1 . As water levels rise, causing severe erosion, many coastal Puerto Ricans are left watching their homes fall into the sea. A small software company in Puerto Rico called Terra Firma, founded in 2019 by island native Alejandro Mieses, is using satellite data to forecast accurate erosion pain points that might help Puerto Rican city planners better protect their island.
Terra Firma is dealing with the challenge of scattered (分散的) environmental data by creating a single database. Their user-friendly software allows scientists, construction professionals, and government agencies to model and predict environmental risks accurately. Similar to a powerful Google Maps, the software collects data from 1941 to the present, enabling users to predict erosion, landslides, flooding, solar exposure, and wind-related risks for up to 30 years.
This technology, once only available to well-funded projects, is now helping communities and individuals to protect their land. Since Hurricane Maria in 2017, Puerto Rico has focused on rebuilding a stronger island. With Terra Firma’s predictive data on flooding and erosion, city planners can better prepare for severe weather events.
One organization collaborating with Terra Firma is Blue Tide, a non-governmental group devoted to oceanic research and promoting the Blue Economy. After Hurricane Maria damaged coral reefs important for coastline protection, Blue Tide asked Terra Firma to design 3D-printed tiles. These unique tiles, made of clay, will help prevent erosion during future storms. They are shaped like cylinders (圆柱体), creating a nesting space for young coral, and over the next ten years, the clay is expected to dissolve (溶解), forming a complete organic coral reef.
This innovative approach aims to help Puerto Rico deal with erosion caused by storms, and Terra Firma plans to come up with more solutions as weather events get worse. According to Mieses, Terra Firma gives hope to Puerto Rico, which often faces hurricanes, by providing insights to better prepare for future storms and protect important infrastructure.
Currently, Terra Firma operates only in Puerto Rico, but they hope to expand to the southern United States in the next few years. Their work shows how technology can help deal with the effects of climate change on vulnerable coastal communities.
1. What do we know about Terra Firma’s software?A.It depends on Google Maps. |
B.It helps predict possible risks. |
C.It is used only by governmental groups. |
D.It demands specialized technical knowledge. |
A.Terra Firma’s latest product. |
B.Terra Firma’s expansion plans. |
C.Terra Firma’s promising future. |
D.Terra Firma’s partnership with Blue Tide. |
A.Creative. | B.Ordinary. | C.Traditional. | D.Official. |
A.To entertain. | B.To persuade. | C.To inform. | D.To relate. |
2 . We all love butterflies. Their beautiful wings attract us, and their presence lights up our garden. Well, that’s our view of butterflies, but have you ever wondered what plants think of them?
The butterflies’ eggs lie on the underside of the leaves. The eggs themselves don’t damage plants. However, upon coming into contact with the eggs, the plants become oversensitive. It means that once a plant recognizes a pest, it will cause death in the contacted plant part. When these dead leaves or partial leaf parts break away from the plant, the eggs on them fall off. Along with the hypersensitivity response, plants also produce something special, which can attract animals to cat the eggs, thus preventing damage in the future.
After the baby butterflies come out of their eggs, the caterpillar (毛虫) stage begins. Most caterpillars feed on the leaves of the plants, damaging some of the plants in your own garden. Incredibly, they are major plant pests that bring about major losses to farmers. The next stage is pupa (蛹). The caterpillars begin their change into an adult. They don’t depend on the energy that the leaves provide. Finally, they become adult butterflies that have wings and move from one plant to the other. They feed on the sweet liquid produced by flowers.
While on their search for food, the butterflies carry pollen (花粉) on their body. They are key pollinators that place pollen from one flower to another in ecosystem. Plants that have flowers will create some special features to draw these pollinators’ attention. Certain plants have flowers giving off smells that can charm butterflies when they are looking for a mate. Some plants even have flat flowers to assist butterflies when landing.
Butterflies aid in pollination during their final adult stage. Thus, they change into beneficial insects to plants. This change makes butterflies an important friend of plants, despite being a hated enemy in previous life cycle stages!
1. How does a plant respond to butterflies’ eggs?A.It tries to get rid of them. | B.It tries to appeal to them. |
C.It grows a little better with them. | D.It protects them from being eaten. |
A.In the period of egg-laying. | B.In the period of pupa. |
C.In the period of caterpillar. | D.In the period of adult. |
A.Describe the process of pollination. |
B.Show how flowers attract butterflies. |
C.Stress the importance of pollination. |
D.Explore how adult butterflies develop. |
A.Why do flowers need butterflies’ pollination? |
B.How do plants defend themselves from pests? |
C.Are butterflies’ life cycles similar to the plants’? |
D.Are butterflies beneficial or harmful to plants? |
3 . A little girl was enjoying the beautiful garden in her home. Her father had a good collection of rare and prized plants, which he
The girl was
She worked out a plan to clean the plant. She
Later the little daughter ran over, followed by her father, to
To spot the uprooted plant, which had lain
A great gardener mixes
A.attended to | B.brought up | C.weeded out | D.fed on |
A.caught | B.attracted | C.attacked | D.shocked |
A.recalled | B.noted | C.recognized | D.concluded |
A.iformation | B.presentation | C.presence | D.composition |
A.held | B.picked | C.pulled | D.removed |
A.flowers | B.branches | C.leaves | D.roots |
A.deed | B.deal | C.operation | D.project |
A.confirm | B.exhibit | C.evaluate | D.celebrate |
A.innocently | B.distantly | C.decisively | D.thoughtlessly |
A.burning | B.bathing | C.breathing | D.dying |
A.shelter | B.medicine | C.medium | D.venue |
A.right | B.same | C.dirty | D.loose |
A.Moreover | B.Likewise | C.Rather | D.Nevertheless |
A.environment | B.mode | C.neighborhood | D.opportunity |
A.invisible | B.disorganized | C.improper | D.unpleasant |
4 . If you really want to go green, here’s good news:eating green is good for you. The very foods with a high carbon (碳) cost — meat, pork, dairy products, processed snacks — also tend to be filled with fat and calories. A green diet would be mostly vegetables and fruit, whole grains (全谷物), fish and lean meats (瘦肉) like chicken — a diet that is good for environment and your figure. Eating green can be healthier and beneficial to the climate.
It may be hard to believe that a meal in a fast-food restaurant produces more carbon than your trip to a faraway place. More than 37% of the world’s land is used for agriculture, much of which was once forested. Deforestation (砍伐森林) is a major source of carbon. The fertilizer (化肥) and machinery needed on a modern farm also have a large carbon footprint, as does the network of ships and trucks that brings the food from the farm to your plate.
The most efficient way to reduce the carbon footprint of your menu is to eat less meat, especially beef. Raising cattle takes a lot more energy than growing the equivalent (相等的) amount of grains, fruit or vegetables. What’s more, the majority of cattle in the US are fed on grain and loads of it — 670 million tons in 2002 — and the fertiliser used to feed that creates separate environmental problems.
Focus on eating lower on the food chain, with more plants and fruits and less meat and dairy. It’s simple. We can change today what goes into our bodies for the health of our planet and ourselves.
1. According to the passage, eating green will .A.protect the animals from being killed |
B.promote the development of agriculture |
C.help us lose weight and keep self-confidence |
D.be good for our health and make a change for the climate |
A.Grains. | B.Fertiliser. | C.Machinery. | D.Deforestation. |
A.use less fertiliser | B.plant more grains |
C.stop raising the cattle | D.eat more vegetables than meat |
A.The change of our menu. | B.How to reduce the carbon. |
C.The benefits of eating green. | D.The ways of keeping healthy. |
The ancient city of Kashgar (喀什), which has a population of around 200,000,
As the night closes in. street
Neil Munro, from Britain, walks into a restaurant with friends
“The people here are welcoming. Kashgar is full of energy,” said Sirpa Jarvenpa, from Finland,
6 . Slowly, a great white shark swims toward the boat and onto a specialized lift. Once the shark is lifted onto the boat, the research team from OCEARCH, a nonprofit that specializes in shark tracking, performs about a dozen procedures.
The work is part of OCEARCH’s efforts to study great whites in the western North Atlantic, a less well-researched population than others around the world. “Here we are at the location of Jaws, and yet we didn’t really know the animals as well as we should,” says Bob Hueter, the chief scientist.
Two young great whites tagged (打标签) in this way, Simon and Jekyll, recently became famous thanks to a social media post that pointed out the pair had been traveling together for 4,000 miles up the North American Atlantic coast. People began to wonder if the sharks might be friends, but the situation is not so simple.
The two males were first tagged off the coast of Georgia in December 2022.The electronic tags transmit (传送) data via satellite when one of the sharks surfaces, allowing researchers to follow the animals’ movements online in real time. When Simon and Jekyll reached Long Island, researchers noticed their tracks were remarkably similar. Then they arrived in Novia Scotia within practically the same day!
Although this was a one-time event, such a similar route for the two sharks over a longtime and distance is significant. Great whites are traditionally viewed as solitary (独行者), but researchers believe they may display some social behaviors like other shark species. One study found that white sharks may remain close while hunting to benefit from food. “Surprisingly, we see more and more that white sharks might fit into that social category,” says Yannis Papastamatiou, a biologist at Florida International University.
However, Salvador Jorgensen, a marine ecologist at California State University, thinks there may be other reasons why the pair followed the same route.
1. What is the purpose of OCEARCH’s efforts?A.To further study great whites. | B.To attract wildlife lovers. |
C.To control the number of sharks. | D.To protect natural habitats. |
A.To distinguish them from other species. | B.To track their travel routes. |
C.To enable them to swim long distances. | D.To guarantee their safety. |
A.The average size of the species has declined. |
B.Many animals like to live in warmer weather. |
C.The sharks reached Novia Scotia as expected. |
D.White sharks tend to be social animals at times. |
A.The patience the pair showed. | B.The hardship the sharks underwent. |
C.Other factors guiding the pair’s behavior. | D.Coastal waters appealing to white sharks. |
7 . As a research scholar at the Indian Institute for Science Education and Research, I once monitored birds that inhabited grasslands in Daying Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected area in Northeast India. This habitat forms a part of one of the most bio-diverse places on Earth. Yet despite their ecological importance and uniqueness, most grasslands are classified by the Indian government as “wastelands”.
Ecosystems throughout the world are suffering from the effects of unchecked habitat loss and climate change. While all types of ecosystems—forests, grasslands, oceans, wetlands and deserts—feel these effects, there is evidence of bias (偏好) towards the conservation of forest biodiversity. This bi as hurts the preservation of other ecosystems, including the grasslands that make up 24 percent of the Indian landmass. These grasslands are home to important biodiversity and support the livelihoods of millions of people, yet are defined in India by their value in being turned into forests for fighting climate change.
Apart from being costly, the move overlooks the ecological and social value of grasslands by turning them into mono-culture forests, which do not provide the same ecological benefits. Yet, grasslands could be equally good at storing carbon.
India and other countries with substantial grasslands need to recognize, support and prioritize evidence-based scientific attempts that focus on grasslands by establishing grassland-specific restoration efforts, as well as by mapping their extent and the ecosystem services they provide for humans. The time is ripe for abandoning outdated labelings like “wastelands”.
Already, communities like the Todas and the Idu Mishmi people are protecting grasslands in India through collective action and local stewardship (管理), which are helping them connect with the grasslands. With the aim of preserving the richness of nature, the government must restore greater rights to local communities to manage grasslands. Grasslands are an important feature of an ecologically sound India, one that must be preserved for that value above all others.
1. What does the author want to stress in the second paragraph?A.Forests are hotspots of biodiversity. | B.Deserts badly affect local ecology. |
C.Climate change threatens ecosystems. | D.Grasslands need equal conservation. |
A.Tolerant. | B.Unclear. | C.Negative. | D.Favorable. |
A.Government officials. | B.Local communities. |
C.University researchers. | D.International agencies. |
A.Stop Treating Grasslands as Wastelands | B.Take Active Steps to Limit Grasslands |
C.Recognize the Polluted Grasslands | D.Transform Grasslands into Forests |
1. 你提出的口号;
2. 口号的含义及优点。
注意:1. 写作词数应为80个左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Alan,
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I will consider it a great honor if my slogan is selected.
Best regards!
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
1. When did the earthquake happen?
A.On Wednesday night. | B.On Thursday morning. | C.On Thursday afternoon. |
A.Forty people lost their lives. |
B.At least 110 people were injured. |
C.A railway was nearly destroyed. |
A.Help the victims. | B.Tell some survival skills. | C.Check the highways. |
10 . You might remember watching Tweety and Sylvester from the Looney Tunes cartoons while growing up. Every time the cat Sylvester would try to eat the bird Tweety, the latter would call its owner and complain about the cat, just as a human would. In reality, several birds are able to mimic (模仿) speech. The most common bird known to do this is the parrot.
Studies have shown that the young birds learn and memorize species-specific songs by mimicking vocalizations (发声) of their father, starting as early as a week after birth. If separated from the father during this sensitive (感觉敏锐的) period, young birds may develop very strange songs.
It is common sense that a singer with a broader vocal range (范围) will be more successful than one with a smaller vocal range. Similarly, male songbirds with the vocal learning ability to learn broader types of songs enjoy higher chances of attracting attention of female. Therefore, such songbirds started achieving broader song learning skills as time went by. Eventually, they ended up with vocal skills so broad that they could not just learn songs from other males in their species, but songs from different species too.
Parrots have been kept as pets for thousands of years, and are probably the most famous mimics. Vocal mimicry in parrots has often caught human’s attention, since they can mimic the difficult vocalizations of human speech learned from their caretakers. The reason for this is not to attract mates. Parrots raised as pets often mimic humans to establish social connections.
In a study on an African Grey parrot, scientists observed that it could not just mimic human speech, but could also learn several hundreds of words and their meanings, recognize objects by names, and even count! The study has made scientists think that parrots are not simply mimicking, but that their vocal ability is very similar to that of human speech. This is a huge discovery, as humans are the only animals known to be capable of using “language” to date.
1. Why does the author mention the cartoon in Paragraph 1?A.To introduce the main topic. |
B.To find a solution to a problem. |
C.To present conflicts between animals. |
D.To encourage readers to watch the cartoon. |
A.Male birds are born to have the ability to use their language. |
B.Animals start learning language one week earlier than humans. |
C.Young male birds are more sensitive to vocalizations than female ones. |
D.Language learning needs proper language environment at a proper stage. |
A.To attract mates. | B.To build relations with humans. |
C.To show off their vocal abilities. | D.To communicate with other parrots. |
A.Confused. | B.Honoured. | C.Amazed. | D.Disappointed. |