It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. The streams were long gone back into the earth. If we didn’t see any rain soon we would lose everything. It was on that day that I learned the true lesson of sharing and witnessed the only miracle I have seen in my life.
I was in the kitchen making lunch for my husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. I could only see his back. He wasn’t walking in his usual way. He was obviously walking with a great effort, trying to be as still as possible. Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house. I went back to making sandwiches, thinking that whatever he had been doing was completed. Moments later, however, he was once again walking in that unusual way toward the woods. This activity went on for over an hour: walking cautiously to the woods, then running back to the house. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me. I crept out of the house and followed him on his journey.
He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked; being very careful not to spill the water he carried. I followed him secretly as he went into the woods. Branches and thorns(刺) slapped his little face but he did not try to avoid them. He might have a much greater purpose, I thought. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing sight. Several large deer appeared threatening in front of him. But Billy walked right up to them, at the sight of which I almost screamed for him to get away. A huge buck(雄鹿) was dangerously close. But the buck didn’t threaten him nor even move as Billy knelt down. And then I saw a baby deer lying on the ground, obviously suffering from thirst and heat, lift its head with great effort to lap (舔)up the water cupped in my beautiful boy’s hands.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在相应的位置作答。
When the water was gone, Billy jumped up to run back to the house.
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Instead of scolding him like his father, I decided to help him.
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2 . “Preparation is vital to surviving natural disasters," says Thomas M. Kostigen, the author of a new book called the Extreme Weather Survival Guide. We asked him about his new book.
J: In your book, you write that when it comes to weather, “abnormal is the new normal."
T: We're seeing storms like we've never seen before in terms of intensity and frequency. Storms that occurred maybe every hundred years are now occurring every three years. That's the new normal we' re living in.
J: Do you think most people are prepared for extreme weather events?
T: No. I think most people are aware of the weather. We talk about it even when there is nothing else to talk about.
J: What are the most important steps people should take to increase their preparation?
T: In any situation, there are three things that you need to do. One, get informed on what's happening around you.
J: How should people decide if they should shelter in place or withdraw?
T:
J: Was there any survival advice that surprised you?
T: One of the really interesting ones is not to take shelter under an overpass during a tornado.
| A．That depends on the event |
| B．Can you explain what you mean |
| C．Winds can increase speed under them |
| D．Next, have a plan and an emergency kit ready |
| E．But then people don't take the next step to get prepared |
| F．What role has climate change played in extreme weather |
| G．Extreme weather events have become more frequent in recent years |
3 . You’ve heard that plastic is polluting the oceans — between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes enter ocean ecosystems every year. But does one plastic straw or cup really make a difference? Artist Benjamin Von Wong wants you to know that it does. He builds massive sculptures out of plastic garbage, forcing viewers to re-examine their relationship to single-use plastic products.
At the beginning of the year, the artist built a piece called “Strawpocalypse,” a pair of 10-foot-tall plastic waves, frozen mid-crash. Made of 168,000 plastic straws collected from several volunteer beach cleanups, the sculpture made its first appearance at the Estella Place shopping center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Just 9% of global plastic waste is recycled. Plastic straws are by no means the biggest source (来源) of plastic pollution, but they’ve recently come under fire because most people don’t need them to drink with and, because of their small size and weight, they cannot be recycled. Every straw that’s part of Von Wong’s artwork likely came from a drink that someone used for only a few minutes. Once the drink is gone, the straw will take centuries to disappear.
In a piece from 2018, Von Wong wanted to illustrate (说明) a specific statistic: Every 60 seconds, a truckload’s worth of plastic enters the ocean. For this work, titled “Truckload of Plastic,” Von Wong and a group of volunteers collected more than 10,000 pieces of plastic, which were then tied together to look like they’d been dumped (倾倒) from a truck all at once.
Von Wong hopes that his work will also help pressure big companies to reduce their plastic footprint.
1. What are Von Wong’s artworks intended for?| A．Beautifying the city he lives in. | B．Introducing eco-friendly products. |
| C．Drawing public attention to plastic waste. | D．Reducing garbage on the beach. |
| A．To show the difficulty of their recycling. |
| B．To explain why they are useful. |
| C．To voice his views on modern art. |
| D．To find a substitute for them. |
| A．Calming. | B．Disturbing. |
| C．Refreshing. | D．Challenging. |
| A．Artists’ Opinions on Plastic Safety |
| B．Media Interest in Contemporary Art |
| C．Responsibility Demanded of Big Companies |
| D．Ocean Plastics Transformed into Sculptures |
(1)该地方的基本情况(如名称、地理位置等)；
(2)该地方的特色(如文化、景点等)；
(3)你对该地方的印象和感受。
注意：(1)词数不少于100；
(2)可适当加入细节，使内容充实、行文连贯。
A Beautiful Place in China
March 19, 2021By Li Jin
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5 . The United Nations Environment Program is calling for urgent action to reduce growing risks from chemicals. Better management of chemicals could save millions of lives and billions of dollars. As estimated, 143,000 chemicals are now produced. Yet the report says only a small number of these chemicals have been studied for their effects on human health and the environment. It says death and disability rates are high from the unsafe use of chemical products.
Sylvie Lemmet, director of the UNEP, says poor management of chemicals has a high economic cost. For example, she says the cost is higher than the amount of overseas development aid, or ODA, for health care in sub-Saharan Africa.
She says, “If you look at the estimated cost of poisoning from pesticide (杀虫剂) in sub-Saharan Africa, only the injury and the loss of working time is estimated to be 6.3 billion US dollars in 2009. This is higher than the total ODA that is going to the health part in the same area.”
The UNEP estimates that chemical sales worldwide will increase by around three percent a year until 2050. Chemical production is moving quickly from developed to developing countries. By 2020, chemical production is expected to increase by 40 percent in Africa and the Middle East and 33 percent in Latin America. One of its biggest concerns is pollution of rivers and lakes by pesticide and fertilizer. Other major concerns are heavy metal pollution from the production of cement (水泥) and textiles (纺织品), and dioxin pollution from mining.
The UN report urges the chemical industry and governments to work together to develop safety policies. It says preventing harm costs less than fixing it.
1. The purpose of Paragraph 3 is mainly to indicate that ______.| A．chemicals have a high production cost |
| B．Africa needs more development aid |
| C．the use of pesticide causes a great loss |
| D．the estimated cost of poisoning from pesticide is incorrect |
| A．Pesticide. | B．Fertilizer. |
| C．Heavy metals. | D．Minerals. |
| A．The mass production of cement and textiles. |
| B．Lack of research funds on chemicals. |
| C．Poor management of chemicals. |
| D．Contradictions between chemical producers and governments. |
| A．The truth in Sylvie Lemmet’s comments |
| B．A UN warning about chemical dangers |
| C．The unpredictable future of chemical industry |
| D．Preventing is much better than fixing |
6 . Over millions of years， African penguins have developed a keen sense of where to find food． Once they're old enough， they set off from the shores on which they were hatched（孵化） for the first time and swim long distances in search of tasty fish like anchovies and sardines． But they don't search directly for the fish themselves． When African penguins head out to sea， they look for areas with low surface temperatures and high chlorophyll（叶绿素）． Because those conditions signal the presence of algae（藻类）． And lots of algae means lots of plankton（浮游动物）， which in turn means lots of their favorite fish． Well， that's what it used to mean．
Climate change plus overfishing have made the penguin feeding grounds a mirage（海市蜃楼）． The habitat is indeed plankton﹣rich， but now it's fish﹣poor． Researchers call this an "ecological trap．" "It's a situation where you have a signal that previously pointed an animal towards good﹣quality habitat． That habitat has been changed， usually by human pressures． The signal stays， but the quality in the environment gets worse．"
Richard Sherley， a zoologist at the University of Exeter and his team used satellite imaging to track the African penguins from eight sites along southern Africa． Historically， the birds benefited from tons of fish off the coasts of Angola， Namibia and western South Africa， but now they're going hungry．
"I was really hoping we'd see them going east， and finding areas which the fish had moved to but it ends up being quite a sad story for the penguins．" said Richard．
The researchers calculate that by falling into this ecological trap， African penguin populations on South Africa's Western Cape have declined by around 80 percent．
Some research groups are exploring the idea of moving them to a place where they can't get trapped， like the Eastern Cape． But Sherley thinks that a solution in the long run means making and carrying out rules to create more sustainable（可持续的） fishing industry， which needs public support．
1. How do penguins find their food？| A．They discover fish with their keen sense． |
| B．They swim long distances directly for fish． |
| C．They make signals to each other when finding fish． |
| D．They look for warmer and greener areas． |
| A．A trap set to catch penguins． |
| B．A good fish habitat with few fish． |
| C．A habitat rich in plankton． |
| D．A mirage on the sea． |
| A．Move the penguins to other places． |
| B．Create nature reserves for penguins． |
| C．Keep a balanced fishing industry． |
| D．Increase the population of penguins． |
| A．African penguins are losing their habitats． |
| B．African penguins are falling into ecological traps． |
| C．A sustainable development is needed． |
| D．African penguin populations have declined． |
1. What happened to the man this morning?
| A．He was late. | B．He saw an accident. | C．He was fined. |
| A．Private cars. | B．Air pollution. | C．Clean energy. |
| A．The bus. | B．The car. | C．The subway. |
8 . In China, there are more and more people leaving the countryside to hunt for jobs in the cities, because the countryside is much poorer than the city, and often there isn’t much work there. Services such as hospital and transport are usually much better in the city than in the countryside. They hope that their lives will improve when they move to the city.
But in the big cities of Europe like London or Paris, people are moving out of the city. These rich families want to live a quieter life. They are tired of the noise and the dirt of the city, and they are tired of the crowded streets, crowded trains and buses. They don’t want to live in the cities any more. They want a house with a garden in the countryside, and breathe the fresh air there. So they move out of the cities. Some don’t go very far, just a little way out of the city, to the towns near the cities. Other people move to the real countryside with sheep, cows and green fields. There they start new lives and try to make new friends.
Not all those who move from the city to the countryside are happy. After two or three years, many people who have done this feel that it is a big mistake. They don’t make so much money and there isn’t much work to do. People in the countryside are different and aren’t always very friendly. As a result, quite a lot of people who have moved to the countryside move back to the city. “It’s wonderful to see crowds in the streets and cinema lights.” they say.
1. Which is NOT the reason for people moving to the cities in China?| A．The countryside is much poorer than the city. |
| B．People in the countryside have nothing to eat. |
| C．People in the countryside don’t have much work to do there. |
| D．Services in cities are usually much better than those in the countryside. |
| A．Because they will find good jobs. |
| B．Because they like feeding sheep and cows in the green fields. |
| C．Because they can make more money there. |
| D．Because they are tired of living in the city. |
| A．Moving Out or Moving back |
| B．Living in the City |
| C．Living in the Countryside |
| D．Living a Happy Life |
9 . For centuries, dolphins have got our admiration, and it is easy to see why. They are beautiful, cute and smart sea animals. Dolphins are not fish, but warm-blooded animals. They live in groups, and speak to each other in their own language. In this way, they are like other animals, such as bees and birds. But dolphins are very different from almost all land animals. It is said that dolphins are the world’s second brightest creatures after humans and have many brain features related to intelligence. Their brain is nearly the same size as our own, and they live a long time at least twenty or thirty years.
Like some animals, dolphins use sound to help them find their way around. They also make these sounds to talk to each other and to help them find food. We now know they do not use their ears to receive these sounds, but the lower part of the mouth, called the jaw.
Strangely, dolphins seem to like man, and for thousands of years there have been stories about the dolphin and its friendship with people.
There is a story about sailors in the 19th century. In a dangerous part of the sea off the coast of New Zealand, they learnt to look for a dolphin called Jack. From 1871 to 1903, Jack met every boat in the area and showed it the way. Then in 1903 a passenger on a boat called The Penguin shot and wounded Jack. He recovered and for nine years more continued to guide all ships through the area－except for The Penguin.
Today, some people continue to kill dolphins, but many countries of the world now protect them and in these places it is against the law to kill them.
1. Dolphins are different from many other animals because they _____.| A．live in groups |
| B．have large brains |
| C．are warm-blooded |
| D．have their own language |
| A．Its nose. | B．Its ears. | C．Its jaw. | D．Its eyes. |
| A．He was lonely and liked to be with people. |
| B．They enjoyed playing with him. |
| C．He was seriously wounded. |
| D．They wanted his help. |
| A．dolphins are friendly and clever |
| B．people are cruel to animals |
| C．Jack is different from other dolphins |
| D．dolphins should be protected by law |
10 . Eating too much fatty food, exercising too little and smoking can raise your future risk of heart disease. But there is another factor that can cause your heart problems more immediately：the air you breathe.
Previous studies have linked high exposure (暴露) to environmental pollution to an increased risk of heart problems，but two analyses now show that poor air quality can lead to heart attack or stroke (中风) within as little as a few hours after exposure. In one review of the research, scientists found that people exposed to high levels of pollutants (污染物) were up to 5% more likely to suffer a heart attack within days of exposure than those with lower exposure. A separate study of stroke patients showed that even air that the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)considers to be of “moderate” (良好) quality and relatively safe for our health can raise the risk of stroke as much as 34% within 12 to 14 hours of exposure.
The authors of both studies stress that these risks are relatively small for healthy people and certainly modest compared with other risk factors such as smoking and high blood pressure. However, it is important to be aware of these dangers because everyone is exposed to air pollution regardless of lifestyle choices. So stricter regulation by the EPA of pollutants may not only improve environmental air quality but could also become necessary to protect public health.
1. The text mainly discusses the relationship between ________.| A．heart problems and air quality |
| B．heart problems and exercising |
| C．heart problems and smoking |
| D．heart problems and fatty food |
| A．relatively high | B．extremely low |
| C．relatively low | D．extremely high |
| A．Eating fatty food has immediate effects on your heart. |
| B．The EPA conducted many studies on air quality. |
| C．Moderate air quality is more harmful than smoking. |
| D．Stricter regulations on pollutants should be made. |
| A．inform | B．persuade |
| C．describe | D．entertain |
