Single-use plastic bags are used at most a few times before they
Earth Day,
3 . The number of weather-related disasters has increased by five times over the past 50 years, the latest report by the World Meteorological (气象) Organization (WMO) said on September. However, thanks to improved early warning systems and disaster management, the number of death from these hazards (危险) has been almost three times less.
According to the WMO, from 1970 to 2019, weather, climate and water hazards accounted for 50 percent of all disasters. Among the top 10 hazards that led to the largest loss of human life during this period were droughts, storms, floods and extreme temperatures. However, deaths fell from over 50, 000 in the 1970s to less than 20, 000 in the 2010s.
“Weather, climate and water extremes are increasing and will become more frequent and severe in many parts of the world as a result of climate change,” says WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
“That means more heat waves, drought and forest fires such as those we have observed recently in Europe and North America. We have more water vapor in the atmosphere, which is worsening extreme rainfall and deadly flooding. The warming of the oceans has affected the frequency and area of existence of the most intense tropical storms.”
“Economic losses are increasing as exposure increases. But behind the statistics lies a message of hope. Improved multi-hazard early warning systems have led to a significant reduction in deaths. Quite simply, we are better than ever before at saving lives,” Taalas said.
1. What do we know from the first paragraph?| A．Disasters connected with weather have gone up. |
| B．The number of weather-related disasters has decreased. |
| C．The number of deaths from hazards has been increasing. |
| D．Early warning systems have made disasters decline much. |
| A．There will be more extreme weather. |
| B．Extreme rainfall will no longer exist. |
| C．Water vapor in the atmosphere will go down. |
| D．Humans will defeat extreme weather in the end. |
| A．Improved warning systems will save economic losses. |
| B．Economic losses are going down as exposure increases. |
| C．More lives will be saved thanks to early warning systems. |
| D．Improved early warning systems will control extreme weather |
| A．A novel. | B．A brochure. | C．A magazine. | D．A guideline. |
4 . People use laughter to connect and bond with others. It’s how we tell friends that we find their jokes funny, or how kids in a park show that they are having fun. Laughter is so important to humans, even if they belong to different cultures or speak different languages. What about animals? Scientists are studying if there is a connection between animals’ laughing and playing.
Sasha Winkler, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), studies biological anthropology (人类学)，including the study of animal behavior. She noticed that the small monkeys she worked with, liked to play together by chasing each other. While having fun together, they made panting (喘气) sounds, almost like they were out of breath, which reminded Winkler of their quiet laughter. This made Winkler wonder whether other animals did so while they were playing.
To find out whether other animals laugh and play, Winkler teamed up with another scientist named Greg Bryant, a professor and vice chair in the Department of Communication at UCLA. Together, they found and read dozens of reports written by other scientists who study animals. Winkler and Bryant looked for any mentions in any animal of sound signaling like the panting of the monkeys during their playing.
In April 2021, Winkler and Bryant published their findings in a science journal. Through their research, they identified 65 species or groups of animals, which laugh while playing. The animals that laugh the most include primates (灵长类) like monkeys and apes, rodents (啮齿动物) like rats, and mammals that live in the ocean like dolphins. Their work won’t only help us understand animals better but it could also help us understand how humans develop or change over time. Next, they will carry on more study to find more.
1. What is the function of paragraph 1?| A．To conclude the main idea. |
| B．To put forward the topic. |
| C．To offer the supporting evidences. |
| D．To add the background information. |
| A．They can hardly breathe. |
| B．They tend to laugh separately. |
| C．They laugh at a low sound. |
| D．They don’t laugh at all. |
| A．It is great progress in the study of animals and humans. |
| B．It is only based on the findings in a science journal. |
| C．Over 65 groups of animals laugh while playing. |
| D．They do the research only by studying primates and rodents. |
| A．Science. | B．Education. | C．Health. | D．Entertainment. |
5 . Animals are natural resources that people have wasted all through our history. Animals have been killed for their fur and feathers, for food, for sport. Thousands of kinds of animals have disappeared from the world forever. Hundreds more are on the danger list today. About 170 kinds in the United States alone are considered in danger.
Why should people care? Because we need animals. And because once they are gone, there will never be any more. Animals are more than just beautiful and interesting. They are more than just a source of food. Every animal has its place in the balance of nature. Destroying one kind of animal can create many problems. For example, when farmers killed large numbers of hawks, the farmers’ stores of corn and grain were destroyed by rats and mice. Why? Because hawks eat rats and mice. With no hawks to keep down their numbers, the rats and mice increased quickly.
Luckily, some people are working to help save the animals. Some groups raise money to let people know about the problem. And they try to get the governments to pass laws protecting animals in danger. Quite a few countries have passed laws. These laws forbid the killing of any animals or plants on the danger list. Slowly, the number of some animals in danger is growing.
1. Animals are important to us mainly because ________.| A．they give us a source of food | B．they are beautiful and lovely |
| C．they keep the balance of nature | D．they give us a lot of pleasure |
| A．Only a few animals have disappeared. |
| B．Many kinds of animals have died out. |
| C．About 170 kinds of animals have disappeared forever. |
| D．All kinds of animals are in danger. |
| A．People care much about animals because they need them. |
| B．Once a certain kind of animals is gone forever, there will never be any more. |
| C．Killing all rats and mice may cause some problems. |
| D．People must not kill any animals. |
| A．Every person will know the importance of protecting wild animals. |
| B．Animals in danger will not be killed any more. |
| C．The number of some animals in danger will increase. |
| D．Animals in danger will be kept away from people. |
6 . Hundreds of years ago, life was harder than it is today. People didn't have modern machines.
Life today has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. Water pollution has made our rivers and lakes dirty. It kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us talk louder and become angry more easily. Air pollution is the most serious kind of pollution to all living things in the world.
Cars, planes and factories all pollute our air every day. Sometimes the polluted air is so thick that it is like a quilt over a city. This kind of quilt is called smog.
Many countries are making rules to fight against pollution. Factories must now clean their water before it is thrown away, and they mustn't let dirty smoke go into the air.
We need to do many other things. We can put waste things in the dustbin and do not throw them on the ground. We can go to work by bus or with our friends in the same car. If there are fewer people driving, there will be less pollution.
Rules are not enough. Every person must help to fight against pollution.
1. Hundreds of years ago, life was much harder than it is today because_________| A．there were many problems | B．there were too many people |
| C．there were wars now and then | D．there were no modern machines. |
| A．noise pollution | B．water pollution | C．air pollution | D．waste things |
| A．The air. | B．The city. | C．The quilt. | D．The smog. |
| A．clean water after it is thrown away | B．throw waste things in the dustbin |
| C．let dirty smoke go into the air | D．encourage more people to drive to work |
7 . A very dangerous situation happened in California last week. More than 12 wildfires broke out in the state. Most of them began on October 8, in Northern California. They grew rapidly. The fires were made bigger by winds of up to 50 miles per hour and dry air in the area.
At least 20 people have been killed, the state government said. About 200 have been injured. At least 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed. About 50,000 people have been required to escape. Many left in a hurry, without time to take their personal things. “All the good stuff(东西)—I’m never going to see it again,” Jeff Okrepkie said. He escaped from his Santa Rosa home. It was destroyed soon after he left.
The fires burned through parts of eight counties(郡，县). These include Sonoma and Napa. The areas are important to California’s economy(经济). They are home to many of the state’s vineyards(葡萄园) and wineries(酿酒厂). In 2016, California’s wineries made more than $57 billion.
October is when wildfires usually produce the most ruins in California. But it is unusual for so many fires to start at once. Up to now, the government has not given a cause for any of the fires, many of which were still burning.
1. Why did the fires grow quickly?| A．Most of the fires began in October. | B．12 fires happened at the same time. |
| C．The state government didn’t do anything. | D．High-speed wind and dry air. |
| A．50,000. | B．200. | C．3,500. | D．20. |
| A．Homes have been destroyed. | B．Wineries have been burned. |
| C．People have to leave their homes. | D．Many people have been injured. |
| A．The high-speed wind and dry air. | B．Many fires started at once. |
| C．October produces the most ruins. | D．The cause is not explained. |
8 . Pollution is one of the biggest problems in the world today. In many places, rubbish is thrown into lakes and rivers.
In some cities, the air is filled with pollution.
If we do not act to improve the environment, more living things will be killed by pollution.
If we can do these, we will make the world a better place to live in.
| A．This makes some old people and children ill. |
| B．As well as people, animals are also harmed by pollution. |
| C．We can make our lakes and rivers cleaner and cleaner. |
| D．It’s time for all of us to take action right away! |
| E．Because of this, these places have already been polluted. |
| F．Trees reduce dust and help keep the air clean. |
| G．A few of us should take action to protect the environment. |
Lately, I was deeply touched with two movies about faithful dogs：A Dog's Purpose and A Dog's Way Home. A dog's life cycled and cycled only to meet his first owner while the other covered 400 miles of toil and hunger all the way back to her home. I had a faithful dog too when I was a little girl, but it was a different story.
When my dad first took him home in a cardboard box, he was so quiet that I even doubted whether there was really a dog in it. When I peeped through two small holes on the side, I just saw a patch of grey fur. My dad assured me that it was just a small dog before I dared to open the box. There he was! What a lovely grey dog! He was slim and looked smart. I was on my knees as I cheerfully observed him. However, he tried to avoid eye contact with me, apparently a little scared with everything strange around. I wanted to pet his head but he only turned his head away.
When he became familiar with me, I called him Billy and he was really delighted, zagging his tail. Every time I left for school, he saw me off. When I came back, he ways waited on my way home and greeted me with his licks and brushed his head against legs. When Billy was in the kitchen with my father, lying on a small heap of firewood side the furnace （灶）,he could always know which piece of firewood my dad would pick and raised his paw in time. It always surprised me how intelligent and considerate Billy I imagined him turning into a small boy carrying my schoolbag for me and talking my dad. With Billy brightening every day of my childhood, I was more than happy.
Paragraph 1：
But one day, Billy was seriously ill.
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Paragraph 2：
A few years later, I went to a dog's shelter to try my luck.
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10 . They Consider Rats Lifesavers
When people hear the word “rat”, they may think of dirty animals that spread diseases. And if you are an English learner, you may also connect the word rat with bad expressions. For example, calling someone a rat is a big insult (侮辱) and “rat race” describes a joyless, hurried way of living.
However, the rat trainers at the nonprofit organization, APOPO, see these animals very differently.
Based in Tanzania, APOPO trains a kind of rats to find landmines (地雷). And the rats with their extraordinary sense of smell are very good at the job. APOPO calls their animal team Hero Rats.
Ellie Cutright is an APOPO trainer from Charleston, South Carolina. The researcher shared her very high opinions of rats in a discussion with VOA.
Human beings have used metal-searching devices to do this work for years. But rats — it turns out — do it better. And they also cost less money.
| A．So, rats generally are not beloved animals either in life or in the English language. |
| B．Worldwide there are 110 million hidden landmines left over from wars. |
| C．A rat is an animal that looks like a large mouse with a long tail. |
| D．She wants everyone to know how useful these animals are. |
| E．This kind of rats are large compared to other kinds of rats. |
| F．Cutright explains how the search process (过程) works. |
| G．They consider rats “lifesavers” |
