1 . The summer of 2023 was the hottest ever recorded on Earth. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from burning fossil fuels are the main causes behind climate change, and scientists say they must be controlled. But there’s another greenhouse gas to deal with: methane. Tackling it may be the best bet for putting the brakes on rising temperatures in the short term. That’s because it’s relatively short-lived in the atmosphere—methane lasts about 12 years, while CO₂ can stick around for hundreds of years.

We already have strategies for cutting methane emissions—fixing natural gas leaks (methane is the main component of natural gas), removing coal gradually (mining operations release methane), eating less meat and dairy products (cows burp lots of methane) and electrifying transportation and appliances. Implementing all existing strategies could slow global warming by 30 percent over the next decade, research has shown.

But some climate scientists, including Jackson, say we need to go further. Scientists want to develop ways to remove methane directly from the air. Most ideas are still in early research stages. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is currently studying these potential technologies, their state of readiness and possible risks, and what further research and funding are needed. Some of the approaches include re-engineering bacteria that are already good at eating methane and developing reactors in methane-rich places to chemically transform the gas.

“Methane is a sprint (短跑) and CO₂ is a marathon,” says Desirée Plata, a civil and environmental engineer at MIT. “While methane emissions are a significant contributor to climate change, carbon dioxide emissions remain the primary driver. Therefore, we must continue to pursue strategies to reduce CO₂ emissions while also targeting methane reduction.” For scientists focused on removing greenhouse gases, it’s off to the races.

1. What is the best way to stop rising temperatures in the short term?

A．Quitting burning fossil fuels.	B．Dealing with methane emissions.
C．Improving current research methods.	D．Controlling carbon dioxide emissions.

2. What is the possible result of carrying out existing strategies?

A．Reducing the rate of global warming.	B．Fixing natural gas leaks.
C．Trapping methane in the atmosphere.	D．Increasing the use of energy.

3. What does the author imply in paragraph 3?

A．The approaches are not fully developed.	B．The current research progress is sufficient.
C．Some approaches have been applied widely.	D．Methane emissions can be removed completely.

4. What is Desirée Plata’s attitude towards the idea of removing methane?

A．Indifferent.

B．Negative.

C．Neutral.

D．Supportive.

2 . 请在方框中选择合适的选项，填入短文的空格中，使短文完整连贯。
注意：（1）每个选项只能使用一次；
（2）方框中有一个多余选项。

A. in contrast       B. decrease       C. rarely       D. differ from       E. advanced F. carry on       G. ancestor       H. primitive       I. absence       J. interact with       K. characteristics

Did you know that when you visit the zoo and see the chimpanzees (黑猩猩), you are visiting animals related to you?

Humans and chimpanzees have a common     1     that existed millions of years ago. Scientists group us together because we share similar     2    , like hands that can grasp things and brains that are large compared to body size.

Humans     3     chimpanzees in that we walk on our feet, we possess language, and we are much less hairy, for sure! Another big difference between humans and chimpanzees is how long we live. Chimpanzees     4     live past their 40’s. Humans,     5    , can live past our 80’s.

As we humans get older, we can still do many of the things we enjoy, such as taking up our hobbies and playing with our grandchildren, but our activity levels may     6    , and we are also more likely to get sick.

Chimpanzees have shorter lifespans, so many of them miss out on the fun that humans may experience in old age. For example, they have less opportunity to     7     their grandchildren. This may seem sad, but chimpanzees have a different family structure from humans’, so the     8     of grandparents does not affect their lifestyle.

Is it cool that humans can live to such a（n）    9     age? Next time you visit the zoo, think about the differences and similarities between you and your     10     relatives, and how amazing it is that humans can live for such a long time.

3 . Scientists already knew African gray parrots are particularly clever, with large brains and exceptional problem-solving skills. But they wondered if these birds, separated from great apes by some 300 million years of evolution, also possess advanced social abilities, like helping one another. Corvids, another group of so-called “intelligent” birds that includes crows, have so far failed to demonstrate this ability, according to Desiree Brucks, a Swiss biologist.

“Parrots had not been tested yet,” says Brucks. “So it remained an open question whether or not the ability to help each other actively may have evolved (进化) within birds.” Brucks and his colleague placed many paired combinations of eight African grays into glass enclosures (围栏), with a hole cut in a dividing wall that allowed the two birds to interact. The scientists then trained the parrots to trade coins to a person through another hole in exchange for nuts.

When one parrot had all the coins, it would assist its coinless partner by gifting some of them through the dividing wall. The parrots tended to give more coins to friends and family, but would also help parrots they had never met. Importantly, the parrots didn’t help when their partner was blocked from accessing the experimenter, suggesting they could recognize when their assistance was needed, or even useful.

This behavior, detailed in their study, published this week in the journal Current Biology, is possibly a consequence of evolving in giant, moving groups where an altruistic reputation is important. Katherine Cronin, a zoologist in Chicago, approves the study for ruling out simple playfulness as an explanation for passing the coins. “We can be pretty confident that the African gray parrots are considering the benefits available to their partners,” Cronin says. She points out the research adds to growing evidence of selflessness across the animal kingdom—and reminds us it is not unique to humans.

1. What is the study mainly about?

A．The living habits of African gray parrots.

B．The social abilities of African gray parrots.

C．The problem-solving skills of African gray parrots.

D．The comparison between African gray parrots and crows.

2. How did the researchers test the parrots’ ability to help each other?

A．By setting up the parrots enclosures.

B．By observing parrots work in groups.

C．By creating a situation for parrots to share coins.

D．By assessing the parrots’ intelligence separately.

3. What does the underlined word “altruistic” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Selfless.

B．Impressive.

C．Fearless.

D．Professional.

4. Where is this article most likely taken from?

A．A nature guidebook.	B．A pet care magazine.
C．A scientific journal.	D．A bird-watching newsletter.

4 . A “spark bird” is the species that inspires someone to start birdwatching, namely birding. For Trish Kane, that bird was the cardinal (红衣凤头鸟). Hearing cardinals’ calls was an initial step toward over 1,960 hours of birding, 33 field notebooks and a career change. In her book, Birding to Change the World, Kane charts her transformation from a journalist to an environmentalist.

In 2005, a terrible hurricane hit Kane’s hometown. After it, she had to cope with the loss of her home. In watching the cardinals and other birds, she found relief. Soon she started bringing her students along. “My students stared at me in disbelief when I told them I had never cared about birds before,” Kane writes. “I suddenly wondered how many creatures would die because of the way we lived.” She decided to pursue an environmentally-conscious career. In 2007, she took a course to study environmental science.

Most of the book focuses on Kane’s efforts to preserve Warner Park, an ideal location satisfying birding requirements for her class. She successfully campaigned to stop the construction of a parking lot. Her activism snowballed into a local bird watching and protecting organization. It eventually became part of Kane’s doctoral research, and launched a birding class that pairs middle school students with college-student advisors.

The book shows readers that a good knowledge of nature doesn’t require a degree. Take Jeremy, a seemingly uninterested boy in Kane’s birding class. When reporters joined an outing, the normally quiet Jeremy started talking excitedly about the bunting, a small blue bird. Kane soon learned that he had secretly taken to studying the field guide given to him by his advisor.

At its core, Birding to Change the World is about how people and birds today depend on one another. “For birds, that dependence is concrete. For thousands of years, our species has seen birds as a symbol of liberation,” Kane writes. In her case, it is liberation from the grief and depression that the hurricane brought. “Bird by bird, they carve a new pathway in my life, a joyful pathway.”

1. What made Kane pursue an environmentalist career?

A．Her guilt about the serious harm to birds.	B．The desire to guide students to go birding.
C．The comfort from birding after the disaster.	D．Her students’ disbelief in her ignorance of birds.

2. What can we learn about Kane from paragraph 3?

A．She worked hard on her latest book.	B．She protected Warner Park on her own.
C．Her birding class consisted of advisors.	D．Her activism led to positive chain effects.

3. What does Jeremy’s experience suggest?

A．Interest in nature differs between kids and adults.

B．Children learn more from nature than from books.

C．Children are born curious about outdoor activities.

D．Potential in kids can be released with proper guide.

4. Which is the best title for the text?

A．A Joyful Experience of Birding	B．The Transformative Power of Birding
C．A Life Journey of an Environmentalist	D．The Self-appreciation of a Book Writer

5 . Have you ever seen the Moon rising over your town or city? It can appear very large when it is low on the horizon. Our moon goes through phases(月相) and it looks a little different every day. When the whole moon is lit up, it is called a full moon. When the Moon is entirely dark, it’s a new moon. When there is only a thin edge of the circle shining, it’s a crescent moon.

When a crescent moon is rising, we can occasionally see a unique event. When the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon are lined up just right, some of the sunlight that hits the Earth can be reflected onto the Moon. This causes most part of the Moon to give off a faint glow, while the rest of the Moon is brightly lit by the sunlight.

This phenomenon is named the Da Vinci glow. It was Leonardo da Vinci, a great artist, inventor and scientist, who explained it for the first time. Sometimes, it is also called “earthshine.”

When Da Vinci wrote about earthshine, he suggested that it might be caused by sunlight reflected from the Earth’s oceans. He was almost completely correct, except for one detail: most of the reflected sunlight comes from the clouds in our atmosphere. The reflected light from the Earth is bright enough to light up the side of the Moon that isn’t receiving direct sunlight.

The Da Vinci glow is not easy to see. Conditions need to be just right. Due to the angles of light, the Moon has to be very low on the horizon. The best time to see it will be in the days before and after the new moon. During these days, the lit-up edge of the crescent moon is at its thinnest stage. If you observe the Moon before sunrise or after sunset, it may be possible to witness the reflected light from the Earth. For the best experience, choose a location outdoors where there is not too much artificial light. You can use a telescope, but it’s not necessary since the Moon will look just as impressive when viewed with the bare eye.

1. Which of the following is the Da Vinci glow?

A．	B．
C．	D．

2. What is the main cause of the Da Vinci glow?

A．Sunlight received by the Moon’s surface.	B．Sunlight reflected from the Earth’s clouds.
C．Sunlight reflected from the Earth’s oceans.	D．Sunlight received by the Moon’s lit-up edge.

3. Why is the Da Vinci glow an unusual phenomenon?

A．It requires specific light conditions.	B．It lasts too short to be observed.
C．It occurs at the crescent moon stage.	D．It needs bright light from the Sun.

4. Which of the following matters most to an ideal observation of the phenomenon?

A．A suitable place.	B．Good eyesight.
C．A special instrument.	D．Bright moonlight.

6 . 阅读下面短文，有5处划线，从每题所给四个选项中选出与划线意义的最匹配选项。

In the race to record the species on Earth before they go extinct _________, researchers and citizen scientists have assembled _________ billions of records. Today, most records of biodiversity are often in the form of photos, videos, and other digital records. Though they are useful for detecting shifts _________ in the number and variety of species in an area, a new Stanford study has found that this type of record is flawed _________.

“With the rise of technology it is easy for people to make observations of different species with the aid of a mobile application,” said Barnabas Daru, who is lead author of the study. For example, if someone spots an attractive butterfly or plant, they can easily document _________ it by taking a photo and uploading it to a biodiversity app with details such as the species’ name, location, date, and time. This information becomes a valuable field observation.

1.

A．go away

B．die out

C．die away

D．go out

2.

A．broken

B．interpreted

C．collected

D．kept

3.

A．mistakes

B．signs

C．problems

D．changes

4.

A．imperfect

B．convincing

C．common

D．uniform

5.

A．share

B．record

C．compare

D．judge

10 . Chinese material scientists have found the soil on the moon may potentially be able to generate oxygen and fuel, a finding that means more possibilities of humans to use lunar resources to further exploration of the moon and beyond.

The researchers at Nanjing University showed that the lunar sample brought back by China’s Chang’e-5 contains active compounds (化合物) that can change carbon dioxide into oxygen and fuel. Initially, they hoped to design a system that took advantage of lunar soil and solar radiation, the two rich resources on the moon, according to a study published on Thursday in the journal Joule.

After analyzing the Chang’e-5’s lunar soil, the team found the sample contained metal-rich substances, which could work as a catalyst (催化剂) to make oxygen using sunlight and carbon dioxide. The team proposed a strategy using lunar soil to electrolyze water from the moon and the astronauts’ life support system into oxygen and hydrogen. The process was powered by sunlight. The carbon dioxide breathed out by moon inhabitants can be collected and combined with hydrogen to produce the fuel, also catalyzed by the lunar soil, according to the study. The researchers said with this method, no external energy apart from sunlight would be used to produce oxygen and fuel to support life on a moon base.

“We use the environmental resources to minimize rocket payload, and our strategy provides a scenario for a sustainable and affordable living environment for life out of the Earth,” said the paper’s first author Yao Yingfang from Nanjing University, expressing his assumption.

“The challenge lies in the fact that catalytic efficiency of lunar soil is lower than catalysts on the Earth,” said the researchers. They are testing different approaches in order to improve the design. The team is looking for an opportunity to test the system in space with China’s future manned lunar missions.

1. What is the main implication of Chinese scientists’ discovery of the moon’s soil?

A．The moon is rich in rare elements.	B．Lunar soil can be used for exploring space.
C．The moon can be lived on by human beings.	D．Lunar soil is a new renewable energy source.

2. What did the researchers work on according to paragraph 3?

A．The process of the sun producing light.

B．The analysis of China’s Chang’e-5’s work.

C．The supportive method producing metal-rich substances.

D．The sustainable living strategy employing lunar resources.

3. What does the underlined word “scenario” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Profession.

B．Contract.

C．Vision.

D．Sponsor.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．The discovery of active compounds on the moon.

B．The testing approaches to improving the lunar soil.

C．The research on the environmental system of the moon.

D．The study of using lunar soil for oxygen and fuel production.