1 . Françoise Malby-Anthony, a city girl, a Parisian through and through, could tell the quickest way to the Eiffel Tower but knew nothing about animals. Yet somewhere deep inside, she always felt she would end up in a foreign country.

It was her husband Lawrence Anthony, a South African, who brought out the wanderlust in her. They met in London in 1987, and a year later they moved to South Africa, where they were drawn by nature and eventually bought Thula Thula — a game reserve of river and 1,500 hectares of rolling hills. They were soon working to save an abundance of wild animals, especially elephants and rhinos, from the poachers and hunters who roamed for fun and profit. They also employed some locals, and taught them about office work, dealing with guests and cooking French dishes.

Last March, however, Lawrence died of a sudden heart attack. And there Francoise was, alone, burying her husband, and didn’t know where to begin.

She soon faced her first baptism (洗礼) by fire. A few days later, she received a call. Thabo, a three-year-old male rhino, had taken a bullet. It was the poachers. How could the poachers break into the fence in broad daylight? At that point, a rumor suggested it was an inside job. Maybe someone was trying to frighten her into leaving?

Lawrence was gone. A rhino in trouble and security men she couldn’t rely on. Since booking after booking had been canceled due to Lawrence’s passing away, Françoise finally had an empty bank account. But how could she leave the dream that Lawrence and she had fought so hard for?

Françoise slowly found her feet. Eventually Thabo recovered from the trauma. She set up meetings with the staff to go over reserve and animal issues and to agree on priorities. She even launched her own rhino fund. The desperate days have helped redefine the purpose of life without Lawrence, and she understands that the mission of protecting Thula Thula’s wildlife has become hers, and hers alone.

1. What do we know about Françoise?

A．She cooked local dishes specially for tourists.

B．She has lived in a foreign country for decades.

C．She met her husband on her trip to South Africa.

D．She has been crazy about animals since childhood.

2. What happened shortly after Lawrence’s death?

A．The reserve was in financial trouble.

B．Her security men quit their jobs.

C．A rumor that she would leave went viral.

D．One of the rhinos was illegally shot.

3. How has the experience of tackling tough situations affected Francoise?

A．She has gained the strength to live bravely.

B．Her reserve has begun to bring in money.

C．Her management skills have been shared by others.

D．She has become expert in attending injured animals.

4. What is the best title of the text?

A．Tips on Protecting Wild Animals

B．Rebirth from a Wounded Reserve

C．A Rhino Survived the Poachers Gunshot

D．Wonderful Journey Deep into South Africa

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

In southwestern China’s Yunnan province, mushrooms mean money. In May, when the first monsoon (季风) rains sweep across the mountainous province of Yunnan, mushroom collectors rush to damp forests     1    (hunt) for wild mushrooms.     2    (join) them at the first sunlight are local chefs, village children and     3    (they) parents, and some migrant workers who have returned from coastal factories especially for the hunt.

Thousands of Yunnanese families earn much of their living from the wild fungi (野生菌) season,     4     runs until October. The 160,000 tonnes they collect     5    (annual) bring an income of about 10 bn yuan ($1.4 bn). The most valuable ones end up on dinner     6    (plate) abroad, from porcini — beloved one of Europeans — to meaty matsutake, prized by South Koreans and Japanese. Trains get the mushrooms from basket to banquet in under 30 hours. A rail service     7    (launch) last year has been called the “high-speed matsutake express”. Whatever is not sold fresh is air-dried or frozen for later sale.

“Yunnan accounts     8     just 4% of China’s land area, yet is home to more than 800 of the country’s 1,000 known edible varieties of mushrooms, and about one third of the world’s. Dozens more     9    (discover) in Yunnan every year,” says Yang Zhuliang,     10     researcher of the Kunming Institute of Botany.

3 . “It is necessary for us to go to places that still look like the ocean as it was 500 years ago,” says Enric Sala, former professor at Scripps Institute of Oceanography. However, in most parts of the world, marine conservation is stymied by opposition from fishing, oil, and mining interests. A mere 7 percent of the world’s ocean has protection—mostly weak rules, and only 2.5 percent is highly protected. Outside of these zones, the ocean’s story is a continuing failure.

A few remaining parts of the ocean are the last wild places of the sea—the marine equivalent of the remotest old-growth forest in the Amazon—still unaffected by overfishing, pollution and climate change. Enric is working with the National Geographic Society and together launched the Pristine Seas project in 2008. Over the past 14 years, Pristine Seas has helped create 28 marine reserves, making up two-thirds of the world’s fully protected marine areas—covering more than two million square miles in all.

Now Sala and his team have set an even more ambitious goal: to see more than a third of the world’s ocean conserved for the purpose not just of sustaining biodiversity but also of replenishing(补充)fish stocks and storing carbon.

Pristine Seas worked with native Palauans(帕劳人)to give an ancient conservation tradition a modern change. For centuries, Palauans have used what they all “buls”, a Palauan word which means closure, to preserve and rebuild their reef fish stocks. Over the years they have created 35 reserves to protect marine life around their islands, some of which ban fishing permanently.

Sala and his team calculate that a 14-fold expansion of the fully protected part of the ocean, from 2.5 percent to 35 percent, would provide 64 percent of the biodiversity benefits while increasing the global fish catch by almost 10 million metric tons. Even that may sound impossible, but the alternative is awful. For now, we still get to choose.

1. What does the underlined word “stymied” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Frustrated.	B．Supported.
C．Accelerated.	D．Overestimated.

2. What situation does global ocean protection face?

A．Protecting the ocean influences mining most.

B．Ocean protection has achieved great progress.

C．Few oceans have been properly protected so far.

D．Current rules have been enough for ocean protection.

3. What can we learn about the Pristine Seas project?

A．It has protected two-thirds of the world’s ocean.

B．It sets unrealistic goals when protecting the ocean.

C．It asks to prohibit fishing in the 35 created reserves.

D．It has made some advances in maintaining biodiversity.

4. Where can we probably read this article?

A．www.newsflash.com.

B．www.worldissues.com.

C．www.scienceforkds.com.

D．www.eco-conservation.com.

4 . Sleep is an important biological process for people and animals. But some mammals(哺乳动物)like the northern elephant seal, survive with much less sleep.

Researchers in a new study described the unusual sleep pattern of these ocean animals. They found that when these mammals go to feed on trips that can last seven months, they sleep just two hours. Those two hours of sleep are made up of short moments of rest lasting only 10 minutes each as they dive deep to avoid predators(天敌).

The seals’ sleep time during ocean trips is different from the 10 hours a day they spend sleeping on the coast during mating season at places like California’s Ano Nuevo beach.

The researchers placed a head covering with sensors(传感器)on the heads of the seals that they studied. The sensors recorded sleep signals created by the seals’ brains and heart rate. The sensors also recorded the animals’ location and depth beneath the sea. The researchers studied female seals because they go out on long open-ocean trips while males feed in coastal waters.

During dives lasting about 30 minutes, the seals went into a deep sleep called slow-wave sleep while keeping a controlled downward movement. When they then experienced rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, a condition where voluntary movement while sleeping stops, the seals fell into a turning pattern. They sometimes ended up without movement on the seafloor.

Terrie Williams, a scientist at the University of California who helped write the study, said, “It is remarkable that a wild animal will fall into deep REM sleep when there are predators on the hunt.” She added that the seals solve this problem by going into deep sleep in the deep parts of the oceans where predators usually do not hunt them.

1. What is considered unusual for northern elephant seals during feed on trips?

A．Resting for two hours on end every day.	B．Diving deep to escape their predators.
C．Having a 10-minute sleep 12 times a day.	D．Spending 10 hours sleeping on the beach.

2. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．What to study in the research.	B．How the research is carried out.
C．When to locate seals’ location.	D．Where male seals hunt for food.

3. What happens during the seals’ slow-wave sleep?

A．They keep moving downward.	B．They remain still in the ocean.
C．They fall into a turning pattern.	D．They move their eyes rapidly.

4. What does Terrie think of the seals’ sleep pattern?

A．Unbelievable.

B．Impractical.

C．Terrible.

D．Admiring.

5 . Canada’s new Dark Vessel Detection program is using advanced satellite technology to find illegal fishing ships that attempt to steal fish from waters around the world. Illegal fishing is a major contributor to the decrease of fish and their habitat destruction.

It is said that illegal fishing accounts for about 30 percent of fishing activity worldwide. It means that u to 26 million tons of fish are caught at a cost to the global economy of more than $ 23 billion a year. Illegal fishing occurs both on the high seas and within the 200 mile limits of coastal states. It has an especially negative effect on coastal populations in undeveloped areas.

Now, the government’s Fisheries and Oceans Canada, in partnership with the Department of National Defense and MDA (Canada’s space technology maker), has started a new program that has already led to fines on five foreign ships. The $7 million Dark Vessel Detection program uses satellite technology to locate and track ships. Some illegal fishing ships have switched off their location transmitting (传输) equipment, in an attempt to avoid surveillance (监视) and control.

The program offers state-of- the-art satellite data to small island nations and coastal states around the world. The local economies of those places are often influenced by illegal fishing. Finding illegal fishing ships from space will allow these small island nations to focus on their investigations and protect their fish.

“Illegal fishing threatens the health of our fish population and takes resources (资源) away from hard- working, legal fishermen,” said Bernadette Jordan, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, “This state -of the art system will help Ecuador and small island nations in the Pacific region deal with illegal fishing. Such illegal activity will do great harm to the Galapagos Islands and the food and economic security of its people,” she added.

1. What is the purpose of Canada’s new Dark Vessel Detection program?

A．To prevent sea pollution.	B．To assess the loss of fish farms.
C．To observe endangered fish species.	D．To protect the fish population worldwide.

2. What does the data in Paragraph 2 show?

A．The difficulties of undeveloped countries.	B．The slowdown in the global economy.
C．The seriousness of illegal fishing.	D．The general result of overfishing.

3. How do some illegal fishermen get rid of surveillance?

A．By speeding up their ships.	B．By finding remote fishing areas.
C．By hiding signals of their ships.	D．By fishing in the middle of the night.

4. What can be inferred from Bernadette Jordan’s words?

A．Island nations tend to suffer food shortages.

B．The interests of legal fishermen are threatened.

C．The tracking system will be applied to more fields.

D．Stricter laws will be made for the fishing industry.

6 . Over the streets of Paris, France, rises the Eiffel Tower. An internationally recognized symbol of France and one of the most famous structures in the world, the Eiffel Tower was originally built as the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution.

More than 100 artists competed with plans for the monument, but the contract was given to Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, a bridge builder, architect, and metals expert who had already designed the framework for the Statue of Liberty. The final design required more than 18,000 pieces of iron and 2. 5 million rivets(铆钉) to construct. It took hundreds of workers more than 2 years to finish, and when it was completed in March of 1889,it was almost 1,000 feet high—more than twice the height of the pyramids at Giza—making it the tallest structure in the world at that time.

The tower was originally meant to be a temporary structure, and only stand for 20 years. Many of the people of Paris disliked the tower. They thought it was ugly, or that it was dangerous and might fall down. By the time the tower was supposed to be removed, however, people had realized that it was a valuable way to transmit wireless telegraph and radio signals, and city officials decided to keep it. It continues to be used for communications today, with more than 100 antennas(天线) on it.

The tower is completely repainted every seven years to protect it from rusting(生锈), using 60 tons of paint each time. Originally, the tower was reddish brown and the color was changed sometimes when it was repainted. These days it is painted a bronze color called “Eiffel Tower Brown”.

Today, the Eiffel Tower is the most popular paid attraction in the world, with about 7 million visitors each year. It has been the inspiration for replicas(复制品) and imitations around the world. No longer considered an eyesore, the Eiffel Tower is an icon of France and is inside the World Heritage Site that includes certain parts of Paris.

1. What was the purpose of building the Eiffel Tower?

A．To be an important symbol of the country.

B．To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution.

C．To be the exit to the 1889 World’s Fair.

D．To help France gain international recognition.

2. Why didn’t the Eiffel Tower become a temporary structure?

A．The people of Paris liked the beautiful tower very much.

B．It didn’t fall down after 20 years as it was originally designed.

C．City officials made it more beautiful and safer.

D．It was used for transmitting wireless telegraph and radio signals.

3. Which of the following about the Eiffel Tower is NOT true?

A．It was constructed with an amount of iron and rivets.

B．There are more than 100 antennas on it.

C．It is the most popular paid attraction in the world.

D．It is repainted every six years.

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

A．An Icon of France	B．The Most Popular Attraction
C．The World Heritage Site	D．A Tower for Communication

7 . Newsweek has released a list of 100 famous spots in its latest issue and says all of them may not exist in the future because of various reasons.

Kauai, Hawaii, U. S.

Kauai is the oldest and fourth largest of Hawaiian Islands. Most of this island lies in the mist (雾 气) all year round. The thick forests are home to the colorful Hawaiian honeycreeper, an endangered bird species. Even the tiny fall or rise of the sea level will cause large changes on the island, which put the island’s ecosystem under severe stress.

Caribbean Sea

Four types of endangered sea turtles (龟) live here. The rising sea levels and the pollution of the oceans can destroy the beach, where the female sea turtles lay eggs. Unlike other animals, the sex of a sea turtle depends on the temperature at which the turtle hatches (孵化). The temperature for female sea turtles to hatch is above 31℃, and male below 27.7℃. Scientists worry the cut of male turtles can threaten the species’ survival.

Recife, Brazil

Recife in northeastern Brazil is a business center and also a great destination of tourists, who visit here for the sunny weather and white-sand beaches. Due to its nonstop coastal development, now Recife is highly weak to the threats of rising sea levels, hurricanes and storms. The reduce of coral reefs (珊瑚礁) also exposes the whole city to flooding.

Chicago, Illinois, U. S.

Since founded in the 1830s, the “Windy City” Chicago has become the center of transportation, industry, finance and entertainment in the Midwest of U.S. Nowadays, more than 2.6 million residents live in the modern area, making it the third most populous city in U.S. In the coming years, Chicago will suffer from gradual increase in heat waves and flooding.

1. What is the climate like on Kauai?

A．Sunny.

B．Dry.

C．Foggy.

D．Changeable.

2. What can cause the unequal rate between male and female turtles?

A．The global warming.

B．The rising sea levels.

C．The gradual disappearance of their habitats.

D．The female sea turtles stopping laying eggs.

3. What do the four places have in common?

A．They are home to honeycreepers.

B．They are endangered coastal areas.

C．They are faced with overpopulation.

D．They are free from human activities.

8 . Objects in the night sky are disappearing from view because of light pollution, according to a new study. Outdoor lighting from street lamps, office buildings and vehicle headlights leads to sky less bright, which is when the night sky gets brighter. The brighter it is at night, the harder it is to see stars and planets from Earth.

Christopher Kyba, an astronomer with the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences, led his team studying over 50, 000 star observations between 2011 and 2022. “If the brightening of the night sky continues at the current rate,” Kyba said, “a child born in a place where 250 stars are visible will only be able to see 100 stars by the time he or she turned 18.”

The issue is global but particularly common in North America, where 80% of people cannot see the Milky Way galaxy (银河系). This huge group of billions of stars should look like a wide strip of light in the dark night sky. However, only very remote places, such as the Sahara Desert and the Amazon Rain Forest, have a truly dark night sky.

Light pollution makes it harder for astronomers to study stars and planets. It also causes problems for animals. Animals active at night like bats become confused and crash into objects. Turtles that hatch (孵化)at night need moonlight to find the sea, but artificial lights can confuse them and make them head inland instead. Birds in cities often wake up and start singing earlier than they should. Human lights also cause themselves to produce less of a chemical called melatonin(褪黑激素). This can lead to sleep problems, headaches, tiredness, and mood issues.

To help, scientists want to raise awareness of light pollution. They suggest that people use outdoor lighting that causes less light pollution, such as motion-sensitive lights that switch on only when they’re needed.

1. How does the author lead in the topic of the text?

A．By giving examples.

B．By offering evidence.

C．By making comparison.

D．By bringing up the issue.

2. What can be inferred from Kyba’s words?

A．Light pollution is becoming serious.

B．Adults are easier to see stars than kids.

C．Stars are becoming fewer year by year.

D．Kids are losing interest in watching stars.

3. What effect may light pollution cause?

A．Turtles are forced to hatch at sea.

B．Humans produce more melatonin.

C．Bats can get lost during the flight.

D．Birds in cities wake up much later.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．A New Origin of Light Pollution

B．Light Is Making Stars Unobserved

C．Ways to Deal with Light Pollution

D．Light Causes Human Sleep Issues

9 . How many plastic carrier bags have you got in your house? I seem to have cupboards full of them and it feels like they’re taking over my home! The shopping bag is just one example of the milion things we use made from this useful material, plastic. But unfortunately, it’s not the easiest thing to recycle and this is causing an environmental problem.

Most of our everyday plastic items end up in landfill, left to rot away for many years. But some of it blows away, causing damage to the natural environment and harming wildlife. The problem is most serious in our oceans.

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, described how remote islands act as a “sink” for the world’s rubbish. They become collecting points for fishing items and everyday things including toothbrushes, cigarette lighters and razors (剃须刀); things that we throw away. Dr Jennifer Lavers from the University of Tasmania says, “Almost every island in the world and almost every species in the ocean is now being shown to be impacted one way or another by our waste.”

This highlights the potentially deadly effect of our disposable culture. When we throw something away, it doesn’t just disappear, it goes somewhere and because of the long-lasting nature of plastic, it takes a lot time to decompose (分解) and stays there causing great damage to the ocean’s ecology.

Some other recent worldwide research estimates that 90% of all seabirds have swallowed plastic. And worse still, this plastic is broken down into tiny particles (颗粒) over a long period by the wind and the waves, then sea creatures at the bottom of the food chain ingest (咽下) them. These creatures are eaten by the fish that we eventually consume.

The solution to this problem would be to use less plastic. So next time you pick up a carrier bag, or buy a plastic bottle of water, spare a thought for the birds and animals on the remote islands. What do you do to help the environment?

1. What’s the function of the first paragraph of the text?

A．To explain an idea.	B．To create a suspense.
C．To introduce the topic.	D．To summarize the text.

2. According to the passage, why is plastic difficult to decompose?

A．Because of its lasting nature.

B．Because we use so much of it.

C．Because of our disposable culture.

D．Because it causes damage to the ocean’s ecology.

3. Where will the plastic finally come in the food chain?

A．Seabirds.

B．Sea creatures.

C．Fish.

D．Human beings.

4. What does the author call on us to do?

A．To consume less plastic.

B．To pick up a carrier bag.

C．To buy a plastic bottle of water.

D．To see birds and animals on the remote islands.

10 . 阅读下面材料，在题后空白处填入适当的内容(每空一词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

The record of the    1    (tall) tree in Asia has been refreshed this week, as a team of Chinese researchers announced     2    (recent) that they discovered a giant cypress(柏树)measuring 102.3 meters in Tibet.

The record-breaking high tree, called Cupressus torulosa(西藏柏木),    3    (find) at the national nature reserve of the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon in Bome county, Nyingchi city, during a scientific investigation led by Peking University in May.

    4    (use) drones and laser radar to map the local cypress aggregation area, the team members confirmed the     5    (present) of the 102.3-meter tree. Besides, they detected a large number of trees over 85 meters high, including 25 over 90 meters. The findings have also contributed    6    the region having the highest density of giant trees in China and Asia after precision measurement, said Ren Yu,    7    is a team member from Peking University.

Mainly distributed in southeastern Tibet, Cupressus, torulosa has a narrow distribution area and     8    small population. Therefore, it has been listed    9    a national first-class protected plant.

The previous China tree height record     10    (hold) was an evergreen fir(常绿冷杉) measured at 83.4 meters by scientists in Tibet last year.