1 . In the animal kingdom, there are many species that give birth to spotted young, from deer to birds and fish. Even species that we don’t typically link with spots, such as lions, wear the pattern as babies, only to lose it later in life.
But what purpose do these spots serve, and why do only some species seem to have them? Kiyoko Gotanda, a biologist at Brock University, said it is likely so common because it functions as excellent camouflage.
For example, spotted young tend to be more common in species that live in habitats with some high grass or forests, and less common in environments that are plain, like pack ice. Indeed, baby seals (海豹) born on pack ice are pure white, and develop spots only when they leave the ice for rocky beaches because spots are easy to be seen on pack ice, which may get them into difficulties.
In other rarer cases, spots actually help babies stand out. Young garibaldi, a fish found in California — have bright-blue spots that advertise their low social positions. As the fish grow and start to engage in the social ranking order, their spots disappear.
Other species may lose their spots as they age because their color goes on to serve another purpose. Lions are born with many spots, yet the spots mostly disappear in adulthood. Males, in particular, trade their spots for thick hair, which can help them attract female ones. Reproducing, rather than hiding, becomes the main focus.
It’s unclear why an animal like a cheetah would maintain its spots while a lion doesn’t. Gotanda said it may come down to hunting practice. Lions hunt in groups, while cheetahs tend to hunt alone and rely more heavily on the smokescreen power of their spots to get near prey (猎物).
1. Which can best replace the underlined word “camouflage” in paragraph 2?| A．Guidance. | B．Reminder. | C．Attractant. | D．Protection. |
| A．Cheetahs. | B．Seals. | C．Garibaldi. | D．Lions. |
| A．White spots need more energy to grow and maintain. |
| B．The way of hunting may affect the existence of spots. |
| C．Male lions tend to use spots to attract strong female ones. |
| D．Spotted young animals often appear in featureless environments. |
| A．How spots help animals escape danger. |
| B．Why so many baby animals have spots. |
| C．Which kind of young animals have spots. |
| D．What might happen to spotted young animals. |
Freddie Forbes stared in awe (敬畏) at the platform in the packed school hall. The headmaster marched onto the stage, followed by the captains of the school soccer team and rugby side. Freddie watched enviously (羡慕地) as each was presented with an honors jacket for their contribution to the school’s sporting success over the previous year. When the next presentation of honors jacket would come around, Freddie knew there was little hope that he would be the receiver of one of these treasured items of clothing.
“I wish you all a happy summer holiday,” the headmaster announced. “Although most of you will be going away to sunnier parts, there are others who will be staying near their home. The local council has asked the school to undertake a project over the next six weeks to help clear up litter around the area and separate it for recycling. If anyone is interested, come to my office and you will be supplied with a litter picker, bags and heavy-duty gloves.”
Freddie knew he would be at a loose end over the holiday, so he went to the office along with four other boys to pick up the equipment needed to gather up the rubbish which littered the streets around the school. When he arrived home, his mother looked at him curiously as he placed the equipment on the kitchen table.
“What is this all about?” she asked with a smile on her face. “Mum, I’m an average pupil and I’m not very good at sports,” he replied. “This waste recycling is one way I can contribute to the good name of the school.”
“Just as long as you don’t get fed up and stop half way through,” said Mum.
“I have made up my mind to stick this out through thick and thin,” Freddie said confidently.
注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Over the next few weeks, the other boys dropped out of the project.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hearing his name called by the headmaster, Freddie nervously made his way to the platform.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . Under a midday summer sun in California’s Sacramento Valley, rice farmer Peter Rystrom walks across a dusty and bare plot of land, dry soil crunching (碎裂) beneath each step. In a typical year, he’d be walking across green rice fields in inches of water. But today the soil is dry and baking in the 35℃ heat. It hasn’t rained for 4 weeks in a row.
“Climate change is expected to worsen the state’s extreme swings in rainfall,” researchers reported in Nature Climate Change in 2018. Low water levels in rivers have forced farmers like Rystrom, whose family has been growing rice on this land for four generations, to reduce their water use.
“If we lose our rice crops, we have to deal with severe food crisis. Climate change is already threatening rice-growing regions around the world. This is not a future problem. This is happening now,” says plant geneticist Pamela Ronald of the University of California, Davis, who identifies genes in rice that help the plant stand up to dryness, disease, flood, etc.
To save and even boost production, rice growers, engineers and researchers have turned to water-saving irrigation (灌溉) routines. Building canal systems and reservoirs (水库) can help farmers dampen their fields. But for some, the solution to rice’s climate-related problems lies in enhancing the plant itself. They hold that establishing rice gene banks that store hundreds of thousands of rice varieties ready to be bred into new, dryness-tolerant varieties is more practical and effective. Solutions may be hidden in the DNA of those older breeds.
Three decades have passed since its initial development, and some researchers are looking beyond the genetic variability preserved in rice gene banks, searching instead for useful genes from other species, including plants and bacteria. But picking genes from one species and putting them into another, or genetic recombination, remains debatable. The most famous example of genetically changed rice is Golden Rice (GR). “Looking ahead, it will be crucial for countries to embrace GR rice. But it will take time,” says Ismail, principal scientist at IRRI,
1. What problem does Rystrom have to deal with?| A．Thirst. | B．Drought. | C．Hot sun. | D．Dusty weather. |
| A．Downtrend of rice-growing areas is severe now. |
| B．Climate change is a threatening factor in the future. |
| C．Humans will face starvation if crop failure happens. |
| D．Food crisis is a common occurrence around the world. |
| A．To store as many seeds as possible. | B．To cultivate climate-adapted varieties. |
| C．To improve the efficiency of breeding. | D．To show the technology of gene mapping. |
| A．Favourable. | B．Impractical. | C．Disapproving. | D．Insecure. |
1. What is the conversation mainly about?
| A．Fighting fires. | B．Detecting fires. | C．Using fires. |
| A．Around 50. | B．About 400. | C．Over 8600. |
| A．Size of a car. | B．Size of a plane. | C．Size of a sports field. |
| A．Saving animals. | B．Saving the trees. | C．Saving humans. |
5 . A new study shows homing pigeons (鸽子) combine precise internal compasses and memorized landmarks to retrace a path back to their home—even four years after the previous time when they made the trip.
Testing nonhuman memory keeping is challenging in research studies. “It’s rare that there is a gap of several years between when an animal stores the information and when it is next required to get it back,” says Dora Biro, a zoologist at the University of Oxford. In a recent study, Biro and her colleagues compared domestic homing pigeons’ paths three or four years after the birds established routes back to their home from a farm 8.6 kilometers away. The study built on data from a 2016 experiment in which pigeons learned routes in different social contexts during several flights-on their own or with peers that did or did not know the way.
Using data from GPS devices temporarily attached to the birds’ backs, the researchers compared the flight paths a group of pigeons took in 2016 with many of the same birds’ routes in 2019 or 2020, without the birds visiting the release site in between. Some birds missed a handful of landmarks along the way, but many others took “strikingly similar” routes to those they used in 2016, “It was as if the last time they flew there was just the day before, not four years ago,” says Oxford zoologist and study co-author Julien Collet.
The team found that the pigeons remembered a route just as well if they first flew it alone or with others and performed much better than those that had not made the journey in 2016. “The result is not surprising, but it provides new confirmation of homing pigeons’ remarkable memory. It closes the distance a little bit between our overconfident human cognitive (认知的) abilities and what animals can do,” says Verner Bingman, who studies animal navigation at Bowling Green State University and was not involved in the study.
1. What does paragraph 1 mention about homing pigeons?| A．The time of leaving home. | B．The location of their birth. |
| C．The ways they navigate home. | D．The reasons for their taking trips. |
| A．Through questionnaires. | B．Through information assumptions. |
| C．Through lab experiments on animals. | D．Through comparative analysis of data. |
| A．Prediction method. | B．Tracking method. |
| C．Expert consultation. | D．Literature consultation. |
| A．They are underestimated. | B．They have been declining. |
| C．They are much lower than humans’. | D．They have never been confirmed. |
6 . Bees are important to agriculture. But useful as they are, bees do not receive the same care and concern over their emotional well-being as other agricultural animals.
Ecologist Buchmann’s recent book, which collects the work of bee scholars as they work to explain what goes on in their brains, suggests bees can learn, think and even likely feel, much like animals. Buchmann’s work also suggests bees should hold a special place in our ethical scheme (道德体系). For Buchmann and some other scientists, what they have learned about bees changes their research strategies to be more ethical, on par with (相当于) the standards set for animals such as mice and monkeys.
Experiments, the outcomes of which are addressed in the book, illustrate the secret life of bees. Lars Chittka, a University College of London professor, did an experiment 16 years ago where he hid a robotic spider in flowers. The spider would grab a careless bee that came too close and then release it after giving it a scare. Chittka observed how the released bees learned to look for the spider and to avoid it. Some would be too scared to approach even unoccupied flowers.
Other studies proved that bee brains saw rushes in chemicals that could bring happiness when they were presented with sucrose (sugar). These happy bees then found more food than their unrewarded bees. By contrast, stress from poor handling lowered the levels of these happy chemicals.
“Many of my colleagues do experiments where bees have some devices placed into various body parts without considering their feelings,” Chittka says. “The current care free situation that researchers live in with no legal framework needs to be re-evaluated.” There are few laws regarding bee welfare. Buchmann thinks the “unhappiness” of bees might be a contributing factor to the decreasing numbers of bees.
Bees are critical to feeding the world and to plant survival. But the bees need care too. The first step in safeguarding the precious bees is to learn more about them and their lives. “These unique minds, regardless of how much they may differ from ours, have as much justification to exist as we do,” says Chittka.
1. What can we learn about Buchmann’s new book?| A．It focuses on the ethical scheme. | B．It records some research on bees. |
| C．It teaches people how to protect bees. | D．It introduces some famous scientists. |
| A．Once bitten, twice shy. | B．Practice makes perfect. |
| C．Never offer to teach fish to swim. | D．Kill two birds with one stone. |
| A．Bees are well-received. | B．Bees are precious. |
| C．Bees can have emotions. | D．Bees can handle stress well. |
| A．New devices should be placed in bees. |
| B．People shouldn’t experiment with bees in the lab. |
| C．New rules should be made for the benefit of bees. |
| D．The function of bees should be re-evaluated. |
7 . SpoGomi, a combination of “sport” and “gomi” (Japanese for rubbish), is a popular competition in which teams of 3~5 people try to pick up the most trash of the highest quality in a set period of time.
Japan recently announced that it would host the first SpoGomi World Cup in November of 2023, with teams from all over the world searching the streets of Tokyo for trash to pick up. Each team of three players will have 60 minutes to gather the most trash from a designated (指定的) area while trying to sort it correctly into color-coded bags for each type. When the time is up, the trash will be weighed and checked for proper sorting, and the team with the most trash wins. In case of a tie, the winner is determined by the quality of the trash, with points awarded by type.
The SpoGomi World Cup sounds like a great way to encourage people to keep public spaces clean, but in terms of the competitive aspect, there is little incredulity as to which team will win. After all, the Japanese are famous worldwide for cleaning up after themselves everywhere they go.
Participants all wear heavy-duty cleaning gloves that allow them to pick up virtually any type of trash, as well as tongs to pick up trash from a standing position. At the start of the competition, they all yell “Picking up trash is a sport!” before running into their designated areas. At the end of the given time, all participants return to the starting line to have their trash weighed and checked.
Winning teams usually receive a certificate or an award from the organizers, and maybe a small prize from sponsors. But SpoGomi isn’t really about rewards. Participants just enjoy the competitive nature of the sport, working as a group, spending valuable time outdoors and keeping their cities clean.
1. Which aspect about the SpoGomi World Cup does paragraph 2 mainly focus on?| A．Its competition rules. | B．Its significance. |
| C．Its history. | D．Its participation requirements. |
| A．Difference. | B．Meaning. | C．Certainty. | D．Doubt. |
| A．They can strengthen the love for wildlife. |
| B．They can develop better team spirit. |
| C．They can learn to manage their life better. |
| D．They can become more energetic and generous. |
| A．A news report. | B．A book review. |
| C．A diary entry. | D．A research paper. |
8 . What if someone told you about a kind of grass as tall as the tallest trees? A grass as strong as steel? Would you believe that person? You should, for that grass is bamboo (竹子), which has more than 1,000 uses. It is not just a material for making useful products. Young bamboo is eaten, often mixed with other vegetables.
Bamboo grows in many parts of the world. In the USA it grows in many states like Virginia and Florida. Most bamboo, however, is found in wet and warm climates, especially in Asia and on the islands of the South Pacific Ocean.
In most Asian countries, bamboo is nearly as important as rice. This unusual material is used to not only build large buildings but also make water pipes, musical instruments and paper. There are over 1,000 kinds of bamboo. No wonder the lives of nearly half the people on earth would change greatly if there were no longer any bamboo.
1. According to the text, bamboo is actually a kind of .| A．grass | B．steel | C．tree | D．vegetable |
| A．Only in Asia. | B．Only in the USA. |
| C．In wet and warm climates. | D．All over the world. |
| A．Build large buildings. | B．Make water pipes. |
| C．Make musical instruments and paper. | D．All of the above. |
| A．Over 1,000. | B．Over 800. | C．Over 600. | D．Over 400. |
9 . Government agencies and volunteer groups in many places are using sea creatures to protect coastal areas from storms and rising sea levels. The idea is that large groups of oysters (牡蛎) known as colonies, can help reduce the power of waves. Powerful waves can damage lands along the edge of ocean waters.
Oysters may play an important part in dealing with the problem. Oysters are central to a project that is taking place near Vaccaro’s rebuilt house. The project is being carried out by the Littore Society. It received $1 million from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The group has been building steel wire containers, filling them with rocks and whelk (海螺) shells an positioning them along the shoreline of Barnegat Bay.
Tiny baby oysters are attached to whelk shells and placed in the existing cages to further strengthen the shoreline. The shoreline in Vaccaro’s neighborhood has lost 46 meters of beach since 1995, the Littoral Society says.
The oysters appear to be doing their job. One recent day, a strong east wind blew across the bay. But between the oysters and the shoreline, the water was much calmer, and waves gently wen onto the shoreline instead of hitting it with force.
As an added benefit, the oysters help improve water quality in the bay. The Associated Press reports that a single oyster can filter (过滤) up to 190 liters of water a day.
A few kilometers south, a group called ReClam the Bay is building an oyster reef to protect the shoreline of Mordecai Island. People do not live on the island, but it protects the shoreline of Beach Haven, a town on Long Beach Island.
Volunteers fill bags with 16 kilograms of whelk shells, to which millions of baby oysters have been attached. Then volunteers move them out to the reef a few hundred yards into the ocean. They have placed 10, 000 bags of oysters and whelk shells there since 2015.
1. Where do the baby oysters grow?| A．On the sea rocks. | B．In steel wire cages. |
| C．In shallow calm water. | D．In the fishermen’s houses. |
| A．The sea life project works. | B．The baby oysters grow well. |
| C．The beach stops missing. | D．The sea pollution is dropping. |
| A．It cooperates with the Littoral Society. |
| B．It offers baby oysters to the Littoral Society. |
| C．It has the same aim as the Littoral Society. |
| D．It has made more progress than the Littoral Society. |
| A．Oyster Farming Has Great Benefits |
| B．Volunteer Ocean Protection Is in Action |
| C．Worldwide Beaches Are Disappearing Fast |
| D．Little Sea Creature Could Save Coastal Land |
10 . To solve the problem of tiny plastics polluting waterways, chemists in the Czech Republic are thinking small. Their brainchild is a new microrobot which is no bigger than the tip of a sharpened pencil. When sunlight hits them, they produce chemical reactions that push them through water in a specific direction. When they find a piece of plastic, they stick to it and start to break it down.
Chemist Martin Pumera at the Czech University led the project. A decade ago, he chose to focus on the problem posed by microplastics. They’re everywhere—from the bottom of the ocean to air blowing onto ice atop mountains. They’ve turned up in drinking water. Some studies estimate that billions of pieces of plastic end up in the world’s waters. The plastic has many sources, from shopping bags to washing and cleaning wipes.
In lab experiments, the star-shaped swimmers stuck onto each of four different types of plastic. And after a week exposed to light, the robots had reduced the weight of the plastics. It wasn’t much—only by percent. But that was an indication that they were breaking the plastic down. They also caused the surface of the plastic to change from smooth to rough. That’s another sign that the robots were degrading (分解) it. The new study is a proof of concept type. That means it shows something can be done successfully.
In fact, Pumera says they still have a long way to go. There are many types of plastics. And even these microrobots are unlikely to succeed in degrading them all. The researchers also have not yet shown how safe this system is for the environment, although Pumera says that’s their next goal. The first real-world test will be in a wastewater-treatment plant. “Indeed,” says one researcher. “We’ll need a lot of testing to show that they’re safe in open waterways, such as at sea.”
1. What does the underlined word “brainchild” in paragraph 1 refer to?.| A．idea | B．hope | C．project | D．routine |
| A．The purpose of Pumera’s project. |
| B．The preciousness of drinking water. |
| C．The seriousness of plastic pollution. |
| D．The working principle of the microrobots. |
| A．The weight loss of the plastics. |
| B．The disappearance of the plastics. |
| C．The shape change of the microrobots. |
| D．The improvement in the quality of water. |
| A．Ways to Obtain Cleaner Drinking Water |
| B．Microrobots Invented to Treat Wastewater |
| C．New Hope for the Solution to Plastic Pollution |
| D．Technology Widely Applied in Environment Protection |
