1 . I was walking through the bush when, suddenly, a baby koala rushed to me through the sky. Through quick thinking, I managed to catch it in my
Ever since I was a girl, I’d loved animals and at 18 had started work at the Curmmbin Wildlife Sanctuary as a
My son, Jett, always been with koalas and comes out
There are lots of
| A．arms | B．legs | C．clothes | D．gloves |
| A．curious | B．responsible | C．excited | D．unwilling |
| A．exchange | B．care | C．lecture | D．power |
| A．officially | B．properly | C．recently | D．equally |
| A．wood | B．rubbish | C．leaf | D．water |
| A．broke down | B．depended on | C．came across | D．concentrated on |
| A．study | B．confidence | C．debate | D．arrangement |
| A．checked | B．typed | C．registered | D．joined |
| A．naming | B．impressing | C．feeding | D．catching |
| A．health | B．future | C．food | D．return |
| A．educate | B．understand | C．direct | D．trust |
| A．control | B．protect | C．hide | D．recognize |
| A．secret | B．big | C．interesting | D．simple |
| A．allow | B．force | C．ask | D．train |
| A．small | B．confusing | C．natural | D．difficult |
2 . In traditional Chinese culture, fish has rich meanings. It
“You are not
| A．produces | B．spreads | C．determines | D．represents |
| A．so | B．because | C．unless | D．though |
| A．picture | B．animal | C．food | D．symbol |
| A．used | B．afraid | C．forced | D．likely |
| A．technology | B．culture | C．transport | D．education |
| A．identity | B．application | C．shortcoming | D．insurance |
| A．selfless | B．peaceful | C．numerous | D．informal |
| A．beauty | B．strength | C．smartness | D．wisdom |
| A．helpful | B．true | C．similar | D．rude |
| A．cut off | B．taken away | C．given out | D．used up |
| A．such as | B．as a result of | C．owing to | D．in front of |
| A．names | B．owners | C．shelters | D．colours |
| A．fish | B．history | C．water | D．air |
| A．wrote | B．tested | C．performed | D．discussed |
| A．always | B．never | C．easily | D．mostly |
3 . Some scientists have traced the increase in earthquakes, especially in areas not known for the presence of fault lines or past seismic (地震的) activity, to human actions. The idea of humans causing earthquakes may seem strange at first. After all, you can run around your backyard and jump up and down as you want, and the ground isn’t going to start shaking. However, scientists have identified a variety of large scale human activities that can result in earthquakes.
Scientists have confirmed over 700 places where human activities have caused earthquakes over the last century. While many human-related earthquakes are mild and don’t cause much damage, some of them can be serious and dangerous. In fact, scientists believe human activity has caused earthquakes with magnitudes as high as 7.9 on the Richter scale.
Scientists believe most human-related earthquakes are the result of mining. As companies drill deeper and deeper below Earth’s surface to get natural resources, holes left behind can cause instability that leads to collapses that cause earthquakes. Another human activity leading to earthquakes is fracking (水力压裂) for oil and gas, including the high pressure waste water processing that usually goes with fracking. In this process, water, sand and chemicals are pressed underground under high pressure to break rocks to release natural resources.
Building large dams can also cause earthquakes. For example, about 80, 000 people died in China in 2008 as a result of a 7.9-magnitude earthquake caused by 320 million tons of water that had been collected in the Zipingpu Reservoir after a large dam was built over a known fault line.
These aren’t the only human activities that can result in earthquakes, though. Scientists point out that earthquakes can also be caused by other human activities, such as construction of skyscrapers and nuclear explosions.
1. What does the underlined part “fault lines” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Regions with active human actions. | B．Places associated with natural balance. |
| C．Zones where natural resources are rich. | D．Areas where earthquakes tend to happen. |
| A．They break the balance of nature. | B．They destroy the stability of rocks. |
| C．They use high pressure to get resources. | D．They do much damage to Earth’s surface. |
| A．The 2008 earthquake is the worst in history. | B．Construction of dams should be stopped. |
| C．Tons of water must cause earthquakes. | D．The location of a dam matters much. |
| A．Nature punishes humans by means of earthquakes. | B．Progress has been made on earthquake research. |
| C．Humans are to blame for some earthquakes. | D．Earthquakes are no longer nature-made. |
4 . The loss of housing due to floods is an undeniable issue. But now, Japanese housing developer Ichijo Komuten recently unveiled a “flood-resistant house” that can not only remain waterproof during floods, but also float off the ground.
Their new “flood-resistant house” was recently featured on a popular Japanese TV show and it has been getting a lot of attention online ever since. Japan’s TBS TV station recently visited one of Ichijo’s test sites where the company’s new flood-resistant house was being put through a simulated flood. Although it looked just like an ordinary house when the test began, by the time that water started rising around it, viewers could see the structure leave the ground and eventually float a few inches above it.
We’ve all seen floating houses being swept away in severe floods, but Ichijo’s newest invention features a system that prevents just that. The house is connected to a number of thick iron rod(杆)sticking out of the ground with thick cables(缆绳)that ensure it stays in place as the water floods past. When the water recedes, the floating house comes back down in its original position. The “flood-resistant house” also features special vents(通风口))hat close up in the event of flooding, and the plumbing also has special valves that prevent water from getting into the home. Electrical equipment like air conditioning is positioned on the upper half of the building to ensure that water doesn’t reach it.
According to engineers at Ichijo Komuten, most homes flood when water reaches the window level, but because their flood-resistant house can float up to five meters above ground, water is unlikely to reach the windows and everything else is sealed shut.
1. Why does Ichijo Komuten develop the “flood-resistant house”?| A．To make houses waterproof. | B．To get houses off the ground. |
| C．To keep houses forever floating. | D．To secure houses against floods. |
| A．Houses throughout the world are in danger of being flooded. |
| B．Electrical equipment will be safe in Ichijo Komuten’s flood-resistant house. |
| C．Thick iron rods and cables were invented by Ichijo Komuten. |
| D．Ichijo Komuten’s flood-resistant houses have been put into market successfully. |
| A．Positive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unclear. | D．Critical. |
| A．To assess the consequences of floods |
| B．To stress the necessity of a waterproof house. |
| C．To provide guidance on flood control. |
| D．To introduce a new invention and its functions. |
5 . Queen Elizabeth National Park is a place of outstanding beauty and extreme biodiversity. On a previous underwater assignment with my wife and photographic partner, Jennifer Hayes, we’d documented healthy coral reefs surrounded with fish, sharks, and crocodiles. We knew that time, increased tourism and climate change could make the park different—so 15 years later, we returned to see how it was going.
We were photographing some jellyfish. Jennifer, her back to me, was focused on something above her. Out of the corner of my viewfinder, I saw a sizable crocodile coming. As I began to take its photograph, I realized that the crocodile was going to swim directly between Jennifer and me. I started to make loud noises through my regulator and moved towards Jen, firing a burst of flash-lit shots to warn her that we had company. She quickly detected my signal and turned to meet our visitor.
She gave me a quick thumbs-up, nodded OK, and said “Hello, handsome” as she bent closer to take its photos. I admired her for treating the crocodile with respect, calm curiosity, and absolute joy. She didn’t feel threatened. She was familiar with this kind of crocodile in this particular place—and she had a big underwater camera housing that could double as a mighty shield (盾牌) if needed. After a few pictures the crocodile, unimpressed with us, swam downstream on its way to do other crocodile things. We continued our search for jellyfish.
There is always risk in our line of work. But this encounter highlighted the good news that we saw all around us here. The crocodile is an indicator animal, a symbol of a healthy ecosystem that can support top predators (捕食性动物). The easing of travel restrictions is bound to bring more tourists—so it’s vital to maintain a balance among ecotourism, exploration, and conservation. That’s possible if visitors adopt the same philosophy that we hold toward that curious crocodile. We enter Earth’s oceans on their terms, not our own.
1. What was the author’s purpose in returning to Queen Elizabeth National Park?| A．To enjoy its beauty. | B．To assess a document. |
| C．To check its ecosystem. | D．To photograph jellyfish. |
| A．She met it before. | B．She trusted her husband. |
| C．She could protect herself. | D．She longed for its company. |
| A．Explore nature with curiosity. |
| B．Respect nature while exploring it. |
| C．Study nature while developing tourism. |
| D．Protect nature through biological research. |
| A．A Narrow Escape | B．A Risky Job |
| C．An Underwater Assignment | D．A Chance Meeting |
With few trees left to slow the wind in southern Madagascar, red sand is blowing everywhere: onto fields, villages and roads, and into the eyes of children
“There’s nothing to harvest. That’s
The world’ s fourth
7 . When the British poet Alfred Lord Tennyson described nature as “red in tooth and claw”, he was telling us that the natural world can be cruel as well as beautiful.
Most people living in urban areas rarely encounter wild animals in their natural surroundings.
Earlier this year, a herd of elepants in Yunnan left their home in the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve and went on a meandering journey through the province. They destroyed crops and buildings along the way. Villages in their path had to be evacuated because of the potential dangers they posed to villagers. Animal experts haven’t determined why the elephants went on their journey.
Maybe we should try to stay away from them.
| A．A walk in the woods can be dangerous. |
| B．It is a way to protect the wild animals, and it’s also our responsibility. |
| C．In Canada, people have a more realistic attitude towards wild animals. |
| D．In simple terms, we should try to keep proper distance from wild animals. |
| E．Hence they misunderstand that wild animals are just as friendly as Disney characters. |
| F．Thanks to active environmental conservation, the number of the elephants grew larger. |
| G．A reasonable possibility is that they probably needed more room and more food to survive. |
8 . 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. |
9 . The mangrove tree might not look very impressive, but it is an essential part of our ecosystem. However, more than half of the mangrove forests have been destroyed in the past century. Several World Heritage Sites have been listed largely because of their mangrove ecosystems. Among them are the Sundarbans across India and Bangladesh, the Everglades National Park in the US, and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Being a World Heritage Site requires for the mangroves to be protected. However, one country in Asia has gone further by having a five-year program to protect and conserve all their mangroves. They even have a mangrove museum and observe World Mangrove Day. This country is Sri Lanka. Why are mangrove trees so important to Sri Lanka and to other countries where mangroves grow?
The mangrove tree grows along coastal saltwater shorelines. They have adapted to the harsh coastal weather and have deep roots. This means that they are strong and cannot be easily removed. In countries where natural disasters such as tsunamis and cyclones occur, the forests provide protection. The villages in Sri Lanka with full mangrove forests have suffered less damage when hit by these natural disasters. The reason is that the mangroves break up the force and strength of the waves.
The mangroves also quickly absorb carbon dioxide and send oxygen into the atmosphere. This makes them an important part of the fight against climate change. They absorb far more carbon dioxide than other types of forest, and store it in their structure and even in the soil. This is important as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is believed to be a cause of detrimental changes in the weather, such as global warming.
The strong roots also provide protection for young fish as they grow. With the oceans around the world being overfished, it is important to maintain the ecological balance in the oceans. For Sri Lanka, one of the threats to the mangrove forests is the shrimp farms being set up. To build saltwater ponds for the shrimps, the mangroves are cut down. This has resulted in fewer fish surviving among the mangrove roots and fewer fish being caught by the fishermen. The local fishing communities noticed that they were losing money and it made them aware of how important the mangroves were. They are now helping to conserve the forests.
Sri Lanka is showing that a nation can preserve all of its mangroves. The conservation model they have can be used by other countries. It might take many years of planning, but the benefits of saving mangroves definitely outweigh the costs.
1. What do we know about the mangrove trees from the passage?| A．They are mainly grown in Australia. |
| B．They can prevent young fish from growing. |
| C．They have been damaged by natural disasters. |
| D．They are less impressive but important to the ecosystem. |
| A．A world mangrove festival has been founded. |
| B．Saltwater ponds for the shrimps have been set up. |
| C．A 5-year mangroves protecting program has been started. |
| D．More mangroves along the coastal areas have been grown. |
| A．The mangroves can keep the ecological balance in the oceans. |
| B．The mangroves are essential for fighting against climate change. |
| C．The mangroves have deep roots and hold the soil in place firmly. |
| D．The mangroves can break up the force and strength of the waves. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
10 . 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. |
