1 . A songbird jumps around in the woods near Washington, D. C. On its back it carries a very small, lightweight electronic device called a tag (标签). Ecologist Emily Williams watches from behind a bush. On this clear spring day, she says, “Now I’m watching to see whether he’s found a mate.” The bird has moved to a nearby tree where there is another robin. When the bird leaves, this new device it carries will send data about its position to a special satellite, then back to Williams’ computer.
The Georgetown University researchers have been attaching tracking (跟踪) tags on birds and animals for many years. But, the International Space Station and the involved satellite now provide new ways to receive the information sent by the tags. The new system permits scientists to watch songbird movements from a faraway place in much greater detail than before.
“We’re in a sort of golden age for bird research,” said Adriaan Dokter, an ecologist at Cornell University, adding that the technology is improving as the tags are made smaller and smaller. “We can track a robin by satellite with smaller and smaller chips. The device that the robin wears can report its immediate place on Earth, within about 10 meters. Ten years ago, that was unthinkable,” said the scientist, who is not involved in Williams’ study.
A second new device, for only the heaviest robins, provides more information about the bird’s movements; future versions may also measure the humidity and barometric pressure of the space the bird occupies. The devices are known as ICARUS tags.
Martin Wikelski is director of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. His scientific team is working to improve the ICARUS technology. He hopes that more and better devices could help develop what he called “an Internet of animals”—a collection of sensors around the world giving us a better picture of the movement of life on the planet.
1. What is Emily Williams doing in the woods?| A．Trying to catch a songbird. |
| B．Observing a bird with a new device. |
| C．Playing a bird game on the computer. |
| D．Taking an adventure trip in the nature. |
| A．Find the exact place of the robins quickly. |
| B．Take control of the robins easily. |
| C．Collect all the information from the satellite. |
| D．Communicate with the robin in a faraway place. |
| A．By explaining the reasons. | B．By making a comparison. |
| C．By listing two new devices. | D．By analyzing the data. |
| A．People can use more devices to keep healthy. |
| B．Technology can give better ways to track animals. |
| C．Human beings and animals can live in harmony. |
| D．People will know more about animals from the Internet. |
Before foundation of Sui Dynasty, China had
The establishment of Sui Dynasty
The Grand Canal reached a new peak in the Yuan Dynasty (13th century), providing a unified inland navigation network consisting
As
要点：1．你为环境保护做了什么。
2．你的感受和收获。
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4 . In 2011, artist Grimanesa Amorós stepped off a boat made of totora reeds (芦苇) onto an island—also made of totora reeds — in the northwest portion of Lake Titicaca. It’s home to one of the world’s most innovative achievement of human engineering: the Uros Islands.
The man-made floating islands, which are home to the native Uros people, are created by putting layers upon layers of totora roots and reeds. This water-resistant plant grows in the lake and is the lifeblood of the Uros community. It is used to make boats, houses, roofs, mattresses (床垫) and more. The plant is also eaten and serves as medicine, and its flowers are used to make tea.
However, the Uros weren’t always dependent on the totora. More than 500 years ago, the growing Inca Empire began to invade the Uros’ mainland villages. To beat this threat, the Uros began to build the islands, which could be launched deep into Lake Titicaca, away from danger. Hundreds of years later, there are now about 120 of these constructed islands, with around 1,300 people living on them.
To build the islands, the Uros first gather large blocks of totora roots. Multiple blocks are pulled together, and the roots and reeds mix naturally to form a layer about 1 to 2m thick. The totora reed is laid on top of this floating base. The Uros use a long tool to reach deep down into the water and cut the plant above the base. Then, the reeds are dried in the sun for one to four weeks and bundled (捆绑) together using a rope. Once dried, totora reeds are placed in alternating directions on top of the root blocks and become the ground that the Uros walk and build their homes on.
Today, urban influences are evident on the islands: Solar panels power bedroom lights and small TVs; a radio station operates on the main island. It’s evident that these modern changes and tourism have changed the Uros’ life on the lake. One thing remains certain, though. As long as there is totora growing at Lake Titicaca, the islands’ rooted foundation will stay the same.
1. Which word can best describe the role totora reeds play in the Uro’s life?| A．Essential. | B．Symbolic. | C．Protective. | D．Sustainable. |
| A．To develop tourism. | B．To maintain their lifestyle. |
| C．To escape from enemies’ attack. | D．To be separated from the world. |
| A．The key to selecting building materials. | B．The procedure of building the islands. |
| C．The difficulty of living on the island. | D．The method of spotting reeds. |
| A．Fancy Lifestyles of the Uros | B．Innovative Building Materials |
| C．Floating Homes on Lake Titicaca | D．A Must-see Tourist Attraction of Lake Titicaca |
5 . Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has long worked to make her city less dependent on cars. She wanted to see more people using bicycles to get around. Over a number of years, the city government set limits on cars and increased the amount of bike paths from 200 kilometers to over 1,000 kilometers.
This year, Parisians are not complaining about too much automobile traffic. Instead, they say there are too many bikes. “Now, it’s really like a bike traffic jam(阻塞),” Thibault Quere, a spokesperson for France’s Federation of Bicycle Users, said. ”It’s kind of a good difficulty to have, especially when we think about what Paris used to be.”
Some famous roads along the River Seine are completely closed to cars. Now you see people riding bikes, running and walking with their families along the river. In another part of Paris, a bike path on Sebastopol Boulevard is one of the busiest in Europe, after opening in 2019. In one week in early September, it reached a record high of 124,000 riders.
The city will host the Summer Olympics in 2024 and plans to add more bike paths by then. Paris wants to reduce its pollution by half during the games, even as visitors from around the world will be in the city for the event. Organizers say all of the competition sites will be reachable by bike through a 60-kilometer network of bike paths.
The change to Paris, however, has not been easy. With more people using bikes, more people are making mistakes. Some of them are new to cycling and disobey traffic rules. But the environment may be improving. Cycling is good exercise and helps reduce pollution, which is still a problem for the large city. The French government blames atmospheric pollution for 48,000 early deaths in the country each year.
Hidalgo was re-elected in 2020 and plans to keep making what she calls a “Paris that breathes”. Her newest five-year bike plan includes over $250 million for more bike paths and bike parking. The new budget is an increase of over $100 million from her first five-year plan.
1. What can be learned from the second paragraph?| A．Hidalgo’s effort has paid off. | B．Parisians prefer to travel by car. |
| C．Parisians find it difficult to ride bikes. | D．Quere disagrees with Hidalgo. |
| A．To compare the famous roads in France. |
| B．To praise people enjoying riding bicycles. |
| C．To stress the importance of France in Europe. |
| D．To show how busy a cycle path is in Paris. |
| A．Tour local bike shops. | B．Ride to competition sites. |
| C．Promote the sights in France. | D．Support the athletes around the world. |
| A．Friendly. | B．Helpful. | C．Determined. | D．Honest. |
6 . One day when Jack was walking in the park, he saw a woman, who lived a few miles away, sitting on a bench (凳子) with a dog beside her. The dog was looking up at the woman.
Jack walked up to the woman and said, “Hello, Sue how are you? May I sit and talk with you for a while?” “Of course, please sit down,” Sue said. Jack sat down next to Sue on the bench, and they talked quietly together. The dog continued to look up at Sue as if waiting to be fed.
“That’s a nice dog, isn’t he?” Jack said pointing at the animal.
“Yes, he is. He’s handsome. He’s a bit of a mixture but that’s not a bad thing. He’s strong and healthy.”
“And hungry,” Jack said.
“He hasn’t taken his eyes off you. He thinks you’ve got some food for him.”
“That’s true.” Sue said.
“But I haven’t.”
They both laughed and then Jack said, “Does your dog bite (咬人)?”
“No,” Sue said. “He’s never bitten anyone. He’s always gentle and friendly.”
Hearing this, Jack decided to hold out his hand and touched the animals head. Suddenly it jumped up and bit him.
“Hey!” Jack shouted. “ You said your dog didn’t bite.”
Sue replied in surprise, “Yeah, I did. But this is not my dog. My dog’s at home.”
1. The dog looked at the woman because ________.| A．the woman wanted to feed him | B．the woman was friendly |
| C．he was strong and healthy | D．he was hungry |
| A．friends | B．next-door neighbors |
| C．strangers | D．in the same family |
| A．the dog was handsome | B．Sue’s dog was unfriendly |
| C．the dog was Sue’s | D．Sue’s dog was at home |
| A．Sue gave a wrong answer | B．Jack made a mistake |
| C．Jack known the dog well | D．The dog waited for the food |
| A．he didn’t took food | B．he didn’t know him |
| C．he didn’t take his dog | D．the dog didn’t find his master |
7 . Gorillas (大猩猩) in films such as King Kong and Tarzan are wildly beating their chests when under threat. Researchers have tried to find out what the behavior might mean, and they doubt that the gorillas exhibit this behavior not to start fights, but to prevent themselves — and chest-beating could be used to advertise (展示) their body size to other gorillas.
Scientists observed 25 wild male mountain gorillas for over 3,000 hours. The research team used audio (音频) equipment to record the sound frequency (频率), rate, duration, and amount of chest beats. To determine each gorilla’s size, the researchers used cameras to photogragh and measure each gorilla’s back.
Although the rate, duration, and amount of beats did not correlate (相关) with the size of the gorillas, sound frequency did , the researchers report. The team also noticed that larger gorillas produced deeper-tone chest drumming. Previous research has shown that a gorilla’s larger body size is linked to reproductive success and social rank (地位). The chest-beating could be a way for the gorillas to advertise their size to others and, in turn, avoid fights that could result in serious injury or death.
Though gorillas can obviously observe size just by getting a good look at others, the researchers suggest chest beating is copper-bottomed when trying to communicate through a thick forest. The sounds gorillas created by beating their chests are powerful enough to travel long distance through thick forests and signal others their size and fighting ability.
Animal expert Anna Nekaris says it would be interesting to see if smaller gorillas can imitate the deep tones of larger ones in future studies. Nekaris says, “For now, the researchers will continue to study chest-beating to see if the action can pass on other information, such as dominance rank (优势等级), sex, and individual identity, to nearby gorillas.”
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about according to the research?| A．Its fingdings. | B．Its method. | C．Its samples. | D．Its purpose. |
| A．To declare war on other gorillas. | B．To celebrate their victory in a fight. |
| C．To welcome their companions. | D．To frighten other gorillas away. |
| A．Scientific. | B．Interesting. | C．Reliable. | D．Skillful. |
| A．If smaller gorillas can make deep-toned chest drumming. |
| B．If gorillas’ chest-beating contains other information. |
| C．If larger gorillas are better at using their body influence. |
| D．If gorilas have other communication skills. |
| A．Health. | B．Entertainment. | C．Science. | D．Sports. |
The Great Wall
The Great Wall, a
The Great Wall resembles a Chinese dragon circling the mountains,
The Great Wall is a symbol of Chinese civilization, It has been put down on the World Heritage List. It is
9 . Want to eat healthy and also save the planet?
How do our food choices affect climate change?
Food production accounts for about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
In each of four food groups — protein, mixed dishes, dairy and beverage — researchers looked at foods that disproportionately contribute to greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.
Top foods to swap out
USA TODAY asked if there is one specific food (or food group) that would be most recommended to be swapped out of.
| A．If universally adopted, the recommended changes would lower the nation’s dietary carbon footprint. |
| B．The team then matched each of these environmentally unfriendly foods to a similar option with a far lower carbon footprint. |
| C．The good news is that there are many options for small changes to make to reduce your carbon footprint and improve your diet. |
| D．A drastic change in your diet isn’t necessary to make a significant difference. |
| E．You don’t have to make these changes all the time to make a difference. |
| F．This means that changing what we eat can reduce greenhouse gas and carbon pollution. |
| G．If you are a person who make the changes that we propose, you’re likely to see the benefits you want. |
10 . Human activities are making the globe saltier, specifically in our soils, fresh water and air, according to a study released this week in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.
Salt pollution isn’t some flashy threat to our existence — like, say, a meteor hitting Earth — but the issue is gravely overlooked and is a “sleeping giant”, said Sujay Kaushal, lead author of the study. Over the past 50 years, salt have increased in streams and rivers as people have begun using and producing more salts. The team found that across the globe, about 2.5 billion acres of soil — an area about the size of the United States — have become saltier.
Most people think of salt as the white specks we put in our food or the salt in the oceans, chemically known as sodium chloride (NaCl). That sodium salt can also be found in detergents (去污剂), other household products and more, but there are many different salts, including calcium, magnesium and other ions used in additional products — and they’re all increasing in places where they don’t normally occur.
Salt is a natural and necessary component of Earth. The compound is brought to the surface slowly over long geological time scales, through natural processes such as weathering of sedimentary (沉积而成的) rocks. When exposed at the surface, the salt can mix with water, be transported into water or go into the air. Living organisms, from plants to people, take up small portions to help regulate daily functions. Excess salt hitches a ride with water molecules, entering soil and the oceans. But human activities have altered this normal salt cycle in recent decades, the team found. Agriculture, mining, construction, water and road treatment, and other industrial activities are increasing the salt in our ground, freshwater systems and air.
Before this study, scientists didn’t really know how much humans were changing salt concentrations around the globe. But the “magnitude to which we have altered one of Earth’s natural cycles is alarming,” said ecologist Bill Hintz, who was not involved in the research. He agreed with the study’s authors that these changes to the salt cycle are an existential threat to freshwater supplies.
1. The underlined word “flashy” in Paragraph 2 can best be replaced by ________.| A．instant | B．serious | C．damaged | D．unsolved |
| A．People can only have access to sodium salt in daily life. |
| B．People intend to have a limited insight into salt. |
| C．Additional products are supposed to be banned. |
| D．Salts are increasing in the world scale. |
| A．Forming as a compound — weathering of sedimentary rocks — consumed by living organisms |
| B．Coming into being in Earth naturally — being brought to the surface — combining with water — entering soil and oceans |
| C．Coming into being in Earth naturally — being transported to water and air — increased by human activities |
| D．Forming as a compound — removing excessive salt — entering soil and oceans |
| A．Inefficient. | B．Unreliable. | C．Brain-washing. | D．Ground-breaking. |
