．Important items prepared for that will help you survive. |
| D．You can dial 911 or communicate with the right department. |
| E．The flood often comes with the strong wind. |
| F．Stay away from low-lying places which may be swept away by storm waves. |
| G．Run down to the sea as quickly as possible even if further flooding is likely to occur. |
7 . One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. A more recent addition to the list of things we throw away is e-waste — electronic items that are broken and not recycled.
Recently, there’s a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic junk. The BBC visited a Restart Project in London, which is one of many found around the world. One of its operators, Francesco Calo, said that “This project makes total sense.
| A．First of all, this project prolongs the life of electric objects |
| B．It is partly because it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them |
| C．It is reported that many people have made a big fortune from it |
| D．Now solutions have been put forward to give this e-waste a new life |
| E．So it’s thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional recycling |
| F．As many electrical items contain valuable metals, another solution is e-waste mining |
| G．One of the reasons is that people don’t think their electronic items are fashionable enough |
8 . How much exercise does your dog need?
As many dog owners are aware, dogs need regular exercise to stay healthy and to stop them from getting bored.
All dogs should be let outside for exercise, but how intense that exercise should be depends, in part, on the size of the dog.
Some breeds, such as border collies, Belgian Malinois and German shepherds, have been bred as “working dogs”.
| A．Larger breeds need more space to roam. |
| B．They are suited to cover long distances. |
| C．Age is the first factor that should be considered. |
| D．Only in this way can your dog get suitable amount of exercises. |
| E．Rather, a steady routine will help your dog be prepared for the next adventure. |
| F．While puppies are often energetic, it is important not to over exercise young dogs. |
| G．What they might not know, though, is that the amount of time they need outdoors varies. |
9 . When British musician Paul Barton performs in central Thailand lately, the listeners react wildly. Some pull his hair or jump on his piano. Others steal his music. The behavior is normal, however, because these crowds are truly wild—wild monkeys to be exact.
Barton plays often to the animals in Lopburi, an area known for its populations of wild monkeys. The pianist hopes the music shows bring calm to the animals during the corona virus(COVID-19) crisis.
The disease has caused problems for the monkeys, too. They are hungry. The restrictions on tourism mean fewer people come to see the monkeys and feed them.
The monkeys quickly surround Barton when he plays Greensleeves, Beethoven's Fur Elise and Michael Nyman's Diary of Love. Some of the creatures sit on his chair, while others climb up his body and touch his head. But, Barton keeps his attention on his performance, even as a small monkey runs over his hands on the instrument. Other monkeys take control of his music papers. “I was glad and surprised to find that they were actually eating the music as I was playing it.”
The monkeys are Barton's latest animal fans. Past wildlife audience included elephants living in special protected areas. Barton hopes to raise people's awareness of the monkeys' hunger. At the same time, he hopes to study their behavior as they react to classical music.
“Come together and don't let the pandemic stop the wild monkeys getting good nutritious food. We need to make an effort to make sure that they eat properly. And when they eat properly they will be calmer,” said 59 -year-old Barton.
1. Why does the musician play to the wild monkeys?| A．To see the wild animals just being themselves. | B．To study their behavior as they react to pop music. |
| C．To raise money for the wild monkeys' hunger. | D．To help calm them during COVID -19 crisis. |
| A．Contemporary music. | B．Classical music. |
| C．Country music. | D．Popular music. |
| A．Stealing his music papers. | B．Eating his music papers. |
| C．Disturbing his performance. | D．Enjoying his playing |
| A．Wild monkeys like to play with the musician. | B．People will start to protect the wild monkeys. |
| C．The COVID-19 has damaged much to the world. | D．Music can make the wild animals more active. |
10 . Scientists believe they have found a new use for facial recognition technology: saving large ocean animals known as seals. Researchers at Colgate University in New York have developed SealNet. The system is a database of seal faces created by taking pictures of many harbor seals in Maine’s Casco Bay.
The research team found the tool’s accuracy in identifying the mammals was close to 100percent. The researchers are working on increasing the size of their database to make it available to other scientists, said Krista Ingram. She is a biology professor at Colgate and a team member.
Increasing the database to include rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal and Hawaiian monk seal could help to save those species, Ingram said. Creating a list of seal faces and using machine learning to identify them can also help scientists know where in the ocean seals are. Ingram said, “For marine mammals that move around a lot and are hard to photo-graph in the water, we need to be able to identify individuals.”
SealNet is designed to identify the face in a picture. It recognizes the seal’s face based on information related to the eyes and nose shape. A similar tool called PrimNet that is for use on primates (灵长类), had been used on seals earlier, but SealNet performed better, the Colgate researchers said. Seals and other ocean mammals have long been studied using satellite technology. Using artificial intelligence to study them is a way to bring conservation into the 21stcentury.
“Facial recognition technology could provide valuable data,” said Michelle Berger, an associate scientist at the Shaw Institute in Maine. “Once the system is perfected, I can picture lots of interesting environmental uses from it,” Berger said. “If they could recognize seals, and recognize them from year to year, that would give us lots of information about movement, how much they move from site to site.”
1. What is SealNet?| A．A tool that takes pictures of seals. |
| B．A system that recognizes the face in a picture. |
| C．A database that monitors the behaviour of seals. |
| D．A system that analyzes appearances of various sea animals. |
| A．To show the need to save seals. |
| B．To explain the origin of SealNet. |
| C．To emphasize the superiority of SealNet. |
| D．To show the development of facial recognition. |
| A．It needs to collect more data on the ocean. |
| B．It can be applied to more fields. |
| C．It helps find better living sites for seals. |
| D．It brings new opportunities to study other species. |
| A．Seals can recognize themselves in photos |
| B．Facial recognition is an easy task for animals |
| C．Scientists use facial recognition to protect seals |
| D．Facial recognition may help find new animals |
