1 . Many green plants that are used to decorate living rooms and kitchens are marketed as air-purifying. However, scientists largely agree that plants can’t do very much to clean an entire room. Now, a Parisian company known as Neoplants is trying to change that by growing genetically modified (转基因的) plants that help remove harmful chemicals from the air.
Its first product, called the Neo P1, is a bioengineered version of the pothos (绿萝). Pothos is characterized by its green leaves and is relatively easy to care for. The Neo P1 is meant to capture and recycle dangerous air pollutants commonly found in homes called volatile organic compounds (挥发性有机化合物VOCs), which are often human-made chemicals. So it’s a popular choice for people looking to beautify their living spaces. But the Neo P1 starts at $179, and to purchase one, potential shoppers must first join a waitlist.
The idea of air-purifying plants came from a 1989 study by NASA, in which regular houseplants were tested in two-by-two-foot rooms. When scientists filled these rooms with VOCs, they found the plants could absorb some of the harmful compounds. “Actually, it’d take about ten houseplants per square foot to noticeably improve air quality,” Michael Waring, an environmental engineer at Drexel University who wasn’t involved with Neoplants, reported in a 2019 study. “Plants, though they do remove VOCs, remove them at such a slow rate that they can’t compete with the air exchange mechanisms already happening in buildings,” Waring said.
As for Neoplants, its Neo Pl was tested in a 35-liter glass room. In it, the Neo P1’s results were 30 times better than NASA’s, according to the company — which means it’d still take a large number of them to clean a room. Currently, the company’s engineers are designing testing sites that more accurately resemble living spaces. To Neoplants’ executives, cleaning the air inside a home is a more logical starting point than trying to filter (过滤) the entire atmosphere.
1. What might prevent the Neo P1 from becoming popular?| A．Its poor quality. | B．Its unstable security. |
| C．Its high maintenance (维护，保养). | D．Its difficult availability. |
| A．Plants can significantly improve air quality in a room. |
| B．Plants contribute little to removing harmful chemicals. |
| C．The Neo P1 plays a big role in removing harmful compounds. |
| D．Houseplants are expected to replace air exchange mechanisms. |
| A．Exploring new ways to genetically modify plants. |
| B．Proving the Neo P1’s effectiveness in a living room. |
| C．Improving the air exchange mechanisms in buildings. |
| D．Designing testing sites that are similar to living spaces. |
| A．How do plants reduce air pollution? | B．What is the best plant to help clean the air? |
| C．Could genetically modified plants clean the air? | D．How can we decorate living rooms with plants? |
The Mystery of the “Unfriendly” Neighbor
Every morning, Mai would pass her neighbor’s fence with Chó, a German shepherd. For her, walking by Mr. Groll’s yard was the best part of their morning walk and also the worst. It was the best part because the roses along the way seemed to greet them through their scents, “Good morning, Chó,” “Hello, Mai!”. Then the worst part — the unfriendly shape nearby: Mr. Groll. Every time, Mai would offer a polite greeting to Mr. Groll, and Chó, being friendly, would thump (拍打) her tail. Typically, there was no response. Still, Mai knew he was there, watching behind his fence. He sounded out of breath, and the gate swung nervously in his hand.
“Why does Mr. Groll ignore me?” It remained a mystery to Mai. Was he afraid of her because she was blind? Disabilities sometimes scared grown-ups. Then Mai remembered: the previous day, she heard him playing with her friend Jimmy, who was in a wheelchair.
Maybe Mr. Groll didn’t like Vietnamese (越南的) neighbors. Some folks were said to dislike people from faraway places. No, that couldn’t be it. Every Saturday Mr. Groll and Mai’s big brother, Lien, helped each other with yard work. They were friends.
Well, then, Mai thought: “Maybe he doesn’t like me because I’m a girl.” Then she remembered her friend Jana. Mr. Groll would respond happily to her greeting. Mai’s heart twisted: “Mr. Groll likes Jimmy. And Lien. And Jana. But not me and Chó...”
“Me and Chó!” An idea brightened Mai’s mystery. Maybe she did know why Mr. Groll didn’t talk to her!
“Down,” Mai ordered, letting go of Chó’s harness (拴狗绳). Surprised, Chó flopped to the ground. Mai attached her harness to a post, and felt her way along the fence cautiously.
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；
3. 参考问题（无需作答）。
① Was Mr. Groll a real unfriendly neighbor? If not, how would he show his friendliness to Mai?
② How can you make your writing agree with the fact that Mai is blind?
Paragraph 1: The gate squeaked (嘎吱作响) open. “Mai! Be careful!”
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Paragraph 2: But being scared of dogs wasn’t funny.
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Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2016, the Shennongjia Forestry District is covered by vast forest,
Tourism development in the area takes a back seat to the wonders of nature. The natural environment has been largely left untouched,
The name of the district is adapted from the legendary father of Chinese herbal medicine, Shennong, who is said
What if you are not interested in medicinal herbs and just want some sightseeing delights? Shennongjia provides a variety of
4 . 
Crab traps (蟹笼) work like this: crabs crawl in, but they don’t crawl out.
With no one there to get them back, the traps continue to fish, says a researcher. “Marine life gets into the trap. Eventually, they can’t eat so they die, and then other marine life becomes attracted to it. They get into the trap, and they die.
Abandoned crab traps harm wildlife and affect other fishers, especially shrimpers (捕虾者). Large and heavy crab traps get caught in shrimping nets, tearing them open or blocking them from catching shrimp. Helpless shrimpers, with nowhere to put the smelly traps, generally just throw them back, continuing the cycle.
But a group in Mississippi has found a solution:
Chloé Dubois, head of a nonprofit focused on marine debris (废弃物), calls it “a great success story.” Dubois says there have been programs historically very successful at recycling waste products at the end of their life cycle. But in the ghost fishing and marine debris field, she says, “
| A．It’s a real win-win. |
| B．The Mississippi program is a pioneer. |
| C．It just becomes this awful cycle of death. |
| D．Shrimpers are informed of basic knowledge of fishing. |
| E．In the meantime, the Mississippi program is expanding. |
| F．That’s good news for crab fishers’ chances of pulling in a good catch. |
| G．A $5 reward is paid to shrimpers to collect and recycle abandoned crab traps. |
5 . Have you ever had a chat with an animal? Many pet owners talk to their animals. But how much do the pets really understand? Dogs respond (回应) when we say, “Sit,” or “Stay.” Studies have shown that dogs really do understand human speech. This isn’t unique to our dog friends! Pigs, chimpanzees, and elephants all understand some human language.
Some animals are very good at communication. They understand humans better than other animals do. A bird named Alex knew 150 words and spoke in full sentences. Chaser, a sheepdog in South Carolina, knew all the names of her 1,022 toys. She would go and get whichever one she was asked to! The most famous example is Koko, a western lowland gorilla (大猩猩) who knew sign language.
Koko was born at the San Francisco Zoo on the 4th of July in 1971. The zoo named her Hanabiko and her caretakers called her “Koko” for short. Koko began learning American Sign Language after her first birthday from a psychologist (心理学家) named Francine “Penny” Patterson. With Patterson’s help, Koko learned 2,000 words!
Koko was very friendly. She enjoyed talking with most humans. Everyone who met her could tell she was smart. What really made Koko different, though, was her personality. Koko didn’t just communicate her needs—she also told jokes and played tricks on (捉弄) her trainers.
Koko could even use a camera. She loved to take selfies! National Geographic made one of Koko’s selfies its cover photo in 1978. The picture was one she took of herself in the mirror (镜子). Koko was on the cover of National Geographic again in 1985. In that picture, she held her cat, whom she named “All Ball”. Koko’s love for All Ball touched people around the world. She raised three cats during her life.
Koko was proud to be a gorilla. When asked to describe herself, she said she was a “fine animal gorilla”. Koko taught us a lot about animals’ brains. Because of her, scientists now think other animals might be able to understand us.
1. What does the underlined word “unique” in paragraph 1 most probably mean?| A．Easy. | B．Helpful. | C．Possible. | D．Special. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By providing explanations. |
| C．By setting down general rules. | D．By presenting research findings. |
| A．She enjoyed looking in the mirror. | B．She kept four cats during her life. |
| C．She met Patterson at the age of one. | D．She began learning words in 1971. |
| A．Smart and brave. | B．Humorous and caring. |
| C．Honest and friendly. | D．Popular and patient. |
From “pocket parks” between communities to forest parks in the outer cities, local governments are
From 2021 to 2022, Shanghai transformed 62 woodlands into leisure spaces. These leisure spaces open up forests,
Apart from meeting people’s needs, parks can also do good to the environment. Take Beijing’s Central Green Forest Park
7 . After most people complete their undergraduate degree, they either take a break or jump into a job. Few, like Brianna Craft, set out to save the world.
It started when she was a freshman sitting in an environmental studies class in 2006. Craft was shocked when the professor described the harm climate change was having on people. She records the moment in her new book, Everything That Rises: A Climate Change Memoir.
After graduation, Craft spent a year in AmeriCorps, focusing on protecting the environment. AmeriCorps is an organization connecting individuals and organizations to help communities tackle their toughest challenges. “That helped me figure out that my future was not in doing science,” she says. Instead, she wanted to work with people and policy.
She then had an opportunity to attend the UN climate negotiations (磋商). That, in turn, prepared her for her current role as a senior researcher at the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Her focus is to ensure that the lowest contributors to greenhouse gases and those most affected by climate change have a voice in international climate negotiations.
For five years, Craft attended and supported climate conferences around the world, leading to the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015. Craft says, “I wanted people to care about the work I did in the climate negotiations, and why we pushed so hard to form this agreement.” That led her to write Everything That Rises: A Climate Change Memoir.
Craft brings the viewpoint of an African American woman from a rural northwest community. She weaves (编织) together several storylines-including her difficult childhood with an irresponsible parent, her self-discovery in college and her work to help work towards climate agreements and ensure that even the smallest countries have a voice.
1. What motivated Craft to work on climate change?| A．A course. | B．A book. | C．A scientist. | D．A program. |
| A．She made achievements. |
| B．She fell in love with science. |
| C．She got inspiration for her book. |
| D．She was clearer about her career path. |
| A．She promotes equal rights to speak among countries. |
| B．She focuses on removing greenhouse gases in London. |
| C．She ensures climate negotiations are the UN’s top priority. |
| D．She speaks for the countries producing the most greenhouse gases. |
| A．Boring. | B．Risky. | C．Fruitful. | D．Well-paid. |
8 . Scientists have been able to track the entire life of a mammoth (猛犸象) that lived more than 17,000 years ago. The team figured out where in Alaska it likely was at any given point of its 28-year life.
To do so, the researchers closely studied a 1.8-meter-long mammoth tusk (象牙) dating back around 17,100 years. Mammoth tusks grow by adding layers of tissue almost daily, forming rings like a tree that can reveal detailed information.
The main thing the researchers analyzed was strontium isotopes (锶同位素), which can act almost like an ancient GPS. Different areas have different isotopic features, which start in minerals deep underground and make their way to the top of the land, into plants and water. Finally, they can be seen on the animals that consume those plants and water.
Previous studies had produced an isotopic map of Alaska by analyzing isotopes in the teeth of hundreds of small animals, which don’t travel far in their lifetimes and so represent a local area. The researchers can then compare isotopic signals from each part of the mammoth’s tusk to this map, to get an idea of where the mammoth most likely wandered throughout its life.
The scientists started from where its remains were found. Working backwards, the scientists then looked at the isotopic feature of where the mammoth was about a week before death, then searched the map for the best match in a nearby area. A model then worked backwards stepwise to determine the most likely routes the mammoth might have taken.
According to the research, the mammoth seems to have spent his early years in the Yukon River Basin and Alaska, constantly trekking between several territories in a predictable pattern. The team says that this behavior seems to be like modern elephants, moving regularly from place to place.
1. What is the key to reading the mammoth’s tusk?| A．The length of the tusk. | B．The age of the mammoth. |
| C．The area the mammoth lived in. | D．The tissue found in the tusk’s layers. |
| A．Plants and water are main carriers of isotopes. |
| B．The isotopes in the tusk came from the underground. |
| C．It was difficult to analyze the isotopic features of an area. |
| D．The researchers were surprised to find isotopes in the tusk. |
| A．By explaining the significance of tusks. | B．By recording the animal species of Alaska. |
| C．By offering researchers a map to compare with. | D．By proving the possibility of analyzing isotopes. |
| A．Looking for food. | B．Escaping from dangers. |
| C．Making a long journey. | D．Sending warning signals. |
1. What disaster hit Nah a yesterday?
| A．A typhoon. | B．A snowstorm. | C．An earthquake. |
| A．700. | B．500. | C．160. |
| A．Her schoolmate. | B．Her father. | C．The police. |
| A．Music. | B．Sports. | C．Weather. |
1. Why did Maria go to Australia?
| A．For studying animals. |
| B．For an expert meeting. |
| C．For a holiday. |
| A．It was not real. | B．It was dangerous. | C．It was dead. |
| A．An animal charity. | B．Maria’s relative. | C．A zookeeper. |
