1 . Emmanuel Mendoza, a college student, is currently running a study at Texas A&M University, where he’s mixing simulated (模拟的)Martian (火星的) soil and frass(粪便)from fly larvae(幼虫)to find just the right recipe for growing plants on Mars.
The seed of this idea was planted when Mendoza was in middle school, watching Ridley Scott’s 2015 film The Martian, in which Mark Watney becomes stuck on the planet and grows potatoes to survive. “That got me really interested in what nutrients or what soil structure Martian soil has that we could potentially take advantage of, ”Mendoza said.
Now, he’s running an experiment growing English peas in simulated Martian soil. “I definitely considered potatoes like Mark Watney, ”he said. “But the fact was that I couldn’t necessarily get the data I wanted out of them. ”
He wanted to be able to measure plant growth as it occurred throughout his experiment. Since potatoes grow underground, he’d only be able to collect data once they were done growing. In the end, Mendoza chose to grow English peas because they’re self-pollinating(自花传粉), grow fairly quickly and he can see the shoots climb.
Martian soil, though it does contain other essential nutrients, isn’t exactly ideal for plants from Earth. It tends to be rocky and lacks the right organic (有机 的)matter. Here’s where the larvae come in. Mendoza turned to the larvae of black soldier flies, which produce a waste known as frass. “They can break down almost any biomatter and turn it into really useful matter, “Mendoza said. “And then you can use the frass as a nutrient alternative to soil.”
For this experiment, Mendoza mixed different percentages of simulated Martian soil and frass to see what best supported growing English pea plants. Now, he said he’s seeing growth across all his plants—even the ones growing in 100%simulated Martian soil.
1. Why does the author mention the film The Martian?| A．To show Mendoza’s enthusiasm for films. |
| B．To illustrate Mark Watney’s intelligence. |
| C．To prove Mark Watney’s interest in gardening. |
| D．To introduce the origin of Mendoza’s experiment. |
| A．He was unwilling to repeat others’ study. |
| B．English peas grew far faster than potatoes . |
| C．Potatoes needed stricter living conditions. |
| D．It was more convenient to collect the data. |
| A．It serves as certain essential nutrients. |
| B．It loosens the soil for plants to grow. |
| C．It makes the soil become quite rocky. |
| D．It helps black soldier flies grow stronger. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Pleased. | C．Intolerant. | D．Disappointed. |
Devon became the man of the house since his father passed away last year, but tonight he was a twelve-year old boy who wanted a puppy for his birthday, and his birthday was tomorrow.
“They say every boy should have a dog of his own, don’t you agree?”
I sighed, knowing what my answer would have to be. “I would love to get you a puppy, but puppies are expensive. They need food and shots and a license. We just can’t afford all that right now, honey.” I lowered my head so he wouldn’t see my tears.
He stood there for a moment. “That’s okay, Mom. I understand,” he whispered. “But some day, when things get better, can we get a puppy?” “Of course, Devon, I promise.” I forced myself to smile.
“When we get a puppy, I am going to name him Rusty.”
“Rusty? That’s a fine name.”
The next morning, I gathered our recyclable bottles and cans which were worth five cents each. We drove to the nearby convenience store and sold them at a nearby store. Then we chose the two most delicious donuts with the money.
Devon grabbed the donut and took a huge bite. On the front sidewalk, he stopped so suddenly that I almost ran into him.
A puppy caught his eye. A young woman was parked just outside the door. Her face was wet with tears. The puppy curled up (蜷缩) in her lap with his nose resting on the driver’s door.
Devon rushed over to the car and giggled (咯咯笑) as he fed the rest of his donut to the puppy and was thanked with a wet puppy lick across the face.
Then I turned to the woman: “What’s wrong?”
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 woman dried her face before answering.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Really?” Devon took a deep breath and turned to me.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . On a cold morning in December, Schewel enters a community garden in Bushwick followed by his two small dogs, Sundrop and Moonbeam. The dogs feel excited with
Armed with his two
At the garden, the dogs
The good news is that there aren’t many rats at all here. Schewel’s strategy proves
| A．recognition | B．anticipation | C．competition | D．satisfaction |
| A．release | B．warn | C．drag | D．raise |
| A．permission | B．survival | C．shortage | D．advantage |
| A．leaders | B．companions | C．soldiers | D．visitors |
| A．compared | B．combined | C．associated | D．accompanied |
| A．reasonable | B．valuable | C．acceptable | D．changeable |
| A．priority | B．theme | C．grade | D．rank |
| A．As | B．Unlike | C．With | D．For |
| A．lifestyle | B．development | C．ecosystem | D．population |
| A．shake | B．leave | C．surround | D．protect |
| A．find | B．hide | C．escape | D．dig |
| A．turns on | B．turns off | C．turns up | D．turns down |
| A．In a way | B．In a flash | C．In a word | D．In a mess |
| A．will | B．risk | C．command | D．heart |
| A．urgent | B．common | C．dramatic | D．effective |
4 . 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. |
5 . Most popular wildlife parks in India often have long queues and are expensive. Namrata Dadwal lists four lesser-known sanctuaries (保护区) that you can explore at a more reasonable price.
Kumbalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary
Spread over 578 acres in the Aravallirange, the sanctuary is near the Famous Kumbalgarh Fort. The sanctuary makes home to many endangered species of wildlife like wolf, leopard, and jungle cat.
Best way to explore: By boat
Best time to explore: March to December
National Chambal Sanctuary
The 5400 sq km sanctuary extends into Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and is the only one in India with three keystone species — Ganges river dolphin, ghariyal and red-crowned roof turtle along with eight rare turtle species and about 300 species of birds.
Best way to explore: By boat
Best time to explore: November to March
Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary
While the Sunderbans in West Bengal is India’s most popular mangrove (红树林) forest, an equally wonderful one is Coringa, which is the second largest one in the country. It is a birder’s heaven and is also home to otters, jackals, fishing cats and estuarine crocodiles. Endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles nest here from January to March.
Best way to explore: By boat or on foot
Best time to explore: November to February
Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park
The park has 21 islands and three distinct coastal ecosystems — coral reef, seagrass bed and mangroves — with over 4,200 species of plants and animals. It is home to the largest endangered marine mammal Dugong and is also the last shelter of Balanoglossus.
Best way to explore: By boat or on foot
Best time to explore: October to March
1. Which is the best choice for a visit in July?| A．Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary. |
| B．National Chambal Sanctuary. |
| C．Kumbalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary. |
| D．Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park. |
| A．Dugong. | B．Jungle cat. |
| C．Ganges river dolphin. | D．Olive Ridley sea turtle. |
| A．In a diary. | B．In a biography. |
| C．In a biology book. | D．In a travel brochure. |
6 . I am an Africa wildlife filmmaker. But wildlife filmmakers from Africa are rarer than mountain gorillas(大猩猩). To understand why there are so few, we need to remember our recent history.
When the colonialists(殖民者) ruled Africa, they seized control of the continent’s wildlife and other natural resources. They saw African wildlife as “big game” and the continent’s first protected natural areas were game reserves created by driving away locals for the benefit of white hunters. Later, game reserves were renamed national parks and big game hunting gave way to wildlife tourism. But African wildlife was still there for White people’s enjoyment and benefits.
That locals could have an interest in preserving wildlife for its own sake was rarely considered. Africans -like me who tried to get involved in wildlife conservation were made to feel out of place. When I was first interviewed by a British film crew, my interview was cut at the editing stage and replaced by a white man, just because I was an African.
Africa was the setting for some of the most popular films about wildlife, but these films were made by western-owned production companies for Western audiences, and most Africans never even got to see them. What Africa needed was to see themselves and their view points in the films. We urgently needed wildlife films made by Africans, about Africans and for Africans. As producer of the documentary TV series “Wildlife Warriors”, I set out to find African conservation heroes who could play a role in the documentary. I soon discovered that we had some talented African filmmakers across the continent.
Today things are changing fast. Companies like National Geographic and the BBC are leading the way with new approaches to global storytelling that deliver diversity and equality. Our African wildlife filmmakers’ mission is to draw on the power of local storytelling to inspire our people to save our continent’s rich wildlife.
1. Why are African wildlife filmmakers rare?| A．They lack the talent in making films. | B．They live in the shadow of westerners. |
| C．They are still colonized by the westerns. | D．They aren’t interested in filming wildlife. |
| A．The strictness of the crew. | B．The preference for the British. |
| C．The prejudice against Africans. | D．The benefits of local communities. |
| A．The locals enjoy wildlife films set in Africa. |
| B．Africans play a leading role in wildlife film-making. |
| C．Films made by westerners are the most popular ones. |
| D．Africans long for having a say in wildlife film-making. |
| A．To introduce how African wildlife are protected. |
| B．To urge people to better preserve African wildlife. |
| C．To show that the author was ignored by westerners. |
| D．To explain why more African filmmakers are needed. |
The moon is high in the sky now. The boys look up. There is a dark shape circling above their heads. It isn’t high up. They can see its beak and its eyes.
“Hey, man, can you see that?”
“It’s a giant bird.”
“Hang on,” says Damian. He picks up a stone, puts it into his catapult (弹弓) and points it at the bird.
Jack can see all this. He wants to stop them — he wants to shout out “NO!” — but what can he do? He looks in horror as Damian fires the stone into the air … and he hits the hawk (鹰隼)! He hits the hawk! It makes no noise, but it suddenly drops three or four meters, then swoops down low across the ground.
“Ha ha! Good shot, Damian!”
They all think this is funny and have a good laugh.
“Come on,” Damian says, “Let’s go back. I’m hungry.”
So the boys climb up the steps, cross the bridge and disappear.
Jack comes out from behind the carriage. In the moonlight he can see quite clearly, but he can’t see the hawk.
He walks up and down. He looks under the old train carriages. He looks behind big bushes.
Then he sees something on the railway track at his feet. It is a beautiful long brown feather. A hawk’s feather.
Then he hears a soft strange sound. He walks toward the sound and sees the hawk lying behind the box.
It looks up at him and screeches (尖叫). Jack can see the bird is in pain. One of its wings is touching the ground.
“What can I do?” asks Jack.
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。
Then he makes a decision.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Over the next few days, the hawk gets much better.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8 . Rising numbers of female elephants in Mozambique in south-east Africa are being born without tusks (长牙), according to a new study. The change is thought to be a result of years of hunting in which elephants were killed for their tusks. Experts think they have evolved (进化) to be tuskless so they are less likely to be hunted.
Evolution is the process by which living things change over time to become better adapted to their environment. In the case of the elephants, animals with no tusks have survived (幸存) better than those with tusks. The surviving animals have passed on that characteristic to their babies, resulting in more young elephants that don’t grow tusks.
Elephant tusks evolved from teeth. They gradually became a tool that the elephants used to dig water hole, strip bark from tees and protect themselves. However, during a civil war that lasted from 1977 to 1992, Mozambiu’s elephant population reduced by about 90%. Most of the animals were killed by soldiers who sold their tusks for money.
During the civil war, elephants born without tusks were left alone by hunters, giving them a far better chance of surviving and passing this characteristic to their babies. Before the war, 18.5% of female elephants were born tuskless, but this rose to 33% among females born between 1995 and 2004. In order to survive without tusks, the researchers say the elephants are changing the types of plants they eat.
Whether the elephants have tusks or not depends on changes to their genes (基因). Unfortunately, the gene changes that stop tusks growing have other effects—they are deadly to about half of male babies. Professor Robert Pringle, who worked on the study, hopes that the spread of tusklessness will stop as the elephants are hunted less and the population recovers.
1. What cause(S) elephants to evolve to be tuskless?| A．Food shortage. | B．Climate change. |
| C．Human activities. | D．Natural disasters. |
| A．The damage to their home. |
| B．An increase in birth of females. |
| C．The survival of those with tusks. |
| D．A decrease in their population. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Concerned. | C．Confused. | D．Frightened. |
| A．No buying, no killing. |
| B．The elephants are suffering. |
| C．Elephants evolve to lose tusks. |
| D．To protect elephants, take action! |
9 . Near the Yellow Sea in Jiangsu is a magical island, Qinshan Island,
Qinshan Island has existed for at least 2,000 years, the tail of
10 . In a remote corner of Brazil's Amazon tropical（热带的）rainforest, researchers have spent decades catching and measuring birds. Over 40 years, dozens of Amazonian bird species have declined in mass（质量）. Many species have lost nearly 2% of their average body weight each decade, researchers report November 12 in Science Advances. Some species have grown longer wings. The changes could help birds stay cool in a hotter, more changeable climate, the researchers say.
"Climate change isn't something of the future. It has been happening and has effects we haven't thought of," says Ben Winger, an ornithologist（鸟类专家）at the University of Michigan, who wasn't involved in the research but has documented similar shrinkage（缩水）in migratory birds.
To see if non-migratory birds have also been shrinking, Jirinec and colleagues analyzed data collected from 1979 to 2019 in a remote region in the Amazon that spans 43km. The data include over 11,000 individual birds of 77 species as well as climate for the region.
All species declined in mass over this period, the researchers found. Species lost from about 0.1% to nearly 2% of their average body weight each decade. The motmot, for example, shrunk from 133g to about 127g over the study period.
These changes coincided with an overall increase in the average temperature of 1℃ in the wet season and 1.65%℃ in the dry season. Birds' mass decreased the most in a year or two after especially hot and dry seasons, which tracks with the idea that birds are getting smaller to deal with heat stress.
Wing length also grew for 61 species, with a maximum increase of 1% per decade. Jirinec thinks longer wings make for more efficient, and thus cooler, fliers.
"The Amazon rainforest is mysterious, remote and full of biodiversity," Jirined says. "This study suggests that even in places like this, far removed from civilization, you can see signatures of climate change."
1. What changes have happened to Amazonian birds over 40 years?| A．They have lost weight. | B．They have grown prettier. |
| C．They have become fewer. un | D．They have become larger. |
| A．Contrasted with. | B．Compared with. | C．Corresponded to | D．Contributed to. |
| A．Climate change | B．Food shortage. | C．Massive hunting | D．Scientific research |
| A．Researchers measuring birds in Amazon | B．Climate change shrinking tropical birds |
| C．Longer wings improving flying efficiency | D．Human activities damaging Amazon rainforest |
