Have you ever heard of the largest and most beautiful salt lake in China? If the answer is no, you can take
Qinghai Lake is
The lake
These lakes,
2 . Avebury is near the far more famous Stonehenge. What is interesting about it is that a village has grown up around the stones, unlike Stonehenge, which stands alone. Avebury and Stonehenge are just two of about 1,300 stone circles all over the UK. Many of them are in fantastic locations, like Castlering in Cumbria, from which you can see England’s highest mountain; and the Ring of Brodgar in the beautiful Orkney Island, off Scotland’s northern coast.
Some of them are UNESCO World Heritage sites, and several have local stories connected to them. For example, the Merry Maidens in West Cornwall is a group of nineteen stones. According to the story, they were young women — maidens — who were turned into stone for dancing on a Sunday.
Early historians thought that the stone circles were temples for the people who arrived in the UK in about 500 BC. Later research has shown that they are far older than that, at least 4,000 years old. Stonehenge could have been built 5,000 years ago, but it’s still nowhere near as old as the nearby wooden circle built about 10,000 years ago. Some experts believe they acted like calendars and have shown that some stones line up with sunrise or sunset on the longest and shortest days of the year. Others believe they were places for the dead bodies of the local rich and powerful.
We may never know why they were built, but each one leaves the visitor with a strong sense of the shortness of our existence in the sea of history. There are groups of stone circles and other prehistoric (史前的) monuments throughout the British Isles, so wherever you are staying you should include at least one in your tour.
1. What can we learn about Avebury?| A．It stands alone. | B．It is a part of Stonehenge. |
| C．It has a village around it now. | D．It consists of a couple of Merry Maidens. |
| A．Stone circles. | B．Mountains. |
| C．Temples. | D．Islands. |
| A．The local stories of stone circles. |
| B．The original purpose of stone circles. |
| C．The historic value of stone circles. |
| D．The time when stone circles were built. |
| A．Building more monuments. | B．Protecting World Heritage sites. |
| C．Learning more about our history. | D．Visiting some of those stone circles. |
3 . Mr. Fang is now the owner of 36 greenhouses producing organic vegetables in the Gobi desert in Northwest China’s Gansu province. He is one of the beneficiaries of the Gobi Farming Program of Gansu province that is building rows of greenhouses in the desert to help transform local farming and alleviate poverty.
Grain production in Gansu is greatly affected by the climate and the output is unstable. Agricultural production there relies heavily on rivers, oases and groundwater irrigation. If traditional extensive agricultural production continued, it could gradually narrow the living space.
In 1995, a local entrepreneur ventured to use Israeli technologies to build greenhouses for vegetables growing in the desert. Such individual pilot projects encouraged the Gansu government to launch a provincial-level Gobi farming program in 2017 with a target to build up a controlled-environment agriculture of about 20,000 hectares by 2022. Some cities in the province, which include Fang’s village, have already been experimenting with Gobi farming for several years.
Despite the harsh environment, farming in the Gobi desert has its advantages: the extended amount of sunlight provides adequate energy for crops, a significant temperature difference between day and night helps crops accumulate nutrients and the Gobi’s hot and dry air means fewer pests and crop diseases. The Gobi greenhouses popping up in Gansu use drip and spray irrigation, which can cut water consumption by almost 50 percent compared to a normal farm. The greenhouses are also eco-friendly, as they use substrates for soilless cultivation recycled from rotten leaves, straw and cow and sheep feces.
With the greenhouses, Fang earns around 70,000 yuan annually. Data from Suzhou. district of Jiuquan showed the greenhouse program has helped bring an average revenue of about $ 72,300 per hectare to local farmers. Large scale greenhouse farming is an investment-intensive project and cannot be sustained only by government financial support. Therefore, the local government has been encouraging villagers such as Fang to take the lead to rent greenhouses or build their own.
It is not an easy task, and many villagers still want to wait and see. However, more and more are starting to join in, either to rum their own greenhouses or work as hired workers for greenhouse owners. Starting from managing four greenhouses in 2009, Fang now is also a partner of a greenhouse farming cooperative running 120 greenhouses.
The relatively low cost of large-scale land use in the Gobi desert have also encouraged large firms to start their Gobi farming pilot projects in Gansu. If the Gobi farming proves successful, it could provide experiences for countries in Central Asia linked with Gansu both by the ancient Silk Road as well as its modern version of the Belt and Road Initiative.
1. What affects grain production in Gansu most?| A．Money. | B．Sunlight. | C．Air | D．Water. |
| A．1n 1995. | B．In 2009. | C．In 2017. | D．In 2022. |
| A．The harsh environment is good for crops . |
| B．At first, Fang only ran four greenhouses. |
| C．With the greenhouses, Fang earns around $ 70,000 annually. |
| D．Mr. Fang now owns 120 greenhouses producing organic vegetables. |
| A．The Belt and Road Initiative |
| B．A Great Adventurer — Mr. Fang |
| C．The Gobi Farming Program of Gansu |
| D．The Advantages of Farming in the Gobi Desert |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处,多者(从第11处起)不计分。
I’d love to share with you my personally opinions on city life and life in small towns. I grow up in a small town and then moved to a big city at 18, so I have experienced the good and bad side of both. I never thought that I would enjoy live in a big city, but I was wrong. After ten years of living on one, I can’t imagine ever living in a small town again. Surely small towns and big cities all have some problems in terms of transport. In a small town, you have to own a car make life comfortable. Big cities generally have heavy traffic and expensive parking, but there you have a choice of taking public transport, which is cheap than driving. I can always enjoy a lot of films, concerts, and another wonderful shows. However, these things are not rare in small towns.
5 . How do you feel about bees? Do you get irritated when they buzz (嗡嗡地叫) around you and do you fear their mission is just to sting you? Love them or loathe them, these little insects are extremely important creatures, and without them we might starve.
Bees deserve some respect— they give us honey, and they play their part either in pollinating (给……授粉) the many vegetables and fruits we eat directly or pollinating the food for the animals that we then consume. In fact, they are the world’s most important pollinators. That’s not all— a study by the University of Reading in the UK, found bees and other pollinating insects have a global economic value of around & 120bn and contribute around & 690m to the UK economy every year.
So, bees are worth protecting, and although a small number of bee species are vital for crops such as oilseed rape (欧洲油菜) , apples and strawberries, experts say we should be taking care of all our bees. Researchers say conservation efforts should be aimed at a wide number of species— even those that currently contribute little to crop pollination— in order to maintain biodiversity and ensure future food security.
Unfortunately, in recent times, bee populations have been declining due to pesticides (杀虫剂), disease and habitat loss. It’s something we should be worried about because, as Gill Perkins, chief executive of the Bumblebee (大黄蜂) Conservation Trust, told BBC Future website: “They provide a whole ecosystem service.” The recent lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic seem to have given bee populations a little boost because they faced less human disturbance, traffic and polluting fumes.
Conservationists hope, going forward, people will appreciate bees more and encourage them to thrive as they reconnect with nature. Gill Perkins says, “They are beginning to realize how their mental health and well-being are supported by nature— particularly by bumblebees, which are so iconic, beautiful and buzzy.” So, it really seems time to give bees a second chance.
1. What do bees do to the fruits and vegetables we eat?| A．They store them. | B．They pollinate them. |
| C．They destroy them. | D．They consume them. |
| A．Habitat loss. | B．Natural enemies. |
| C．Heavy weather. | D．Crop pollination. |
| A．Grow. | B．Plant. | C．Decrease. | D．Shrink. |
| A．Tourism. | B．Sports. | C．Business. | D．Science. |
6 . Overtourism happens when the number of tourists or the management of the tourism industry in a destination becomes unsustainable (不可持续的). When there are too many visitors, the quality of life for the local community can be affected, the surrounding natural environment can become worse, and the quality of the tourists’ experience can fall.
However, in most places, overtourism is not a hopeless situation. Destinations all over the world have already showed ways to overcome the obstacles presented by overcrowding and unsustainable tourism management.
East Africa, for example, has turned the gorilla (大猩猩) visiting into a once-in-a-lifetime experience by putting limits on daily permits, while maintaining conservation efforts inside native forests and offering jobs to local guides. In Antarctica, the Antarctic Treaty limits the size of ships that land there as well as the number of people they can bring ashore at one time; it also requires a minimum guide-to-tourist ratio (比率) while tourists are off the boat.
Local governments, of course, are largely responsible for keeping sustainability in the tourism industry. But approaches to reducing the negative effects of overtourism can come down to individual travelers as well. One of the best ways is to become a responsible tourist by looking outside of the mainstream travel destinations. Consider outer cities or less-visited attractions to avoid crowds altogether while experiencing the destination’s daily culture outside of the popular areas. There are countless places that want and need more tourists to explore.
If you just have to visit the popular destinations, consider visiting during their off-season. People who rely on tourism to live on need support during the off-season more than any other time of year. Besides, it will save money since accommodations and flights tend to be cheaper. Even better, off-season travel puts less pressure on the environment.
1. What does the underlined word “obstacles” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Hesitations. | B．Failures. | C．Disagreements. | D．Challenges. |
| A．Reducing local guides. | B．Limiting daily permits. |
| C．Expanding forest coverage. | D．Attracting local visitors. |
| A．Local authorities. | B．Individual tourists. |
| C．Travel agencies. | D．Native people. |
| A．It suits the young and the old. | B．It improves visitors’ mental health. |
| C．It’s much cheaper and less crowded. | D．It offers more cultural destinations. |
7 . I work not only at the clinic but also on a private farm in Pensacola, Florida—a place our team of volunteers lovingly refers to as the Misfit Ranch, where we take in and nurse dogs that have been abused.
It all went back to late 2009, when I’d felt so trapped then. One day I got a call from my friend Mary who was looking for a helper to move to her farm nearby and take care of the horses part-time. Something bright in me came back to life upon hearing it.
Animals were a huge part of my growing up years. My parents and I often brought home sick or injured dogs. We’d nurse them back to health and find them homes. Even though I was just a kid, I’d felt such joy and purpose then.
Taking care of horses... Something in me said that I needed to do this. It was the horses that helped restore me. Their presence calmed me. Little by little, the fear that had its hold on me for so long disappeared. At the same time, I was considering a big plan.
I started volunteering with dog rescue groups in the area. I felt drawn to the dogs for whom it was hard to find homes. However, I wanted to be able to do more for these dogs. I began training to become a vet technician (兽医助手). I started treating animals in 2017 and got a job at a clinic.
Sometimes I would take stray (走失的) dogs home with me from the clinic to give them care overnight. I always had a soft spot for the tough cases—the broken ones who, to others, seemed hopeless.
Word spread and I became the go-to for abused dogs in North Florida. Vets would give out my number and people would contact me through social media. The Misfit Ranch grew to a point where I needed help caring for these animals that had no place to call home.
1. What did Mary want the author to do?| A．Look after the horses. | B．Sell the private farm. |
| C．Stay positive every day. | D．Move house with her. |
| A．A warm-hearted father. | B．The pain of growing up. |
| C．A child’s love for animals. | D．The purpose of saving dogs. |
| A．To win others’ respect. | B．To start dog rescue groups. |
| C．To realize her friend’s dream. | D．To provide better service for dogs. |
| A．It was easy to find home for abused dogs. |
| B．The locals tended to ask the author for help. |
| C．There was a need for hands on a farm. |
| D．Social media have caused much trouble. |
8 . A woman, Shanon, was driving on a Georgia road when a deer suddenly came out of nowhere. Before she knew what had happened, she was
Hero entered the car to figure out Shanon’s
Shanon soon
Hero could have
Be kind to our loyal friends and treat them equally. Only by doing so can humans and animals live
| A．uncomfortable | B．unconscious | C．asleep | D．concerned |
| A．belongings | B．lights | C．vehicle | D．brake |
| A．barely | B．freely | C．abruptly | D．unbelievably |
| A．air | B．horizon | C．ground | D．scene |
| A．asked | B．fought | C．looked | D．traveled |
| A．appeared | B．returned | C．continued | D．jumped |
| A．pain | B．recovery | C．situation | D．target |
| A．catch | B．stretch | C．push | D．pull |
| A．grades | B．decisions | C．results | D．comments |
| A．managed | B．tended | C．attempted | D．hoped |
| A．shade | B．direction | C．equipment | D．help |
| A．remembered | B．learned | C．imagined | D．predicted |
| A．adopt | B．relieve | C．buy . | D．contact |
| A．Generally | B．Sadly | C．Consequently | D．Fortunately |
| A．trick | B．courage | C．honesty | D．energy |
| A．looked after | B．played with | C．walked by | D．benefited by |
| A．attack | B．block | C．attract | D．surprise |
| A．unnatural | B．unconditional | C．intentional | D．traditional |
| A．expectation | B．control. | C．experience | D．reach |
| A．independently | B．causally | C．automatically | D．harmoniously |
| A．Rainy. | B．Windy. | C．Sunny. |
10 . Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (大堡礁) has been hit by continuous heat. Too hot ocean temperatures, as high as 7 degrees Fahrenheit above average, have attacked the reef in recent weeks even though autumn normally means cooler conditions. Scientists with Australian government agencies said some parts of the reef were turning white as a result.
When temperatures rise, corals lose their important roommates: the symbiotic algae (共生藻) that live inside corals and produce their primary source of food. Those algae give corals their colors but get expelled (排出) during periods of heat stress, causing the corals to turn white. “If the water temperature decreases, corals that are affected can recover from this stress,” said David Wachenfeld, chief scientist of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. “However, weather forecasts show ocean temperatures will likely remain above average in the next few weeks.”
The reef has been experiencing warm temperatures. The consequence was severe. After a number of corals turned white in 2016 and 2017, large parts of the Great Barrier Reef lost half of their live corals. Reefs around the world are experiencing similar climate—related damage. A worldwide research found that between 2009 and 2021, 14 percent of the world’s corals died. And another similar event raided many places, which worsened the situation in 2022.
Scientists are trying to find ways to give corals a fighting chance, like searching for reefs that could act as shelters because they experience naturally cool water. Others are raising heat resistant corals. Of course, countries must reduce fossil fuel emissions (燃料排放) over the next decade. Even if the world can limit warming to 1.5℃, 70 to 90 percent of coral reefs are likely to die off. “We need to really learn from these events,” Emily Darling, director of coral reef conservation at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said. “We need to change the current businesses. We need to take action on climate change.”
1. What directly causes corals in Australia to change their color?| A．The increase of their food. | B．Worsening climate change. |
| C．Too cool temperature in the ocean. | D．The loss of algae inside their bodies. |
| A．Corals’ recovery is hard because of hot weather. |
| B．The repeated high temperatures will kill all corals |
| C．The stress for corals will never disappear in future |
| D．Forecasts about ocean temperatures are not reliable. |
| A．Represented. | B．Struck. | C．Polluted. | D．Occupied |
| A．The importance of scientific work. |
| B．The terrible impact of climate change. |
| C．Various reasons for reducing fossil fuels. |
| D．Possible solutions to protecting corals. |
