1 . On November 7, Lewis Pugh completed a one-kilometer swim in the freezing waters of King Edward Cove, off South Georgia in Antarctica. He was wearing only his swimming glasses, cap and Speedo !

Pugh is an advocate for our oceans and seas, working to protect these ecosystems with their large diversity of marine life. When asked why he doesn't wear a wetsuit(防寒泳衣), Pugh says, "I ask world leaders to do everything they can to protect our oceans. Sometimes the steps they need to take are difficult and unpopular. If I'm asking them to be courageous, I must also be. Swimming in a wetsuit would not send the right message."

It took Pugh about 19 minutes to complete the one-kilometer swim in Antarctica where the water averaged about 1.6 degrees Celsius. He says that his body can only tolerate about 20 minutes in the freezing waters before it starts shutting down. As he swims, his body temperature steadily drops, which in turn causes his muscle control to drop, slowing him down. When he is done with his swim, his support team rushes him to a hot shower and it takes almost an hour for his body temperature to return to normal.

Doctors and Pugh caution that one must receive months of training to swim in such cold waters. Even expert swimmers who are unused to freezing water can drown within minutes because of the physical shock experienced by the body. Pugh says he trained for six months before this swim.

This is not the first time that Pugh has swum in dangerous conditions. In 2007, he swam one kilometer in the North Pole to draw attention to the melting Arctic ice due to climate change. In 2015, he swam in the Bay of Whales in Antarctica's Ross Sea as part of his successful campaign to help set up a marine reserve there.

1. Why did Lewis Pugh swim without a wetsuits ?

A．To show his bravery.

B．To swim faster.

C．To build up his body.

D．To have overnight fame.

2. What does the underlined word "it" in Paragraph 3 refer to'?

A．His body temperature.

B．His body

C．The water.

D．The water temperature.

3. What's Pugh's advice about swimming in freezing waters?

A．One should be expert at swimming.

B．One must be used to long-distance swimming.

C．One should be ready to take on challenges.

D．One must be adequately prepared for it.

4. What may be the best title for the text?

A．Lewis Pugh: achieving the impossible

B．How to survive a swim in cold waters

C．Lewis Pugh: swimming for a cause

D．How to prepare for extreme swimming

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Given the fact that chemical pesticides and artificial fertilisers can fight crop disease and increase production, they     1    (be) in widespread use since the 1950s. However, with time going by, they have been proved     2    (harm) to the environment and human health if     3    (use) for long time. To tackle the problems, farmers have switched to organic farming     4     an alternative. And organic food has become     5     favorite for many customers. Organic farmers rely on it that natural means could keep their soil fertile and free of disease. Different organic methods have come up,     6     goal is to grow good food while avoiding damage to the environment or to the human health.     7     organic farming cannot replace chemical farming with a huge number of people     8    (feed) worldwide. There is still a long way to go     9    scientists find suitable     10    (solve) that can satisfy the high demand for food while protecting the environment.

3 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

I wake up to the sound of the wind buffeting the cloth of my tent. Even though the sun is    1    (bright) shining, telling whether it is morning or night is impossible. I’m above the Arctic Circle,    2    in summer the sun never sets. I’m in the remote far north of Sweden in Sarek National Park,    3    place with no roads or towns.

Around 9,000 years ago, reindeer began to arrive at Sarek’s mountains. Following the reindeer    4    (be) the Sami people, who made this territory their home. In 1909, Sarek was made a national park    5    (keep) the land in its natural state.

For hundreds of years,    6    (look) after reindeer was a way of life for the Sami. Today, most Sami have houses in villages near Sarek and live a modern life just    7    their neighbours and enjoy their    8    (tradition) as before.

After breakfast, I pack my bag and set out again. Being in such a    9    (beauty) and wild place makes me feel    10    (bless) to be alive.

4 . A cat with an accent sounds like a character in children’s tale, but Swedish scientists are trying to figure out if domestic cats actually do have different “dialects” based on their geographical location. They also want to understand if the owner’s voice might have a role to play in the way cats’ meow（猫）. If they’re successful, the team of scientists from Lund University. hope to put together a “dictionary” of cat sounds.

The project will be carried out over the next five years. SchÖtz explained that she and her team will use phonetic（语音）analysis to compare cat sounds from two parts of Sweden-Stockholm and Lund-with different human dialects, and figure out if the cats from these regions also have different dialects. They will focus on tune, voice, and speaking style in the human speech that is addressed to cats, and also cat sounds that are addressed to humans.

While it all sounds rather fanciful, the main idea behind the project is to improve the human-cat relationship. Since their domestication（驯化）about 10,000 years ago, cats and humans have learned to “talk” through audio（声音的）and visual signals. Even today, wild cats have no need for meowing in adulthood, while domestic ones continue to meow as a way of communicating with humans. And by understanding more about this communication, SchÖtz and her team hope to influence the way cats are treated in animal hospitals, shelters, and care homes.

The team will record voices of about 30 to 50 cats in different situations, for example when they want access to desired locations, when they are content, friendly, happy, hungry, annoyed, or even angry-and try to identify any differences in their phonetic patterns. They want to know if cats prefer pet-directed speech or prefer to be spoken to like human adults.

The project is yet to begin officially, but the researchers have already started testing their equipment and techniques by recording a few cats’ meowings. And they’ve already made a few interesting observations. In one of the recordings, they noticed that when a cat is begging for food its meows rise slowly. But the opposite happens when the cat is unhappy. By the year 2021, SchÖtz and her team hope to have entirely broken the cats’ code by interpreting all their meowings.

1. Carrying out the research, Swedish Scientists will mainly investigate ______.

A．how cats vary the melody of meows	B．how cats communicate with their owners
C．how cats meow with a funny mood	D．how cats are treated around the world

2. The main purpose of the project done by Swedish scientists is to ______.

A．find out where the cats live	B．understand the cats’ lifestyle
C．build up the human-cat relationship	D．make up a dictionary of cat sounds

3. According to the passage it can most probably be inferred that ______.

A．the owners’ voice plays a key role in the way cats meow

B．the research could bring about the cats’ welfare changes in shelters, for instance

C．the owners understand entirely the cats’ need through their meows

D．domestic cats live a happier life than wild ones

4. What attitude does the author hold towards the prospect（前景）of the research？

A．Optimistic.	B．Pessimistic.
C．Unconcerned.	D．Skeptical.

5 . With bushfires continuing to swallow different parts of Australia, local zoo in New South Wales, the state which is the easiest to catch fire, has hit the headlines with a heartwarming story.

Right in the line of a bushfire, the keepers of Mogo Wildlife Park managed to protect all 200 animals from harm after they received evacuation orders, according to the reports.

Netizens were quick to react on social media and praised the bravery of the zoo keeper and staffs, as they stayed and managed to protect animals from uncontrolled fires and even sheltered some at their own house.

The 40-year-old zoo keeper, Chad Staples, described the situation as the worst catastrophe, which felt like Armageddon (大决战) here. Luckily, his team had made a precise plan ahead of time by moving everything flammable from the area and the larger animals to safe places.

What’s remarkable is that as the smaller ones needed extra shelter, Staples decided to take them to his own house.

“Right now in my house there are animals of all descriptions in all the different rooms. They are safe and protected, not single animal lost.” he said.

BBC news also mentioned that “there’s a tiger to the back of the house.”

Some media outlets highlighted the “heroic job” in their headlines. Online users also reacted with thumbs-up and were glad to see all the staff and animals coming through the terrible fire.

Located in the southern coast of New South Wales. Mogo Wildlife Park houses Australia’s largest collection of primates (灵长目动物), also including different and unique animals such as zebras, giraffes, rhinos and red pandas.

1. Why does New South Whales hit the headlines?

A．Because of its famous zoo.

B．Because of its endangered animals.

C．Because of the heartwarming event.

D．Because of its being easy to catch fire.

2. What do we know about Mogo Wildlife Park?

A．It belongs to Chad Staples.

B．None of the animals is missing.

C．It merely holds rare animal species.

D．Extra shelters were built for emergencies.

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

A．Method.

B．Landscape.

C．Disaster.

D．Household.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．The Heroic Job	B．The Brave Zoo Keeper
C．The Extinct Animals	D．The Terrible Fire

6 . 假如你是李华，你的美国朋友Tom近日发来邮件询问你校上周举行的“环保周”活动情况，请你给他回复邮件。
内容包括：
1.活动内容；
2.活动效果；
注意：
1.字数100字左右；
2.开头结尾已给出，可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
环保周Environmental Protection Week
Dear Tom，
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

7 . Researchers recently discovered some unusual behavior in chimps living in the forests of West Africa. An adult male in the wild would pick up a rock, throw it at a tree while yelling and then run away. Although researchers aren't certain why, they make a guess: The chimps seem to prefer trees that create longer-lasting sounds when struck.

A team of researchers from Germany first discovered this behavior three years ago. Because the actions appeared to be localized, the researchers suggested the purpose was a local tradition and was likely part of some sort of ritual(仪式), Phys. org reports. But they weren't sure what purpose the ritual served.

So the group desired to carry out more experiments to determine why the chimps were so interested in throwing rocks at trees. This time around, they went to the same areas but set up microphones to capture(捕捉) the sounds of the stones as they were thrown.

Researchers analyzed all the recordings and found that the chimps tended to prefer throwing rocks at trees that made lower, longer-lasting sounds. Often these were trees that had exposed roots.

In their findings, published in Biology Letters, the researchers write that “low-frequency sounds travel further in the environment and are better suited for long-distance communication”.

If chimps tried to communicate. it would be more effective for them to strike the trees or choose the ones that made the loudest noises when struck. Because the researchers saw chimps stick to the same trees and never choose new ones, the location could be a factor. Researcher Ammie Kalan tells Science that maybe the locations of the trees have something to do with nearby resources like food and water, and that the sound is a signal to others where to find them.

1. How did the researchers feel about the chimps behavior from the first two paragraphs?

A．Doubtful

B．Excited

C．Disappointed

D．Frightened.

2. What did the researchers do during their experiments?

A．They tried to make long-lasting sounds.

B．They recorded the sounds from the stricken（受...侵袭的） trees.

C．They designed various sounds for the chimps.

D．They collected different sounds of the chimps.

3. What does Ammie Kalan think of the chimps' behavior?

A．It is a good way of seeking food.	B．It is a means of communication.
C．It is a natural response to food.	D．It is a symbol of their growth.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．How the chimps produce sounds.

B．The chimps’ habit of throwing rocks.

C．Why the chimps like to throw rocks at trees.

D．Chimps often throw rocks at different kinds of trees.

8 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入 1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

On March 28, 2020, millions of people around the world turned their lights off for “Earth Hour”,     1     event meant to remind people of the importance of climate action. Because of the coronavirus(冠状病毒), this year’s event     2     (mark) online.

Initially launched as a way of making people aware of climate change in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour     3     (grow) to engage more than 7000 cities and towns worldwide ever since. It is held once a year. People switch their non-essential lights off for an hour     4     8:30 and 9:30 at night. There have been many public activities in     5     (celebrate) of Earth Hour around the world. This year, public gatherings aren’t allowed in most places. So instead, organizers encouraged people to take part digitally.

In Singapore that meant special on-line performances. Australia held a similar live-stream of performances by bands, comics, and others. In other places, people were encouraged to upload videos or photos     6     can highlight how important it is to protect the environment.

With the climate     7     (get) worse, focusing attention on climate action is seen by many as more important than ever. Scientists     8     (strong) suggest taking effective action before 2030     9     (avoid) the worst effects of the climate emergency. Though most countries usually use a bit     10     (little) energy during Earth Hour, the main idea is to remind people to take action on climate change outside of Earth Hour.

9 . Sea urchins (海胆) are small creatures, but what’s really remarkable about them is that they eat anything that happens to float by. They have really sharp teeth they use to rid rocks of algae (海澡), which makes them pretty valuable especially in places like Hawaii where algae are threatening the coral reefs. In the summer of 2019, 500,000 of them were used to deal with the algae.

The problem started when non-native algae were introduced to the ecosystem of Kane’ohe Bay in the 1970s. Because they had no enemies, they ended up taking over the bay, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The algae blocked sunlight from reaching the coral, which in turn affected the local fish because they changed the chemistry of the water.

That's when the NMFS turned to sea urchins that loved to devour the algae. But they had to grow to the size of a cherry tomato before they could be used. Since 2011, sea urchins have been grown and used to handle the algae problem. Some of the funds are available due to an unfortunate incident.

In 2005, a ship was grounded on a shallow reef near Kane’ohe Bay. When the ship was removed, 20 acres of reefs have been damaged. When there is environmental damage, the NMFS and other agencies receive funds from the wrongdoers and the funds are used to restore the damage. Some funds were spent on other projects like the sea urchins.When they are large enough, divers carefully place them on the reef.

Algae isn’t the only thing that threatens the coral reefs. Climate change and the effects of fishing and tourism in the area also endanger the coral reefs. But turning to sea urchins instead of man-made solutions seems like the best way to go.

1. Why are sea urchins regarded as outstanding creatures?

A．They are tiny but have teeth.	B．They can keep the ocean clean.
C．They are useful in removing algae.	D．They grow on coral reefs with algae.

2. What happened after non-native algae arrived at Kane’ohe Bay?

A．They helped the coral reefs to survive.	B．They spread to every corner of the bay.
C．They didn’t fit in with the new surroundings.	D．They fought against other species to get food.

3. What does the underlined word “devour” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Eat.

B．Block.

C．Tease.

D．Attract.

4. What does the author suggest doing to save coral reefs?

A．Relying on humans’ solutions.	B．Banning fishing and tourism.
C．Employing divers to handle algae.	D．Letting nature take care of nature.

10 . It’s quite a time for the strange weather, and it does not get much stranger than snow falling in one of the hottest places in the world.

On Sunday morning, Ain Sefra, a desert town in Algeria known as the “Gateway to the Sahara”, experienced a large amount of snow for reportedly the third time in 40 years. Some reports said parts of the area got as deep as 15 inches of snow, but Ain Sefra officially reported less than one inch in some places. Some people were very excited about it. It was strange enough to provide some very special pictures from an area that usually sees some of the hottest temperatures on earth during the summer.

Now, it’s not uncommon for the temperature across even the hottest of deserts to drop tens of degrees Fahrenheit at night, meaning any unusual snow could stay there around for a while. But photographers at the scene said the snow actually stayed intact (完好无损的) for a good portion of the day.

“We were really surprised when we woke up to see snow again,” photographer Karim Bouchetata told Shutterstock. “It stayed all day on Sunday and began melting at around 5 p. m.” While snow is not often falling down in the desert area, a similar snow phenomenon happened just last year. Before that, it had been 37 years since Ain Sefra’s last snowfall.

1. Why were some people in Ain Sefra excited?

A．The snow was one inch deep in some places.

B．They could take some wonderful pictures.

C．They never experienced a snow before.

D．They knew nothing about Ain Sefra.

2. Which of the following statements is NOT true about Ain Sefra?

A．It belongs to Algeria.

B．It has witnessed 3 snowfalls in 37 years.

C．It is one of the hottest places in the world.

D．It is referred to as the “Gateway to the Sahara”.

3. Why could the snow stay for a while?

A．It was unusual to snow.

B．Nobody touched the snow.

C．It fell in the coldest of deserts.

D．The temperature was low enough at night.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Snowfalls in One of the Hottest Places in the World

B．Happiness Coming from the Strange Weather

C．The Gateway to the Sahara — Ain Sefra

D．The Hottest Places in the World