1 . “Based on long-term earthquake records dating back to nearly 1900, the expected annual occurrence of significant comprises roughly 16 events. The 2023 Hatay earthquakes were among the most severe in recent history.” a researcher Ozer said in 2023.
The Hatay region of Turkey is located at the boundary between the Anatolian and Arabian plates. This region experienced a severe earthquake on February 6th, 2023, impacting various aspects of its buildings and cultural heritage. Over 50,000 people died, and the cost was more 104 billion dollars.
Following the significant destruction, a study conducted by Nizar Polat published in Springer Nature in 2023 examines the deformation (变形) of the Earth’s surface in several cities in the Hatay region. The study not only employs Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) (无人机) to get high-resolution 3D modeling (高分辨率的三维建模), but also uses aerial imagery (航空图像) to analyze surface deformations and cracks in the bedrock. Results show 7 cracks ranging from 24.11 to 497.69 m in length.
Besides, analysis within the subsidence (沉降区) area is also used to reveal the extent of physical deformations. Two subsidence areas are identified, measuring 23,060.8m2 and 13,954.2m2 respectively, with height changes of up to 20m. The accuracy of the photos are proved with a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) (均方根误差) of 4.6cm, indicating high accuracy.
This study reveals the value of drone-based high-resolution 3D modeling in revealing the earthquake-caused deformation and landscape changes. These findings have greatly improved the understanding of earthquake destructions in the Hatay area and provided more insights to future research and reduce natural disasters.
1. Why does the author mention the Ozer’s words?| A．To introduce the background of the study. |
| B．To develop people’s awareness of disasters. |
| C．To call on people to care the environment. |
| D．To analyze how strong the earthquake is. |
| A．Unmanned Aerial Vehicles | B． Root Mean Square Error |
| C．Aerial Imagery | D．Analysis within the subsidence |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Positive. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Concerned. |
| A．An introduction to UAVs. | B．An essay on the natural disaster. |
| C．A guidebook to Hatay region. | D．A review of Turkey geography. |
2 . Researchers in China have found a new, genetically (基因上) pure species of the critically endangered Chinese giant salamander (中国大鲵) in the wild. The new species was found in a largely undisturbed part of the Jiulingshan National Nature Reserve in Jiangxi Province. The animals are the only known genetically pure, reproducing giant salamander population in its natural habitat in the country. “The discovery of the new species in a closed nature reserve provides hope that other genetically pure species may still exist in other such places,” said Robert Murphy, a professor at the University of Toronto and one of the co-authors of the study.
The Chinese giant salamander is believed to have remained almost unchanged for 170 million years. While Chinese giant salamanders used to be thought of as one species, recent studies have revealed that there are five to eight genetically distinct species in the country. However, the species arc under great threat of extinction due to habitat loss, water pollution and overexploitation (过度开发) of wild populations over the past decades.
Chinese giant salamanders have been protected in China since the 1980s. “After the discovery of multiple species of Chinese giant salamanders, China quickly put into place several actions, such as providing additional funding for critical research, establishing a series of nature reserves for the species, and promoting cooperation between scientists and biologists,” Murphy said.
The researchers are now trying to track down more giant salamanders. Murpby said the discovery opened up new possibilities, such as establishing breeding farms with genetically pure salamanders to help populate ecosystems. In their paper, the researchers also stressed the importance of undisturbed habitats for protecting wildlife. “Closed nature reserves a new pathway for discovering and conserving endangered species,” they said.
1. Why is the new discovery by Chinese researchers important?| A．It confirms the need for more independent studies on biodiversity. |
| B．It proves the genetic transformation of Chinese giant salamanders. |
| C．It suggests the importance of increasing funding for nature reserves. |
| D．It indicates the presence of other genetically pure species elsewhere. |
| A．Some species of Chinese giant salamanders have become extinct. |
| B．Chinese giant salamander numbers have declined in recent decades. |
| C．Chinese giant salamanders have remained unchanged for 170 million years. |
| D．Some breeding programs have been launched to protect Chinese giant salamanders. |
| A．China’s lessons from the past. |
| B．China’s cooperation with other countries. |
| C．China’s efforts to protect giant salamanders. |
| D．China’s ambition to develop new nature reserves. |
| A．More closed nature reserves should be established. |
| B．Traditional conservation methods are more efficient. |
| C．Mixed breeding can be used to protect endangered species. |
| D．Large breeding farms are beneficial to the growth of giant salamanders. |
3 . Pocket gophers (囊鼠) spend most of their lifetime alone, digging underground. Although they’re common across North and Central American grasslands, you’re unlikely to see one—their presence is usually only noticeable thanks to the piles of sandy soil they leave behind reaching more than 500 feet, usually about 50 inches below the ground.
Gophers were thought to feed themselves mainly by eating the roots (根) they meet while building new tunnel systems. Yet, digging tunnels is energetically costly and researchers show that only eating the roots just doesn’t make up for the energy spent.
To understand how else these animals get enough roots to survive, Francis Putz, a professor at the University of Florida, and the student researcher Veronica Selden looked at the behavior of gophers in northern Florida. They observed that, in the dark and wet tunnels the gophers had dug, new and soft roots grew fast.
The gophers seem to be actively looking after the roots like farmers, the scientists say. They create the perfect wet environment for roots and causing soil aeration (透气) by loosening the ground in which plants grow in the first place. Importantly, the gophers spread waste throughout the tunnels, which makes the roots grow more successfully. This is rather unlike other gopher species, which tend to have fixed waste areas.
The study found that the gophers’ daily harvest of root crops can supply from 21 to 62 percent of their calorie needs. “They have these long tunnels that cannot be explained,” Putz says. So why do it? If it’s not to “farm food”, he says, “I can’t think of any other reason.”
But some researchers wonder if “farming” is a right term for the gophers’ activities. “To describe the activity as farming seems to be overstated,” says scientist Kimberly Asmus Hersey. “I don’t see this as all that different from many other plant and plant-eating animal relationships.”
1. What can be learned about the species of gophers?| A．They exist all across America. | B．They are highly social animals. |
| C．They mainly live underground. | D．They dig tunnels 500 feet deep. |
| A．They are as hard as rocks for gophers to eat. |
| B．They make digging work more effort-taking. |
| C．They are perfect home locations for gophers. |
| D．They cannot meet gophers’ needs for energy. |
| A．They prefer building tunnels in dry conditions. |
| B．They try to make their tunnels as deep as possible. |
| C．They create a perfect environment for roots to grow. |
| D．They usually have fixed waste areas in their tunnels |
| A．She disagrees with it. | B．She is curious about it. |
| C．She thinks highly of it. | D．She is unconcerned about it. |
4 . Bella, a 14-year-old cat from Huntingdon, UK, has claimed the Guinness Record for the world’s loudest purr (猫叫声) by a domestic cat, with a noisy purr
The Spink family has had Bella for almost 15 years, and they’ve always
One day, they decided to put Bella’s purring to the test―they
Measuring sound with a smartphone app and having it measured by a sound engineer can bring about totally
The standardized class-1 sound meter recorded Bella’s
It’s important to note that while Bella has
| A．produced | B．measured | C．supplied | D．analyzed |
| A．respected | B．preferred | C．recommended | D．supposed |
| A．account for | B．wonder at | C．agree with | D．work out |
| A．celebrate | B．promote | C．debate | D．complain |
| A．downloaded | B．invented | C．restored | D．contrasted |
| A．benefit | B．pressure | C．result | D．purpose |
| A．attempt | B．donation | C．performance | D．system |
| A．useless | B．available | C．different | D．possible |
| A．confirmed | B．formed | C．improved | D．destroyed |
| A．specifically | B．slightly | C．gracefully | D．impressively |
| A．normal | B．straight | C．peak | D．major |
| A．regard | B．switch | C．beg | D．claim |
| A．set | B．carved | C．sought | D．mixed |
| A．option | B．trend | C．object | D．title |
| A．professional | B．meaningful | C．astonishing | D．demanding |
5 . When Richard Oswald was growing up in northwestern Missouri in the 1950s, his dad had a firm rule: Don’t plant corn until mid-May. But that rule has become a relic of the past. In Rock Port, a small farming community near the Nebraska border, the growing season now begins more than a month earlier.
That’s not surprising. Across much of the US, winter is not as cold as it used to be. The four warmest Januaries on record have all occurred since 2016. In Missouri, winters are about 4 degrees hotter on average than in 1970-and farmers are starting to feel the effects.
As the planet continues to warm, cold winter weather will become less common, said Amy Butler, a re-search scientist studying climate variability. “However, less cold does not mean never cold.” Butler said. In the past decade, Liz Graznak’s organic vegetable farm near Columbia, Missouri, has endured increasingly extreme swings in weather. “We don’t get a couple of inches of snow; we get 18 inches of snow all at once and then in five days, it’ s 70 degrees again.” Graznak said. “We don’t get a couple of inches of rain; we get a 12-inch downpour in the span of 24 hours. That’s devastating(毁灭性的)to a vegetable farm.”
To help protect her crops, Graznak has built four large greenhouses on her property in just over a decade. Inside, she’s able to grow delicate, high-value crops, including flowers, lettuce and spinach.
But these greenhouses come at a steep cost. Nearly seven years ago, Graznak spent more than $18,000 to build a greenhouse and since then, the price has more than doubled. “When I think about these costs, in my brain, I say, ‘OK, how many heads of lettuce is that?’” She said. “I know I can sell a head of lettuce for $4, so how many heads of lettuce do I have to sell to be able to pay for that greenhouse? And that’s a lot of lettuce.”
1. What does the author want to show by telling Richard Oswald’s story?| A．New farmers should learn to farm on their own. |
| B．New farmers aren’t as experienced as old ones. |
| C．Following traditional farming rules is essential. |
| D．Climate change is changing farming rules. |
| A．Many extreme weather events. |
| B．A winter without any cold days. |
| C．Less snow and rain on the whole. |
| D．More stable temperature than before. |
| A．The profits of her farm have increased. |
| B．She has lost hope in the future of farming. |
| C．The cost of farming has greatly increased. |
| D．Budgeting is important in modern farming. |
| A．Farmers in the US are troubled by floods |
| B．Farmers are worried about the future of farming |
| C．Farmers are feeling climate change’s effect in the US |
| D．Farmers are turning to greenhouses due to climate change |
6 . Research into whether the human voice helps plants isn’t conclusive. Even so, there are convincing reasons that chatting with your houseplants is good for them—and you.
In a 2022 survey by trees.com, 50 percent of the 1250 respondents reported talking to their plants. When asked why, 65 percent said they believe it helps them grow. The research, however, isn’t definitive about this point. While studies have found that vibrations (震动) caused by sound do affect plants, the jury is still out on whether the human voice offers any specific benefit.
For many plant owners, though, the science is beside the point. Marquis Matson, co-founder of the blog the Indoor Nursery, says she talks to her plants every day because “it feels nice and I think plants get a sense of community from my talking to them and that keeps them going”. On the plant side, a study in a 2003 issue of the journal Ultrasonics investigated the effects of the classical music and the sounds of birds, insects and water on the growth of Chinese cabbage and cucumber. Both forms of sound exposure increased the vegetables’ growth. In a 2015 study, researchers exposed marigold (金盏花) and chickpea (鹰嘴豆) plants to light Indian music as well as to traffic noise. They found that both types of plants grew and developed better after being exposed to the music for four hours per day, but not to the traffic sounds. “Plants definitely respond to vibrations in their environment—which can cause plants to grow differently and become more resistant to falling over,” says Heidi Appel, leader of the study. She points out, “While sound absolutely matters to plants, we don’t know if talking to them makes them grow differently.”
Despite the lack of studies and evidence about the benefits of talking to your plants, there is at least one theoretical bonus, “If we identify with a living organism that we’re taking care of, we’re going to take better care of it and help them thrive,” Appel says.
1. What do the underlined words “the jury is still out” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．There is uncertainty. | B．The jury has decided. |
| C．The jury is playing outside. | D．People have different ideas. |
| A．Vibrations caused by sound affect plants. | B．Chatting with the plants benefits both sides. |
| C．Scientific research in this area makes no sense. | D．A sense of community is a must for plants’ growth. |
| A．Traffic sounds probably have a negative influence on plant growth. |
| B．Talking to plants can make them more sensitive to the environment. |
| C．Plants do not fall over because of the vibrations in their environment. |
| D．Classical music is beneficial to plant growth as sounds of nature do. |
| A．Approving. | B．Neutral. | C．Unfavorable. | D．Unclear. |
7 . When Kurt Benirschke started collecting skin samples from endangered animals in 1972, he didn’t have a firm plan on what to do with them. As a researcher at the University of California San Diego, he believed that one day these samples would be used to save these animals. A few years later, he moved his collection to the San Diego Zoo, and called it the Frozen Zoo.
For a long time, it was the only project of its kind; however, in recent years, similar conservation efforts have spread globally, and tools that Benirschke didn’t yet have are now available. Today, the Frozen Zoo is the world’s largest animal cryobank(生物冷冻库), holding samples from over 10,500 individual animals from 1,220 species, in the hope that one day science can bring them back as a species.
The Frozen Zoo’s advanced technology is the key to its success in saving species from extinction. By using cryopreservation techniques, the zoo can store cells and tissues from endangered animals. The stored genetic material can be used for research, breeding(繁殖) programs, and potentially even cloning or genetic engineering to restore endangered species.
By protecting the genetic heritage of endangered animals, the Frozen Zoo provides hope for the survival of species that would otherwise be at risk of dying out, and the preservation of Earth’s precious biodiversity. It has inspired the establishment of similar cryobanks worldwide, expanding efforts to conserve endangered species. These cryobanks contribute to the global network of genetic resources, improving cooperation and knowledge exchange. By demonstrating the potential of technology in the preservation of biodiversity, the frozen zoo serves as a powerful tool in raising awareness and driving change.
The Frozen Zoo is like a time capsule, preserving the genetic heritage of endangered species for future generations. It reminds us about the importance of conservation and offers a window into a world that could otherwise be lost forever.
1. What do we know about the Frozen Zoo?| A．It is the world’s oldest and largest animal cryobank. |
| B．It started with a detailed plan led by Kurt Benirschke. |
| C．It is a project to explore the evolution of animal species. |
| D．It was established to protect animals in the San Diego Zoo. |
| A．By expanding their natural habitats. |
| B．By raising their survival rate with genetic technology. |
| C．By preserving their genetic material for further research. |
| D．By innovating breeding techniques to increase their population. |
| A．To stress the importance of the Frozen Zoo. |
| B．To explain the urgency of saving endangered species. |
| C．To prove the potential value of preserving biodiversity. |
| D．To show the necessity of cooperative conservation efforts. |
| A．Costly and controversial. | B．Profitable and instructive. |
| C．Conservative and effective. | D．Pioneering and significant. |
Old Buildings across City Revived by Industry Parks
The Longfu Temple community in Beijing, a booming commercial center dating back six centuries, has become a trendy spot for young people to visit exhibitions, bookstores and enjoy coffee. It is one of the traditional
Longfu Temple, built in the Ming Dynasty, was
Jintai Share Space Cultural Bell Tower was unveiled as a characteristic cultural industry park and also as a young creative lifestyle service community,
In addition to expanding and strengthening cultural industry parks, Beijing aims to become the capital of performing arts to drive the
9 . Flying through the skies of New York with its tall buildings can be a real challenge for birds migrating (迁徙) from Central or South America to the Arctic Circle during the spring and fall migration seasons. Fortunately, more and more of them can reach their destination thanks to the help of kind humans.
Project Safe Flight is a program from New York City Audubon, a community that has been working to protect birds in NYC for over 40 years. This project helps save injured birds that collide (相撞) with the reflective glass so common in many tall buildings.
Each time these volunteers find a survivor, they take it to the Wild Bird Fund. Its purpose is to provide medical care to native and passing migrant wildlife so that they can be released (释放) back into the wild. Under their care, these feathered friends can rest, are properly fed, and are also given the medical treatment they need.
Once the patients feel better, they spend time with other recovered birds until they become healthy enough to return to freedom. This takes place in the spring, when they’re released in Central Park, or in the fall, when they’re released out of town to make sure that their path doesn’t take them in the neighborhood of lower Manhattan’s dangerous buildings.
Nearly a billion birds are killed each year in the US from collisions with windows, the Audubon Society reports. In New York City alone, between 90 and 230 thousand migratory birds die yearly from window collisions, as detailed by Curbed. This occurs mostly during the spring and fall migration seasons.
Bright lights and reflective glass buildings attract and then befuddle birds because they look through them and they think they’re seeing the sky. So the dBird database is key to making policymakers learn more clearly about specific hotspots (多事之地) and thus take preventive steps accordingly to protect the lovely creatures. These include making sure that visual indicators (视觉指示器) are added to tall buildings, or that lights are turned off at night.
1. How do the volunteers help injured birds?| A．By taking injured birds home. |
| B．By releasing injured birds back into the wild. |
| C．By having injured birds taken good care of. |
| D．By equipping buildings with visual indicators. |
| A．To explain the side effects of migration. |
| B．To introduce some human threats to birds. |
| C．To draw more attention to the Audubon community. |
| D．To show the importance of the Project Safe Flight program. |
| A．Trap. | B．Injure. | C．Confuse. | D．Assist. |
| A．Watching Birds in New York | B．Helping New York Birds |
| C．Taking Good Care of Birds | D．Setting Up a Program in New York |
10 . Animals were the real pioneers of space flight. Let us learn about some animals that have been to space.
A. Fruit flies
On February 20, 1947, the United States sent some fruit flies into space to study the impact that cosmic radiation (宇宙辐射) might potentially have on astronauts in the future. They chose flies because they are genetically similar to humans.
When they returned to Earth, the scientists found the flies alive, with no evidence of the effects of radiation.
B. Mice
Mice have long been used to find out more about how space travel will affect the human body. In fact, NASA has recently published a study of mice housed at the International Space Station. It shows that mice quickly adapt to microgravity (微重力) conditions.
The very first mouse went into space in 1950, reaching an altitude of 137km. However, unlike the fruit flies, the mouse died when the rocket broke into parts due to a parachute (降落伞) failure.
C. Dogs
Laika, a Russian homeless dog, went to space on November 3, 1957. She was picked up on the streets and was thought suitable because she had a gentle temperament (性情) and behaved well. The scientists also believed a homeless dog would be better at dealing with difficult conditions like microgravity than a pet dog.
Laika is famous for being the first animal to orbit (环绕……运行) the Earth. However, she never returned.
D. Spiders
In 1973, two garden spiders called Anita and Arabella were used in an experiment to see if they could still build webs in space.
Both spiders managed to build webs, even though the webs were slightly finer than on Earth. The study showed a great deal about the effects of microgravity on motor response (运动反应).
1. What can we learn about the mouse astronaut?| A．It failed to come back alive. |
| B．It couldn’t survive in microgravity conditions. |
| C．Its genes were similar to humans’. |
| D．It was the first animal to be sent to space. |
| A．her good temperament | B．her identity as a pet dog |
| C．her ability to deal with microgravity | D．her good behavior |
| A．To compare the quality of webs they made on Earth and in space. |
| B．To study the impact of cosmic radiation on their survival. |
| C．To see how fast they could build webs in space. |
| D．To see whether they could build webs in space. |
