We moved to our new place, and everything was new and unfamiliar. I didn’t have new friends, so most of the time when I was free at home, I stayed with Socky, my cat and friend. One morning in winter, it was very cold outside and people mainly stayed indoors to keep warm. Before going off to my high school in Ouyen, Victoria, I called our pregnant(怀孕的) cat to be fed, but she didn’t come. I thought she’d probably found somewhere to have her kittens and would turn up later. But she didn’t.
When Socky still didn’t come at dinnertime, I anxiously asked my mum, “Where is Socky?” But she didn’t know either. The next day, Socky still didn’t appear and I really started to worry. Socky had kept me company for years, and she was just like my family member.
Socky had given birth to some lovely kittens before. She had a habit of having her kittens in strange places, so first I checked all her hidey-holes where she used to stay but she wasn’t in any of them. I became extremely anxious. What could have happened? “Where are you, dear Socky?” Having waited for hours again, I couldn’t sit still. The next day was Saturday and I had the whole day to search for her. Thinking over all the possible places where she could shelter herself, I rechecked under the house, then in the garage under and behind old books, every place I could think of, but still no Socky.
After lunch I took some food scraps(剩饭) with me in case I found her, then began searching the back shed, which was huge and filled with cardboard boxes full of junk and empty tea-chests(茶叶箱). After about an hour of moving cardboard boxes from one place to another and back again, I was tired out. I sat down on an upturned tea-chest to have a rest when I heard faint mewing(喵). I put my head up against each of the tea-chests, pressing my ear against the plywood(夹板) so I could catch the faint sounds. I had to move each one carefully before I could look inside.
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Finally, I found Socky and her three tiny kittens.
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Socky was very pleased to see me and purred(发出呼噜声) as loudly as she could.
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2 . In the forest of New Mexico, scientists are carrying two ten-day-old Mexican wolf pups (幼崽) riding in a backpack, searching for a Mexican wolf pair that has just given birth to six pups.
Mexican wolves were extinct in the USA by the 1970s, but there was a plan to bring them back. The first step was to trap five wild Mexican wolves and breed them with two caged ones. In 1998, the first caged-born adult Mexican wolves were released into forests.
The idea is that the caged pups will grow up and breed with wild wolves.
| A．The scientists were content with it. |
| B．So the experts came up with a new plan. |
| C．The wolf parents only care for their own pups. |
| D．In this way their healthy genes will be passed down. |
| E．The population slowly grew, but scientists were still worried. |
| F．After that, the wolf parents won’t mind taking care of the new pups. |
| G．The wolf mum and dad don’t know it, but they’re about to adopt two more! |
3 . Sometimes called “Earth’s twin,” Venus is similar to our world in size and composition. The two rocky planets are also roughly the same distance from the sun, and both have an atmosphere. While Venus’s cold and unpleasant landscape does make it seem far less like Earth, scientists recently detected another striking similarity between the two, the presence of active volcanoes.
When NASA’s Magellan mission mapped much of the planet with radar in the 1990sit revealed an unexpectedly youthful surface-there were surprisingly a few craters (火山口)which suggested active geologic (地质的) processes. Although few missions have visited Venus since then, researchers have continued to mine the collection of data from.
Using this decades-old data, planetary scientist Robert Herrick discovered that a Magellan. volcano called Maat Mons is alive with volcanic activity. In this case, lava(岩浆)flows that moved for eight months during an imaging cycle from 1990 to 1992, according to a study published in Science in 2023. The findings are the first real evidence that volcanoes have erupted on Venus during modern times.
What’s more, volcanic activity on Venus could be even more common and dramatic than on Earth. A study published in JGR Planets in 2023 mapped out enormous potential volcanic features on Venus’ surface, and there’s a good chance that some of them could be active today. On top of that, another 2023 study, also in JGR Planets, found that the very high surface temperature on Venus, over 900 degrees Fahrenheit, allows lava flows to slowly leak out.
A list of new missions are headed to Venus over the next decade, including NASA’s Veritas mission, which aims to map the planet’s surface to better understand its geologic history. These projects should settle the question of how the paths of Venus and Earth divided so sharply, with one becoming a hell and the other able to harbor life, and confirm whether volcanoes are still erupting on the planet today.
1. Why does the writer mention Venus is Earth’s twin in Paragraph 1?| A．To prove a theory. | B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To clarify a concept. | D．To make predictions. |
| A．Robert Herrick’s discovery was based on previous data. |
| B．The findings are the first evidence of volcanoes on Venus. |
| C．There are more huge volcanoes on Venus than on Earth. |
| D．Volcanic activities on Venus are as common as on Earth. |
| A．Mapping the surface of Venus with accuracy. |
| B．Analyzing how volcanoes came into existence. |
| C．Understanding how the two planets evolved differently. |
| D．Confirming whether Venus is suitable for humans to live. |
| A．Venus Is Earth’s Twin. | B．Venus Is an Awful Hell. |
| C．Venus Is a Youthful Planet. | D．Venus Is Volcanically Active. |
4 . Eating insects is one of those ideas that never quite seem to catch on. The United Nations spread the idea a decade ago, but, in the West at least, insects remain mostly absent from supermarket shelves. Faced with an unsatisfied public, scientists have been exploring other options. One is to feed the insects instead to farm animals, which are not so picky.
Of course, the insects need to eat, too. To date, they have mostly reared (饲养) on leftover chicken feed. But the supply of that is limited, and if insect-reared meat is to take off, new sources will be needed. Niels Eriksen, a biochemist at Aalborg University, suggests feeding them on the waste products of the beer industry.
The world knocks back around 185bn litres of beer every year. Each litre produces between three and ten litres of wastewater full of thrown-away grains. The mix is rich in protein but lacking in carbohydrates (碳水化合物), especially compared with chicken feed.
Most insects grown for feed depend, in the wild, on the carbohydrates found in bad fruit. Whether insects would actually consider beer waste a square meal was, therefore, unclear.
The researchers used the baby insects of the black soldier fly. The young insects were divided into three groups, which were offered beer waste, chicken feed or a mixture of both. The researchers monitored both their weight gain and the amount of CO, they produced. They found the baby insects happily consumed both beer waste and chicken feed, and grew equally well on either food source. Dr Eriksen found few differences in how nutritious the insects would be to farm animals.
The experiment may have implications beyond the beer business, too. Bone meal from farms, and waste from other food industries are all likewise plentiful and protein-rich.
All now look to be reasonable targets for nutrient recycling by insects. Whether consumers will be willing to eat insect-reared beef, though, remains to be seen.
1. What is the purpose of Niels Eriksen’s research?| A．To find alternatives to chicken feed. |
| B．To recycle the wastewater in beer industry. |
| C．To change public’s attitude toward insects. |
| D．To reduce the consumption of waste products. |
| A．The future application of the research. | B．The importance of protein in the cycle. |
| C．The extended influence of the research. | D．The contribution of the beer industry. |
| A．chickens-insects-cows-humans | B．humans-beer waste-insects-cows |
| C．beer waste-insects-cows-humans | D．cows-chickens-insects-beer waste |
| A．Waste recycling will be taking off soon |
| B．Eating insects is the new option for people |
| C．Insects could help turn beer waste into beef |
| D．Insects could gain popularity in supermarket |
5 . It might be strange to wear clothes made out of plastic bottles. But in fact some clothing companies are already making such clothes.
Fashion brand JUMA recently showed its newest collection at a workshop in Shanghai. Eighteen clothing items from the collection, including jump-suits, jackets, shirts and dresses, were made from recycled plastic bottles. “We realized that billions of water bottles were being thrown into landfills and oceans every year and that these bottles take hundreds of years to decompose (分解). We thought we should use them to create our clothes and help the environment,” said Alia Juma, the company’s design director.
Many other fashion companies are finding similar ways to save our planet these days. The process is rather simple. First, the plastic bottles are washed and cut into small pieces. Then they are melted and shaped into small balls. The balls are melted again to form thread. People can then use the thread to make different kinds of clothes.
According to Juma, it takes 67,000 bottles to create 1 ton of thread. This reduces carbon emissions by 4.2 tons and water use by 6.2 tons compared with the normal way of making thread. “4 bottles can make a pillowcase. 5 can make a shirt, 10 a dress and 20 a short coat,” Juma said.
Some people might have doubts about wearing something made out of plastic bottles. But according to Causeartist, a website that focuses on innovation, clothes made from plastic could be even better than nylon and polyester. Plastic thread can be made into different textures, such as cotton, silk or even wool. “The more we learn about recycled fabrics, the more we realize that they work just like other fabrics. You can get a heavier cotton feeling or a silky feeling by weaving the yarns into different textures and using different washing methods. There is actually a lot you can do with this fabric,” Juma said.
The price for the clothes in the new collection ranges from 500 to 3,000 yuan. However, Juma is optimistic that prices will fall when more companies follow the sustainability path taken by her business.
1. Why is fashion brand JUMA now making clothes from plastic bottles?| A．Because too many bottles are being thrown away. |
| B．Because the company has advanced technology. |
| C．Because people are fond of wearing such clothes. |
| D．Because recycling the bottles is good for the Earth. |
| A．Creating 1 ton of thread in the normal way brings about 4.2 tons of carbon emissions. |
| B．Making clothes from plastic bottles reduces carbon footprint and is worth the effort. |
| C．A fashion company can make as many as 300 short coats using only 1 ton of thread. |
| D．The new way of making thread from plastic bottles is not harmful to the environment. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Critical. | C．Supportive. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．To advertise fashion brand JUMA. | B．To introduce a new type of clothes. |
| C．To praise fashion companies’ creativity. | D．To express concern about the Earth. |
1. How was the weather early in the morning?
| A．Sunny. | B．Cloudy. | C．Rainy. |
| A．Disappointed. | B．Ambiguous. | C．Understanding. |
7 . In nature, octopuses (章鱼) hunt mainly with their sense of touch, using their eight arms to feel out their environment for hidden creatures. Researchers at the University of Minnesota recently studied a different way octopuses hunt—when they identify prey (猎物) based on sight. The study findings show that the marine creatures are quite consistent and methodical in how they approach prey.
Lead researcher Trevor Wardill and his team placed California two-spot octopuses into water tanks, hiding them in caves where they would have one eye looking out. They then placed either fiddler crabs or white shrimp in the tanks to see how the octopuses would try to catch them, capturing the interactions on video. The crabs and shrimp behave differently when trying to escape from predators (捕猎者), so using both species gave the researchers an opportunity to see whether this led the octopuses to use a different arm for hunting depending on the prey.
Wardill’s team found that the octopuses almost always used the same arm to grab their prey. Specifically, the second arm from the middle of the octopuses’ body, on the same side of their body as the eye, caught the prey. If they needed more arms to grab prey, they would use the ones next to the second arm.
The octopuses also attacked differently depending on the prey. When faced with crabs, an octopus would move suddenly on top of the crab with its whole body. However, when catching shrimp, the octopuses would take one arm and reach out very slowly toward the shrimp, then grab it and latch (缠住) onto it with its other arms to pull it in.
Wardill and his team hope to do more research. They want to study the octopus’s brain as it attacks pre y to develop a better understanding of what role the creature’s nervous system plays in selecting the arms it uses.
1. What is the recent study mainly about?| A．Octopuses’ ability to hide itself. | B．Octopuses’ way to track prey. |
| C．Octopuses’ hunting mode via eyes. | D．Octopuses’ method of perceiving the environment. |
| A．They adopt different strategies to hunt. | B．They stretch arms slowly to catch crabs. |
| C．They move suddenly to prey on shrimps. | D．They use the second arm to catch prey anytime. |
| A．Whether they’re nervous in hunting. | B．How their nerves work during hunting. |
| C．How they choose their arms in hunting. | D．Whether they use their brain during hunting. |
| A．Octopuses: Skillful Hunters | B．Octopuses: One-armed Predators |
| C．Octopuses: A Sharp-eyed Species | D．Octopuses: A Mysterious Creature |
8 . Scientists say a huge percentage of bird species are in danger because their habitats, or homelands, are disappearing.
Traditional migration paths take birds through countries that are not protecting the places for birds to stop, rest and feed. The scientists studied the migration or flight paths of almost 1,500 species. They decided that 91 percent of them passed through dangerous areas.
The major danger for migratory birds is development. Buildings and pavements have covered the places where birds stop and feed as they move from one part of the world to another. One of the scientists who worked on the study says “Many of these important places have been lost to land reclamation because of urban, industrial and agricultural land expansion”.
The problem, according to scientists, is that many of these small birds die along their migration paths because they don’t have a safe place to feed and rest. There is no place to restore their energy for the next part of their journey. Countries in North Africa, Central Asia and those along the coasts of East Asia are having the most difficult time in protecting land. The scientists say these countries do not have enough areas that are safe for birds. One species that doesn’t exist now is the Eskimo curlew. “Our world gets poorer every time we lose a species,” one of the scientists says.
The researchers say countries need to work together and come up with safe stopping areas for birds that pass through their boundaries. For example, one country might have preserved safe zones for migrating birds. But a neighbor country might not. A bird might die.
One scientist who is not connected with the report tells Los Angeles Times that while some habitats are changing, more work can be done to make urban areas safe for birds.
He says small changes, like planting more native plants or keeping cats out of the areas birds would be likely to use, could make a big difference.
1. What mainly caused the disappearing of birds’ habitats?| A．The decrease of awareness to protect birds. | B．Natural disasters. |
| C．Overuse of land by human beings. | D．The rising sea level. |
| A．Tiredness and hunger. | B．Beast attack on the ground. |
| C．Hunting of humans. | D．The long journey. |
| A．By keeping fewer cats or dogs. |
| B．By restoring their destroyed habitats. |
| C．By helping change the birds’ migration paths. |
| D．By preserving the ecological environments on their migration paths. |
| A．To call on people to protect the birds’ habitats. |
| B．To analyze the reasons for disappearing of birds’ habitats. |
| C．To offer some solutions to the problem of birds’ habitats. |
| D．To tell us a huge percentage of bird species are in danger. |
9 . Avoid the supermarket shelves piled with cheese, cupcakes and pies. That is the message of an analysis that found these items are the worst when looking at both nutritional and environmental impacts of thousands of food and drink products sold in the UK and Ireland. So far, most studies have focused on the environmental impact of goods such as beef or beans, rather than tofu and other products that shoppers often buy. Where research has focused on such products, it has usually been for a small number of them.
In a bid to bridge the gap, Micheal Clark at the University of Oxford and his colleagues analyzed more than 57,000 food and drink products sold in the UK and Ireland. The team took the ingredients (成份) data from eight retailers (零售商), including major supermarkets Tesco and Sainsbury’s. However, precise figures on how much of each ingredient is in each product were only available for around a tenth of them. To estimate the rest, Clark and his colleagues trained an algorithm (算法) on the known products and used it to predict the composition of the unknown ones. Finally, the team linked all the ingredients to an existing database of environmental impacts, including emissions (排放), land use and water stress.
The results may come as no surprise: meat, fish and cheese products had highest environmental impact while fruit, vegetables, bread and sugary drink products had the lowest burden. Clark admits that none of this is exciting, given what we already knew from past research. “What is important is that you can start getting these impact estimates for products that people are purchasing, which then has a lot of effects,” he says.
One of those is eco-lables, which can help consumers to make greener choices. However, retailers have struggled in the past with the challenge of the large number of food. Clark is thinking about how to eventually turn the data into an app that could be used either by shoppers or by retailers wanting to reduce their environmental impact. “We’ve made that information available in a way that means people can start making informed decisions,” he says.
1. What is the purpose of Clark’s study?| A．To solve the environmental problems with some products. |
| B．To point out the mistakes of the previous research. |
| C．To focus on the important ingredients data from retailers. |
| D．To estimate the environmental impact of frequently-bought products. |
| A．The process of Clark’s study. | B．The result of Clark’s study. |
| C．The significance of Clark’s study. | D．The limitation of Clark’s study. |
| A．Surprising. | B．Worrying. | C．Meaningful. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Nutritious food like beef and eggs. | B．Green food like carrots and bananas. |
| C．Healthy food like fish and tofu. | D．Fresh food like milk and chicken |
10 . This year saw the publication, in stages, of the sixth report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—a report which was depressing reading for many climate scientists, and in some ways offered a ray of hope.
Why depressing? Because the report confirmed what scientists have been saying for years: that human activity, particularly in the form of emissions (排放) of greenhouse gases, is responsible for the warming in the past few centuries, and that unless such emissions are greatly reduced, we will soon bring about our entire ecosystem’s destruction.
The report concluded that 1.5°C of global warming over the next couple of hundred years is already “baked in”. This makes the goals outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement—that nations agreed to keep warming below 2°C, and hopefully below 1.5°C-much harder to meet. Worse still, the IPCC report was followed later in the year by the COP27 summit (峰会), described by Prof Dann Mitchell, as “a complete failure, other than some commitment to loss and damage.”
And the ray of hope? The IPCC’s sixth report was broader in approach than previous studies—looking in-depth for the first time at the role played in warming by short-term greenhouse gases such as methane(甲烷), for instance.
“Reducing carbon emissions is always the best approach: stop the problem at its source,” said Mitchell. “But we also need other approaches to help with this. Methane is important, but it’s so short-lived-that’s why we haven’t been so bothered when compared with CO,.”
The IPCC working groups showed potential adaptation paths, and they are the other things we can do in terms of fighting climate change and relieving its worst effects, rather than simply reducing carbon emissions. This would include taking measures such as switching to a more plant-based diet (to reduce methane emissions), controlling population growth, reducing financial inequality and developing means by which we might remove CO, that’s already in our atmosphere, rather than simply preventing it being released.
1. Which of the following can best describe the sixth report by IPCC?| A．Seemingly contradictory. | B．Wholly promising. |
| C．Particularly hopeless. | D．Exceptionally new. |
| A．out of date. | B．to the full. |
| C．under discussion. | D．in progress |
| A．It has been long regarded as a major source of global warming. |
| B．Its role in global warming had been overlooked before the report. |
| C．Its boost to global warming is as much as other greenhouse gases. |
| D．It is considered as a new approach to reducing global warming. |
| A．2. | B．3. | C．4. | D．5. |
