1 . Many monarch butterflies hurry along Chicago’s streets. They’re looking for milkweed, which monarch butterflies and about 450 other species feed on. It’s greatly needed, because the American Midwest doesn’t have as many monarch butterflies as before.
Each year, as summer days grow cooler, the monarch butterflies living east of the Rocky Mountains will fly to the forests of Mexico. But the number of monarch butterflies preparing to make the journey has fallen rapidly. The reasons include buildings spreading out over a wide area, chemical use, and more. However, researchers from the Field Museum in Chicago said, “Cities aren’t just the enemy of insects — they can be useful habitats (栖息地), too. That’s especially true for insects like monarch butterflies that can survive with small areas of habitat.”
The researchers studied the milkweed situation in some U.S. cities along the butterfly’s flyway. They calculated (计算) how much milkweed is growing in these cities. They also found many areas that could grow a bit of milkweed, especially within “non-forested green spaces”. No one is suggesting growing milkweed in a soccer field, but yards, roadsides, and vacant lots (空地) all would be OK. Even if only 2% of these green spaces were turned into milkweed areas, the researchers said these cities could hold millions of additional plants. “Cities could support about 30% of the milkweed needed to save monarch butterflies,” said a researcher.
The team found that the people they spoke with reacted actively to growing milkweed. There is already an indication that planting efforts paid off: In 2018, monarch populations were the highest in 10 years, which is in part because of cities’ efforts to grow milkweed and other butterfly-friendly plants.
1. What can be learnt about milkweed?| A．It draws more and more insects. | B．It usually grows along Chicago’s streets. |
| C．It grows widely in the American Midwest. | D．It’s important for monarch butterflies’ survival. |
| A．Cities used to be a good place for insects. | B．Monarch butterflies are very popular in cities. |
| C．Monarch butterflies depend too much on cities. | D．Cities can be monarch butterflies’ good habitat. |
| A．When to save monarch butterflies. | B．How to save monarch butterflies. |
| C．Who to save monarch butterflies. | D．Why to save monarch butterflies. |
| A．idea. | B．promise. | C．sign. | D．doubt. |
2 . For the past four years I had been having up to 30 seizures (癫痫发作) a day. It made me
Despite
One day, my friend Kerri asked if I wanted an assistance dog. I knew there were guide dogs for the
Soon after, I
It’s
| A．think | B．hide | C．suffer | D．learn |
| A．personal | B．countless | C．formal | D．impressive |
| A．sleeping | B．working | C．replying | D．breathing |
| A．warmth | B．fun | C．safety | D．independence |
| A．deaf | B．blind | C．injured | D．elderly |
| A．wrote | B．learnt | C．overheard | D．planned |
| A．warn | B．attract | C．follow | D．hit |
| A．burn out | B．break in | C．come on | D．drop by |
| A．saved | B．addressed | C．met | D．invited |
| A．rose | B．lay | C．struggled | D．played |
| A．sensed | B．caused | C．touched | D．cried |
| A．action | B．attack | C．guide | D．help |
| A．boss | B．teacher | C．partner | D．listener |
| A．risked | B．stopped | C．kept | D．saved |
| A．thankful | B．anxious | C．excited | D．patient |
3 . Antarctica (南极洲) is a great, icy land, surrounded by the huge Southern Ocean. The ice in Antarctica doesn’t just cover the land. There’s also a large area of sea ice, which floats (漂浮) on the ocean’s surface.
Scientists have been measuring the area of the sea ice in Antarctica since 1979. For most of this time, Antarctica has seemed to be almost not influenced by the changing weather conditions experienced in other parts of the planet. In fact, until recent years, Antartica’s sea ice area mainly set records for growing.
That began to change around 2016. Now, for several years, the area of Antartica’s sea ice has been getting smaller. This year, the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) reported that Antartica’s sea ice reached its maximum on September 10 — almost two weeks earlier than normal. And the sea ice was at a new record low — not just by a little bit, but by a lot.
The last time Antartica’s low sea ice set a record at the end of winter was in 1986. And this year, there’s about 1.03 million square kilometers less sea ice than in 1986. It’s hard to picture such a large area, but it’s around 1.6 times the size of France.
Scientists are still trying to understand what is driving the change in Antarctica. Ted Scambos, a research scientist at the University of Colorado, says, “Antarctica’s ice levels have always changed some, but the situation this year is pointing towards warmer ocean conditions around the area.”
The new low record has scientists worried. The sea ice is important, because it helps cool the planet. When it’s frozen, sea ice reflects sunlight back out into space. But when the sea ice melts (融化), the water left behind is darker, and takes in and keeps more heat.
1. What did NSIDC find about the sea ice in Antarctica this year?| A．It protected the wildlife in the ocean. | B．It grew and covered a wider area. |
| C．It turned out to be difficult to observe. | D．It reached a new record low level. |
| A．To present the total area of the country. |
| B．To introduce a new topic for discussion. |
| C．To show the sharp loss of Antarctica’s sea ice. |
| D．To explain the position of the wonderful land. |
| A．Low rainfall. | B．Rising temperatures. |
| C．Cold weather. | D．Short summer months. |
| A．It’s key to the earth’s cooling system. | B．It’s just a short-term problem. |
| C．It reminds us to find water resources. | D．It offers humans a bright future. |
4 . Lake Mary Jane in central Florida, where people living along the lake like to go boating and swimming and watch the wildlife, is under pressure from development. Orange County, which surrounds the lake, is one of the fastest-growing counties in Florida. A development planned for a site just north of Mary Jane would transform nineteen hundred acres of wetlands and cypress forest into homes.
In an effort to protect herself, Mary Jane is suing (起诉). The lake has filed a case (立案) in Florida state court, stressing that the development would negatively impact the lake, causing concrete, distinct, and visible injuries. Mary Jane’s case is the first in American history. Never before has a lifeless slice of nature tried to defend its rights in the court. “It is long past time to recognize that we are dependent on nature and the continued destruction of nature needs to stop,” Mari Margil, director of the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights, said in a statement.
The concept that natural objects like woods and streams should have rights was first put forward half a century ago, by Christopher Stone, a law professor who was assigned to teach University of Southern California’s introductory course on property law in 1971. He explained how ownership rights had developed over time and why our natural objects like trees or even rocks should also be given rights. This little thought experiment set off a heated debate nationwide.
Each time there is a movement to give rights to some new things, the proposal is bound to sound odd or frightening or laughable. However, this extension of rights, Stone argued, was needed to address an unavoidable problem. So long as natural objects were valued only in terms of their worth to humans — for the use of humans they could, quite legally, be destroyed.
Despite the fact that the developer is pushing to have Mary Jane’s case dismissed, arguing that the rights the lake wants do not — and cannot — exist, people are starting taking Stone’s words seriously. Even Stone’s critics had fun with his idea. There’s no way to get back to the past. The lake’s wish is pretty clear: It just wants to be left alone.
1. What challenge is Lake Mary Jane facing?| A．The negative effect of the locals’ leisure activities. | B．The loss of the wetlands due to the climate change. |
| C．The ever-increasing wildlife population in the area. | D．The housing development affecting its environment. |
| A．Intolerant. | B．Unclear. | C．Approving. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．To inspire his students’ curiosity. | B．To evaluate the value of natural things. |
| C．To avoid being laughed at by his critics. | D．To keep people from destroying nature. |
| A．Stone will face more criticisms. |
| B．The influence of the case is great. |
| C．Lake Mary Jane is bound to win the case. |
| D．The claim of Lake Mary Jane is ridiculous. |
5 . From Black Beauty to The Chronicles of Narnia, films and books have often shown the friendships that can develop between humans and horses. Lots of real-life stories have shown that horses seem to have a special understanding of humans. However, until a recent study, nobody knew if horses really recognized different human emotions.
A team of researchers set out to see what horses can understand. They used a test that is often used to see how much babies understand about the world around them.The team brought 28horses into a room, one by one. Each was shown a picture of a happy human and a picture of a sad human. At the same time,a recording of a happy or sad voice was played.The test showed that horses can recognize different emotions by looking at facial expressions and hearing the tone of people’s voices and matching the two up.When the voice didn’t match up with the picture, the horses seemed to be puzzled: they looked at the picture for longer, as if they knew that something wasn’t right. However, the researchers still don’t know if the horses actually understand what it is to be sad or happy.
Scientist Océane Liehrmann, from the University of Turku in Finland, worked on the study. She said,“You could imagine that they have a particular box in their mind labelled (贴标签)’human sadness’ containing the characteristics of both a sad face and a sad voice.”
It’s also thought that horses prefer to spend time around happy people because they spent longer looking at the pictures of happy people.The researchers now want to see if horses can recognize other negative human emotions.
1. Why did the author mention two films at the beginning?| A．To lead the readers to the topic. | B．To introduce the films to the readers. |
| C．To compare the films with the real life. | D．To advise the readers to relax themselves. |
| A．hear different sounds | B．communicate with humans |
| C．recognize different pictures | D．understand human emotions |
| A．Sad | B．Happy. | C．Puzzled. | D．Satisfied. |
| A．Because horses like to hear loud laughter. |
| B．Because horses can recognize people’s sad emotions. |
| C．Because horses spent more time on the pictures of happy people. |
| D．Because horses understand what it is to be sad or happy for people. |
6 . Gotham Greens started as a single rooftop (外屋顶) greenhouse in Brooklyn. New York City. Now, it is one of the largest greenhouse lettuce (生菜) producers in North America, with soon-to-be 13 sites across nine states.
“Ninety-nine percent of the food that we eat in New York City has to be brought in from other places and has to travel very far. For example, lettuce like this usually comes from places like California that are 3,000 miles away.” explains Chief Executive Officer Viraj Puri.
The company plans to grow 100 million heads of lettuce this year. Puri founded Gotham Greens because he wanted to bring farms close to the communities they serve. For example, the lettuce grown on the roof on Third Street in Gowanus only needs to be transported down using a lift to reach the supermarket Whole Foods.
Many people might not think of New York City as a place to grow produce, but rooftop farms can be easily found in the city. “Here, it’s about 70 degrees and the plants are growing well because we are creating the perfect growing conditions for them,“ Puri explains.
Grown completely in water in renewably-powered greenhouses, the farms use less water and land. “The plants are grown in water to which nutrients (营养物) are added, making them grow very quickly. We can avoid the use of chemicals (化学品),” says Puri.
The company also donates (捐赠) tens of thousands of young plants a year to organizations that work to feed people and provide educational programming around city farming. In the Claremont Village area of the Bronx, local students like 16-year-old Jill Bonilla care for towers of herbs and vegetables in a unique classroom.
”Plants don’t take that long to grow; you just got to take care of them properly,“ she says. ”It helps me stay healthy and stay away from junk food.“
Bonilla and hundreds of other kids are part of the educational organization Green Bronx Machine, which partners with Gotham Greens to educate students. Green Bronx Machine’s programs are in 675 schools across the country. Last year, it grew more than 8,000 pounds of food in the Bronx, and donated 150,000 pounds of healthy produce.
1. What can we learn from paragraphs 2 and 3?| A．Most of New York City’s lettuce comes from Brooklyn. |
| B．Rooftop farms are becoming popular in New York City. |
| C．Planting lettuce in New York City makes a big difference. |
| D．Gotham Greens was founded to make New York City greener. |
| A．Their numbers are growing rapidly. |
| B．They are environmentally friendly. |
| C．Their market has already opened up. |
| D．They are less costly than traditional farms. |
| A．It is worth the time. |
| B．It is a bit challenging. |
| C．It has built up her confidence, |
| D．It has changed her ideas about farmers. |
| A．They support poor students. |
| B．They have their own schools. |
| C．They run educational programs. |
| D．They have farms in the countryside. |
With thousands of fishing lights blanketing its surface, Erhai Lake in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China’s Yunnan Province,
As darkness falls each night, fishing boats travel across the lake and fishing lights
The 2023 ecological regulation of fish populations in Erhai Lake aims to completely
Based on various fish
The first stage
8 . Depleted forests are never out of the headlines, but do you know that several tech-led techniques are being employed to improve reforestation and bring these lungs of nature, a key source of oxygen in the atmosphere, back to life? Nature news website, Mongabay, recently devoted a mini-series to exploring the newest technological solutions that support worldwide reforestation efforts, but not without pointing out that reforestation efforts often have weaknesses.
This Mongabay review speaks frankly about the blemishes of labor-intensive reforestation efforts as poor planning leads to underreported tree planting outcomes. For example, perhaps trees were planted where they didn’t suit the chosen habitats.
According to Mongabay, the challenge is to match rising demand for restoration with ecologically sound, scalable (可扩展的) reforestation methods. “Scale is the biggest challenge to restoration and reforestation projects worldwide,” said Charlotte Mills, chief ecologist at AirSeed Technologies in Australia. The good news is that new tech solutions can help make tree planting at scale easier, faster and more successful.
For instance, solar-powered, seed-planting robots, able to plant up to 600 trees in a morning, are being carried out by conservationists working in the Peruvian Amazon. Drones (无人机) are employed to drop seeds in precise areas, especially at remote and difficult-to-access sites. One company operating them is Mast Reforestation, a Seattle-based one working on North America’s conifer (针叶树) forests destroyed by logging, insects and wildfire.
The Globe and Mail reports on how Canadian start-up, Flash Forest, uses drones that fire seeds at a high speed into the soil. It has a great goal to go beyond changing forestry to slow down climate change and finally conserve ecological diversity.
Sending people out on field monitoring to assess the health of new trees which take years to mature is time-consuming and costly. Here, satellites are stepping up to provide large-scale data sets over time on how huge reforested sites are going. Food giant Nestle announced in April 2023 that it’s working to monitor its reforestation efforts long-term using satellites.
1. What does the underlined word “blemishes” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Dangers. | B．Disadvantages. | C．Features. | D．Results. |
| A．To criticize the underdeveloped technologies. |
| B．To tell the rising demand for restoration. |
| C．To call on practicable reforestation methods. |
| D．To show the trouble with global reforestation. |
| A．Preserving biodiversity. | B．Making a change to forestry. |
| C．Dropping seeds at remote areas. | D．Driving drones at high speeds. |
| A．Trees Are Suffering | B．Forests Are Recovering |
| C．Technology for Trees | D．Technique for Challenges |
9 . The ocean environment has been a heated topic of late. It was discussed and explored during World Water Week, held from Aug 20 to 24 in Stockholm, Sweden. During the week, Naomi Park from the US received the prestigious Stockholm Junior Water Prize 2023 for her research on the removal of carbon dioxide and oil products from the ocean, reported AFP News.
The ocean absorbs nearly a third of carbon dioxide emissions in the air, and 1.3 million gallons of crude oil are spilled into oceans every year, according to the Stockholm International Water Institute. Both issues continue to affect the biodiversity of the ocean and human health. In her research, Park developed a method to remove these contaminants.
Speaking on winning the prize, Park said it was a project she did in her high school. “I never realized that I would get to this point.”
The jury (评判委员会) noted that “the student created a ‘sponge (海绵)’ that absorbs both carbon dioxide and oil products from the ocean. She built a model and tested it — in multiple conditions, even simulating (模拟) ocean waves — with impressive results.”
For Park, her exploration of environmental sustainability is motivated by witnessing the local impacts of the climate crisis with her own eyes. “Seeing these changes in your community really makes you believe that the time for action is now,” she said.
Her next step may be to pursue a patent for the device. Andy Bramante, Park’s teacher and the science research director at Greenwich High School, said seeing young scientists develop their original ideas at this age is very exciting.
1. What did Park receive the Stockholm Junior Water Prize 2023 for?| A．Her research on climate change. | B．Her work on ocean biodiversity. |
| C．Her device for cleaning the ocean. | D．Her experiment with ocean waves. |
| A．Pollutants. | B．Advertisements. | C．Opponents. | D．Dilemmas. |
| A．It was her high school ambition. | B．It was beyond her expectations. |
| C．It was a result of her team’s efforts. | D．It was the first step to apply for a patent. |
| A．Her desire for recognition. | B．Her teacher’s encouragement. |
| C．Seeing changes in her local area. | D．Learning about the value of the ocean. |
10 . Scientists are confused about two newly discovered stars. The two stars, one of which was announced this month in the journal Nature, send out long pulses (脉冲) of radio waves about every 20 minutes. This means they move much more slowly, and they have other characteristics that astronomers can’t explain. “We are all still quite amazed,” says astronomer Natasha Hurley-Walker, who led the discovery of both of these surprising sources.
The mystery began in 2021, when Hurley-Walker and her colleagues discovered a slowly repeating radio pulse. It shone for three months. But by the time they discovered it in the records, its activity had died down, and it had become invisible in the skies. In a January 2022 paper, the scientists suggested the object could be a kind of star called a magnetar (磁陀星). But the object, with the name GLEAM-X J162759.5-523504.3, sent out a pulse every 18 minutes instead of every few seconds like known magnetars.
It also had no X-ray signal associated with the radio emission (发射), which doesn’t fit with magnetar theories. And strangely, the object’s magnetic field was likely much stronger than previously seen. So the scientists began looking for other similar objects. In June 2022, Hurley-Walker and her colleagues began observing the entire visible sky every three nights. Almost immediately, they found something that sent out a radio flash every 21 minutes.
At first glance, it looked similar to the previously discovered object. But once the team began to dig through data for additional pulses from this source, named GPM J1839-10, the object only seemed more perplexing. Unlike the first star, the signal of J1839-10 was detected over decades.
For now, researchers assume both objects are the same. But why would one flash for three months and the other for 33 years and counting? “I don’t know,” says Hurley-Walker. “That’s the problem.”
1. What can be learned about the two newly discovered stars?| A．They were made public in Nature this month. |
| B．They send out short radio waves every 20 minutes. |
| C．They move at the slowest speed of all known stars. |
| D．They are unlike the stars astronomers have seen before. |
| A．Every few seconds. | B．Every 18 minutes. |
| C．Every 20 minutes. | D．Every 21 minutes. |
| A．Radio waves research project. | B．Strange features of the first star. |
| C．The government’s guidance program. | D．The assumption of the magnetar theories. |
| A．Appealing. | B．Challenging. |
| C．Unaccountable. | D．Unacceptable. |
