1 . Last weekend, my husband and I drove a dog to her new home. Typically, when we have a new dog in the backseat, it’s a young dog. But this passenger was a much different story. Magdalen is a 13-year old dog. Her owner gave her up temporarily when he was sick, but when he fully recovered several months later, he said he didn’t want her back. He had her since she was young but now had no place for her.
The family who had given her a temporary home had children and other dogs and was unable to give her a forever home. When Speak St, Louis, the rescue team I work with, was contacted about the dog, they offered to take her in. She went to a vet (兽医) for a basic health check. But the vet didn’t have great news. Her mouth was swollen (肿胀的) with all sorts of problems. Two teeth fell out during cleaning and eleven more had to be pulled out.
Luckily, a good friend of mine, a dog trainer with a soft heart for seniors, had agreed to adopt Magdalen. On the trip to the trainer’s home, the sweet senior looked so relaxed in our backseat. I felt a great sense of relief and pleasure.
Her owner needed some temporary help when he was sick. But I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t have wanted her back. I think of my own dog and dogs we lost to old age in the past. We’re family and we stay that way forever. She’d be able to live a good life. I hoped, in her new home!
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The former owners of the dog. |
| B．Where the dog was treated. |
| C．What the dog needed most. |
| D．The problems the dog met. |
| A．Training old dogs. |
| B．Treating sick dogs. |
| C．Looking for homes for dogs. |
| D．Looking for lost dogs’ owners. |
| A．Relieved and happy. | B．Nervous and grateful. |
| C．Surprised and curious. | D．Hopeful and proud. |
| A．She didn’t understand his behaviour. |
| B．She believed it was painful for him. |
| C．She was certain he would regret. |
| D．She thought he made a wise decision. |
2 . Of all the weird and wonderful creatures living under the sea, perhaps the strangest are jellyfish—those rubbery, cone-shaped creatures found floating in the water, their long tentacles trailing behind.
Some jellyfish species have a bad reputation for scaring away tourists, clogging up fishing nets, and even blocking power station pipes. But with more and more plastic rubbish ending up in the sea, these days you’re as likely to swim into a plastic bag as a jellyfish. Now scientific research is discovering that these rubbery sea creatures might provide an answer—a sticky solution to the problem of plastic pollution.
In recent years, tiny pieces of plastic called microplastic have been a significant problem for the world’s seas and oceans. These plastics are not visible to the eye and aren’t caught by seawater treatment plants due to their small size, so they enter our system and harm our health. They’ve been found in many places—in Arctic ice, at the bottom of the sea and even inside animals. Slovenian scientist, Dr Ana Rotter, heads GoJelly, a European research team of jellyfish ecologists looking into the problem.
Microplastics, plastics in general, are becoming an increasing problem. Dr Ana Rotter says when she was a child, people were more environmentally friendly—not harmful to the environment or having the least possible impact on it. At that time, there were very few single-use plastics—plastic items, like spoons and forks, designed to be used just once, then thrown away. The situation since then has changed dramatically. In fact, there’s been such an increase in microplastics that today the UN lists plastic pollution as one of the world’s top environmental threats.
But how do jellyfish fit into the story? Well, it’s the ‘jelly’ part of jellyfish, and specifically their sticky, jelly-like mucus that is key. Jellyfish produce a thick, sticky liquid called mucus. Dr Ana Rotter has discovered that this mucus has strong absorptive capabilities—it can absorb, take in liquids and other substances. One of the substances jellyfish mucus absorbs are the particles that make up microplastics.
Dr Rotter’s research is still in the early stages, but it’s hoped that jellyfish mucus could hold the key to a future free of microplastic polluted oceans. Scientists are hoping that the mucus’s absorptive properties—its abilities to absorb liquids and other substances and hold them, will allow it to trap particles of plastic floating in the sea. By trapping these, the mucus acts like a magnet—an object that attracts certain materials, like metal, but in this case, microplastic waste.
1. Paragraph 3 mainly talks about ________.| A．where microplastics can be found |
| B．why microplastics can harm our health |
| C．what problems the seas and oceans are facing |
| D．how the research was carried out by the scientist |
| A．Jellyfish species cause a great threat to the sea. |
| B．Jellyfish species like to swim and live in plastic bags. |
| C．Jellyfish mucus can attract metals and break them down. |
| D．Jellyfish mucus can absorb liquids and some other substances. |
| A．Qualities. | B．Substances. | C．Choices. | D．Materials. |
| A．To show the harm that sea and ocean pollution brings to human beings. |
| B．To introduce the living habits of the weird and wonderful creatures in the sea. |
| C．To provide a new method for collecting data on environmental threats in the sea. |
| D．To inform a promising scientific finding for dealing with plastic pollution in the sea. |
3 . Most environmental pollution comes from humans and their inventions. The electric bulbs are thought to be one of the greatest human inventions of all time. However, too much of a good thing has started to negatively impact the environment. Light pollution, the extreme or inappropriate use of outdoor artificial light, is affecting human health and wildlife behavior. There is a global movement to reduce light pollution, and everyone can help.
Light pollution is a global issue. This became particularly obvious when the World Atlas (地图册)of Night Sky Brightness, a computer-generated map based on thousands of satellite photos, was published in 2016. Vast areas of North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia are glowing with light, while only Siberia, the Sahara, and the Amazon are in total darkness.
Artificial light can wreak havoc on natural body rhythms in both humans and animals. It interrupts sleep and confuses the circadian rhythm(生理节奏)一the internal, twenty-four-hour clock that guides day and night activities and affects physiological processes in nearly all living organisms. One of these processes is the production of the hormone melatonin(褪黑素), which is released when it is dark and is prevented when there is light. An increased amount of light at night lowers melatonin production, which results in lack of sleep, headaches, stress, anxiety, and other health problems. Blue light, in particular, has been shown to reduce levels of melatonin in humans. It is found in cell phones and other computer devices, as well as in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), the kinds of bulbs that have become popular at home and in industrial and city lighting due to their low cost and energy efficiency.
Studies show that light pollution is also impacting animal behaviors, such as migration (迁徙)patterns and habitat formation. Because of light pollution, sea turtles guided by moonlight during migration get confused, lose their way, and often die. Large numbers of insects, a primary food source for birds and other animals, are drawn to artificial light and are instantly killed upon contact with light sources. Even animals living under the deep sea may be affected by underwater artificial lighting. One study looked at how animals in sea responded to brightly lit panels put under water off the coast of Wales. Fewer filter feeding animals(滤食性动物), such as the sea squirt(海鞘), made their homes near the lighted panels. This could mean that the artificial light is altering ocean ecosystems.
The good news is that light pollution, unlike many other forms of pollution, is reversible(可逆的)and each one of us can make a difference! Now, many people are taking action to reduce light pollution and bring back the natural night sky. Individuals are urged to use outdoor lighting only when and where it is needed, to make sure outdoor lights are properly shielded (遮挡)and direct light down instead of up into the sky, and to close window blinds, shades, and curtains at night to keep light inside.
1. What does the underlined phrase “wreak havoc on” in Para. 3 probably mean?| A．Greatly improve. | B．Well maintain. |
| C．Strictly manage. | D．Seriously damage. |
| A．Light pollution was first studied as a global issue in 2016. |
| B．Deep-sea environment can help animals avoid light pollution. |
| C．Artificial light affects the sense of direction and habits of animals. |
| D．LEDs can be used more because of low cost and energy efficiency. |
| A．Unconcerned. | B．Negative. |
| C．Neutral. | D．Positive. |
| A．To call on people to reduce light pollution. |
| B．To discuss fors and againsts of artificial light. |
| C．To give suggestions to protect environment. |
| D．To show development prospect of artificial light. |
In many parts of Europe, summer 2022 has been terrible: long periods of drought combined with record high temperatures. Heat waves, water shortages and forest fires are
As the researchers show, the effects of simultaneous heat and drought are not limited to just their individual direct effects on different areas. “We identified an interconnected (互相关联的) web of sectors that interact in direct and indirect ways,
It is this interconnection
The analysis also shows that adaptation measures
As the climate gets
5 . Outdoor teaching gives students a great sense of wonder and awe as they learn.
On a misty September afternoon,a boy with a bright red backpack spotted something slimy on the ground.“Hello, all the mushrooms,” he said，tapping the fungus（真菌）.
A teacher asked why they might be growing in that spot. The boy thought for a moment:“Because it’s shady and wet!”
That was just one lesson for a group of kids from the Chicago Botanic Garden Nature Preschool,a program that’s part of the growing field of nature-based early childhood education.
Nature preschools in the US have more than doubled in the last three years,according to the Natural Start Alliance,a project of the North American Association for Environmental Education.Ann Halley, director of the Botanic Garden School,said that curiosity comes with the outdoors.
“Taking the children down to the cove（小海湾）area and just sitting and looking at thegeese as they're landing,just that sense of wonder and awe-those are things that can only be supplied when you’re outside,”Halley said,“ These are the things that inspire lifelong learners.”
Additionally, nature develops resilience（适应力）, sets kids up for greateracademic success and provides a ready-made classroom with lessons in science, math and even empathy. Studies also show benefits ranging from sunlight’s positive effect on eyesight to stress reduction from green spaces.
In fact, teachers and parents are searching for ways to make outdoor programs more accessible.Andrea Bockewitz,whose children attended a nature preschool,said she hopes that the solutions won’t be temporary. “I’m hoping that this is going to stick,that we are going to get kids outside more,”Bockewitz said.
1. Why is the lesson about mushrooms mentioned in the beginning?| A．To criticize the traditional classroom teaching. |
| B．To explain the growing conditions of fungus. |
| C．To lead up to the topic of outdoor schooling. |
| D．To think highly of the boy for his cleverness. |
| A．Nature preschools do not catch on in the US. |
| B．Outdoor teaching helps develop the children's curiosity. |
| C．All the students taking outdoor classes must become lifelong learners. |
| D．Kids show no interest in nature |
| A．Indifferent. |
| B．Doubtful. |
| C．Negative. |
| D．Supportive. |
| A．Learning with Nature |
| B．Say NO to Traditional Teaching |
| C．Nature Preschools in the US |
| D．Get Close to Kids |
6 . The results of failing to keep the world’s temperature down are beginning to show.Extreme weather events are likely to become more frequent, and the world’s peoples and their governments are being urged to do more to handle climate change.
Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, an environmental group in Beijing, said the consensus among scientists now is that “climate change has resulted in an increase in extreme weather events across the globe, including temperature extremes, heavy rains, river floods, droughts, storms, as well as compound events”.
Over the past few years heat waves have occurred in places that had previously enjoyed mild weather, higher temperatures have occurred in normally colder regions, and places that are hot are now frequently enduring wildfires, he said, citing a report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) that includes a whole chapter on weather extremes.
The IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report said it is an“established fact”that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions have led to an increased frequency of some weather and climate extremes since preindustrial times.
The global surface temperature is now about 1.09C higher than in the preindustrial period(1850-1900), with stronger warming over land (1.59 C) than over oceans.
Extreme weather events have continued to hit the glebe this year and have killed many people, disrupted (扰乱) the lives of millions and disrupted production.
In Europe, after a summer of extremely high temperatures, violent thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds have hit the continent, leaving at least 13 people dead in Austria, France and Italy by Friday, authorities said.
The Netherlands is one of many European countries that have suffered drought this summer, bringing water shortages in the low-lying country as inland rivers and lakes have fallen to historically low levels.
1. What is the consensus among scientist?| A．Increased extreme weather events resulted from climate change. |
| B．There will be more extreme weather events in the near future. |
| C．The government are to blame for the increased extreme weather. |
| D．The government should reach a consensus on climate change. |
| A．People in tropical areas will have to endure more wildfires. |
| B．Places enjoying mild weather will always have heat waves. |
| C．Cold regions normally have experienced higher temperatures. |
| D．The IPCC report places great emphasis on weather extremes. |
| A．It means the fact has to be proved through experiments. |
| B．It means the fact has been agreed on commonly by scientists. |
| C．The fact is that green gas is to blame for more extreme events. |
| D．Scientists have to establish the fact by doing more experiments. |
| A．An SOS Goes out as Globe Burns and Drowns |
| B．More Disasters will Happen around the World |
| C．The Global Surface Temperature is Higher than Ever |
| D．Governments are being Urged to Do More |
7 . In the 2010s, 34-year old Brianne Miller travelled around the world as a marine biologist. No matter how remote the location, she made the same alarming discovery: huge amounts of plastic littering the water and threatening marine life. Miller knew she needed to do something.
Canadians throw out three million tons of plastic waste each year, 33 percent of which comes from food packaging. Approximately one third of all food produced worldwide goes to waste, too. Miller, determined to fix the problem, imagined a shop that went further than banning plastic bags—a place that avoided both wasteful packaging and the bad habit of wasting food itself.
In June 2018, Miller opened her first zero-waste grocery store in Canada. She named it Nada, and ensured everything was designed to make the zero-waste shopping experience easy. You can bring your own containers, though it’s not necessary: right by the front door are sanitized (消毒过的) glass or plastic containers, free for the taking.
Nada sells various food items, all 100 percent package-free. Miller is clear that the store doesn’t try to compete on price. For example, popcorn with paper package at a regular store may cost 70 cents per 100 grams; at Nada, a customer might pay $1 per 100 grams. Even so, zero-waste shopping can still come with savings. Take products that typically come packaged in large containers, like spaghetti sauce, a large part of the traditional cost would be in that glass jar.
Although the early days of the pandemic were tough on the business, Miller timely turned to online ordering and delivery, though in a very Nada way. Everything from olive oil to fresh eggs comes delivered in sanitized containers, which are collected with the next round of deliveries.
Those containers do so much more than just reduce waste. They get people thinking big, just as Miller hoped. “They’re tagged with Nada stickers, so you can see how many times the container has been used,” she says, and then smiles.
1. Brianne Miller was inspired to start her business by the fact that ______.| A．food packaging generated tons of waste |
| B．plastic litters posed a threat to marine life |
| C．people formed the bad habit of wasting food |
| D．lots of food produced worldwide went to waste |
| A．Brave and cautious. | B．Caring and humorous. |
| C．Creative and determined. | D．Optimistic and thoughtful. |
| A．Miller thinks her efforts worthwhile. |
| B．Miller stopped her business during the pandemic. |
| C．Nada suffered serious losses because of the pandemic. |
| D．Containers were recycled during the pandemic to save money. |
| A．No pains, no gains | B．Dream big, aim high |
| C．No packaging, no wasting | D．More haste, less speed |
8 . I was walking through the bush when, suddenly, a baby koala rushed to me through the sky. Through quick thinking, I managed to catch it in my
Ever since I was a girl, I’d loved animals and at 18 had started work at the Curmmbin Wildlife Sanctuary as a
My son, Jett, always been with koalas and comes out
There are lots of
| A．arms | B．legs | C．clothes | D．gloves |
| A．curious | B．responsible | C．excited | D．unwilling |
| A．exchange | B．care | C．lecture | D．power |
| A．officially | B．properly | C．recently | D．equally |
| A．wood | B．rubbish | C．leaf | D．water |
| A．broke down | B．depended on | C．came across | D．concentrated on |
| A．study | B．confidence | C．debate | D．arrangement |
| A．checked | B．typed | C．registered | D．joined |
| A．naming | B．impressing | C．feeding | D．catching |
| A．health | B．future | C．food | D．return |
| A．educate | B．understand | C．direct | D．trust |
| A．control | B．protect | C．hide | D．recognize |
| A．secret | B．big | C．interesting | D．simple |
| A．allow | B．force | C．ask | D．train |
| A．small | B．confusing | C．natural | D．difficult |
9 . All around the world, there are small changes taking place. At the side of roads, behind school playgrounds and on all kinds of unloved pieces of land across towns and cities, tiny forests barely the size of tennis courts are appearing, making a great place for both wildlife and local people who may not normally have easy access to nature. This is the Tiny Forest movement, which aims to prove that the best things in life really do come in small packages.
Tiny forests were first pioneered as a concept in the 1970s by Dr Miyawaki, a Japanese botanist. As he went on to share his concept with others, the idea soon took off in India and other countries before eventually reaching Europe, where it became popular in places like France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
So how does it work? Louise Hartley, who is leading the Tiny Forest project in the UK, explains that the process begins by identifying areas in which a tiny forest could have the biggest influence. “We focus on urban areas where access to nature is often not that easy”, says Hartley. “We see it as a chance to try to break the growing disconnect between people and nature.”
In a Tiny Forest, there must be a minimum of 600 trees, and the trees are planted much closer together and without chemicals or fertilisers (肥料). There are usually around 30 different kinds of all-native tree species (物种). This variety, coupled with the fact that tiny forests grow up to ten times faster than standard forests, means they attract a rich abundance of wildlife. It’s also thought that these places could help reduce the risk of flooding, remove carbon from the atmosphere and fight climate change, as well as improving the mental health of those living locally.
1. What do we know about the Tiny Forest movement?| A．It has achieved notable success. | B．It is led by number of schools. |
| C．It began in Europe in the 1970s. | D．It will spread to the countryside. |
| A．To promote eco-tourism. | B．To improve forestry research. |
| C．To popularise gardening. | D．To get people close to nature. |
| A．They are small in size. | B．They are thickly planted. |
| C．They are foreign species. | D．They are heavily fertilised. |
10 . Earthquakes have rocked the planet for many years. Studying the quakes of the past could help scientists better understand modern earthquakes, but tools to do such work are exiguous.
Enter zircons. Researchers used this special means to home in on the temperatures within a fault (地壳断层) during earthquakes millions of years ago. The method offers insights into the strength of long-ago quakes, and can improve the understanding of how today’s earthquakes release energy, the researchers reported in the April Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.
“The more we understand about the past, the more we can understand what might happen in the future,” said Emma Armstrong, a professor specializing in earthquakes at Utah State University in Logan. Armstrong and his colleagues focused on California’s Punchbowl Fault. That now-quiet portion of the larger San Andreas Fault was probably active between 1 million to 10 million years ago, Armstrong said.
Heat from friction (摩擦) is generated in a fault when it slips and touches off an earthquake. Previous analyses of preserved organic material suggested that temperatures within the Punchbowl Fault peaked between 465℃ and 1065℃. The researchers suspected that zircons in rocks from the fault could narrow that broad window. Zircons often contain the radioactive chemical elements uranium (U) and thorium ( Th), which decay (衰变) to helium (He) at a predictable rate. That helium (He) then builds up in the crystals. But when a zircon is heated past a temperature criticality value—the size of which depends on the zircon’s composition—the accumulated helium (He) escapes.
Measuring the amounts of the three elements in zircons from the fault suggests that the most in-tense earthquake generated temperatures lower than 800℃. That roughly halves the range previously reported. The finding provides useful clues to the amount of heat released by quakes, something difficult to measure for modern earthquakes because they often occur at great depths. Armstrong plans to continue studying zircons, in the hope of finding more ways to take advantage of them for details about ancient quakes.
1. What does the underlined word “exiguous” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Scarce. | B．Difficult. | C．Pricey. | D．Extraordinary. |
| A．They can lead to various earthquakes. | B．They determine how much of their energy. |
| C．They can reduce the fault temperature range. | D．They would decay over long periods. |
| A．Impact of changing earthquakes on zircons. |
| B．Origin and development of enter zircons. |
| C．Difference between modern and ancient quakes. |
| D．More ways to use zircons for ancient quake study. |
| A．Earthquakes Bring about Global W arming |
| B．Ancient Zircons Help to Unearth Earthquakes |
| C．An Innovative Means Makes a Hit in Studying |
| D．Zircons Changed Our Views of Earthquakes |
