1 . 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. |
Preserving more habitats for China’s giant pandas is providing a giant payoff.
The results,
Because of this, Chinese officials began making significant efforts to save the panda from
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3 . The Archeoplastica project was started by a group of Italian environmental activists who decided to collect and exhibit old plastic products found on beaches and elsewhere in the natural environment to show how plastic may remain complete and polluting for decades.
Since 2018, more than 200 items of plastic waste, dating back 30-50 years, have been exhibited in the Archeoplastica virtual museum, as well as at schools and other public places. These bottles and cans are marked with the dates from different times.
In selecting and displaying old plastic waste, such as a toy whale, the project aims to tell a timeless story about the ‘immortality’ of the plastic objects that have been accumulating (积累) in our seas and on our shorelines for decades. It is hoped that showing the items will improve awareness of the fact that plastic does not biodegrade (进行生物降解) and encourage people to change their behaviour. Plastic waste makes up around 80% of marine pollution, according to UNESCO.
One early report about a doll, still in good condition years after being lost, made people think about the problem of plastic among those who saw it. The impact of the early report about the doll led the team to start collecting more objects and setting aside ‘old’ items dating back 30 to 50 years.
Children, in particular, have responded strongly to the collection, leading to a travelling exhibition around schools. It is hoped the children will convey the message about plastic to their parents and others.
Archeoplastica’s founders believe that displaying these old items can improve awareness of the problem of disposable (一次性的) plastic in the sea and on beaches.
1. Why did they exhibit the plastic of different dates?| A．To make the exhibition formal. |
| B．To catch children’s eyes. |
| C．To show the history of nature. |
| D．To prove plastic lasts for decades. |
| A．By collecting data. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By raising questions. | D．By making comparison. |
| A．To raise more environmental awareness. |
| B．To attract people to visit the beaches. |
| C．To make collecting plastic convenient. |
| D．To display as many works as possible. |
| A．Seas and Beaches | B．Environmental Activists |
| C．The Museum of Plastic Waste | D．The History of Plastic Products |
4 . Facial recognition technology is mostly connected with uses such as the identification of human faces, but scientists believe they’ve found a new use for it — conserving seals (海豹).
A research team at Colgate University has developed SealNet, a database of seal faces created by taking pictures of seals in Maine’s Casco Bay. The team found the tool’s accuracy in identifying the ocean animals is close to 100%, which is a great achievement in an ecosystem home to thousands of seals.
Krista Ingram, a biology professor at Colgate, said the researchers are working on expanding their database to make it available to other scientists. She also said broadening the database to include rare species, such as the Hawaiian seal, could help save those species. And categorizing (分类) seal faces and using machine learning to identify them can also help scientists know clearly where in the ocean seals are. “Understanding their patterns really helps,” she said. “For moving ocean animals that move around a lot and are hard to photograph in the water, we need to be able to tell them apart,” she said.
SealNet is designed to detect the face in a picture, collect it and recognize it based on facial patterns such as eyes and nose shape. The Colgate team published its paper in April in the scientific journal. The paper said that the “image data that can be dealt with using SealNet software offers an important tool for ecological and behavioral studies of ocean animals in the developing field of conservation technology.”
Tjomme Dooper, head of partnerships and growth from IT company FruitPunch, said he was getting a few scientists to work on a challenge to make SealNet simpler. “What this does is help the biologists study the behavior of seals, and also population changes,” Dooper said. “Seals are an important indicator species for the ecosystem around them.”
1. What is the new application of facial recognition technology?| A．Protecting seals. | B．Operating machines. | C．Cleaning up oceans. | D．Identifying human faces. |
| A．The process of categorizing seal faces. | B．The ways of locating the ocean animals. |
| C．The challenge of recognizing rare species. | D．The benefits of broadening seal database. |
| A．It is used to publish papers. | B．It is still in need of improvement. |
| C．It is designed to picture seal faces. | D．It is causing seals’ population changes. |
| A．To voice his views on SealNet. |
| B．To present a scientific research paper. |
| C．To introduce a new use of facial recognition. |
| D．To show the importance of developing technology. |
5 . Soil creates life from death. The production of more than 95% of the food we eat relies on soil. But this precious resource is eroded (侵蚀) at a global average of 13.5 tons per hectare per year. Instead of nourishing crops, fertile topsoil is washed and blown away, ending up in inconvenient places such as ditches and oceans.
Jo Handelsman and Kayla Cohen try to make readers care about soil in A World Without Soil. Their prologue (前言) takes the form of a letter to the government. With the letter, they hope to make soil management a federal priority. The following chapters cover the basic science of soil as well as the causes and consequences of its erosion. In the last part of the book, the authors turn to possible solutions—many of them simple, and some centuries old. They describe about traditional soil management techniques, including planting diverse crops in rotation (轮种), increasing organic content, ploughing as little as possible, etc. With these techniques, farmers are able to produce rich agricultural production while maintaining deep banks of fertile soil.
Why, then, is fertile soil being allowed to be washed and blown away? The answer, not surprisingly, rests in global capitalism. Farmers’ profit is thin, forcing farmers to plant the highest-profit crop from field to field every season. To ensure food security, Handelsman and Cohen urge the world to demand a real top-down change in how agricultural production is managed. “The burden of protecting soil cannot be shifted to farmers and environmental activists,” they note. Governments must begin to move towards a model in which farmers are less independent business people growing and selling food, and more government-supported land workers managing both food production and soil protection. This should be the core of agriculture.
Our land and soil are too precious to be destroyed by the market price of crops. We must invest deeply and thoughtfully in our farmers so that they can invest deeply and thoughtfully in the land. This is the future of farming.
1. What is the function of paragraph 1?| A．To begin a story. | B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To warn people of a danger. | D．To mention a fact. |
| A．A letter to the government. |
| B．The future of farming. |
| C．The basic science of soil and the causes and consequences of its erosion. |
| D．Some possible solutions. |
| A．Farmers should invest in the most profitable crops. |
| B．Only environmental activists need to take up the burden of protecting soil. |
| C．The whole world just needs to make a few possible changes in the management of agricultural production. |
| D．Farmers should work the land with the help of government |
| A．Biography | B．Book review |
| C．Planting guidelines | D．A tale |
6 . When you see animals, do you wonder what they’re thinking? Does the look on their face and how they behave indicate how they’re feeling—or are they feeling nothing at all?
Humans have a complex range of emotions, but it’s hard to tell what’s going on inside the heads of animals, mainly because they can’t orally express their feelings. Perhaps it’s pets that we think we understand most—as they are the animals we spend a lot of time with and therefore get to know best. Some of us own dogs because they are good companions, are loyal and seem to connect with us. We might even think they love us, although love could just be a human emotion. Professor Kim Bard, an expert in comparative developmental psychology from the University of Portsmouth, said: “We have a few studies now that actually show, scientifically… that some dogs will respond with empathetic(共情)concern when their owner—but not a stranger—pretends to cry.” The empathetic ability of cats, however, is harder to work out.
Other wild animals might have feelings too. Giraffes and whales, for example, are known to experience sadness when someone in their group dies. Farm animals we often eat, such as cows and chickens, are also believed to experience pain, joy and other emotions. Their well-being is now taken into consideration more. It’s believed even tiny creatures like insects might have emotions as well. Research is beginning to show they experience a wide range of feelings.
Dr Barbara J King, a professor at the College of William and Mary, said: “If we understand the depth of emotions animals can feel, this should make us question the existence of zoos around the world, and rethink those systems.” It does seem all creatures feel emotion, but what is not clear is “do they feel the same way as us”?
1. Why is it difficult to tell how animals are feeling?| A．They feel strange with people around. |
| B．They can’t express their feelings in words. |
| C．Their emotions are complex. |
| D．Their empathetic ability is hard to work out. |
| A．They have empathetic ability. | B．They are less empathetic than cats. |
| C．They often pretend to cry. | D．They can understand us better than strangers. |
| A．Zoos should exist in the world. |
| B．Animals can feel our emotions. |
| C．Animals should be free from the zoos. |
| D．Zoos are equipped with perfect systems. |
| A．What Are Animals Thinking |
| B．Do Animals Love Us |
| C．Why Do Animals Feel the Same Way as Us |
| D．Do Animals Have Emotions |
7 . Imagine being able to pop to your local park and pick some tomatoes, potatoes or even bananas to take home for dinner. Sounds too good to be true, right? For residents of Andernach, German, it’s not just a dream—it’s their reality.
In 2010, Andernach began its edible(可食用的)city project, planting 101 varieties of tomatoes in public green spaces around the city centre. Its 30,000 residents are free to help themselves to whatever grows, as are any other visitors. The town’s motto of sorts is “Picking is encouraged—help yourself!” Every year a new type of plant is highlighted. In 2011, 100 types of beans were planted, while 2012saw the introduction of 20 onion varieties.
It’s a community effort, as local citizens are encouraged to help plant and maintain the gardens. This offers an opportunity to socialise as well as to learn about planting, cultivating and harvesting food.
An Andernach resident spoke to DW,“I often drop by to pick some herbs that I’m missing at home. Everything is easily accessible. There aren’t any fences. You just take what you need. The only thing is that you have to be quick once the fruits are ripe or they’ll all be gone!”
Andernach may have been the first in German, but it isn’t the only edible city. It’s part of the Edible Cities Network, a project funded by European Union to connect green urban foot initiatives around the world. Other cities include Carthage in Tunisia, Havana in Cuba and Sempeter-Vrtojba in Slovenia. In February 2022, the first Edible Cities Network Conference took place. Dr Ina Saumel, principal investigator of the Edible Cities Network, called it “a unique opportunity to invite researchers of edible city solutions and practitioners to the same table.”
Ultimately, the Edible Cities Network aims to give people “greener, more edible and, above all, more livable cities.” It is a response to the pressures of global climate change, and a significant cause full of hope.
1. What can residents do in public green spaces according to the edible city project?| A．Sell the produce they grow there. |
| B．Learn knowledge about planting. |
| C．Grow whatever plant as they like. |
| D．Pay to pick some vegetables there. |
| A．Novel and popular. | B．Creative and costly. |
| C．Common and fundamental. | D．Rare and unacceptable. |
| A．Andernach is the only city to carry it out. |
| B．European Union originally established it. |
| C．It helps combine theories with practices. |
| D．It invites people to share meals together. |
| A．To help residents relieve their pressure. |
| B．To involve residents in urban planting. |
| C．To increase the produce supply in cities. |
| D．To create environmentally friendly cities. |
Grand Canal, also called Da Yunhe, is a series of waterways in eastern and northern China that connect Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province with Beijing. Some 1, 800 km in
The oldest part of the canal lies
It was rebuilt in 607 CE. and has been used ever since.
China’s first great canal system,
9 . Cheetahs died out in India over 70 years ago. Now a new project is trying to bring cheetahs back to India. Eight of the animals were turned loose in Kuno National Park last week.
Long ago, Asian cheetahs used to roam across India.
To get the cheetahs used to staying in Kuno, at first the females will be kept in a closed-in area of about 3. 7 square miles.
“Project Cheetah” is expected to cost India about $ 11 million during the next five years. The goal is to build up a population of about 40 cheetahs. A second group of 12 cheetahs is being prepared in South
Africa, and should arrive in October.
| A．Thus, people were in danger |
| B．But the project is really an experiment |
| C．But by 1952, they were declared extinct |
| D．Then they’ll get used to being near humans |
| E．That will help keep the males from going too far |
| F．Since 1952, there have been efforts to return cheetahs to India |
| G．But even African cheetah numbers have been going down sharply |
10 . Chinese astronauts have successfully grown rice seedlings(幼苗)aboard the Tiangong space station and this experiment may offer key insights into how astronauts can grow food to support long—term space missions, experts said on Monday. This experiment is the first to produce the complete life cycle of the plant, which begins with a seed and ends with a mature plant producing new seeds.
The breakthrough was conducted in the Wentian space laboratory, which was launched into orbit on July 24, 2022. Three astronauts were conducting the experiment smoothly and testing the plants according to the plan.
“The rice seedlings are growing very well,” said Zheng Huiqiong, a researcher of the task, adding that the experiment also contained seedlings of a small flowering plant often used by scientists to study mutations(变异). “The astronauts will keep monitoring the plants, and if it is successful, they will collect the newly produced seeds and bring them back to Earth for further studies,” she noted
The flowering stage is crucial for plant reproductive development. “We want to investigate how microgravity can affect the plant flowering time and whether it is possible to use the microgravity environment to control the related process,” she said.
Since the 1980s, China has been taking seeds of rice and other crops to space to help them mutate and produce higher yields once they were planted on Earth. But growing rice in orbit is a different challenge due to the tough conditions of space such as microgravity and lack of air.
Rice has been a main food for astronauts since the early days of space exploration. Freeze—dried chicken and rice was the menu for the Apollo 11 mission, which carried the first humans to land on the moon in July 1969.
“But if we want to land on and explore Mars, bringing food from Earth is not enough to provide for the astronauts’ long journey and mission in space. We have to find a food source for long term space explorations,” Zheng added.
1. What’s the significance of Chinese recent space rice experiment?| A．It enables human beings to move to another planet. |
| B．It helps people get a better idea of the human life cycle. |
| C．It inspires more other countries to do space explorations |
| D．It makes it possible to carry out long—term space missions |
| A．The mutation. | B．The experiment. | C．The exploration. | D．The space mission. |
| A．To promote genetic changes and increase crop harvest. |
| B．To figure out how to create an earth—like environment. |
| C．To study the impact of microgravity on crop growth. |
| D．To develop new crop species with strong ability to adapt. |
| A．A medical report. | B．A fashion magazine. |
| C．A science newspaper. | D．A history book. |
