1 . When astronauts land on Mars, a couple of decades from now, perhaps, they’ll need to find a way to communicate-with each other, with equipment on and around the planet, and with mission control back on Earth. Despite living so far from home, they’ll no doubt want to connect with loved ones, or stream their favorite shows or music.

But setting up a Wi-Fi connection to Earth’s internet won’t be a choice. Earth is simply too far away—around 55 million to 400 million kilometers, depending on where the planets are in their orbits. We will need another strategy.

Establishing good communication equipment is essential for human missions to Mars. Researchers are testing ways to upgrade existing networks, along with some far-out alternatives. For example, NASA’s Psyche mission, which lifted off in October with the job of exploring an asteroid (小行星) between Mars and Jupiter, will also test the communication using lasers. Lasers could carry far more data than the radio waves that have been used from the earliest days of space travel.

There is no strategy which can get rid of the time lag in communications between Earth and Mars; a message moving at the speed of light takes anywhere between 4 and 24 minutes for a one-way trip. In other words, a quick ping to mission control is out of the question, not to mention a WhatsApp call home.

There’s also the issue of solar conjunction (聚合), says Parfitt, when the sun comes between Earth and Mars. This happens for a couple of weeks every two years or so, cutting off communications between the planets. The last one took place in November.

But new approaches could open possibilities that make communications on Mars more like what we experience here on Earth. At least one research team has wondered: What if Mars had its own internet?

1. What discourages Mars to have a net connection to Earth?

A．The Earth is too far to reach.	B．The Earth is hard to identify.
C．The current strategy doesn’t work well.	D．Many planets are blocking the signals.

2. What writing skill is used in paragraph 3?

A．Raising a question.	B．Giving an example.
C．Listing numbers.	D．Comparing facts.

3. What do we know about the communications between Earth and Mars?

A．Laser carries less data than the radio waves.	B．There is no such thing as time lag.
C．It takes only four minutes for a single trip.	D．The process could sometimes be cut off.

4. What is going to be talked about in the following paragraph?

A．The possible mission of the astronauts on Mars.

B．The communication among the astronauts on Mars.

C．The possibility for Mars to have its own network.

D．The opinions given by experienced astronomers.

2 . 阅读下面材料, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式, 并将相应答案写在答题纸上。

The Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve in northwest China’s Qinghai Province has updated     1     (it) list of protected wildlife, adding 10 species     2     the previous total of 72, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency. The updated list, which was revised by experts,     3     (include) 82 species of protected wildlife. The number of national first-level protected animals has increased from 19 to 22. Meanwhile, the number of second-level nationally protected animals has increased from 53 to 60.     4     (addition), the number of wild plants under national protection has reached 12 species. According to the report, the     5     (revise) of the wildlife list focused on optimizing (优化)     6     adjusting the bird list. Species with uncertain records were removed from the original list and new species that have been monitored in recent years were added, increasing the total number of bird species from 232 to 281.

First     7     (found) in 1975, the Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve is located in the northeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,     8     (cover) the entire water area of the Qinghai Lake and the islands, beaches and wetlands,     9     birds breed and nest. The reserve is the     10     (early) of its kind in China to be listed in the List of Wetlands of International Importance in 1992, according to UNESCO.

3 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内所给单词的正确形式。

As a country     1     has a long history of producing great writers, Ireland’s rural beauty has     2     great influence on people and traditions. Its beautiful rural scenery stirs your every sense,     3     (make) people unwilling to leave. The peaceful landscape, along with the rolling mountains,     4     (be) a grand visual feast. The waves and seabirds play music by the sea.     5     (bathe) in sunshine on a quiet morning, you can breathe in the scent of the flowers. Tasting a glass of wine and     6     (tradition) food is essential. All these lead to the formation of traditional     7     (custom) in Ireland, music, dancing and dining     8     (include). If you’re lucky to introduce     9     (you) to a friendly face, you will get an opportunity to experience local culture and traditions     10     person.

4 . Atmospheric (大气层的) rivers are long and narrow bands of water vapor (水蒸气) in Earth’s atmosphere, which are called “large rivers in the sky”. These rivers form over warm ocean waters. They are huge. They can be 930 miles long and one-third that wide.

Like real rivers, they carry huge amounts of water. These large streams of small water drops are blown by wind over land. When that happens, the water vapor cools down and condenses (凝结). Atmospheric rivers can be good. They bring water to dry areas. However, they can cause huge, fast-moving storms. Some cause snowfalls that bury towns. They are also the main cause of floods on the U.S. West Coast.

Atmospheric rivers are hard to predict. But scientists are working to change that. Marty Ralph, a scientist who works at the University of California, directs the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E). They created the first computer model to predict atmospheric rivers on the U.S. West Coast. This model uses a program that runs on a computer to create a model of a real-world event. CW3E also studies atmospheric rivers using planes. Pilots drop instruments into atmospheric rivers to collect information like temperature and wind speed, which helps with forecasting.

Will climate change affect atmospheric rivers? Climate change happens naturally over a long period of time. But today, it is largely caused by human activities and is causing the Earth to warm, which affects atmospheric rivers.

Atmospheric rivers are pushed by the wind. Those winds are driven by the temperature differences between the poles and the equator (赤道). But the poles are also warming faster than areas near the equator. That makes the temperature difference between the areas smaller. This can make winds weaker.

Climate change might not cause more atmospheric rivers. But there may be very, very wet seasons and very, very dry seasons. Such a seesaw in rainfall could make it harder to manage what water there is.

1. What can we learn about atmospheric rivers?

A．They can be 930 miles long and 465 miles wide.

B．They are easy to predict as scientists are working on it.

C．They are bands of water vapor forming over warm ocean waters.

D．They are the main cause of floods in the U.S.

2. What is the third paragraph mainly about?

A．Why it is hard to predict atmospheric rivers.

B．Whether scientists can predict atmospheric rivers.

C．How technology helps the prediction of atmospheric rivers.

D．How scientists are working on the forecasts of atmospheric rivers.

3. What does the underlined word “seesaw” mean in the last paragraph?

A．Growth.

B．Drop.

C．Prediction.

D．Change.

4. Where is the text probably taken from?

A．A textbook.

B．A science magazine.

C．An academic article.

D．A news report.

5 . In April 2022, the revised law on wildlife protection has adjusted measures for the regulation of wildlife populations in detail. “Graded, categorized management of wild animals bred in captivity (人工饲养)” is what the adjusted law offers, . “Three-haves” species—species that are thought to have “special ecological, scientific, or social significance”—is a case in point.

Concerns have been raised by a few civil society organizations that this will weaken conservation efforts, promote the growth of the wildlife breeding industry, and make it easier for illegally hunted animals to be mislabeled as captive-bred. However, some scholars believe that by making conservation management more case-by-case and less universal, the adjusted law improves regulation efficiency.

The existing law on wildlife protection was created in 1988 and since then had seen three amendments and a revision. According to Yue Zhongming, a member of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, the revised law has helped step up the protection of wild animals and their habitats and strengthen the rescue and breeding of endangered wildlife. Yue added that it has also played an active role in preserving biodiversity and pushing forward with ecological conservation in China.

Ran Jingcheng, head of the wildlife and forest plant management station in southwest China’s Guizhou Province, pointed out in his article that strengthening the management of wild animals is not as simple as banning artificial (人工的) breeding. In his view, artificial breeding of wild animals has significance in the protection of endangered species and the adjustment of rural industrial structure.

It is necessary to establish the principle of combining key protection and universal protection, and to include all types of wild animals with conservation value within the scope (范围) of legal protection.

1. What can we learn about the revised law from the passage?

A．It causes divided opinions.

B．It proves to be highly effective.

C．It advocates artificial breeding.

D．It weakens the conservation efforts.

2. According to Yue Zhongming, what is the effect of the revised law?

A．It strengthens the rescue of all wildlife.

B．It enlarges the scope of wildlife protection.

C．It speeds up the pace of building habitats for wildlife.

D．It benefits the preservation of biodiversity and ecology.

3. What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To grade and categorize wild animals.

B．To introduce the adjustments of the regulations.

C．To present different opinions on “Three-haves” species.

D．To highlight the significance of efficient wildlife protection.

4. What is this text?

A．A book review.

B．A news report.

C．An advertisement.

D．A science fiction.

6 . Diving in the ocean, marine biologist Erika Woolsey has seen how coral reefs (珊瑚礁) are being damaged by climate change. It has made her decide to find a way to share her experience —including those who can’t easily explore the ocean.

Through her non-profit, The Hydrous, Woolsey is using virtual reality to bring the ocean to everyone. Scientists, filmmakers and divers are taking people on immersive (沉浸式的) virtual dives, attracting attention to reef damage and expecting action to protect our sea. About 25% of marine species depend on coral reefs. However, climate change, pollution and overfishing have done harm to around half the world’s shallow water coral reefs.

Twenty years of underwater exploration has given Woolsey a detailed understanding of the dangerous situations facing reefs. “I’ve seen this first-hand shift. Healthy colourful coral reefs become what look like the moonscape step by step,” Woolsey says.

It is through this experience that The Hydrous team set out to recreate with their award-winning film Immerse. Intended to watch with a VR headset, viewers join Woolsey for a nine-minute guided virtual div e on the coral reefs, immersed in a 360-degree underwater view.

They swim alongside sea turtles and sharks before witnessing the worsening of the reefs. The experience often brings out strong feelings. “As soon as people take off that headset and look me in the eye, they want to tell me a story about their ocean experience,” Woolsey says. “It’s that human connection to our ocean that will solve our ocean problems.”

Woolsey hopes advances in camera technology will allow her team to take more and more people to places in the ocean that are underexplored and places further away from human civilization. They are developing a virtual experience that will put the people in the role of a marine biologist, carrying out biodiversity surveys underwater, and even transporting the viewers to space to monitor global sea surface temperatures.

1. Why did Erika Woolsey set up The Hydrous?

A．To collect money for ocean protection.

B．To let the public know about coral reefs better.

C．To help people enjoy the ocean’s beauty.

D．To encourage people to protect the ocean.

2. What does the underlined word “shift” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．change.	B．experience.
C．material.	D．scene.

3. What can people know through the immersive dive?

A．The story about the ocean.	B．The situation of coral reefs.
C．The connection with sea life.	D．The way to protect the ocean.

4. What does Erika Woolsey hope to do in the future?

A．To bring more fun during the lockdown.

B．To train talents for environment protection.

C．To help people learn more about the ocean.

D．To discover more places that need protection.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

What does traveling mean? Visit, enjoy and discover.

Every year hundreds and thousands of people come to the UK. And London, the capital city     1     (be) usually their first stop. What can they see? What can they experience?

    2     (get) around in London is not difficult. There is the underground train, the oldest in the world, or the     3     (tradition) double-decker bus (双层公共汽车). A boat trip along the River. Thames takes you     4     the Tower of London.

Going around the city center on foot is easy. The maps in the streets will show you     5     is around you in five-minute walk. You can     6     (amaze) get a great view of the city from meters upon a huge wheel, the London Eye. Look across the river     7     you will see the Houses or of Parliament and the famous clock tower, Big Ben.

There are over 240     8     (museum) in the capital, but the two most popular are in South Kensington and cost nothing to get into. In the Natural History Museum, the keyword is Big. Next is the Science Museum. It     9     (have) those great British inventions, the history of fight and     10     (explore) of space.

8 . Plastic is everywhere, from the Arctic ice to vital organs in the human body. In fact, previous estimates suggest that the average person swallows a credit card-worth of microscopic plastic particles(颗粒) every week. But new research shows that this could actually be an understatement.

Microplastics are plastics smaller than 5 millimeters, found in industrial waste, beauty products, and formed during the degradation of larger plastic pieces. Over time, they break down into even smaller nanoplastics. These tiny particles can pass through our intestines and lungs into our bloodstreams, reaching vital organs like the heart and brain.

While the idea of eating plastic is unsettling in itself, the major concern here is that these plastic particles contain chemicals that can interrupt our body’s natural release of hormones, potentially increasing our risk of reproductive disorders and certain cancers. They can also carry toxins(毒素) on their surface like heavy metals.

In the past, researchers have shown bottled water can contain tens of thousands of identifiable plastic fragments in a single container. However, until recently, only the larger microplastics were detectable with available measuring tools, leaving the area of nanoplastics largely a mystery.

Using Raman microscopy (显微镜学), capable of detecting particles down to the size of a flu virus, the team measured an average of 240, 000 particles of plastic per liter of bottled water, 90 percent of which were nanoplastics, a revelation 10 to 100 times larger than previous estimates.

These plastics likely originate from the bottle material, filters used to “purify” the water, and the source water itself. “It is not totally unexpected to find so much of this stuff, ” the study’s lead author, Columbia graduate student Naixin Qian, said in a statement. His team hopes to expand their research into tap water and other water sources to better inform our exposure to these potentially dangerous particles. “The idea is that the smaller things get, the more of them I reveal, ” he added.

1. What is the primary focus of the new research?

A．The presence of plastic particles.	B．The use of plastic in everyday products.
C．The detection methods for microplastics.	D．The potential risks of nanoplastics to human.

2. What is the advantage of Raman microscopy?

A．Finding the source of plastic particles.	B．Helping to cure the deadly flu virus.
C．Detecting the smaller plastic particles.	D．Improving the quality of bottled water.

3. Why will the team expand their research into tap water?

A．To focus on areas with higher plastic pollution.

B．To be aware of the dangerous particles in daily life.

C．To further measure the types of particles in tap water.

D．To detect the smaller plastic particles in industrial areas.

4. What is Qian’s attitude towards his research?

A．Skeptical.

B．Objective.

C．Conservative.

D．Positive.

9 . Adrienne Tully, an amateur photographer, went to the coast of a beach in Belmar, New Jersey. She planned to take photos of the ______ against the sea. Instead, she was able to ______ a frightening but happy journey. It all started last Sunday morning when she noticed a crowd ______ on the beach. Naturally, she joined them in the ______ of learning what was going on.

For a minute, Adrienne was ______ about what everyone was looking at. From how far away they were, it almost seemed like a bird. Looking closer, ______ , it was clearly a deer who was ______ on a raised rock in the middle of the ocean. The deer made a couple of ______ to swim back to the shore but the turbulent (汹涌的) water ______ all its efforts. Then someone who came out of nowhere ______ rode his surfboard to the deer. After a short magic while, the ______ managed to guide the deer out. Upon ______ ashore, the deer just ran north on the beach. Those watching nearby were no doubt ______ at the way this nameless young man ______ to help. But he somehow disappeared too, leaving people to hope he knows that he is greatly ______ for what he did.

1.

A．wildlife

B．city

C．fight

D．sunrise

2.

A．launch

B．anticipate

C．shoot

D．report

3.

A．cooperating

B．forming

C．arguing

D．encountering

4.

A．hope

B．charge

C．absence

D．face

5.

A．confused

B．desperate

C．anxious

D．depressed

6.

A．fortunately

B．however

C．otherwise

D．therefore

7.

A．defeated

B．deserted

C．stuck

D．seated

8.

A．routines

B．attempts

C．excuses

D．routes

9.

A．ruined

B．interrupted

C．canceled

D．postponed

10.

A．purposely

B．randomly

C．elegantly

D．heroically

11.

A．onlooker

B．tourist

C．surfer

D．guide

12.

A．going

B．washing

C．thundering

D．struggling

13.

A．ashamed

B．mad

C．amazed

D．expert

14.

A．went off

B．turned up

C．settled down

D．set out

15.

A．appreciated

B．understood

C．awarded

D．supported

10 . 听下面一段较长对话,回答以下小题。
1. What is the woman worried about?

A．The popularity of the topic.

B．The limited time for the presentation.

C．The amount of information to prepare.

2. What is the first main point of the presentation?

A．Ways of helping bees.

B．The importance of bees.

C．Problems affecting bees today.

3. What is Mr. Lee?

A．A teacher.

B．An assistant.

C．A reporter.

4. What’s advised to be added to the presentation by the man?

A．Diagrams.

B．Statistics.

C．Photos.