1 . Why Do Cats Love Boxes So Much?

There is an object that’s pretty much guaranteed to arouse your cat’s interest. That object, as the Internet has so thoroughly documented, is a box. Any box, really. Like many other really strange things cats do, science hasn’t fully cracked this particular feline (猫科的) mystery.

    1     In fact, when you look at all the evidence together, it could be that your cat may not just like boxes, he may need them.

The box-and-whisker plot

Understanding the feline mind is extremely difficult. Still, there’s a sizable amount of behavioral research on cats who are, well, used for other kinds of research. These studies have been taking place for more than 50 years and they make one thing quite clear:     2    

This is likely true for a number of reasons, but for cats in stressful situations, a box or some other type of separate enclosure can have a strong impact on both their behavior and physiology.

Ethologist Claudia Vinke of Utrecht University in the Netherlands is one of the latest researchers to study stress levels in shelter cats. Working with domestic cats in a Dutch animal shelter, Vinke provided hiding boxes for a group of newly arrived cats while keeping another group from them entirely.     3     In effect, the cats with boxes got used to their new surroundings faster, were far less stressed early on, and were more interested in interacting with humans.

The ‘If it fits, I sits’ principle

Some feline observers will note that in addition to boxes, many cats seem to pick other odd places to relax. Some curl up in a bathroom sink.     4     This brings us to the other reason why your cat may like particularly small boxes: It’s really cold out.

So there you have it: Boxes are insulating, stress-relieving, comfort zones—places where cats can hide, relax, sleep, and occasionally launch a surprise attack against the huge, unpredictable apes they live with.

A．Your furry companion obtains comfort and security from enclosed spaces.

B．Others prefer shoes, bowls, shopping bags, coffee mugs, empty egg cartons, and other small, enclosed spaces.

C．She found a significant difference in stress levels between cats that had the boxes and those that didn’t.

D．A box, in this sense, can often represent a safe zone, a place where sources of anxiety, hostility (恶意), and unwanted attention simply disappear.

E．So rather than work things out, cats tend to simply run away from their problems or avoid them altogether.

F．Thankfully, behavioral biologists and veterinarians have come up with a few interesting explanations.

2 . A six-year-old longing to keep a unicorn in her backyard figured she’d get the hard part out of the way first.

Last November, Madeline wrote a letter to the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control with a straightforward request. “Dear LA County, I would like your approval if I can have a unicorn in my backyard if I can find one. Please send me a letter in response.”

Director Mayeda replied two weeks later. The department does in fact license unicorns, she said, under certain conditions. Those include polishing the unicorn’s horn at least once a month with a soft cloth, feeding it watermelon at least once a week, covering it with only nontoxic and biodegradable sparkles and giving it regular access to sunlight, moonbeams and rainbows. And, because unicorns are indeed very rare to find, the department is also giving Madeline a toy unicorn to keep her company during her search, as a token of appreciation.

“It is always rewarding to hear from young people who thoughtfully consider the requirements of providing a loving home for animals,” Mayeda wrote in the letter. “I like your sense of responsible pet ownership to seek permission in advance to keep a unicorn in Los Angeles County.”

Mayeda told the Washington Post that this is the first time the department has received a request for a license for a unicorn or any mythical creature. They were impressed with the first-grader for wanting to ask permission in the first place, and doing her research to work out how to go about that. She and her colleagues deal with a lot of “life-and-death” issues on the job, whether that’s seeing cases of animal abuse or animals hurting people or making decisions about having to put down dangerous or sick animals. So Madeline’s letter has considerably brightened their spirits, and she is due to visit the department this week to discuss her unicorn license application. Safe to say, she’s in for a magical surprise.

1. Why did Madeline write the letter?

A．To apply to visit a unicorn.	B．To learn to provide animal care.
C．To ask permission to keep a pet.	D．To figure out how to find a unicorn.

2. What can we learn from paragraph 3?

A．Her application was disapproved.	B．Requirements should be met for the license.
C．She was presented with a live unicorn.	D．Guidance was given for her search.

3. Which of the following best describes Mayeda?

A．Imaginative.

B．Sensitive.

C．Flexible.

D．Convincing.

4. Why does the department think the letter “has brightened their spirits”?

A．Because it is the first application letter for a pet.

B．Because animal protection is a life-and-death issue.

C．Because they are worn out with their daily work.

D．Because they are touched with the girl’s deeds.

3 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a missing word according to the text.

The benefits of a degree are not obvious to people who live on this remote island. Families have a    1     lifestyle, hunting walruses, whales and other sea animals in the spring, and gathering berries in the summer. The largest employer is the school system;     2    , there are only a handful of jobs in fishing, oil and the airlines that connect the island to the mainland. There isn’t much demand for anything else and more than a quarter of adults are     3    .

Today two villages remain with a population of just 1,400. People there are used to the     4    landscape and climate—in the summer, fields of grassy frozen ground     5     from snow-capped mountain ranges to the stony shorelines, but in the winter the sun disappears, there is a lot of snow, and polar bears arrive on ice floes. Leaving the island is not an option, as a ticket on a bush plane costs $400, a week’s earnings for many islanders. The sense of     6    is strong. When a whale is killed, the houses and school empty as everyone races to the beach to take a share of the meat.

4 . Finding Bigfoot

Cryptozoologists(神秘生物学家)have been trying to discover whether Bigfoot, a gigantic, apelike creature, really exists in North America. Many websites are dedicated to recording and investigating Bigfoot sightings. After following up on countless eyewitness reports, however, they have not yet been able to find solid proof.

For those enthusiasts who believe in the existence of Bigfoot, they’ve come up with various explanations as to why no Bigfoot bodies have been found. One theory is that in the vast uninhabited forests, nature quickly disposes of dead bodies. Some others believe Bigfoot lives between dimensions, spending only short periods of time in this dimension.     1    

In 1977, a Bigfoot sighting in northern Washington turned out to be a hoax(骗局)planned by three young men using gorilla suits and walkie—talkies.     2     Some websites even report that up to 80 percent of sightings have been confirmed as hoaxes.

    3     According to a recent poll, 1 in 10 American adults believe Bigfoot is a real animal. The creature has even inspired the naming of a medical company, music festival, amusement park ride and more. During the onset of the pandemic, it was even referred to on social media as the “Social Distancing Champion” as a part of promotion campaigns.

Some sociologists believe that society’s fascination stems from human interest in mystery, the supernatural, and loneliness.     4     It has much in common with the Australian yowie(野人)and the Himalayan yeti(雪人): an upright posture, shaggy hair and, of course, large feet. As so—called wild men, they hold a crude mirror up to our own species: What might Homo sapiens(智人)be like if civilization had not removed it from nature?

A．Bigfoot, in a sense, is a modern display of a human—wide cultural concept rather than a zoological(与动物有关的)reality.

B．This incident, coupled with previous hoaxes, caused the whole nation to completely lose interest in Bigfoot.

C．Given Bigfoot’s popularity, many are confident that it will shed light on scientific research on other similar mysterious creatures.

D．However, many scientists believe if it does exist, someone should at least be able to find a skeleton or fossil remains.

E．This makes some people think that other reports on Bigfoot sightings must have been faked as well.

F．Be it real or not, Bigfoot has already made a notable impact on American popular culture.

5 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. livelihood          B. geographical          C. increasingly        D. exhausted        E. amuse        F. beyond G. unsupported       H. slightly                 I. motivational          J. matters             K. surviving

The mission for explorers, BØrge Ousland, a Norwegian, and Mike Horn, a South African-born Swiss, was to navigate their way across the 600 miles to the South Pole    1    —no dogsleds or airdrops of equipment, no food or fuel along the way. When, in 2006, the two men finally reached their destination, Cape Arkticheskiy in Siberia, in the pitch dark of polar winter, they were utterly    2    , had frostbite(冻疮), but were still in one piece. What they had accomplished stands as one of the most daring polar expeditions in recent memory: setting out in total darkness and     3    physically and mentally. That had been the essence of the trip. Reaching the pole was necessary, but almost irrelevant conclusion.

Why would they have put themselves in this position? This was, actually, exactly what they had wanted. Both men had been adventuring since boyhood, taking    4    high calculated risks. At some point, they left their comfort zones and never went back. For them, going to extremes that may seem insane was actually a logical progression. They discovered that they could earn a living—writing books, taking pictures, making films, and presenting    5    speeches. Now, they have sponsors: outdoor gear manufacturers, construction outfits, an adventure travel agency, a watch company. Extreme adventure is their    6    .

Some people say that the two men have a death wish, but this just seems to    7    Mike and BØrge. They will tell you that it isn’t a desire to be closer to death that attracts them; it’s a desire to be closer to life. They’ve been to the mountaintop. They know that willpower can be built, and that ordinary people, like themselves, have abilities    8    their wildest dreams. They’re just the ones who are out there, searching the wilderness on behalf of the rest of us. They aren’t marking dots on a    9    map anymore. That was accomplished long ago. What they are doing now is exploring the inner map, the mental and emotional map. What will they learn about themselves from being in a position where nothing    10    except staying alive? What, exactly, is the human being capable of? This is what drives them.

6 .

A．The summers are even hotter in Hong Kong.

B．He wishes that he were in Hong Kong last summer.

C．It is difficult to compare the summers in different places.

D．Hong Kong is the hottest place in the world.

7 . By the twentieth century, New York City had long since reached its destiny of becoming the most powerful city in America. In less than 300 years it had grown from a tiny Dutch outpost in the wilderness to the business capital of the world. It was a city built on dreams,

But it was made out of bricks and cement that had come from the banks of the Hudson. The river which had fed all those dreams was now fading into the background. New York didn’t seem to need the river anymore, except as a sewer. And that’s what it became.

Industry on the river had made some New Yorkers filthy rich. But it had just made the river filthy. Garbage, factory waste, plant chemicals and the raw sewage of the cities and towns along its banks were dumped directly into the river. The water turned greenish brown, except by the GM plant, where it turned red or yellow or whatever color they were painting the cars that day.

The fishing industry collapsed. The few fish that survived were too poisonous to eat. Smog from the factory smoke and dust from the cement plants blanketed the valley. And it was all legal.

Most people don’t start out which dreams of polluting a river. But it was often the result of people chasing their dreams of wealth with little care of how they reached it. The Hudson Valley had always drawn them.

But now there were other dreamers in the valley, with their own dreams of wealth. They dreamed of the wealth of wildlife in a healthy forest, the abundance of fish in oxygen—rich water, and the great fortune of living in a beautiful river valley.

So perhaps it was a matter of time before the two types of dreamers would meet each other—in court. In 1963, Con Edison, New York City’s power company, proposed a plan for constructing the largest hydroelectric pumping station ever built. The plan called for carving out a gigantic hole in the side of majestic Storm King Mountain on the Hudson River.

But then they met Franny Reese, a longtime valley resident with a simple point to make: the mountain could not speak for itself. If she didn’t speak for it, who would?

Franny and a group of like—minded people founded Scenic Hudson and took on the power company in a landmark court case. Con Ed challenged the right of private citizens to participate, but the court sided with the citizens, in the ruling now known as the Scenic Hudson Decision.

After dragging out the case for seven years, Con Ed finally gave up and Storm King survived unblemished. It was the beginning of the environmental movement in this country, and and again, the Hudson Valley was the birthplace.

1. According to the first two paragraphs, the Hudson River that once helped realize people’s dreams was now ______.

A．disappearing from view

B．losing its importance in people’s minds

C．moving farther and farther away from the city

D．remaining important only to those who want to seek their fortune

2. Which of the following is NOT the factor contributing to the pollution of the river?

A．The automotive plant.	B．The raw sewage.
C．The fishing industry.	D．The cement plants.

3. What does the underlined word “unblemished” probably mean?

A．Unaware.

B．Unknown.

C．Unharmed.

D．Unstable.

4. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Scenic Hudson may be an environmental organization that protects the Hudson River.

B．Con Ed and Franny Reese settled the case out of court.

C．Two types of dreamers signed an agreement in court.

D．The Hudson Valley, once a magnet for dreamers, is now completely abandoned.

8 . 选词填空

A. convinced     B. probably       C. generalize     D. distinguish       E. attached       F. prominent     G. notorious       H. narrowed       I. readily        J. households       K. displays

Cats are     1     for their indifference to humans: Almost any owner will testify to how     2     these animals ignore us when we call them. But according to a study published Thursday in Scientific Reports, domestic cats do recognize their own names - even if they walk away when they hear them.

Atsuko Saito, a behavioral scientist at the University of Tokyo, previously showed that cats can recognize their owners’ voices. In her latest study she     3     this down, investigating whether they respond to hearing their names. The study included 78 cats from Japanese     4     and a ”cat cafe.“ (Such cafes, where patrons can interact with felines, are popular in Tokyo and have started to catch on in London and New York.)

During their experiments Saito and her colleagues used what behavioral psychologists call the habituation-dishabituation method. This involves repeatedly exposing a subject to a stimulus (in this case a spoken word) until the subject no longer     5     any reaction. Then the subject is presented with a test stimulus ( in this case, its name), and researchers observe whether it reacts. This step helps rule out responses to random stimuli.

For the new study, the scientists first had cat owners repeatedly say four words that were similar to their cats’ names, until the cats habituated to those words. Next the owners said the actual names, and the researchers looked at whether individual cats (when living among other cats) appeared able to distinguish their monikers. The cats had more pronounced responses to their own names - moving their ears, heads or tails, or meowing - than to similar words or other cats’ names.

Then the researchers had people unfamiliar to the cats speak the names, to test whether the cats still recognized them. Although their responses were less     6     than when their owners called them, they still appeared to recognize their names after being habituated to other words.

”This new study clearly shows that many cats react to their own names when spoken by their owners,“ says biologist John Bradshaw, who studies human-animal interactions at the University of Bristol’s Anthrozoology Institute and was not involved in the new study. But Bradshaw says he is less     7     cats can recognize their names when spoken by someone unfamiliar. ” I think that it’s entirely possible that some cats are able to     8     between one human voice and another, but I’d like to see more trials before I’d say that the evidence is compelling,“ he says.

Saito says she thinks feline pets learn to recognize their names because of what is in it for them. ”I think cats associated their names with some rewards or punishments,“ she says - adding that she thinks it is unlikely the cats understand their names are     9     to them. ”There is no evidence that cats have the ability to recognize themselves, like us,“ she explains. ”So, the recognition about their name is different from ours.“ Still, she says, it may be possible to teach cats to recognize other words. Whether that could allow humans to train cats to respond to commands - as dogs readily do -- is another matter.

”Cats are just as good as dogs at learning,“ Bradshaw says. ”They’re just not as keen to show their owners what they’ve learned.“ Most cat owners would     10     agree.

9 . One spring morning many yeas ago, I had been prospecting for gold along Coho Creek on southeastern Alaska’s Kupreanof Island, and as I emerged from a forest of spruce and hemlock, I _______ in my tracks. No more than 20 paces away in the bog was a huge Alaskan timber wolf caught in one of Trapper George’s traps.

Old George had died the previous week of a heart attack, so the wolf was lucky I had happened along. Confused and frightened at my _______, the wolf backed away, straining at the trap chain. Then I noticed something else: It was a female, and her teats were full of milk. Somewhere there was a den of _______ pups waiting for their mother.

From her appearance, I guessed that she had been trapped only a few days. That meant her pups were probably still alive, surely no more than a few miles away. But I suspected that if I tried to release the wolf, she would turn _______ and try to tear me to pieces.

So I decided to search for her pups instead and began to look for incoming tracks that might lead me to her den. Fortunately, there were still a few remaining patches of snow.

I finally spotted the den at the base of an enormous spruce. A few moments later, four tiny pups appeared. They couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old. I extended my hands, and they tentatively suckled at my fingers. Perhaps hunger had helped _______ their natural fear. Then, one by one, I placed them in a burlap bag and headed back down the slope.

When the mother wolf spotted me, she stood erect. Possibly _______ the scent of her young, she let out a high-pitched, plaintive whine. I released the pups, and they raced to her. Within seconds, they were slurping at her belly.

She needs nourishment, I thought. I have to find her something to eat. I hiked toward Coho Creek and spotted the leg of a dead deer sticking out of a snowbank. I cut off a hindquarter, then re-turned the remains to nature’s ice-box. Toting the venison haunch back to the wolf, I whispered in a soothing tone, “OK, Mother, your dinner is served. But only if you stop growling at me. C’mon, now. Easy.” I tossed chunks of venison in her direction. She sniffed them, then gobbled them up.

Cutting hemlock boughs, I fashioned a rough shelter for _______ and was soon asleep nearby. At dawn, I was awakened by four fluffy bundles of fur sniffing at my face and hands. I _______ toward the agitated mother wolf. If I could only win her confidence, I thought. It was her only hope.

Over the next few days, I divided my time between prospecting and trying to win the wolf’s trust. I talked gently with her, threw her more venison, and played with the pups. Little by little, I kept _______ closer — though I was careful to remain beyond the ________ of her chain. The big animal never took her dark eyes off me. “Come on, Mother,” I pleaded. “You want to go back to your friends on the mountain. Relax.”

At dusk on the fifth day, I ________ her daily fare of venison. “Here’s dinner,” I said softly as I approached. “C’mon, girl. Nothing to be afraid of.” Suddenly, the pups came bounding to me. At least I had their trust. But I was beginning to lose hope of ever winning over the mother. Then I thought I saw a slight wagging of her tail. I moved within the length of her chain. She remained motionless. My heart in my mouth, I sat down eight feet from her. One snap of her huge jaws and she could break my arm ... or my neck. I wrapped my blanket around myself and slowly ________ the cold ground. It was a long time before I fell asleep.

I awoke at dawn, stirred by the sound of the pups nursing. Gently, I leaned over and petted them. The mother wolf stiffened. ”Good morning, friends,“ I said tentatively. Then I slowly placed my hand on the wolf’s injured leg. She flinched but made no threatening move. This can’t be ________, I thought. Yet it was.

I could see that the trap’s steel jaws had imprisoned only two toes. They were swollen and lacerated, but she wouldn’t lose the paw — if I could ________ her.

“OK,” I said. “Just a little longer and we’ll have you out of there.” I applied pressure, the trap sprang open, and the wolf pulled free.

Whimpering, she loped about, favoring the injured paw. My experience in the wild suggested that the wolf would now gather her pups and vanish into the woods. But cautiously, she crept toward me. The pups nipped playfully at their mother as she stopped at my elbow. Slowly, she sniffed my hands and arms. Then the wolf began licking my fingers. I was ________. This went against everything I’d ever heard about timber wolves. Yet, strangely, it all seemed so natural.

After a while, with her pups scurrying around her, the mother wolf was ready to leave and began to limp off toward the forest. Then she turned back to me.

“You want me to come with you, girl?” I asked. Curious, I packed my gear and set off.

Following Coho Creek for a few miles, we ascended Kupreanof Mountain until we reached an al-pine meadow. There, lurking in the forested perimeter, was a wolf pack. I counted nine adults and, judging by their playful antics, four nearly full-grown pups. After a few minutes of greeting, the pack broke into howling. It was an eerie sound, ranging from low wails to high-pitched yodeling.

It was time to leave the wolf to her pack. She watched as I assembled my gear and started walking across the meadow.

Reaching the far side, I looked back. The mother and her pups were sitting where I had left them, watching me. I don’t know why, but I waved. At the same time, the mother wolf ________ a long, mournful howl into the crisp air.

Four years later, after ________ in World War II, I returned to Coho Creek. It was the fall of 1945. After the horrors of the war, it was good to be back among the soaring spruce and breathing the familiar, bracing air of the Alaskan bush. Then I saw, hanging in the read cedar where I had placed it four years before, the now-rusted steel trap that had ensnared the mother wolf. The ________ of it gave me a strange feeling, and something made me climb Kupreanof Mountain to the meadow where I had last seen her. There, standing on a lofty ledge, I gave out a long, low wolf call.

An echo came back across the distance. Again I called. And again the echo reverberated, this time followed by a wolf call from a ridge about a half-mile away.

Then, far off, I saw a dark shape moving slowly in my direction. As it crossed the meadow, I could see it was a timber wolf. A chill spread through my whole body. I knew at once that ________ shape, even after four years. “Hello, old girl,” I called gently. The wolf edged closer, ears erect, body tense, and stopped a few yards off, her bushy tail wagging slightly.

Moments later, the wolf was gone. I left Kupreanof Island a short time after that, and I never saw the animal again. But the memory she left with me -— vivid, haunting, a little eerie — will always be there, a reminder that there are things in nature that exist ________ the laws and understanding of man.

1.

A．passed

B．froze

C．stood

D．paused

2.

A．approach

B．arrival

C．movement

D．sight

3.

A．little

B．hungry

C．young

D．lovely

4.

A．horrible

B．aggressive

C．violent

D．invasive

5.

A．overcome

B．remove

C．fight

D．stop

6.

A．turning to

B．looking back

C．picking up

D．tracking down

7.

A．it

B．them

C．all

D．myself

8.

A．moved

B．turned

C．glanced

D．gazed

9.

A．running

B．walking

C．edging

D．pacing

10.

A．range

B．length

C．circle

D．route

11.

A．delivered

B．transported

C．prepared

D．collected

12.

A．stood by

B．settled onto

C．passed over

D．fled away

13.

A．lingering

B．happening

C．inviting

D．emerging

14.

A．free

B．calm

C．transfer

D．comfort

15.

A．terrified

B．astonished

C．overwhelmed

D．satisfied

16.

A．gave

B．screamed

C．sent

D．made

17.

A．experiencing

B．defending

C．contributing

D．serving

18.

A．look

B．recall

C．sight

D．memory

19.

A．huge

B．strong

C．familiar

D．tough

20.

A．under

B．concerning

C．over

D．outside

10 . The Bitter Truth Behind Vanilla

Vanilla is one of the world’s most popular spices and an important ingredient in products ranging from chocolate to perfume. However, the wholesale price of vanilla has reached up to $600 per kilogram, when just a few years ago it fetched a tenth of that. What is happening?

Madagascar supplies more than 80 percent of the world’s natural vanilla. In the 19th century, the French introduced Bourbon vanilla to their African island colony. Today, vanilla represents 20 percent of Madagascan exports, worth around $600 million at current prices. However, it is a difficult crop to grow. A vine takes three to four years to mature.     1     Nine months later, the green beans must be hand-picked when perfectly ripe to optimize their vanillin content (the compound that gives vanilla its flavor). Months of blanching(焯水), sweathing(焖煮) and gradual drying in the sun are then necessary to produce the aromatic(芳香的) spice. Six hundred hand-pollinated blossoms yield about six kilos of green beans, which convert to one kilo of dried beans.

The price of Madagascan vanilla was once set by the government.     2     Madagascar’s government was eventually forced to end its price-fixing regime(体制). Food giants such as Unilever and Nestlé also increased their use of synthetic vanillin, which can be produced from reliable sources, adding to the pressure. For 30 years, Madagascar’s vanilla farmers earned just a pittance, and many ended up leaving the business. But even with fewer producers, the price of natural vanilla stayed low.

It was not until public tastes started shifting towards all things natural that farmers’ fortunes revived. From around 2011, some manufacturers began focusing once more on natural vanilla. In 2015, Nestlé announced plans to use only natural ingredients in five years, and Hershey’s followed suit.     3     Extreme weather, weak crop-security, and exporters who hoard inventory(囤货) and speculate (做投机买卖) on further rises have also kept prices high.

    4     To prevent theft of their now rather valuable crops, farmers have taken to harvesting the beans early, thereby reducing the overall quality of the crop. That forces the government to make greater efforts to enforce penalties(处罚). If it manages this, Madagascar could yet savor the benefits of its near monopoly(垄断).

A．It’s expensive because it’s both labor-intensive and time-consuming to grow.

B．Demand has therefore surged, and with it prices - in part because natural supplies are insufficient.

C．If pollination (授粉) is successful, it will take another eight to nine months until the plant matures.

D．This rise has not been without its challenges.

E．The flowers open for just one day a year, so pollination is done completely by hand.

F．But such were the prices it demanded for vanilla that in the 1980s buyers turned their attention to the cheaper, poor-quality version available elsewhere, in particular Indonesia.