1 . The fossil (化石)discovery in Victoria now shows that monk seals were widespread in Australasia in the past.
“Monk seals are one of the rarest and most endangered marine mammals (海洋哺乳动物)alive today, but this wasn’t always the case,” according to lead study author Dr. James Rule from Monash University. “Our paper shows that the very endangered monk seals once called Australia home about five million years ago(specifically in Victoria),” he said.
The discovery was made by studying two fossils again from Melbourne Museum’s collections, the identity of which had been a mystery for 40 years. “When we studied them, they turned out to be the oldest evidence of monk seals,” Dr. Rule said. “These fossils, along with the extinct New Zealand species that was discovered last year, double the known diversity of the monk seals,” he said.
According to Dr. Rule, monk seals disappeared in Australasia three million years ago, and they only lived in the tropics (热带地区)and the Mediterranean after temperatures fell during the Ice Ages. This left monk seals on the edge of disappearance after being overhunted by humans, with about 2,000 members left.
The discovery of New Zealand species and Australian monk seals led the researchers to restudy the origin of the group. “Our research shows that monk seals began in Australia,” Dr. Rule said. “This is different from every theory previously put forward by scientists.”
Previous research has theorized climate change led to the disappearance of many ancient seals in the Southern Hemisphere. This would have included New Zealand’s and Australian monk seals. “This suggests the world’s last two species of monk seal are also at risk from climate change,” Dr. Rule said. If sea level continues to rise, the beaches monk seals rely on for resting and raising young ones may disappear.
1. What does the new discovery show about monk seals?| A．Their living habits. | B．Their growth process. |
| C．Their early appearance. | D．Their ways of getting food. |
| A．Researcher found it hard to keep them in good condition. |
| B．Researchers manged to identify them after many years. |
| C．They were once thought to be fossils of birds. |
| D．They were first discovered last year. |
| A．Fighting water pollution. | B．Suffering from a lack of food. |
| C．Having limited living places. | D．Facing increasing natural enemies. |
| A．Climate change always threatens monk seals’ survival. |
| B．Scientists can now measure the rate of global warming. |
| C．Human activity in Australia should be strictly limited. |
| D．People need to help raise young monk seals. |
2 . A recent study in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series has a great influence when it comes to the question of how sharks will interact with humans as climate change continues to worsen. It predicts a world where humans and sharks will encounter more often than the present case.
Contrary to popular media descriptions that speak ill of sharks, humans will not be in that much trouble when this happens.
First, let’s explore why sharks and humans will probably be running into each other’s world more often. One reason is the field of urban ecology and, specifically, how different species respond when they come across humans.
The researchers initially believed that sharks would also be urban avoiders.
| A．Surprisingly, that’s not the case |
| B．It will instead be a heartbreaking tragedy |
| C．Humans have a long lasting fear against sharks |
| D．Therefore, they think the sharks won’t get too close to us |
| E．Large animals like wolves and mountain lions fall into this category |
| F．Tigers and lions are so dangerous that we keep them away from our cities |
| G．If a species thinks its members can get along just great with us, they are known as urban adapters |
3 . Recently, a team of young researchers in Panama has found a special ant species that rapidly repairs any damage to its host tree.
The events leading to the discovery began in mid-2020, when Alex and his friends would kill time by shooting clay balls at trees with a slingshot. They targeted the thin Cecropia trees to make the task more challenging. Things went well until one clay ball accidentally hit a tree trunk, leaving a clean exit and entry wound.
Concerned that he had caused permanent damage, Alex went back to examine the tree the following morning, accompanied by his father William, an entomologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). To their surprise, the hole had been completely mended! Curious to find out what was going on, Alex and his friends enlisted in the STRI’s volunteer program.
The teens, as instructed, drilled holes in the Cecropia trees and then carefully documented what followed. The young scientists found that in 14 of the 22 cases, groups of Azteca alfari ants immediately gathered in the damaged area and instantly got to work without a break. The industrious insects, using material from the trees, significantly reduced the size of the hole soon. In most cases, the gap was completely filled up within 24 hours.
The sand-colored insects’ harmonious relationship with the Cecropia trees has been known for many years. The trees provide the ants with food and shelter. In return, the insects protect their leaves from plant-eating animals. However, their repair skills — which researchers suspect have been developed fixing damage caused by the sharp nails of the sloths that frequent the trees — had never been seen before.
“This project allowed us to experience first-hand all the complicated details behind a scientific study. It was really a great learning experience,” said Alex.
Alex and his team, who recently published their findings, still have one riddle to solve. They aren’t sure why the insects didn’t repair all the holes. Understanding this selective behavior is something they hope to explore in the future — stay tuned!
1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The fun of playing outdoors. | B．The cause of the new findings. |
| C．The intention of using a slingshot. | D．The reason for targeting the Cecropia trees. |
| A．Curiosity. | B．Optimism. | C．Confusion. | D．Uneasiness. |
| A．Grateful. | B．Sorrowful. | C．Hardworking. | D．Impatient. |
| A．Whether ants are expert at tree repair. | B．How ants fix damage to their host trees. |
| C．Why ants merely repair certain tree holes. | D．What relationship ants keep with the Cecropia trees. |
Dunhuang was a gateway to and from China, a place
In the Ming Dynasty, trade routes changed and Dunhuang was not as prosperous as it used to be.
5 . Earth Day is April 22. Every year, people around the world observe the day by helping to care for the environment. They carry out all kinds of activities in an effort to better the planet’s heath.
One way to support this goal is to grow plants native to your area. This helps wildlife like birds and insects that evolved alongside native plants. For many of these animals, plant pollen (花粉) is their food. Native pollinators often cannot recognize non-native plants as food. This means they do not collect the pollen or spread plants’ seeds. Planting non-native species creates so-called “food deserts” for pollinators including bees, birds, bats, butterflies and more.
Doug Taamy is a professor of entomology at the University of Delaware. Entomology is the study of insects. He found that non-native plant species can harm the natural food chain, which can lead to a collapse of the environment. “Plant choice matters,” he said. “The plants we choose to landscape our properties should be determined by how much life can live there.”
Humans depend strongly on insects. Without them, we would have no flowering plants, which would harm the food web that supports important animals. Birds, for example, depend on plants for food and spread their seeds while keeping the populations of harmful insects down.
Insects support plants that provide oxygen, clean our water, capture carbon and add nutrients to the soil. That builds topsoil and prevents flooding. Without insects, the biosphere — the living parts of the Earth — would rot because of the loss of insect decomposers. Humans simply could not survive that, Tallamy said.
In addition to providing food and habitat for insects and other wildlife, native plants are able to grow easily and do not require much care. That means less watering and less fertilizing. The situation is a win-win for gardeners and pollinators.
1. Which section of a website is the text probably taken from?| A．Around the globe. | B．Technology report. |
| C．The secret of nature. | D．Healthy Lifestyle. |
| A．They attract more insects. | B．They do harm to native plants. |
| C．They turn soil into desert. | D．They break the balance of nature. |
| A．They produce more oxygen. | B．They prevent flooding more effectively. |
| C．They need less care. | D．They add more nutrients to the soil. |
| A．Take effective measures to protect insects. |
| B．Raise environmental awareness on Earth Day. |
| C．Make great effort to better the planet's health. |
| D．Plant native plants to support local environment. |
China has detailed measures to boost its climate change monitoring and risk prevention capabilities, marking a significant step forward in the country’s efforts
The country will seek to build a climate-resilient society
The first time China
As the global climate
7 . World in a dish: The garden path
Imagine a plate holding two strawberries, identical in appearance. One came from the supermarket, meaning it was probably harvested when it was still unripe, loaded onto a refrigerated truck and driven hundreds of miles.
The first one will probably taste like a slightly soft cucumber, with light berry flavors and strong sour tastes. The second is likely to be sweet and floral; the flavor will stay in the mouth, as the pleasant smell will on the hands.
A garden, especially in the early years, can also produce little but frustration. Beginning gardeners may plant the wrong crops for their soil. Squirrels have an annoying habit of taking single bites of cucumbers, beans and tomatoes, then leaving the rest on the vine (藤) to rot.
No matter.
| A．The real joy of gardening is the time spent doing it. |
| B．Growing your own vegetables ensures a reliable supply. |
| C．Well-stocked supermarket shelves are available all week. |
| D．Some columnists long considered gardening a waste of time. |
| E．However, supermarket strawberries are not entirely without advantages. |
| F．By the time it reached the plate it may have been off the vine for two weeks. |
| G．And even expert gardeners can lose a season's harvest to uncooperative weather. |
8 . Called “America’s wolf”, the red wolf is the only large predator whose historic range is found entirely within the United States, stretching from Texas to New England. But hunting gradually reduced its range, and it was declared extinct in the wild in 1980.
Recovery efforts in the wild began in 1987 on the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. In a ground-breaking successful experiment, eight captive (圈养的) wolves were released this year into North Carolina, eventually growing into a population over 100, reaching a peak of around 120 wolves in 2012. But illegal hunting and management changes by the Fish and Wildlife Service resulted in their numbers plummeting.
In the spring, conservationists celebrated a small bit of good news when four captive-born pups (幼兽) were placed into a cave and successfully adopted by a wild red wolf mother. Meanwhile, another four adults were released into the wild. The pups are thought to be still alive and healthy. But the adults didn’t go well. In the months after release, three were struck by cars and killed, and the fourth was fatally shot on private land.
To boost the population after these deaths, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in November that it planned to release nine adult red wolves into their recovery area this winter, land within and surrounding two wildlife reserves.
The Service also recently announced it would withdraw a 2018 proposal to shrink (缩小) the red wolves’ protected area in North Carolina by 90 percent, after a lawsuit accused the agency of going against the Endangered Species Act. Ron Sutherland of the Wildlands Network says it’s crucial that the agency has abandoned this wrong-headed proposal. And yet the situation now is even more urgent than it was in 2018 — this should launch the conservation community in the U. S. into crisis mode to save this species and bring it back from the extinction.
1. What does the underlined word “plummeting” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Promising. | B．Declining. | C．Multiplying. | D．Increasing. |
| A．The released wolves lived well. |
| B．The population boosted after the release. |
| C．The red wolf faced greater threat than before. |
| D．The released red wolves still needed protection. |
| A．Shrink the red wolves’ reserves. |
| B．Make a proposal to protect the red wolves. |
| C．Put some red wolves in some specific places. |
| D．Force the protected area into the state of emergency. |
| A．The protection of red wolves. | B．Challenges faced by red wolves. |
| C．Reasons for red wolves extinction. | D．The relationship between red wolves and humans. |
9 . Margot doesn’t have a garbage can. It doesn’t need one because Margot simply doesn’t cause anything to get thrown away. The restaurant doesn’t allow any type of single use plastic. Margot, which opened last year, is one of the small but growing restaurants around the world aiming to avoid not only food leftovers, but also any garbage.
“Food waste has been increasing as an issue for restaurants over the last 10 years,” says Calvin Brown. He runs the Sustainable Restaurant Association. Based in the United Kingdom, the organization helps food business become more environmentally responsible. He says that food waste contributes to releasing the greenhouse gas, so there is strong motivation to reduce waste and help the environment.
In the USA, food waste and packing account for nearly half of the material sent to landfills. Restaurants from McDonald’s to Starbucks are addressing this issue with “no straw Mondays” and limits on single-serving plastic, but a handful of restaurateurs are trying to get rid of rubbish entirely. There’s also economic case to be made for waste reduction. One study shows that restaurants save seven dollars for every dollar invested in anti- waste methods.
Avoiding food waste is the first and perhaps most obvious challenge for sustainable restaurants. Doug McMaster, chef at Silo in London, only serves a set menu. This removes the worry that one particular item won’t sell well, and will spoil in the refrigerator. Compost (堆肥) is a necessity as well. Nolla (meaning “zero” in Finnish) in Helsinki, Finland is giving compost to its suppliers as well as its diners. Nolla also has food- tracking software more commonly used among corporate food service companies to keep track of what sells and what rots.
Sometimes restaurants call themselves environmentally friendly, but they might just be using the label. Calvin offers some pointers on what to look for to make sure a restaurant is truly committed to sustainability.
1. What does Margot feature?| A．Its large size. | B．Its opening hours. |
| C．Its zero-waste goal. | D．Its plastic garbage cans. |
| A．Ways of packaging food. |
| B．The issue of investing in services. |
| C．The importance of environmental protection. |
| D．Efforts of some restaurants to reduce rubbish, |
| A．Only serve a set menu. |
| B．Hardly use refrigerators. |
| C．Supply compost to its customers. |
| D．Keep track of diners’ preferences. |
| A．Expand food business. |
| B．Use eco-friendly labels. |
| C．Save money on dealing with kitchen garbage. |
| D．Contribute to sustainable development of the food industry. |
On a hot September afternoon, Peter and his friend Isabel were on their way to the library. When they passed by Tubman park, Isabel suggested cutting through it to get to the library. As they entered the park, the sight of the swings (秋千) and the merry-go-round brought back a flood of memories of their childhood spent there. But now everything looked so old, sad, and dirty. Litter lay on the ground next to an overflowing trash bin. There were still young schoolchildren playing there but they had to avoid the trash that littered the playground. A little boy told them that the city took the other trash cans away and the remaining one never got emptied often.
As they headed toward the library, the two high school students wrinkled their forehead. In the library, they encountered Mrs. Evans, their kind-hearted fifth-grade teacher, retired yet still passionate. Mrs. Evans listened as Isabel and Peter eagerly explained what they’d seen. Finally, she recommended them to go to the City Hall to voice their concerns.
The next day, Isabel and Peter went into the building of the City Hall but were met with an impatient officer. They were informed that the city couldn’t help with their problem due to a tight budget. Discouraged, they left and turned to Mrs. Evans for help.
Under her guidance, they decided to ask Go Green, a non-profit organization whose goal is to protect the environment, for help. “This group is good at raising money for projects just like yours, ” said Mrs. Evans. She promised to arrange them to present their ideas to Go Green. Hearing this, their face lit up.
Two main tasks remained ahead: researching ways to clean up the park and preparing a convincing presentation. As Isabel was good at researching while Peter always had a talent for speaking, they cooperated quite well. Isabel learned from a science magazine that a new type of trash bin can squeeze the trash down without being emptied often, which saves time, money, and energy. Based on this, Peter practiced his presentation over and over again.
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。
A week later, Peter stood nervously at the back of the hall where Go Green was meeting.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After the meeting, Isabel excitedly told Peter the good news.
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