4 . Surely one of the world’s most attractive rivers as well as being its longest, the mighty Nile River runs constantly ever northwards 6,650 kilometre (4,132 miles) from its origins in Africa to its mouth on the Uat-Ur, the Egyptian word for the Mediterranean Sea. Along its passage, it gave life to the ancient Egyptians, nourishing (滋养) them with its annual deep layers of rich black earth providing the basis for the agriculture, which supported the flowering of their culture.

Seneca, the Roman philosopher and statesman, described the Nile as a “remarkable sight” and an amazing wonder. The surviving records indicate this is an opinion widely shared by ancient writers who visited Egypt’s “mother of all men”.

The river gains its name from the Greek “Neilos”, meaning valley, although the ancient Egyptians called their river Ar, or “black” after its rich earth. However, the story of the Nile River doesn’t begin in the expansive delta (三角洲) of marshes (沼泽) and lakes of its Mediterranean exit, but in two distinct sources, the Blue Nile, which falls down from the Abyssinian highlands and the White Nile, which springs from equatorial Africa.

The Nile’s broad fan-shaped Delta is flat and green. At its farthest reaches, Alexander the Great built Alexandria, a busy port city and home to the Library of Alexandria and the famed Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Beyond the expanse of the Nile Delta lies the Mediterranean and Europe. At the far end of the Nile, sat Aswan, the gateway city to Egypt, a small, hot, garrison town for Egypt’s armies as they hotly contested the territory with Nubia over the centuries.

1. How did the Nile River contribute to the ancient Egypt’s civilization?

A．By supplying enough drinking water.

B．By providing transport to the country.

C．By offering support to the agriculture.

D．By developing its tourism to other states.

2. What can be learned from paragraph 3?

A．The origins of the river are delta of marshes and lakes.

B．The White Nile flows from the Abyssinian highlands.

C．The Greek name of the river has something to do with soil.

D．The Nile River originated from two distinct destinations.

3. What do the underlined words “garrison town” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Local market.

B．Business area.

C．Military station.

D．Cultural center.

4. What is a suitable title for the text?

A．The Nile River in Ancient Egypt.

B．The Culture of Egypt and Its river.

C．The Great Function of the Nile River.

D．Important Places along the Nile River

5 . South Baltimore is surrounded by water, highways, and train tracks. It’s also often thought of as a place to avoid—folks are taught to be careful of or even avoid South Baltimore. “People think South Baltimore is a place filled with danger. It’s not. It’s just we’re surrounded by dangerous things,” says Taysia, 17.

Taysia is part of a group of student activists fighting against a very different kind of danger in their neighborhood: air pollution and climate change. Lots of trucks with their noise pass through the neighborhood. South Baltimore is also home to a junkyard where they crush (压碎)cars, an old landfill, chemical plants, and mountains of coal. These are not the communities anyone wants.

The residents of South Baltimore are breathing polluted air today. Coal releases a black dust that’s small enough to get into people’s lungs. It can cause disease and death if you’re breathing it day after day. The mountains of coal are the focus of a growing opposition movement called Free Your Voice, led by South Baltimore teenagers.

The teens of Free Your Voice are taking on a big opponent (对手): the massive transportation company CSX, which transports more than 8 million tons of coal through South Baltimore annually. CSX makes billions of dollars a year.

The teens went door to door, warning their neighbors about the dangers of the coal transportation. Not everyone was on board at first. “We were talking to people and that’s just like, ‘You’re a kid! Like this is not gonna change, it’s been happening forever.’” Taysia says.

Meanwhile, the students spent the summer using sticky paper to gather samples of dust from all over the neighborhood to prove that the dust was from coal and to pinpoint which parts of the neighborhood were most affected.

The goal is to eventually get the state regulators to deny the permit that CSX needs to operate, or at least require the company to enclose all the coal, or at the very least put water onto all of it so there’s less dust blowing around. And the state is considering all of those requests.

1. How did people describe South Baltimore according to Taysia?

A．Wealthy.

B．Dangerous.

C．Peaceful.

D．Inclusive.

2. What is the main focus of the opposition movement called Free Your Voice?

A．The junkyard.	B．The old landfill.
C．The chemical plants.	D．The coal transportation.

3. Why did some people in the neighborhood initially doubt the students’ efforts?

A．They believed the pollution was harmless.

B．They trusted CSX’s environmental practices.

C．They had no awareness of the pollution and climate change.

D．They thought the students were too young to make a change.

4. What method did the students use to gather evidence of coal-related pollution?

A．Conducting surveys.	B．Distributing leaflets.
C．Using sticky paper for dust samples.	D．Organizing protests.

6 . Pacific Coast Range

Stretching along the west coast of North America from northern California to Alaska, the forests found along the Pacific Coast Range are the largest area of temperate (温带的) rainforest in the world. The forests are home to the coast redwood, the world’s tallest tree. Across the region, the forest understory (林下叶层) is wet and heavily vegetated.

Taiheiyo Evergreen Forests

Found in southern Japan, they are temperate rainforests of evergreen broadleaf trees. The forests can receive more than 100 inches of rain every year. The forests are covered by Japanese cedar and Japanese stone oak, while moso bamboo comprise the understory. The extent of the Taiheiyo forests has been reduced due to development and agriculture. Today,17%of the remaining forest is protected by national parks and other reserves.

Atlantic Oakwood Forest

The Atlantic Oakwood Forest covers the wettest parts of the United Kingdom. A species of oak tree (橡树) called sessile oak occupies the landscape. Unlike other temperate forests, these forests tend to have an open understory of grasses. Much of the historical range of the forest has given to agriculture and other development, though that has changed in recent decades.

Valdivian Temperate Rainforest

This forest is found on the west coast of Chile and Argentina, on the wet, western slopes (斜坡) of the Andes mountain range. With the coastline to the west, the peaks of the Andes to the east, and the Atacama Desert to the north, the region supports a number of plant and animal species found nowhere else in the world. Uniquely, the forest is covered by evergreen flowering trees, which are native to Chile and little known outside the region.

1. Which of the four forest areas occupies the most land?

A．Pacific Coast Range.	B．Taiheiyo Evergreen Forests.
C．Atlantic Oakwood Forest.	D．Valdivian Temperate Rainforest.

2. What do Taiheiyo Evergreen Forests and Atlantic Oakwood Forest have in common?

A．They have open understory grasses.	B．They’re home to extremely tall trees.
C．They’re of great historical significance.	D．They used to be affected by agriculture.

3. What is unique to Valdivian Temperate Rainforest?

A．Wet climate.	B．Coastal location.
C．Evergreen flowering trees.	D．Well-protected national parks.

7 . David lost his beloved dog Baya before Christmas two years ago. Baya was active and cute. David’s family spent many days _________ for their furry (毛茸茸的) family member. The kids said they wouldn’t want any _________ from Santa Claus. They just wanted to get their dog back. All attempts to find her turned out to be _________. Baya was nowhere to be found. It seemed that the family wouldn’t have any more _________.

Two years later, a homeless dog _________ alone on a busy road. Someone _________ it to the Animal Protection Association (协会). Thanks to the microchip (芯片) planted in the dog, the association was able to _________ the owner. They _________ David. When David got a phone call that they were going to get Baya back, the family were pretty _________.

Obviously, Baya is __________ to living in this home. She is quite __________ of where her feeding bowl is. Even though Baya isn’t the dog she used to be, David is confident she’ll become her old __________ again. He said, “She was a very healthy and __________ dog. She’s not like that anymore, but we’re going to get her back. Our whole family are taking __________ of her. Kids play with her happily. She’s __________ her joyful nature. We will love her even more.”

1.

A．preparing

B．searching

C．paying

D．begging

2.

A．calls

B．honor

C．gifts

D．rescue

3.

A．fruitless

B．generous

C．worthwhile

D．different

4.

A．advantage

B．challenge

C．decision

D．hope

5.

A．continued

B．appeared

C．hid

D．returned

6.

A．sent

B．forced

C．followed

D．invited

7.

A．refer to

B．rely on

C．track down

D．cheer for

8.

A．appreciated

B．impressed

C．recognized

D．contacted

9.

A．frightened

B．excited

C．confident

D．curious

10.

A．addicted

B．related

C．adapted

D．reduced

11.

A．aware

B．uncertain

C．afraid

D．proud

12.

A．native

B．self

C．partner

D．owner

13.

A．calm

B．average

C．pretty

D．active

14.

A．care

B．notice

C．control

D．advantage

15.

A．removing

B．identifying

C．recovering

D．reserving

8 . Most of us have heard of the 3Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle. It is the core principle of a sustainable (可持续的) life, but few of us can apply it in our own lives. Now, there’s a “lab” you can explore and discover a way toward living sustainably.

3R Lab is located in Xuhui district, Shanghai. It offers exhibitions, activities and goods that showcase the 3R principle. The key to a sustainable life, according to Vincent T. M. Fong, the 32-year-old from Hong Kong who created the lab, is to make it a long-term promise. “A sustainable life should be sustainable itself in the first place. You can’t lead a sustainable life on a whim. Small and comfortable changes are exactly what you need,” Fong said.

The lab regularly hosts ugly fruit markets, offering these strange fruits which are often thrown away by traditional markets and consumers at a quite attractive price. “They’re thrown away simply because of their appearance. Buying fruit regardless of how they look reduces food waste significantly in our daily life,” Fong commented.

A water tank with two types of straws is another equipment in the lab. “One type is made from normal plastics widely used in our daily life while the other is from PHA, a new replacement for plastics, and the water is sourced from the Suzhou River,” explained Ni Li, an employee of the lab. Visitors can see how the PHA straws degrade (降解) into a thin layer in just one month, while the others remain unchanged.

“Leading a sustainable life does not necessarily mean sacrifice,” said Fong. Consuming ugly fruit and using degradable plastics are small changes that are good for the environment and easy to stick to. Only in this way can the 3R principle become part of our lives, he added.

After working there for six months, Ni, who wasn’t mindful of the 3R principle before arriving at the lab, now uses her cup every time she buys a coffee. “The job has reshaped my life,” Ni said.

1. What does the-underlined phrase “on a whim” in the second paragraph probably mean?

A．In a rush.	B．On a regular basis.
C．Without any reason.	D．As a common practice.

2. What is the purpose of the ugly fruit market at 3R Lab?

A．To reduce food waste.	B．To promote healthy eating.
C．To sell new kinds of fruit.	D．To provide more affordable fruit,

3. What can the water tank at 3R Lab show to its visitors?

A．The water pollution caused by plastics.	B．The degradation of PHA straws.
C．The interaction between two types of straws.	D．The disappearance of normal plastic straws.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph about Ni?

A．She avoids going to traditional markets.	B．She has devoted less time to her hobbies.
C．She has got rid of a few bad habits.	D．She is leading a low carbon life now.

10 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What is the speaker talking about?

A．His major．

B．His hobby．

C．His job．

2. Where did the speaker watch birds last year?

A．Near the lake．

B．In the forest．

C．In the mountains．

3. Which of the following helps the speaker in bird watching?

A．A tent．

B．A flashlight．

C．A guide book．

4. Why does the speaker like bird watching?

A．It helps him exercise and relax mind．

B．It lets him enjoy natural scenery．

C．It teaches him to protect birds．