1 . Waste not, Want not

Today, I live in Manhattan with my husband, Alex. I’m an IT specialist and Alex is a lawyer. Life’s good, but sometimes I look at the way we live it and think of Ellie, my grandmother. Her favorite saying was “Waste not, want not.”     1    . Ellie carefully folded the paper from parcels and washed glass jars to use again. Frank, my grandfather, used old socks and pullovers (套头毛衣) to protect the plants in winter. Nowadays, we go to a garden center to buy special felt for that purpose. Have we all gone mad?

Such economy seems strange, even ridiculous, in our modern throwaway society, where everything is sold in boxes.     2    , but as a selling feature to make us want to buy them. Ellie and Frank would have seen the very idea of a “gift pack” as a cheat.

    3    . The United States produces about 180 million metric tons of waste per year, 70% of which is packaging materials. The average American family uses up six trees’ worth of paper a year.     4    , they would reach to the moon and back twelve times. “We can’t go on like this,” I said to Alex. “Let’s start at home. If everybody starts at home, then this madness will stop.”

    5    . Of course, this meant that we produced a lot of waste, but I was shocked to find that this came to over six kilos per week. “Your grandma Ellie with her ‘Waste not, want not’ was really modern, wasn’t she?” “Not really,” I said. “Ellie and their neighbors were just ordinary, traditional New Englanders. We’ve all gone mad since then.”

A．Packaging is not only used to protect goods

B．My grandparents threw almost nothing away

C．In one week alone, we threw away five old magazines

D．We didn’t often go shopping and then cook meals at home

E．As young Manhattan professionals, we buy a lot of “convenience food”

F．But we pay a high financial and ecological price for our lovely packaging

G．If you placed all the cans used in the United States, in one year end to end

2 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。请在答题卡指定区域作答。

Balancing Trees and CO₂

Tree planting used to be regarded as an effective means of reducing climate change. Perhaps it’s time for us to rethink this practice. Trees pull CO₂ from the air. This effectively removes CO₂ from the atmosphere. But trees only hold onto CO₂ as long as they’re alive. Once they die, trees decay (腐烂) and release that CO₂ back into the atmosphere.

Recent studies have found that trees around the world are growing faster than ever. The rise of CO₂, mainly due to burning fossil fuels, is probably driving that rapid growth, said Roel Brienen, a forest ecologist at the University of Leeds, UK. High levels of CO₂ are increasing temperatures, which in turn speeds tree growth in those areas, he added.

The faster trees grow, the faster they store carbon. It seems like good news. However, it is known that fast-growing tree species, in general, live shorter lives than their slow-growing relatives.

In order to see whether the growth-lifespan trade-off (生长与寿命之间的权衡) is a universal phenomenon, Brienen and his colleagues analyzed over 210,000 individual tree ring records of 110 tree species from more than 79,000 sites worldwide. They found that, in almost all habitats and all sites, faster-growing tree species died younger than slow-growing species, and even within a species, the trade-off between growth and life span held strong.

The team also created a computer program that modeled a forest and tweaked (微量调整) the growth of the trees in this model. Early on, it showed that “the forest could hold more carbon as the trees grew faster”, Brienen reported. But after 20 years, these trees started dying and losing this extra carbon again. “We must understand that the only solution to bringing down CO₂ levels is to stop emitting (排放) it into the atmosphere,” said Brienen.

1. What does “this practice” in Para.1 refer to?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why are trees around the world growing faster than ever?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Read the following statement, underline the false part of it and explain the reason. The team has found that the faster trees grow, the faster they store CO₂, and the longer lives they live.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Please briefly present what you can do in daily life to reduce the emission of CO₂.（about 40 words）
____________________________________________________________________________________________

3 . 阅读下面两篇短文，根据其大意，从方框中选择适当的短语，并用其正确形式填空。

in addition     turn one’s back     break down     a variety of          live in harmony     run out     maintain friendships     be concerned with

A

Friendship clubs provide a platform for people to take part in     1     social activities, such as group outings, shared hobbies, and interactive events. They help to bring together like-minded individuals who are seeking to make new friends.     2    , joining a friendship club is also beneficial for people to     3     through face-to-face interaction.

B

Nature is our home. Humans and other living things on the planet couldn’t survive without the resources that come from nature. We should take care of our “home” before it’s too late. If we keep overusing and destroying nature, it will finally    4     on us. We should try our best to     5     with nature.

4 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

    1     the night of July 28, 1976, one of the greatest earthquakes in the twentieth century hit Tangshan, Hebei. Strange things were happening, but people thought little of the       2     (warn). Then, at 3:42 a. m., the earth shook

Nearly a       3     (three) of China felt it. In less than one minute Tangshan was in ruins and more than 400,000 people were killed or injured. In the afternoon came another quake. Even more building     4     (fall) down. People began to wonder if the disaster would end.

5 . Amid rolling farms and green pasture 150 miles northwest of Sao Paulo, Brazil, two tropical forests bloom as one. The first consists of a single species, row after row of non-native eucalyptus (桉树), planted in perfect lines like carrots. The other is haphazard, an assortment of dozens of varieties of native saplings.

There’s no denying it: This forest looks ridiculous. The gangly (修长的) eucalyptuses shoot like witch fingers high above patches of stubby fig (矮壮的无花果树) and evergreen trees. Yet these jumbled 2.5-acre stands of native trees, ringed by fast-growing exotics, are among many promising efforts to resurrect the planet’s forests.

The eucalyptuses, says Pedro Brancalion, the University of Sao Paulo agronomist who designed this experiment, get big so quickly they can be cut after five years and sold to make paper or fence posts. That covers nearly half or more of the cost of planting the slow-growing native trees, which then naturally reseed ground that has been laid bare by the harvest. And this process doesn’t hamper natural regeneration.

You needn’t look far these days to find organizations trying to save the world by growing trees. Too often, tree-planting groups are so focused on getting credit for each seedling planted that they ignore what matters most: What kind of woodland is created? At what cost? And most importantly: How long will it last? Using the numbers of trees planted as a magic “proxy for everything,” Brancalion says, you “spend more money and get lower levels of benefits.” You can literally miss the forest for the trees.

Tree planting seems like a simple, natural way to counter the overwhelming crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Trees provide wildlife habitats and slurp carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. No wonder trees are hailed as the ideal weapon. Yet for every high-profile planting operation, devastating failures have occurred. In Turkey, Sri Lanka, and Mexico, mass plantings have resulted in millions of dead seedlings or have driven farmers to clear more intact forest elsewhere. Trees that have been planted in the wrong places have reduced water yields for farmers, destroyed highly diverse carbon-sucking grassland soils, and allowed for invasive vegetation to spread. Simply reforesting the planet isn’t going to do much if we don’t also start cutting down on our emissions from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas. Tree planting also can’t replace old-growth forests. Saving them is even more important than growing new forests.

So, what should we do?

To Brancalion, the answer is obvious: Restore native forests, mostly in the tropics, where trees grow fast and land is cheap. While that may require planting, it may also call for the clearing out of invasive grasses, the rejuvenation (使有活力) of soils, and crop yield improvements so that farmers will need less land for agriculture and more can be allowed to revert back to forests.

The combining of eucalyptus harvests with native plantings is just one more reminder that successful restoration must provide value to local communities. In many cases, if we let nature do the heavy lifting, Brancalion says, “the forest can regrow quite effectively.”

1. What can we learn from the first three paragraphs?

A．The non-native eucalyptuses bring profits that can pay for planting native saplings.

B．The non-native eucalyptuses compete with native saplings for water, nutrients, and light.

C．The variety of trees being planted determines whether or not the restoration will succeed.

D．Planting fast-growing exotics together with local trees does harm to the natural environment.

2. The example of mass plantings in Turkey, Sri Lanka, and Mexico is used to _______.

A．emphasize the significance of protecting existing forests

B．explain why tree planting is regarded as the ideal solution

C．illustrate the serious problems planting campaigns can cause

D．indicate the most important point tree-planting groups ignore

3. According to the author, we should do all the following EXCEPT _______.

A．clear more forest to improve crop yields for farmers

B．combine harvests of fast-growing exotics with native plantings

C．restore native forests in the tropics and clear out invasive grasses

D．take into consideration the benefits of reforestation to local communities

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Plant trees—and time will tell.	B．Plant trees—but don’t overdo it.
C．Plant trees—and save the world.	D．Plant trees—but mind the variety.

6 . 语法填空

Glass recycling has become such a big industry that the amount of glass     1     (recycle) is not meeting the demand for new glass to be produced. Some states in U. S. have attempted to resolve this situation in hopes of encouraging the     2     (produce) of glass over plastic by offering monetary incentives (奖励) for glass. For example, California has a special program     3     you can earn five cents for most glass bottles as well as plastic ones and aluminum cans less than 24 ounces. For items over 24 ounces, you can earn 10 cents each.

7 . 语法填空

Have you ever been to London? Which famous sites did you visit? Or, if it is the first time that you    1     (be) there, which one will you check out? Some world famous     2     (culture) sites may already be on your list: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the London Tower. However, a tour of London would be incomplete     3       checking out the London art scene.

8 . Working Together to Save the Sea Turtles

Florida has some of the best beaches in the world. Thousands of people visit the state to enjoy the sand. But these beaches are also home to five species of sea turtles. A major problem is facing these interesting creatures.     1     So how do Floridians protect these special animals?

Some volunteers and researchers in Florida take direct action to help the turtles. They look closely at the sand to find the fin (鳍) marks the mother sea turtles left there.     2     When they’ve figured out where the eggs were laid, they mark the area off so that no one disturbs the eggs. They also collect information about the nests and tracks to help people studying sea turtles.

These are not the only Floridians taking action to help protect these creatures. Florida’s government has passed laws to save the turtles. One of these laws is “Florida’s Marine Turtle Protection Act”. This law prohibits anyone from disturbing or destroying marine turtles, nests, or eggs.    3    

Another way Floridians work together to save these creatures is through organizations like the Sea Turtle Conservancy. The Sea Turtle Conservancy helps people take steps that will help reduce the threats that put sea turtles in danger. For instance, bright lights on buildings near the beach can negatively impact sea turtles. Baby sea turtles usually hatch on the sandy beach and head to the ocean. When there are bright lights coming from the other side of the shore far from the ocean, the baby turtles get confused.     4     To help save these turtles, The Sea Turtle Conservancy works with property owners to make lighting in their buildings sea turtle-friendly. They also encourage Florida residents to turn off their lights at night if they live close to a beach.

    5     Sometimes, turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish. They eat this trash and die. Florida residents can volunteer for beach clean-ups and make sure to pick up their own litter. They can also vote for state leaders who want to protect the sea turtles’ habitats. Every individual in the community has the power to make a difference!

A．Many of them do not make it to the ocean and die.

B．Some of these turtle species are in danger of going extinct.

C．This helps them to locate where the sea turtles laid their eggs.

D．It also helps make sure that sea turtles’ natural habitats are protected.

E．Female sea turtles come from the ocean and onto these beaches at night.

F．They use their fins to move back across the beach and return to the ocean.

G．Every Floridian can do their part to protect sea turtles and their environment.

9 . Anuar Abdullah has always had a special feeling for the ocean. In the 1980s, he settled in Perhentian as a diving instructor and fell in love with corals. Twice daily, he went out to sea, staying underwater for as long as his oxygen supply allowed. He learned the shapes and textures (纹理) of coral reefs long before he knew their Latin names. He studied the living conditions—the water temperature, the sunshine, the diversity(多样性) of ocean life—and saw how just one of those factors could bring about large-scale death.

Abdullah spent two decades experimenting with how to grow coral reefs in the ocean. He didn’t have a degree in marine (海洋的) biology or a research lab, but he had his own ways. Almost all the materials he used to grow corals came directly from the ocean. He didn’t use steel pipes or bricks—which he couldn’t afford—instead, he gathered rocks from the seafloor, piling them so they wouldn’t be knocked down by tidal waves. While others might depend on a lab to break live coral into pieces that were in turn used for growing, he searched for broken pieces of coral in existing reefs and fixed them to the rocks using animal-friendly glue. When he needed other materials, he started by searching the beach for waste.

Every day, the locals saw him on his knees examining corals in the ocean. Sometimes, he picked up a rock to which he had fixed a piece of coral several weeks earlier, and said very quietly, “My little acropora (鹿角大珊瑚), how are you doing today?” The locals whispered about how he’d spent days in the water speaking to corals as if they were people. “Everyone thought I was stupid,” said Abdullah, “But I knew I was doing the most important thing in the world.”

Actually, Abdullah was right. Now, in a world rapidly losing its coral reefs to climate change and environmental damage, he has become an increasingly influential expert on how to bring them back to life. Thousands have traveled from around the world to learn from Abdullah how to grow corals, with some eventually leaving their jobs to join his projects full time. With his 700 active volunteers, he has already saved about 125 acres of coral reefs.

1. Abdullah went out to sea twice daily to ________.

A．study coral reefs	B．have diving training
C．check his oxygen supply	D．share his feelings for the sea

2. Abdullah’s way of growing corals is________.

A．eco-friendly and practical	B．traditional and indirect
C．high-tech and affordable	D．scientific and expensive

3. From the passage we know that Abdullah________.

A．searched for waste to make a living	B．received a degree in marine biology
C．talked to everyone about coral reefs	D．became an expert on coral protection

4. What can we learn from the story?

A．Anyone with a dream is amazing.	B．Achievement provides true pleasure.
C．An individual can make a difference.	D．The strong man is strongest when alone.

10 . Episodic memory (情景记忆) allows humans to revisit past personal experiences in their minds, and it was once thought to be a special skill of humans. Although there are still arguments about the extent of this type of memory in non-human animals, scientists have proved that creatures like rats and dogs can pass tests that are developed to assess episodic memory over the past two decades. “Curiously, there is a lack of research investigating dolphins’ episodic memory,” University of Cambridge cognitive (认知的) scientist James Davies says. Therefore, this surprising fact encourages him to fill this gap.

The team used “where” and “who” questions in their research, each on a different test. Each dolphin was first trained to retrieve a ball from the water, and then trained to get a ball by approaching a person holding it in front of them while ignoring an empty-handed person standing at a different spot. During this training, the locations were randomized (使随机化) and the person holding the ball differed each time, so that those details were irrelevant to learning the retrieving behavior. Then, for the tests, the dolphins were asked to retrieve the ball as they had learned to do, but after 10 minutes, something changed-this time, the ball couldn’t be seen, as it was now behind one of the two people’s backs. In the “where” tests, the ball was hidden in the same spot as in the training, but both people had been changed, while in the “who” tests, the locations of the people changed but the ball remained with the person who’d had it previously.

Eight dolphins went through each of the two tests, separated by at least 48 hours. All the dolphins got it right in choosing the correct spot on the “where” experiments, and seven achieved success on the “who” experiments.

Kelly Jaakkola, a psychologist, says that based on their cognitive skills, dolphins are a good candidate for having episodic-like memory, and this study goes really far in showing that. She also says, “The more we look for such capabilities in non-human animals, the more species we’ll likely find them in.” She adds, “An exciting question is therefore ‘Where do we draw that line? Which animals do have it, which animals don’t, and what sort of cognitive or neurological or social characteristics do those animals share? ’ That’s going to be the fun part of the game.”

1. What does the underlined word “retrieve” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Fetch.

B．Move.

C．Throw.

D．Play.

2. What does Paragraph 2 mainly talk about?

A．The locations of the people involved in the tests.

B．The memory tasks that dolphins need to perform.

C．The ability of dolphins to communicate with humans.

D．The dolphins’ characteristics related to their memory processing.

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Dolphins pass the tests as a result of training.

B．It is very likely that dolphins are affected by people during the tests.

C．Scientists will probably find episodic memory in all non-human animals.

D．The influence of dolphins’ familiarity with a location or a person is avoided.

4. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Dolphins Are the Most Intelligent Animals

B．Dolphins May Remember Personal Experiences

C．Episodic Memory Is Important for Humans and Animals

D．A Scientific Method Is Used to Study Dolphins’ Memory