1 . Since we’ve known about some cute animals, what about animals which aren’t so cute?
My favourite is a little creature called the Tasmanian devil. If you are out camping in Tasmania and come across one, the experience might scare you! Tasmanian devils hunt at night, so you won’t usually see them, but you may hear their loud cries when they are fighting or eating. The noise they make could wake the dead. Frightening! They are about the size of small dogs and look like rather large black rats. They also have a terrible smell! Their diet is mostly dead animals. Fortunately, despite their name, they are generally not violent towards people.
Australia also has some animals that many people have never heard of, for example, the duck-billed platypus. Is that some kind of bird? Not at all. While it may lay eggs in a nest like a bird, it’s really a primitive mammal, with a unique biology. Its eggs hatch after about ten days, and then the baby platypus nurses from its mother like all other mammals. Its nose looks like a duck’s bill, and it has feet like a duck’s so it can dive under the water, but it’s covered in hair. Do you know what’s really strange about a platypus? The platypus doesn’t use its senses of sight or smell to find food. It has a capacity to find food in the water by using electrical sensors in its bill. There are only a small handful of animals in the world that can do that!
1. What two things about Tasmanian devils can bother people most?| A．Their diet and violent behaviors. |
| B．Their loud noise and terrible smell. |
| C．They like fighting and are hard to hunt. |
| D．Their ugly appearance and terrible smell. |
| A．Small dogs | B．Large rats. | C．Dead animals. | D．Violent animals. |
| A．It lay eggs like a bird. | B．It nurses from its mother. |
| C．It can dive under the water. | D．Its eggs hatch after 10 days. |
| A．By using electrical sensors. | B．By using its senses of sight. |
| C．By using its senses of smell. | D．By hanging out in the water. |
Australia has lots of unique animals, but which animal is a symbol of the country? It has to be the kangaroo, as it has a wide distribution throughout the country. It’s
Another unique animal in Australia is koala. Koalas are really quite cute, but the truth is, they are very sensitive creatures who can easily panic because of even small changes in their environment. They spend quite a lot of time
3 . Honeybees command a lot of attention in insect conservation circles, as they are important for pollinating our food supply. But the findings from researchers emphasize the importance of prioritizing other pollinators or insects like wild bees, moths and butterflies in conservation efforts, too.
For the study, ecologists Joshua Kohn and Dillon Travis from the University of California, painstakingly tracked the pollination of flowers from two plant species in San Diego — white sage and Phacelia distans. Often Travis sat for hours waiting for a single pollinator, honeybees or other insects, to land on a flower. Each time he put a mesh (网状的) bag on the flower to prevent any new visitor, then back to collect seeds from different visitors. Back in the greenhouse, the team grew the seeds, analyzing characteristics that reflected their quality, such as how many seeds grew and survived and how many leaves or flower seedlings (幼苗) grew from them.
They found flowers pollinated by honeybees make fewer and lower-quality seeds than flowers visited by other pollinators. The white sage and Phacelia distans plants produced roughly half the amount of seeds from flowers pollinated by honeybees compared with other pollinators. And Phacelia distans seeds from honeybee-pollinated plants grew into seedlings with fewer flowers.
The researchers also found that honeybees visited about twice as many flowers on one plant before moving to the next than the average of other pollinators, causing honeybees to transfer more pollen in flowers of the same plant, thus resulting in fewer and lower-quality and more inbred (近亲繁殖的) seeds. Other pollinators more often flew between different plants, probably transferring more diverse pollen.
Travis says, “Honeybees’ pollination habit can impact ecosystems and agriculture in the long term. One potential consequence could be that native plant populations decline as next generations become more inbred, reducing biodiversity.”
“It is time to actually shift our dependence for pollination from largely honeybees to other native species as well,” says Jaya Sravanthi Mokkapati, an entomologist at Penn State University.
1. What does paragraph 2 focus on about the research?| A．Its procedures. | B．Its members. |
| C．Its impact. | D．Its significance. |
| A．Honeybees cause big damage to plants’ seeds. |
| B．Honeybees are less selective while pollinating. |
| C．Honeybees’ pollination efficiency is unexpectedly low. |
| D．Honeybees prefer to pollinate flowers of the same plant. |
| A．Misleading. | B．Worrying. | C．Creative. | D．Helpful. |
| A．Native plant populations are declining at a high speed. |
| B．Honeybees’ pollination impacts plant seeds temporarily. |
| C．More attention should be paid to protecting other pollinators. |
| D．Honeybees’ pollination depends more on other native species. |
4 . Four surprising ways algae (藻类) are driving innovation
Algae can be a double-edged sword. Increased human activity and climate change have caused explosions of algae populations in water bodies around the world sometimes choking entire ecosystems of sunlight and oxygen. Even though they are so closely associated with humanity’s negative impact on Earth, algae could also play key roles in helping fight pollution, viruses, and more.
Filtering (过滤) water.
With microplastic pollution documented in almost all water bodies, a recent study shows that through absorption, algae can help filter microplastics out of water.
Fueling air travel.
Fighting viruses.
Red algae can prevent the replication (复制) of some viruses, including COVID-19, according to a 2020 study.
In 2019, freshwater algae were launched into space to turn the carbon dioxide exhaled (呼出) by astronauts on the International Space Station into oxygen. Since algae are also high in protein, they could replace up to 30 percent of astronaut food in the future.
| A．Making space food more nutritious. |
| B．Making long-term space travel possible. |
| C．These are several ways algae are solving modern problems. |
| D．Some algae can also filter chemicals that can be used in fertilizers. |
| E．Brown algae have been shown to stimulate the body’s immune system. |
| F．Algae can produce more effective biofuels than traditional sources like soybeans. |
| G．It aims to harvest algae for energy while keeping the environment pollution-free. |
5 . Space X has launched the third test flight of its Starship spacecraft, the largest and most powerful rocket, ever built, which aims to carry astronauts to the moon and, eventually, to Mars. The 120-metre system, which weights about 5,000 tonnes when fully fuelled, took off from Space X’s spaceport, named Starbase, on the Gulf of Mexico in Boca Chica, Texas. It entered space several minutes later and the six Raptor engines powered it to its expected orbit.
Two previous attempts ended in the explosion of both the spacecraft’s 33-engine booster, nicknamed Super Heavy, and the cruise vessel, which is designed to eventually carry up to 100 astronauts. Stacked together, they stand at 10 metres taller than the Saturn V rocket that sent humans to the moon in 1969.
Space X is much more tolerant of risk than Nasa and has a flight-testing strategy that aims to frequently push its spacecraft prototypes to the limit, and, beyond. Its first Starship launch attempt lasted four minutes and, the second lasted eight, with the latter reaching space. The company says frequent flight testing will provide valuable data that will help it design and, develop a more robust rocket.
“Each of these flight tests continue to be just that: a test,” Space X said in a statement before the third launch attempt, in an apparent attempt to manage expectations in case the system exploded. “They aren’t occurring in a lab or on a test stand, but are putting flight hardware in a flight environment to maximize learning.”
The third flight aimed to conduct the first ever re-light of Space X’s signature Raptor engine while in space, open a payload door, and make a controlled re-entry of Starship in the Indian Ocean. Both the upper and lower segments of Starship are designed to eventually power themselves safely back to Earth for a soft landing so that they can be reused, which will be significantly cheaper than building entirely new parts for each mission.
Elon Musk, Space X’s billionaire founder, hopes Starship will be the first step on a human journey further into space that ever before. To do this, Musk intends to begin the colonization of Mars so that humanity can survive a planet-destroying event on Earth. Several other Starship systems are already in production for future tests. The company has announced longer term plans to use the spacecraft as a shuttle for commercial travel on Earth, promising trips from London to Tokyo in less than an hour.
1. What set the third test flight apart from the other two?| A．Being the first to make a controlled re-entry of Starship. |
| B．Being significantly cheaper than the other launches. |
| C．Being the first ever to enter the expected orbit. |
| D．Being the first starship spacecraft to enter the space. |
| A．Space X’s first Starship launch attempt lasts eight minutes. |
| B．Both Space X and Nasa have a flight-testing strategy. |
| C．Space X’s first Starship travels farther than the second. |
| D．Space X will make the best of the frequent flight-testing data. |
| A．To manage expectations in case the system exploded. |
| B．To maximize learning in a flight environment. |
| C．To push its spacecraft prototypes to the limit, and beyond. |
| D．To protect the earth from being destroyed by disasters. |
| A．Space X will make Starship power itself back to Earth safely. |
| B．Space X will adjust the starship system and commercial travel. |
| C．Space X has launched the third test flight of its Starship spacecraft. |
| D．Elon Musk aims to carry astronauts to the moon and then to Mars. |
6 . Hummingbirds are small birds but they’re the Olympic gymnasts of the flying world. They have strongly muscled bodies and rather long wings. They fly around at remarkable speeds and fly in all directions, including backward and upside down.
To achieve such agility（敏捷）, hummingbirds use distinct modes of visual processing to control different types of flight. Their brains can make rapid transitions from visual signals to motor outputs. They take in lots of complicated visual information and make a flight plan out of that. Recently, the researchers have uncovered a unique mode that guides hummingbirds’ speed when they are flying forward.
The findings come from an experiment of more than 3,500 hummingbird flights inside a 12-foot-long tunnel（通道） with a branch at one end and a feeder at the other. Moving light patterns cast on the tunnel walls influence how the hummingbirds see things while flying.
The researchers expected that if the hummingbirds were using visual clues to control their forward flight speed, they would see the birds speed or slow with lights cast on the side walls. But instead, it seemed that they had their own way of knowing how fast to go for forward flight. When moving up or down, however, the birds based their motor commands on the cast light patterns they saw.
This special ability helps hummingbirds fly safely and quickly. This knowledge could be useful for improving drone（无人机）technology, helping engineers develop better ways for drones to predict and respond to changes in their surroundings. “If we can develop a mathematical model for this visual processing, it could be very useful for drones.” says Bo Cheng, a mechanical engineer, at Pennsylvania State University.
1. What contributes most to hummingbirds’ agility in flight?| A．Their small size and light body. |
| B．Their strong muscles and long wings. |
| C．Their strong sense of direction. |
| D．Their own way to handle what they see. |
| A．By placing barriers in the tunnel. |
| B．By changing the position of the feeder. |
| C．By projecting moving light patterns. |
| D．By adjusting the brightness of the tunnel. |
| A．Surprising. | B．Discouraging. |
| C．Satisfactory. | D．Amusing. |
| A．Wild bird protection. | B．Math-based game design. |
| C．Behavioral and brain science. | D．Bio-inspired technology application. |
7 . Evolution (进化) can perform extraordinary makeovers; today’s airborne songbirds evolved from the wingless, earthbound dinosaurs that wandered millions of years ago. But some organisms seem to be unchanged — in other words, escape natural selection. The coelacanth, a modern-day fish, is nearly identical to its410-million-year-old fossils.
Scientists have long wondered how these species do so. It has been assumed that natural selection keeps some species unchanged by selecting for moderate or average qualities (stabilizing selection) rather than selecting for more extreme qualities that would cause a species to change (directional selection).
But a study published in the National Academy of Sciences USA contradicts this idea, showing that evolution constantly favors different qualities in seemingly unchanging animals to improve short-term survival. In the long term, though, “all that evolution cancels out and leads to no change,” says the study’s lead author, James Stroud.
Stroud and his colleagues studied for lizard (蜥蜴) specios; all relatively unchanged for 20 million years. The researchers caught members of these populations every six months for three years. They measured each lizard’s head size, leg length, mass and height, as well as the size of its sticky toes (脚趾头), noting which individuals survived. Stroud expected to observe stabılızıng selection at work preserving moderate qualities. Instead he saw clearer evidence of directional selection: some lizards with unique characteristics, such as stickier toes, survived better.
“The study offers a good explanation for why we see what we think is stabiliring selection,” says Tadashi Fukami, an ecologist studying evolution at Stanford University. Many new qualities are evolving in the short term, but they don’t provide a crucial advantage over the long term. In other words, species staying unchanged may simply have found the best possible combination of qualities for lasting success in their environment. So what happens when the lizards’ environment changes more dramatically? To help answer this bigger question, Stroud is still making trips to visit the lizards.
1. Why does the author mention the “coelacanth fish” in paragraph 1?| A．To demonstrate the power of evolution. | B．To add evidence to natural selection. |
| C．To give an example of unchanged species. | D．To prove species' extraordinary makeovers. |
| A．Unsolved mysteries. | B．A common belief. |
| C．A sharp contrast. | D．Unique Characteristics. |
| A．By analyzing lizard fossils. | B．By tracking research objects. |
| C．By illustrating stabilizing selection. | D．By categorizing qualities of lizards. |
| A．Make trips to visit lizard experts. | B．Summarize average features of lizards. |
| C．Reveal the best combinations of qualities. | D．Examine lizards under extreme conditions. |
8 . Around and around they go — dogs are often seen chasing (追逐) their tails. There are several possible reasons for this behavior, as well as ways to thwart it.
Puppies and younger dogs may simply chase their own tails for fun. Puppies, especially, may not yet realize their tails are actually part of their own bodies.
Boredom may be another reason, especially when dogs are left alone for a long time. “Anytime a dog is not enriched or exercised fully, they have the potential to be bored,” Russell Hartstein, a dog behavioral consultant said. For these dogs, a simple solution may be to play fetch or take a walk. Most dogs would rather chase a ball than their own tails.
Another reason dogs may chase their tails is to seek attention. A dog’s owner may have rewarded this behavior by laughing or praising it. Even blaming a dog for tail chasing may draw attention that enhances this behavior. To control tail chasing, ignore the behavior while otherwise supplying the dog with a healthy amount of attention.
Unluckily, a number of physical diseases are linked with tail chasing. An injury to the tail, itching; or reaction to some food may cause dogs to bite or chase their tails. If dogs suddenly start chasing or biting their tails, the owners should schedule a visit with their vet.
“Interestingly, we found that dogs that received dietary supplements (补充剂), especially vitamins and minerals, expressed less tail chasing compared to dogs that did not receive any supplements,” Hartstein said. “In addition, compared with dogs that didn’t chase their tails, tail chasers were often shyer and had separated earlier from their mothers.”
If a dog is otherwise healthy, “practicing dog training and engaging their mental and emotional aspects of their lives will help stop tail chasing,” Hartstein said. “There’s no harm in training more with your dog and making sure they are fulfilled and enriched in every way possible.”
1. What does the underlined word “thwart” in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Punish. | B．Record. | C．Convey. | D．Handle. |
| A．It is a normal scene for fun. | B．It is an indication of lacking exercise. |
| C．It is a sign of a problem. | D．It is a behavior of seeking attention. |
| A．Practicing dog training at the vet’s. | B．Encouraging dogs to chase tails to relax. |
| C．Giving dogs a small number of vitamins. | D．Getting puppies independent as early as possible. |
| A．Why Do Dogs Chase Their Tails? | B．Can Dogs Communicate by Tails? |
| C．What Functions Do Dog Tails Have? | D．Does Every Dog Like Chasing Its Tail? |
9 . “There’s a little black woman walking, spraying (喷洒) stuff on the sidewalks and trees on Elizabeth and Florence...” he told the police. Her neighbor saw her spraying something on the sidewalks and trees and this made him worried. In the call to 911, he described the child as “a little black woman”.
Well, the “little black woman” was actually 9-year-old Bobbi Wilson, a young scientist. The fourth-grader had created her own insecticide (杀虫剂) to fight spotted lanternflies (斑衣蜡蝉). She came across the recipe on TikTok and had recently learned that the harmful species damages trees because they feed on their sap (树液). Bobbi was simply testing out her invention in her neighborhood when the police call was made.
“That’s her thing,” her mother Monique Joseph said. “She’s going to kill the lanternflies, especially if they’re on a tree. That’s what she’s going to do.” Bobbi’s 13-year-old sister, Hayden Wilson, also defended her, noting that Bobbi “was not only doing something amazing for our environment, but she was also doing something that made her feel like a hero”. Luckily, what happened didn’t influence Bobbi’s spirit and has led to some positive experiences for her.
She has since been recognized by several organizations for her environmental efforts. She has also been invited on special tours. One took place at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Another was given by the United States Department of Agriculture of New Jersey at a plant where they discussed lanternflies. But that’s not where her recognition ends! The Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) honored Bobbi with their Sustainability Award for her work to save trees and fight lanternflies.
“We were excited that she was doing that,” Ann Marchioni of the ANJEC said. Ann added that the organization praises volunteers for being “hands-on” in their community. In addition to the award, she and her family got to visit with a group of black female scientists at Yale University. They showed her various labs and even invited her to donate lanternfly specimens (标本) for the university’s work.
1. What made the neighbor call the police?| A．A girl climbing trees. | B．A girl spraying something. |
| C．A girl littering the sidewalks. | D．A girl testing something dangerous. |
| A．Ashamed. | B．Proud. | C．Shocked. | D．Relieved. |
| A．Those whose donations help ANJEC. |
| B．Those who can do something creative in their university. |
| C．Those whose environmental awareness is quite impressive. |
| D．Those who can do something practical in their community. |
| A．Creative and determined. | B．Watchful and serious. |
| C．Friendly and generous. | D．Talkative and strict. |
10 . A Michigan farmer Bristle was digging with a backhoe (反铲挖土机) in one of his wheat fields when — bang — it struck a large bone.
Bristle contacted Fisher, a paleontology (古生物学家) professor at the University of Michigan. Fisher rushed to the farm and identified the bone as a fossil of an Ice Age mammoth (猛犸象). Since it was harvest season, Bristle gave Fisher and his students only one day to remove the rest of the fossils from the ground. The team found 20 percent of the animal’s bones, including its skull, tusks, pelvis, and shoulder blades as well as some teeth, ribs, and other bones.
The age of a mammoth can be determined by counting the rings in one of its tusks. Like the rings in a tree trunk, each ring stands for one year of a mammoth’s life. Fisher thinks that the bones are supposed to belong to male mammoth around forty years old. It was probably a rare hybrid of a woolly mammoth and a Colombian mammoth that lived between 11,700 and 15,000 years ago during the Pleistocene lee Age, when ice sheets covered much of Earth’s land.
The bones appeared to have been cut up and some of them were missing, leading Fisher to conclude that early humans must have killed the animal and stored its meat so they could return to it at a later time. Some other indications of human activity include a stone flake (薄片) that might have been from a cutting tool and the arrangement of the neck bones in order. If the mammoth had died naturally, its bones would have scattered randomly.
In the US, fossils found on private property belong to the owner of the land. However, Bristle donated the fossils to the University of Michigan for further study. Fisher hopes to display the bones at the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History, possibly combined with fiberglass models of bones from other Michigan mammoths to form a complete Mammoth skeleton (骨架).
1. Why was Fisher’s time limited to one day?| A．Because the mammoth was a small one. | B．Because it was easy to remove the bones. |
| C．Because it was the time of gathering crops. | D．Because Bristle was busy planting in the field. |
| A．By counting the bones. | B．By judging the living age. |
| C．By measuring the ice sheets. | D．By numbering the tusk rings. |
| A．How the mammoth died. | B．Where the missing meat was. |
| C．How the stone flake was made. | D．Whether the neck bones scattered. |
| A．To own the fossils. | B．To study the mammoth. |
| C．To complete the skeleton. | D．To promote the university. |
