1 . Do you know how to cycle? It is a skill that, once learned, is never forgotten. For the majority of us, the art of balancing on two wheels was mastered during our childhood. Many still wear helmets, put feet on the pedals, and take a ride around the streets. And in recent years, cycling has become more and more popular. What attracts people to ride their bikes once again?
Cycling offers a lot of advantages that affect both our physical and mental health. For example, regular cycling can improve the function of our cardiovascular (心血管的)system, assist in the burning of extra body fat and strengthen our leg muscles. A long ride in the countryside helps us to clear our mind easily.
Riding a bike is a smart choice for getting to work, shopping, or sightseeing. You can save money that you would otherwise spend on fuels and fares. Unlike cars that struggle with parking, bikes can be easily locked up. Then, on the train, there are chances at stations and other people speaking loudly on their phones. Cyclists face neither of these problems. And if we’re worried about safety, there are cycle lanes in many cities, or we can wear light-colored clothes to improve our safety when cycling on the roads.
Cycling can also be good for the environment. It cuts our carbon footprint, which means we make less pollution. It’s great for our planet and keeps the air clean around us. When we ride bikes, we don’t use fuel like cars do, and that’s really good for our environment.
Therefore, more and more people choose to ride for many benefits such as improving their health, easily going to work, saving money, protecting the environment, or a combination of these factors.
1. When do most people learn to ride?| A．In their free time. | B．After their retirement. |
| C．At their young ages. | D．During their adulthood. |
| A．It is a good way to save money. |
| B．It is a great idea to relax cyclists. |
| C．It is dangerous to cycle on the roads. |
| D．It is difficult to find a place park the bike. |
| A．Consumes more fuels. | B．Increases air pollution. |
| C．Causes fewer accidents. | D．Reduces carbon footprint. |
| A．Sports & Health. | B．Travel & Culture. |
| C．Science & Technology. | D．Animals & Environment. |
2 . Known for its beautiful natural environment, Guizhou contains a total of four World Heritage Sites, which is more than any other province in China.
The Fanjing Mountain, known as the “City of the Sky”, is famous for its Buddhist culture and the complex of temples. Compared with the world’s other mountains in the same latitude (纬度) zone, the Fanjing Mountain features the best-preserved animals and plants. It was listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018.
Libo Karst, listed in the UNESCO World Heritage in 2007, is located in the southern borderland of Guizhou. Walking into Libo is a feast for the eyes. You would be amazed by one breathtaking sight after another, such as the Wolong Pond and the Laya Waterfall.
The Yuntai Mountain stands out like a piece of green agate (玛瑙) in its latitude zone. It is the oldest and best-preserved dolomite (白云石) karst landform in the world, which is extremely rare and highly valuable for scientific research. In 2014, the Yuntai Mountain was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its “uniqueness and typicality”.
Chishui Danxia is home to the largest Danxia landform area. The highlight of the tourist area, named Foguang Rock, is regarded as the greatest example of a Danxia landform in the world. When the afternoon sunlight hits it, it seems to glow like fire. There is a waterfall that is 42 meters wide and 269 meters high, which looks like a graceful white dragon. It was added to the UNESCO Wodd Heritage List in 2010.
1. What makes the Fanjing Mountain special in the same latitude?| A．Its high value for scientific research. | B．Its being called the “City of the Sky”. |
| C．Its rich Buddhist culture and temples. | D．Its best-preserved animals and plants. |
| A．Dolomite karst. | B．Danxia landform. |
| C．Laya Waterfall. | D．Foguang Rock. |
| A．The Fanjing Mountain. | B．Libo Karst. |
| C．The Yuntai Mountain. | D．Chishui Danxia |
3 . Have you ever been hungry and sleepy and wished you could solve both problems at once? If you were a reindeer (驯鹿) , it would be easy. According to a new research, these talented deer can have a snooze while they eat their food.
Reindeer live in the Arctic and other northern regions where the winters are extremely dark and cold. Food can be rare in winter, so during the warmer months the deer must eat as much as they possibly can.
Like cows, reindeer use a process called rumination (反刍) to break down the tough plant they eat. This process involves passing the food back and forth between their mouth and the four “stomachs”, chewing it repeatedly until all the nutrients (营养) have been absorbed. In summer, all that chewing seems to leave very little time for sleep.
To find out their secret to getting enough rest, scientists fitted four reindeer with devices that monitored their brain waves. While the reindeer were ruminating, their brain waves were similar to the patterns shown during sleep. The animals sat or stood quietly with their eyes closed, and they were less likely than usual to react to. the movements of a neighbouring deer. “They were in a very relaxed state, ” researcher Melanie Furrer said.
The chewing movement made it hard for the researchers to tell whether, the animals’ brain waves were truly in sleep mode. But when they tested the deer again after rumination, the animals' brain activity showed that they felt rested.
If reindeer are kept awake for too long, they need extra “recovery sleep” to catch up. After ruminating, however, the deer did not need as much recovery sleep. Study co-author Gabriela Wagner said that ruminating serves two different purposes at the same time —eating and sleeping.
1. What does the underlined word “snooze” most probably mean?| A．Quick drink. | B．Short walk. | C．Light sleep. | D．Bad dream. |
| A．To keep awake. | B．To practice chewing. |
| C．To taste better plants. | D．To prepare for winter. |
| A．They sleep when drinking. | B．They sleep when ruminating. |
| C．They sleep when not moving. | D．They sleep when not thinking. |
| A．A health magazine. | B．A book review. |
| C．A science report. | D．A research plan. |
4 . Colorful Natural Wonders on Earth
The world can be kind of a boring place without the colorful natural wonders. So that’s what I’ve decided to treat you to!
Rio Tinto, Spain
Rising in the Sierra de Huelva mountains of southwestern Spain, this 62-mile river gets its stunning orange and red colors from copper, iron, and other heavy metals. The best way to enjoy the beauty is by visiting the small mining town of Nerva. Note that only about half the length of the river features these colors.
Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada
Known by Stoney Nakota First Nations folks as Ho-run-num-nay, this glacial lake located in Banff National Park gets its turquoise color from finely grained rock particles contained within the ice as it melts in the lake. If you’re a big fan of the movie Thelma & Louise, you’ll be happy to know that there also happens to be a Lake Thelma.
The Lavender Fields of Provence, France
Provence, a geographical region of southeastern France is famous in the summers for its lush lavender fields. To see them with your own eyes, mosey on up to the Luberon and Verdon plateau regions north of Aix-en-Provence and Marseille, or head east past Avignon. But the window is rather brief; they start to blossom around the beginning of June and then by mid-July they’re done-zo.
Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, Yunnan, China
Huge rice stan? Anyway, Yunnan, China is calling your name. With a history going back more than 1,200 years, this series of rice-growing terraces — covering territory more than one million acres — are located in the western part of the country. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013. It sure took them long enough!
1. Where can you enjoy a multicolored river?| A．Spain. | B．Canada. | C．France. | D．China. |
| A．1 month. | B．1.5 months. | C．2 months. | D．2.5 months. |
| A．A journal entry. | B．A travel diary. | C．An introduction. | D．An advertisement. |
5 . Megalopta genalis, known as sweat bees, are native to the tropical forest of Barro Colorado Island in Panama. They collect nectar and pollen (花蜜和花粉) just after sunset and about an hour before sunrise.
It is so dark at these times that “if you extend a hand out as far as you can, you wouldn’t be able to see your thumb,” says William Wcislo, a senior scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute at Barro Colorado. How are these green-and-gold bees able to find their way around in the dark?
We memorize landmarks that show us how to get back to our house. The sweat bees do this, too. When the bees leave the nests that they build hanging from branches, they turn around and face the nest and fly around it to learn the landmarks.
How do they see the nest in the dark? The researchers suspected that they look up at the forest canopy (树冠层), where blobby (满是滴状斑点的) patterns of the night sky looks lightly brighter against the super-dark tree leaves. Do the bees recognize these patterns to get home?
The researchers built nests that had different patterns over their entrances. One of the samples could link the bees with the pattern of their nest. Then the bees could find the nest that matched the pattern they memorized when they left home even if the researchers moved its location.
It also shows that light pollution generated by cities could confuse bees and other nocturnal (夜行的) animals. Wcislo says the good news is that light pollution can be reduced if we change our activities. For example, people can program highway lights to turn off when there are no cars on the road, and we can use different wavelengths of light that do not disturb animals.
“If we want plants and fruits, we need pollinators (传粉昆虫) such as sweat bees,” Wcislo says. And by figuring out what they need to find their nests? we can do better work to help protect them.
1. What do Wcislo’s words mean in paragraph 2?| A．Humans can point out the right direction for bees in the dark. |
| B．It’s very dangerous to stretch a hand in the dark tropical forest. |
| C．Sweat bees can lead the way for people who are lost in the dark. |
| D．Sweat bees are better at finding the way in the dark than humans. |
| A．They collect nectar and pollen during the day. |
| B．They have better eyesight than human beings. |
| C．They bear landmarks in mind before leaving home. |
| D．They build their nests above the forest canopy. |
| A．By flying higher than the forest canopy. |
| B．By leaving some marks along the way. |
| C．By memorizing the shapes of canopy gaps. |
| D．By recognizing different wavelengths of light. |
| A．Sweat bees and other animals may cause light pollution. |
| B．We can learn to find the way from animals active at night. |
| C．All human activities can do harm to animals active at night. |
| D．Preservation of sweat bees will be of great significance to us. |
6 . By the time most of the world discovered the kipunji monkey, it was already seriously endangered. These rare animals live in Tanzania and is not closely related to any other known monkeys. Thanks to smart protection efforts, their population is accumulating.
Kipunji monkeys live in groups and spend most of their time in trees. Local hunters knew about them, but researchers first identified the species in the early 2000s. A 2007survey found 1, 117 of the animals alive. Experts from organizations such as the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) stepped in to try to save the species.
One method of protecting kipunji monkeys was to reduce conflict between the monkeys and humans. Kipunji often come out of the forest to steal bananas, and carrots from farms, leading farmers to set traps that can kill the monkeys. So WCS workers put unpleasant things such as chili oil (辣椒油) on the leaves of the crops to keep the monkeys away. Farmers have also started growing crops like potatoes, which the monkeys are less interested in eating.
To discourage people from cutting down trees in the kipunji’s habitats (栖息地), the WCS has established other sources of wood. Kipunji habitats have been turned into protected parks and reserves.
So far, their efforts have been successful. A 2022 study found that the area in which the monkeys live has increased in size by nearly 20%, and their population has risen to 1, 966 animals. If the efforts continue, the population of kipunji monkey could double in 25 years. “It’s not perfect,” former WCS director Tim Davenport said. “But it’s in a considerably better place than it used to be.”
1. What does the underlined word “accumulating” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Unchanging. | B．Declining. | C．Increasing. | D．Disappearing. |
| A．Put chili oil on the crops. | B．Grow crops they like less. |
| C．Turn their habitats into parks. | D．Hunt down and kill them. |
| A．To protect the kipunji’s habitats. | B．To make profit from the wood. |
| C．To educate the local villagers. | D．To develop the local economy. |
| A．Kipunji monkeys’ current living condition is perfect. |
| B．The number of kipunji monkey will double in 25 years. |
| C．The WCS hasn’t done enough in protecting the monkey. |
| D．Continuous efforts should be made to protect the kipunji. |
7 . In the west of Melbourne, more than 300 kids from six primary schools are going to use special school bags that can also check air quality. This helps scientists find ways to reduce air pollution. It’s part of a study called “Breathe Melbourne”, where kids will become air quality scientists by collecting important information while going to and from school.
Schools in this areas were picked for the research because they have high levels of air pollution and a lot of kids with asthma (哮喘病). This is because these areas used to have a lot of factories.
More kids in these areas go to the hospital for asthma compared to other parts of Australia. Professor Irving from a hospital said, “The Breathe Melbourne study is very significant because it focuses on children who are already at risk because of bad air quality, and it aims to reduce that risk and help with asthma.”
An engineer named James explained how the air quality readers work. There’s a fan in the bag that pulls in outside air towards the sensors (传感器). The bag also has a GPS tracker that helps experts see which areas have more air pollution.
In a recent study, the schoolchildren and some of their teachers are seen wearing the air quality bags on four days each week for a few months. Children change their roads and the ways they go to school in the experiment as healthier choices are found. In the research, children can be educated and will learn more about air pollution.
Dr. Kate Lycett, the lead researcher, hopes that the information they collect will force officials to take action. She said, “Every child should have fresh air to breathe. Where they live shouldn’t decide how clean the air they breathe is.”
1. Why will some students in Melbourne carry the special school bags?| A．To receive fitness training. | B．To prepare for short school trips. |
| C．To protect school from the bad weather. | D．To help scientists get useful information. |
| A．They enjoy good medical services. | B．They care more about climate change. |
| C．They are troubled by the poor air quality. | D．They know little about the local industrial history. |
| A．Important. | B．Different. | C．Interesting. | D．Difficult. |
| A．It offers them a wide choice of school bags. | B．It introduces health courses to their schools. |
| C．It makes them understand air pollution better. | D．It reduces traffic problems on their way to school. |
In Rawalpindi, Pakistan, the China Flower House offers a wide range of lifelike artificial flowers and plants
“Pakistani people love to decorate their houses, offices, gardens, wedding parties and other events
“Besides
Abbas said, “I
Naseem Zadi said, “I have come to buy flowers for my newly-built house,
9 . For emperor penguins, sea ice is essential to survival. The iconic birds, found only in Antaretica, breed, lay their eggs and raise their chicks on fast sea ice. They arrive at their breeding sites in late March. In May and June, they lay their eggs, which hatch after 65 days during the Antarctic winter. The chicks then remain on the ice until their fluff (绒毛) down is replaced by waterproof feathers, finally fledging (长出羽毛) in the summer months of December and January.
Last year, sea ice levels in Antaretica were at an all-time low— a record first set in 2021. The Bellingshausen Sea region, to the west of the Antaretic Peninsula, saw the most extreme reduction of sea ice, with some areas experiencing a 100% loss. Of the five known emperor penguins’ habitats in the Bellingshausen Sea region, all but one experienced what was most likely a total breeding failure due to the loss of sea ice, according to a paper published today in Nature Communications Earth & Environment. Satellite imagery clearly showed the sea ice had broken up before the chicks would have developed enough to survive on their own.
“We have never seen emperor penguins fail to breed at this scale in a single season,” the study’s lead author, Peter Fretwell of the British Antarctic Survey, said in a statement. “The loss of sea ice in this region during the Antarctie summer made it very unlikely that displaced chicks would survive. ”
The study team also believe their findings support a projection that if present warming rates continue, more than 80% of emperor penguins’ habitats will disappear, meaning they have too few individuals to support a population, by 2100.
1. When may emperor penguins’ eggs hatch?| A．In May. | B．In August. | C．In November. | D．In January. |
| A．All emperor penguins suffered breeding failure. |
| B．Chicks can grow up before the sea ice breaks up. |
| C．Sea ice levels in Antarctica reached the lowest in 2022. |
| D．Most areas experienced a 100% sea ice loss in Antarctica. |
| A．Supporting ideas. | B．Giving examples. |
| C．Making conclusions. | D．Serving as transitions. |
| A．Chicks are bred difficultly in Antaretica. |
| B．Emperor penguins fail to breed their chicks. |
| C．Sea ice loss affects emperor penguins’ survival. |
| D．Climate change affects sea ice loss in Antarctica. |
10 . Some breathtaking blue lakes may not be so blue in the future, thanks to climate change. In the first global record of lake color, researchers estimate that roughly one-third of Earth’s lakes are blue. But, if average summer air temperatures should rise by a few degrees, some of those pure waters could turn green or brown, the team reports in the Geophysical Research Letters.
Lake color depends in part on what’s in the water, but factors such as water depth and surrounding land use also matter. Compared with blue lakes, green or brown lakes are caused by more algae (水藻), sediment and organic matter, says Xiao Yang, a hydrologist at Southern Methodist University. If some lakes do become less blue, people will probably lose some of the resources they have valued.
Yang and his colleagues used satellite photos from 2013 to 2020 to analyze the color of more than 85, 000 lakes that are detectable around the world. The scientists found that lakes in cooler regions, with average summer temperatures below 19℃, tend to have a blue color compared to lakes with warmer water. This warmer environment encourages more algae growth, and thus its tint is changed, giving it a green-brown look, according to Yang. But what is worth mentioning is that the average summer temperatures may increase another 3℃—an amount that scientists think is possible by the end of the century.
Lake color can suggest the stability of a lake’s ecosystem, with shifting shades indicating changing conditions for the creatures living in the water. One benefit of the new study is that it gives scientists a baseline for assessing how climate change is affecting Earth’s freshwater resources. Continued monitoring of lakes could help scientists detect future changes.
1. What contributes to blue lakes?| A．Lower temperature. | B．More sediment. |
| C．Organic matter. | D．More algae. |
| A．Size. | B．Color. | C．Shape. | D．Surface. |
| A．It is stable in any condition. | B．It affects the water properties. |
| C．It shifts with climate changes. | D．It decides creatures in the water. |
| A．Water tends to stay pure above 22℃. |
| B．Satellites can analyze water temperature. |
| C．Warmer water will contain more resources. |
| D．Green-brown lakes will be more 70 years later. |
