1 . For those of us who grew up watching Star Trek, exploring space has been about discovering strange new worlds. And there are plenty of worlds to explore in time, but we still need major technological advancements to reach planets that are light years away.

What we are doing in space today is providing unbelievable benefits right now, right here on Earth. From space, we can monitor, manage and care for our planet. Satellite-based sensors show us the short- and long-term effects of human activity on our environment. Many companies are using their interest in space to help solve problems here, from using hyperspectral imaging(高光谱成像), which enable us to map vegetation(植被) and rain forests, to microsatellites that provide global connectivity for the network of things.

My company, OneWeb, is focusing on what I believe is one of the world’s most important issues: the need for equal access to the Internet. The Internet has become our economic lifeblood. And yet, nearly half of the world’s population doesn’t have Internet access. Space is playing a key role in bridging this digital divide. OneWeb is launching 1,980 satellites to help bring Internet access to people everywhere, and our first production satellites are already flying in space and have shown very high download speeds.

Fiber and cable Internet access technologies already cover most financially viable(可行的) major cities. Similarly, these regions will also be the first to be served with 5G. Poor communities are the last to get connected, and without connectivity, those communities have no chance to lift themselves from poverty. OneWeb’s satellites will reach every community in the world and enable equal access to the Internet for the world’s less developed places.

Fifty years from the day when man first walked on the moon, we are still only approaching the possible. There will be tens of thousands of new satellites, space stations and factories in the coming years to bring advancements in communications, scientific research, monitoring the earth, exploring space and more. This is exciting, but we must take action carefully.

1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．Benefits space exploration can bring to us.

B．Problems space exploration leads to.

C．Steps of space exploration requires.

D．Equipment space exploration needs.

2. What is OneWeb aiming to do?

A．Increase download speeds.

B．Narrow the gap in Internet learning.

C．Help people set up and maintain a website.

D．Enable people to make use of the Internet equally.

3. What can be inferred from the text?

A．More than six decades ago, man first walked on the moon.

B．More than half of the world’s people have no access to the Internet.

C．OneWeb’s satellites will make it possible for most people to be served with 5G.

D．Without the Internet, poor communities can hardly help themselves out of poverty.

4. What will the writer probably continue to write about in the following paragraph?

A．The risks of furthering space exploration.

B．The value of setting up space stations.

C．The way we could monitor our earth.

D．The features of microsatellites.

2 . 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。

A few years ago when I was looking for a small dog to add to our family, I contacted the local SPCA(Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and got the name of a woman who was fostering(领养，代养) some rescued Maltese dogs for them. I called the woman, and my husband and I drove to her home. As I looked around, I noticed a cute Maltese named Casper. My husband and I decided we would like to adopt him.

The foster mom asked us if there were any way we would open our hearts to Casper’s friend, Kato, as well. She told us that the two boys, who had only each other for comfort, had recently been rescued from a puppy farm, where they had spent the first seven years of their lives. When the local SPCA shut down the puppy farm and seized all the dogs, Kato and Casper had been put in her foster home.

She told us that when she first picked them up, their fur was in such terrible shape that they hardly looked like Maltese dogs. They were brown, whose fur was wet and dirty, and their paws were swollen. For seven years, they were locked in a dark doghouse and the only human contact these boys had was when they were thrown their food.

Hearing all this, I turned and looked down at the little Maltese named Kato. But he’s so ugly, I thought. And he isn’t even friendly. He barked angrily when we looked at him. When I reached for him, he pushed himself against the back wall of his doghouse, whispering. Still, I felt a tig at my heart and agreed to take Kato also. As we drove home, my husband and I worried that maybe we’d taken on too much. We’d never had dogs that had been so abused(虐待) for such a longtime.

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。

The first day at our home was very difficult for the two dogs.

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Though difficult, I did everything I could think of to help these dogs.

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4 . Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has long worked to make her city less dependent on cars. She wanted to see more people using bicycles to get around. Over a number of years, the city government set limits on cars and increased the amount of bike paths from 200 kilometers to over 1,000 kilometers.

This year, Parisians are not complaining about too much automobile traffic. Instead, they say there are too many bikes. “Now, it’s really like a bike traffic jam(阻塞),” Thibault Quere, a spokesperson for France’s Federation of Bicycle Users, said. ”It’s kind of a good difficulty to have, especially when we think about what Paris used to be.”

Some famous roads along the River Seine are completely closed to cars. Now you see people riding bikes, running and walking with their families along the river. In another part of Paris, a bike path on Sebastopol Boulevard is one of the busiest in Europe, after opening in 2019. In one week in early September, it reached a record high of 124,000 riders.

The city will host the Summer Olympics in 2024 and plans to add more bike paths by then. Paris wants to reduce its pollution by half during the games, even as visitors from around the world will be in the city for the event. Organizers say all of the competition sites will be reachable by bike through a 60-kilometer network of bike paths.

The change to Paris, however, has not been easy. With more people using bikes, more people are making mistakes. Some of them are new to cycling and disobey traffic rules. But the environment may be improving. Cycling is good exercise and helps reduce pollution, which is still a problem for the large city. The French government blames atmospheric pollution for 48,000 early deaths in the country each year.

Hidalgo was re-elected in 2020 and plans to keep making what she calls a “Paris that breathes”. Her newest five-year bike plan includes over $250 million for more bike paths and bike parking. The new budget is an increase of over $100 million from her first five-year plan.

1. What can be learned from the second paragraph?

A．Hidalgo’s effort has paid off.	B．Parisians prefer to travel by car.
C．Parisians find it difficult to ride bikes.	D．Quere disagrees with Hidalgo.

2. Why does the author mention the data in paragraph 3?

A．To compare the famous roads in France.

B．To praise people enjoying riding bicycles.

C．To stress the importance of France in Europe.

D．To show how busy a cycle path is in Paris.

3. What do the organizers probably wish visitors to do during the Summer Olympics in 2024?

A．Tour local bike shops.	B．Ride to competition sites.
C．Promote the sights in France.	D．Support the athletes around the world.

4. Which word can best describe Anne Hidalgo?

A．Friendly.

B．Helpful.

C．Determined.

D．Honest.

5 . Steller or Northern Sea Lions are sometimes confused with California Sea Lions but are much larger and lighter in color. Males may grow to 11 feet in length and weigh almost 2,500 pounds.     1     Steller Sea Lions are light brown to reddish-brown in color. They have a boxy, bear-like head and a very thick neck.

Stellers are not often seen in bays or rivers. Steller pups are born on offshore islands from mid-May to mid-July and weigh 35—50 pounds.     2     Then they spend roughly equal amounts of time hunting and nursing pups on land. Pups usually nurse for a year, but some in Alaska continue to nurse for up to three years. During the breeding season, males do not leave their territories.

    3     They hunt schooling fish, squid, rockfish, and occasionally salmon. In turn, they are hunted by killer whales, white sharks, and sea elephants.

The current population of Steller Sea Lions is about 40,000 along the entire Pacific coast. There is great concern about this species. The western Aleutian stock has dropped by 80 percent in the last 30 years. In 1997, the western stock in Alaska was listed as endangered.     4     However, researchers believe possibilities include a decline in specific species of fish they eat, competition with commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska, and possible hunting by killer whales. Drowning, being caught in nets, and gunshots are other reasons for the Stellers’ decline. Stellers are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.     5    

A．Steller Sea Lions eat a variety of fishes.

B．Reasons for this decline are not known.

C．The male has a thick neck and looks like a lion.

D．They spend about half their time on land and half in water.

E．Mothers stay with pups for one to two weeks before hunting at sea.

F．They forbid the killing, harming or disturbance of any sea mammal.

G．Females are much smaller, growing to 9 feet in length and weighing up to 1,000 pounds.

6 . In the northernmost edge of Colombia sits the coastal town of Acandí. Access to the town is only by water or air; there is no road that leads there. The residents there are faced with the struggles of balancing livelihoods while protecting biodiversity.

In the past, traditional community fishing methods, passed down by the elders, focused on the reasonable fishing and management of resources. However, the introduction of large-scale trawling vessels(拖网渔船) decades ago gradually depleted the area’s fishing resources, leading to damage to marine(海洋的) life seriously.

Jesús Antonio Julio Cuestas, who serves in the region’s conservation and management of marine resources, stresses the bad impact of these developments and calls for new fishing techniques. “Fishing and conservation co-exist as long as we have good management practices and reasonable use of our fishing resources,” says Cuestas. He and other officials actively monitor fishing activities in Acandí. Each morning, they visit the fish markets to gather data on fishery resources—including prices and sizes—to monitor the state of the local fishing industry.

Along with Cuestas, the fishers work to reduce their impact on the marine ecosystem. By changing fishing methods and adopting new practices, they aim for a more balanced approach to fishing. “This year the local fishermen have not used the trawl net s that were causing the death of the leatherback sea turtles,” explains Cuestas proudly. Changes include the efforts of boats to protect the seagrass that serves as feeding grounds for marine life and an end to fishers throwing net s where turtles lay their eggs.

This marine reserve in Acandí, Cuestas believes, is their greatest treasure. He attaches great importance to working together with local residents to improve the quality of life while preserving the marine ecosystem. By doing so, he imagines a picture where individuals from the fishing community can pursue various careers, such as engineers or lawyers, proudly stating that they are the products of the fishing tradition in Acandí.

1. What does the underlined word “depleted” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Reused.	B．Restored.
C．Explored.	D．Reduced.

2. Why does Julio Cuestas call for new fishing techniques?

A．To cut down on the costs of fishing.

B．To improve the income of local residents.

C．To promote the well-being of marine wildlife.

D．To spread traditional community fishing methods.

3. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．The aim of the changes to fishing methods.

B．The efforts to preserve marine ecosystem.

C．The results the trawl net s have brought about.

D．The impact of fishers on the local environment.

4. What is Julio Cuestas’s attitude towards Acandí’s future?

A．Confident.	B．Uncaring.
C．Concerned.	D．Doubtful.

7 . Time is running short to address climate change, but there are possible and effective solutions on the table, according to a new UN climate report released in March.

Only swift, dramatic, and sustained emission (排放) cuts will be enough to meet the world’s climate goals, according to the new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a body of climate experts that regularly summarize the state of this issue.

“We are walking when we should be running fast,” said Hoesung Lee, IPCC chair, in a press conference announcing the report in March. To limit warming to 1.5℃ above preindustrial levels, the target set by international climate agreements, annual greenhouse-gas emission will need to be cut by nearly half between now and 2030, according to the report. It calculates that the results from actions taken now will be clear in global temperature trends within two decades.

“We already have the technology and the know-how to get the job done,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of UN Environment Programme, during the press conference. “Stopping climate change will still be complicated, and long-term emission cuts may largely rely on technologies, like carbon dioxide removal, that are still unproven at scale. In addition to technological advances, cutting emission in industries that are difficult to transform will involve many factors.”

But in the near term, there’s a clear path forward for the emission cuts needed to put the planet on the right track. There are some of the tasks with the lowest cost and highest potential to address climate change during this decade, such as developing wind and solar power, cutting methane (甲烷) emission from fossil-fuel production and waste, protecting natural ecosystems that trap carbon, and using energy efficiently in vehicles, homes, and industries.

1. What is the author’s attitude towards tackling climate change?

A．Positive.

B．Worried.

C．Skeptical.

D．Uncertain.

2. What does Hoesung Lee mean?

A．It’s impossible to achieve the climate goal.

B．He knows how to cut emission efficiently.

C．The pace of global warming is speeding up.

D．He is dissatisfied with current emission cuts.

3. What is the guarantee of long-term emission reduction according to Inger Andersen?

A．Policy.

B．Market.

C．Funding.

D．Technology.

4. What message does this text mainly convey?

A．Emission cutting is urgent.

B．Climate change is unstoppable.

C．Global warming is becoming complicated.

D．Meeting climate goals needs cooperation.

8 . On November 8th, a tornado, the most powerful in the past 70 years, hit Jersey, causing great damages to the area and leaving the residents in great panic.

“Suddenly, the windows of the waiting room exploded in and dragged everything inside. My cars have been completely destroyed by branches and fences, and my garden is completely gone. There’s no furniture, no fence; everything has been thrown everywhere. At first there was lightning but then a strange noise and strange darkness came over the whole house. It was like being in a scary scene in the movie The Wizard of Oz,” Ashleigh Quail-Charleston, a Jersey resident, told the Bailiwick Express after the tornado that struck overnight on November 1—2 during Storm Ciaran.

The consequence looked like a bomb had gone off: cars hit, roofs with holes, windows broken. “A huge tree leans drunkenly against a block of flats. Piles of branches are piled optionally and pavements are covered with pieces,” said Chris Stone at BBC Radio Jersey. The tornado was powerful and exceptionally rare, caused by a severe thunderstorm that had sent out intense lightning and huge hailstones described as “ice bombs”. The Tornado and Storm Research Organization (Torro) and Jersey Met Office revealed the tornado left a trail of damages 8 km long across the island, and rated its intensity as T6 on an international scale of tornado power.

According to Torro records, this was the most powerful tornado to strike anywhere in the British Isles or Channel Islands since December 7th, 1954 when a tornado struck west London, leaving tremendous devastation, with Gunnersbury railway station torn apart, roofs torn off houses and one car even thrown through the air.

Tornados during Storm Ciaran also hit Sompting in West Sussex and Loders in Dorset. One resident in Loders, Sophie van Hensbergen, described the moment, saying, “The tornado struck with a very, very powerful whistling sound and the windows looked as though we were in a car wash.”

1. Why is The Wizard of Oz mentioned in paragraph 2?

A．To summarize the consequence.	B．To introduce the topic.
C．To enrich the readers’ knowledge.	D．To help describe the tornado.

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．How tornado was rated.

B．What caused the tornado.

C．How severe the tornado was.

D．What should be done to prevent the tornado.

3. What does the underlined word “devastation” mean in paragraph 4?

A．Marks.

B．Damages.

C．Memory.

D．Impression.

4. What is this text?

A．A news item.	B．A science report.
C．A movie reviewer.	D．A weather forcast.

10 . Surely one of the world’s most attractive rivers as well as being its longest, the mighty Nile River runs constantly ever northwards 6,650 kilometre (4,132 miles) from its origins in Africa to its mouth on the Uat-Ur, the Egyptian word for the Mediterranean Sea. Along its passage, it gave life to the ancient Egyptians, nourishing (滋养) them with its annual deep layers of rich black earth providing the basis for the agriculture, which supported the flowering of their culture.

Seneca, the Roman philosopher and statesman, described the Nile as a “remarkable sight” and an amazing wonder. The surviving records indicate this is an opinion widely shared by ancient writers who visited Egypt’s “mother of all men”.

The river gains its name from the Greek “Neilos”, meaning valley, although the ancient Egyptians called their river Ar, or “black” after its rich earth. However, the story of the Nile River doesn’t begin in the expansive delta (三角洲) of marshes (沼泽) and lakes of its Mediterranean exit, but in two distinct sources, the Blue Nile, which falls down from the Abyssinian highlands and the White Nile, which springs from equatorial Africa.

The Nile’s broad fan-shaped Delta is flat and green. At its farthest reaches, Alexander the Great built Alexandria, a busy port city and home to the Library of Alexandria and the famed Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Beyond the expanse of the Nile Delta lies the Mediterranean and Europe. At the far end of the Nile, sat Aswan, the gateway city to Egypt, a small, hot, garrison town for Egypt’s armies as they hotly contested the territory with Nubia over the centuries.

1. How did the Nile River contribute to the ancient Egypt’s civilization?

A．By supplying enough drinking water.

B．By providing transport to the country.

C．By offering support to the agriculture.

D．By developing its tourism to other states.

2. What can be learned from paragraph 3?

A．The origins of the river are delta of marshes and lakes.

B．The White Nile flows from the Abyssinian highlands.

C．The Greek name of the river has something to do with soil.

D．The Nile River originated from two distinct destinations.

3. What do the underlined words “garrison town” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Local market.

B．Business area.

C．Military station.

D．Cultural center.

4. What is a suitable title for the text?

A．The Nile River in Ancient Egypt.

B．The Culture of Egypt and Its river.

C．The Great Function of the Nile River.

D．Important Places along the Nile River