1 . Large earthquakes could be identified months or even years in advance by finding unique signals, according to a new research from a team of German researchers.

The research suggests more exact earthquake warning systems require more local and regional sites that can find underground signals. Along with this, finding second faults(断层)after the main rupturing (断裂) fault would further increase the exactness of these readings.

To find this out, the team led by Dr Patricia Martinez-Garzon studied the Kahramanamras earthquake that shook Turkey in early 2023. They found that there was an increase in the earthshaking event rates and larger energy release starting around eight months before the earthquakes.

These signals were found within 65 km of the epicenter (震中). Although the main rupture occurred on a fault line and in an area that was known to be the cause of earthquakes, signals before the event took place both on the main and secondary faults, which hadn’t received much attention from scientists in the past.

Now, short-term prediction (预测) of earthquake size, time and location is just possible. The scientists behind this study believe that long-term finding is seminal to help build our understanding of earthquakes and future events.

But not everyone, including Bill McGuire, professor at UCL, agrees with how useful this could be. “While this is interesting from a scientific viewpoint, it is unlikely that knowing a big earthquake might be on the way within months or years really gets us any further forward in preparing for them,” he says. “The only useful prediction of future earthquakes is arguably the one that exactly fixes the location of a coming quake and its timing to within a few weeks, so as to move people to a safe place.”

1. Why did Patricia’s team carry out the study?

A．To find more exact signals before earthquakes.	B．To help the Turks in the earthquake-stricken area.
C．To build the modern earthquake warning system.	D．To attract the attention of scientists worldwide.

2. What does the underlined “seminal” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Wasteful.

B．Difficult.

C．Annoying.

D．Important.

3. What does Bill think of the prediction?

A．It will be put into practice soon.	B．It could tell a quake a year in advance.
C．It can buy us time to move safely.	D．It doesn’t make any sense in reality.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Scientists Work Hard to Figure Out Disasters	B．Hidden Signals Could Show Future Earthquakes
C．German Researchers Stand Out in Natural Science	D．A Deadly Earthquake Shook Turkey This Year

2 . 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。

Located on a huge rock in the forests of central Sri Lanka, Sigiriya is an     1     (attract) sight now as it must have been when it was first built by a great king in the     2     (five) century A. D. Meaning “lion’s rock”, Sigiriya is entered by way of passageways cut into the rock face.

The castle was later covered by the forest, and only familiar to local villagers. Outsiders used knowledge of its past, mentioned in Buddhist texts, to search     3     the ancient site. In1827, a Scottish officer, Jonathan Forbes, on     4     (hear) local stories about the castle, decided     5     (look) for it. In 1831, he set off to where locals told him and found the remains of the ancient city.

Sigiriya     6     (build) by Kashyapa I, the king     7     ruled the native Sinhalese dynasty, the Moriya. The impressive castle was     8     capital of the Sinhalese kingdom until Kashyapa was defeated (击败) in A. D. 495.

After Kashyapa, dynasties rose and fell, their fortunes shaped by internal (内部的) power struggles and conflicts between native Sinhalese and outside forces from India.

Various     9     (city) held the status (地位) of capital after Sigiriya, such as Polonnaruwa. By the 12th century, however, overall control of Sri Lanka progressively weakened. Sinhalese power retreated (撤退) to the southwest of the island, and the former administrative (行政的) centres, including Sigiriya,     10     (start) to fall into disuse.

3 . Recently a report was made public by NatureServe, a Virginia-based environmental group, which said 40 percent of animals and 34 percent of plants in the United States are at risk of disappearing.

The group examined data from over 1,000 scientists in the United States and Canada, using 50 years of information on the health of animals, plants and ecosystems. The report provided pictures and maps of areas that are unprotected and where animals and plants are most threatened.

Sean O’Brien, president of NatureServe, said what the report showed was dreadful. For example, among the species (物种) at risk of extinction is the Venus flytrap, a plant that “eats” insects. The report said it is only found in the wild in a few places in the states of North and South Carolina. The report also said 200 species of trees might die out and that America’s large northern grasslands are among the ecosystems most threatened. The main threats to plants, animals and ecosystems include environmental destruction (破坏), land-use change, river pollution, and climate change, according to the report.

California, Texas and the southeastern United States are where the highest percentages of plants, animals and ecosystems are at risk. Those areas have many different forms of life. Wesley Knapp, head plant scientist at NatureServe, said those parts of America haven’t seen much population growth in recent years. Knapp said lawmakers usually do not provide as much money for protecting plants as they do for animals. He hoped the data could guide state and area officials in creating effective State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) to protect endangered species.

Now $50 million nationwide is shared among all states to carry out their SWAP. If the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act was passed, it would increase that amount to $ 1.4 billion. Knapp said the bill would have better served the protection of plants and animals.

1. What can we infer about the environmental group?

A．It has been running for 50 years.	B．It has saved 40 kinds of animals.
C．It put much effort into the report.	D．It just protects threatened plants.

2. Which is the closest in meaning to “dreadful” in paragraph 3?

A．Pleasant.

B．Similar.

C．Common.

D．Terrible.

3. What did Knapp expect of the data?

A．It could play an active role.	B．It may cover all the species.
C．It might help reduce the cost.	D．It will take the place of SWAP.

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

A．The Protection by Law Making Sense	B．Many US Animals and Plants at Risk
C．State Wildlife Action Plan on the Way	D．NatureServe Working for a Green World

4 . A possible treatment for Florida’s disastrous red tides (赤潮) took another step toward widespread use after successful testing in Sarasota Bay.

This study, led by UCF Assistant Professor of Biology Kristy Lewis, is the first successful test of any red tide treatment technology in open water using large water containers (容器). These containers — about six feet in diameter — extend from the waters’ surface to the ocean floor, allowing scientists to test real ocean conditions within a controlled setting. Four containers were treated with a clay (黏土) solution, while the other four served as a control.

The clay along with the Karenia brevis algae (海藻), which is responsible for Florida red tide, is put on the ocean floor. Lewis has spent the last three years carefully testing the impact of introducing this clay into the ocean ecosystem. She not only looks for changes in the water’s quality, but also wants to know how the clay affects the health of sea life. “We want to make sure the treatment is not worse than the disease,” she says.

At first, the test was simply to measure the influence of the clay on the ecosystem, but an unexpected red tide event caused Lewis to make the test practical. The results suggest the clay performed as expected, but there’s still a question of whether the bad effects of algae remain active on the ocean floor. Water collected during the test should provide an answer. Next steps depend on the test results, but there are already plans to survey what happened to the clay-coated algae when it’s used near seagrass beds.

Visiting Sarasota. Florida, in the middle of a red tide event reminded Lewis just how important the research is to keep the state’s coast healthy. Lewis says she’s prepared to go another three years if that’s what it takes to find an acceptable solution to red tides.

1. What was the purpose of the study?

A．To plant more seagrass.	B．To fight against red tides.
C．To collect clean water.	D．To produce containers.

2. What made Lewis redesign the test?

A．Her original work plan.	B．An unforgettable tour.
C．Her team’s suggestion.	D．An unexpected red tide.

3. What does Lewis hope to do in the near future?

A．Work with the locals.	B．Report Florida red tides.
C．Further her research.	D．Study seafood industry.

4. In which part of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Nature.

B．Business.

C．Education.

D．Lifestyle.

5 . Be a Better Gardener

There are always lots of things to learn as a gardener, and many of them can only be learned through getting your hands dirty. But there are some things gardeners can learn from reading or watching.     1    .

What plant families are

Actually, plants have formal scientific Latin names. These names help to categorize (分类) plants, and make it clearer to identify and study those plants. Specific plants are specific varieties of particular species. Species are members of a certain genus (属). And each genus belongs to a broader plant family.

    2    . For example, plants in the Lamiaceae family (mint family) include garden herbs such as lavender, mint and rosemary. In the family, members will generally have aromatic (芳香的) leaves, among other shared characteristics.

    3    

Learning plant families can be a great step forward for those who want to identify more plants around them. Even when we cannot identify plants down to species and variety, knowing which family they belong to can often give us a lot of the information we need. This will often help us to understand the broad characteristics of the plant we are looking at, and where it might be placed in our gardens, or which neighbors it will like.

How to learn plant families

    4    . But I find that a good way to begin is by researching the plants we already have in our garden. Find out which family the different plants belong to, and then take a good and long look at those plants to see their characteristics.     5    .

A．Why to learn plant families

B．Where to get information about houseplants

C．Plants in the same family have a lot in common

D．It takes a lot of practice to grow different species

E．We can learn plant families in several different ways

F．To become a good gardener, we can start with learning plant families

G．By comparing different plants, we can easily understand plant families

6 . The ocean depths contain the metals needed for the widespread use of battery-dependent technologies like electric vehicles, which will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Interested parties see this as a solution to our technological demands and the pressing need for a “green transition”. However, it raises a crucial question: should we mine the deepest stretches of the world’s oceans?

Some scientists and activists warn that seabed mining could cause an irreversible (不可逆的) chain reaction, severely harming the ocean and threatening entire ecosystems on the ocean floor. There are also potential risks to our health, including toxic metals entering the human food chain, and affecting climate change. The most significant direct impact of mining in remote ecosystems is the probable loss of habitat and biodiversity.

Dr Chong Chen is a deep sea biologist at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). “There are undoubtedly many undiscovered species with abilities and functions that we cannot even imagine exist,” he says, “and we could lose them without knowing they ever existed.”

The mining process also disturbs seabed sediments (沉积物) and releases them back into the sea, raising additional concerns among scientists. Mining is for metals, whose stability of the construction are unchecked. “Some of those may be broken down and be directly into the water column,” says Jeffrey Drazen, professor of Oceanography with the University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Some of these metals are toxic to life.” says Professor Drazen. At the same time, he acknowledges the core challenge is ensuring whether the benefits of extracting (提取) deep-sea mineral resources outweigh the potential harm to our ecosystem. He notes that it’s a tough choice.

The positive development is that, for the first time, companies, governments, and civil society are actively participating in international discussions to create rules and regulations for the deep-sea mining industry before it begins.

1. What’s the purpose of the last sentence in Paragraph 1?

A．To introduce the topic.	B．To give some evidence.
C．To define the phenomenon.	D．To reveal the conception.

2. What does the underlined word “those” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Sediments.

B．Seabed.

C．Metals.

D．Mineral resources.

3. What can be inferred from the text?

A．The deep-sea mining will not do more harm than good to the people.

B．The deep-sea mining has a big impact on ecosystem and human beings.

C．A regulatory framework for the deep-sea mining industry has been established.

D．Many undiscovered species are bound to extinct according to Dr Chong Chen.

4. What is Professor Drazen’s attitude towards the deep-sea mining?

A．Skeptical.

B．Objective.

C．Indifferent.

D．Positive.

7 . My family went to London for visiting specialists. The day before we _______ the ship, Father said goodbye gently to his five-year-old “friend”, an Australian cattle dog, Spider, who was loved by us all. Father’s friend Sandy kept him _______ while we were overseas.

Six weeks later, a _______ arrived from Sandy, giving my father the news that Spider had _______ just two weeks after we had sailed. I will always remember my father’s face _______ and his eyes filled with sadness as he read the letter. Sandy has _______ constantly on ABC radio and other local newspapers. _______ , the dog was never found later. Spider seemed to decide to _______ us elsewhere.

Finally, we made a _______. We sailed back and did everything that we could do ________ waiting. Several months passed but there was still no news concerning. My father took the ________ and kept looking for him.

One cold morning eight months after, my father had a call from an old lady who said she was putting food out “for a very old dog”. My father’s eyes were lighted up with ________. That was enough for my father to ________ immediately. When we arrived at the old lady’s house, she showed us the dog. It was Spider! My father did his special whistle (口哨) for Spider. “Woof!” he barked. Spider was capturing (捕捉) the ________ feeling that occurred when he first locked eyes with my father. To Spider, our ________ and love are the inspiration.

1.

A．sailed

B．parked

C．boarded

D．camped

2.

A．alive

B．away

C．accompanied

D．apart

3.

A．letter

B．story

C．service

D．test

4.

A．fallen ill

B．got stuck

C．lost life

D．run away

5.

A．confusing

B．shocking

C．moving

D．touching

6.

A．announced

B．advertised

C．posted

D．blogged

7.

A．Unfortunately

B．Luckily

C．Hopefully

D．Eventually

8.

A．attend to

B．take over

C．look around

D．search for

9.

A．decision

B．discussion

C．advice

D．plan

10.

A．as to

B．except for

C．instead of

D．due to

11.

A．lead

B．place

C．risk

D．pace

12.

A．silence

B．dissatisfaction

C．excitement

D．praise

13.

A．pulled up

B．drove off

C．stepped in

D．calmed down

14.

A．special

B．familiar

C．painful

D．empty

15.

A．expectation

B．creativity

C．generosity

D．determination

8 . Humans can make do with scarves, coats and gloves in cold weather. Some animals can hibernate (冬眠) for the winter. A new study finds that reptiles (爬行动物) and birds do something that is similar to hibernation, but a little different. In very cold weather, their body temperatures greatly drop into an energy-saving state in order to survive. The ability to thermoregulation (体温调节) for reptiles and birds is possible.

In Texas, where the city of Beaumont reached a low of 18 degrees Fahrenheit last month, it looked as if alligators (短吻鳄) had died of cold — yet alive in iced-over water. By ensuring their long noses stayed above the water line, the cold-blooded creatures were able to lower their body temperatures to survive the sudden short period of very cold weather. The process, in the case of cold-blooded animals like reptiles, is called brumation — it’s like a short state of hibernating. While in this state, reptiles become sleepy and they can go for a long time without eating or drinking. For example, alligators can be in brumation from just a few hours to months.

Like reptiles and mammals, birds can go into a state called torpor in order to save energy under very cold conditions. “Torpor is somewhere between a short sleep and hibernation,” said Justin Baldwin, a PhD candidate in biology at Washington University in St. Louis. Baldwin studied 29 species of hummingbirds living in Colombia. Researchers found that hummingbirds can enter into deep or shallow torpor, depending on several factors, including their size and weather conditions. In deep torpor, the birds are much more likely to be affected by disease. And what’s more, they would be easily harmed by their enemies.

Some bird lovers want to help the birds when they are in torpor. For example, the Bird Alliance of Oregon offers a few tips on how to keep the birds from danger.

1. What does the new study show?

A．Body temperature is important for animals.

B．Thermoregulation exists in reptiles and birds.

C．Reptiles and birds’ thermoregulation is unusual.

D．Body temperature drops greatly during reptiles and birds’ sleep.

2. What can we learn about alligators in paragraph 2?

A．They are active in brumation.	B．They are dead in cold weather.
C．They face extinction in cold weather.	D．They eat and drink nothing in brumation.

3. What does the author want to say about the birds in deep torpor?

A．They can get enough sleep.	B．They may harm other birds.
C．They may waste plenty of energy.	D．They may be under threat.

4. What might the author continue talking about?

A．Risks of animal hibernation.

B．His opinions of the study about birds.

C．Some detailed measures to protect the birds in torpor.

D．Other problems raised by cold weather.

9 . 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。

On March 31, the Eiffel Tower celebrated its 130th anniversary since it opened.     1    (original) planned to last only 20 years, the people of Paris wisely decided to keep it standing,    2     (recognize) its importance. Millions of people     3     (visit) the tower so far, according to its official website.

The tower was created by the French engineer Gustave Eiffel and was first intended as the main entrance     4     the 1889 World’s Fair. It was built in a little over two years and faced criticism from some locals initially. However, it quickly captured the attention of fair visitors, attracting more than two million people. It also had a     5     (practice) use as a radio antenna during World War I.

Visitors today can choose to climb 1,665 steps or take one of the original elevator cars    6     (reach) the top. At the top of the tower,     7     the tower’s administrative office is located, guests can enjoy a drink at the champagne bar on the top floor.

Today, the Eiffel Tower is a symbol of France, representing a feeling of pride and thankfulness. It is a global icon that can bring together people from different     8    (background). The tower is not only     9     popular tourist destination but also a widely recognized symbol, a     10     (believe) held by many who appreciate its enduring charm.

10 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What does Jacob ask Amy to do?

A．Enjoy the flowers.

B．Provide help.

C．Grow flowers.

2. How often does Jacob water flowers?

A．Every day.

B．Every two days.

C．Every three days.

3. What do we know about Jacob’s flowers?

A．They lack water.

B．They lack sunshine.

C．Their leaves turn yellow.

4. What will Jacob do?

A．Water flowers in time.

B．Learn about growing flowers.

C．Grow flowers with Amy.