1 . Dog ownership may be associated with longer life, especially for heart attack and stroke (中风) suvivors who live alone, according to a new study.

Previous studies have shown that dog ownership alleviates social isolation (隔绝), improve physical activity and social bonds, even lowers blood pressure, leading researchers to believe dog owners could potentially have better health outcomes compared to non-owners. They sought to determine how dog ownership affected health outcomes.

Researchers compared the health outcomes of dog owners and non-owners after a heart attack or stroke using health data provided by the Swedish National Patient Register. Patients in the study were Swedish residents aged 40 to 85 who experienced a heart attack or stroke. Compared to people who did not own a dog, researchers found that for dog owners, the risk of death for heart attack patients living alone after hospitalization (住院) was 33% lower and 15% lower for those living with a partner or child. The risk of death for stroke patients living alone after hospitalization was 27% lower and 12% lower for those living with a partner or child.

The lower risk of death associated with dog ownership could be explained by an increase in physical activity and decreased depression and loneliness, both of which have been connected to dog ownership in previous studies.

While this study drew the conclusion from a large sample (样本), potential misclassifications (错误分类) of dog ownershipin couples living together, death of a dog and change of ownership could have affected the outcomes of the study.

The results of this study suggest positive effects of dog ownership for patients who have experienced a heart attack or stroke. However, more research is needed to confirm a cause-effect relationship. Moreover, from an animal welfare perspective (角度), dogs should only be owned by people who feel they have the ability and knowledge to give the pet a good life.

1. What does the underlined word “alleviates” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．reduces

B．increases

C．causes

D．shows

2. Who were the subjects (主体) of the study?

A．Healthy dog owners and those with illnesses.	B．Dog owners and non-owners in hospitalization.
C．40- to 85-year-old dog owners around the world.	D．Middle-aged and old heart attack or stroke survivors.

3. Why can dog ownership reduce the risk of death according to the researchers?

A．Dogs make people physically and mentally active.	B．Dogs give warning of heart attacks or strokes
C．Dogs encourage social participation.	D．Dogs save lives in emergencies.

4. What is the author’s attitude toward dog ownership?

A．Approving

B．Uncertain

C．Objective

D．Critical

2 . 根据课文内容，在空白处填入所缺的单词。

About 75 percent of the city’s factories and buildings, 90 percent of its homes, and all of its hospitals were gone.     1     covered the ground like red autumn     2    .

3 . Keep a Moon Diary

Grab a notebook and your favorite pen or pencil, and you’re ready to begin your very own Moon Diary. You’ll discover all kinds of fascinating things about how the moon travels and notice the various phases of the moon.

Before you start you can collect together some books about the moon to learn about it.     1     And even though you are older you can still try these kinds of books about the moon.

Start your Moon Diary by looking for the moon one night and recording all the things you notice. Note the date, time, and weather. Is the moon full? Half full? Or maybe gone entirely? What color does it seem to be?     2     Take time to look at the moon each night for four weeks. Every night, record what you see. Does the moon appear to be getting bigger? Smaller? Where does the moon appear in the sky? Maybe record what natural sounds you hear when the moon is high in the sky!

    3     Sometimes you will see the moon in the daytime, and other times you may have to wait until nighttime for the moon to rise. You can check when the moon will rise each night by looking for the information online.

It takes about 28 days for the moon to make one complete orbit around the Earth. So after four weeks, you’ll have completed your very own Moon Diary!     4     What do you notice? How does the moon change shape over time? Is the moon rising earlier or later in the sky each day? How does it affect the amount of light in the sky?     5     See where the moon takes you!

A．Look back over what you wrote and drew.

B．You could draw a sad face in the box instead.

C．Write and draw your observations in your notebook.

D．Every day for a month, look in the sky and find the moon.

E．Maybe you’ll decide to keep going with your Moon Diary.

F．Picture books and stories are a great way to introduce a topic.

G．Predict what shape the moon will be each night for the next month.

4 . Jeannette Frescas was not concerned about the Thomas Fire until the fire reached her neighborhood in Ventura, California. “At midnight, I woke up with a flashlight in my face,“ Frescas told CNN.“I looked out of my window and there were flames, a hundred feet, all around us.”

Like many residents, Frescas was caught off guard by the fire that had roared across Southern California for 13 days. She’s one of tens of thousands of residents who got into cars and fled as winds drove the third-largest fire in modern state history through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

“What was once a paradise (天堂) was like a war zone (地带),” Frescas said of her apartment, which was destroyed by the fire. “It’s the scariest thing I’ve been through in my entire life.” Ventura resident Patricia Rye woke up to her son-in-law pounding on her door. She didn’t get a chance to pack any valuables. “I didn’t have time to take anything,” Rye said. “My wallet, or any of my personal things.”

The fire was so terrible that more than 8,400 firefighters were working around the clock to save lives and contain (控制) it. Twelve thousand people were evacuated (撤离) in Santa Barbara County, with animals at the local zoo threatened as well. Santa Barbara Zoo closed and many animals were placed into cages in case of possible evacuations. The zoo had kept most animals indoors, away from smoke.

Meanwhile, residents who had evacuated their homes in Ventura County-where the fire began-were allowed to return on Saturday. Jim Holden considered himself lucky that firefighters saved his home and items. “They put a water screen between my house and the house next door that was burning in an attempt to save it,“ he said. “They broke in and they saved my family photos and my computer, and things that they thought would be important to me.”

1. What made the fire more terrible?

A．A strong flashlight.

B．High flames.

C．Injured residents.

D．A strong wind.

2. Why didn’t Rye take her valuables?

A．Her son-in-law helped her.	B．The situation was urgent.
C．She had a lot of money.	D．She had nothing to take.

3. Why did the Santa Barbara Zoo keep animals indoors?

A．They prepared for the possible evacuations.	B．They only put enough food there.
C．They wanted to keep them from smoke.	D．They prevented them from cold weather.

4. What did the firefighters do to save Jim Holden’s house?

A．They evacuated him from his home.	B．They put a water screen.
C．They broke into his house.	D．They took out important things.

5 . Sharks have been swimming in the ocean for millions of years. They were on Earth even before dinosaurs! At the top of the world’s ocean’s food chain, sharks help keep the population of other ocean animals in balance. A large drop in the number of sharks can cause serious problems for all ocean animals. Saving sharks makes sense!

Many people are afraid of sharks. But most sharks are harmless. Only a small percentage of sharks are known to attack humans. They adapt well to new habitats and eat whatever is available. However, today, sharks are in trouble. Nearly one third of the 400 shark species are in danger of extinction, largely due to over-fishing. Each year, tens of millions of sharks are caught and killed just for their fins. The fins are used to make shark fin soup.

Humane Society International(HSI) joined with the Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots and Shoots program and Beijing Zoo to protect sharks. An exhibit at the zoo, “The Price Behind the Taste — Protect Sharks. Don’t Eat Shark Fins”, was designed to tell people that shark finning is cruel and unnecessary. It’s hoped that the activity will help put an end to the practice.

Shark fin soup is also eaten in the United States. In fact, the numbers of some shark species in US waters have dropped 90 percent in the last 30 years. To slow the fall, laws against the sale of shark fins have been passed in several states, including Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, and California.

1. What does the first paragraph mainly tell us?

A．Ocean animals are at the top of the food chain.

B．Sharks play an important role in the ocean.

C．Sharks are an old species in the ocean.

D．Sharks are being caught and killed.

2. According to Paragraph 2, sharks are in trouble because ________.

A．they often attack humans

B．their food is being polluted

C．they are being caught for food

D．their habitat is being destroyed

3. The underlined part “the practice” in Paragraph 3 refers to “________”.

A．shark finning

B．shark protection

C．the program of HIS

D．the exhibit at Beijing Zoo

4. What do we know from the text?

A．There are 400 shark species in the United States.

B．It’s illegal to eat shark fin soup in the United States.

C．Most sharks are not interested in a human for dinner.

D．Sharks are very particular about their habitats and food.

6 . Safe Haven for Donkeys (驴) is providing sanctuary for rescued working donkeys in the El Saf region of Egypt.

First established in 2000 to help thousands of working donkeys in Israel, the charity Safe Haven for Donkeys has begun working with an Egyptian partner organization, the Bridge Foundation, to provide care to the donkeys in the El Saf region of Egypt.

Thousands of donkeys work in the brick kilns (窑) in Egypt, carrying 1.4 to 1.6 tonnes of bricks and moving at an intense pace to prevent unfired bricks from cracking in the heat. Due to lacking expert veterinary (兽医的) care, many of these animals are suffering intense pain from harness wounds, beatings, hoof issues and parasitic diseases spread by flies.

Now the cooperation between UK charity Safe Haven for Donkeys and Egyptian community development charity the Bridge Foundation is providing much-needed relief to these animals. The project includes a mobile veterinary clinic which treats common injuries and infections and trains the owners in how to best look after their donkeys.

In a press release, Andy Foxcroft, CEO of Safe Haven for Donkeys, said, “Through our work in Israel, we came to know of millions of working animals in Egypt without critical veterinary care. They were suffering a host of preventable and treatable painful conditions. Currently. no other animal welfare charity provides veterinary interventions in these particular kilns. So the skills of this charity are needed to treat sick and injured animals and provide training for owners and local professionals (vets and farriers). The first year is vital as we hope to make a lasting impact by reducing the unnecessary suffering of working animals. which sadly, is all too common a feature in the brick kilns.”

Safe Haven for Donkeys’ work, which helps about 10,000 animals a year, is made possible by charitable donations that fund the treatment and training they offer. You can make a donation on its website.

1. What does the underlined word “sanctuary” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Training.

B．Shelter.

C．Information.

D．Food.

2. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The donkeys’ tough situations.	B．The donkeys’ competitive life.
C．The popularity of the donkeys.	D．The contributions of the donkeys.

3. What can be included from Andy Foxcroft’s words?

A．The charity has made a lasting impact on Egypt.

B．The owners of the brick kilns need more support

C．The charity’s involvement in the affair is essential.

D．The workers in the brick kilns lack enough training.

4. What’s the author’s purpose in writing the last paragraph?

A．To raise more funds.	B．To set up more charities.
C．To focus on donkeys’ work.	D．To explain animals’ treatment.

7 . 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。

As the Internet calls him, Terry Lauerman is     1     first of his kind, a professional cat napper (打盹的人). Terry has been in his local pet sanctuary for many years. And since he has started, he doesn’t plan     2    (stop).

Terry’s love for cats     3    (date) back to his younger years but he’d never quite been able to work with     4    (they) until he retired. He spent his free time     5    (volunteer) at this local shelter.

Terry would sometimes take a cat nap with a few of his cat     6    (friend). By taking a nap so     7    (comfortable), Terry has actually done more for the cat shelter     8    others. It started when the shelter began posting pictures of Terry’s napping breaks and he went viral (走红),     9    led him to encourage people to donate a few dollars for the cats. And it worked. Within days, a generous     10    (donate) of tens of thousands of dollars had been given to the shelter in his name.

8 . When astronauts land on Mars, a couple of decades from now, perhaps, they’ll need to find a way to communicate-with each other, with equipment on and around the planet, and with mission control back on Earth. Despite living so far from home, they’ll no doubt want to connect with loved ones, or stream their favorite shows or music.

But setting up a Wi-Fi connection to Earth’s internet won’t be a choice. Earth is simply too far away—around 55 million to 400 million kilometers, depending on where the planets are in their orbits. We will need another strategy.

Establishing good communication equipment is essential for human missions to Mars. Researchers are testing ways to upgrade existing networks, along with some far-out alternatives. For example, NASA’s Psyche mission, which lifted off in October with the job of exploring an asteroid (小行星) between Mars and Jupiter, will also test the communication using lasers. Lasers could carry far more data than the radio waves that have been used from the earliest days of space travel.

There is no strategy which can get rid of the time lag in communications between Earth and Mars; a message moving at the speed of light takes anywhere between 4 and 24 minutes for a one-way trip. In other words, a quick ping to mission control is out of the question, not to mention a WhatsApp call home.

There’s also the issue of solar conjunction (聚合), says Parfitt, when the sun comes between Earth and Mars. This happens for a couple of weeks every two years or so, cutting off communications between the planets. The last one took place in November.

But new approaches could open possibilities that make communications on Mars more like what we experience here on Earth. At least one research team has wondered: What if Mars had its own internet?

1. What discourages Mars to have a net connection to Earth?

A．The Earth is too far to reach.	B．The Earth is hard to identify.
C．The current strategy doesn’t work well.	D．Many planets are blocking the signals.

2. What writing skill is used in paragraph 3?

A．Raising a question.	B．Giving an example.
C．Listing numbers.	D．Comparing facts.

3. What do we know about the communications between Earth and Mars?

A．Laser carries less data than the radio waves.	B．There is no such thing as time lag.
C．It takes only four minutes for a single trip.	D．The process could sometimes be cut off.

4. What is going to be talked about in the following paragraph?

A．The possible mission of the astronauts on Mars.

B．The communication among the astronauts on Mars.

C．The possibility for Mars to have its own network.

D．The opinions given by experienced astronomers.

9 . The ability to solve complex math problems is one thing that sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. Despite this fact, some animals do seem to have at least one basic mathematical ability-they can, in a sense, count.

In the early 1900s, the horse Clever Hans drew worldwide attention in Berlin when his trainer showed that he could count and solve math problems, tapping his feet to indicate a number. However, researchers later discovered that Clever Hans didn’t actually have mathematical skills, but the horse did own impressive observation skills. That is, he was unable to answer questions that his questioners also couldn’t answer because Clever Hans was actually reading minute facial and body language clues to determine the correct responses.

While Clever Hans failed his math quiz a century ago, studies in more recent decades have shown that many species do actually have a “number sense”. In the late 1980s, researchers showed that chimpanzees (黑猩猩) could add up the number of pieces of chocolate in two food bowls (up to five pieces of chocolate in each bowl), compare it with the sum of two other food bowls, and correctly choose the larger of the two sums 90 percent of the time. Some other mammals, including lions, wolves and black bears, have also showed the ability to discriminate (辨别) between quantities — and so have animals from various other animal classes.

Some research suggests that the number sense may be something that certain animals are born with. In 2015, scientists found that baby chicks as young as 3 days old could identify smaller and larger quantities and might even think of numbers on a “number line” running from left to right, similar to humans.

Whatever the case, our number sense is not unique in the animal kingdom. In fact, it may not be something that’s reserved to just animals: Venus flytraps can also “count”.

1. How did Clever Hans give the correct answer to the math problem?

A．By tapping his feet to count.	B．By guessing the answer casually.
C．By turning to his trainer for help.	D．By reading the questioner’s response.

2. What can chimpanzees do according to the study?

A．They can tell the difference between quantities.

B．They can pass the quiz with observation skills.

C．They can choose food bowls of specific shape.

D．They can add up all pieces of chocolate in four bowls.

3. What is a Venus flytrap?

A．An insect.

B．A fish.

C．A bird.

D．A plant.

4. Which can be the best title for the text?

A．Can animals count?	B．Can animals use numbers?
C．Animals’ mathematical training.	D．Animals’ problem-solving ability.

10 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Kim’s family moved frequently from one place to another due to his father’s profession. Kim had to start a new school every few years. Therefore, Kim’s school life was terrible. He didn’t have any best friends.

One day, Kim went to his classmate Rocky’s home. As soon as they entered the house, Rocky’s pet jumped on Rocky and started licking his face. Rocky said, “My doggy loves me very much. Animals can’t speak, but they have feelings, too.” His words were so touchy that Kim thought about keeping a pet.

Kim talked with his mother. She was afraid of dogs. She said that if Kim kept a dog at home, then it would be entirely his responsibility. The real task for Kim was his father. They were pure vegetarian. His father knew that animal needs meat for growth, which he never bought in the market. Therefore, he said a clear no to Kim’s demand.

One day, Kim saw a puppy in the park, who was in pain because of an injured ear. The puppy was weeping. Kim couldn’t stop himself and took it home. He took good care of it and decided to keep it permanently at home. When his father saw the dog, he scolded Kim, the little pup sitting in the corner and listening to them. Since Kim requested him a lot, finally, he agreed unwillingly.

Kim named that cute puppy Dooner. He trained Dooner and took care of his food, water, and cleanliness. Dooner and Kim became good friends. Everyone loved Dooner except Kim’s father. Every time his father got home, Dooner would hide somewhere in the house.

Then the day came when the results of the examination were declared. Kim failed in one subject, which made Kim’s father disappointed. He scolded Kim and even blamed Dooner for Kim’s failure.

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。

Dooner hid himself in the corner, listening to everything.

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Although Dooner had left the house for several days, he decided to pick up Kim’s father’s wallet on the ground of the market and returned it.

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