1 . For as long as I can remember, I’ve had animals in my life. These days, there are four small companions: three dogs and an eight-year-old brown Burmese cat called Soo. I love them all dearly and they are the best company possible. They greet me warmly each time I come home, never complain and never get angry or argue with me. I have, though, discovered recently, after all these years of never being without a pet, there are unexpected risks of living with animals.

This year, I’ve spent four weeks in hospital, thanks to the cat. I felt such a fool telling the doctors that the terrible bruising (擦伤) and growing lump (肿块) in the middle of my right foot was due to my cat misbehaving.

It was a Sunday night. I’d had friends for lunch and was in the kitchen clearing up. I’d emptied and washed a heavy glass ashtray (烟灰缸), which I’d placed on the side. Soo knows she’s not allowed on the kitchen surfaces. Yet, she jumped up, marched towards the ashtray, and knocked it off. I like to think she didn’t know my foot was directly in her line of fire, but it was. I cried with pain. I couldn’t see any obvious wound and the ashtray survived the fall. I thought nothing more of it.

I’ve never seen such bruising as appeared the next day, but I carried on. I had work to do. It wasn’t too painful and surely the bruising would go away eventually. I carried on like that for a couple of weeks until a visit from my son, who thought the lump had grown and could be infected, so demanded I take a trip to the hospital.

As for forgiveness, there’s nothing to forgive. It’s my fault the ashtray was too close to the edge. There’ll still be treats and toys prepared for my pets under the Christmas tree.

1. What has the writer found recently about having pets?

A．Pets are the best company possible.	B．Pets may bring danger to their owners.
C．Pets never complain or argue with people.	D．Dogs and cats are great pets in people’s life.

2. What was the result of the accident?

A．I was grateful to my cat Soo.	B．I was made fun of by doctors.
C．I only suffered some bruising.	D．I stayed in hospital for several weeks.

3. What do we know about the accident?

A．My son took my wound more seriously.

B．Soo didn’t knock off the ashtray on purpose.

C．It happened when I was cooking in the kitchen.

D．I took a trip to the hospital right after the accident.

4. Which can best describe the writer’s attitude towards pets?

A．Love them all to bits.	B．Hate their misbehaviors.
C．Understand their feelings.	D．Complain about their company.

2 . Whether it’s for your health, environment — or your wallet — gardening has seen a boom in recent years.     1    . Here are our top reasons to get gardening this year:

Pick your own

    2    . From picking your own strawberries or unearthing the first new potatoes of the year, homegrown veg is a joy. It simply tastes better. Whether that’s down to the triumph of simply growing your own or eating it when it’s at its freshest, once you start home growing you may never stop.

Invite community conversations

Over the garden fence. At the vegetable fields. While weeding your window boxes.

    3    . Simply being out and about in your garden invites interaction and conversation with neighbours and people in your local area, which in itself has multiple social and wellbeing benefits.

Build strength

Gardening is exercise because you do small tasks like cutting grass or raking (耙地) that fall under the category of light or moderate exercise. However, you also dig, shovel, and chop wood to get this level up to moderate exercise.     4    . And this can help build up your strength.

Boost mood

Did you know that gardening can boost your mood while increasing your self-respect levels? When you make time to go out and work in your garden, your anxiety levels can go down and you could start to feel less depressed. One study looked at this benefit of gardening. There searchers took people who suffered from depression and had them participate in a 12-week long gardening.     5    .

A．The more you garden, the stronger you will get

B．All of these tasks ensure you work your muscles

C．There’s nothing like eating your own vegetables

D．And now is a great time to get your hands dirty in soil

E．A big benefit of gardening is forming connections with new people

F．They found that each participant had great improvement in their condition

G．It’s amazing to have someone to talk to when you’re tending your plants or vegetables

3 . Why does the giant squid (乌贼) have eyes as large as a football? Why do more than 350 species of fish produce their own electricity? Why do dogs become more optimistic after two weeks of plentiful sniffing (嗅)?

The mysteries and miracles of animal senses are revealed in this year's winner of Royal Society Trivedi science book prize. An Immense World by Ed Yong is an exploration of the unique sensory world of other creatures, from tree hoppers to singing frogs, who sense the world in vastly different ways to humans.

Yong has interviewed many kinds of scientists during his writing but sensory biologists are his favourite. “There's a surprising number of sensory biologists who are themselves neuro-atypical—they have something like face blindness or colour blindness,” he says. “Their different than‘normal’ way of experiencing the world themselves might help them better empathize (共情) with other creatures who have those experiences. The core of this book is curiosity and empathy, understanding and valuing animals for their own benefit, and trying to put ourselves in the shoes of creatures who are very different to us.”

Yong's book carries an important message about how our lack of understanding of the sensory worlds of other animals is hugely destructive. Studies have shown that LED lights are particularly damaging to bats and insects. Flowers illuminated (照亮) by bright lights receive 62%fewer visits from insects. Meanwhile, low-frequency noise in oceans has risen 32-fold since the Second World War because of global shipping-damaging whales' ability to communicate.

Unfortunately, reducing noise and light pollution is nowhere near the political agenda. "It's understandable why it's not on the political agenda because it's not a visceral (强烈的) problem like a plastic-ridden beach or chemicals billowing from a smokestack, ”says Yong. “Light and sound don't produce the same kind of horror. Light especially feels like an entirely good thing-we want more light in our lives; light is knowledge, safety, beauty and goodness. So just raising awareness that these are problems that could be tackled is an important first step and one I hope An Immense World moves people further towards taking."

1. What is An Immense World aimed at?

A．Popularizing scientific knowledge.

B．Exploring the origin of the universe.

C．Revealing the unknown lives of animals.

D．Building harmony between man and nature.

2. Why did Ed Yong prefer to interview sensory biologists?

A．They are pleasant to talk with.	B．They are more knowledgeable.
C．They have abnormal behaviour.	D．They identify with the creatures.

3. What is the reason that reducing noise and light pollution is not on the political agenda?

A．Their seriousness is not so obvious.	B．There is a lack of government funds.
C．There is public ignorance about them.	D．They have been brought under control.

4. What is this text?

A．A news report.

B．A biology textbook.

C．A research paper.

D．A book review.

4 . African grey parrots (鹦鹉) help their peers complete tasks despite no immediate benefit to themselves, researchers have found in the first study to show that birds display such apparently “selfless” behaviour.

Writing in the journal Current Biology, Brucks and colleagues report how they tested African grey parrots in a task that involved the birds passing a token, in the form of a metal ring, through a hole in their section to a neighbouring bird of the same species. This token could then be passed by the second bird to a human, via another hole, who would exchange it for a piece of nut.

The team found African grey parrots helped their neighbours by passing tokens to their neighbour when a human held out their hand, allowing the second bird to drop it through-the hole and receive a tasty treat.

The same behaviour was seen when the roles of the birds were reversed (颠倒). The more tokens a bird had previously given, the more they received in return.

However, the team stress previously the birds did not know that their favour would be rewarded, suggesting it is something of a “selfless” act.

The team say it may be due to African grey parrots gathering in huge flocks at night but splitting into smaller groups during the day to forage (觅食). Brucks said such behaviour is thought to require strong social cognitive (认知) abilities, adding that being helpful might help the birds gain a good reputation with their peers, making it more likely they would team up for foraging and other tasks.

Dr Manon Schweinfurth, an expert in animal behaviour, said evidence of reciprocal (互惠的) behaviour in African grey parrots is quite interesting. “It has been thought that it is so cognitively demanding that only humans can show it. But we now get more and more evidence from other animals that they are able to show reciprocity,” she said.

1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The methods of observation.	B．The comparison of the species.
C．One feeding behaviour of parrots.	D．One example of Brucks’ experiments.

2. Brucks’ study found that grey parrots help their peers complete tasks even if           .

A．there was no human signal	B．there was no neighbor request
C．they received no instant reward	D．they got punished for a selfish act

3. What does paragraph 6 mainly focus on?

A．Possible reasons for the research finding.	B．Potential application of the research result.
C．A further explanation of the research method.	D．A reasonable doubt about the research process.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．A scientific discovery about grey parrots.	B．The development of parrots’ selfless spirit.
C．A practical experiment on animal behaviour.	D．The protection of parrots’ living environment.

5 . Shortly before he turned 60, Mark Fuhrmann realized what he wanted. He, now, at 65, has just returned from a second voyage. His 6,835 mile-round trip from Nova Scotia took in the great lakes of the US, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic.

Fuhrmann started these journeys “to kickstart retirement” from the maritime PR business he ran in Oslo for the past 30 years. Before he set off, in June last year, he swapped (交换) his house for a flat, and greatly reduced his possessions. “It was good to get rid of all of those things and say: ‘This isn’t a phase; this is a new season,’” he says.

Amazingly, he didn’t plan his trip, beyond committing to fundraise for Medecins Sans Frontières. “I thought: ‘I’ll try to do 40km each day.’ But I never knew where I was going to lay down my head.”

The challenges were psychological, physical, and sometimes life-threatening. In Florida, he was chased by an alligator (短吻鳄), but narrowly escaped from it. In the Boston area, he saw “a black fin moving towards me like a snake”. He lay his oar (划桨) across his lap and waited. “If a great white shark can swim leisurely, that’s exactly what it did. It just passed me,” he says. Ten minutes later, Fuhrmann pulled his kayak (小艇) into a cove, where he ran into a man who invited him into his home for coffee and apple pie. His whole trip was filled with these switchbacks and moments of connection with strangers, which Fuhrmann experienced as “a call to authenticity”.

What does he mean? “Nature is born within us. If you avoid that, you avoid experiencing something that is vital to who you are as a person. I want real things — life isn’t about having more. I think we need to accept where we are at this stage of life, at 60 or 65.”

“I look at retirement as a season,” he says. He started his latest voyage because “I wanted to have a better understanding of who I was. I wanted to have time for my thoughts to wander, to restart, to discover the value and power within myself.”

1. Why did Fuhrmann get rid of most of his possessions?

A．To make donations to charity.	B．To start a new life in retirement.
C．To make up for his business loss.	D．To collect money for the journey.

2. What does the underlined word “switchbacks” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Blessings.

B．Ambitions.

C．Defeats.

D．Challenges.

3. Which of the following might Fuhrmann agree with?

A．The meaning of life is achieving more.

B．Old people should take things as they are.

C．It is good to have nature-based experience.

D．It is advisable for aging people to play safe.

4. Why did Fuhrmann start his latest voyage?

A．To reflect on his past.	B．To discover his true self.
C．To relax his mind and body.	D．To be free from the noisy world.

6 . 语法填空

Thousands of people are still missing, and the number of deaths     1     (expect) to grow even     2     (high) over the next few days. Foreign aid is being organized for the tsunami-hit countries. However, dangerous conditions and damaged roads will make it difficult to deliver food and     3     (supply).

7 . Suri was a sweet boy and he was fond of elephants. However, he never had a(n)_________to see real elephants. All those he saw were only on televisions._________, when he was 25 years old, he got a chance to join a club of wildlife lovers. He asked whether they would take him to_________the elephants. And they said yes.

As they_________a beautiful village, one from the team said that the village had more than 100 elephants and Suri could enjoy the whole day. He was_________to see the elephants and screamed (尖叫) happily.

After spending two to three_________just seeing the elephants, Suri was surprised. He found those elephants were tied (系，绑) by_________ropes. He knew the strength of elephants, but_________can they be tied by such thin ropes? The trainer replied, “We used to tie them with a strong rope when they were babies. A few elephants would try to break the rope,_________we could not set them free. So as they grew, they developed a wrong belief (信念) that the small and thin ropes were too strong to break, so they continued to get tied by their belief.”

In__________lives, we sometimes may be held back by the mistakes we have experienced in the past just like the elephants, but we should have the courage to try to break them and live a free life.

1.

A．idea

B．chance

C．choice

2.

A．Suddenly

B．Specially

C．Luckily

3.

A．touch

B．see

C．catch

4.

A．passed by

B．left for

C．lived in

5.

A．bored

B．moved

C．excited

6.

A．minutes

B．hours

C．days

7.

A．thin

B．strong

C．heavy

8.

A．when

B．how

C．why

9.

A．but

B．so

C．or

10.

A．his

B．their

C．our

8 . Most people hate mosquitoes — but scientists are about to build a “mosquito factory” to release modified (改良的) mosquitoes.

The modified mosquitoes carry a bacterium called Wolbachia pipientis (沃尔巴克氏菌), which can be naturally found in most insect species. However, it’s rarely discovered in mosquitoes. “We actually grow these mosquitoes that contain the bacterium,” Scott O’Neill, an Australian scientist involved in the project, told CBC News. When the modified mosquitoes are released, they slowly spread the bacterium to the population.

Several studies have demonstrated the insects’ success. For example, a controlled experiment in Indonesia showed that the modified insect helped reduce the cases of the disease dengue (登革热) by 77 percent, according to a study paper published in 2021.

The World Mosquito Program has announced that it will release modified mosquitoes in many of Brazil’s urban areas over the next 10 years. The aim is to protect up to 70 million people from diseases such as dengue, an infectious disease mainly spread by mosquitoes.

Brazil has one of the highest rates of dengue infection in the world, according to the Nature website. “More than 1,000 people died of dengue in 2022 because of the spread of mosquitoes. It’s going everywhere,” Luciano Moreira, a scientist in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, told CBC News.

Another way to prevent mosquitoes from spreading diseases is by producing genetically modified mosquitoes (GM). In 2022, the US Environmental Protection Agency cleared the release of 2.4 billion GM mosquitoes in California and Florida.

According to the agency, GM mosquitoes carry two types of genes: a self-limiting gene that prevents female offspring (后代) from surviving to adulthood; and a marker gene that allows researchers to identify GM ones in the wild. After being released, GM mosquitoes lay eggs, so the genes are passed on to offspring. In this way, the number of female mosquitoes is reduced, therefore reducing the chance of spreading disease.

1. What is the final purpose of building the “mosquito factory”?

A．To prevent the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.

B．To produce massive mosquitoes for scientific research.

C．To study the behavior of mosquitoes in different environments.

D．To replace the natural mosquito population with a modified one.

2. What is the function of Paragraph 5 in the text?

A．It states challenges facing the program.	B．It provides the background to the program.
C．It shows the expected effect of the program.	D．It indicates an opinion on the announcement.

3. How does the self-limiting gene in genetically modified mosquitoes work?

A．By limiting their ability to lay eggs.	B．By making them immune to disease.
C．By reducing their offspring’s lifespans.	D．By allowing them to be easily identified.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Releasing GM Mosquitoes	B．Reducing Dengue in Brazil
C．Experimenting on Modified Insects	D．Modifying Infectious Mosquitoes

9 . Working in animal rescue is often heartbreaking for volunteers, but there are moments of joy that would never be possible without their tireless efforts.

Joey Wagner enjoys volunteering. Back in 2013, Joey received a(n)_________about a severely abused dog. He hung up and _________ for the place all at once. When he saw the little dog, he _________ realized the dog was hours away from death.

Joey and another rescuer _________ the dog, which they named Mojo，to the animal shelter. Many people requested to adopt Mojo. However, its _________ was so bad that it was not considered. In spite of the fact that it’d been_________, Mojo was loving towards humans and showed an enormous capacity to _________. Mojo gradually recovered under the care of other volunteers of the animal shelter.

When it was finally able to find its forever home, Joey was the first in line to fill out the _________paperwork. And it was natural that the shelter _________ Joey’s application. Still, when Joey appeared to bring Mojo home, no one could have predicted the little dog’s reaction to seeing its__________ again!

The moment Mojo saw Joey，its little tail began to wag(摇)crazily to its __________ dad.

“It definitely __________ you. It was unexpected to other volunteers as the __________ dog climbed into his arms for more hugs and kisses.

Mojo is now a healthy member of Joey and Leta’s pack and the Wagners have continued to use its story as a(n)__________ to drive donations and awareness for animal rescue. Mojo knew that Joey helped it at its lowest. Their bond can never be __________.

1.

A．letter

B．novel

C．call

D．order

2.

A．watched out

B．set off

C．signed up

D．went in

3.

A．gradually

B．finally

C．merely

D．immediately

4.

A．brought

B．returned

C．lent

D．sold

5.

A．response

B．memory

C．health

D．behavior

6.

A．caged

B．mistreated

C．ignored

D．misunderstood

7.

A．forgive

B．balance

C．learn

D．defend

8.

A．purchase

B．adoption

C．assessment

D．cooperation

9.

A．denied

B．analyzed

C．shared

D．approved

10.

A．owner

B．trainer

C．rescuer

D．employer

11.

A．brave

B．creative

C．former

D．new

12.

A．remembers

B．assists

C．attracts

D．supports

13.

A．large

B．awkward

C．curious

D．delighted

14.

A．way

B．explanation

C．goal

D．standard

15.

A．strengthened

B．broken

C．established

D．mentioned

10 . The sperm whale is an astonishing creature. It’s longer than a semi-truck, weighs more than 90, 000 pounds and is the largest member of the toothed whale family. It’s known to dive 6, 500 feet in search of food, and to stay down there for longer than an hour at a time.

Perhaps most fantastically, the sperm whale’s brain weighs as much as 20 pounds-the biggest of any species on Earth. But when it comes to brains, is size all that matters? There’s a lot we don’t know about the sperm whale’s intelligence because it’s difficult to carry out neurological (神经的) testing on such a huge marine mammal. But some clues point to sperm whales being much smarter than we give them credit for.

A 2021 study published in Biology Letters, for example, looked back to 19th-century historical logbooks from whalers. Researchers found that sperm whales were at first easy to catch-but almost immediately, the whales learned how to evade hunters and whaling success dropped by 60 percent. The study suggests that the whales passed information to one another through soundwaves to avoid being caught.

Animals that have big brains usually have a few things in common. They usually live long lives; for example, sperm whales can live for 70 years or longer. Additionally, they’re capable of complex behaviors and they tend to be more socia1. Whales may work together to hunt or communicate in a language all their own.

What’s more, humans, whales and dolphins all have spindle neurons in their brains. These nerve cells make us capable of deeper thought, such as reasoning skills, memory, communication and adaptive thinking. And like humans, whales have emotional intelligence- meaning they＇re capable of empathy, grief and sadness. Still, in proportion to (与…成比例)our body size, the human brain is bigger than that of the sperm whale.

Yet there’s still so much we don’t know about how smart sperm whales really are. And just like the whalers of a century ago, we have likely been underestimating marine mammals, whether large or small, for as long as we’ve known of their existence.

1. Why do people know little about the sperm whale’s intelligence?

A．Sperm whales’ big size makes research difficult.

B．It didn’t attract scientists’ attention until recently.

C．Whalers didn’t keep enough records of their hunting.

D．Sperm whales usually stay deep down in the ocean.

2. What does the underlined word “evade” mean in paragraph 3?

A．Track.

B．Avoid.

C．Locate.

D．Trick.

3. What conclusion can we draw from paragraph 5?

A．The nerve cells distinguish humans from animals.

B．Sperm whales have smaller brains than humans.

C．Spindle neurons make higher intelligence possible.

D．Emotional intelligence is unique to whales and humans.

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

A．Sperm Whales Are Astonishingly Smart

B．Sperm Whales Have the Biggest Brain

C．Break the Code of Whale Language

D．Unlock the Mystery of Sea Mammals