1 .

Antarctica Desert	Antarctica is a continent (大陆) of ice. There is hardly any rain in Antarctica, so the Antarctic Desert becomes the driest desert in the world. It is also the world’s largest desert by area.
Sahara Desert	The Sahara Desert is the hottest of all the deserts on the earth. It covers most parts of North Africa and is similar in size to the land area of the USA. The word “sahara” in Arabic means “desert”.
Arabian Desert	The Arabian Desert is in Asia on the Arabian peninsula. It covers almost the entire Arabian Peninsula. The sand here has a red-orange color and the surface of the Arabian Desert is covered mainly by sand hills, some gravel plains( 砾石平原) and rocky plains.
Mojave Desert	The Mojave Desert is in the USA. It is the driest desert on the North American continent. Death Valley, one of the hottest areas in the world, is in the Mojave Desert. Mojave comes from the Spanish word for “beside the water”.

1. Which is the driest desert in the world?

A．The Arabian Desert.	B．The Sahara Desert.
C．The Antarctica Desert.	D．The Mojave Desert.

2. What is the Sahara?

A．It is the hottest desert in the world.

B．It is the largest desert in the world.

C．It is the coldest desert in the world.

D．It is the driest desert on the North American continent.

3. What color is the sand in the Arabian Desert?

A．Red.

B．Orange.

C．Red-yellow.

D．Red-orange.

2 . Longing for the most amazing places on the planet? You can do no wrong with these lakes across the globe.

Five Flower Lake

Set in the striking karst landscape of the Jiuzhaigou Valley in Sichuan province, China, Five Flower Lake is extraordinarily clear, with visibility to a depth of 40 metres. Five Flower is one of a series of blue-, green-and sky-colored lakes blocked by rock falls, but it differs from the others as its waters change color, looking sometimes yellow, sometimes green, but usually diamond blue. In winter, Five Flower never freezes; in summer, it never dries up. Local wildlife living in the surrounding mountain forests include the rare giant panda and the golden snub-nose monkey.

Crater Lake

The deep-blue waters of Crater Lake in Oregon, US, fill the outlet of an ancient volcano that collapsed 7,700 years ago. Its strangest occupant is the “Old Man of the Lake”, a nine-metre-tall tree stump(树桩), which has stood upright in the water for more than a century. No rivers or streams enter the lake. Water loss in summer is compensated by winter snow and rain, the entire body of water being replaced every 250 years.

Lake Ohrid

Ancient Lake Ohrid has been around for about five million years and crosses the mountainous border between Macedonia and Albania. It has unique plants and wildlife, including the Ohrid “plashica”, a fish native to the lake, whose scales(鳞片) are used to make Ohrid pearls.

Lake Maggiore

Surrounded on three sides by the Lipontine Alps and touching the plain of Lombardy to the south, Lake Maggiore is Italy’s longest lake. Considered part of the country’s lake district, it is shared with Switzerland. Characterized by a Mediterranean-style climate, temperatures here are mild all year. This has given rise to some of northern Italy’s most wonderful gardens, which appear to float like flower-decked boats on the water.

1. What makes Five Flower Lake different from other lakes?

A．Its agreeable climate.	B．The rare local wildlife.
C．Its color-changing waters.	D．The visibility of waters.

2. How does Crater Lake mainly get water supply?

A．By artificial rain.	B．By snow and rain.
C．From nearby streams.	D．From an ancient tree.

3. Which lake has a typical warm climate?

A．Five Flower Lake.	B．Crater Lake.
C．Lake Ohrid.	D．Lake Maggiore.

3 . What if someone told you about a kind of grass as tall as the tallest trees? A grass as strong as steel? Would you believe that person? You should, for that grass is bamboo   (竹子), which has more than 1,000 uses. It is not just a material for making useful products. Young bamboo is eaten, often mixed with other vegetables.

Bamboo grows in many parts of the world. In the USA it grows in many states like Virginia and Florida. Most bamboo, however, is found in wet and warm climates, especially in Asia and on the islands of the South Pacific Ocean.

In most Asian countries, bamboo is nearly as important as rice. This unusual material is used to not only build large buildings but also make water pipes, musical instruments and paper. There are over 1,000 kinds of bamboo. No wonder the lives of nearly half the people on earth would change greatly if there were no longer any bamboo.

1. According to the text, bamboo is actually a kind of         .

A．grass

B．steel

C．tree

D．vegetable

2. Where does most bamboo grow?

A．Only in Asia.	B．Only in the USA.
C．In wet and warm climates.	D．All over the world.

3. What is bamboo used to do in paragraph 3?

A．Build large buildings.	B．Make water pipes.
C．Make musical instruments and paper.	D．All of the above.

4. How many kinds of bamboo are there according to the text?

A．Over 1,000.

B．Over 800.

C．Over 600.

D．Over 400.

4 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

Chinese scientists have     1     (success) collected seeds of several plants at an altitude of about 6,200 meters on Mount Qomolangma,     2     (set) a new record for plant seed collection at the     3     (high) altitude in China.

The mission     4     (lead) by the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species (GBOWS),     5     national database for the collection and preservation of wild species.

“The mission is a new     6     (explore) and an attempt to collect high-altitude germplasm resources,     7     is useful for protecting biodiversity and checking climate change impact     8     the globe.” said a researcher.

The collection team went to Mount Qomolangma twice this year to conduct plant diversity     9     (survey). The seeds     10     (collect) were preserved for long-term storage after drying, cleaning and counting in GBOWS.

5 . At Mia's “Reuse-a-Palooza” party, eight colored bins contained items of matching colors. Staff arranged them in rainbow order. Materials included pipe cleaners, buttons, rings, funnels and tubes.     1     Mia, for example, created a pair of glasses from wire, hoops, and orange paper. Mia's party is one of several themed parties at Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse.

Imagine the possibilities

Jewelry, sewing, instrument making, and Reuse-a-Palooza have been the most popular themes so far.     2     These include dioramas, marble rolls, birdhouses, bookmaking, yarn crafts, souvenirs, and empty lots. Some of these themes encourage the participants to use skills in addition to crafting. For example, the empty lots theme teaches how to transform vacant lots into green spaces for the community. Kids also learn about environmentally friendly structures like rain gardens and green walls.

Get this party started

    3     Families were requesting them! As of spring 2019, more than 100 kids have participated. The parties are gaining popularity as the word spreads.

Every Creative Reuse party helps our planet. It is estimated that each participant uses between half a pound and one pound of materials. Creative Reuse's executive director Ash Andrews says, “    4     We are measuring those numbers and thinking deeply about them. It's not all just like, ‘We want to make stuff !’We also want to divert things from the landfill.”

The results are in

    5     In 2018, 75 tons of stuff was kept out of the landfill. That's up from 52 tons in 2017 and 43 tons in 2016. “It's very interesting to see how the impact has grown,” says Andrews.

A．The small shop has no windows facing the street.

B．The inspired kids created one-of-a-kind masterpieces.

C．Creative Reuse's birthday parties have helped the environment.

D．Creative Reuse officially began offering birthday parties in 2018.

E．That is important to us as an environmentally focused organization.

F．But there are several other themes Creative Reuse offers for parties.

G．Teaching artists from Creative Reuse came to Mia's home for her party.

6 . I noticed two male bluebirds. They appeared to be helping a female with a group of newly-born birds. I wanted to know if one of the males was an invader (入侵者). This is the fun of bird watching — you never know when you’ll find something exciting and unusual.

Like 90% of the bird world, one male bluebird pairs with only one female, and together they raise a family. But sometimes a third adult shows up and helps the pair raise the young. Often it is a relative. The most likely reasons a lone bluebird becomes a “helper bird” are that it either has lost its mate (配偶) or failed to get one during the mating season.

Both the mated pair and the helper get some advantages when helping happens. Every time the helper brings food to the nest (巢), one of the parents is free to take care of its own needs for a few minutes. Helpers also protect the nest by driving away possible enemies. The helper’s gain is less direct but equally valuable. He or she (helpers can be male or female) learns how to be a parent. Though raising babies is natural, skilled parents usually are more successful.

The Florida scrub jay is a kind of bird living in the U.S. state of Florida. Many pairs of Florida scrub jays “have” one to six helpers. Usually the helpers are older children, and they do their job very well. Nests with helpers have 50% more young than nests without helpers (about half the jays don’t use helpers). Helping in scrub jays seems related to a shortage of nesting habitats. Young jays must wait for older birds to die to get a nest. During the time, they help raise their younger brothers and sisters.

1. Why may a bluebird be a helper for other bird pairs?

A．It has no mate of its own.

B．It wants to be a parent itself.

C．It wants to live in others’ nests.

D．It is good at raising baby birds.

2. What advantage does a helper bird get from being a helper?

A．Practicing building nests.

B．Being an experienced parent.

C．Having its own needs satisfied.

D．Finding a mate as soon as possible.

3. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．Florida scrub jays are an endangered species.

B．Some Florida scrub jays will die without a nest.

C．Florida scrub jays need great help from humans.

D．More young Florida scrub jays survive with helpers.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Bluebirds share nests.

B．Animals are human-like.

C．Helper birds feed and raise young of others.

D．Bird watching brings people close to nature.

7 . Apart from a simple“hot”, what other ways are there to describe the summer heat? There are many interesting expressions that relate to unbearably hot weather and offer a glimpse into foreign culture.

Dog days of summer

In books and newspaper articles, the period from early July to mid－August is often referred to as the “dog days of summer”. Some think the expression means the weather is so hot that dogs go wild. But in fact, the expression comes from 16th century astrology and refers to the days on which Sirius－the Dog Star, the brightest star in the summer sky and part of the Great Dog constellation－rises at the same time as the sun.

Hotter than a two－dollar pistol

The reason for the expression is that no pistol could cost 2 dollars unless it had been stolen. In English slang, stolen goods are often said to be “hot” and anyone in possession of hot goods is likely to get their fingers burned, in other words, to be arrested.

So hot you can fry an egg on the sidewalk

Thousands of curious tourists feel like testing if the saying is true, with the result that sidewalks in Death Valley, California, the hottest place in the U. S. , are now littered with broken eggshells. As long as you use a frying pan with a lid and the temperature is at least 49℃ , it is actually possible to fry an egg on the sidewalk.

Hinges of Hades

For those who believe it exists, hell is undoubtedly the hottest place on earth, so unsurprisingly there are several expressions that refer to hell or Hades, or even the devil himself. “Hotter than the hinges or gates of Hades” is the oldest version , but more amusing variations have become popular, such as “hotter than the devil's underwear”.

1. Which expression relates to the study of stars?

A．Dog days of summer.	B．Hotter than a two－dollar pistol.
C．So hot you can fry an egg on the sidewalk.	D．Hinges of Hades.

2. What's the meaning of “hot” in the expression “Hotter than a two－dollar pistol” in English slang?

A．Popular.

B．Difficult.

C．Illegal.

D．Angry.

3. At which temperature can we fry an egg on the sidewalk?

A．55℃.

B．40℃.

C．39℃.

D．29℃.