1 . To better understand how our climate is changing and prepare for the future, scientists are turning to climate evidence from the past.

A project funded by the European Commission known as Beyond EPICA(European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica) is planning to drill into the oldest continuous ice core from Antarctica.

The new project is an extension of an earlier one from 2008 that collected an 800,000-year-old Antarctic ice core. The new expedition hopes to sample an ice core that can provide information from 1.5 million years ago. At polar ice caps, the snow that falls every year builds up and is packed into dense layers of ice. These frozen packs of ice preserve “snapshots” of the conditions of the past when the ice was formed. The ice layers can be exactly dated, allowing scientists to use ice cores for climate analysis.

The 2008 EPICA core has become one of the most important climate datasets in the past few decades. One key takeaway from the ice core is that concentrations of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere have never been so high as they are at present.

It also shows that when the Earth cooled and went through ice ages, the concentration of CO₂ would fall. However, when temperatures rose, CO₂ increased as well. Furthermore, these cycles occurred every 100,000 years. Interestingly, another record of past climate shows that further back in time, the ice age cycle actually occurred every 41,000 years. As a result, the EPICA core could provide insight into the reasons behind why the amount of time for the cycle changed drastically.

Additionally, the project can help resolve the confusion of why climate period between ice ages changed from 41,000 years to 100,000 years. This means that the Antarctic ice core should have records of any special atmospheric events that may have triggered the change.

And of course, the expedition is important for understanding the present and future as well. Scientists can use this data in designing strategies so that we can take better care of our planet.

1. Why will scientists drill into the oldest ice core from Antarctica?

A．To discover the oldest ice on Earth.

B．To learn more about climate patterns.

C．To find the formation of Antarctica exactly.

D．To prepare for the exploration of Antarctica.

2. What have we known from Antarctica ice cores so far?

A．Greenhouse gases are highest at present.

B．CO₂ increases when temperatures drop.

C．Ice age cycles happened every 41,000 years.

D．Climate disasters will happen frequently in the future.

3. What does the underlined word “triggered”   in paragraph 6 mean?

A．Proved.

B．Reflected.

C．Pretended.

D．Caused.

4. What might be the best title for the passage?

A．Finding the oldest ice in Antarctica

B．Drilling into the oldest ice core on Earth

C．Knowing the climate conditions in Antarctica

D．Protecting Antarctica from global warming

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。

China’s first-ever college     1     (devote) to the study of giant pandas was inaugurated (揭牌成立) in Nanchong, Sichuan province, on Monday. The college was     2     (joint) established by the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Sichuan province and China West Normal University in Nanchong.

Giant pandas, a species unique     3     China, are globally recognized as the “flagship species” of the world’s biodiversity conservation. They serve as     4     cultural symbol for Sichuan, home to the majority of the world’s wild pandas.

The college is intended     5     (play) a crucial role in protecting the ecological environment, restoring habitats, constructing a     6     (nation) park of pandas, promoting panda population recovery, facilitating reintroduction into the wild, as well as conducting research and publicizing panda culture.

Since the 1970s, the university has been committed to giant panda research, and     7    (create) “four firsts” in this field, according to the university’s Party chief Wang Yuanjun. The university led the country’s first giant panda field     8     (investigate) and research, established the world’s first giant panda field ecological observation station, promoted China’s first international cooperation on wildlife protection,     9     published the world’s first academic monograph (学术专著)     10     comprehensively explores the ecological environment of giant pandas.

3 . Volunteer by supporting a local animal rescue center in Costa Rica!

If you like animals and are also interested in preserving the environment, you will be perfect for this program. You will be helping out in and supporting a local animal shelter. Not only does this shelter take in homeless animals, but also wild animals which are in bad condition.

In addition to the caretaking of the animals, volunteers help us welcome visitors at the entrance and answer any questions that visitors may have about the shelter or its animals. As volunteers spend more days in the shelter, knowledge about wildlife management will grow.

Requirements

＊You need to be at least 15 years old on the program start date at the high school level or above.

＊Speaking English is a basic requirement.

＊No restrictions on nationality. Helping hands both in Costa Rica and beyond are welcome.

＊Your helping hand will be required from 09:00 to 15:00 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Program fees

＊Booking payments (15%): The booking payment is simply to reserve your volunteer placement. Payment is made by PayPal. You can also pay using a credit card.

＊Final payments (85%): Your final payment will be agreed with Volunteer Now Costa Rica during the application process.

1. What can a volunteer do in the rescue center?

A．Communicate with visitors.	B．Get trained to place animals.
C．Give lectures about animals.	D．Search for homeless animals.

2. Who can volunteer in the program?

A．A French-speaking adult.	B．A primary schoolchild.
C．A college student from America.	D．A local person free on Fridays.

3. How much should a volunteer pay at least to make a reservation?

A．$52.5.

B．$105.

C．$297.5.

D．$350.

4 . 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。

I was recently fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel to Suzhou in Jiangsu Province. As    1    amateur student of history, I have always been fascinated with this incredible city and had    2    (particular) high expectations.

Upon landing and heading to my hotel, I began to wonder what the scenery around my hotel would be like. The following few days    3    (find) me floating down the ancient canals in the “Old Town” district of Suzhou, visiting its gorgeous and historic gardens,    4    (explore) the many markets of the city and taking advantage of every opportunity I could to eat favorable Suzhou cuisine. I found myself    5    (overwhelm) by the infectious energy that surges (涌动) through the city.

This “energy of Suzhou” is represented best by its people. Suzhou people have enormous respect for    6    (they) city’s history, while also having an innovative eye on the future. Suzhou served    7    a key trading hub for much of China’s history, drawing in scholars, engineers    8    merchants from all over the country for thousands of years.

The entirety of Suzhou    9    (be) a true treasure of China that manages the difficult balance of innovation and preservation. I eagerly await what extraordinary    10    (accomplish) it will surely achieve next.

5 . For sharks, the Mesoamerican Reef, which stretches over 600 miles, is a busy highway. Sharks use it to find their way and it provides them with food and habitat.

But as with on-land highways, this superhighway can be dangerous. Overfishing, commercial development and illegal practices are endangering the species. “We’re seeing a continued decline in shark populations. Our goal is to turn that round.” says Rachel Graham, founder of Mar Alliance, a non-profit organization focused on conserving sharks.

By monitoring sharks, Mar Alliance can collect important knowledge on the species to help inform conservation and push for political action. But rather than acting in opposition to the local fishing community, MarAlliance enlists their help.

“They are the ones who are on the sea every single day,” says Graham, “and they’re the ones who decide the species’ future.”

MarAlliance employs up to 60 fishermen across its range, mostly on a project basis, training them to collect data, record and release fish. Not only does this provide an alternative income to fishing communities, making them less dependent on natural resources, but it also teaches them about the benefits of a healthy ocean ecosystem and how to fish sustainably.

Among them, Ivan Torres, who used to catch sharks to sell locally as food, has learned how critical they’re to the whole ecosystem, saying he’d never fish sharks any more.

If this attitude change continues to spread throughout fishing communities, Graham has hope for the shark populations. “The primary threat to sharks is unquestionably overfishing,” she says, “By reforming the industry, populations can bounce back.”

In 2020, Belize outlawed the use of gillnets, large panels of netting of trapping large sealife. The ban’s impact is already noticeable with a recorded 10-fold increase in shark populations.

But such regulations need to be copied along the whole superhighway for long-lasting impact, and countries need to find a sustainable balance between fishers and the fished. “We need to find a win-win strategy between fisher livelihoods and shark survival,” Graham emphasizes. “I hope that through education and providing an economic alternative for fishing communities, MarAlliance will help ensure safe passage for sharks along the reef”.

1. Which of the following best describes the Mesoamerican Reef for sharks?

A．Romantic but messy.	B．Vital but insecure.
C．Adventurous but beautiful.	D．Unfamiliar but reliable.

2. What does the underlined “they” in paragraph 4 refer to?

A．MarAlliance.	B．The fishers.
C．Monitoring authorities.	D．The sharks.

3. What contributed to Ivan’s attitude shift apart from education?

A．A stricter fishing ban.	B．The insurance payout he earned.
C．An offer of extra work.	D．The fishing communities’ intervention.

4. What is mainly stressed in the last paragraph?

A．Solution to overfishing.	B．Difficulties facing MarAlliance.
C．Impact of existing regulations.	D．Features of international cooperation.

6 . In the middle of the night, a baby chimpanzee (黑猩猩) is having nightmares. Chantal, his caretaker, tries to calm him down. She works at the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center, in the Republic of the Congo, in Africa. The chimp’s name is George. He was taken from his mother by hunters. Finally, he was rescued and taken to the sanctuary (鸟兽保护区), where Chantal helped him make friends with other chimpanzees. “We rescue chimps from terrible conditions and help them to live in the wild like other chimpanzees,” Chantal said, “They need to learn chimp behavior.”

Chimpanzees meet a lot difficulties because people cut down forest and illegal (非法的) wildlife trade. Their population, numbering in the millions a century ago, could be down to 172,000. This makes the work of the Tchimpounga Sanctuary even more important.

When opening in 1992, Tchimpounga had space for 60 chimpanzees. It has been made larger to the size of a hundred football fields, and provide home around 150 chimps. Many live on islands with thick forest in the Kouilou River. In that environment, the chimps are prepared for a possible return to the wild. The sanctuary also works with the government to reduce illegal trade in animals. Tchimpounga’s head veterinarian (兽医) Rebeca Atencia said, “We have effectively reduced the arrival of orphan (孤儿) chimpanzees to Tchimpounga. We’ve received only one orphan chimp over the past three years.”

The chimps have shown that they understand the sanctuary staff’s efforts. “Saving the life of a chimpanzee is very gratifying,” Atencia says. “Chimpanzees know when you’re helped them or saved their life. Sometimes, they thank you with a hug.”

As the leader of Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), Atencia also works with people who live near the sanctuary. These people depend on the forest for food and building houses, and their growing population is a danger to chimps. JGI helps the people in these places get healthcare, clean water, and others. This makes them less dependent on the area’s natural resources and reduces illegal trade in chimps. At present, there are islands within the sanctuary where the chimps can be safe from wild chimpanzees and hunters. And they’ re still under the care of the sanctuary staff.

1. What happened to chimps after they were taken to the sanctuary?

A．They got together with their mothers.

B．They were trained to comfort social workers.

C．They were taught how to live a usual life.

D．They were used for scientific experiments.

2. How does Rebeca Atencia probably find the sanctuary’s work?

A．It was dangerous and cost a lot of money at first.

B．It has received lots of support.

C．It hardly saves adult chimps.

D．It is a success.

3. What does the underlined word “gratifying” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Challenging.

B．Interesting.

C．Pleasing.

D．Tiring.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Supporting local people is good for chimp protection.

B．More efforts should be made to care for wild chimps.

C．The chimp population in the sanctuary has grown quickly.

D．People near the sanctuary depend on tourists to increase income.

7 . From Black Beauty to The Chronicles of Narnia, films and books have often shown the friendships that can develop between humans and horses. Lots of real-life stories have shown that horses seem to have a special understanding of humans. However, until a recent study, nobody knew if horses really recognized different human emotions.

A team of researchers set out to see what horses can understand. They used a test that is often used to see how much babies understand about the world around them.The team brought 28horses into a room, one by one. Each was shown a picture of a happy human and a picture of a sad human. At the same time,a recording of a happy or sad voice was played.The test showed that horses can recognize different emotions by looking at facial expressions and hearing the tone of people’s voices and matching the two up.When the voice didn’t match up with the picture, the horses seemed to be puzzled: they looked at the picture for longer, as if they knew that something wasn’t right. However, the researchers still don’t know if the horses actually understand what it is to be sad or happy.

Scientist Océane Liehrmann, from the University of Turku in Finland, worked on the study. She said,“You could imagine that they have a particular box in their mind labelled (贴标签)’human sadness’ containing the characteristics of both a sad face and a sad voice.”

It’s also thought that horses prefer to spend time around happy people because they spent longer looking at the pictures of happy people.The researchers now want to see if horses can recognize other negative human emotions.

1. Why did the author mention two films at the beginning?

A．To lead the readers to the topic.	B．To introduce the films to the readers.
C．To compare the films with the real life.	D．To advise the readers to relax themselves.

2. The researchers want to find out in the study whether horses can        

A．hear different sounds	B．communicate with humans
C．recognize different pictures	D．understand human emotions

3. When finding the picture didn’t match up with the voice, how did the horses feel?

A．Sad

B．Happy.

C．Puzzled.

D．Satisfied.

4. Why do the researchers think horses like to be around happy people?

A．Because horses like to hear loud laughter.

B．Because horses can recognize people’s sad emotions.

C．Because horses spent more time on the pictures of happy people.

D．Because horses understand what it is to be sad or happy for people.

8 . A Danish company named Too Good To Go has been working to combat food waste in the United States and around the world. In the U. S., more than a third of food produced goes uneaten, contributing to environmental issues. Too Good To Go addresses this problem by partnering with restaurants to sell their end-of-day leftovers at discounts, typically ranging from 60% to 80% off.

The app of the same name, which started in Denmark in 2015, has expanded to 17 countries and multiple U. S. cities, including New York, Phoenix, and Seattle, with Los Angeles proving to be one of its most successful markets. The company is now looking to expand its footprint in the southeast.

While the cost savings for customers and businesses are significant, the primary focus of Too Good To Go is reducing food waste, which is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The app allows users to track their environmental impact by displaying the electricity and carbon emissions prevented through their purchases. To date, the app claims to have saved over 250 million meals, making a substantial impact.

Food waste contributes to climate change in several ways, including the emission of methane gas from rotting food in landfills, the resources used to grow the food, and the energy expended in food transportation and preparation. Too Good To Go estimates that its efforts are equal to taking about 135, 000 cars off the road for a year, and it plays a crucial role in addressing the approximately 6% of total greenhouse gas emissions caused by food loss and waste in the U. S.

Alexandria Coari, the vice president of food waste nonprofit ReFED, recognizes the potential of apps like Too Good To Go. She believes that they have the capacity to reduce the carbon emissions equal to 870, 000 cars in a year, positioning them as one of the top 10 solutions to combating food waste and climate change.

While the app has been successful in the restaurant industry, its expansion into grocery stores and manufacturing is still a work in progress.

1. What do we know about the app Too Good To Go?

A．It primarily operates in Los Angeles.

B．It has saved over 250 million dollars so far.

C．It focuses on fighting against food waste.

D．It helps sell fresh groceries at full price.

2. Why are the numbers mentioned in Paragraph 4?

A．To show the environmental impact of the app.

B．To highlight the cost savings for customers.

C．To emphasize the company’s expansion plans.

D．To illustrate the app’s success in reducing resources.

3. What is Alexandria Coari’s attitude to the Too Good To Go’s future?

A．Skeptical

B．Negative.

C．Neutral.

D．Supportive.

4. What may be talked about following the text?

A．The history of food waste reduction efforts.

B．Challenges Too Good To Go’s expansion faces.

C．The impact of climate change on the food industry.

D．Strategies for reducing food waste in grocery stores.

9 . Derby is a cute little disabled dog. His front legs are seriously deformed. This makes getting around for the little guy pretty _________. He jumped around with his back legs, having constant _________ and foot infections (感染). Tara Anderson couldn’t _________ the opportunity to help Derby out when she found his _________ on the animal rescue website. So, she did what many of us would have wanted to do. She brought Derby home to _________ him.

Tara, who works for a 3D printing company, decided to use her _________ to help this little dog. With the help of her team, Tara successfully created prosthetic (假肢的) front legs for this _________ dog! The gift was specially designed to allow Derby to _________ and play like any other dog, without sinking into the ground. The wheel-like design was such a _________!

Derby, who is now living with his adoptive parents, __________ the prosthetics immediately. His new dad said it was “__________”   to see him running for the first time.

Tara and her team designed the first set of prosthetics to be shorter so that it wouldn’t be a(n) __________ to Derby. As he __________ the new legs, though, they will continue to improve the prosthetics to give Derby the best possible __________. Nothing is going to __________ Derby now. He is already well on his way to that goal.

1.

A．impossible

B．difficult

C．competitive

D．necessary

2.

A．regret

B．growth

C．anger

D．pain

3.

A．switch

B．offer

C．miss

D．afford

4.

A．potential

B．performance

C．story

D．advertisement

5.

A．doubt

B．train

C．observe

D．tend

6.

A．knowledge

B．right

C．popularity

D．passion

7.

A．faithful

B．smart

C．funny

D．lucky

8.

A．sleep

B．run

C．see

D．sit

9.

A．challenge

B．mess

C．success

D．bargain

10.

A．removed

B．returned

C．appreciated

D．hid

11.

A．amazing

B．tiring

C．confusing

D．embarrassing

12.

A．advantage

B．shock

C．reward

D．dream

13.

A．gives in to

B．makes up for

C．looks forward to

D．gets used to

14.

A．duty

B．connection

C．experience

D．advice

15.

A．prohibit

B．question

C．attract

D．label

10 . 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。

Most polar bears could die out by the end of the century due to global warming,     1     (scientist) say. According to a study, most polar bear populations will be dropping markedly by 2080. The cause is melting (融化) sea ice. Polar bears feed     2     (main) on seals on the ice. Without ice, the bears have to walk to faraway places and spend more and more time away from     3     (they) main food source. That means the animals could die.

Lack of food leads to another problem: Mother bears may not be fat enough to produce milk for their babies. Some bears could stop     4     (have) babies, which results     5     a rapid decline (减少) in numbers.

Arctic sea ice usually melts in spring and summer, and then grows in winter. But now, the ice is taking     6     (long) to grow back. Weather statistics say the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. Ice in the region     7     (drop) by 13% every 10 years since the 1970s.

But the study also notes that it is still possible     8     (slow) Arctic melting. The world can cut the burning of coal, oil, etc. and lower the greenhouse gas emissions (排放)     9     bring about climate change. It would have to be a big drop to make     10     difference.