1 . Plant biologists have found a way that may enable poor farmers to do away with the need to purchase expensive hybrid seeds every year. Researchers at the University of California report that they have solved a long-standing problem of hybrid seeds by making exact clones of the hybrid plants from seeds.

For long, many crops have been grown from high-yielding, anti-disease or climate-tolerant hybrid seeds. But the seeds of hybrid crops do not produce plants with the same qualities during reproduction and hence farmers cannot save the seeds for the next growing season. They end up paying for new hybrid seeds each sowing season. The discovery, long sought by plant researchers, could make it easier to grow desirable high-yielding crops and make them available to the world’s farmers. Farmers could thus replant seeds from their own hybrid plants and enjoy the benefits of high production year after year, the scientists report.

While the discovery would help farmers, it would also impact the commercial interest of the hybrid seed industry. Siddiq, a former Deputy Director General in the Crop Science Division of the ICAR, said at first sight, this might seem like a setback for hybrid seed companies but there would be plenty of things they can still do. “Rice is grown over such a vast climatic and geographical range that specialized hybrids would have to be developed for each region,” he said. The companies, he said, would continue to improve their hybrids. “It will be interesting to see how all this plays out in the years to come.”

Currently, the high costs of producing hybrid seeds are a major barrier to farmers in developing countries, especially South Asia and Africa. Siddiq said if efficiently used, this method could potentially be a game-changer for poor farmers, who would need to purchase hybrid seeds just once and plant the progeny(后代) seeds from their own harvest in the following seasons.

1. What problem do the researchers aim to solve?

A．Farmers’ income.	B．Farmers’ costs.
C．Hybrid seeds’ cloning.	D．Hybrid seeds’ climate tolerance.

2. What is the disadvantage of the present hybrid seeds?

A．They have a pretty long growth cycle.

B．They tend to be affected by various diseases.

C．They have stricter requirements for sowing time.

D．They fail to reproduce plants with the same quality.

3. What’s Siddiq’s attitude to the commercial interests of the hybrid seed industry?

A．Hopeful.

B．Concerned.

C．Doubtful.

D．Anxious.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．The future of the hybrid seed industry.

B．The drawback of cloning hybrid seeds.

C．A method of cloning hybrid plants from their seeds.

D．A means of promoting the specialized hybrid seeds.

2 . 阅读下列短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Ar Horqin Grassland Nomadic System in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, listed on the list of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems by the United Nations,     1     (demonstrate) the wisdom of herdsmen to work in harmony with nature.

The     2     (season) movement of herds among different pastures (牧场) plays an important role in maintaining the self-renewal and recovery     3     (capable) of the grasslands. While keeping soil fertility from degrading, the nomadic lifestyle can protect vegetation and make good use of water resources,     4     the growing population of people and livestock, still puts much pressure     5     the grassland resources. Locals have, therefore, come up with ways to avoid overgrazing. With ancestral wisdom     6     (root) in a time of relatively small societies, it may be unable to solve issues today. This is     7     modern planning can help with.

For example, since 2015, under the guidance of the local government of Ar Horqin Banner, the number of sheep and goats in the nomadic system     8     (reduce) from 390,000 to 190,000, while the number of cattle has been increased from 40,000 to 81,000 head. No more than 100,000 sheep are allowed to migrate to the summer camps every year. With     9     (scientific) designed grazing patterns ensuring sustainable development of the grasslands, herdsmen can maintain     10     more balanced relationship with nature.

3 . Regarded as the “loneliest tree in the world”, the Sitka spruce (云杉) on uninhabited Campbell Island lately has kept good company with a team of New Zealand researchers who believe it could help unlock secrets of climate changes.

The nine-meter-tall spruce holds the Guinness Record title for the “remotest tree” on the planet. It is the sole tree on the shrubby, windswept island, 700 kilometers south of New Zealand in the Southern Ocean. It’s the only tree for 222km around; its nearest neighbor grows on the Auckland Islands.

Although classified as an invasive species, for radiocarbon science leader at GNS Science, Dr. Jocelyn Turnbull, the tree could be a valuable tool to understand what is happening with the uptake of CO₂ in the Southern Ocean. In order to measure CO₂ concentrations, taking samples of the atmosphere is the best method, and can be complemented with radiocarbon dating samples of deep water. But it comes with limitations. “You can’t collect air that was there 30 years ago, because it is not there anymore,” Turnbull said, “So we came up with this idea of using tree rings. Plants, when they grow, take CO₂ out of the air by photosynthesis (光合作用) and they use that to grow their structures and the carbon from the air ends up in the tree rings.”

This is helpful when there is an abundance of established trees, but those are a rarity in the Southern Ocean. Enter the Sitka Spruce - the south most tree, and the team could find it would offer up good data. “It’s grown a lot faster than anything else in that region and the rings are bigger and easier to separate out and get a record form.”

As for the tree’s lonely status: the description may be in the eye of the beholder. “To get to the tree you have to walk through elephant seals and sea lions, penguins and albatross,” Turnbull said. “The tree doesn’t look lonely …it looks quite content actually.”

1. What is special about the tree?

A．It measures nine meters wide.

B．It is the only tree on a vast land.

C．It grows on the Auckland Islands.

D．It owns the Guinness title for the “loneliest tree”.

2. What can we learn from Paragraph 3?

A．CO2 builds up in the tree rings.

B．The Sitka spruce is a native species.

C．Samples from water are usually inaccessible.

D．Photosynthesis stops the plants absorbing air.

3. What may Turnbull support?

A．The tree coexists with a variety of animals.

B．The tree grows well because of suitable climate.

C．It’s unwise to use tree rings as an indicator of CO2.

D．It’s possible to measure previous CO2 concentrations directly.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Trees are of great significance to scientific research.

B．The “loneliest” tree in the world is not lonely at all.

C．Global warming has a far-reaching impact on creatures.

D．A remote Sitka spruce may help us learn about climate changes.

4 . Sometimes, animals act just as humans do. Officer Burgess found a mother duck pecking (啄) on his car. He figured she just wanted ________. But the pecking continued.

Officer Burgess grew ________when the duck ignored the food he threw out of the window. Instead, the duck________away just a bit, then stopped, looked back, and returned to the ________for some more pecking and screaming.

After the duck’s doing so for a second time, Officer Burgess ________got out of his car to follow the duck. But he wasn’t prepared for what he was about to ________!

“She led me about 100 yards away to this grassy________near a lake where I saw one of her ________all tangled up (缠住) in some string. His little feet were ________” the officer explained. “She led me straight to him.”

Officer Burgess thought the mother duck might ________him if he tried to touch her baby, so he________the animal rescue center for help. The rescue group didn’t have any staff readily_______to assist, but a policewoman, Officer Cecilia Charron, decided she’d lend a ________.

When Officer Charron arrived, she went straight to work on carefully ________the little one. “The mother duck just________，like she knew. It was amazing,” Officer Burgess recalled. Once freed, the baby ran to its mama, and they safely________away.

It was an unbelievable ________for the shocked officers, and Officer Charron ________ teared up a bit.

Officer Burgess said, “I honestly don’t know why I decided to _______her, but I did. It makes me wonder-do they know to ________humans when they need help?”

1.

A．water

B．peace

C．food

D．protection

2.

A．curious

B．stubborn

C．happy

D．grateful

3.

A．hid

B．walked

C．broke

D．floated

4.

A．lake

B．road

C．sidewalk

D．car

5.

A．finally

B．sincerely

C．actually

D．exactly

6.

A．believe

B．find

C．hear

D．regret

7.

A．hallway

B．house

C．garden

D．area

8.

A．neighbors

B．nests

C．babies

D．wings

9.

A．kicking

B．sinking

C．climbing

D．wandering

10.

A．help

B．attack

C．admit

D．trap

11.

A．encouraged

B．warned

C．refused

D．called

12.

A．available

B．willing

C．powerful

D．certain

13.

A．volunteer

B．vehicle

C．hand

D．tool

14.

A．fixing

B．comforting

C．freeing

D．curing

15.

A．glared

B．watched

C．cheered

D．screamed

16.

A．escaped

B．flew

C．swam

D．carried

17.

A．experiment

B．goal

C．chance

D．moment

18.

A．even

B．yet

C．still

D．ever

19.

A．stop

B．drive

C．ignore

D．follow

20.

A．suffer from

B．turn to

C．come across

D．concentrate on

6 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

My sister Josie and I wanted a dog more than anything else. We begged our parents many times but always got the same answer. One summer night, however, in our yard stood a big black female dog. We couldn’t believe our eyes!

Josie made a little kissing noise and held out her hand. The dog came to us slowly, taking a few steps forward, then a step back. She was so skinny and her coat was full of dirt. When she came closer, I was glad to find no tags around her neck.

Josie brought milk and several eggs for her. But when she finished them, she ran into the bush and disappeared. “Don’t go!” Josie cried, “Come back!” But she was gone. “I think she’ll be back when she gets hungry again,” I said.

The next night, we set the food in the driveway. Soon the dog appeared. We called her Lucky, hugged her gently and showed her the food. She sniffed it, drooling (垂涎) and licking her mouth, but for some reason she wouldn’t eat it.

The next minute Lucky did something unexpected. She grabbed the plate in her mouth and dragged it away. In the following nights it was the same scene. But the strangest thing was that even though Lucky kept taking the food, she didn’t seem to be putting on any weight.

On the fifth night, Lucky didn’t come as usual. We were worried. When we almost gave up, she appeared. She barked at us and ran back and forth. Then she ran towards the bush slowly, still barking. We chased after her. She ran and barked, turning to see if we were following. After about ten minutes, Lucky finally stopped, wagging her tail quietly. She looked at us, barked and disappeared through a dark hole in the wall of leaves and branches. I pointed toward the hole. “No way I’m going in there,” Josie said.

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。
However, after hesitating for a little while, we finally made a decision.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Worried but excited, we went home with Lucky and her four little babies.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . A new study by the Zoological Society of London has found that nearly one in five of the world’s 10,000 species of reptiles (爬行动物) are threatened with extinction. The study, which has been printed in the journal Biological Conservation, was carried out by more than 200 experts who assessed the risk of extinction of 1,500 reptiles selected at random from around the globe.

The primary author of the paper, Monika Bohm, explained to the Zoological Society:” Reptiles are often associated with extreme habitats and tough environmental conditions, so it is easy to assume that they will be fine in our changing world. “However, that’s far from the truth:” Many species are very high specialized in terms of habitat use and the climatic conditions they require for day to day functioning, “Bohm said.” This makes them particularly sensitive to environmental changes. “The paper highlights three critically endangered species in its research, including the jungle runner lizard Ameiva vittata, which has only ever been spotted in the Cochabamba region of the Bolivian jungle—an area under threat from the growth of agriculture and logging. The two most recent searches for the species have been unsuccessful. Meanwhile in Haiti, six of the nine species of Anolis lizard in the country risk extinction due to increasing deforestation (毁林).

Also at risk are freshwater turtles, with 50% of all species at risk of extinction from hunting; turtle parts are in high demand as ingredients in traditional medicine. According to the study 30% of freshwater reptile species are also in danger of completely disappearing.

Reptiles have a long evolutionary history: snakes, lizards, crocodiles and tuataras first appeared on earth around 300 million years ago. They are an important part of many ecosystems. ”This is a very important step towards assessing the conservation status of reptiles globally, “Philip Bowles from the IUCN Species Survival Commission said in response to the study.” Tackling the identified habitat loss is key conservation priorities in order to transfer declines in these reptiles.”

1. How many species of reptiles are endangered?

A．1,000.

B．1,500.

C．2,000.

D．5,000.

2. What can we infer from paragraph 2?

A．Environmental changes cause species variation.

B．More trees are being cut down in the Bolivian jungle.

C．Reptiles can easily adapt to extreme habitats and climate.

D．Species extinction results from tough environment conditions.

3. Why are freshwater turtles at risk?

A．Because local people hunt them for fun.	B．Because their parts have medical value.
C．Because they struggle to survive in the wild.	D．Because they can be cooking ingredients.

4. How can we conserve these reptiles according to the last paragraph?

A．To reduce habitat destruction.	B．To increase the harvest of forest trees.
C．To assess the current conditions of reptiles.	D．To further the study on the evolutionary history.