For those looking to escape the concrete jungle, maybe it’s time to dive into the bamboo forests of southern Sichuan.
A natural forest that people in Sichuan province tend
Known as one of the country’s 10 most beautiful forests, it
Two years later, the bamboo forest received world-wide
The Bamboo Sea covers Changning and Jiang’an, two counties
2 . In late spring and early summer each year, tens of millions of butterflies come out of their chrysalises (蚕蛹) in the butterfly valley in southwest China’s Yunnan province. For butterfly expert Yang Zhenwen, it is the busiest time of the year, but he greets it with great enthusiasm.
Before the break of dawn, Yang has already arrived at the observation point, busily tending to the needs of the awakening butterflies. “Due to warmer temperatures, the ‘butterfly explosion’ this year occurred slightly earlier than usual, and the size of the butterflies is larger than that in previous years,” said 46-year-old Yang, curator (馆长) of the butterfly valley museum. “We expect that there will be about 80 million to 100 million butterflies in the valley during this year’s ‘butterfly explosion’. That seems so crazy,” said Yang. According to Yang, in the valley, more than 320 butterfly species have been identified in specimens or photographs, including the rarest, most primitive, largest and smallest butterflies in China.
Besides Yang, many local villages have also assumed the role of butterfly guardians. However, the journey toward achieving human-butterfly harmony was far from easy. Some two decades ago, the villagers had little awareness of butterfly protection, believing wrongly that butterflies could endanger their food crops. They viewed them as pests that should be removed.
In 1998, Yang began his journey at the agricultural science station in Ma’an’di Township, the very place where the butterfly valley lies. “It was there that I got into a frequent dilemma— the local villagers, seeking to protect their crops, would often turn to pesticides to kill the butterflies,” he said. “However, my sincere love for these creatures forced me to prevent them from harming the delicate insects.”
Now, the development of ecotourism relying on butterfly resources has successfully changed the once extremely poor township. More villagers have started reproducing butterflies. He describes the butterfly valley as a “dream-making machine”, which extends the “butterfly dream” of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.
1. What made Yang’s aim to reach human-butterfly harmony hard in the beginning?| A．Warm temperatures in local villages. | B．The number and size of the butterflies. |
| C．Improper location of the butterfly valley. | D．Lack of awareness of butterfly protection. |
| A．A choice difficult to make. | B．A fact easy to understand. |
| C．A duty hard to carry out. | D．A situation smooth to deal with. |
| A．Honest and professional. | B．Humorous and creative. |
| C．Hard-working and strong-willed. | D．Generous and easy-going. |
| A．Changing the Poor State of a Town | B．Volunteering as a Butterfly Guardian |
| C．Helping Butterflies Spread Their Wings | D．Developing a Relationship with the Locals |
3 . Most people don’t know much about electric eels (鳗鱼), except that they produce electricity. Although not endangered, electric eels only live in one small region of the world and are hard to keep in captivity (圈养), so most people have never seen one.
The most important fact to know about electric eels is that they are not actually eels. Although it has a long body like an eel, the electric eel is actually a type of knifefish. Scientists have been confused about it for many years. The electric eel was first described by Linnaeus in 1766. At present, the electric eel is the only species in its family. It is only found in muddy, shallow waters surrounding the Amazon and Orinoco rivers in South America.
An electric eel living in water, needs to rise to the surface and breathe about once every ten minutes. In the wild, electric eels live about 15 years. In captivity by human being, they may live 22 years.
An electric eel has three organs in its belly that produce electricity. Together, the organs make up four-fifths of an eel’s body, allowing it to deliver low voltage or high voltage or use electricity for electrolocation. In other words, only 20 percent of an eel is devoted to its vital organs.
A shock from an electric eel is like the brief and sudden hit from an electric stick. Normally, the shock can’t kill a person. However, the eels can cause heart or respiratory failure from multiple shocks or in persons with underlying heart disease. More often, deaths from electric eels shocks occur when the sudden hit knocks a person in the water and they drown. Eel bodies are insulated, so they don’t normally shock themselves. However, if an eel is injured, the wound can make the eel vulnerable to electricity.
1. What can we learn about electric eels according to the passage?| A．They are close to getting extinct. | B．They are used to living in clear rivers. |
| C．They can breathe once every ten minutes. | D．They can possibly be raised in captivity. |
| A．The living area. | B．The origin of the name. |
| C．The shape of their body. | D．The reason for producing electricity. |
| A．High voltage can shock an electric eel itself to death. |
| B．Three organs in an electric eel’s belly produce electricity. |
| C．Three organs in the belly can produce different voltages separately. |
| D．Shocks from an electric eel may be a contributing cause of a person’s death. |
| A．A website about biology. | B．A paper about endangered species. |
| C．A science fiction about animals. | D．An engineering course about electricity. |
About 5,000 years ago, to escape the cold weather, the ancestors of the Liangzhu people settled around the Taihu region
The Liangzhu ancient city was composed of the palace zone, the inner city and the outer city, and there
A complex multi-functional water management system was constructed on the northwest outskirts of the ancient city. Taking advantage of the natural terrain (地势), the system connected numerous valleys,
Jade (玉)
In 1936, the remains of the Liangzhu ancient City were found
5 . I was quite young when I married. My wife shared with me my love for animals and she got several
The black cat was beautiful. We named him Pluto. I liked him best so that I often fed him alone. Our friendship
One night I came home quite late from the inn. Walking with
It seemed a ring
I made my efforts to
| A．adoptive | B．adorable | C．ambitious | D．adaptable |
| A．started | B．appeared | C．lasted | D．passed |
| A．left | B．claimed | C．beat | D．defeated |
| A．regret | B．silence | C．music | D．wine |
| A．adjust | B．anger | C．arrange | D．abandon |
| A．smooth | B．flexible | C．stable | D．uncertain |
| A．avoid | B．stop | C．bend | D．accuse |
| A．actions | B．words | C．reason | D．reach |
| A．constantly | B．purposely | C．intently | D．appropriately |
| A．storm | B．thunder | C．rainbow | D．lightning |
| A．awakening | B．striking | C．knocking | D．uplifting |
| A．stressed | B．frightened | C．guilty | D．delicate |
| A．unforgettable | B．unforgivable | C．unaffordable | D．unforeseen |
| A．do away with | B．get away with | C．make up with | D．catch up with |
| A．observing | B．assisting | C．impressing | D．surrounding |
6 . A hollow (空洞) halfway up a tree might seem like a strange place to look for a water-loving animal, but the results of a new survey have showed that common toads (蟾蜍) in the U. K. are skillful tree climbers. The surprising discovery was made by researchers from the University of Cambridge, working with Froglife, a charity devoted to amphibians(animals such as frogs and toads that divide their time between being on land and in water).
The team looked at reports from volunteers who were studying special nest boxes as part of the National Dormouse (睡鼠) Monitoring Program and the Bat Tree habitat Key project. “We couldn’t believe what we found,” said Nida Alfulaij, a scientist who supported the work. “We’re used to discovering woodland birds and other small mammals in nest boxes, but we hadn’t considered finding amphibians in them.” More than 50 common toads were found in very unexpected places: in parts of trees that are usually used by bats, in nest boxes designed for dormice, and even in old birds’ nests. That’s such a surprisingly high number that the researchers think tree-climbing must be a common toad habit—it’s just never been noticed before.
The researchers say this shows how sharing data between surveys with different aims can lead to new discoveries—even about species that experts believe they know well. Through the discoveries the researchers also have a clear understanding of how important tree hollows, cracks and holes are to all sorts of animals. It’s still unclear how easy the toads find it to climb—they were spotted up to 3 meters high in trees but this was as far up as the volunteers were looking, so they could be going even higher.
Why do the kind of toads climb the trees? The researchers have some guesses, such as looking for food, hiding from hunters or avoiding pests such as the toad fly. It is still a puzzle.
1. What do we know about the new study?| A．It relied on the early studies of the team. |
| B．It came as no surprise to the researchers. |
| C．It resulted from the data of other surveys. |
| D．It proves what experts have known before. |
| A．Trees are believed to be toads’ best place to live in. |
| B．They climb trees to keep bats and dormice company. |
| C．The proper number of toads living together is 50 or so. |
| D．The toads may have formed the habit of climbing before. |
| A．Other living habits. |
| B．The reasons for climbing. |
| C．The ways to avoid pests. |
| D．More examples of the finding. |
| A．A science journal about biology. |
| B．A paper about the habitats of birds. |
| C．A fiction about amphibians animals. |
| D．A course about the significance of trees. |
7 . On January 3, Preet Chandi made history by becoming the first woman to complete a solo expedition across Antarctica to the South Pole.
Chandi, who calls herself Summit Preet,
“I want my eight-year-old niece to grow up without
Chandi
Chandi now
| A．went on with | B．came up with | C．set off on | D．got by on |
| A．challenge | B．press | C．approach | D．inspire |
| A．sufferings | B．regrets | C．limits | D．aims |
| A．fixed | B．endless | C．slim | D．faraway |
| A．preparing | B．calling | C．waiting | D．looking |
| A．ran | B．shipped | C．transported | D．covered |
| A．measuring | B．pulling | C．lifting | D．getting |
| A．wrote | B．put | C．recorded | D．downloaded |
| A．more than | B．rather than | C．less than | D．other than |
| A．change | B．set | C．realize | D．push |
| A．unexpected | B．unknown | C．unprotected | D．unrecognized |
| A．nowhere | B．somewhere | C．thoroughly | D．passively |
| A．doubtful | B．free | C．capable | D．fortunate |
| A．rises | B．plans | C．fails | D．sticks |
| A．original | B．visual | C．eventual | D．unique |
A lesson in trust
“Come on, Tuck,” I said, patting the floor of the 4Runner (越野车). “Load. Let’s go for a walk.” Tuck danced nervously at my feet, then sat and looked up at me with sad eyes. He wouldn’t jump in.
This was my first afternoon with the three-year-old border collie (德国牧羊犬) I was adopting, and it was time for the daily hike.
I’d taken Tuck in reluctantly, as a temporary solution for Tammy, my friend. She was trying to find a new home for the dog. Tuck was adopted from a pet store and had been kept long in a cage there, leaving him long-lasting trauma (创伤).
Tammy knew why I wasn’t willing to give Tuck a permanent home. Three months earlier, I’d lost my beloved Bantam, the border collie who’d been my rock for 12 years. I wasn’t ready to let a new dog into my life for good. But I’d agreed to help Tammy out while she continued her search.
Tuck wouldn’t load, no matter how much I coaxed (劝诱). Knowing there was always a reason for a dog’s behavior, I finally lifted the dog up and placed him in the back. “Load,” I said, teaching him the command. “Good boy.”
But every day, when it came time to load for our hike, Tuck still didn’t trust my invitation. At the end of the second week, I became impatient.
Actually, Tuck was a sweet dog and seemed to love everyone. He had this boyish enthusiasm toward strangers.
Days crept into a third week. I found myself appreciating Tuck for who he was. One afternoon, he came to the steps where I sat. He shyly looked at me, then walked over and put one big foot on my knee. At that very moment, I realized that he did show affection, in his own way. But he still refused to load for our hike.
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。
Why wouldn’t Tuck jump into the car?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next afternoon, I called Tuck over and let him watch as I removed the cage from the car.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9 . The increased use of light-emitting diodes (LED) and other forms of lighting are now brightening the night sky at a dramatic rate. Research has revealed that light pollution is now causing the night sky to brighten at a rate of around 10% a year, an increase that threatens to ruin the sight of all but the most brilliant stars in a generation. A child born where 250 stars are visible at night today would only be able to see about 100 by the time they reach 18.
Physicist Christopher Kyba, of the German Centre for Geosciences told the Observer. “A couple of generations ago, people would have regularly encountered this glittering (闪耀) vision of the universe—but what was formerly universal is now extremely rare.” Nevertheless, the introduction of only a modest number of changes to lighting could make a considerable improvement, Kyba argued. These moves would include ensuring outdoor lights are carefully capped, point downwards, have limits placed on their brightness, and are not predominantly blue-white but have red and orange components.
The problem is that light pollution is still not perceived by the public to be a threat. As Professor Oscar Corcho, of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, has put it: “The negative consequences of light pollution are as unknown by the population as those of smoking in the 80s.”
Yet action is now urgently needed. Apart from its astronomical impact, light pollution is harming human health. “When reddish light shines on our bodies, it stimulates mechanisms including those that break down high levels of sugar in the blood. Since the introduction of LEDs, that part of the spectrum (光谱) has been removed from artificial light and it is playing a part in the waves of obesity (肥胖) and rises in diabetes cases we see today,” said Prof Fosbury from University College London (UCL),
UCL researchers are preparing to install additional infrared (红外线) lamps in hospitals and intensive care units (ICU) to see if they have an effect on the recovery of patients who would otherwise be starved of light from this part of the spectrum.
1. What does the author want to show by citing the child’s example?| A．More objects in the universe will disappear. |
| B．Light pollution is blinding our view of the stars. |
| C．People’s perception of the universe is inadequate. |
| D．New forms of lighting have made stars unnecessary. |
| A．They are practical. | B．They are rarely successful. |
| C．They aren’t worth the effort. | D．It takes ages to see the result. |
| A．Controlling population growth. |
| B．Changing people’s perception. |
| C．Exploring the unknown universe. |
| D．Banning smoking in public places. |
| A．Whether they help patients recover. |
| B．Whether they increase obesity risk. |
| C．Whether they leave people starving. |
| D．Whether they raise blood sugar level. |
10 . Enthusiastic travelers may have already heard of “regenerative tourism” along with the idea of sustainability(持续性). Whenever we travel—no matter where or how—we are leaving an impact on the environment and the world surrounding us. While sustainable tourism takes positive steps toward limiting that footprint in order for us to protect environments for future generations, regenerative tourism takes this idea one step further.
Regenerative tourism means “the idea that tourists should leave a place in better condition than it was before”. For example, when visiting a garden, each person plants a tree to further build the environment instead of leaving no trace(痕迹).
In a way, regenerative tourism involves travelers to be active in their acts of sustainability. Another great example of this is any act of clean-up. This is especially popular on major beaches and in parks where there’s always rubbish to pick up and waste to remove. While travelers certainly don’t need to join in a community clean-up while on vacation (unless they want to), the idea of being involved is very much the same.
Joining in regenerative tourism has personal and environmental benefits. Jeffrey Skibins, an associate professor in entertainment and park management, says, “Many tourists report feelings of deep personal satisfaction and a stronger connection to nature. Additionally, conservation (保护) behaviors enable tourists to develop life-long learning around these issues and continue these behaviors at home.”
Regenerative means “to renew and revive”, which is exactly what many travelers are doing to help environments recover. Depending on where one plans to travel, there might be more ways to help than originally realized. By further encouraging damaged environments to be renewed through travel rather than being negatively impacted, we can slowly help to rebuild the world’s most beautiful landscapes.
1. What is the aim of regenerative tourism?| A．To further improve the environment. | B．To limit the footprint of human beings. |
| C．To keep a place in its original condition. | D．To dramatically promote global economy. |
| A．Designing a bright future for our life. | B．Taking part in a community clean-up. |
| C．Renewing our ideas about environments. | D．Getting active in the acts of sustainability. |
| A．It makes travelers closely connected. | B．It gives personal satisfaction to travelers. |
| C．It leaves a short-term effect on tourists. | D．It helps tourists improve their learning ability. |
| A．Regenerative tourism invites travelers to do their part |
| B．Travelling patterns make a difference to the environment |
| C．Conservation behavior enjoys its popularity among households |
| D．The idea of sustainability takes root in all enthusiastic travelers |
