“Bang. . !” Sara pushed the door open. She threw her school bag onto the floor and called out, “I’m home!” No answer. The house was silent. It sounded empty, but she knew it wasn’t. Her mum and dad were working upstairs.
Sara got a glass of orange juice, went into the conservatory (玻璃房) and sat down in her favourite chair. The garden was still in the dark afternoon. On one side, her mum’s garden was neat and tidy with boring short grass, boring straight flowerbeds and boring straight paths. But on the other side, Sara’s Nature Garden looked wild and exciting with big dead sunflowers and tall grasses.
“Nobody is interested in me. Mum and dad only think about their work,” she thought sadly.
Then she recalled: One month earlier, she learned in a magazine that many dogs were abandoned because their owners got bored with them; One hour earlier, she saw a cute dog wagging its tail and licking her friend’s face.
Sara knew today was special. Today things were changing. She couldn’t wait any longer. It’s time to talk to her parents.
So Sara got up from her chair and climbed all the way to the loft (阁楼). “Mum, I want a talk.” said Sara. “Just a minute!” Her mum clicked on the keyboard, took off her glasses and turned to her daughter. Sara coughed, took a deep breath, and told her mum that she wanted a dog. “No, Sara. That’s impossible,” her mum said firmly. Sara went to her father but got the same answer. She rushed into her room angrily and slammed the door shut.
Later, Sara’s mum knocked at the door and went in. “Darling, we know this is important to you. You can have a dog if you take the responsibility. But look at your Nature Garden, your school bag, your bedroom! What a mess! Do you think you can take good care of a dog?” said her mum.
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。
Sara was lost in thought and decided to make some changes.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With the dog’s company, Sara began her busy but joyful life.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Taylor Swift does great donation to help victims of tornadoes
Severe storms and tornadoes have killed at least six people in Tennessee,
Although born in Pennsylvania, Swift has a close relationship with Tennessee, having moved to Nashville with her family at the age of 14
Her music catalogue since 2019 is worth an estimated $400m, ticket and merchandise sales from concerts have earned her 370 million dollars while streams from Spotify, YouTube and other
The Eras tour alone
The CFMT operates a fund supporting non-profit organizations providing services in all phases of a disaster.
The National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings in Tennessee with reports of
3 . Like humans, dogs have tear ducts (泪腺) that well up with tears to keep their eyes clean and healthy. But tears in dogs, which tend not to fall as they do when humans cry, hadn’t been linked with emotion before.
Takefumi Kikusui, a professor at Azabu University in Japan, decided to study dog tears after watching his poodle (鬟毛狗) when she had puppies six years ago. He noticed that her eyes got teary as she nursed her puppies. So Kikusui and his team measured tear production among 18 dogs with a standard test known as the Schirmer Tear Test (STT). It involved a paper strip placed inside the eyelids (眼睑) of the dogs for a minute before and after they were reunited with their owners following five to seven hours of separation.
“Tear production was evaluated by the length of the wet part on the STT. The baseline was about 22 mm, and the reunion with the owner increased the length by 10%,” Kikusui explained. With the help of 20 dogs, researchers then compared tear production before and after reunions with their owners and people with whom the animals were familiar. Only the reunion with the owner increased tear production.
Researchers also tested if oxytocin, a hormone thought to be connected to emotional bonding in humans and dogs, could be causing the tear production. They found that dropping oxytocin in dogs’ eyes really increased tear production, while a control solution did not.
The findings suggest “dogs’ tears are associated with positive emotions, such as a reunion with the owner,” according to Takefumi Kikusui. Still, some scientists think it’s a stretch to say that dogs cry tears of joy. “It would take a lot to let me accept the evidence of this research,” said Clive Wynne, an animal behavioral specialist at Arizona State University.
1. What inspired Kikusui to carry out the research?| A．The cry of his poodle’s babies. |
| B．The problem with his poodle’s eyes. |
| C．The changes in his poodle’s eyes while nursing. |
| D．His poodle’s reaction to the reunion with him. |
| A．They can be a sign of dogs’ happiness. |
| B．They can show dogs’ negative feelings. |
| C．They can keep dogs’ eyes healthy and clean. |
| D．They can rarely be seen in young dogs’ eyes. |
| A．Applying oxytocin to dogs’ eyes. |
| B．Placing a paper strip in dogs’ eyelids. |
| C．Keeping dogs away from their owners. |
| D．Increasing the length of the STT’s wet part. |
| A．Dog’s positive and negative emotions can result in tears in their eyes. |
| B．There is a powerful emotional bond between humans and dogs. |
| C．Dog’s eyes are watering due to tear ducts. |
| D．Dogs cry tears of joy when they reunited with their owners. |
4 . 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. |
5 . A pair of best friends from Texas are proving that adventure doesn’t have an age limit — even when you’re 81.
Ellie Hamby, a photographer, and Sandy Hazelip, a physician, toured the world in 80 days, adventuring from the beaches of Bali to the deserts of Egypt.
Their first stop was Antarctica. “The beauty of the Antarctic is just unbelievable,” Hamby recalled. Since then, the pair have visited 18 countries across all seven continents.
And despite the challenges international travel presents, the best friends say they finished their trip without any arguments.
“We’re both independent, very stubborn. But we seem to allow each other to give space,” said Hamby. “We just understand each other and we know this is a good thing we’re doing and we kind of respect each other’s feelings.”
For Hamby, the most interesting aspect of the trip was the people they met along the way.
“We love all the sights that we saw, but the things that we remember the most are the people that we met,” she said. “We met some of the most wonderful, kindest, friendliest people in the world. We just have friends now all over the world that we love dearly.”
And they shared an important piece of advice for any travelers worried about the language barrier on their own adventures.
“You know, people ask us often about the language, how we manage it,” said Hamby. “We say with Sandy and Ellie, there’s one language and that’s a smile. And we found that worked wonders because we were often aware that there was not English spoken. But a smile covers all languages.”
1. Why did they finish the trip without arguments?| A．They had different personalities. |
| B．They prepared presents for each other. |
| C．They understand and respect each other. |
| D．They allowed each other to voice their ideas. |
| A．The beautiful sights. | B．The wonderful people. |
| C．The interesting activities. | D．The cultural experiences. |
| A．Rely on the smile. | B．Be more adventurous. |
| C．Hear English spoken more. | D．Learn more languages. |
| A．Language Struggles: Testing Friendship |
| B．Travel Troubles: Friendship Tested Abroad |
| C．Talking Struggles: Adventures Lost in Translation |
| D．Limitless Adventure: Two Friends Break Age Barriers |
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. |
8 . My photographs are the items I would definitely take or guard in case of an emergency. But what else? This was the question I asked myself as a
Unlike some friends and
Because when you hear the roar of the winds, or when something
As
Months and years after the hurricane, I often told people that there are two parts to
But we will do it,
| A．flood | B．drought | C．wildfire | D．hurricane |
| A．hosts | B．partners | C．relatives | D．architects |
| A．applying | B．packing | C．exchanging | D．delivering |
| A．sign | B．gap | C．clue | D．summary |
| A．kit | B．gym | C．space | D．greenhouse |
| A．rests | B．erupts | C．carves | D．cracks |
| A．cheap | B．expensive | C．graceful | D．economic |
| A．destruction | B．appreciation | C．challenge | D．determination |
| A．as usual | B．as follows | C．as scheduled | D．as promised |
| A．annoyed | B．amazed | C．confused | D．frightened |
| A．escaped | B．protested | C．identified | D．processed |
| A．causing | B．preventing | C．surviving | D．suffering |
| A．cutting out | B．putting back | C．giving up | D．working out |
| A．devotedly | B．creatively | C．individually | D．dependently |
| A．in favor of | B．in times of | C．in need of | D．in search of |
9 . During World War II, Duchess Nina Douglas-Hamilton played a vital role in looking after animals.
As the war broke out, the government issued orders for the mass killing livestock (家畜) to prevent them from being captured or destroyed by the enemy. Duchess Nina launched a campaign to save as many animals as possible, and soon became known as the “animal heroine” for her efforts.
Duchess Nina worked with local farmers and animal owners to relocate animals to safer areas, such as the Scottish Highlands. She also established a network of volunteers who helped to care for animals during the war. She organized feeding programs, medical care and transportation, ensuring that animals were well looked after even during the most difficult times. The most challenging aspect of her work was the shortage of food during the war. So she established a vegetable garden and used leftovers to create nutritious meals for animals. She also reached out to the public for donations of food and supplies, and was able to secure enough resources to keep animals healthy and fed.
In addition to her work with domestic animals, Duchess Nina was also a strong advocate for wildlife conservation. She established a center for wild animals Scotland, where she provided a safe place for deer, foxes and other animals that were threatened by the war. She also worked with local protection groups to protect natural habitats.
Duchess Nina’s work during World War II was not without its risks. She frequently risked her life to save animals, often driving through perilous areas.
Sadly, some people saw her efforts as a distraction from the war effort. However, she continued to work tirelessly for animals. After the war, Duchess Nina’s work was recognized by the government and she got an important award for her services to animals.
1. How did Duchess Nina probably feel when she heard the government’s orders?| A．Calm. | B．Worried. | C．Excited. | D．Encouraged. |
| A．Nobody gave her any donations. |
| B．She couldn’t find enough volunteers. |
| C．The animals didn’t have enough food to eat. |
| D．Local farmers didn’t give her enough support. |
| A．To keep domestic animals there. |
| B．To attract local protection groups. |
| C．To provide a home for wild animals. |
| D．To offer a safe place to animal owners. |
| A．Dangerous. | B．Urban. | C．Faraway. | D．Poor. |
In a quiet little village surrounded by rolling hills, Lucy and her brother Max were walking to the family’s strawberry fields to pick some strawberries when they came across an injured baby owl (猫头鹰). The tiny owl was lying on the ground, with one of its wings badly hurt and its big, brown eyes looking helplessly at the teens. Lucy and Max were animal lovers and they knew they had to do something to help the poor, little creature.
“We have to save this baby owl. Max,” Lucy said as she knelt down beside the bird.
Max nodded. “I agree. But where can we take it?”
Lucy thought for a moment and then remembered a wildlife rehabilitation center (野生动物康复) located a few miles away. They quickly placed the baby owl in the small box they had planned to put strawberries in. Max took off his shirt to cover the box to keep the bird warm. They carefully placed the box in their backpack and headed out to the center.
The journey was not without its challenges. The skies suddenly darkened and the rain began to pour down, wetting Lucy and Max completely in seconds. But they were determined to save the baby owl, and so they trudged on (步履艰难地走), searching for shelter from the rain. They finally found a big tree to hide under and huddled (蜷缩) together, trying to keep the box dry:
As the rain continued to fall, Lucy and Max looked at the baby owl in the box. It was so small and weak. They felt a sense of determination and protectiveness towards the little bird. They knew that they had to save it, no matter what.
Gradually, the rain got weaker and Lucy and Max continued their journey. They walked along a winding path, which was wet and slippery. They had to use some tree branches as walking sticks to provide them with extra support and to ensure their stability.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Lucy and Max finally approached the wildlife rehabilitation center, wet and dirty.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The weeks passed quickly, and one day Lucy and Max received a call from the head of the rehabilitation center.
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