1 . The popular documentary series Aerial China (航拍中国) recently returned to the small screen. The latest and fourth season of it gives a perspective that is both excellent and informative. As the final of the series, the new season was shot across 11 provincial-level regions and started in the spring of 2020.

“The experience from the previous three seasons makes us more capable to follow wild animals while avoiding disturbing them,” says Yu, chief director of the series. China has made great efforts to protect endangered wildlife species and their habitats in recent years, and it has become much easier to spot rare species in the wild. Taking Tibetan antelopes as an example, the plateau-based creatures were difficult to encounter in the past, but the expansion of their population and enhanced research on their living patterns have allowed the camera crew to tailor plans to follow the animals.

Most close-ups for the season were shot by photographers from helicopters or cameras installed on drones (无人机). The vital moment for a successful shot depends on the mood of the animals or how good the weather is,” Yu says. In an attempt to fully show China’s huge changes over the past decade, the documentary series consulted experts from different fields to help select the most attractive shooting sites. In the final season, Aerial China has used 73 helicopters and 320 drones to shoot footage over an area of 900,000 kilometers, and selected around 1,000 staffers. More than 30 teams were assigned to shoot in different cities for the fourth season.

The previous three seasons have been watched by 850 million TV viewers and seen online over140 million times. For fans of the series, the director says he hopes that the new season will draw a bigger audience with its unusual perspective to show them China like never seen before.

1. Which can best replace the underlined word “perspective” in the first paragraph?

A．Reference.

B．Viewpoint.

C．Mention.

D．Standard.

2. Why are Tibetan antelopes mentioned?

A．To indicate a successful encounter.	B．To introduce new living patterns.
C．To show a biological improvement,	D．To save endangered wildlife species.

3. What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．The team members’ roles.	B．The splendid shooting sites.
C．The hi-tech devices for shooting.	D．The efforts spent in the season.

4. What does the last paragraph want to tell us?

A．This is the last but one season.	B．This season is well worth viewing.
C．The series is popular with TV reviewers.	D．The series is intended for Chinese fans.

2 . For the past four years I had been having up to 30 seizures (癫痫发作) a day. It made me _________ a lot.

Despite _________ visits to hospitals, no doctor could tell me the cause of it. At night, my family had to check on me just in case I wasn’t _________. So I could never be in a room alone and as a 21-year-old young man, I was finding the lack of _________ getting me down.

One day, my friend Kerri asked if I wanted an assistance dog. I knew there were guide dogs for the _________, but I wasn’t sure how a dog could help me. A few days later, Kerri told me she’d done some search and found a company “Dogs For Life”. From the website of the company, I _________ that they teach dogs to smell a chemical change in the body and _________ people when a seizure is about to _________.

Soon after, I _________ Baloo, a dog trained by Dogs For Life. It sat silently in the corner. As I sat down, Baloo suddenly __________ and jumped on me. Minutes later, I had a seizure. It had __________ the chemical changes in my body and tried to warn me. It was by my side until the __________ came. Instantly, I knew it was a good __________ for me, and I took her back home.

It’s __________ my life more than a handful of times and I couldn’t be more __________ for it.

1.

A．think

B．hide

C．suffer

D．learn

2.

A．personal

B．countless

C．formal

D．impressive

3.

A．sleeping

B．working

C．replying

D．breathing

4.

A．warmth

B．fun

C．safety

D．independence

5.

A．deaf

B．blind

C．injured

D．elderly

6.

A．wrote

B．learnt

C．overheard

D．planned

7.

A．warn

B．attract

C．follow

D．hit

8.

A．burn out

B．break in

C．come on

D．drop by

9.

A．saved

B．addressed

C．met

D．invited

10.

A．rose

B．lay

C．struggled

D．played

11.

A．sensed

B．caused

C．touched

D．cried

12.

A．action

B．attack

C．guide

D．help

13.

A．boss

B．teacher

C．partner

D．listener

14.

A．risked

B．stopped

C．kept

D．saved

15.

A．thankful

B．anxious

C．excited

D．patient

3 . A dinosaur footprint found by a four-year-old girl on a Welsh beach has been regarded as the “finest find in a decade” by experts.

Lily Wilder was walking her dog with her family at Bendricks Beach in Barry when she spotted the fossilized (石化的) footprint in the rocks. Her mother said that after making the find, she uploaded a picture to Facebook and was shocked to receive a “huge response” from fossil hunters. Mrs. Wilder then contacted National Museum Wales, who advised her to take down the post to avoid a wild rush of fossil fans towards the protected section of land.

The 110-mm footprint fossil has now been legally detached, after permission was given by the landowners and Natural Resources Wales, and is currently in safekeeping. The footprint fossil, believed to be around 220 million years old, will be taken to National Museum Wales, on a temporary or permanent basis.

Cindy Howells, who arranged for the legal removal of the footprint, said: “This is an amazing discovery. It’s the best-preserved footprint fossil that’s ever been found in South Wales-normally they’re hollow (中空的) or less well-defined, but on this one you can see the claws (爪子) and the points at the end. This discovery is unique and worth protecting — we will be studying the footprint and it will teach us a lot more about dinosaur feet and their bone and muscle structure.”

The footprint is believed to be that of a meat-eating dinosaur from the early days when dinosaurs were first starting to evolve (进化), around 10 million years after dinosaurs first emerged on Earth.

Lily, who now plans to get more dinosaur toys, will forever be named as the footprint fossil’s finder and will be invited into the museum once it reopens.

1. Why was Mrs. Wilder advised to take down her post?

A．To avoid misleading fossil hunters.	B．To block out negative responses online.
C．To keep her daughter from being exposed.	D．To protect the footprint from fossil fans.

2. What does the underlined word “detached” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Named.

B．Purchased.

C．Removed.

D．Recognized.

3. What can we learn from Cindy’s words about the footprint?

A．It is complete and clear.	B．It will end up in a museum.
C．It is around 110 million years old.	D．It belongs to a grass-eating dinosaur.

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

A．The significance of dinosaur footprints	B．The finest find in the fossil world
C．Little girl’s love for dinosaurs	D．Little girl’s big discovery

4 . I opened the door of our campervan (房车). My two cats, Gatinha and Jon Snow, ______ down the stairs and onto the grass. In the distance, the sea ______ before me and the sun’s rays danced on the surface, creating a/an ______ display of light and shadow.

A month earlier, Wade, 35, and I thought we were ready for our travel in ______ . So we ______ our office jobs to travel around Australia in our truck that we’d transformed into a ______ on wheels. Besides saving for the trip, we’d set up a website to ______ money while we were travelling, along with renting out our home.

Knowing we couldn’t leave our two rescue cats behind, we decided to bring them with us. After doing some ______, I discovered that seeing cats on the road is ______ but we didn’t let it stop us. To ______ the cats to their new home, we brought them into the van while we worked. Finally, we were on the way to travel.

For the first few days they ______ the inside of the van, but as days turned to weeks, they gradually grew more ______. It wasn’t long before they were curiously sniffing the grass. ______, neither of the cats have ever walked far and we ______ them to wander freely.

Looking back, ______ the city life to travel around was the best decision we ever made, and our cats make the perfect companions!

1.

A．jumped

B．bent

C．fell

D．stopped

2.

A．shouted

B．stretched

C．folded

D．disappeared

3.

A．heartbreaking

B．imaginary

C．breathtaking

D．disturbing

4.

A．time

B．budget

C．energy

D．facility

5.

A．quit

B．ignored

C．took

D．changed

6.

A．library

B．school

C．home

D．hotel

7.

A．make

B．save

C．collect

D．donate

8.

A．practice

B．thought

C．discussion

D．research

9.

A．common

B．fascinating

C．rare

D．natural

10.

A．force

B．adapt

C．move

D．lead

11.

A．focused on

B．messed up

C．stuck to

D．escaped from

12.

A．dependent

B．anxious

C．confident

D．tolerant

13.

A．Amazingly

B．Suddenly

C．Regretfully

D．Doubtfully

14.

A．ordered

B．reminded

C．taught

D．trusted

15.

A．exchanging

B．choosing

C．abandoning

D．experiencing

5 . During the summer of 2021, I flew to Greece to learn more about the wildfires there. I wanted to hear people’s stories, to understand what it meant to be displaced by environmental disaster.

In a cafe for people surviving the fire, I met brave children who now have to live with terrible scars, physical and emotional. I met a man who could not even speak to me, his eyes filling with tears.

I was expecting to hear a lot about loss; I was not expecting to learn so much about the attribution (归因) of blame. I came to understand how desperately people needed to blame a tangible entity (实体) –a person, a group of people, the government. Indeed, this was understandable and reasonable. The outbreak and mishandling of the fire needed to be explored, looked into and dealt with.

What surprised me, however, was that the survivors were completely silent over any mention of the climate crisis and global heating. It was made clear to me that this subject was unacceptable. Survivors felt that these issues had nothing to do with what they had suffered, and that the people actually responsible needed to pay.

But when it comes to climate breakdown, blame did not come to just one person, one corporation, one country. In Greece, the fire didn’t rage so hard because someone had set off a spark—— it raged so hard because years of global heating had dried up the land, part of a set of unsustainable (不能持续的) practices and inaction that had set our planet on fire. And now the fires are even worse.

The more I spoke to people, including climate scientists, the more I came to see that there is often a gap that separates science from public awareness. In her book “Engaging With Climate Change” Sally Weintrobe says that “many people who accept global warming continue to regard it as a problem of the future”. To my astonishment, this seemed to apply even to people who had themselves been affected directly by wildfires.

1. What did the author hardly expect to learn in Greece?

A．Kids’ scars.	B．Economic loss.
C．Survivors’ blame.	D．Duration of the fire.

2. What did the survivors think of the fire?

A．It was closely related to global heating.

B．They couldn’t accept its massive destruction.

C．The government should be responsible for it.

D．It resulted from someone’s setting fire to the forest.

3. What does Sally Weintrobe say about global warming?

A．Much attention has been given to it.

B．People don’t consider it serious now.

C．Scientists are urged to apply efficient way to it.

D．People should make their opinions about it heard.

4. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To inform readers of wildfires in Greece.

B．To encourage readers to donate to survivors.

C．To equip people with surviving skills in wildfires.

D．To raise people’s awareness about the climate crisis.

6 . One of the ocean’s noisiest creatures is smaller than you’d expect — snapping shrimp (鼓虾). They create a widespread background noise in the underwater environment, which helps them communicate, protect their homes and hunt for food. When enough shrimp snap (发出噼啪声) at once, the noise can be deafening.

Aran Mooney, a biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, suggested that with increased ocean temperatures, snapping shrimp will snap more often and louder than before. This could raise the background noise of the global ocean. “They make a sound by closing a claw so fast. This makes a bubble (泡泡) and when that bubble bursts, it makes that snapping sound,” said Mooney.

Mooney discovered a strong relationship between warmer waters and more frequent snapping shrimp sounds after experimenting with the shrimp in tanks in the lab and by listening to the shrimp in the ocean at various water temperatures. “As the temperature rises, the snap rate increases,” he said. This makes sense because shrimp are essentially cold-blooded animals, meaning their body temperature and activity levels are largely controlled by their living environment. “We can actually show in the field that not only do snap rates increase, but the sound levels increase as well.”

How the louder snapping shrimp would affect or benefit the surroundings remained to be seen. “We know that fish use sound to communicate,” Mooney said. “If the environment gets noisy, it has the possibility to influence that communication. That’s something we have to follow up on.” There is also the possibility that the change of snapping shrimp affects machines humans use to discover mines, which could lead to unpleasant results.

1. What can we know about the snapping shrimp’s sound?

A．It aims to protect the shrimp.	B．It is important to the ecosystem.
C．It has different uses for the shrimp.	D．It is hard to be discovered by other creatures.

2. How does Mooney do the experiment?

A．By observing snapping shrimp in the field.	B．By recording the snap rates in the lab.
C．By analyzing the way shrimp make noise.	D．By comparing shrimp’s sound in different places.

3. What might Mooney research next?

A．Other uses of shrimp’s sound.	B．Influences of the noise on other creatures.
C．Means of communication among fish.	D．Methods of stopping shrimp’s snapping.

4. Which of the following could be the best title for the text?

A．Underwater World Is No Longer Quiet	B．Small Animals Make a Big Difference
C．Warming Oceans Are Getting Louder	D．Snapping Shrimp’s Noise Speaks Much

7 . Native to forests of Central and South America, glass frogs in the Centrolenidae family get their name from their skin and muscles that help them be perfectly fit to live in their jungle environment. Turn the frogs over, where the effect is the most impressive, and you’ll make out their hearts, livers, and other organs through their hyaline bellies (肚子).

And in a study published in the journal Science, researchers have discovered an amazing mechanism (机制) the animals use to become so clear.

When glass frogs go to sleep, they take in 89 percent of their brightly colored red blood cells into sacs (液囊) in their livers, which reflect incoming light and make the frogs appear nearly unseen. With their red blood cells out of view, the frogs become twice to three times more clear — a trick scientists believe helps the animals avoid being killed and eaten by their natural enemies.

“The trick is really hard to do, because their tissues are full of things that take in and spread light. And transparency (透明) is normal for many creatures in water, but hard on land,” says study co-author Jesse Delia. “Red blood cells also take in a lot of light, and we found that the frogs can actually hide themselves by packing them into the liver.”

Not only are the findings interesting, but the researchers attach great importance to them. That’s because many red blood cells in one place usually form a clot (血块), which can block and lead to a potentially life-threatening condition. But the frogs can seemingly clot and expand their red blood cells at will — without any negative effects. This may mean the animals already have what medical researchers have been seeking for decades: a biological mechanism which prevents too much bleeding while also preventing too much clotting.

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

A．See-through.	B．Powerful.
C．Narrow.	D．Good-looking.

2. What is the new discovery about glass frogs?

A．The frogs fit in their environment better.

B．Sacs filled with red blood cells make the frogs clear.

C．Red blood cells in the frogs’ liver reflect light.

D．The frogs are able to take in a lot of bright colors.

3. What does Jesse Delia think of glass frogs’ trick?

A．Interesting.	B．Unusual.
C．Shocking.	D．Annoying.

4. Why do the researchers consider the findings important?

A．They help cure serious diseases.	B．They are a blessing for wild animals.
C．They can lead to advances in medicine.	D．They will prevent all clotting and bleeding.

8 . Antarctica (南极洲) is a great, icy land, surrounded by the huge Southern Ocean. The ice in Antarctica doesn’t just cover the land. There’s also a large area of sea ice, which floats (漂浮) on the ocean’s surface.

Scientists have been measuring the area of the sea ice in Antarctica since 1979. For most of this time, Antarctica has seemed to be almost not influenced by the changing weather conditions experienced in other parts of the planet. In fact, until recent years, Antartica’s sea ice area mainly set records for growing.

That began to change around 2016. Now, for several years, the area of Antartica’s sea ice has been getting smaller. This year, the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) reported that Antartica’s sea ice reached its maximum on September 10 — almost two weeks earlier than normal. And the sea ice was at a new record low — not just by a little bit, but by a lot.

The last time Antartica’s low sea ice set a record at the end of winter was in 1986. And this year, there’s about 1.03 million square kilometers less sea ice than in 1986. It’s hard to picture such a large area, but it’s around 1.6 times the size of France.

Scientists are still trying to understand what is driving the change in Antarctica. Ted Scambos, a research scientist at the University of Colorado, says, “Antarctica’s ice levels have always changed some, but the situation this year is pointing towards warmer ocean conditions around the area.”

The new low record has scientists worried. The sea ice is important, because it helps cool the planet. When it’s frozen, sea ice reflects sunlight back out into space. But when the sea ice melts (融化), the water left behind is darker, and takes in and keeps more heat.

1. What did NSIDC find about the sea ice in Antarctica this year?

A．It protected the wildlife in the ocean.	B．It grew and covered a wider area.
C．It turned out to be difficult to observe.	D．It reached a new record low level.

2. Why does the author mention France in paragraph 4?

A．To present the total area of the country.

B．To introduce a new topic for discussion.

C．To show the sharp loss of Antarctica’s sea ice.

D．To explain the position of the wonderful land.

3. What causes the change in Antarctica according to Ted Scambos?

A．Low rainfall.	B．Rising temperatures.
C．Cold weather.	D．Short summer months.

4. What can we know about Antarctica’s sea ice?

A．It’s key to the earth’s cooling system.	B．It’s just a short-term problem.
C．It reminds us to find water resources.	D．It offers humans a bright future.

9 . 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。

The crane (鹤)    1    (love) in China since ancient times. It stands for long-lasting love as the bird stays with one partner until death. Besides, the bird is thought    2    (bring) good luck. The white crane    3    appears in many ancient Chinese paintings is also called Xianhe. The immortals (神仙) in lots of old Chinese stories were    4    (general) painted to ride white cranes. When a crane is shown among clouds, it often stands for long life,    5    (wise) and good character. When it is shown among pine trees (松树), the crane is often viewed    6    a symbol of determination, wealth and power.

The white crane is one of the largest and heaviest cranes. It’s also one of the longest-living birds, with a life of 30-40 years in    7    wild. In captivity (圈养), some can even live to 75 years old. However, with a small population left, the white crane is under China’s first-class    8    (nation) protection.

Since the white crane plays a big part in Chinese culture, we hope more and more people will take efforts to love    9    care for this bird. I believe as long as we all are responsible for    10    (protect) the bird, its number will increase quickly.

10 . The color of the ocean has changed greatly over the last 20 years and human-caused climate change is probably responsible, according to a new study.

More than 56% of the world’s oceans have changed color, and this cannot be explained by natural changes, said a team of researchers. Tropical (热带的) oceans close to the equator especially have become greener in the past two decades, reflecting changes in their ecosystems.

The color of the ocean is derived from the materials found in its upper layers. For example, a deep blue sea will have very little life in it, while a green color means there are ecosystems there. The ecosystems are based on plant-like small living things which include chlorophyll(叶绿素). The living things form the base of a food web which supports larger creatures such as fish, seabirds and some other sea animals.

It’s not clear exactly how these ecosystems are changing, said study author Stephanie Dutkiewicz. Ocean ecosystems are finely balanced and any change in the small living things will influence the food chain. “All changes are causing an imbalance in the natural organization of ecosystems. Such imbalance will only get worse over time if our oceans keep heating,”she said. It will also affect the ocean’s ability to act as a store of carbon(碳), Dutkiewicz said, as different living things take in different amounts of carbon.

The researchers are still working to find out exactly what the changes mean. However, what is clear, they said, is that the changes are being driven by human-caused climate change.

The researchers checked changes in ocean color from space by following how much greenor blue light was reflected from the surface of the sea. They studied the changes in color from 2002 to 2022. And then they used climate change models to see what would happen to the oceans both with additional(额外的) planet-heating pollution and without.

The color changes matched almost exactly what Dutkiewicz said would happen if greenhouse gases were added to the atmosphere — around 50% of our oceans would change color.

1. Which areas of the ocean have shown the greatest color change?

A．Deep-sea areas with little life.	B．Oceans with lower temperatures.
C．Coastal areas close to large cities.	D．Tropical oceans near the equator.

2. What does the underlined “is derived from” in para.3 mean?

A．Is reflected in something.	B．Comes from something.
C．Influences something.	D．Creates something.

3. How can the changes in ecosystems influence oceans?

A．They keep the balance among different living things.

B．They reduce the ocean’s ability to store carbon.

C．They improve the health of large sea animals.

D．They make oceans support more life.

4. What did the researchers use climate change models for?

A．To support space exploration.

B．To find the sources of greenhouse gases.

C．To show future ocean temperature changes.

D．To study the influence of planet-heating pollution.