1 . The British live on a small island. They are surrounded by the sea, so it is not surprising that the sea has always played an important role in their lives. After the development of large, oceangoing sailing ships in the fifteenth century, the sea became even more important to the country’s development. Ships setting sail from England determined to extend Britain’s territories, its wealth and its knowledge of the world. Ships returned to England bringing goods, people and new ideas from foreign places. By the nineteenth century, Britain had the largest, most powerful navy in the world.
The great sailing ships were so much a part of British life that they even affected the language. Many English expressions we use today were originally nautical (航海的) terms, although most people no longer realize this. For example, people commonly describe an honest and fair business deal as being “above board”. This expression was originally used in sailing ship times when secretive, dishonest ship’s business would be carried out below decks (below the boards) out of public view. On the other hand, honest business was always conducted on deck (above the boards), in the open where everyone could see what was going on.
“Pipe down!”, meaning “Be quiet!”, is another common expression that has nautical origins. The ship’s boatswain (水手长) would blow a whistle, or pipe, at the end of the day to indicate (表明) to the sailors it was time to quieten down and go to sleep.
Most native English speakers have heard the expression “not enough room to swing a cat”, but few know that the “cat” does not refer to a small furry animal with four legs and a tail. The “cat” is actually a short form of “cat of nine tails” — a whip with nine, knotted (打结的) tails. A boatswain needed a lot of space in order to swing the whip properly when lashing (鞭打) a poor sailor under his control!
1. The British have been strongly influenced by the sea because ________.| A．they occupied more land around the world |
| B．they got more wealth from the sea |
| C．they live on an island surrounded by the sea |
| D．they had the largest navy ever |
| A．secretive | B．honest |
| C．cheerful | D．dishonest |
| A．Sailors need to go to sleep when they hear a whistle. |
| B．Sailors will be whipped if they do business below decks. |
| C．A poor sailor may be whipped nine times a day. |
| D．There is no spare room to raise cats on ships. |
| A．The business on British sailing ships. |
| B．The influence of British sailors’ language on English. |
| C．The sailing history of England. |
| D．The sailing story of British sailors. |
2 . Give yourself a test. Which way is the wind blowing? How many kinds of wildflowers can be seen from your front door? If your awareness is as sharp as it could be, you’ll have no trouble answering these questions.
Most of us observed much more as children than we do as adults. A child’s day is filled with fascination, newness and wonder. Curiosity gave us all a natural awareness. But distinctions that were sharp to us as children become unclear; we are numb(麻木的）to new stimulation(刺激), new ideas. Relearning the art of seeing the world around us is quite simple, although it takes practice and requires breaking some bad habits.
The first step in awakening senses is to stop predicting what we are going to see and feel before it occurs. This blocks awareness. One chilly night when I was hiking in the Rocky Mountains with some students, I mentioned that we were going to cross a mountain stream. The students began complaining about how cold it would be. We reached the stream, and they unwillingly walked ahead. They were almost knee-deep when they realized it was a hot spring. Later they all admitted they’d felt cold water at first.
Another block to awareness is the obsession(痴迷) many of us have with naming things. I saw bird watchers who spotted a bird, immediately looked it up in field guides, and said, a "ruby-crowned kinglet" and checked it off. They no longer paid attention to the bird and never learned what it was doing.
The pressures of "time" and "destination" are further blocks to awareness. I encountered many hikers who were headed to a distant camp-ground with just enough time to get there before dark. It seldom occurred to them to wander a bit, to take a moment to see what’s around them. I asked them what they’d seen. "Oh, a few birds," they said. They seemed bent on their destinations.
Nature seems to unfold to people who watch and wait. Next time you take a walk, no matter where it is, take in all the sights, sounds and sensations. Wander in this frame of mind and you will open a new dimension to your life.
1. According to Paragraph 2, compared with adults, children are more ____________.| A．anxious to do wonders |
| B．sensitive to others’ feelings |
| C．likely to develop unpleasant habits |
| D．eager to explore the world around them |
| A．To avoid jumping to conclusions. |
| B．To stop complaining all the time. |
| C．To follow the teacher’s advice. |
| D．To admit mistakes honestly. |
| A．are very patient in their observation |
| B．are really fascinated by nature |
| C．care only about the names of birds |
| D．question the accuracy of the field guides |
| A．The natural beauty isn’t attractive to them. |
| B．They focus on arriving at the camp in time. |
| C．The forest in the dark is dangerous for them. |
| D．They are keen to see rare birds at the destination. |
3 . Everybody hates rats (big mice). But in the earthquake capitals of the world — Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey — rats will soon be man’s best friends.
What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.
How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal (信号)．This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.
Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “Robots’ noses don’t work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that.” Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don't need electricity!
The “rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Organization in Scotland says, “It would be wonderful. A rat could get into spaces we couldn’t get to, and a rat would get out if it wasn't safe.” Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building (but only after an earthquake, of course)．
1. Why will rats become man’s best friends in the world earthquake capitals?| A．Because they can take the place of man's rescue jobs. |
| B．Because they can find the position of people alive who are trapped in buildings. |
| C．Because they can serve as food for people alive who are trapped in buildings. |
| D．Because they can get into small spaces. |
| A．the noise made by the rat | B．the rat’s unusual behavior |
| C．the signal sent by the radio on the rat's back | D．the smell given off by the person |
| A．They are more lovely than other animals. |
| B．They are less expensive to train than dogs. |
| C．They don't need electricity. |
| D．They are small and can get into small places. |
| A．At present rats have taken the place of dogs in searching for people. |
| B．The “rat project” has been completed. |
| C．People are now happy to see a rat in a building. |
| D．Now people still use dogs and robots in performing rescues. |
4 . The Shiants, remote, cliff-edged islands off the coast of Scotland are home to 350,000 seabirds. This is the starting point for National Geographic contributor Adam Nicolson’s new book, The Seabirds Cry. Celebrating 10 species in detail, he describes the unbelievable recovery of seabirds and the many adaptations that have enabled them to survive and navigate the oceans, while sounding a loud call for their conservation among severely falling numbers.
Speaking from his home in Sussex, England, Nicolson explains why guillemot (海雀) colonies are information exchange centers: how new research is showing that those long-distance travelers. The shearwaters, "smell" their way across the globe; and what we can do to support seabird populations.
National Geographic has just kicked off Year of the Bird with a cover story by Jonathan Franzen titled "Why Birds Matter ". The beginning of Year of the Bird is beneficial to birds. Nicolson said, "Ill ask you the same question-why? For me, these seabirds are symbols of uniqueness. There is so much on the land where the rest of the living world seems to be controlled by us, but when you go to seabird colonies, there is this pumping, loud and raging uniqueness. It's a glance of the untouched world. ”
“The reason why it's untouched is that, until recently, we have not controlled the oceans that the seabirds depend on. More of them have survived in greater numbers than most other creatures in the developed world, where huge amounts of the animal kingdom have been removed by us. And so one reason these birds matter is that they are symbols of what the world might be if we hadn't done so much damage to it. "He added.
“Seabirds also tend to disappear; they’re not reliably of our world, due to their migration and habits of life. Very deep in our consciousness is a sense that they are ambassadors from another world. And witnessing and feeling that is, I think, one of the great enlargers of life.” Nicolson explained.
1. What is the book The Seabirds Cry mainly about?| A．Seabirds on an island. | B．The extinction of seabirds. |
| C．The importance of seabird. | D．Seabirds in the author's hometown. |
| A．The wisdom of seabirds. | B．Ways to protect seabird. |
| C．Migration routes of seabirds. | D．The harder situation of seabirds. |
| A．Watched out for | B．Cut across |
| C．Expressed | D．Started |
| A．The sea is too large to be polluted. |
| B．The sea isn't entirely governed by humans. |
| C．The seabirds are able to fit the environment. |
| D．The seabirds are living in the developed world. |
注意：开头部分已给出，不计入总词数。
爱丁堡：苏格兰的首府，政治和文化中心。
人口：133万。
面积：260平方公里 (square kilometers)。
地理位置：苏格兰 (Scotland) 的东南部。
交通：机场位于市中心，公共交通十分便利。
天气：气候温和 (mild climate)。
旅游：最受欢迎的旅游城市；古老建筑众多；每年吸引200多万名游客，是理想的度假胜地。
词数：110左右。
Dear Li Hua,
How are things with you? Today I’m writing to tell you something about Edinburgh which you asked about in the last e-mail.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6 . Last week the electricity in my flat went out. I had just got home from work and was happily making my tea, when all of a sudden I was surrounded by complete darkness. I tried to fix it but failed. I had to wait for an electrician to come in the morning.
I sat down to eat my half - cooked dinner. And then I wasn’t really sure what to do. My typical evening is spent watching the TV and looking through social media.
So, shouldn’t we start preparing for it now? Cutting back on our use of electricity would make losing it easier, and also save energy resources so that they could last for longer.
| A．Tonight this wasn’t possible. |
| B．Obviously, we can’t survive without it. |
| C．Our over-use of electricity is a big problem. |
| D．This left me a whole night without any electricity. |
| E．Electricity brings us convenience and trouble. |
| F．But really, we’ve grown to take electricity for granted. |
| G．I know for sure that I could cut down on my use of electricity. |
7 . The Lifecycle of a T-shirt
We all probably have a lot of T-shirts, but do you ever stop and think about the influence of a T-shirt on the planet? You’d probably be surprised to learn what's involved in the lifecycle of just one T-shirt.
There are 5 major stages: material, production, shipping, use and disposal The material stage involves farming, irrigating, fertilizing, harvesting and ginning（轧花）. While cotton is a natural fiber (纤维）and not as harmful to the environment as manmade fibers, it still takes a toll in the material and production stages. Commercial cotton farming uses a large amount of water, and the use of pesticides (杀虫剂）is widespread across the globe, especially in cotton farming. Studies have shown that farmers spend around $4.1 billion on pesticides annually, of which 25% was spent on cotton crops in the US.
Once the cotton is grown and harvested, so begins the production stage: spinning, knitting（编织）, bleaching, dyeing, cutting, sewing, etc.——these processes also use a great deal of water and energy. Commercial dyes and bleaches are harmful pollutants and can eventually pollute groundwater.
After the T-shirt is produced, it enters the transportation stage. This often involves overseas shipping. Take a look in your closet. Chances are that most of your cotton garments (衣服）are made in China or India. Garments can be shipped via plane, ship or truck…，all of which spill CO2 into the atmosphere. Calculations show that CO2 emissions from light trucks alone amount to 1.15 pounds per mile.
Once the T-shirt reaches the retail market, it is purchased. This stage may seem like the least environmentally damaging part. But consider the number of times you’ve washed and dried your favorite T-shirt. Washing machines are certainly becoming more efficient. However, the average American household does 400 loads of laundry per year, using about 40 gallons of water per load. Such excessive water use is combined with the large amount of energy used by dryers.
The final stage of life is disposal. This releases harmful emissions, or involves a landfill where cotton takes years to break down. Current US records show that an estimated 15% of clothes and shoes are recycled, which means that consumers send a shocking 85% of these materials to landfills.
We all need new clothes every once in a while, but let’s all try to keep in mind what goes into the production of clothing... It has a real impact on the planet.
There are a lot of things you can do to help reduce your impact. Reuse and recycle clothes. If they’re too worn out to wear, cut them up and use them as cleaning rags. Donate them to charity or another organization that recycles textiles. When possible, make an effort to buy organic cotton. Turn down the thermostat(恒温器) on your washer, and line dry your clothes when the weather will allow it.
1. The underlined phrase “takes a toll” probably means “ ”| A．wastes water | B．takes a lot of time |
| C．uses energy | D．has a bad effect |
| A．pesticides in cotton farming cost over 4 billion dollars every year |
| B．C02 emissions of land transport amount to 1.15 pounds per mile |
| C．about 15% of the clothes and shoes are made of materials that are recycled |
| D．about 16, 000 gallons of water is used annually by an average family on laundry |
| A．The production process may affect water safety. |
| B．The clothing cost is relatively low in China and India. |
| C．Cotton clothes are buried because they are hard to break down. |
| D．The use stage is the least environmentally harmful of the five stages. |
| A．To encourage people to donate clothes to charity. |
| B．To promote eco-friendly actions related to clothes. |
| C．To persuade people to purchase more organic cotton. |
| D．To introduce the five stages in the lifecycle of clothing. |
8 . Science is finally beginning to embrace animals who were, for a long time, considered second-class citizens.
As Annie Potts of Canterbury University has noted, chickens distinguish among one hundred chicken faces and recognize familiar individuals even after months of separation. When given problems to solve, they reason: hens trained to pick colored buttons sometimes choose to give up an immediate food reward for a slightly later (and better) one. Healthy hens may aid friends, and mourn when those friend die.
Pigs respond meaningful to human symbols. When a research team led by Candace Croney at Penn State University carried wooden blocks marked with X and O symbols around pigs, only the O carriers offered food to the animals. The pigs soon ignored the X carriers in favor of the O's. Then the team switched from real-life objects to T-shirts printed with X or O symbols. Still, the pigs walked only toward the O-shirted people: they had transferred their knowledge to a two-dimensional format, a not inconsiderable feat of reasoning.
I’ve been guilty of prejudiced expectations, myself. At the start of my career almost four decades ago, I was firmly convinced that monkeys and apes out-think and out-feel other animals. They're other primates(灵长目动物), after all, animals from our own mammalian(哺乳动物的) class. Fairly soon, I came to see that along with our closest living relatives, whales too are masters of cultural learning, and elephants express profound joy and mourning with their social companions. Long-term studies in the wild on these mammals helped to fuel a viewpoint shift in our society: the public no longer so easily accepts monkeys made to undergo painful procedure kin laboratories, elephants forced to perform in circuses, and dolphins kept in small tanks at theme parks.
Over time, though, as I began to broaden out even further and explore the inner lives of fish, chickens, pigs, goats, and cows, I started to wonder: Will the new science of "food animals" bring an ethical (伦理的) revolution in terms of who we eat? In other words, will our ethics start to catch up with the development of our science?
Animal activists are already there, of course, committed to not eating these animals. But what about the rest of us? Can paying attention to the thinking and feeling of these animals lead us to make changes in who we eat?
1. According to Annie Potts, hens have the ability of_____________.| A．interaction | B．analysis |
| C．creation | D．abstraction |
| A．learn letters quickly |
| B．have a good eyesight |
| C．can build up a good relationship |
| D．can apply knowledge to new situations |
| A．the similarities between mammals and humans |
| B．the necessity of long-term studies on mammals |
| C．a change in people's attitudes towards animals |
| D．a discovery of how animals express themselves |
| A．The Inner Lives of Food Animals |
| B．The Lifestyles of Food Animals |
| C．Science Reports on Food Animals |
| D．A Revolution in Food Animals |
9 . Scientists have found living organisms trapped in crystals (晶体) that could be 50,000 years old.
The organisms were found in a hot, but beautiful cave system in Naica, Mexico. These ancient life forms can be seen only with a microscope. Penelope Boston, who leads the Astrobiology Institute at NASA, the space agency of the United States, says the ancient microbes were able to live by eating minerals such as iron.
She spoke about the discovery recently at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. If the findings are confirmed, they will show how microbes can survive in extreme conditions. Forty different kinds of microbes and some viruses were found in the underground area. The genetic structures of these organisms are 10 percent different from those of their nearest relatives.
The caves in Naica are 800 kilometers deep. They were once used for mining lead. Before the miners began working in the caves, the area was separated from the surface and the outside world. Some of the caves are as big as the large religious centers built during Europe’s Middle Ages. There are crystals covering the walls. The caves are so hot that scientists must wear special clothing to keep cool. The clothing keeps the crystals safe from human germs (病菌) or other damage. Boston said the researchers could only work for about 20 minutes at a time before they had to go to a room that was 38 degrees Celsius to cool down.
NASA officials would not let Boston share her findings with scientific experts before last week’s announcement. So scientists could not say much about the findings. But Norine Noonan, a biologist with the University of South Florida, said she believed them. “Why are we surprised?” Noonan asked. “As a biologist, I would say life on earth is extremely tough and extremely colorful.”
Boston is also studying microbes commonly found inside caves in other countries, such as Ukraine and the United States. These microbes appear to be impossible to kill. Boston said they show how difficult life on earth can be.
1. The existence of the ancient microbes relies on .| A．surrounding insects | B．eating minerals |
| C．diverse plants | D．absorbing air |
| A．The walls were built during Middle Ages. |
| B．The temperature in the caves is quite low. |
| C．The environment in the caves is difficult to adapt to. |
| D．The caves have been explored since they were formed. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Positive. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Living organisms bring hope to scientific research. |
| B．Caves provide living environment for living organisms. |
| C．Microbes show great power to survive in terrible conditions. |
| D．Scientists discover 50,000-year-old “super life” in Mexico. |
10 . Dogs are likely to have complex emotions such as jealousy(嫉妒)and pride, according to a new scientific research.
Dogs feel very jealous when they find that they are unfairly treated. And they do not like seeing their owners being kind to other creatures, especially other dogs. They often react negatively(消极地)when their owners bring home new pets, the research found. “Dogs show a strong aversion to unfair treatment,” Dr. Friederike Range of the Vienna University said.
At first, people believed most animals lack(缺少)the “sense of self” , which is needed to experience so-called secondary emotions such as jealousy, embarrassment or guilt. These emotions are more complex than feelings such as anger or joy.
Besides dogs research, another research includes cows, horse, cats and sheep, and all the results have shown that animals are far more self-aware than we thought.
Dr Paul Morris, a psychologist at the University of Portsmouth who studies animal emotions, told The Sunday Times, “We are learning that dogs, horses, and perhaps many other species are far more emotionally complex than we ever realized. They can suffer simple forms of many emotions we once thought only primates (灵长类) could experience.”
In research among dog owners, Dr Morris found almost all of them reported jealous behavior by their pets. The dog often tried to keep their owner away from a new lover in the early days of a relationship.
Behavioral experts suggest that owners should keep a close relationship with the dog as usual when a new pet or child comes along in order to prevent jealous activity from the dog such as interruptions with barking.
1. What is the new discovery about the relationship between dogs and human?| A．Dogs usually have more emotions than humans. |
| B．Dogs are often treated unfairly by humans. |
| C．Humans are angry about their dogs’ negative reactions. |
| D．Dogs feel unhappy when their owners show kindness to other creatures. |
| A．Internet | B．Dislike |
| C．Concern | D．Fear |
| A．It is a complex feeling that belongs to humans. |
| B．It is a kind of ability to feel other people’s emotions. |
| C．It is a necessary awareness to feel some complex emotions. |
| D．It is a kind of emotion which is based on anger or joy. |
| A．The research includes four kinds of animals. |
| B．Animals are more self-aware than humans. |
| C．Dogs experience more emotions than primates. |
| D．Animals are emotionally complex. |
