Most gardeners will probably say gardening
2 . Once there was a dandelion (蒲公英) living alone by the road. It felt bored and sad all day as no one ever stopped to take a look at or talk to it.
One day, a mother was walking on the road with her baby. The baby was crying hard and loudly. No matter what the mother did, she couldn’t get the baby to stop crying. Then the mother looked down, and she found the lonely dandelion. It looked so lovely in the sun with its white seeds widely open, and more beautiful than other plants around.
The mother squatted down, (蹲下) picking the dandelion softly. Then she brought it up to her baby so that he could see it clearly. When the baby saw the flowers of the dandelion, he quickly stopped crying and looked at them with interest.
His mom put the dandelion near her mouth and blew the flowers up and down. The dandelion seeds then flew in the air, spreading far away with the wind. The mother gave the dandelion to her son. He didn’t know what the plant was, but he knew it was fun to play with, which made him giggle (咯咯笑) so happily.
Now the dandelion knew its value and didn’t feel sad. It lived a beautiful life just by being itself. It wasn’t as beautiful as other flowers, but it brought the child a simple kind of happiness that money can’t buy.
The dandelion’s story tells us that everyone is special and great. We can help others in one way or another. We’re far greater than we think we are.
1. Why did the dandelion feel lonely at first?| A．Because no one noticed it . | B．Because it left its mother. |
| C．Because it lived by the road. | D．Because it had no friends. |
| A．Kind and honest. | B．Friendly and helpful. |
| C．Patient and careful. | D．Beautiful and funny. |
| A．it could travel farther | B．it found its value |
| C．it was powerful again | D．it had more seeds than before |
| A．Great minds think alike. |
| B．Two heads are better than one. |
| C．Rome was not built in a day. |
| D．All things in their being are good for something. |
3 . I’ve been in an 18-year love-hate relationship with a black walnut tree(胡桃树) .
It’s a unique tree. In late September or early October, falling fruits as hard as baseballs threaten the skulls(头骨) of you, your children, your neighbors and those that reside next door to them. Umbrellas in the yard area must while dining in early August, and as for me, I wear my bike helmet while working in the garden.
The black walnut also releases a chemical substance through its roots as a competitive strategy. It’s poisonous to several common plants. There have been many new plant species that I brought home with hopes that maybe the black walnut would accept them, but they failed to flourish.
What does work are native plants that naturally grow in the area. Native plants are important to have around since they provide beneficial pollinators(传粉者) like birds, bees and butter l lies with seeds and contribute to a healthy and biodiverse environment. Native plants for this area are generally easy to grow, so they experience less stress.
Have I thought of getting rid of this giant pain in my tiny backyard? Yes, however, getting rid of this tree standing at 50 feet with an 87-inch trunk is next to impossible. It’s also protected under the law. Rightfully so. Trees are important to the urban forest and for all of those that inhabit it.
Sometimes I think about my life without the black walnut I can’t imagine a spring without the birds who arrive every year and loudly sing their songs before dawn. I’d miss falling asleep on lazy weekend afternoons as I look up into its leaves.
Every spring, I wonder what the season holds: What are the chances of being knocked unconscious while barbecuing? Like any good relationship, I’ll never be pleased. I’m stuck with this tree, so I’ll listen to its needs and give it the space it requires. In return, my walnut offers a habitat for wildlife and a reminder.
1. Why does the author wear a bike helmet while working in the garden?| A．To protect the injured skull. | B．To reduce the chance of a bee sting. |
| C．To prevent herself from sunburn. | D．To avoid being hurt by the nuts. |
| A．It attracts beneficial pollinators. |
| B．It lets out poison to drive away pests. |
| C．It produces a chemical deadly to some plants. |
| D．It competes for nutrition with similar species. |
| A．It offers a shelter but out competes all native plants. |
| B．It takes up much space but helps new plants survive. |
| C．It is home to numerous birds but has hard fruits. |
| D．It gives off an attractive smell but makes barbecue impossible. |
| A．It’s better to give than to take. |
| B．Building a relationship is troublesome. |
| C．Trees and plants have their own ways to flourish. |
| D．Acceptance, instead of resistance, is the better way to be. |
4 . The Amazon rainforest is as pristine (处于原始状态的) a place as most people can imagine, but even there, the effects of a changing climate are playing out. Previous research found that some birds in the Amazon are experiencing drops that may be related to climate change. Now, new research suggests that as the Amazon's dry season has gotten hotter, some species are starting to evolve (进化).
For the new study, researchers studied 77 non-migratory species over a 40-year period. They reported in the journal Science Advances that 36 species have lost weight, as much as 2 percent of their body weight every ten years since 1980. Meanwhile, all the species became smaller in body size, while a third grew longer wings.
The researchers themselves are unsure what advantage the wing length changes give the birds, but smaller birds may have an easier time keeping cool. In general, smaller animals have a larger ratio (比例) of surface area to body size, so they dissipate more heat faster than a bigger animal. Less available food, such as fruit or insects, in dryer weather might lead to smaller body size.
“Think about a fighter plane. It has short wings and is heavy. It has to go really fast to stay high in the air, so it uses up plenty of energy,”says ecologist Vtek Jirinec, “who led the new study, while a glider (滑翔机) almost uses no power to stay high in the air, because it’s got these long wings, and it’s light.”
For those who wonder why a small body change in a small homebody bird should matter, Jirinec points to how our actions have effects we don’t always see － such as changing the size and shape of animals half a world away.
“We think of Amazonia as a pristine place, full of life, untouched by people, away from deforestation,” Jirinec says. “But it looks like no, not necessarily.”
1. What does the new study find out about some bird species in the Amazon rainforest?| A．They have changed physically. | B．They are dying out due to hotter weather. |
| C．They have a smaller population than before. | D．They have migrated as a result of less rainfall. |
| A．Feel. | B．Need. | C．Give out. | D．Make use of. |
| A．To study how birds speed up in the air. |
| B．To show the advantage of birds’ longer wings. |
| C．To describe how birds' wings move when flying. |
| D．To introduce the difficulty birds can meet when flying. |
| A．It isn't as attractive as it was. |
| B．It is making a quick recovery. |
| C．It is being influenced by human activities. |
| D．It isn't suitable for some bird species any longer. |
5 . My previous home had a stand of woods behind it and many animals in the backyard. That first year, I
That second year, the rabbits
By year three, the rabbits and the groundhog were back. The groundhog
| A．avoided | B．started | C．stopped | D．suggested |
| A．business | B．fun | C．problem | D．right |
| A．help | B．cheat | C．threat | D．exception |
| A．play | B．miss | C．admire | D．trust |
| A．feared | B．discovered | C．touched | D．remembered |
| A．proved | B．decided | C．noticed | D．understood |
| A．extreme | B．increasing | C．additional | D．inspiring |
| A．squirrel | B．rabbit | C．peanut | D．carrot |
| A．before long | B．long ago | C．over and over | D．all over again |
| A．eating | B．playing | C．sitting | D．sleeping |
| A．Next | B．Once | C．Soon | D．Lately |
| A．carefully | B．suddenly | C．violently | D．patiently |
| A．also | B．thus | C．just | D．still |
| A．thought | B．doubted | C．designed | D．realized |
| A．While | B．Or | C．So | D．For |
| A．fixed | B．placed | C．hung | D．kept |
| A．surprise | B．delay | C．move | D．shake |
| A．Even if | B．Ever since | C．As far as | D．So long as |
| A．welcomed | B．minded | C．hated | D．expected |
| A．trade | B．chance | C．task | D．life |
6 . Known for their huge size, whales are important sea animals. The organizations of the world are calling all nations not to kill or eat whales any more.
After the Japanese government made its decision clear on Nov. 8, 2016 to catch 100 more whales in 2017, many animal experts in the world voiced their angry answers. Japan’s new whaling (捕鲸) plan is a great danger to the living of these large animals. It will also do harm to the sea interests (利益) of other surrounding countries including China, experts said.
According to a Japan News report, Japan caught 174 minke whales and 140 sei whales totally in the northwest Pacific Ocean in 2017. “After years of overfishing (过度捕捞), the population of minke whales in the northwest Pacific Ocean has been reduced to a dangerous level. Therefore, Japan should stop whaling in the area,” said Wang Yaming, a leader of the International Whaling Organization.
According to Wang, most whales living in the northwest Pacific Ocean are migratory (迁徙的) animals, and their traveling way is very close to the land of Russia, South Korea, North Korea, Japan and China. Japan’s whaling will also have a terrible influence on those countries.
Although the world has stopped to catch and kill whales, Japan lies to others that its killing of whales is just for scientific purposes. However, many experts don’t agree with it completely. “Japan should not kill more whales, as doing so would harm the international whale resources (资源). Japan’s whaling in the northwest Pacific Ocean hasn’t drawn much more attention because it hardly influences the interests of western countries.” Wang explained.
It is really high time for Japan to stop its whaling from now on.
1. What is animal experts’ attitude towards the Japan’s whaling plan?| A．Surprised. | B．Interested. | C．Angry. | D．Happy. |
| A．About 314. | B．About 274. | C．About 240. | D．About 414. |
| A．Whales travel far from the land of Japan when they are migrating. |
| B．Western countries strongly oppose to Japan’s whaling in the northwest Pacific Ocean. |
| C．Japan’s whaling has nothing to do with the neighboring countries. |
| D．Overfishing has made certain whales in the northwest Pacific Ocean fewer. |
| A．Food supply. | B．Scientific study. | C．Zoo interests. | D．Sea balance. |
7 . One day, a woman walked into a pet store to buy a bird for her Thanksgiving Day party. The guy said, “We only have one parrot. But I think you do not want it because it can talk…” The woman said happily, “That’s great. I’ve always wanted a talking bird.” So the guy said, “Since you are a nice lady, I’ll give it to you as a gift.”
And the lady went home and put the bird on her bed and walked out of the room. But as soon as she walked into the kitchen, the bird started to speak dirty words as loud as it could. The woman walked back into the room thinking, “I can’t have this at my party!” So she took the bird and put it in the fridge. A few hours later, while the woman was eating, she remembered that her bird was still in the fridge. Quickly, she opened the door and found it was shivering. Then she took out the bird at once. She said to the bird, “I’ll keep you out of there if you don’t use that language again. Do you agree with me?”
The bird nodded and asked, “Can I just ask a quick question?” The lady nodded and said, “Yes, you may.” The bird pointed at the turkey behind him and asked, “What did he do?”
1. The woman went into the pet store because ________.| A．there were lots of nice birds in it |
| B．she wanted to buy a bird to make a big meal |
| C．she wanted to buy a bird for Thanksgiving Day party |
| D．she wanted to buy a bird for his son’s birthday |
| A．发抖 | B．睡觉 | C．生气 | D．跳动 |
| A．how the turkey was put into the fridge. | B．why itself was in the fridge. |
| C．who could be in the fridge. | D．why the turkey was in the fridge. |
| A．she wanted to cook it on Thanksgiving Day | B．the bird spoke dirty words |
| C．the bird liked living in the cold place | D．she thought it’s the best place for it to live in |
8 . When people think of a typical mineral mine, it’s probably underground. It’s unlikely that the picture of plants and soft greenery would cross their minds. Now, new explorations into phytomining (植物采矿) may change that viewpoint. Instead of traditionally mining metals from rocks, phytomining uses plants as an alternative source for them. Using plants to extract metals can have significant environmental benefits over rock mining.
Phytomining was first studied in 1983, but it hasn’t yet been adopted by the metals industry. In 2004, Indonesian soil scientist Tjoa took her research to Sorowako, a small town in Indonesia with one of the largest nickel (镍) mining areas, to look into plants that continued to live after years of mining. She brought samples back to her lab and found that these super plants were more than just surviving — they were growing.
The plants were absorbing and storing nickel from the soil. Large amounts of metals kill most plants, but these, known as hyper-accumulators (超富集植物), were learning to adapt. If these plants were storing metal, that meant science could find a way to extract the minerals for use and quite frankly, scientists easily did. When the shoots are harvested and burned, the metals are separated from the plant material in the ashes.
Tjoa returned to Sorowako and spent years searching for new hyper-accumulator species. After a plant is considered a possibility, there’s a simple test paper that turns pink when placed against the leaf of a hyper-accumulator plant. Two local Indonesian plants were found but there are many others still to be discovered.
Tjoa’s research caught the attention of Bijasksana, a professor of rock magnetism. Together they designed an experiment to understand magnetic susceptibility (磁化率) when plants accumulate more nickel. Their research led to the discovery of two new species of hyper-accumulators. Besides, this research serves as the basis for the potential that plants can give to the mining industry, offering great advantages to our ecosystem and toward building a more sustainable future.
1. Why did Tjoa go to Sorowako in 2004?| A．To work with the local government. | B．To study the plants surviving mining. |
| C．To improve the soil of the small town. | D．To research into underground mining. |
| A．They are rich in metals. | B．They are free of minerals. |
| C．They are very easy to discover. | D．They are too fragile to survive. |
| A．Helping more plants to survive. | B．Testing out the mining industry. |
| C．Improving the extraction efficiency. | D．Finding more hyper-accumulators. |
| A．New Creative Mining Way Meets Challenges. |
| B．Plants Can Act as Sources of Many Metals. |
| C．Scientists Can Extract Minerals from Plants. |
| D．Phytomining Replaces Traditional Mining. |
9 . A world in which extinct creatures could be brought back to life came a step closer yesterday. Australian scientists have managed to extract a gene from a preserved sample of a Tasmanian tiger and make it active. The breakthrough has left them dreaming that one day they will be able to recreate the animal, which died out more than 70 years ago. And if it can be done with the Tasmanian tiger, it may also be possible to resurrect(复活) creatures that have been extinct for far longer.
“There used to be a time when extinction meant forever, but no more,” said Professor Mike Archer. “We are now able to seriously challenge whether those animals that have gone have gone for ever. What has been achieved is a very important step in bringing back those animals that are extinct. And while I think that technically it is still pretty difficult at the moment, we can now see the possibilities. I’m personally convinced that the Tasmanian tiger will be brought back to life in my lifetime.”
The breakthrough came after nine years of experiments by scientists at the University of Melbourne, who extracted a gene from one of several tigers preserved in alcohol in a Melbourne museum. They removed the equivalent gene from a mouse embryo (胚胎), implanted the tiger gene and then watched as the mouse continued to grow normally, suggesting the tiger gene had been activated.
Team leader Dr. Andrew Pask said it was the first time DNA from an extinct species had been used to” induce (引起) a functional response in another living organism”.
However, the animal’s entire gene structure would have to be revived in the same way to even begin the possibility of bringing the Tasmanian tiger back from the dead. Mick Mooney, a wildlife officer of the Tasmanian Government, was worried that such developments could encourage people’s indifference to the protection of endangered species.
“If people think that we can bring animals back to life after they’ve gone, they will start saying that there is nothing to worry about because we can fix it up later.”
1. What does the underlined word “breakthrough” in the first paragraph refer to?| A．A tiger gene has been extracted successfully and activated. |
| B．Scientists have recreated new animals. |
| C．Scientists have resurrected endangered animal. |
| D．It has turned out that some creatures would not go extinct. |
| A．transplant the genes of tigers into other animals |
| B．find out what factors lead to the animals’ extinction |
| C．find a new way to extract animals’ DNA |
| D．bring extinct animals back to life |
| A．scientists now have no technological difficulty reconnecting extinct animals |
| B．it’ll be a century or so before a Tasmanian tiger walks on the earth again |
| C．reconnecting extinct animals is impossible |
| D．humans have come closer in reconnecting extinct animals |
| A．he thought it unnecessary to worry about endangered animals |
| B．he is concerned that bringing extinct animals back to life may have a negative effect |
| C．his opinion is in contrast with that of the Tasmanian Government |
| D．he thought people should be encouraged to protect endangered animals |
10 . Qibao Ancient Village
Qibao, located in the center of Minhang District, Shanghai, is a village with a history of one thousand years. In the village, wine and tea are served on old-fashioned square tables together with long benches, long-mouth copper pots and flat-end chopstick used. The most famous snacks in old Shanghai are square pastry, rice wine and steamed salted pork in wine.
Entrance Ticket: 45 yuan per all-in-one ticket (preferable price of 30 yuan is available now), covering almost all tourist attractions inside the village.
Telephone: 021-21087225
Jinshan Village of Farmer Painting
Villagers skillfully make good use of folk arts such as printing and dyeing, embroidery (刺绣), wood carving. They take the various folk customs and the busy scenes of labor of villagers in the lower Changjiang valley as the theme of paintings and create farmer paintings in a simple style.
Entrance Ticket: 30 yuan/person
Telephone: 021-57355555
Merry Countryside Tour in Zhonghua Village
The village provides tourists with accommodations, tours, chess, cards, fitness and entertainment through renting out separate farmhouse and sells tourist products and agricultural by-products related to the merry countryside tour.
Entrance Ticket: Free Telephone: 021-57395433Pudong Lingkong Agric Gardening
It is one of Shanghai countryside tour scenic spots, which features art of teapots, crop plantation and export. The Geological Science Popularization Hall stores up tens of thousands of rare stones collected all over the world.
Entrance Ticket: 50 yuan /person
Telephone: 021-33935557
1. What can you do when you are in Qibao?| A．Enter the village for free. | B．See busy scenes of labor of villagers. |
| C．Experience various folk customs. | D．Taste steamed salted pork in wine. |
| A．Jinshan Village. | B．Qibao Ancient Village. |
| C．Zhonghua Village. | D．Pudong Lingkong Agric Gardening. |
| A．City developments. | B．Countryside life. |
| C．Traditional customs. | D．Agricultural achievements. |
