1 . We all have a favorite independent pet shop, where we always pick up the tastiest treats and best dog toys. And now, it’s time to celebrate these small shops! This year, Beco, the UK’s leading pet brand, is launching the Independent Pet Shop Awards to champion the brilliant people who work tirelessly managing the independent pet shops we love.
Procedure:
Register at TeamDogs and answer a question. Beco will ask people to nominate (提名) their favorite independent pet shops. Judges will visit the nominees before crowning (为……加冕) one of them the UK’s Favorite Independent Pet Shop. To award the participants, Beco is giving away a dog hamper (盒装食物) worth £150 to five lucky winners at TeamDogs.
George Bramble, Beco’s co-founder, says, “Britain is a nation of pet lovers, and this has never been more obvious over the past year. We have relied on local pet shops for all our pet care needs, and now we’re calling on people throughout Britain to thank these champions by nominating their favorites and encouraging people to support their local pet shops.”
The COVID-19 made everyone on the high street tough, but with 3.2 million people becoming new pet owners last year, pet shops have been working harder than ever before with home deliveries, community support and advice given on nutrition or pet care.
Tips:
Nominations are now open on www.becopets.com and will close on June 6th. The final winner will be announced in July.
1. What is the purpose of the Independent Pet Shop Awards?| A．To share the profit of some pet shops. |
| B．To inform people of a famous pet brand. |
| C．To promote the business of some pet shops. |
| D．To honor some hardworking pet shop owners. |
| A．A prize of £150. | B．A free pet care. |
| C．A pet dog. | D．A dog hamper. |
| A．On the television. | B．In the newspaper. |
| C．On the Internet. | D．On the radio. |
2 . Men’s consumption (消费) habits are doing more harm to the planet than women’s, according to a new study from Sweden.
For the study, consumption-based greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions (排放) were measured for the average individual, the average single man, and the average single woman. These were estimated (预估) to be 6.9, 10, and 8.5 tons per capita per year respectively, and more than half of those amounts were due to food, holidays, and furnishings.
What’s interesting is that single men and women spend similar amounts of money on consumer goods, but men’s choices lead to 16% more GHG emissions than women’s. That is because they choose to spend money on things like cars and driving, rather than taking public transportation or trains, as women are more willing to do. More of men’s money goes toward alcohol, tobacco, and eating out, while women are used to spending on clothes, home furnishings, and health-based purchases.
Curiously, there were no major differences in the carbon footprints of men’s and women’s diets. While men tend to eat more meat, women make up for that in dairy products.
Lead study author Annika Carlsson Kanyama said she wasn’t surprised by the findings because previous research had shown similar differences between single men and women regarding energy use, rather than emissions related to consumption.
Kanyama expressed shock at the fact that more studies haven’t been done on gender differences in environmental effect.“There are quite clear differences and they are not likely to go away in the near future.”
The purpose of the study was to examine where individuals could make changes to their consumption habits in order to reduce their carbon footprints. The researchers found that switching to plant-based diets and train-based holidays can reduce emissions by 40%.
Kanyama said she hopes the study findings can “make people aware that their consumption matters for climate change and that there are affordable choices for change on the market.”
1. In which aspect are single men similar to single women?| A．The habits they have in investment. |
| B．The diets they prefer in their daily life. |
| C．The transport means they are in favor of. |
| D．The money they spend on consumer goods. |
| A．Men seldom show interest in dairy products. |
| B．Single men and women are different in energy use. |
| C．The gender differences had existed for such a long time. |
| D．There’re limited studies about gender differences in environmental effect. |
| A．To compare people’s consumption habits. |
| B．To explore ways to reduce carbon emissions. |
| C．To persuade people to turn to plant-based diets. |
| D．To show the seriousness of the global warming. |
| A．Men’s Bad Habits Cause More Damage to the Planet |
| B．Human Habits Are Having a Bad Effect on the Earth |
| C．Men’s Consumption Habits Are Worse for the Environment than Women’s |
| D．The Environment Is Becoming Worse Because of Men’s Bad Habits |
3 . Fish biodiversity (生物多样性) in freshwater systems, such as lakes and rivers, has been declining since the beginning of the industrial revolution—so much so that researchers now estimate human activity has severely affected the fish biodiversity in more than half of the world’s rivers.
Sébastien Brosse at Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, and his colleagues have been collecting data from 2456 river basins (江河流域) across the world for more than a decade. Brosse and his team created an index (指标) to measure the changes in fish biodiversity in these rivers and how they have been affected by human activity. Previous measures of biodiversity typically only assessed the number of different species in a particular ecosystem. This new index also measures the function of each freshwater species and their evolutionary relationships.
Using these measures, each river basin was given a score between 0 and 12—the higher the score, the higher the change in biodiversity as a result of human activity.
The team found that 53 per cent of the river basins had a score higher than 6, which meant their fish biodiversity had been severely affected by human activity, especially after the industrial revolution. Unsurprisingly, these were located mostly in high-income countries, such as Western Europe and North America, where humans have heavily used rivers.
Just 14 per cent of river basins in the study have been little affected by human activity, but these only provide a habitat for one-fifth of the world’s freshwater fish species.
“The less-impacted rivers are mainly located in Africa and Australia,” says Brosse. This is probably due to a slower rate of industrialization in Africa and low population density (密度) around rivers in Australia, he says.
“Rivers which have the most economic development around them, like the Mississippi River, are the most strongly impacted,” says Brosse. Along with overfishing and climate change, dams are especially harmful for freshwater biodiversity as they reduce the flow of nutrients and block migrating fish.
1. What’s new about the index used by Brosse and his team?| A．It only measures the function of each freshwater species. |
| B．It only measures the evolutionary relationships of freshwater species. |
| C．It does not measure the number of different species in a particular ecosystem. |
| D．It assesses the function of each freshwater species and their evolutionary relationships. |
| A．12. | B．8. | C．4. | D．1. |
| A．Areas with dams. |
| B．Areas with overfishing. |
| C．Areas with the least economic development. |
| D．Areas with the most economic development. |
| A．Rivers play a vital role in human life. |
| B．People should take measures to protect rivers. |
| C．Humans have severely affected fish biodiversity in half of all rivers. |
| D．Environment protection is much more important than economic development. |
Scientists showed the first-ever photograph of a black hole on April 10, 2019. The photo
The photo is the product of observations
This image reveals the black hole at the center of Messier 87 (M87), a massive galaxy in the nearby Virgo galaxy cluster(室女星系团). This black hole lies about 55 million lightyears from the Earth and its mass is 6.5 billion times
“We have seen what we thought was unseeable,” said Sheperd Doeleman, a Harward astronomer and project director of the EHT. It closely resembles what astronomers have expected, based on Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Since Einstein published this theory in 1915,
5 . Several years ago, Jason Box, a scientist from Ohio, flew 31 giant rolls of white plastic to a glacier (冰川) in Greenland. He and his team spread them across 10,000 feet of ice, then left. His idea was that the white blanket would reflect back the rays of the sun, keeping the ice cool below. When he came back to check the results, he found it worked. Exposed ice had melted faster than covered ice. He had not only saved two feet of glacier in a short time. No coal plants were shut down, no jobs were lost, and nobody was taxed or fired. Just the sort of fix we’re looking for.
“Thank you, but no thank you.” says Ralph King, a climate scientist. He told Grey Childs. author and commentator, that people think technology can save the planet, “but there are other things we need to deal with, like consumption. They burned $50,000 just for the helicopter” to bring the plastic to the glacier. This experiment, quote-unquote, gives people false hope that climate change can be fixed without changing human behavior. It can’t. Technology won’t give us a free ride.
Individuals respond to climate change differently. Climatologist Kelly Smith is hardly alone in her prediction that someday soon we won’t be climate victims, we will be climate Choosers. More scientists agree with her that if the human race survives. The engineers will get smarter, the tools will get better, and one day we will control the climate. but that then? “Just the mention of us controlling the climate sent a small shiver down my back, Grey writes.” “Something sounded wrong about stopping ice by our own will,” he says.
Me? I like it better when the earth takes care of itself, I guess one day we will have to run the place, but for the moment, sitting at my desk, looking out at the trees bending wildly and the wind howling, I’m happy not to be in charge.
1. Why does the author mention Jason Box’s experiment in the first paragraph?| A．To introduce a possible solution to climate change. |
| B．To describe a misleading attempt to fix the climate. |
| C．To report on a successful experiment on saving the glacier. |
| D．To arouse people’s attention to the problem of global warming. |
| A．The fight against climate change will not succeed. |
| B．Technology is not the final solution, let alone its high cost. |
| C．It’s best to deal with climate change without changing our behavior. |
| D．Jason’s experiment plays a significant role in fixing climate change. |
| A．Favorable | B．Tolerant | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
| A．But should we fix the climate? |
| B．Is climate change a real problem? |
| C．How can we take care of the earth? |
| D．What if all the glaciers disappeared? |
6 . Every summer, the calls of thousands of swamp sparrows can be heard across North America's wetlands. These little brown birds know only a few songs, but they know them very well. In fact, their musical set list probably hasn't changed much for centuries.
Like humans, baby swamp sparrows learn to communicate by copying adults. From a young age, they learn to copy, or mimic, songs sung by their elders. “Swamp sparrows very rarely make mistakes when they learn their songs,” says biologist Robert Lachlan. In fact, their mimicry is so accurate that the music changes little between generations.
Just like children, the sparrows don't remember every song they hear. Lachlan says. “They don't just learn songs at random; they pick up commoner songs rather than rarer songs.” In other words, they learn songs they hear most often. It's an example of a strategy that scientists call conformist bias. Until recently, this learning ability was thought to be special only to humans.
Between 2008 and 2009, Lachlan's research team recorded the calls of 615 male swamp sparrows across the northeastern United States. The researchers used computer software to break each song into a collection of notes, or syllables. They then measured the differences between the tunes.
The research revealed that only 2 percent of male sparrows sang a different song from the standard tune. The combination of accurate mimicry and conformist bias allows the birds to create traditions that last for centuries. “With those two ingredients together, you end up with traditions that are really stable,” says Lachlan. “The song-types that you hear in the marshes of North America today may well have been there 1,000 years ago.” Lachlan's study is also among the first to measure the longevity of song traditions within a bird species.
The findings are really exciting, says scientist Andrew Farnsworth. He hopes that future research will evolve from these studies. For example, scientists may be able to identify how other animals are able to preserve their cultural traditions. “Seeing the potential for it in other organisms is super cool,” says Farnsworth.
1. What do we know about Lachlan's research?| A．The calls of 615 female swamp sparrows were recorded. |
| B．Accurate mimicry allows the birds to create the centuries-long traditions. |
| C．It aimed to study swamp sparrows' learning ability. |
| D．Computer technology helped a lot during the research. |
| A．A new slang word becomes popular with a group of teenagers. |
| B．A dog learns to do a trick because its owner rewards it regularly. |
| C．A student memorizes historical events for a history exam. |
| D．A student loves singing and joins the school chorus. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Negative. | C．Positive. | D．Conservative. |
| A．The Amazing Lifespan of Swamp Sparrows. |
| B．The Traditional Musical Set List of Swamp Sparrows. |
| C．The Evolution of Swamp Sparrows in North America. |
| D．The Great Learning Ability of Swamp Sparrows. |
7 . Unknown to many Americans perhaps, the Japanese are huge fans of racing. They crowd racetracks throughout the country, especially near major cities like Tokyo. The country has some of the finest breeding farms and racehorses in the world.
Japanese racehorse and Japanese racing success has increased dramatically. While Japan is enjoying its new success in racing, it was not always or need not always be that way. The idea that effort is greater than outcome extends to horseracing. There is no finer example of this than the near-legendary story of Haru Urara, a horse whose name means “Glorious Spring”, but whose racing career was anything but glorious.
Haru Urara was born in 1996. Her father was NippoTeio, a highly successful racehorse whose wins included Tokyo’s famous horseracing competition of Yasuda Kinen, and whose mother was named Heroine. Her great-great-great grandfather was Canada’s famed Northern Dancer, considered the foundational sire of North American Thoroughbred racehorses.
Her owner NobutoBokulo tried to sell her when she was young and was surprisingly unsuccessful. So, with seemingly wonderful racing bloodlines, he trained her to race.
She started her racing career with a fifth-and last-place finish on Nov.17, 1998 at Kochi Racetrack on the Japanese island of Shikoku. Of course, it is not unusual for a new racehorse to finish poorly in a first outing. What followed, however, was definitely unusual.
An iron horse, Haru Urara raced as often as twice a month over the next four and a half years-and never won a single race. By 2003, her losing record totaled 80 and that is when her story was picked up by media in Japan and eventually around the world. People respected the fact that, while she never won, she ran with all her heart. The “Haru Urara Boom” as it came to be known touched even the most unrelated areas of Japanese life.
1. Why did the owner of Haru Urara decide to train her to race?| A．Because Haru Urara showed a talent for racing. |
| B．Because Haru Urara possessed outstanding racing bloodlines. |
| C．Because NobutoBokulo failed to sell her at a reasonable price. |
| D．Because NobutoBokulo thought a racehorse could earn him a lot of money. |
| A．Determined and inspirational. | B．Independent and glorious. |
| C．Powerful and lucky. | D．Responsible and lovely. |
| A．Winning isn’t everything: it’s the only thing. |
| B．Don’t depend on your family: depend on yourself. |
| C．Those who try hard and then lose still deserve our respect. |
| D．Failure is the mother of success as long as you stick to your dream. |
| A．Haru Urara: a Rising Star | B．Haru Urara: a Shame of the Family |
| C．Haru Urara: Janpan’s Lovable Loser | D．Haru Urara: an Absolute Loser |
8 . You might have heard over the weekend: a man survived an avalanche(雪崩) after falling off a 50-foot cliff(悬崖) while skiing in Colorado. Yes, you read that correctly. The sad truth of the matter is surviving an avalanche burial is rare. According to Jake Hutchinson, an avalanche rescuer and safety instructor in Utah, it’s very rare. And recent studies show large-scale avalanches might be on the increase because of climate change.
“The hard part about the avalanche rescue world is that we can rarely get people there in time to make it a live find,” Hutchinson pointed out. “Realistically, people have a pretty good chance of survival if they can be fully dug out in the first 15 to 30 minutes of burial.”
Hutchinson has been working in the avalanche rescue world for nearly 30 years. He said it’s not the cold and hypothermia(体温过低) that kill, but the lack of oxygen. “Unfortunately, that results in death really quickly. And so, time is really against us.”
“I think people underestimate either the potential of a slope, like what kind of avalanche it can create, or they have overconfidence.” Hutchinson emphasized the best way for people to survive an avalanche burial is to have well-trained partners with proper avalanche rescue gear(器具). He advised people to always get the forecast before you go as well. And if it doesn’t look safe, avoiding the area altogether is your best option. “To ski in powder is really fun,” Hutchinson acknowledged, but he added, “It doesn’t matter what cool thing you did in the mountains if you didn’t come home to talk about it, because coming home at the end of the day is the most important part of all this.”
1. According to Hutchinson, what is the major cause of a skier’s death when an avalanche occurs?| A．The extreme cold. | B．The hypothermia. | C．The delay of rescue. | D．The lack of oxygen. |
| A．Learn to ski with a world-famous coach. |
| B．Choose a snowy day to ski with best friends. |
| C．Have experienced partners with avalanche rescue equipment. |
| D．Avoid slopes and ski with an avalanche rescuer and safety instructor. |
| A．To inform the readers of the consequence of an avalanche. |
| B．To stress the importance of skiing safety over thrill seeking. |
| C．To share a story of a narrow escape from an avalanche burial. |
| D．To call the readers’ attention to the catastrophic weather change. |
Gen and her 5-year-old daughter found a fox cub (幼崽) trapped between her and her neighbour’s fence. The poor cub looked as though it had fallen down between the fence. It was stuck on its back with its limbs in the air.
Gen put gloves on and carefully freed the cub from the fence, but it was clear that it was shocked and injured. When she put it down, it couldn’t even move. She contacted their local wildlife rescue charity soon, but they said they couldn’t help because they didn’t have enough staff members. “We shouldn’t leave it there to die,” Gen said to her daughter. So they took it back and tried their best to look after it.
They fed the fox cub and kept it warm and clean. The fox cub slowly began to regain its strength and was able to walk, only a few feet at first, though. Once the fox cub had recovered, Gen felt clear that it wanted to look for its family, so they put it in a box outside in the garden for periods of time with some food and water, hoping its family might come to look for it.
At first, there was no sign of the mother fox. But then one night, something had visited Gen and her husband David’s garden. The next morning, the family were shocked to see the garden had been torn apart. They thought the mother fox must have had come looking for her cub.
“The mother fox was angry,” said David. “Trying to think about what she must have been going through to destroy so much of our stuff,” said Gen. They thought they had to create a good chance to get them back together. Then a genius idea came to them.
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。
David attached a washing basket to a long piece of rope and placed the fox cub underneath it.
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After observing the garden for just 15 minutes, the mother fox appeared.
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10 . Solutions to Climate Change
There are personal lifestyle changes that you can make and that, to some extent, can help reduce your carbon impact. Not all are right for everybody. But applying just a few of them could make a difference.
Move closer to work.
Transportation is one of the leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Consume less.
A potentially simpler and even bigger effect can be produced by doing more with less. Citizens of many developed countries are energy-wasters, whether by speeding in a gas-wasting vehicle or leaving the lights on when not in a room. Similarly, employing more efficient refrigerators, air conditioners and other appliances can cut electricity bills.
Stop cutting down trees.
When purchasing wood products, such as furniture or flooring, buy used goods or, failing that, wood proved officially to have been sustainable harvested. The Amazon rainforest and other forests are more than the lung of the earth.
| A．Be energy efficient. |
| B．Use few electrical appliances. |
| C．But it doesn’t have to be that way. |
| D．Such efforts can also be usefully employed at work. |
| E．They may also be humans’ short-term hope for limiting climate change. |
| F．The easiest way to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions is simply to buy less stuff. |
| G．Citizens spend more money on electricity to power devices when they’re off than when they’re on. |
