1 . One afternoon, I had been clearing bush in the mountain for several hours. Feeling starved a bit, I decided to
Moments later the bee
Once more I sat down to my lunch. After several minutes I became aware of a
But the bee paid no attention to my superior wisdom. At last it felt sufficiently confident to start a trial
Once more it took off, this time clearing the sand but heading straight toward a tree. Avoiding it
| A．cook | B．reward | C．load | D．connect |
| A．perfect | B．ruined | C．helpful | D．interrupted |
| A．gave | B．threw | C．brushed | D．put |
| A．Silently | B．Unexpectedly | C．Fortunately | D．Undoubtedly |
| A．heart | B．sight | C．balance | D．patience |
| A．sand | B．log | C．net | D．nest |
| A．ended up | B．showed up | C．woke up | D．lined up |
| A．free | B．relative | C．slight | D．rapid |
| A．just | B．still | C．ever | D．never |
| A．leg | B．eye | C．side | D．wing |
| A．here and there | B．left and right | C．up and down | D．in and out |
| A．straighten | B．strengthen | C．fasten | D．shorten |
| A．attempts | B．offers | C．supports | D．records |
| A．told | B．reminded | C．worried | D．convinced |
| A．walk | B．jump | C．survival | D．flight |
| A．in | B．out. | C．off | D．aside |
| A．hitting | B．landing | C．resting | D．gathering |
| A．target | B．speed | C．vision | D．direction |
| A．partly | B．narrowly | C．curiously | D．hardly |
| A．gesture | B．behavior | C．reflection | D．motivation |
2 . The over 48,000 orange trees that are distributed at all corners of Seville, Spain, not only fill the city's air with the pleasant smell of their flowers in spring, they also produce over 16, 500 tons of fruit every winter. Though that makes the city Europe's top orange-producing city, the fruit is too sour to be consumed fresh. While some of the produce is used to make orange juice, most of it ends up in Seville's landfills. However, that may change soon thanks to a creative idea to use the oranges to produce clean energy.
In the pilot program, juice from 38. 6 tons of oranges will be left to ferment (发酵)in an existing biogas facility. The juice is fructose (果糖)made up of very short carbon chains, and the energetic performance of these carbon chains during the fermentation process is particularly high. The gas released from the fermented liquid will be used to drive a generator to produce clean power. The officials estimate the test run will generate about 1,500 kWh of energy—enough to run a water purification plant. "It's not just about saving money. The oranges are a problem for the city, and we're producing added value from waste,M said Benigno Lopez, the head of Emasesa's environmental department.
If successful, by 2023, the city hopes to recycle all the oranges and add the electricity generated back to its grid (电网). In trial runs, 1,000 kilos (2,200 pounds) of oranges produced 50 kWh of clean energy一enough to meet the daily electricity needs of five homes. The project team estimates that if all the fruit is recycled, it will produce enough energy to power as many as 73,000 residences.
The latest effort is among the many programs implemented in Spain to achieve the country's goal of switching its electricity system to renewable sources by 2050—and if everything goes according to plan, fully decarbonizing its economy shortly after that.
1. What problem does Seville face?| A．It is short of energy. | B．Most oranges are wasted. |
| C．Fruit production is falling. | D．Trees take up much space. |
| A．Fructose. | B．Carbon chains. | C．Clean power. | D．Gas. |
| A．Conducted. | B．Assumed. | C．Popularized. | D．Completed. |
| A．To prove a theory. | B．To raise a problem. |
| C．To introduce a project. | D．To comment on an idea. |
3 . Bangkok's future hangs in the balance. Rising sea levels, unchecked development and rapid urban population growth have left millions helpless to natural disasters — scientists warn the city Bangkok may not survive the century.
But it does have a secret weapon in its battle to resist the impact of a hotter planet — LANDPROCESS, a Bangkok-based landscape architecture and urban design company founded in 2011 by the landscape architect Kotchakom Vbrkaakhom. She wants to shift the orientation from growth to the actions on environment and land and promotes mindful development instead of mindless construction.
She made her name by creating the internationally acknowledged Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park, an 11-acre space in central Bangkok, which tilts（倾斜）downward at a 3-degree angle, allowing rainwater to flow through the grass and wetlands. Water that’ s not absorbed by the plants runs down to a pond at the base of the park, where it can be stored for use during dry spells. In case of severe flooding, the park can hold up to a million gallons of water.
In 2018, she created Asia’s largest rooftop farm, which imitates the region’s famed rice terraces（梯田）, preserving both water and soil. Uniquely, winding around the 22,400m2rooftop is a jogging path and a lawn.
Green space design of ecological cities emerged one after another, which not only expanded the design ideas of landscape industry, but also provided new strategies for people to deal with climate problems.
Later this year she will carry out plans to transform a vast, unused bridge crossing the Chao Phraya River into a park with bicycle lanes, bringing more green space. Kotchakom has even greater ambitions for her hometown — she wants to reuse the more than 1,000 canals that snake through Bangkok that are currently used for waste water. "Canals have so much life, so much potential to be public green space and a skeleton（框架）of the whole city," she explains.
LANDPROCESS has always listened to the needs of the society, and established a harmonious relationship between nature and human beings through design, so as to create a public landscape that can really give back to the society.
1. Why is Bankok’s future mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．To make a prediction of the city. |
| B．To provide some scientific knowledge. |
| C．To stress the urgency of solving problems. |
| D．To draw readers’ attention to climate change. |
| A．Its space. | B．Its green coverage. |
| C．Its landscape. | D．Its tilt design. |
| A．She collects rainwater for industrial use. |
| B．Her rooftop farm has made the best of urban spaces. |
| C．She will reconstruct the canals to recycle waste water. |
| D．She always designs sports facilities in her green parks. |
| A．A Productive Architecture Company |
| B．An Architect with Green Growth Mindset |
| C．Bangkok's Future Hangs in the Balance |
| D．Mindful and Mindless Construction in Bangkok |
4 . These animal dads have some seriously strange ideas about fatherhood.
Barbary macaque
Unlike human dads boasting of their kids' winning contests or college acceptances, barbary macaques, monkeys that are native to North Africa, show off babies as a way to impress each other and build social networks. These monkeys live in troops of about 30 members, and life centers around the babies born each spring.
During baby season, males carry the infants, even picking up little ones that aren’t their own offspring (后代). However, there are status symbols, used to build male social networks and connections within the group. The infants can serve as a social passport, to approach other males and hang out with them. After all, it’s much simpler to break the ice if you have a cute baby in hand.
Sand grouse
Lots of dads bring home the bacon. But for young sand grouses living in Namibia’s dry deserts, water is the essential resource. Sand grouse fathers are the frequent flyers that travel almost 125 miles each day to fill up for the family at a watering hole.
With no other way to transport water, male sand grouses settle in the pool, rocking back and forth to bathe their belly feathers. Filling up can take 15 minutes, leaving them exposed to killers like falcons (猎鹰). But it all pays off. The dads return home after a long day and are able to provide their babies with few precious tablespoons of liquid.
Pipefish
Pregnant pipefish males-yes, males-give birth to live young from eggs that females deposit in their brood pouches (育儿袋). This mothering act has earned them praise as devoted animal dads.
But it turns out that the pregnant pipefish also has a wandering eye. If he sees a bigger female he often aborts (流产) existing eggs. If he stops exporting nutrients to the developing embryos (胚胎) while reabsorbing nutrients from abortions, he assures enough resources to invest in the more rewarding offspring.
Blue poison dart frog
Females of this species lay only about half a dozen precious eggs. That is maybe why dads are so devoted to them. Frog eggs must stay watery or moist, and these devoted dads accomplish that by regularly urinating on them over the course of 10 days, until they hatch (孵化) as tadpoles.
1. Barbary macaques carry their kids around in order to _____.| A．show how proud they are about being a father. |
| B．show their family strength within monkey groups. |
| C．center around their kids as a tradition. |
| D．build up better relations with other monkeys. |
| A．barbary macaque and sand grouse. |
| B．sand grouse and pipefish. |
| C．pipefish and blue poison dart frog. |
| D．sand grouse and blue poison dart frog. |
| A．Sand grouse carries the water by drinking it first and then spitting it out. |
| B．Pipefish gives up some eggs in order to make himself stronger. |
| C．Male blue poison dart frog protects the eggs by keeping them wet. |
| D．Sand grouse has to compete for water with the falcon. |
5 . Ever wondered if dogs can learn new words? Yes, say researchers as they have found that talented dogs may have the ability to grasp new words after hearing them only four times.
While previous evidence seems to show that most dogs do not learn words, unless eventually very well trained, a few individuals have shown some extraordinary abilities, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.
“We wanted to know under which conditions the gifted dogs may learn novel words,” said researcher xuekw Claudia Fugazza from the Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary. For the study, the team involved two gifted dogs, Whisky and Vicky Nina. The team exposed the dogs to the new words in two different conditions.
In the exclusion-based task, presented with seven known toys and one new toy, the dogs were able to select the new toy when presented with a new name. Researchers say this proves that dogs can choose by exclusion when faced with a new word, they selected the only toy which did not have a known name.
However, this was not the way they would learn the name of the toy. In fact, when they were presented with one more equally new name to test their ability to recognize the toy by its name, the dogs got totally confused and failed.
The other condition, the social one, where the dogs played with their owners who pronounced the name of the toy while playing with the dog, proved to be the successful way to learn the name of the toy, even after hearing it only 4 times. “The rapid learning that we observed seems to equal children’s ability to learn many new words at a fast rate around the age of 18 months,” Fugazza says. “But we do not know whether the learning mechanisms(机制) behind this learning are the same for humans and dogs. ”
To test whether most dogs would learn words this way, 20 other dogs were tested in the same condition, but none of them showed any evidence of learning the toy names, confirming that the ability to learn words rapidly in the absence of formal training is very rare and is only present in a few gifted dogs.
1. What was the purpose of the study published in Scientific Reports?| A．To better train dogs’ ability to learn new words. |
| B．To further confirm previous evidence about dogs. |
| C．To prove extraordinary memory abilities of gifted dogs. |
| D．To explore favorable conditions for gifted dogs’ new-word learning. |
| A．Slow to understand. | B．Quick to learn. | C．At a loss. | D．In a panic. |
| A．Learning through playing applied to most dogs. |
| B．The social condition helped dogs learn new words. |
| C．Dogs’ new-word learning turned out to be less effective. |
| D．Dogs shared similar learning mechanisms with children. |
| A．Gifted Dogs Can Learn New Words Rapidly. |
| B．Dogs Identify Newly-named Toys by Exclusion. |
| C．Dogs Can Acquire Vocabulary through Tons of Training. |
| D．Gifted Dogs Have Similar Learning Abilities to Humans. |
6 . I saw my first tree today. Dad used to tell me stories about the trees that still existed when he was a boy. There weren’t very many even then, with the urbanization program in full swing.
The O’Brien home was one of the few examples of old-style wooden structures that hadn’t been destroyed in Boston’s urban-renewal campaign. The family had been able to avoid this because of its wealth and political influence, and the house was passed on through generations to the present. Old man O’Brien had no children, so when he died, the Urban Center bought it. Then an official discovered that the house had a backyard-in the yard was a live tree!
When the news of the tree’s discovery leaked out, quite a few sightseers stopped by to have a look at it, and the local government, realizing the money-making potential, began charging admission and advertising the place. By now it had become a favorite spot for family trips like ours.
Dad paid the fee and we walked through a doorway hidden in a bookshelf and into the backyard. I just couldn’t help noticing the tree!
It was located at one end of the yard, with a fence around it for protection. It was similar in form to the plastic trees I’d seen, but there was much more. You could see details more delicate than in any artificially made plant. And it was alive. But best of all was the smell-fresh, living smell, unfamiliar to the world outside with metal, plastic, and glass. I wanted to touch the bark, but the fence prevented me from doing so.
On the way back, I read through the brochures. One part said the O’Brien home would be torn down next year to make room for some insurance building, and the tree will have to go, too.
I just sat still, fingering the object in my pocket that I had picked in the O’Brien’s backyard. I think it’s called an acorn (橡子).
1. Why could the tree in the O’Brien’s backyard survive till today?| A．It possessed some special characteristics. |
| B．It had a very strong fence around to protect it. |
| C．It was preserved together with the house by its owner. |
| D．It got the local government’s attention as a tourist attraction. |
| A．Annoyed. | B．Calm. | C．Excited. | D．Upset. |
| A．Social progress and urbanization come at a cost. |
| B．Social progress should give way to nature protection. |
| C．Humans value nature protection over social progress. |
| D．Urbanization has more advantages than disadvantages. |
7 . More than half the world’s population live in cities, and by 2050 the UN expects that proportion to reach 68%. This means more homes, roads and other infrastructure. In India alone, a city the size of Chicago will have to be developed every year to meet demand for housing. Such a construction increase is a bad sign for dealing with climate change, because making steel and concrete, two of the most common building materials, generates around 8% of the world’s CO2 emissions (排放). If cities are to expand and become greener at the same time, they will have to be made from something else.
Wood is one of the most promising sustainable (可持续的) alternatives to steel and concrete. It is not, however, everyday wood that is attracting the interest of architects.
Rather, it is a material called engineered timber. This is a combination of different layers, each designed to meet the requirements of specific parts such as floors, panels and beams (横梁). Designers can use it to provide levels of strength like steel, in a product that is up to 80% lighter. In addition, engineered timber is usually made into large sections in a factory for future use, which reduces the number of deliveries to a construction site.
According to Michael Ramage of the University of Cambridge, a wooden building produces 75% less CO2 than a steel and concrete one of the same size. However, if building with wood takes off, it does raise concern about there being enough trees to go round. But with sustainably managed forests that should not be a problem, says Dr Ramage. A family-sized apartment requires about 30 cubic metres of timber, and he estimates Europe’s sustainable forests alone grow that amount every seven seconds. Nor is fire a risk, for engineered timber does not burn easily. Besides, fireproofing layers can be added to the timber. All in all, then, it looks as if wood as a building material may get a new lease of life.
1. Why is India mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．To point out the severe pollution. |
| B．To predict the population increase. |
| C．To indicate the high degree of urbanization. |
| D．To show the great need for building materials. |
| A．It is produced at a low cost. |
| B．It hardly appeals to architects. |
| C．It helps save energy in transportation. |
| D．It possesses greater strength than steel. |
| A．Becomes cheaper. | B．Gains popularity. |
| C．Requires less work. | D．Proves sustainable. |
| A．Making Future Cities More Attractive |
| B．Living in a World with Less Emission |
| C．Building Sustainable Cities with Woods |
| D．Growing More Trees for Future Building |
8 . Tropical rainforests are disappearing at an alarming rate, and according to a new report by Rainforest Foundation Norway, humans are to blame. The world's dependence on coal, farming. soy. palm oil and mining has resulted in two-thirds of Earth's tropical rainforests being completely destroyed, and the remaining ecosystems being put closer to a tipping point.
Tropical rainforests once covered 14.5 million square kilometers of Earth's surface, but now, just one-third of that remains intact. Of the original area tropical rainforests once occupied, 34% is completely gone and 30%is suffering from degradation. All that remains is roughly 9.5 million square kilometers, and45% of that is in a degraded state, the report says.
Researchers blame human consumption for the loss. While agriculture has always been a driving factor of rainforest loss, the report said that energy consumption, international trade and the production of soy and palm oil, logging and mining have been the largest threats over the past century. A significant number of U. S. commodities rely on resources from tropical rainforests. The country heavily relies on palm oil, rubber and cocoa, all of which come from forests around the world. Oftentimes, these resources are harvested from illegally deforested lands.
Tropical rainforests are home to more than half of the Earth's biodiversity and have more carbon in living organisms than any other ecosystem. Along with supporting significant animal life, tropical rainforests are also essential to slowing down global warming. “These highly specialized ecosystems are suffering from constant abuse, through our bottomless appetite for land and resources,” said Anders Krogh, who authored the report. “We expect that upcoming UN climate and biodiversity summits provide specific targets and measures to protect intact tropical rainforests.”
The rescarchers also believe that the loss of tropical rainforests puts the whole world at risk of future pandemics. “Massive deforestation is violating nature's natural virus protection systems.” Krogh said. “The aftermath of COVID-19 should bring rainforest protection to the top of the agenda of all policy makers and world leaders concerned about preventing the outbreak of new pandemics.”
1. What is the purpose of the numbers in paragraph 2?| A．To point out the threat to the current ecosystem. |
| B．To exhibit the forest coverage rate on Earth. |
| C．To present the process of rainforest degradation. |
| D．To highlight the severe destruction of rainforests. |
| A．It displayed the richness of rainforest resources. |
| B．It stressed the effects of farming on tropical rainforests. |
| C．It explained the relationship between humans and nature. |
| D．It showed human's excessive consumption of rainforest resources. |
| A．Human diet. | B．Social structure. |
| C．Global climate. | D．Economic development. |
| A．Rainforest protection demands immediate attention. |
| B．Deforestation will affect the future generations. |
| C．Rainforest loss has brought about new pandemics. |
| D．Deforestation has accelerated the spread of the virus. |
