1 . As a boy in the 1960s, David Wagner would run around his family’s farm with a jar held in his hand, catching shining fireflies out of the sky. But that’s all gone; the family farm is now paved over with new homes and lawns. And Wagner’s beloved fireflies have largely disappeared.

In late 2017, a German study showed the total local flying insects had fallen by 80% in three decades. The New York Times published a masterful feature on the decline of insect life in late 2018. The Guardian wrote that “insects could disappear within a century”.

“Not going to happen,” says Elsa from North Carolina State University. “They’re the most diverse group of organisms on the planet. Some of them will make it.” Indeed, insects of some sort are likely to be the last ones standing. Any event sufficiently catastrophic to destroy the world of insects would also endanger other animal life. “If it happened, humans would no longer be on the planet,” says Corrie Moreau from Cornell University.

According to the studies, the major cause of the decline in insects is habitat loss. Next up is pollution from the pesticides and fertilisers. Parasites (寄生虫) and diseases are also playing a role. For instance, the spread of the varroa mite (大蜂螨) is contributing to the decline of honeybees. Finally comes climate change. Insects in tropical regions may be already suffering declines as a result of global heating.

But insects play a critical role in ecosystems. Insects serve as the base of the food web, eaten by everything from birds to small mammals to fish. If they decline, everything else will as well. They also provide invaluable “services” to humanity, including plant pollination (传粉). About three-fourths of flowering plants are pollinated by insects, as well as the crops that produce over one-third of the world’s food supply. Another service: Waste disposal and nutrient cycling. Without insects like dung beetles (屎壳郎) breaking down and removing animal and plant waste, “the result s would be unpleasant”.

1. What’s the bad news for David Wagner now?

A．He is unable to catch the fireflies.

B．He has moved away from his family farm.

C．His favorite insects have disappeared largely.

D．His family farm has been covered by new houses.

2. What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Some kinds of insects will survive.

B．Some kinds of insects will become stronger.

C．Some kinds of insects will be the most diverse group.

D．Some kinds of insects will no longer be on the planet.

3. Why is the varroa mite mentioned in paragraph 4?

A．To explain why insects disappear.

B．To illustrate how insect habitat is lost.

C．To describe a fact that diseases cause the decline.

D．To support the idea that parasites cause the decline.

4. What may be talked about in the following paragraph?

A．What the unpleasant results are.	B．Why the ecosystems are critical.
C．What we should do to protect insects.	D．What the future world will be like.

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Researchers and wetland protectors in Wuhan, Hubei Province, are stepping up efforts to allow more wildlife to survive and thrive in their natural habitat.     1     treasured species of ducks is one of the latest beneficiaries from the growing focus     2     the environment.

In 2012, Baer’s pochard, the blue-headed duck,     3     (list) as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature after its numbers declined due to a bad habitat. The ducks were     4     (rare) seen in Wuhan until bird-watchers observed     5     (they) living in the city in 2014, according to the Wuhan Bird Watching Society. Despite that, no proof showed that, so far, the ducks     6     (turn) from migratory birds to resident birds in the city because researchers would not attach tracers to the animals     7     (prevent) humans disturbing them.

In 2019, the Wuhan Bird Watching Society started researching and rescuing the breeding habitats of the duck. They found that the ducks feed on submerged     8     (plant), shrimp, snails and aquatic insects. The birds also like to rest at shoals(浅滩)     9     food is abundant. Based on the results, the team will create an area toward the restoration of the habitat in the city’s Qijiawan for the blue-headed duck, first     10     (discover) in the area.

3 . Confessions of an annoying Mosquito

If you’re reading my confessions (自白), congratulations! You’ll have a safe and healthy summer.

We love when you work up a sweat. It’s really the carbon dioxide you breathe out that makes us beeline to ward you, not the fragrance of your “sweet blood.”

Love beer? So do some of us. They can tell when you’ve been drinking because your skin chemistry changes, and it attracts them

Pregnant? Yum. If you’re having a baby, you emit more carbon dioxide and your belly has a higher temperature, drawing some of us right to you. Sorry, baby.

Hate getting bitten up? Blame the ladies. Males do not eat human blood: They get all their nutrition from plants. After we have a blood meal, we can lay anywhere from 100 to 400 eggs

Smelly feet are simply delicious. Scientists have shown we find your toes ten times more inviting than Limburger cheese.

If your home’s landscaping is well tended, we won’t like it as much. We like to hang out in thick, overgrown vegetation. The darker and more damp, the better. And puddles (水沟) of smelly water is where we like to lay our eggs.

Got those CO₂-emitting traps in your yard? Great! You may think you’re outsmarting us with these devices, which emit carbon dioxide to lure (引诱) us into a trap. But they may attract more of us than they are able to trap, increasing our presence in your yard.

When it comes to West Nile, end-of-summer bites may do more harm. It’s simple logic: We bite birds with West Nile virus; then we bite humans and spread it. By summer’s end, we’ve had more chances to bite infected birds.

1. What can we know from the confessions?

A．Mosquitoes love smelly toes most.

B．All the mosquitoes suck drinking people.

C．The mosquito making the confessions is female.

D．Mosquito bites in early summer are more harmful.

2. Which of the following is least likely to attract “WE” according to the text?

A．A woman who is expecting.	B．A yard with traps emitting oxygen.
C．A man who has just finished jogging.	D．A house surrounded with smelly puddles.

3. What is the tone of the text?

A．Amusing.

B．Serious.

C．Sad.

D．Proud.

4 . Monice Martinez Wilhelmus and her team of researchers at Brown University in the United States were inspired by the way that krill (磷虾) move in the ocean and decided to try to recreate this in a robot.

Krill are tiny creatures in the same class as crabs (蟹) and lobsters (龙虾) and can be found in all oceans on Earth. They are a hugely important part of the food chain and many ocean creatures depend on them to survive.

Monica wanted to create a robot to study krill better and to help improve our knowledge of them.

Despite being about the size of a paperclip (回形针), krill are one of the most vital creatures on Earth. They form big swarms (群) in the sea and are the main food source of hundreds of sea animals - including the world’ s biggest creature - the Blue Whale. They also provide important nutrients, carbon and oxygen in the Antarctic.

However, there is much about krill that scientists don’t know because they are so small and difficult to study. To better understand how krill move, Monica and her team built a robotic leg called RoboKrill, using a 3D-printer. They used high-speed cameras to slow down a krill’s movements to help them to learn how their robot should move. RoboKrill moves in a similar way to a krill’s swimmerets - the swimming legs they have on their bottoms.

Currently, RoboKrill can’t swim on his own but the researchers hope that one day it can be sent into the wild to swim with krill and help to study them and even explore hard-to-reach areas of the ocean.

1. What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Krill’s size.	B．Krill’s movement.
C．The way crabs find food.	D．The way lobsters escape from their enemies.

2. What does Paragraph 4 mainly tell us?

A．Krill play a crucial role in the sea.	B．Krill contain a lot of nutrients.
C．Why it is difficult to study krill.	D．How krill swim in the sea.

3. What did Monica and her team do to study krill?

A．They examined the relationship between krill and other sea animals.

B．They slowed down krill’s movements in the ocean.

C．They developed a robot inspired by krill.

D．They fixed a camera on a krill.

4. What can we learn about RoboKrill?

A．It can swim automatically.	B．It fails to move like krill.
C．It can work in the wild.	D．It is still a lab model.

5 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

It was around eight o’clock, just past the frenzy (疯狂) of the New York rush hour when a subway train rattled down the track into 14th Street station. Emma, a senior high school student, was late for dinner with her friend Pete.

As Emma was hurrying out of the station something caught her eye. Something like a doll was lying on the floor. She was puzzled. Why would a child leave a doll on the ground? But she continued up the stairs to the exit. She glanced back one more time, astonished to find its legs moved.

She ran back down the stairs and realized that the doll was in fact a puppy, wrapped in a dark sweatshirt, with its tiny paws sticking out. It seemed like it was a newborn, maybe several days or so old. Emma could hardly believe what she was seeing. She couldn’t understand how a baby dog had been left on the floor, or who could have left it. The little puppy was very quiet with big and wide eyes.

Emma yelled out, “Whose dog is it?” but almost everyone ignored her. She did get the attention of one woman, but she didn’t speak English. The woman didn’t really understand what Emma was saying, even when she was trying to point to the puppy. “She probably thought I may have been a little crazy,” Emma murmured.

This was the time when not everyone had a mobile phone and Emma was afraid to pick up the puppy in case it was hurt. So Emma ran up the stairs to the street to a payphone and called 911.

“I found a puppy,” she blurted out (脱口而出). Then she told the police where she was located and ran back to check if the puppy was still OK. She waited for what seemed like ages. She thought they’re probably not believing her, so she needed someone else to help. That’s when she thought of Pete. Pulling out a quarter from her pocket, she ran back to the payphone to call him.

注意：

1. 续写词数应为150个左右；

2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Once again, she blurted out, “I found a puppy!”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Maybe we can adopt this puppy,” said Emma.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . A sled dog (雪橇犬) has reunited with his owner three months after disappearing from an Iditarod race checkpoint in Alaska.

Leon, a 3-year-old dog, went ________ in March while competing in The Iditarod with his owner Sébastien Dos Santos Borges. In April, the Iditarod Trail Committee (ITC) ________ a $1,000 reward for information that would________ Leon’s return home. The dog’s ________ home began in late May when residents________ an Iditarod race director they had seen Leon multiple times near a cabin (小木屋) in McGrath, more than 120 miles south of the checkpoint. The cabin owner began to put out food for Leon ________ helping catch him. The ________ appeared to work as another local________ to find and catch Leon, allowing the dog to reunite with Sébastien in Alaska.

“The Iditarod cannot express enough ________ for all of Iditarod Nation’s help for Leon. From the volunteers to the ________ fund organizers and the individual donors, and the ________ of McGrath who have helped towards the ________ of finding Leon,” the ITC said on its website, adding, “The spirit of the community makes The Iditarod so________.”

Sébastien shared a post on Facebook to ________ the moment. “Leon is with me! A beautiful story of love and friendship. Thank you!” The ________ will soon head home to France.

1.

A．missing

B．boring

C．hungry

D．crazy

2.

A．deserved

B．selected

C．offered

D．received

3.

A．stand for

B．sum up

C．slow down

D．lead to

4.

A．journey

B．holiday

C．care

D．flight

5.

A．taught

B．told

C．reminded

D．warned

6.

A．by means of

B．on behalf of

C．in hopes of

D．at risk of

7.

A．equipment

B．strategy

C．system

D．suggestion

8.

A．intended

B．pretended

C．prepared

D．managed

9.

A．appreciation

B．support

C．apology

D．concern

10.

A．investment

B．search

C．health

D．development

11.

A．heroes

B．owners

C．directors

D．racers

12.

A．cost

B．form

C．value

D．cause

13.

A．traditional

B．creative

C．special

D．tiring

14.

A．recall

B．change

C．celebrate

D．assess

15.

A．children

B．volunteer

C．family

D．pair

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Though it is estimated (估计) that about 500,000 earthquakes occur each year, only 100 of which cause damage! However     1     earthquake could occur any time of the day or night so it pays to be prepared if you are     2     (fortunate) caught in the middle of one.

If you are indoors, stay indoors unless you are in the ground floor     3     you can easily run outside. The best thing     4     (do) if you are indoors is hide under a strong piece of furniture (家具) like a bed     5     desk. Do not try to head for the stairway     6     you are living in an upper storey, as     7     (chance) are that the stairways may collapse (倒塌).

If you     8     (drive) on the road, get out of the traffic and stop on a clear stretch of the road. Do not stop on a bridge. Stay inside your car until the shaking     9     (stop). Before you resume driving, look     10     for cracks, breaks in the road and bumps. Try to reach an open ground if you can.

8 . The levees (防洪堤) that protect New Orleans held up against Hurricane Ida’s fury (猛烈), passing their first big test since Hurricane Katrina that struck 16 years ago. The government spent billions of dollars to upgrade the city’s levee system which had failed before Katrina. But the effort couldn’t spare some neighboring communities from Ida’s terrible storm surge (风暴潮).

Many people living in LaPlace, located 25 miles west of New Orleans, had to be rescued from rising floodwaters. Marcie Jacob Hebert ran away before Ida. But she has no doubt that the storm flooded her LaPlace home. Her house didn’t flood during Katrina. But it took on nearly two feet of water during Hurricane Isaac in 2012. “We didn’t have these problems until everybody else’s levees worked,” said Hebert, 46. “It may not be the only cause, but I sure do think it makes a difference.”

Gov. John Bel Edwards said a recent survey of levees across Louisiana showed they did exactly what they were for and held the water out. “We don’t believe there is a single levee anywhere now that actually broke or failed. There were only a few smaller levees in New Orleans that failed,” Edwards said.

After Katrina, the government spent $14.5 billion on projects designed to improve protection from storm surge and flooding in New Orleans and nearby areas. The system is a 130-mile ring built to hold out storm surge of about 30 feet. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina produced a storm surge that flooded about four-fifths of the city, causing over 1,800 deaths.

Work recently began on a levee project to protect LaPlace and other communities outside New Orleans’ levee system. That project will be completed in 2024.

“I’m glad they’re building us a levee, but I worry about what happens to the next group further to the west,” Hebert said. “The water has got to go somewhere no matter how many levee systems are built. We can’t just keep moving it from person to person, place to place.”

1. What is the reason for the flooding in LaPlace according to Hebert?

A．Heavy rainfall.

B．Weather change.

C．Levees breaking.

D．Nearby levees.

2. What does Edwards think of the flood protection system in New Orleans?

A．It costs too much.	B．It may cause danger.
C．It is generally satisfying.	D．It badly needs improvements.

3. What does the author want to do in paragraph 4?

A．Provide some helpful suggestions.	B．Offer some background information.
C．Introduce a new topic for discussion.	D．Discuss the causes of the problem.

4. Which of the following would Hebert most probably agree with?

A．Levees cannot completely solve the problem.

B．Some locals had better move away from LaPlace.

C．The levee project in LaPlace won’t be finished on time.

D．It is a mistake to build a levee system for locals in LaPlace.

9 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Many African conservation groups are using football to raise awareness about environmental     1     (preserve). Take Tanzania, for example. The non-profit organization Peace for Conservation makes     2     most of the popularity of football in the country to inspire youths to take action for conservation. Peace for Conservation works with local organisers of football tournaments     3     (educate) and attract support for their anti-poaching (反偷猎的) campaigns. Winners of the football tournaments will even receive safari tours (野外观善旅行) to the     4     (country) Serengeti National Park of the Kijereshi Game Reserve, so as to further the education of wildlife conservation among the youth.

The work of Peace for Conservation     5     (remind) us that there are many ways that we can play our part     6     conservation. Using football and sports as a way of     7     (raise) awareness about wildlife and environment conservation has proven to be     8     (effect) in engaging the public about a topic     9     may otherwise escape their attention. Indeed, what better way to gather huge numbers around a     10     (share) goal — creating a greener world — than by using the game so well loved by people all over the globe?

10 . Since the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was passed in 1973, it has helped hundreds of species avoid extinction in the United States. The strong conservation policy has been used as a model in other countries. But it’s not as successful as it could be, a new study finds.

Researchers have discovered most species are not being protected until their numbers have become so low that their chance of recovery is slim.

“The ESA is an incredibly powerful, ambitious law for protecting our endangered wildlife. Yet, for decades, the agency primarily responsible for operating the ESA — the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) — has been starved of resources,” lead author Erich Eberhard says.

“As a result, we are very slow to give species the protection that they deserve. We typically wait until species are extremely rare and thus at extreme risk of extinction, and then, when a species is finally listed, the USFWS is straining its resources to try to recover it.”

In 1993, a study found that few species received protection under the ESA until their populations became very small. For the new study, researchers repeated the methods used in the earlier research to see whether protections have become better since the problem was first noted. They also looked at trends in “wait times” — the amount of time between when a species is identified as potentially needing protection and when it actually receives protection under the ESA.

“Our analysis suggests that, in the nearly 30 years since attention was first brought to this problem, we have not become more active in protecting endangered species,” says Eberhard.

The researchers found that the population sizes of species when they first became protected under the ESA are not statistically different from those in the 1993 study. They also discovered that there are long wait times between when a species is identified as likely needing protection and when they actually receive them.

“I can say that our study paints the current state of the ESA as a bit of cautionary (告诫的) tale for the strong conservation policy,” says Eberhard.

1. What problem does the USFWS have protecting endangered species?

A．It takes ineffective measures.	B．It is lacking in resources.
C．It can’t get timely information.	D．It is an irresponsible organization.

2. What is the purpose of the new study?

A．To try out new ways to protect endangered species.

B．To find out the exact number of endangered species.

C．To check the time needed to save endangered species.

D．To see if endangered species have been better protected.

3. How can the study help with animal conservation?

A．It found out many more endangered species.

B．It pointed out the direction for the USFWS to act on.

C．It proved the role of the public in conservation.

D．It showed some effective ways to protect animals.

4. Which of the following could be the best title for the text?

A．The USFWS Needs Stronger Laws

B．The ESA Has Achieved Great Success

C．New Conversation Laws Are on the Way

D．Endangered Species Act Isn’t Working Well