1 . A powerful earthquake hit Morocco on Friday night. The earthquake struck around 11 pm on Friday night. The USGS (US Geological Survey) says that the earthquake had a magnitude of about 6.8. But Morocco’s earthquake center recorded the earthquake as being almost twice that strong.
The quake was one of the most powerful ever recorded in Morocco. It’s also the country’s deadliest earthquake in over 60 years. So far, the earthquake is reported to have killed over 2,680 people. It has injured over 2,500 others. The earthquake was extremely dangerous because it happened at night. Marrakesh is a big city that’s popular with tourists. Many of its modern buildings seem to have survived the earthquake. But the old part of the city, called the Medina, was hit hard. The Medina has buildings that are over 1,000 years old.
Outside of Marrakesh, the earthquake caused even more damage. In the Atlas Mountains, the earthquake’s center, there are many small villages. Some villages were nearly destroyed. Many of the people in the area live in simple houses made of mud bricks. This is a traditional way of building in Morocco. But it’s not strong enough to protect against earthquakes. Many of these houses collapsed. Some of the bricks turned to sand.
Rescue workers have been working hard to save those affected by the quake. In larger cities, rescue efforts seem to be going well.
But it has taken a lot longer for help to reach far areas in the mountains. Many of these villages are difficult to get to. The earthquake caused landslides, blocking roads and making these places even more difficult to reach. In some areas, phone and electrical service were also knocked out, leaving these places completely cut off. That means that the local people in some areas far away have had to deal with the situation on their own.
But more help is coming. Some countries have offered teams of experts; others have offered emergency supplies.
1. Why was the earthquake in Morocco especially dangerous according to the text?| A．It was the strongest on record. | B．There were too many tourists there. |
| C．The buildings there were all too old. | D．It happened when people were asleep. |
| A．Looked beautiful. | B．Fell down. | C．Lasted long. | D．Stood still. |
| A．Causes of the earthquake. | B．Terrible sights after the earthquake. |
| C．Difficulties met in rescuing. | D．Survivors’ efforts to rebuild the city. |
| A．Culture. | B．News. | C．Environment. | D．Tourism. |
2 . Growing plants at home is a fun and enjoyable activity to do and can be developed as a new hobby.
Gardening reduces stress. Gardening is one of the most effective, and fun ways to free yourself from the physical, mental, and emotional stress you have been carrying since the beginning of the week. If you are overworking yourself during the weekdays or seeing yourself drowning in stressful thoughts, try to spend your weekends gardening at home.
Gardening is good for your heart. Gardening requires our body to move around by doing simple tasks such as digging the ground, planting seeds, pulling out weeds, and carrying a water container’s load.
By spending our free time gardening and monitoring our plants’ growth, we are also taking care of ourselves as we gain lots of health and emotional benefits. It is a worthwhile activity because we get to see the results of our hard work when our plants start growing fonder and healthier. The way we take care of our plants reflects the way we take care of ourselves.
| A．Gardening is an act of self-love. |
| B．Gardening is good for your bones. |
| C．Gardening helps your body against diseases. |
| D．You will see a significant change in your mind. |
| E．These simple gardening tasks can be considered a low-level exercise. |
| F．It also has several positive health and emotional benefits that you can enjoy. |
| G．Returning home to a place full of beautiful plants helps us enjoy the freshness of the air. |
Three sites in China˗˗an ancient tea-producing area, a nomadic livestock-rearing region and a rain-fed stone terrace farming system˗˗were formally recognised as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), for their unique ways of using traditional practices and knowledge while maintaining unique biodiversity and ecosystems.
An ancient tea-producing area (中国福建安溪铁观音茶文化系统)
Tea production in Anxi, Fujian, is believed to date from the 10th century, with its most famous tea, Tieguanyin, coming into
A Grassland nomadic system (中国内蒙古阿鲁科尔沁草原游牧系统)
The Ar Horqin grassland nomadic system in northern China’s Inner Mongolia region has a variety of ecosystems, such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, rivers with important ecological
The Shexian Dryland Stone Terraced System (中国河北涉县旱作石堰梯田系统)
The Shexian Dryland Stone Terraced System in Hebei, is a rain-fed agricultural system dating back to the 13th century.
4 . A new study warns that more than a fifth of all reptile (爬行动物) species are threatened with extinction, which may have a bad impact on the planet.
The largest ever analysis of the state of the world’s reptiles, published in Nature, has showed that 21% of the reptile species are facing extinction. The study says from lizards to snakes, such a loss could have disastrous impacts on ecosystems around the world.
Although many reptiles live in dry environments such as deserts, most species occur in forests, where they suffer from threats such as logging of land for agriculture.30% of the forest-dwelling reptiles are at risk of extinction, compared with 14% in dry habitats. Hunting is also a major threat to reptiles, especially turtles and crocodiles, many of which are at risk of extinction. Another major contributing factor is the introduction of invasive species.
“If we removed reptiles, it could change ecosystems fundamentally, with unfortunate knock-on effects, such as increases in pest insects,” said Neil Cox, co-leader of the study. “Biodiversity, including reptiles, supports the ecosystem services that provide a healthy environment for people.”
Our hope is that this first-ever assessment of the world’s 10,000-plus reptiles helps put them in the spotlight and goes some way to highlighting this diversity, and just how much we have to lose. As well as controlling rats, mosquitoes and other pests, reptiles deliver many other benefits. “They help spread seeds, especially in island environments,” said researcher Hoffmann. “We’ve also achieved many medical advances from studies of reptiles.”
The results of the study are not all doom and gloom. Scientists have found, surprisingly, that if they set out to protect places where threatened birds, mammals and amphibians (两栖动物) live together, they’ll meanwhile protect many more threatened reptiles.
1. Which is the main concern raised by the new study?| A．The overpopulation of reptiles. | B．The loss of reptiles. |
| C．The sharp increase in reptile species. | D．The disastrous influence of reptiles on nature. |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．Their benefits. | B．Their habitats. |
| C．Their living habits. | D．Their health problems. |
| A．Disappointing. | B．Odd. | C．Satisfactory. | D．Amazing. |
5 . Plastic is everywhere in our modern world. Its toughness makes it an extremely useful material from household items to vehicle parts, but that same toughness makes it hard to break down for recycling or disposal (处理). However, Japanese scientists at the University of Tokyo have developed a new plastic material that can be broken down more easily and can self-heal and remember past shapes.
Based on a kind of plastic called an epoxy resin vitrimer, which is brittle (脆性的), the new plastic boasts a huge range of advantages. Once scratched with a knife, it can completely patch itself up after being heated to 150 ℃ for just 60 seconds. When shaped into the shape of a crane, then flattened, it can fold itself back into the crane shape by being heated up. It does all of this much faster than others of its type.
The new plastic can also break down easier. Even if it’s discarded (丢弃) into the environment, it still poses less of a, problem than other kinds of plastic, which the team demonstrated by placing it in seawater for 30 days. It biodegraded by 25% and released molecules (分子) that are essential food for marine life.
The new plastic is more resistant to breaking. It can also repair itself, and can recover its original memorized shape. It even biodegrades safely in a marine environment, according to Shota Ando, a researcher of the study.
The material can be used in a variety of applications, “Infrastructure materials for roads and bridges are often composed of epoxy resins mixed with compounds such as concrete and carbon,” said Ando. “By using the new plastic, these would be easier to maintain as they would be stronger and healable using heat. Unlike conventional epoxy resins, this new material is hard but stretchable, so it could also be expected to strongly bond materials of different hardness and stretch.”
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic of the text. | B．To show the disadvantages of plastic. |
| C．To highlight the importance of plastic. | D．To indicate his views on previous plastic. |
| A．Change itself. | B．Shape itself. | C．Repair itself. | D．Burn itself. |
| A．It is safe for animals in the ocean. | B．It can provide nutrition for animals. |
| C．It can change its shape when frozen. | D．It is more brittle than previous plastic. |
| A．Research Of New Molecules | B．An Interesting Scientific Study |
| C．The Widespread Application Of Plastic | D．A New Environmentally Friendly Plastic |
6 . Landscape architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom has designed a new green roof on the Rangsit Campus of Thammasat University, about 25 miles north of central Bangkok, Thailand. Her imaginative work challenges the common thinking that urbanization has a negative impact on the planet, whether flooding, excess (过度的) energy use, disrupted (扰乱) biodiversity or the heat island effect.
The 236, 806-square-foot structure, which opened in December 2019, includes a flood water management system and Asia’s largest rooftop organic farm. It combines modern landscape architecture with traditional agricultural knowledge, creating a green and friendly environment.
The green roof, containing an H-shaped landscape, looks like a futuristic hill with a brick building beneath it. The hill features a complex pattern of zigzagging terraces (之字形梯田) of planted beds, leading all the way down to the bottom. When rainwater hits the roof, it flows down the zigzags while being absorbed by the soil in the beds, The excess water is directed into four storage ponds — with a capacity of up to 3 million gallons. The process slows down the flow speed of rainwater runoff compared to a normal concrete rooftop. This keeps the area from flooding during heavy rains.
The roof’s terraces are filled with organically grown crops, including a drought tolerant variety of rice, many local vegetables and herbs. The farm can supply the canteens on campus with a large amount of rice, herbs and vegetables a year. The food waste is composted (把……制成堆肥) to fertilize the farm, and water from the storage ponds is used to water plants, creating an entirely localized and circular system.
The farm serves as an outdoor classroom and a source of local jobs, too. Farmers offer workshops on sustainable agriculture and nutrition as part of the university’s sustainability curriculum. “Students and community members are invited to participate in seasonal seeding, harvesting, and so on,” says Voraakhom. “The urban farm is training a new generation of organic farmers with real-world skills. It also promotes a sense of community.”
1. What can we say about Voraakhom’s work?| A．It’s short-lived. | B．It’s creative. |
| C．It’s demanding. | D．It’s time-consuming. |
| A．To store more water. |
| B．To plant diverse vegetables. |
| C．To slow the speed of water flow. |
| D．To make it look more attractive than other buildings. |
| A．It uses food as fertilizer. | B．It benefits the environment. |
| C．It improves students’ lifestyle. | D．It produces vegetables and fruits. |
| A．Students can learn hands-on knowledge on the farm. |
| B．Farmers working on the farm can become professors. |
| C．The farm prevents government from offering people jobs. |
| D．The farm harms the relationship between university and community. |
Earthquakes are quite common. In fact, thousands of earthquakes are happening almost at every moment.
As one of the most deadly
Besides the great damage and deaths
8 . On September 7, 1991, the costliest hailstorm (雹暴) in Canadian history hit Calgary’s southern suburbs. As a result, since 1996 a group of insurance companies have spent about $2 million per year on the Alberta Hail Suppression Project. Airplanes seed threatening storm cells with a chemical to make small ice crystals fall as rain before they can grow into dangerous hailstones. But farmers in east-central Alberta — downwind of the hail project flights — worry that precious moisture (水分) is being stolen from their thirsty land by the cloud seeding.
Norman Stienwand, who farms in that area, has been addressing public meetings on this issue for years. “Basically, the provincial government is letting the insurance companies protect the Calgary-Edmonton urban area from hail,” Mr. Stienwand says, “but they’re increasing drought risk as far east as Saskatchewan.”
The Alberta hail project is managed by Terry Krauss, a cloud physicist who works for Weather Modification Inc. of Fargo, North Dakota. “We affect only a very small percentage of the total moisture in the air, so we cannot be causing drought.” Dr. Krauss says. “In fact, we may be helping increase the moisture downwind by creating wetter ground.”
One doubter about the safety of cloud seeding is Chuck Doswell, a research scientist who just retired from the University of Oklahoma. “In 1999, I personally saw significant tornadoes form from a seeded storm cell in Kansas,” Dr. Doswell says. “Does cloud seeding create killer storms or reduce moisture downwind? No one really knows, of course, but the seeding goes on.”
Given the degree of doubt, Mr. Stienwand suggests, “It would be wise to stop cloud seeding.” In practice, doubt has had the opposite effect. Due to the lack of scientific proof concerning their impacts, no one has succeeded in winning a lawsuit against cloud-seeding companies. Hence, private climate engineering can proceed in relative legal safety.
1. What does the project aim to do?| A．Conserve moisture in the soil. | B．Forecast disastrous hailstorms. |
| C．Prevent the formation of hailstones. | D．Investigate chemical use in farming. |
| A．Managers of insurance companies. | B．Farmers in east-central Alberta. |
| C．Provincial government officials. | D．Residents of Calgary and Edmonton. |
| A．To compare different kinds of seeding methods. | B．To illustrate the development of big hailstorms. |
| C．To show the link between storms and moisture. | D．To indicate a possible danger of cloud seeding. |
| A．Scientific studies have proved Stienwand right. | B．Cloud-seeding companies will continue to exist. |
| C．The doubt about cloud seeding has disappeared. | D．Private climate engineering is illegal in Canada. |
9 . Dressed in a kachhad, a traditional Nepalese clothes, Umesh Balal walked into his meetings at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) on climate change in Dubai with a sense of determination.
Balal, who has physical disability, was there to publicly
As a student, Balal was
The more Balan
And it is even harder for people with
In an interview, Balan said, “
| A．control | B．achieve | C．support | D．measure |
| A．ignored | B．studied | C．respected | D．issued |
| A．anxious | B．particular | C．worried | D．curious |
| A．sold | B．lent | C．introduced | D．awarded |
| A．brought | B．knew | C．complained | D．quarreled |
| A．affected | B．prepared | C．organized | D．admitted |
| A．devoted | B．changed | C．limited | D．helped |
| A．comparing with | B．coping with | C．differing from | D．resulting from |
| A．warmer | B．cleaner | C．poorer | D．quieter |
| A．confidence | B．calmness | C．honesty | D．crisis |
| A．rights | B．disabilities | C．degrees | D．advertisements |
| A．objection | B．attention | C．access | D．gratitude |
| A．Fortunately | B．Secretly | C．Similarly | D．Naturally |
| A．forced | B．ordered | C．warned | D．allowed |
| A．occupy | B．want | C．cheer | D．blame |
There is a well-known Chinese saying written on the Great Wall, “He
The great wall
The Great Wall has
When Qin Shihuang, the first emperor in Chinese history, unified the whole country in 221 B.C., he ordered
Looking from the space, you will find a construction. This is the Great Wall in China.
The Great Wall of China is the
