1 . Queen Elizabeth National Park is a place of outstanding beauty and extreme biodiversity. On a previous underwater assignment with my wife and photographic partner, Jennifer Hayes, we’d documented healthy coral reefs surrounded with fish, sharks, and crocodiles. We knew that time, increased tourism and climate change could make the park different—so 15 years later, we returned to see how it was going.

We were photographing some jellyfish. Jennifer, her back to me, was focused on something above her. Out of the corner of my viewfinder, I saw a sizable crocodile coming. As I began to take its photograph, I realized that the crocodile was going to swim directly between Jennifer and me. I started to make loud noises through my regulator and moved towards Jen, firing a burst of flash-lit shots to warn her that we had company. She quickly detected my signal and turned to meet our visitor.

She gave me a quick thumbs-up, nodded OK, and said “Hello, handsome” as she bent closer to take its photos. I admired her for treating the crocodile with respect, calm curiosity, and absolute joy. She didn’t feel threatened. She was familiar with this kind of crocodile in this particular place—and she had a big underwater camera housing that could double as a mighty shield (盾牌) if needed. After a few pictures the crocodile, unimpressed with us, swam downstream on its way to do other crocodile things. We continued our search for jellyfish.

There is always risk in our line of work. But this encounter highlighted the good news that we saw all around us here. The crocodile is an indicator animal, a symbol of a healthy ecosystem that can support top predators (捕食性动物). The easing of travel restrictions is bound to bring more tourists—so it’s vital to maintain a balance among ecotourism, exploration, and conservation. That’s possible if visitors adopt the same philosophy that we hold toward that curious crocodile. We enter Earth’s oceans on their terms, not our own.

1. What was the author’s purpose in returning to Queen Elizabeth National Park?

A．To enjoy its beauty.	B．To assess a document.
C．To check its ecosystem.	D．To photograph jellyfish.

2. Why did Jennifer feel at ease with the crocodile?

A．She met it before.	B．She trusted her husband.
C．She could protect herself.	D．She longed for its company.

3. What is the implied meaning of the underlined part in the last paragraph?

A．Explore nature with curiosity.

B．Respect nature while exploring it.

C．Study nature while developing tourism.

D．Protect nature through biological research.

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

A．A Narrow Escape	B．A Risky Job
C．An Underwater Assignment	D．A Chance Meeting

2 . It is a well-known fact that plastic bottles, which take hundreds of years to rot, are harmful to our environment. However, efforts by environmentalists to encourage consumers to switch to alternatives, like water fountains or reusable bottles, have not been very effective. The U.S. alone uses over 50 million plastic bottles annually, 80% of which end up in landfills.

To try to stop that, Rodrigo García González, Pierre Paslier and Guillaume Couche from the Imperial College London have been working on a revolutionary solution — water wrapped inside an eatable container made mostly from seaweed. All the customer has to do to relieve his/her thirst is pop the entire drop into the mouth.

The inventors, who have been working on the Ooho bubble since 2014, use a simple two-step cooking process called spherification (球化) to create the delicate container. They begin by dipping a frozen ball of water or juice into a chemical solution (溶液). This helps form a layer around the liquid. The ball is then absorbed in a solution made from seaweed extract. This creates a second layer, helping strengthen the structure so that the water or juice does not leak. In addition to saving our environment, the biodegradable (可降解的) packaging costs just two cents each, making it cheaper to produce than plastic.

After three years of perfecting the design, the inventors, who recently raised over 1 million USD from a financial activity, are ready to bring the Ooho bubble to local market. However, there are a few challenges that still need to be overcome before the product’s launch. In addition to getting accustomed to the taste of the covering, each eatable container contains just a mouthful of water, requiring consumers to drink multiple bubbles to relieve their thirst. There is also the issue of finding an eco-friendly packaging to transport the bubbles so that they remain clean and do not burst. Hopefully, the inventors will find ways to handle the issues so that we can reduce, or perhaps even remove, plastic bottles.

1. Why was the Ooho bubble created?

A．To test a newly-designed material.	B．To change consumers’ drinking habit.
C．To reduce pollution caused by plastic.	D．To take a share of drinking water industry.

2. What will the inventors probably do next?

A．Solve some specific problems of the product.	B．Collect more money to expand production.
C．Distribute the Ooho bubble to global market.	D．Advertise the advantages of the Ooho bubble.

3. What is the author’s attitude towards the Ooho bubble’s launch?

A．Uncaring.

B．Doubtful.

C．Confident.

D．Opposed.

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

A．Scientists Work out a New Kind of Water

B．Plastic Bottles Will Be Replaced by the Ooho Bubble

C．Environmental Pollution is Expected to Be Solved

D．The Ooho Bubble Aims to Remove Plastic Bottles

3 . When the British poet Alfred Lord Tennyson described nature as “red in tooth and claw”, he was telling us that the natural world can be cruel as well as beautiful.    1    .

Most people living in urban areas rarely encounter wild animals in their natural surroundings.     2     And they are willing to get close to them. But for wild animals, it is “eat or be eaten,” and they can’t distinguish between humans and other animals.

    3     In Canadian woods lives a dog-like animal, coyote, which is a little bigger than a fox, but smaller than a wolf. They usually avoid humans, but the occasional attacks can be deadly. Every year, one or two people end up getting killed by coyotes.

Earlier this year, a herd of elepants in Yunnan left their home in the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve and went on a meandering journey through the province. They destroyed crops and buildings along the way. Villages in their path had to be evacuated because of the potential dangers they posed to villagers. Animal experts haven’t determined why the elephants went on their journey.     4     The wild animals we love are in a constant struggle for survival. Our expanding into the natural habitats of wild animals can be dangerous for the animals and then us humans as well.

Maybe we should try to stay away from them.     5     Their lives—red in tooth and claw—are difficult enough without us causing them any more problems than they already have.

A．A walk in the woods can be dangerous.

B．It is a way to protect the wild animals, and it’s also our responsibility.

C．In Canada, people have a more realistic attitude towards wild animals.

D．In simple terms, we should try to keep proper distance from wild animals.

E．Hence they misunderstand that wild animals are just as friendly as Disney characters.

F．Thanks to active environmental conservation, the number of the elephants grew larger.

G．A reasonable possibility is that they probably needed more room and more food to survive.

5 . It turns out that sunflowers are more than just a pretty face: the ultraviolet (紫外线的) colours of their flowers not only attract pollinators (传粉者), but also help the plant regulate water loss, according to new research.

The yellow sunflower is a familiar sight, but it’s hiding something from the human eye — an ultraviolet bullseye (靶心) pattern, invisible to humans but not to most insects including bees. These bullseye patterns have long been known to improve the attractiveness of flowers to pollinators by increasing their visibility.

“Unexpectedly, we noticed that sunflowers growing in drier climates have flowers with larger ultraviolet bullseyes, and found that those flowers are able to keep water more efficiently. This suggests that these larger ultraviolet bullseyes help plants adapt to these drier environments,” says Dr. Marco Todesco.

Dr. Todesco and his colleagues grew almost 2,000 wild sunflowers of two species at the university in 2016 and 2019. They measured the sunflowers’ ultraviolet patterns, and analyzed the plants’ genes, and found that wild sunflowers from different parts of North America had ultraviolet bullseyes of very different sizes.

Larger floral ultraviolet patterns that have more of these compounds could help reduce the amount of water loss from a sunflower in environments with lower humidity (湿度), preventing too much water loss. In humid, hot environments, smaller ultraviolet patterns would promote the water loss, keeping the plant cool and avoiding overheating.

Sunflowers are planted for various purposes, including sunflower oil production, a roughly $20 billion industry in 2020. This research could help add to knowledge about how to attract pollinators, potentially increasing crop yields, says Dr. Todesco. “This work also helps us understand how sunflowers, and potentially other plants, better adapt to different areas or temperatures, which could be important in a warming climate.”

1. What do we know about sunflowers?

A．They don’t need pollinators.

B．Their flowers have special functions.

C．Their flowers can drive the insects away.

D．They can be grown in extremely cold areas.

2. What did Dr. Todesco and his colleagues do?

A．They analyzed 2000 kinds of sunflowers.

B．They planted sunflowers to carry out research.

C．They travelled to different parts of South America.

D．They helped people in North America plant sunflowers.

3. What is Dr. Todesco’s attitude to the research on sunflowers?

A．Positive.	B．Doubtful.
C．Negative.	D．Critical.

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

A．A Hidden Function of Flowers of Sunflowers

B．Researchers Found a New Species of Sunflower

C．Sunflowers Can Change the Colours of Sunshine

D．Ultraviolet Bullseye Patterns Attract More Insects

6 . 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。

I was twenty when living away from home alone. I kept a gentle dog named Beaufort who weighed more than me and had a mouthful of sharp teeth. I felt safe going anywhere with Beaufort. In order to be free to walk Beaufort in the park during daytime, I worked the four-to-midnight shift in downtown. The only disadvantage was that I had to ride the last subway home late at night. As time passed, I developed a way to keep to myself like other passengers—avoiding eye contact and keeping reading while I rode.

One night, the station was quiet as usual. I walked over to the collector’s booth (售票亭) and pulled out a dollar. “One token (乘车币), please.” As the collector slid the token and my change under the window, he spoke, “Would you like a dog?” I looked at him in surprise, not sure whether I had heard him correctly. “Would you like a dog?” he repeated.

He picked up a little dog and set it on the counter. I bent over and it was only then that I saw the subject of his inquiry. The dog appeared to be trembling (颤抖). I was surprised. “Where’d it come from?” I asked. “She showed up this morning and has been here ever since. No one has come for her. I’ve asked everyone coming here if he wanted her. Nobody would take her.” “What about you?” He smiled, “Me? No. My wife would be angry.” I couldn’t take my eyes off the dog. The collector continued: “If you don’t take her, I’ll have to let her go when I leave.” I couldn’t believe it! He explained that it was almost closing time, he couldn’t leave her in the booth, neither could he bring her home. I, in other words, was the dog’s last hope.

“Okay, I will take her. I’d name her Phyllis”. With excitement, the collector walked out of the booth and handed me my new pet. “Thank you so much.”

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。

When we stepped into the train all the passengers turned to look at us.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Arriving home, we found Beaufort at the regular corner.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . Richard Proenneke did what most nature lovers can only dream of: At age 51, he quit his job as a mechanic and moved to the Alaskan wilderness to become one with nature.

In 1962, Proenneke encountered the area Twin Lakes, now called Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. Its wild beauty struck a chord with Proenneke. He thought the area was a perfect place to settle. In 1968, he built a small cabin there and remained for the next 30 years.

Going such long periods without companionship would tax many a person. But that was not the case for Proenneke. An obsessive observer and diarist, Proenneke once noted he was so busy with his life that he was never lonely. He spent most of his free time writing about the weather, the environment and the animals, some of which he befriended with regular treats. He hiked thousands of miles per year, becoming quite familiar with the miles of wilderness around his cabin. He caught and ate fish from the lake. Having no refrigerator, he dug into the ground and created a chilly storage box that helped to prolong his fresh foods.

Yet Proenneke wasn’t a bitter or angry isolationist (孤立主义者). He happily wrote replies to just about anyone who sent him letters. During the 30 years, Proenneke filled up more than 250 notepads with his diary entries. He also carried a camera to record some of his daily activities. Along with a biography composed by his friend Sam Keith, Proenneke’s notepads and camera footage were later turned into a documentary, Alone in the Wilderness.

In his will, Proenneke left behind his Twin Lakes cabin to the park rangers (护林员) as a gift. Actually, he had become such an important part of the park’s ecosystem that the rangers had trouble imagining life without him.

1. What made Proenneke different from other nature lovers?

A．He loved outdoor activities.	B．He built a cabin in the forest.
C．He quit his job in his fifties.	D．He settled alone in the wilderness.

2. Which word can best replace the underlined “tax” in Paragraph 3?

A．Impress.

B．Benefit.

C．Defeat.

D．Transform.

3. What might Proenneke think of his life in Twin Lakes?

A．Bitter but fruitful.	B．Lonely but peaceful.
C．Risky but thrilling.	D．Simple but fulfilling.

4. What might be a suitable title for the text?

A．One Man’s “Alaska”	B．Gift from a Nature Lover
C．A Volunteer Ranger	D．Survival in the Wilderness

8 . The food we eat every day keeps us alive, but it can also bring big health and environmental costs. A recent study finds that small shifts in the food choices could have great benefits to both health and the planet.

Because many foods with a high health burden, including processed meats or red meats, have high environmental costs. Reducing just about 10 percent of a person’s daily intake can cut a person’s food-based environmental footprint by over 30 percent. Between growing it, packaging it, moving it around, cooking it, and often wasting it, food production makes up about one-fifth to one-third of all annual greenhouse gas emissions globally. For an average household, food makes up about as much of the greenhouse gas footprint as the electricity.

To learn how to reduce negative impacts of food production and consumption on the planet and the body, researchers first assessed damage related to food. Over the past few decades, scientists have developed ways of doing “life cycle analyses” for specific items and assigned them a hard number to show their environmental impact. Meanwhile, public health scientists were doing similar analyses for human bodies. They carefully examined the links between food and health. They concluded that agriculture is a huge piece of the climate puzzle, and agriculture, food, and diet are all linked.

We can’t stop eating, so what should we do? For some climate challenges, there are relatively straightforward ways. For example, renewable energy sources can already replace much of the energy needed to power buildings, cars, and more.

There’s no substitute for food, but shifting what we eat is possible. If all people on the planet are vegans, greenhouse gas emissions from the food system could be cut by more than half; a planet of vegetarians would trim food emissions by 44 percent.

1. Why does the author list the figures in paragraph 2?

A．To highlight the harm of gas emission.

B．To advocate the consumption of red meats.

C．To show the environmental impact of food.

D．To illustrate the necessity of cutting food waste.

2. What relationship do scientists show exactly with “life cycle analyses”?

A．Food and human bodies.	B．Climate change and health.
C．Agriculture and human development.	D．Food production and the environment.

3. What does the text suggest people do about food emissions?

A．Eat whatever you want.	B．Use fossil energy sources.
C．Reduce food consumption.	D．Consume more vegetables.

4. What does the underlined word “trim” mean in paragraph 5?

A．Reduce.

B．Release.

C．Affect.

D．Improve.

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。

World leaders at the 5th meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) agreed that by 2024, they would create and sign a new treaty on plastics. The new treaty would create international laws     1     could help bring plastic waste under control.

Because plastic is useful for so many purposes, it has become a part of nearly all areas of our lives. It’s hard to look anywhere without finding dozens of     2     (object) made of plastic.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) reports that     3     (current) 400 million tons of plastic is produced every year. By 2040, that number is predicted to double. And even though there’s a lot of talk about recycling, only 9% of all the plastic ever     4     ( produce) has been recycled.

Plastic gives off dangerous gases when it’s made and also when it’s burned or buried in the ground. Scientists say plastics are responsible     5     4.5% of the world’s greenhouse gases — the gases that are driving the climate crisis.

Plastic doesn’t “decompose (腐烂)” like natural materials. Instead, it just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. And as the plastics     6     (fill) our world break down, they create     7     new problem — microplastics.

Microplastics are so tiny that     8     (they) existence is usually ignored. In the past few years, microplastics     9     (find) almost everywhere, from the North pole to Antarctica, from the top of the Earth’s     10     (high) mountain to the deepest point in the sea. They’ve even appeared in the bodies of animals including humans.

10 . In a paper published in Nature Communications, a team led by scientists from the University of California, using climate models and satellite data, reveal for the first time how protecting tropical forests can yield climate benefits that enhance carbon storage in nearby areas.

Many climate scientists use computer simulations (模拟) to mimic the planet's climate as it exists today and how it may exist in the future as humanity keeps emitting greenhouse gases. Such models rely on accurate measurements of all the moving parts of the climate system, from how much sunlight hits and warms the climate, to the response of forest biomass (生物量) to changes in temperature, rainfall and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

Jim Randerson, UCI professor of Earth system science, said, “This paper shows that avoiding deforestation yields carbon benefits in nearby regions as a consequence of climate feedbacks.”

He explained that for a new patch of deforestation in the Amazon, the regional climate changes that happen as a result led to an additional 5.1 percent more loss of total biomass in the entire Amazon basin. In the Congo, the additional biomass loss from the climate effects of deforestation is about 3.8 percent. Tropical forests store about 200 petagrams of carbon in their aboveground biomass. Since 2010, deforestation has been removing about 1 petagram of that carbon every year. (One petagram is equal to 1 trillion kilograms.)

Until now, climate modelers have, for lack of data, not considered tree mortality (死亡率) in their climate simulations. But by combining satellite data with climate variables, they obtained information about how sensitive carbon stored in vegetation is to climatic changes that result from tree mortality and fire.

1. What determines the results of the models?

A．Accuracy of computer simulators.

B．Precise calculations by researchers.

C．Precise measurement of the climate system.

D．Accurate measurement of global temperature.

2. How did Jim Randerson explain the effects of deforestation?

A．By simulating climate changes.	B．By giving warnings.
C．By analyzing reasons.	D．By listing figures.

3. Why is tree mortality not considered in the climate simulations?

A．Because it is of little value.

B．Because of data shortage.

C．Because of lack of enough trees.

D．Because it is up to his expectation.

4. What might be a suitable title for the text?

A．Protecting Tropical Trees Is Beneficial To Humans

B．Tropical Trees Are Experiencing Severe Damages

C．Computer Simulations Can Predict Climate Change

D．Protecting Tropical Trees Makes For Carbon Storage