1 . Nearly 40 years ago, Peter Harrison, a marine ecologist witnessed the first recorded large - scale coral bleaching（珊瑚白化）event. Diving in the Great Barrier Reef（大堡礁），he was shocked by the scene before him. “The reef was made up of healthy corals and badly bleached white corals, like the beginning of a ghost city,” he says. Just months before, the same site was filled with colorful tropical life.
“Many of the hundreds of corals that had been carefully labelled and monitored finally died,” he says. “It was shocking and made me aware of just how weak these corals really are.”
Coral exists together with photosynthetic algae（藻类）, which live in its tissues and provide essential nutrition (and coloration). But high temperatures and other stresses can turn algae poisonous. When this occurs, the algae may die or be removed by the coral, a process known as bleaching because the coral’s clear tissue and white calcium carbonate skeleton（碳酸钙骨骼）are exposed. If the coral can’t reestablish its link with algae, it will starve or become ill.
The widespread destruction Harrison saw in 1982 was repeated on many other Pacific Ocean reefs that year and the next. In 1997 and 1998 the phenomenon went global, killing some 16 percent of the world’s corals. With rising temperatures, pollution, disease, increased ocean acidity, invasive species and other dangers, Harrison’s ghost cities are expanding.
Scientists suppose that about four decades ago severe bleaching occurred roughly every 25 years, giving corals time to recover. But bleaching events are coming faster now—about every six years—and in some places soon they could begin to happen annually.
“The absolute key is dealing with global warming,” says marine biologist Terry Hughes. “No matter how much we clean up the water, the reefs will die.” In 2016, a record-hot year in a string of them, 91 percent of the reefs that consist of the Great Barrier Reef bleached.
1. Peter Harrison was shocked when diving in the Great Barrier Reef, because _______.| A．the reefs were made up of precious corals |
| B．he saw the corals he had tagged before |
| C．the corals were ruined badly and quickly |
| D．he found a ghost city with tropical life |
| A．the causes of coral bleaching | B．the weakness of corals and algae |
| C．the elements that make algae die | D．the process of building a link with algae |
| A．the coral bleaching | B．invasive species |
| C．global warming | D．the polluted ocean |
| A．With algae living in its tissues, coral’s white skeleton is exposed. |
| B．The reefs die because the water hasn’t been cleaned thoroughly |
| C．Solving global warming is the real solution to coral bleaching. |
| D．The severest coral bleaching occurred about four decades ago. |
2 . In the summer of 2020, a devastating wildfire, ignited by a lightning strike, swept across 43,000 acres of Cima Dome within the Mojave National Preserve in California. This area is renowned for being home to the planet’s most extensive Joshua tree forest. The inferno led to the destruction of 1.3 million Joshua trees, which equates to roughly a quarter of the forest’s population. The task of rehabilitating this ecosystem was a formidable one. However, an unconventional approach was implemented to aid in the revival of these distinctive desert flora: employing camels to assist in the restoration efforts.
During the ice age, the now-extinct giant sloths played a pivotal role in the dispersal of Joshua tree seeds through their feeding habits. In their absence, smaller mammals have assumed this function, but with significantly less effectiveness. “Joshua tree seeds are not dispersed rapidly,” remarked Debra Hughson, a worker at the Mojave National Preserve. “Their movement is slow and limited when relying solely on the presence of small mammals.”
The strategy focused initially on reviving the Cima Dome region due to its higher altitude, which offers the trees a better chance of withstanding the impacts of climate change. Hughson, along with her team of professional volunteers, commenced the planting of seedlings in the scorched landscape. However, the theoretically sound plan did not translate well into practice. The location’s remote wilderness status means that even reaching it requires a multi-hour hike.
This is where Herbie, Sully, and Chico, three camels, stepped in as unlikely heroes.
The innovative idea to utilize these camels originated from Nance Fite, a 70-year-old volunteer at the reserve. Upon learning about the restoration initiative, she dedicated herself to persuading the Park Service to enlist the camels’ assistance. She also managed to convince her friend Jennifer Lagusker, the camels’ owner, to bring them to the preserve. Since 2021, these three camels have been instrumental in the restoration process, with approximately 3,500 young Joshua trees planted to date. They have been instrumental in transporting water and seedlings during the lengthy treks across the desert reserve.
Upon completion of this phase of work, the Park Service intends to concentrate on another area ravaged by the wildfire. The camels will stand ready to provide their services wherever they are required in the ongoing efforts to restore the Mojave National Preserve.
1. What happened to the Mojave National Preserve in 2020？ ______| A．Joshua trees in this area went extinct. |
| B．Lightning caused damage to its camels. |
| C．A wildfire swept across the whole reserve. |
| D．Its desert trees encountered a natural disaster. |
| A．Spreading the seeds. | B．Restoring the trees. |
| C．Helping giant sloths. | D．Working for a reserve. |
| A．Hiking was legally forbidden in the wilderness. |
| B．They had trouble traveling to the Cima Dome area. |
| C．Few people in the team were willing to plant seedlings. |
| D．The trees couldn’t survive the effects of climate change. |
| A．The idea of using camels was initially adopted easily. |
| B．The Park Service is satisfied with the camels’ work. |
| C．Nance Fite is responsible for raising the three camels. |
| D．The restoration project has been followed in many areas. |
3 . Greenland lost a record amount of ice during an extra warm 2019, with the melt massive (巨大的) enough to cover California in more than 4 feet of water, a new study said.
After two years when summer ice melt had been the smallest, the summer of 2019 broke all records with 586 billion tons of ice melting, according to a report. The loss is far more than the yearly average of 259 billion tons of ice since 2003, and it easily breaks the previous record of 511 billion tons in 2012.
“Not only is the Greenland ice sheet melting, but it’s melting at a faster and faster pace,” said study lead author Ingo Sasgen, a geoscientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany. The study also showed that there were many years in the 20th century when Greenland actually gained ice. The Greenland melt in 2019 added 0.06 inches to global sea level rise. That sounds like a tiny amount, but “in our world it’s huge — that’s astonishing,” said study coauthor Alex Gardner, a nice scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge. With more water from other melting ice sheets and glaciers (冰川), the ocean expands and that translates into slowly rising sea levels, coastal flooding and other problems.
Though general ice-melt records in Greenland go back to 1948，scientists began making more precise records in 2003, using NASA satellites to measure the gravity of the ice sheets. It’s like put-ting the ice on a scale and weighing it as water flows off, Gardner said.
In 2017 and 2018, cooler Arctic air flowed from the open ocean into Greenland, which made the melt less severe. Several other scientists said Sasgen’s study made sense. “The fact that 2019 set an all-time record is very concerning,” one of them said.
1. What happened to Greenland in 2019?| A．It gained some ice. |
| B．It lost more ice than any year. |
| C．Its ice loss was first recorded. |
| D．Its ice melted in the smallest amount. |
| A．Ice melt may result in disasters. |
| B．The globe is getting warmer slowly. |
| C．There was a tiny rise in sea level in 2019. |
| D．In 2003, scientists weighed the ice sheets. |
| A．Excited. | B．Relieved. |
| C．Puzzled. | D．Worried. |
| A．Greenland put the globe in danger |
| B．Ice sheets are melting faster globally |
| C．Ice melt in Greenland broke records |
| D．Satellites help measure Greenland’s ice sheet |
A park in Dandong, Liaoning province,
It took more than six months
"The park is not just for supporting leisure and fitness
Till now, various activities
"Dandong is a city of
Dandong
5 . If you really want to enjoy what Bermuda has to offer, cruising (乘船游览) there is the way to go. Not only is it fun, it is also affordable. It’s advisable to come in summer (Mid May- August).
BOOKING YOUR CRUISE
Most tourists prefer small cruise lines that dock in downtown Hamilton. It’s an ideal destination since it’s right on Front Street, from where you can easily get to Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda, and other parts of the island. Large cruise lines dock at Royal Navy Dockyard, which is inconveniently situated at the far western end of the Island.
TRANSPORTATION
Getting off a small cruise, you can easily go to Hamilton and other places by bus. From Royal Navy Dockyard, you can take a bus, a taxi or a boat. The most saving way of travelling around is by buying a day’s pass. You will enjoy unlimited transportation services using any public means.
ATTRACTIONS
The Bermuda Caves (洞穴)
This is a popular attraction that you have to tour. Anyone who loves to explore caves will definitely enjoy this place. You’d better wear sports shoes as some caves are a bit wet and slippery.
Beaches of Bermuda
Your trip to Bermuda is surely incomplete without spending some time at the amazing pink-sand beaches. Try Tobacco Bay and Horseshoe Bay, which are suitable for family visits. Bermuda is the world’s most famous shipwreck (沉船) site. If you’re a good diver, there are too many shipwrecks waiting to be discovered.
Sea Glass
If you want to pass time doing something for fun, head straight to the Alexander battery beach to collect lots of sea glass.
1. When is the best time to cruise Bermuda?| A．April. | B．July. | C．October. | D．November. |
| A．Buy a day’s pass to travel around the island. |
| B．Book a small ship at Royal Navy Dockyard. |
| C．Keep away from the crowded beaches. |
| D．Collect sea glass at Horseshoe Bay. |
| A．Exploring the far eastern end of the island. |
| B．Taking a bus to visit the capital city. |
| C．Diving to discover sunken ships. |
| D．Walking in the Bermuda Caves. |
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2. 你的建议。
参考词汇：垃圾分类garbage classification
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
3. 开头结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Hello, everyone!
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Thank you!
An international team of astronomers used a database combining observations from the best telescopes in the world
The Milky Way Galaxy
To test this theory, astronomers look at distant galaxies. Due to the limited speed of light, it takes time for light to travel across the void of space. The light we saw last night from an object 10 billion light years away
8 . Help Hermit Crabs
Hermit crabs are nature’s recyclers. They eat waste and help keep oceans and shores clean. Unlike other crabs, the hermit crab has a thin outer shell over its soft tail. This makes the hermit crab easy prey for hungry predators. Hermit crabs stay safe by living in old seashells. A hermit crab is picky; it tries on many shells until it finds one that fits just right. In recent years, however, many hermit crabs have had trouble finding their perfect homes. What is the problems There are not enough shells to go around!
One reason for the seashell shortage is that ocean water is not as clean as it once was. This has caused chemical changes to sea water. Some sea animals, like snails, are affected by these changes. Now there are fewer snails making shells. People visiting the beach often take shells home as souvenirs. This is another problem. Other people even take shells for their own pet hermit crabs! They do not realize that hermit crabs in the wild need those shells too.
Now people are working to solve this hermit crab housing shortage. They are teaching beach-Boers to leave seashells where they belong — at the seashore! Some people even make fake seashells that they hope the hermit crabs will like. For example, a group called Project Shelter invited people who visited their website to create different designs for hermit crab shells.
These designers had a lot to consider. What kind of material should be used to build a seashells. The material must be light enough for the hermit crab to carry, but strong enough to protect the crab from predators. The man-made shells could not contain glue or any other substance that might harm a hermit crab. Another challenge with building a hermit crab home was the opening to the shell. Too big would mean the crab would not feel safe. Too small would be uncomfortable, and the crab would not want to move in.
The Project Shelter shells are placed in the wild for hermit crabs to find. Lucky hermit crabs can move into these new dream homes.
1. Where can hermit crabs stay safe?| A．In different old seashells. | B．Behind the waste they’ll eat. |
| C．In their own thin outer shells. | D．Under the stones at the seashore. |
| A．The methods to recycle the wastes. | B．The ways to help the hermit crabs. |
| C．The materials of seashells. | D．The designs of websites. |
| A．man-made | B．perfect | C．hard | D．comfortable |
| A．The Project Shelter Group. | B．The shortage of the seashell. |
| C．New homes for hermit crabs. | D．The recyclers of the nature. |
9 . With a brain the size of a pinhead, insects perform fantastic navigational (导航的) abilities. They avoid obstacles and move through small openings. How do they do this, with their limited brain power? Understanding the inner workings of an insect’s brain can help us in our search towards energy-efficient computing, physicist Elisabetta Chicca of the University of Groningen demonstrates with her most recent result: A robot that acts like an insect.
In search of the neural (神经的) mechanism that drives insect behaviour, PhD student Thorben Schoepe developed a model of its neuronal activity and a small robot that uses this model to navigate. Schoepe’s model is based on one main principle: always steer towards the area with the least apparent motion.
He had his robot drive through a long “corridor”— consisting of two walls with a random print on it—and the robot centred in the middle of the corridor, as insects tend to do. In other virtual environments, such as a space with obstacles or small openings, Schoepe’s model also showed similar behaviour to insects.
“The model is so good,” Chicca concludes, “that once you set it up, it will perform in all kinds of environments. That’s the beauty of this result.”
The fact that a robot can navigate in a realistic environment is not new. Rather, the model gives insight into how insects do the job, and how they manage to do things so efficiently.
Chicca explains, “Much of robotics is not concerned with efficiency. We humans tend to learn new tasks as we grow up and within robotics. This is reflected in the current trend of machine learning. But insects are able to fly immediately from birth. An efficient way of doing that is hardwired in their brains. In a similar way, you could make computers more efficient.”
1. Why does Chicca want to study how the insect brain works?| A．To make computers more efficient. | B．To make use of insects’ brain power. |
| C．To understand the habit of insects. | D．To reveal the inner part of insects’ brain. |
| A．Stretch. | B．Stare. | C．Drive. | D．Work. |
| A．Regretful. | B．Shocked. | C．Confused. | D．Satisfied. |
| A．How to make a robot that acts like an insect. |
| B．Why insects navigate more efficiently than robots. |
| C．Why a robot can navigate in a realistic environment. |
| D．How humans tend to learn new tasks as they grow up. |
10 . Have you ever been hungry and tired and wished you could solve both problems at once? If you were a reindeer, it would be easy. According to new research, these talented deer can have a snooze while they chew their food.
Like cows and about 200 other mammals, reindeer use a process called rumination to break down the tough plant fibers they eat. This process involves passing the food back and forth between their mouth and the four chambers of their stomach, chewing it repeatedly until all the nutrients have been absorbed. All that chewing seems to leave very little time for sleep.
To find out their secret to getting enough rest, scientists fitted four female reindeer in a stable with devices that monitored their brainwaves. While the reindeer were ruminating, their brainwaves were similar to the patterns shown during light sleep. The animals sat or stood quietly with their eyes closed, and they were less likely than usual to react to the rustling of a neighboring deer’s movements. “They were in a very relaxed state,” researcher Melanie Furrer told Science News.
The chewing motion made it hard for the researchers to tell whether the animals’ brain waves were truly in sleep mode, bringing the benefits of a night’s rest. But when they tested the deer again after rumination, the animals’ brain activity showed that they felt rested.
If reindeer are kept awake for too long, they need extra “recovery sleep” to catch up. After ruminating, however, the deer did not need as much recovery sleep. Study co-author Gabriela Wagner told NPR that ruminating serves two different purposes at the same time. “Not only does it help them to get the most energy out of the food they have,” she said, “but it also makes sure that their brain gets enough rest and they get the sleep they need.”
1. What does the underlined sentence in Para 1 mean?| A．It is easy for reindeer to be hungry. |
| B．Reindeer can eat and sleep simultaneously. |
| C．People can not solve the problem like a reindeer. |
| D．Reindeer are talented so that they can solve the problem. |
| A．It allows reindeer to absorb all the nutrients. |
| B．It functions because of the four chambers of stomach. |
| C．Reindeer use rumination to pass the food back and forth. |
| D．All mammals use rumination to break down the fibers they eat. |
| A．By analyzing data. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By stating arguments. | D．By describing process. |
| A．Ruminating Serves Benefits For Reindeer |
| B．Ruminating Provides Extra Recovery Sleep |
| C．Ruminating Allows Reindeer Sleep And Eat |
| D．Getting Enough Sleep Is Essential For Reindeer |
