1 . Camping Tips &Tricks for a Fun Trip

Many people idealize camping trips as being this easy, effortless encounter with destinations rich with natural landscapes and nights under the stars twinkling in the sky above.     1     That’s why we’ve prepared the best camping tips for you!

Plan accordingly, and then plan again. When you’re out in the middle of nowhere, you have to be equipped to nature’s challenges.     2     Therefore, a plan for unexpected weather changes is essential to a successful camping trip. For example, consider packing extra suppliers like blankets. While that might seem like a huge inconvenience, the biggest and real issue occurs when you need something you don’t have.

Know what you need.     3     Not all beginner campers will need the top-of-the-line, latest supplies. But you should have at least the basics! That includes a decent tent with enough room for people camping with you, a good sleeping bag appropriate for the season, and other supplies like food and water. You’d better create a convenient checklist that lays out everything that you should consider.

    4     When you’re far away from the major conveniences we rely upon like an urgent care center, police stations, and emergency rooms, you should always remember that safety is your first priority!     5     A first aid kit is a great starting point, but it’s certainly not the end of maximizing your safety efforts. Depending on where you plan to camp, you’ll want to grab these items that cover you in most emergency situations: a pocket knife, a fire starter, and a safety whistle.

Ready to go camping? Now you know what to expect and how to prepare for your next camping trip, so you actually have fun—rain or shine!

A．Always choose a safe campsite.

B．Never leave home without safety in mind.

C．We encourage you to create a safety supply kit.

D．Camping doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.

E．A clear 3-day forecast can easily shift into a sudden heavy rain.

F．To maximize your comfort, always bring appropriate clothes for cold and rain.

G．But for beginner campers, those expectations can rapidly turn into a mess of reality.

4 . 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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5 . I met the Man of the Trees in summer ten years ago, when I was visiting Uncle Jita.

Those were difficult times. People were cutting down our forest, and there was often flooding. Sometimes our water supply was dirty. When our pump(水泵)did have clean water, we had to wait in line for ages. When the pump wasn’t working, we had to walk five kilometres to the closest stream.

But I was happy. I was going to see my favorite uncle. When the day finally arrived, Dad drove me to Uncle Jita’s house and left. Once he saw me, Uncle Jita announced, “Tomorrow we’re going to explore a magical place. Here is my camera, Amy. You can take photos of what you see.”

The following day, we woke up and left early on a boat. The trip was exciting. But when we got off, there was ... nothing in front of us. “I don’t want to take pictures of this,” I complained.

Uncle laughed,“Start walking, Amy. I promise you’ll be surprised.” After some time, I could see the outline of a forest in the distance. A little closer, there was a man waving to us.

“That’s Kabir. The forest you see is his. He planted every single tree.” As we walked towards Kabir, Uncle explained that thirty years ago, the whole area was a wasteland. But one day Kabir decided to change all that and started planting trees. Thanks to him, part of the wasteland is now a paradise(天堂).

Uncle introduced me to Kabir, who had gray hair and a determined face. “Jita told me you like animals. Are you ready to see some?” he asked. “Of course!” I replied. We continued walking and soon were under the trees. I turned my head and was amazed at the difference between the two places. All because of the efforts of one man.

Like Uncle said, Kabir’s forest was magical. We saw deer, rhinos, and even tigers. During lunchtime, Kabir explained how, by planting trees, it was possible to stop the land from eroding(侵蚀).

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。

Hearing this, I turned to my uncle, ^“I think we can plant trees too ”

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In the years that followed, people in our village worked hard to carry out our plan.

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6 . The streets of Cotonou, Benin’s largest city, have been Domingo Soule’s workplace for 35 years. The 50-year-old motorcycle taxi driver spends his days driving for miles on roads blanketed in exhaust fumes (尾气), picking up customers and taking them to where they want to go. But Soule has developed a cough from breathing in air pollution, he believes, and at the end of each day his eyes hurt.

Things maybe about to change, however. In recent months, he’s seen more and more electric motorbikes on the streets of Cotonou. The Indian manufacturer (制造商) M Auto introduced its electric bikes in Benin in July 2022 and there are already 2,000 on the roads; an additional 2,000 people have paid deposits (定金) and are waiting for delivery.

Shegun Bakari, M Auto’s chief executive, has ambitions to get all moto-taxi drivers in Benin to switch to electric. This month he plans to launch a campaign to encourage them to swap (交换) their old bikes for new electric models.

The only sticking point is the battery. M Auto’s business model relies on “swap stations” throughout the city. When the battery runs out after about 60 miles, drivers must visit a station and pay to exchange the empty battery for a full one. Concerns about the battery are also preventing Soule form buying an electric bike. It could cost him 4,000 CFA ￡(5.40) a day to replace batteries, Soule says, whereas at the moment he can buy five litres of petrol (enough for one day) for 3,000CFA.

Bakari understands his concerns. In Beni, close to 40% of the population live under the poverty line, earning less than US$2 a day. “If I’m living with $2 a day, I can’t afford to pay more just because I want to save the planet,” he says.

He and his team are working to persuade governments in Africa to reduce taxes on electric vehicles, as well as putting plans in place to produce the electric bikes in Benin. They are also in talks with the government to build a solar plant to provide the extra energy that will be needed.

1. What does the author want to show by telling Soule’s story?

A．Air pollution becomes a health issue.

B．Road conditions badly need improving.

C．Taxi drivers find it hard to make a living.

D．Motorbikes area major means of transport.

2. What is the solution to the problem caused by motorbikes?

A．Riding old bikes.	B．Building more roads.
C．Banning them on road.	D．Moving to electric bikes.

3. What is the major concern of a potential electric bike user?

A．Short battery life.	B．Battery safety.
C．Insufficient charging points.	D．High battery replacement cost.

4. What are Bakari and his team making efforts to do?

A．Create more job opportunities.	B．Make electric bikes affordable.
C．Cutback on fuel supplies.	D．Improve taxi drivers’ welfare.

7 . 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。

A new group of free employees have been added to a French workforce. So far, a theme park in western France         1     (employ) six birds, more exactly six crows, to collect and deal with garbage — mainly cigarette ends and other small pieces. The birds take the     2     (collect) trash to special bins where they can receive bird food in exchange     3     putting away the litter.

Park president Nicolas said, “The purpose of employing the crows is to educate people to take up their social     4     (responsible). Since the birds are able to do     5     we are much more able to do than them, we should do this by ourselves?

Crows have long been observed for their various amazing     6     (display) of intelligence. They are one of the     7     (smart) groups of animals on earth, with remarkable problem solving, tool making, and deductive (演绎) reasoning skills.

In addition to inspiring humans to pick up trash, the clever crows currently     8     (work) at the park are pretty excited to put their intelligence to work.

“It has become     9     exciting game for them” Nicolas says. “They pick up the trash on the ground, and every day they     10     (reward) for what they have done.”

8 . 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。

I picked out Misty at a pound. “He’s going to be put to sleep in two days,” the assistant told me, sighing. “Nobody wants him — everyone says he’s ugly.” I looked into Misty’s eyes. “I’ll take him,” I said, and Misty came to live with me.

Misty was a very adorable cat - my lap was his favorite spot in the world. “How’s my boy this morning?” I asked him every day, and he’d meow back.

When I noticed he was having problems chewing, I took him to the vet (兽医). He had to have two teeth out. The bill rocked me — my income was pitiful. “Please don’t get sick anymore, Misty,” I begged.

But just six months later, Misty began meowing in pain. My heart sank. “Misty’s got bladder (膀胱) stones”, the vet said. “The surgery for that is ＄1000.” “Is there any alternative?” I asked desperately. “You could have him put down”, she said. I took Misty home. I couldn’t put him to sleep. But the vet bills had ruined my savings.

That afternoon, I let Misty out for a few minutes as always. Hearing him meow in pain, I felt terrible. “I have to do something,” I scolded myself. But when I called him, he didn’t come. “Oh no!” I searched the streets but couldn’t find him. I printed out Missing Cat posters and I cried each time I taped one to a tree. But nobody called. Misty had disappeared.

Three months witnessed my countless tears. I just had to assume Misty was dead. If he hadn’t been run over or died of starvation, those bladder stones would have taken their toll. The few extra dollars in my bank account didn’t compensate for the sadness I felt.

Then one day, I received a call from an elderly woman saying she had one cat seeming to match my poster. I rushed to her place.

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。

From her glossy (有光泽的) coat, I was sure Misty had had far better medical care.

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“Is that really Misty?” she asked again, a slim of sadness flashing over her face.

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9 . Poison frogs across Central and South America display some of the brightest colors in the animal kingdom. The way such creatures evolved to be just colorful enough to signal their toxic (有毒的) defense-but not so colorful that they become vulnerable to predators (捕食者) — has long been a grey area for scientists. Initially, predators would not have known that bright colors signal toxicity, and therefore would have eaten, and then become ill-these easily-spotted few members of a species with the colorful mutation (突变). In theory, this should make it virtually impossible for the aposematic (防护色的) pioneers to pass on their genes to their offspring, allowing for the mutation to take hold in the population.

To get to the bottom of this dilemma, Karl Loeffler Henry, a researcher at Carleton University launched the new study. Loeffler Henry’s team pored over data from the family trees of 1,100 species of frogs, newts and salamanders, and categorized them into one of five groups. On one end of range are the creatures with bright blues, yellows and reds. On the other are species that blend in perfectly with their surroundings. Between these poles, the scientists place species with camouflaged (伪装的) tops and colorful bottoms in various degrees. These tend to display their dramatic halves only when trying to defend themselves from predators.

The team used nine different computer models to test the potential evolutionary routes the species in the bright aposematic group might have taken to evolve this way. In the end, the researchers realized that they all kind of followed a similar pattern, evolving from species in the middle of that range, those whose colors are hidden unless in danger.

There have also been other theories proposed, but this new theory presents a mechanism that is likely to play a role in the evolution of anti-predator defense in various prey groups and a wide range of different predators. Possibly, it might inspire the exploration of evolution of warning coloration in other animal groups as well.

1. What remained unclear to scientists in the past?

A．How the proper shades of the colors are evolved.

B．How these creatures signal their toxic defence.

C．Which colors are better at scaring predators away.

D．Which creatures are at higher risk of being eaten.

2. What do the underlined words “this dilemma” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The predators clearly knew about the toxicity but still feed on them.

B．The first colorful members have bright colors but can avoid predators.

C．The first colorful members were eaten but the mutation was passed on.

D．The predators became seriously ill but their population continued to boom.

3. What do we know about the new study?

A．The colors of all those species were either bright or grey.

B．The aposematic group evolved by following nine routes.

C．The researchers observed these different species in the wild.

D．The origin of the evolution turned out to be the hidden colors.

4. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．Other theories of the evolution.	B．Other animals’ evolution routes.
C．The drawbacks of the study.	D．The significance of the study.

10 . In our human-centric view, the ability to shoot ink or change colors may seem odd, but you know what’s really odd? Menopause (更年期). You can count species other than humans known to experience and outlive menopause on one hand. Only Oracs (虎鲸) and some whale populations have females that live long past their reproductive years to become grandmothers. But a new, landmark study confirms that at least one population of chimpanzees can now be added to the list.

The discovery comes as the result of 21 years’ worth of observing the Ngogo community of wild chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Studying urine from 66 Ngogo females, aged 14 to 67, showed that their hormone levels changed after approaching 50, confirming they were in menopause. Interestingly, 50 is also the age when many people begin to experience menopause. “It’s really cool to finally have that piece of the puzzle come into place,” says Catherine Hobaiter, a primatologist who was not part of the new study.

But Catherine points out that the Ngogo community lives in a chimp paradise: the resource-rich, well-protected Kibale National Park that also lacks leopards, their main predator. And because the Noggo community is found in the heart of the park, its only neighbors are other chimps — not humans who can expose chimpanzees to viruses that have devastated other communities. “The Ngogo population may be an outlier (局外人) when it comes to the rest of the species,” she cautions.

And there is a question concerning “the grandmother effect”, according to which a grandmother has a decidedly beneficial effect on her children and grandchildren. Chimpanzees do not form long-term pair-bonds and females leave in search of new communities when they reach maturity, which means grandmother chimpanzees likely don’t know who their grandchildren are in the same way humans or even orcas do. What they do after the menopause remains a question of interest. “And that’s all future work to be done.” said Catherine.

1. What can be learned about menopause?

A．It is rare among animals.	B．It is unique to human beings.
C．It just occurs at the age of 50.	D．It is experienced only by females.

2. What does the underlined part in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Scientist have found the solution to menopause.

B．What happens to the 66 Ngogo females remains a puzzle.

C．There is a puzzle whether chimpanzee females experience menopause.

D．The latest discovery casts new light on the puzzle of animal menopause.

3. Why does Catherine mention the living situation of the Ngogo community?

A．To stress the importance of protecting chimpanzees from viruses.

B．To remind researchers of the potential limitation of the new study.

C．To prove that Ngogo chimpanzees are perfect subjects of the study.

D．To argue that the discovery of the new study is completely groundless.

4. How is the last paragraph developed?

A．By offering a definition.	B．By drawing a conclusion.
C．By presenting relevant facts.	D．By giving examples and opinions.