1 . When Simon Cane was in the second grade, he began learning about all the ways humans have an impact on the environment and really took those classroom lessons to heart in a way that set him apart from his schoolmates at his elementary school, P. S. 81, in the Bronx. “He told me we drove too much and made too much pollution,” his dad, Jonathan Cane, told Runner’s World. So Simon convinced his parents to start hanging their clothes to dry, taking the stairs instead of elevators, and other “green” measures.
“For much of kindergarten and first grade I rode my bike to Simon’s school with him on the back,” Jonathan said. “We had a lot of fun being outdoors. We’d stop to give our dog treats and generally enjoyed it.” As Simon got bigger, though, it wasn’t practical for him to ride on his father’s back, but it also didn’t make sense to ride together — both because of safety concerns and because there was no place to put away Simon’s bike. So, most of the time they drove the 1. 5 miles to school.
But in 2019, when Simon was going into third grade, the 8-year-old came up with a new way to help the planet: running the 1. 5 miles to P. S. 81. And Jonathan promised his son he’d join him for as long as he wanted.
“We did a test run one day in August, and decided to give it a go. To be honest, I thought he’d blink (眨眼)after it got really cold or rainy, but he never did,” Jonathan said. He recalled one day when the weather was particularly bad. “It’s really raining out there today,” he told Simon. “And Simon said, ‘Well then we’re going to get wet!’ He took pride in toughing it out, and it became a really fun family routine.”
Since the start, Simon has run with his dad and their black dog, Lola, and has even inspired his mom, Nicole Sin Quee, to join in. They soon became known as “the family that runs to school”.
1. What makes Simon different from his classmates?| A．Washing his clothes by himself. | B．Taking many classes after school. |
| C．Raising strange questions in class. | D．Taking green measures to protect the environment. |
| A．By car. | B．By cycling. | C．By running. | D．By school bus. |
| A．Simon has trouble with his eyesight. | B．Simon is really stubborn and inflexible. |
| C．Simon is much tougher than expected. | D．Simon didn’t get support from his father. |
| A．The Best Way to Go to School |
| B．Father and Son Run for the Environment |
| C．A Teenager Keeps Running to Inspire Father |
| D．Three Inspiring Running Athletes to Protect the Environment |
2 . You may have recently seen a video from the Beijing Wildlife Zoo becoming a hit. What exactly was so interesting about this video? It shows a dog playing with big cats four to five times its size! Many people might wonder if this dog has a death wish, but it seems that the dog and the big cats are good friends.
The dog was actually raised alongside the lion and tiger cubs, making up an odd but loving family, according to zoo officials. As opposed to the common belief, cross-species friendship has been around for centuries. People have domesticated many animals, most notably cats and dogs, and formed bonds with them as pets. Perhaps you even have a pet yourself.
There are many other instances of cross-species friendships.
At an animal sanctuary in Santiago, Chile, a jaguar named Marina and a deer named Laura formed a friendship after they both came to the park. As neither animal had a mother, sanctuary staff said they instantly bonded when they met. Laura had been rescued from a slaughterhouse while Marina had been rescued from the street.
One possible explanation for these friendships is the environment of the zoo. Animals don’t hunt for their food and don’t need to worry about marking their territory or looking for mates in the way an animal in the wild would. “All those activities take time and energy, and if these needs are removed, the animals get bored,” Gordon Burghardt, a psychologist at the University of Tenessee, US, told The Atlantic magazine. “In this particular situation, the animal’s motivation to engage socially and playfully may be higher in its need hierarchy(等级)than eating.”
Marc Bekoff, former biology professor at the University of Colorado, US, told Slate magazine, “I think the choices animals make in cross-species relationships are the same as they’d make in same-species relationships. Some dogs don’t like every other dog. Animals are very selective about the other individuals who they let into their lives.”
1. What is the common opinion about the friendship between animals?| A．It’s easier for dogs and cats to become friends. |
| B．Animals tend to play with peers of the same species. |
| C．The friendship between animals is not solid and reliable. |
| D．It’s common that animals of different species can become friends. |
| A．To present a truth. | B．To explain a phenomenon. |
| C．To introduce the topic. | D．To provide a proof. |
| A．The existing tradition. | B．The influence by mates. |
| C．The animals’ inner social drive. | D．The animals’ raisers’ instruction. |
| A．To appeal to people to treasure animals. |
| B．To inform readers of a special friendship. |
| C．To demonstrate the history of bringing up pets. |
| D．To compare friendship between cross-species and same-species. |
3 . The humble honey bee is responsible for up to 80 per cent of plant pollination (授粉) worldwide. But population numbers are in steep decline because of habitat loss, pesticides and pollution — threatening our food security. One startup has identified a potential solution — the common hoverfly (食蚜蝇).
UK-based designer Tashia Tucker has created an AI-based technology called Olombria, which encourages hoverflies to increase their pollination levels to match that of bees. Although flies perform approximately 30 percent of the world’s pollination, they aren’t as efficient as bees, often getting distracted and “wandering off” before they can carry pollen between plants.
Olombria is a solution — an AI pollination system that encourages hoverflies to pollinate targeted sites when the plants are in bloom (鲜花盛开). The system consists of sensors, cameras and chemical signaling devices placed within specified areas of an orchard or field. It starts by collecting data on the level and diversity of pollinators in a grower’s field as well as pollination effectiveness.
This information, combined with other environmental data — time, the location and temperature, allows the system to paint an overall picture of pollinator health and then take action. “We first provide that baseline data,” Tucker explains, “so we have an understanding of where there are deficiencies (缺乏) and areas that need to be improved, and then we distribute our natural chemical signaling from the device.”
Depending on what areas of an orchard need pollinating, Olombria’s AIcloud system triggers chosen devices to release organic chemicals that encourage hoverflies to move towards those specific areas. “The chemicals do not change what the flies would naturally do, but target their location and increase the amount of pollen that they’re picking up and transferring,” Tucker explains.
The hoverflies work in cooperation with the bees and, through Tucker’s research, she’s found that the hoverflies even encourage bees to become more efficient pollinators. “There’s a bit of competition; it focuses the bees’ pollination as there’s another insect in the area,” says Tucker.
As a designer, Tucker initially designed Olombria’s device to look like a fruit to reflect the ethos (气质) of the design. “When I started working with farmers, I knew I needed to design the technology to be strong enough to stay out in the field and in various weather conditions,” says Tucker. Since then, Tucker has changed the design and is exploring what colors work well with insects. “As we start to streamline the technology, it is becoming more refined,” Tucker explains. “As an AI system, it’s great, as it’s just getting smarter as the technology develops.”
1. Why are hoverflies not so efficient at plant pollination?| A．Most of them don’t know how to pollinate plants. |
| B．They can hardly focus on their pollinating work. |
| C．They have great difficulty carrying pollen. |
| D．The population of them is declining. |
| A．Take pictures of plants in a field. | B．Examine overall plant health there. |
| C．Choose chemical signaling devices. | D．Get basic facts about pollinators there. |
| A．To attract hoverflies to a certain area. | B．To change pollinators’ behavior. |
| C．To make pollen attractive to hoverflies. | D．To locate the position of pollinators. |
| A．To deal with pollination crisis quickly. | B．To make it attractive in appearance. |
| C．To meet the demands of AI systems. | D．To make it as practical as possible. |
4 . The hot summer sun beamed down on my back as I panned for gold. It was 1996 and my first trip to gold country, the town of Sofala in New South Wales.
I sloshed (搅动) the water round and round, as the old-time miner had
“My hat!” I cried. “My HAT!”
My
Down the bank side he ran,
He climbed out and
It was more than a game. I knew that he knew he’d done a good thing
I am
All in all, the day was a(n)
| A．instructed | B．requested | C．concluded | D．assessed |
| A．Originally | B．Precisely | C．Abruptly | D．Hopefully |
| A．swapping | B．squeezing | C．suspending | D．sweeping |
| A．cold-hearted | B．short-sighted | C．long-haired | D．short-haired |
| A．dilemma | B．agenda | C．delight | D．potential |
| A．sinking | B．passing | C．trapping | D．racing |
| A．barking | B．looking | C．shooting | D．laughing |
| A．viewed | B．dived | C．threw | D．broke |
| A．grasped | B．damaged | C．followed | D．wiped |
| A．experiment | B．entertainment | C．argument | D．amazement |
| A．turned | B．put | C．shook | D．finished |
| A．even if | B．as if | C．in case | D．in that |
| A．sigh | B．image | C．imagination | D．illustration |
| A．prepared | B．embarrassed | C．convinced | D．frightened |
| A．tentative | B．tough | C．eventful | D．authentic |
5 . Some of the world’s most important scientists think the idea of people living on Mars will come true one day.
However, scientists will need to teraform（地球化）Mars for people to be able to live, which means changing the environment on Mars so that it is similar to Earth’s. One of the main goals of terraforming Mars is to warm it up because the average temperature is about-60℃.
Another big concern for scientists is whether humans can move to Mars and still stay healthy in mind and body. As a test, six people lived in a Mars-like environment in Hawaii for a year before “returning to Earth” recently.
One particular organization is planning to send the first humans to Mars before 2030. The organization believes that its project is giving people worldwide the chance to be part of the first human crew ever to live on Mars for good.
| A．However, many experts think it can cost too much money. |
| B．Stephen Hawking believed humans must move into space to survive. |
| C．NASA believes new astronauts should be chosen for future missions without delay. |
| D．One idea for warming Mars is to build factories there that produce greenhouse gases. |
| E．It will prevent us from learning about the ability of humans to live in a different environment. |
| F．It was a 1,200-square-foot room that was on the side of a volcano and used the sun for energy. |
| G．Another important thing was that the people living together should all be able to get along and work together. |
6 . Digging out potato tubers (茎块) is one of the greatest rewards gardens have to offer. Children in particular are surprised at seeing these tubers that almost magically become chips, mash (泥) or baked potatoes.
Happily, potatoes are very easy to grow. Seed tubers are placed in good garden soil, ideally with some compost (堆肥) for every square meter, in a sunny spot, about 10cm deep at 30cm intervals in rows 60-70cm apart.
Seed tubers are offered as earliest and second earliest and maincrop. The second earliest and maincrops can be stored for winter use but earliest are usually consumed in summer.
Seasoned potato growers buy early seed potatoes in February and place them in a cool, reasonably light place and let them sprout (发芽). It takes six weeks for small sprouts to form.
Early potatoes are typically planted from middle March in the South, but are likely to emerge before the first season finishes in May. The shoots are frost-sensitive requiring protection on cod nights with either earth or newspapers.
Second early and maincrop potatoes are planted in middle April—the frost risk will be low, but not absent, by the time they emerge. As the stems (茎) grow, soil should be drawn around them until the leaves meet in the row in early summer. At this stage, the potato field is a series of ridges (脊，垄). The tubers form in the ridge, protected from light that turns them green. Covering with black plastic or a thick layer of compost is also accessible instead of ridging, but plastic is not sustainable and slugs (鼻涕虫) can multiply in compost.
Once the flowers are fully open, it is time to dig plants when the tubers are the size of a hen’s egg. They grow rapidly but gradually lose their juicy new potato flavour, so harvest freely.
1. What’s the writing purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To describe a magic process. |
| B．To recall a childhood memory. |
| C．To raise a potato-related topic. |
| D．To introduce a gardening award. |
| A．The closer the intervals are, the faster they will grow. |
| B．The warmer the weather is, the better they will grow. |
| C．The earlier they are planted, the healthier they will grow. |
| D．The deeper they are planted, the stronger they will grow. |
| A．Frost. | B．Plastic. | C．Ridges. | D．Slugs. |
| A．How to cook potatoes. | B．How to grow potatoes. |
| C．How to harvest potatoes. | D．How to preserve potatoes. |
7 . In 17th-century Europe, it was unheard of for a woman to travel by herself, but that didn’t stop Maria Sibylla Merian. In 1699, she and her 21-year- old daughter Dorothea sailed from Amsterdam to Surinam in South America. The three-month voyage was dangerous but she was determined to go. She would be the first person to go to a foreign country to study and paint insects directly from nature.
When they arrived in Surinam, Maria and Dorothea started working. Day after day, they took their painting materials into the hot rainforest to collect and draw insects and plants. Artists had never done such a thing before. Still life painters drew from dead specimens (标本). But Merian had always been interested in painting living animals and plants, and her favourite subjects were insects.
In the rainforest, she climbed ladders to study and collect insects. She had trees cut down so she could see what lived at the top level of the forest more than a hundred feet overhead. Merian combined both art and science in her work. As skilled observer, she kept detailed notes.
Merian planned to stay in Surinam for five years, painting and collecting insects and plants that Europeans had never seen. She learnt about the medicinal plants of the area and expanded her interest to spiders, birds and snakes. She planned to publish a book of her new work on her returm to Amsterdam.
After two years, she had to leave Surinam. It was extremely hot, and unluckily she was ill with malaria. But she had more than enough material for a book. In June 1701, Maria and Dorothea sailed back to Amsterdam with many paintings and specimens- buttrflies kept in brandy, bottles with snakes, and boxes of pressed insects.
Four years later, in 1705, Merian published the book for which she is best known, Metamorphosis of the Insects of Surinam. The paintings of insects and plants in their natural habitats advanced the scientific study of insects.
1. Why did Merian make up her mind to go to Surinam?| A．To paint living creatures. | B．To draw dead species. |
| C．To study still lifes. | D．To experience adventure trips. |
| A．She stayed in Surinam for 5 years as planned. |
| B．Her works were a mixture of art and science. |
| C．She returned to Amsterdam after her new book came out. |
| D．She was devoted to painting what Americans had no interest in. |
| A．Outgoing. | B．Traditional. |
| C．Warm-hearted. | D．Pioneering. |
| A．A devoted painter. | B．Life in Surinam. |
| C．An insect research. | D．Love for nature. |
The Ant Forest initiative was launched by the Alipay app in 2016.
The initiative is in line with the Chinese government's strategy of transforming the nation into a "Green Economy".
For example,the "Great Green Wall" was initiated in the northern region to restrict the
Our planet is at a tipping point,
9 . There is increasing alarm about the extent of microplastic pollution, which has been found everywhere from Everest to the Arctic. However, it turns out there’s an even smaller and more toxic form of plastic pollution entering remote reaches of the globe. A new study published in Environmental Research found significant quantities of nanoplastics in ice samples from both the North and South Poles.
“Now we know that nanoplastics are transported to these corners of the Earth in these quantities. This indicates that nanoplastics are really a bigger pollution problem than we thought,” study lead author Dusan Materic said in a press release.
Nanoplastics are plastics that are smaller than a micrometer in size. Their small size means they are more difficult to study than microplastics, or plastics between five millimeters and a micrometer. But they may be even more dangerous.
“Nanoplastics are very toxicologically (毒理学地) active compared to, for instance, microplastics, and that’s why this is very important,” Materic said.
Materic and his team used new methods to measure nanoplastic pollution in ice samples from Greenland and Antarctica. They sampled a 14-meter-deep ice core from the Greenland ice cap and sea ice from Antarctica’s McMurdo Sound. They found that there were an average of 13.2 nanograms per milliliter of nanoplastics in the Greenland ice and an average of 52.3 nanograms per milliliter in the Antarctic ice.
But what was even more surprising than the amount of nanoplastics in the remote ice was just how long they had sat there. “In the Greenland core, we see nanoplastic pollution happening all the way from the 1960s. So organisms in that region, despite the lack of the solid evidence, likely all over the world, have been exposed to it for quite some time now,” Materic said.
The study also looked at the types of plastic present in the samples. Half of the Greenland nanoplastics were polyethylene (PE), the kind of plastic used for plastic bags and packaging. A quarter came from tires and a fifth were polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used for clothing and bottles.
1. Why should researchers focus more on nanoplastics?| A．They are more important to science. | B．They are smaller but more dangerous. |
| C．They are easily polluted by ocean water. | D．They are more active in cold surroundings. |
| A．The North and South poles are the birthplace of nanoplastics. |
| B．Kanoplastics have less influence on the planet than microplastics. |
| C．Nanoplastics found in the samples are widely used in the daily life. |
| D．Nanoplastics have been existing since the 1960s throughout the world. |
| A．Greenland ice cap. | B．Antarctica’s McMurdo. |
| C．The south and north poles. | D．All places in the world. |
| A．Mircoplastics—proving more dangerous. | B．Nanoplastics—making its way to the poles. |
| C．Nanoplastics—posing a threat to people’s life. | D．Mircoplastics—setting the alarm bells ringing. |
10 . In the animal kingdom, killer whales (虎鲸) are social stars: they travel in varied family groups, care for grandchildren, and even imitate human speech. Now, scientists are adding one more behavior to the list: forming fast friendships. A new study shows killer whales can rival animals such as chimpanzees and macaques (a kind of monkey), and even humans when it comes to the kind of “social touch” that indicates strong bonds.
Some ocean animals maintain social structures — including male dolphins that learn the “names” of their close allies (盟友). But there is little data about wild killer whales. That’s where drone (无人机) technology came in. Michael Weiss, a behavioral ecologist, teamed up with his colleagues to launch drones, flying them 30 to 120 meters above a group of killer whales. That was high enough not to trouble the whales, marking the first time drones have been used to study friendly physical contact in whales.
The researchers recorded over 800 instances of physical contact between individuals. Those included hugs, back-to-back and nose-to-nose touches between pairs of whales. Other whales playfully threw young whales into the air, letting them fall into the water. Besides, the drone images revealed clear preferences among individuals, usually for one “best friend” of the same sex and age. Take J49 and J51 — two distantly related young males aged 9 and 6 — for instance. “Every time you see a group of whales, those two are right there interacting with each other,” Weiss says.
The young led most of these interactions, rather than the older females or males. Older males in particular were less important. “The young individuals really seem to be the glue holding the groups together,” Weiss says. As individuals age, this gradual loss of “centrality” is known in many social mammals, including humans. That finding is “especially appealing” to Stacey Tecot, who wasn’t involved in the study. “Scientists have long observed this social aging trend in animals, but there are still many unanswered questions,” she says. That’s certainly on the researchers’ radar. “We’re already gathering new data, with more advanced equipment,” says Weiss.
1. What does the underlined word “rival” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Benefit from. | B．Be equal to. | C．Depend on. | D．Be fond of. |
| A．The research method. | B．The variety of species. |
| C．The size of the research team. | D．The time spent on the research. |
| A．They have a stable friendship. | B．Their interactions are more complicated. |
| C．Their communicating ways change frequently. | D．They prefer playing with young female whales. |
| A．More researchers will be involved in the study. |
| B．Other scientists take a negative attitude to the research. |
| C．Researchers will collect more data to study killer whales. |
| D．Researchers will uncover the social aging trend in animals soon. |
