1 . Vicky Barlow is a volunteer for a non-profit environmental organization. She was overturning stones in a rock pool in Falmouth, England when something “extremely bright and unusual” caught her eye. Under a large seaweed-covered rock, she made a very rare find: a rainbow sea slug (蛞蝓).
Rainbow sea slugs are very uncommon in England — they’re usually found in warmer waters, such as those along the west coasts of Spain, Portugal and France. In fact, there have only been three previously documented sightings of the species in the UK. But those were all found by divers rather than rock poolers. “It’s a warm-water species but it looks as if it has arrived here,” said the sea biologist Ben Holt. He adds that waters around the UK have seen rapid warming due to climate change. By the end of the century, water temperatures in the UK will rise by more than 3℃.
Sea slugs are particularly useful in related research. Most sea slugs only live up to about one year, which means they can make a very quick response to the changes in water temperatures caused by climate issues. In Australia, climate scientists have been collecting information on sea slugs for over 10 years to record the species and learn about changes in their distribution (分布), including their arrival in historically cooler waters.
Around 3,000 species of sea slugs exist in waters worldwide. They mainly feed on seaweed and other sea slugs. Unlike snails, adult sea slugs don’t have shells to protect them from being eaten by hungry marine animals. Instead, many of them have formed bright colors to scare off their enemies such as sea turtles, starfish and crabs. Some species may even have the unusual ability to steal stinging cells (刺细胞) from animals they feed on and shoot them out when threatened.
Before sending it back where it came from, Barlow placed the sea slug in a pot to get a better look at its colors. “It is absolutely amazing that I could find it on our rocky coasts,” Barlow writes in her blog. “It’s a perfect example of the incredible wildlife we have on our doorstep.”
1. Why are rainbow sea slugs rare in England?| A．They prefer to live in deep waters. |
| B．Divers are unable to recognize them. |
| C．Rock pools are poorly managed here. |
| D．The environment is normally unfavorable. |
| A．They are important in studying climate change. |
| B．Their overall population continues to decrease. |
| C．They mostly choose to live in cooler waters. |
| D．Their sea habitats have been badly polluted. |
| A．Their survival abilities. | B．Risks caused by their colors. |
| C．Changes in their feeding habits. | D．Their common marine enemies. |
| A．Calm and peaceful. | B．Surprised and glad. |
| C．Curious and doubtful. | D．Shocked and worried. |
2 . Tropical cyclones(热带气旋), including hurricanes and typhoons, are now moving at a slower speed than they did decades ago, new research shows.
While having a cyclone travel with less speed may seem like a good thing, it’s actually just the opposite. Wind speeds within the storm remain high, but the whole system itself moves slower, allowing punishing rains to stay longer over communities. “Nothing good comes out of a slowing storm,” says James Kossin, author of the paper. “It can increase the amount of time that buildings suffered from strong wind. And it increases rainfall.”
In his paper, Kossin showed that from 1949 to 2016, tropical cyclones across the globe slowed their movement by 10 percent on average. In some regions (地区), the speed of those storms slowed even more as they hit land. In the western North Pacific, the decrease was much more manifest—almost a third. That means a storm that may already hold more moisture (水分)will have time to drop more of it in each spot.
Kossin’s work was based on details of almost 70 years’ worth of storms, but he didn’t try to determine what was causing the slowdown. Still, the change is exactly what he and other cyclone experts said, which would be expected from climate change. With the polar regions warming faster than other parts of the globe, that is changing the pressure and reducing the winds that push these storms.
Christina Patricola, a scientist, called Kossin’s work important and new and said she found it reliable. “I was not surprised by his findings,” she says. “But I was surprised by the speed of the slowdown.”
Kossin hopes that scientists will begin building models that show which places are likely to face the most risk. Given that storms in some regions are moving towards polar regions and already increasing in intensity(强度), cyclones causing unusually powerful rain may threaten places not normally in their paths. Scientists must take action to make those places suffer less from the disasters.
1. Why is the decrease in cyclones’ speed a bad thing?| A．It leads the cyclones to move faster on the ground. |
| B．It causes the cyclones to have higher wind speed outside. |
| C．It makes hard rains and strong wind last longer in one place. |
| D．It results in more typhoons taking place in some communities. |
| A．Obvious. | B．Satisfying. | C．Confusing. | D．Impossible. |
| A．Climate change in the polar regions is under control. |
| B．Scientists find it hard to understand the slower cyclones. |
| C．Scientists should do further experiments in polar regions. |
| D．Climate change may be the cause of the slowdown of the cyclones. |
| A．To find out the normal paths of serious cyclones. |
| B．To prove the speed of the cyclones can be controlled. |
| C．To reduce the damage from cyclones to possible areas. |
| D．To call on scientists to focus on the danger of climate change. |
3 . Manatees — often called sea cows — are an anomaly in the animal kingdom. Neither predator nor prey, these peaceable creatures, which can grow to 13 feet and weigh more than 2,000 pounds, are evolutionarily devoid of aggression. Crystal River — “Manatee Capital of the World” — is the epicenter of their presence and recovery.
Yet despite some gains, manatees still face grave threats. Three-quarters of Florida’s 22 million people live along the coast, many in prime manatee habitat, where the strain of human-presence has degraded the state’s enchanted springs, waterways, and wetlands. In Indian River Lagoon, for example, an important manatee habitat along Florida’s densely populated east coast, decades of human waste, sediment from real estate development, and fertilizers from lawns and farms have clouded the water. That has killed seagrass, manatees’ main food source there. More than a thousand manatees have died in the lagoon during the past two years.
What people don’t understand is the need to help support them in waterways. That means restoring seagrass beds and freshwater aquatic vegetation, the basis of their existence and of the overall health of Florida’s waters. Steps to reverse the damage started small. Neighbors gathered with rakes, scooping up algae by hand. Ironically, it was Save Crystal River — the group environmentalists had opposed during their fight over the manatee’s endangered status — that spearheaded the restoration of aquatic vegetation. With funding from the state government, Save Crystal River hired Sea& Shoreline, an aquatic restoration firm, to remove the waste and replant the river bottom with eelgrass, which grows long, ribbon like leaves.
While the prospect of replanting the entire river was daunting, after vacuuming more than 300 million pounds of detritus and planting some 350,000 individual eelgrass pods by hand, the groups have flipped the river back to an ecosystem no longer dominated by algae.
Instead of spending the few short winter months in Crystal River before heading back out into the Gulf of Mexico to graze, some manatees now linger here year-round, enjoying fat times. Aerial surveys from January 2022 revealed the highest number of manatees ever recorded in these waters — more than a thousand in Kings Bay alone.
1. What is a feature of manatees?| A．They are gentle animals. | B．They feed on small creatures. |
| C．They are slightly aggressive. | D．They look cute for their shape. |
| A．Climate change. | B．Habitat loss. |
| C．Low food supply. | D．Human activities. |
| A．By removing wastes from the river. |
| B．By raising funds from the government. |
| C．By replanting algae in the river bottom. |
| D．By refining manatees’ living surroundings. |
| A．They enjoy the cold winter of Mexico. |
| B．They remain in Manatee Capital for long. |
| C．They head towards the warmer waters during winter. |
| D．They have the largest population ever recorded globally. |
1. What can we say about the weather on Sunday?
| A．It was fine. | B．It was hot. | C．It was changeable. |
| A．It’s beyond their expectations. |
| B．It’s a common phenomenon. |
| C．It’s caused by climate change. |
5 . How to limit your environmental impact while travelling
Travelling unlocks a world of endless possibilities and adventures, allowing us to hike through breathtaking landscapes, encounter kangaroos and deer in their natural habitat, and witness the power of volcanoes.
Try to travel by land instead of air. While air travel can often be quicker, it is typically one of the most polluting forms of transport.
Make the most of safe tap water (自来水). Drinking tap water may come as a shock to many travelers. But when you’re in countries where tap water is safe to consume, avoid bottled options. Not only are they more expensive, but they have a higher level of pollution compared to treated tap water.
Respect the local environment. When visiting different destinations, we should recognize the importance of protecting the natural beauty. We mustn’t throw rubbish everywhere.
| A．Be a responsible hotel guest. |
| B．Explore with green tour companies. |
| C．Instead, carry a bottle and refill it wherever you can |
| D．And we should avoid activities that may harm wildlife. |
| E．However, tourism can also be harmful to the environment. |
| F．Low-cost airlines have made it much more affordable to travel. |
| G．Taking the train or driving in some countries may be better options. |
1. Which of the following countries has NOT found mad cow disease yet?
| A．England. | B．Japan. | C．China. |
| A．By using MBM (meat-and –bone meal) with different plants. |
| B．By eating infected (感染) meal. |
| C．By importing foreign cattle. |
| A．Because it’s a great waste of money. |
| B．Because doing this can keep the disease from spreading in China. |
| C．Because we must use our own feed. |
7 . Watford and her family have lived in Curtis Bay, Baltimore for generations. Her community has faced environmental injustice. Heavy industries continued to move in her community. As a result, her neighbors have had to live with serious respiratory (呼吸的) problems.
When she knew a plan to build the nation’s largest trash-burning incinerator (焚化炉) less than a mile away from her high school, she realized she had to take action. The incinerator was being sold wrongly as clean, renewable energy equipment but actually it would be a source of brain-damaging chemicals and would release 200 million tons of greenhouse gases per year, both worse than coal burning. Watford felt she had a responsibility to warn her community to work together to shut this plant down.
She co-founded Free Your Voice (FYV), a 10-person student organization devoted to community rights and social justice. Together, they decided to start a campaign to take down Energy Answers, the incinerator’s developer. They went door-to-door talking to neighbors and organizing protests.
When it was discovered that Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) was going to be a customer of Energy Answers, the organization fought with the board and presented their case, urging BCPS to withdraw from the project. BCPS was convinced to cancel their contract, which in turn inspired 22 other customers to do the same. Without any financial gain, Energy Answers had no market to move forward with its plan.
Watford continues to work with Curtis Bay residents toward fair development. They have a vision for the future which includes building a zero-waste movement, a solar farm, and green jobs. She wants the entire human family to join the fight for environmental justice because survival as a species depends on our ability to take action.
1. What caused respiratory problems in Watford’s community?| A．Poor medical care. | B．Terrible environmental conditions. |
| C．Constant bacterial infection. | D．Unbalanced distribution of resources. |
| A．Unfavourable. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unclear. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．BCPS lost financial support. | B．Energy Answers stopped its plan. |
| C．The investors found new market. | D．Many customers revised their contracts. |
| A．A teenage hero against urban pollution |
| B．A teenage hero fighting for an advanced city |
| C．A battle for Baltimore’s sky by a teenage hero |
| D．The social justice challenge for a teenage hero |
1. What did the woman watch?
| A．A soap opera. | B．A documentary. | C．A news program. |
| A．President Barack Obama’s schedule. |
| B．The release of CO2 by power plants. |
| C．A plan to fight against global warming. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Positive. | C．Negative. |
| A．Go to have supper. | B．Go to have a drink. | C．Keep talking at home. |
I was eight years old when my mother was told that she would never walk again without calipers (双脚规形夹) , and she wished to visit doctors in London.
The day before we boarded the ship, father committed (托付) his pet dog, Spider to his friend Sandy while we were overseas. We didn’t know how long my mother’s treatment would take or how long we would be away.
Six weeks later, an air-letter arrived from Sandy, saying that Spider had run away just two weeks after we had sailed and that despite many efforts, the dog was never found. I will always remember my father’s eyes watery as he read this news. Though my mother and I tried to comfort him, we knew in our hearts how useless that was.
We sailed back to Australia two years later. My father immediately began his own search for Spider. After many false calls, we had to accept the fact that the dog was gone.
One cold winter’s Saturday morning eight months after our return, my father had a call from Gin Gin, an old lady 375 kilometers away. On the phone she said she had been putting food out “for a very yellow old dog” in the night for weeks and “it was just glimpses of the similar dog in the shadows” in her disused tennis court.
That was enough for my father to drive five and a half hours to see this yellow dog. Sadly, Gin Gin told us the yellow dog hadn’t been around for a few days. My father had a strange look in his eyes.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Then, he put two fingers to his lips and did his special whistle for Spider.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was him, my father’s long-lost friend, Spider.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . Each fall, millions of butterflies across the U. S. and Canada fly up to 4, 000 km to central Mexico. Travelers can see the butterflies overwintering on the Western Monarch Trail, a 465-mile, road trip-friendly conservation initiative that links over a dozen stops along the route.
Helping the butterflies
Organizers created educational panels in English and Spanish explaining the butterflies’ annual traveling and their trouble. The signs also outline ways travelers can help the butterflies recover, such as by supporting chemical-free farms and planting native nectar (花蜜) gardens.
Why butterflies fly to the California coast
Many stops in Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove and Andrew Molera State Park, are overwintering sites where, from October to February, travelers can see thousands of butterflies gathering in forests in areas with mild temperatures, dappled (斑驳的) sunlight, high dampness, and little to no wind.
Other sites, like the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden and Avila Valley Barn, growflowers that provide sugary, high-calorie food for the butterflies to eat. Butterflies settling here demonstrate how vital nectaring plants are to their survival.
How to explore the Western Monarch Trail
The butterflies’ behavior varies at different times of day and depending on the weather. In the mornings, while temperatures are still cool, step out of the cabin (木屋) in the Fernwood Resort where you stay overnight, you’ll find many butterflies hanging together on the branches and trunks of trees at the overwintering sites. As the day starts to heat up-typically by late morning or early afternoon — you’ll be amazed at the phenomenon “sunburst” — the butterflies start flying around in search of nearby nectar. Keep your eyes skyward. Don’t grab your camera. Just be in the moment.
1. What’s the Western Monarch Trail initiative aimed at?| A．Providing a travel route. | B．Encountering butterflies. |
| C．Promoting organic farming. | D．Advocating species conservation. |
| A．It holds many nectar gardens. |
| B．It’s pleasant throughout winter. |
| C．It has sufficient food for butterflies. |
| D．It’s home to butterflies all year around. |
| A．Signs to guide the route. |
| B．Cameras for recording videos. |
| C．Ready shelters to stay overnight. |
| D．Experience of watching “sunburst” at dawn. |
