1 . If the three Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) is a guideline to save the planet, garbage-sorting is where the efforts start. Since May 1, Beijing has started to carry out mandatory garbage-sorting in new efforts to better protect the environment. Under the new regulation, residents are required to classify household waste into four categories: kitchen, recyclable, hazardous and other waste. People who fail to sort their garbage properly can be fined from 50 to 200 yuan, reported Xinhua.
Some residential communities in Beijing have introduced rewards to encourage residents to sort their garbage. According to Xinhua, residents can earn points by classifying their domestic waste correctly and then exchange the points they accumulate for daily necessities such as soap.
Garbage sorting practices have reached over 70 percent of housing estates in 18 cities, including Shanghai, Xiamen and Hangzhou, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. Shanghai first enacted a mandatory garbage-sorting regulation in July 2019 and has had a 90 percent compliance (服从) rate among its housing estates.
According to a report by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, over 90 percent of the public believe that garbage-sorting is important for the protection of the environment. However, garbage-sorting is still a big problem in China. Only 30 percent of participants said they think they are completely sorting their waste, the report noted. According to Xinhua, it’s partly because many people lack the willingness to sort their own waste. Also, some previous garbage regulations didn’t include fines for people who failed to obey them.
“It’s a must to have a legal guarantee to promote garbage sorting,” Liu Jianguo, a professor from Tsinghua University, told China Daily, “Aside from China, many countries like Germany, Spain and Britain, also ask people to sort waste into specific categories. In Japan, there is a fixed time for the sorting of each kind of garbage and littering.”
1. What can we learn about the new regulation in Beijing?| A．It hasn’t been put into use yet. |
| B．Residents can sort the garbage as they like. |
| C．People can get money if they classify their domestic waste correctly. |
| D．Those who can’t sort the garbage as the new rule requires shall be fined. |
| A．Most people are unaware of its importance in protecting environment. |
| B．Some people don’t want to take the trouble to sort the garbage. |
| C．Only residents in big cities can sort the trash correctly. |
| D．The government doesn’t have enough money to support garbage sorting. |
| A．It’s difficult to carry out garbage sorting in China. |
| B．Some laws in garbage-sorting are needed. |
| C．People in developed countries can better sort the garbage. |
| D．We should learn from Japan. |
| A．Garbage sorting, a new start in China | B．New regulations in Beijing |
| C．Argument on garbage sorting | D．How to sort domestic garbage |
2 . When “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was first shown to the public last month, a group of excited animal activists gathered on Hollywood Boulevard. But they weren’t there to throw red paint on fur-coat-wearing film stars. Instead, one activist, dressed in a full-body monkey suit, had arrived with a sign praising the filmmakers: “Thanks for not using real apes (猿)!”
The creative team behind “Apes” used motion-capture (动作捕捉) technology to create digitalized animals, spending tens of millions of dollars on technology that records an actor’s performance and later processes it with computer graphics to create a final image (图像). In this case, one of a realistic-looking ape.
Yet “Apes” is more exception than the rule. In fact, Hollywood has been hot on live animals lately. One nonprofit organization, which monitors the treatment of animals in filmed entertainment, is keeping tabs on more than 2,000 productions this year. Already, a number of films, including “Water for Elephants,” “The Hangover Part Ⅱ” and “Zookeeper,” have drawn the anger of activists who say the creatures acting in them haven’t been treated properly.
In some cases, it’s not so much the treatment of the animals on set in the studio that has activists worried; it’s the off-set training and living conditions that are raising concerns. And there are questions about the films made outside the States, which sometimes are not monitored as closely as productions filmed in the States.
1. Why did the animal activists gather on Hollywood Boulevard?| A．To see famous film stars. |
| B．To oppose wearing fur coats. |
| C．To raise money for animal protection. |
| D．To express thanks to some filmmakers. |
| A．The cost of making “Apes.” |
| B．The creation of digitalized apes. |
| C．The publicity about “Apes.” |
| D．The performance of real apes. |
| A．Listing completely. |
| B．Directing professionally. |
| C．Promoting successfully. |
| D．Watching carefully. |
| A．They may be badly treated. |
| B．They should take further training. |
| C．They could be traded illegally |
| D．They would lose popularity. |
3 . A new study recently found that elephants in central African forests can encourage the growth of slow-growing trees and increase the ability of the forest to store carbon.
“As a tree, there’s a trade-off you can’t have it all,” explained Fabio Berzaghi, who led the study. “You either invest in growing fast, or in building a lot of structure with carbon to be more resistant.” Elephants prefer to eat fast-growing trees in more open spaces. As they feed and walk, they cause damage to these species, knocking over trees or breaking off branches, which results in an ecosystem that favors large, slow-growing hardwood trees. “As the elephants thin the forest, they increase the number of slow-growing trees and the forest is capable of storing more carbon, ” said Stephen Blake, one of the paper’s authors.
Scientists collected field measurements in the Congo Basin and used a computer model to predict how elephants would affect forest structure, and carbon storage potential in the long term. The data confirmed that when elephants are present, the forest contains larger trees and higher abundances of species with high wood density. Conversely (相反地)，should forest elephants go extinct, leaving those slow-growing trees struggling to compete with fast-growing species, it would result in a 7 percent loss of above-ground biomass (生物总量). As a result, central African forests could lose up to three billion tons of carbon, potentially accelerating climate change.
The sad reality is that humans are doing their best to rid the planet of elephants. “This study comes at a time when forest elephants are threatened as never before,” said Iain Douglas Hamilton, founder of Save the Elephants. “It is shocking that just as we are beginning to understand how elephants might have a key role in Africa in storing carbon, they are under real threat of extinction.” One limitation of the study, Mr. Berzaghi said, is that we do not know how much carbon has already been lost because of the elephants’ decline. But it does seem certain, he added, that putting a stop to illegal hunting and restoring forest elephant populations would bring climate benefits.
1. What can we infer about slow-growing trees in Paragraph 2?| A．They are elephants’ favorite food. | B．They are easily hurt by elephants. |
| C．They can help forests store carbon. | D．They may reduce elephant populations. |
| A．Climate change would possibly be sped up. |
| B．The forest structure would remain unchanged. |
| C．The forests would lose more fast-growing trees. |
| D．Larger trees would defeat fast-growing species. |
| A．Lead a low-carbon life. | B．Evaluate the carbon loss. |
| C．Stop destroying forests. | D．Protect forest elephants. |
| A．Humans and Nature Live in Harmony |
| B．Elephants Disappear in Parts of Africa |
| C．Climate Change Affects Forest Structure |
| D．Elephants Defend Against Climate Change |
This means that after a while your body becomes
There is no doubt that the earth is becoming warmer and that it is human activity
Having experience quite a few earthquakes in Hawaii already, I didn’t take much notice. I was about to go back to sleep
A population of the world's most invasive mosquito species was almost completely wiped out by
The experiment successfully reduced the female Asian Tiger Mosquito population-the main source of bites and disease transmission-by up to 94%,
One of the Chinese study's
The results were so successful that they nearly
Mosquitoes pose grave threats to human health beyond just irritating bites. However, there is currently no effective vaccine or treatment
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（﹨）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处。
The blue whale is certainly the largest animals on the planet today. Just the heart of a blue whale can weight as many as a family car. You might think that such a big animal would need to eat another big animals to surviving. Surprising, the blue whale feeds on some of the smaller ocean animals.
A blue whale can live between 80 and 90 years. Unfortunately, it is believe that there were only 10,000 to 25,000 alive. They were hunted for in the 1900s but hundreds of thousands of them were killed. Let’s hope number of whales on the planet starts to increase in the coming years.
7 . I suddenly heard an elephant crying as though frightened. Looking down, I immediately recognized that something was wrong, and ran down to the edge of the near bank. There I saw Ma Shwe with her three-month-old calf (幼崽) struggling in the fast-rising water, and it was a life-and-death struggle. Her calf was floating and screaming with fear. Ma Shwe was as near to the far bank as she could get, holding her whole body against the rushing water, and keeping the calf pressed against her huge body. Every now and then the rushing water would sweep the calf away.
There was a sudden rise in the water and the calf was washed clean over the mother’s body and was gone. Ma Shwe turned quickly to reach it and pressed the calf with her head and trunk (象鼻) against the rocky bank. Then with a huge effort, she picked it up in her trunk and tried until she was able to place it on a narrow shelf of rock.
Just at this moment she fell back into the river. If she were carried down, it would be certain death. I knew, as well as she did, that there was one spot where she could get up the bank, but it was on the other side from where she had put her calf.
While I was wondering what I could do next, I heard the sound of a mother’s love. Ma Shwe had crossed the river and got up the bank and was making her way back as fast as she could, roaring (吼叫) all the time, but to her calf it was music.
1. The moment the author got down to the river bank he saw _______,| A．Ma Shwe was placing the calf on the rock |
| B．Ma Shwe was holding the calf against the rushing water |
| C．the calf was washed away by the rising water |
| D．the calf was about to fall into the river |
| A．By putting it on a safe spot. | B．By pressing it against her body. |
| C．By taking it away with her. | D．By carrying it on her back. |
| A．It was a musical note. | B．It was a sign of danger. |
| C．It was a call for help. | D．It was a great comfort. |
| A．A Deadly River | B．A Matter of Life and Death |
| C．A Mother’s Love | D．A Brave Act |
8 . On the day the tornado hit, there was no sign severe weather was on its way—the sky was blue and the sun had been out. My husband Jimmy and I were watching TV upstairs.
No sooner had we got the coverage of the tornado than it was on top of us. It was the loudest thing I have ever heard. The bones of the house shook, and the power went out. We had three flights of steps to get through to get to the relative safety of the first floor.
As we struggled to reach the last flight of steps, our front door blew out. Pieces of glass that looked like crushed ice flew everywhere. Suddenly, a three-foot-long tree branch flew over our heads, missing us by inches. Had we been one step up, it would have impaled us.
By the time I reached the closet, Jimmy pushed me down to the closet floor, but he couldn’t get inside himself because of the wind. I grasped Jimmy’s arm and tried to bring Jimmy with it. My knees and head were full of glass, but in that moment, I felt no pain. If I had let go, Jimmy would have flown right out the back of the house and into the bay.
“Hold on! Hold on!” he yelled. But there was nothing in this closet to hold on to.
All of a sudden, Jimmy lifted off his feet like people in tornadoes do in the movies. I thought he was gone. And then everything stopped. He landed on his feet. In those first quiet moments, I couldn’t believe it was over. Jimmy said he’d go outside to check. “No,” I said. “Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.”
Our neighbor says the storm lasted four minutes. In that time, four of the twelve town houses in our unit were completely destroyed. Of the houses left standing, ours suffered the most damage. Amazingly, none of us were severely injured.
1. Which of the following sentences is NOT the evidence to show the tornado is violent?| A．It was the loudest thing I have ever heard. |
| B．The bones of the house shook, and the power went out. |
| C．Our neighbor says the storm lasted four minutes. |
| D．Pieces of glass that looked like crushed ice flew everywhere. |
| A．The couple had predicted the arrival of the tornado in advance. |
| B．Jimmy flew right out the back of the house and into the bay during the tornado. |
| C．The three-foot-tree flew over the couple’s head and injured them badly. |
| D．The author still felt scared when the tornado was suddenly over. |
| A．She didn’t hurt badly enough to sense the pain. |
| B．She was severely injured and failed to sense the pain. |
| C．Her attention was fully focused on her husband. |
| D．She had let her husband go away from her hand. |
| A．A thrilling adventure | B．A narrow escape |
| C．A risky attempt | D．A serious accident |
9 . Scientists have always been interested in the high level of organization in ant societies. American researchers have watched ants build life-saving rafts to keep afloat during floods. They also have recorded how ants choose their next queen — the female whose job is to produce eggs.
New technology is helping to improve researchers’ understanding of the insects. But there is still a lot to be learned.
Fire ants living in Brazilian forests are perfectly at home in an environment where flooding is common. To save themselves, the insects connect their legs together and create floating rafts. Some ant rafts can be up to 20 centimeters wide.
David Hu is an engineer with the Georgia Institute of Technology, also known as Georgia Tech, saying, "If you have 100 ants, which means 600 legs, 99 percent of those legs will be connected to a neighbor. So they’re very, very good at keeping this network."
David Hu and other Georgia Tech researchers wanted to study ants and the secret of their engineering. They froze ant rafts and then looked at them with the help of computed technology, or CT images. The pictures showed that larger ants serve in central positions to which smaller ants hold. The larger ants create pockets of air that keep the insects afloat.
Scientists say small robots or materials that can change shape could be programmed in a similar way, working towards a shared goal.
Researchers at North Carolina State University are also studying ants. They examined how Indian jumping ants choose the leader of the colony when they lose their top female or queen.
1. The author takes fire ants as an example to tell us ________.| A．how ants survive | B．how ants seek food |
| C．how ants communicate | D．how ants live together |
| A．Ants know the way to keep in touch in the river. |
| B．Ants know the way to join together closely. |
| C．Ants know the way to look for each other. |
| D．Ants know the way to build a large raft. |
| A．To stress their importance. | B．To help all the ants float. |
| C．To fight against the enemies. | D．To defend their top female. |
| A．We can use similar-shaped machines in flooding areas. |
| B．We can combine small robots or materials into larger ones. |
| C．Small and shape-changeable things might work just like ants do. |
| D．Small robots or materials in the shape of ants can be made. |
10 . Most animals on land are known to us, but many living things underwater are not. Now let’s get to know some of them.
Sea cucumber
Sea cucumber are strange animals living at the bottom of the sea. They wear brown or white green coats . When summer comes, they stay deep to sleep because they are afraid of heat. And when it is autumn, they move to shallow (浅的) water and get their food.
Pike
The pike is a kind of freshwater fish. They are good swimmers and like swimming near boats, waiting to be fed. They have sharp teeth to catch fishes. When they are young, they live in groups. However, when they grow up, they prefer to live alone.
Cuttlefish
A cuttlefish can swim quite fast, so it is also called rocket (火箭) fish. It has eight arms and two feelers on its head, just around its mouth. It ejects ink (喷墨) when it is in danger. Its meat is delicious, and it is often the first choice for many people.
Octopus
An octopus has long arms, with which to catch food and protect itself. When it is sleeping, one or two of its arms are still on duty, keeping moving. Once it feels something dangerous, it can wake up at once to take action.
1. Sea cucumbers stay deep to sleep in summer because they .| A．are afraid of high temperature | B．want to get strong and fat |
| C．are afraid of their enemy | D．want to live alone |
| A．the sea cucumber | B．the cuttlefish |
| C．the pike | D．the octopus |
| A．color | B．arms |
| C．sound | D．smells |
