1 . It was a sunny day when my dad and I were arriving at his company. We parked the car and got out of it. I looked around and saw a grey thing on the ground. I thought it was, a garbage bag, but it started to move. As we approached we realized that it was a small wounded (受伤的) dog.
We were so moved by the scene that we decided to help the poor dog. We bought some dog food in the store across the street and got some pure water for the dog, in order to help him regain strength.
He was so hungry that while we were giving him the food and water he almost buried his head in them. After he had eaten we encouraged him to move; however, he could not. My dad tried to take him in his arms, but he started barking due to a wounded bleeding paw (爪子). In the end, we decided to carry him on a small stretcher (担架) to our car.
Rapidly, we took him to the vet (兽医) for him to heal his wound. The vet told us that he had a broken leg and that he had been starving for days. He got out of the vet’s office after 5 days of recovery, and we decided to look for a family for him. He was finally adopted by one of my dad’s workers and is living happily.
In conclusion, I learned from this that everybody can do an act of kindness. Everyone deserves a second chance to be happy.
1. What’s the author’s attitude toward the wounded dog?| A．Doubtful. | B．Disappointed. | C．Uninterested. | D．Helpful. |
| A．There was blood on his paw. | B．He was afraid of strangers. |
| C．His wounded paw hurt. | D．He was beaten by someone. |
| A．A Meaningful Lesson | B．An Act of Kindness |
| C．An Unforgettable Experience | D．A Small Wounded Dog |
2 . Today, we have the ability to predict dangerous tornadoes (龙卷风), hurricanes (飓风) winter storms, and floods with more accuracy than ever. We know the areas that are likely to be struck by earthquakes, and the areas that are easily harmed by wildfires, and we can tell hours in advance whether a tsunami (海啸) will hit our shores.
However, in spite of all the capabilities for advance warnings, Americans are still quite poor at preparing for these disasters. In a 2006 poll (民意调查) carried out by TIME Magazine, only 16% percent believed they were “well prepared” for the next one.
A few weeks ago I was listening to NPR (National Public Radio) as I was cooking dinner, and I heard a moving story about a young boy, Noah Stewart, who lived through a tornado that hit his Alabama home.
Noah was sucked up into the tornado and then dropped. He landed on his head first, a fall of such force that, under normal conditions, would have killed him. However, he survived because his mother made a quick decision to put a baseball helmet on his head right before the tornado hit. Noah was unhurt in the storm. But the helmet cracked (破裂) down the middle.
The CDC states that they can’t say whether helmets save lives during a tornado impact (撞击) . However, it still seems wise for anyone in a tornado-prone (可能的) area to keep several helmets at the ready. Any added protection is going to increase your chance of survival, and as Noah’s story clearly shows, helmets can save lives.
You don’t have to buy new helmets—picking up used bicycle, football, or baseball helmets at economical stores and garage sales (旧货市场) can save money and keep your family protected.
However, it’s necessary that you keep these helmets in an easily reachable place; they should not be used for any other purpose, as they may be misplaced. Remember, when a tornado hits, you might only have minute—or even seconds—to find shelter. You don’t want to be running around the house, searching for those helmets.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?| A．Americans are fear of disasters. |
| B．There are many disasters in America. |
| C．Disasters are better predicted in America. |
| D．Most Americans are not well prepared for disasters. |
| A．Because he stayed with his mother. |
| B．Because he was brave in the tornado. |
| C．Because he was well protected by a helmet. |
| D．Because he was quick-minded in emergency. |
| A．Put them at hand. | B．Choose new ones. |
| C．Use professional ones. | D．Save money to buy expensive ones. |
| A．To ask us to prepare for the disasters. | B．To warn us of the tornado impact. |
| C．To advise us to keep helmets handy. | D．To describe the moving story of a boy. |
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 . In Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda, a non-profit organization Snares to Wares is helping local craftsmen make a living through selling sculptures made from the wiring in the traps of poachers(偷猎者)Located in northwest Uganda, the nation's largest national park is a poaching hotspot, with the most common method being a wire snare(钢丝套)that closes around an animal's foot.
Most poaching is done for meat, as the communities surrounding the park are some of the poorest in the country, and most of the animals poached are smaller herbivores(食草动物). Snares to Wares aids local people in developing their artists' eye and crafters' hand to weave hundreds of snares into wire sculptures of the park's wildlife. The initiative was started by Tutilo Mudumba, a national geographic explorer, and Robert Montgomery, a wildlife ecologist at Michigan State University, and now has 620 craftsmen onboard, who sell on average about 800 sculptures a month.
Mudumba was conducting research on the use and distribution of snares in the park some years ago when he came up with the idea. In an interview, he explained that for most of the poor villagers around the park, wildlife represents a threat. He was shocked to learn after starting Snares to Wares that many locals didn't know what the animals in the park looked like, so he helped sponsor field trips into Murchison Falls. There the locals study the animals, see how they behave, and allow their inner artist to take shape as they observe the park's lions, rhinos, elephants, buffalo, giraffes, leopards, warthogs, and more.
Murchison Falls has experienced a dramatic recovery over the last decade, with a significant upgrade in the policing capabilities of rangers(护林员), and the abilities of the medical units as well—all leading to a doubling of the herbivore numbers. Predator populations are also increasing with the conviction(定罪)rate of caught poachers at almost 97% due to another investment project in a wildlife legal department within the Ugandan Wildlife Authority.
1. What can local people do with the help of Snares to Wares?| A．Build more snares. | B．Poach more animals. |
| C．Make wire sculptures. | D．Sponsor field trips. |
| A．To survey population distribution. | B．To learn about traps. |
| C．To make interviews with the poor. | D．To study local animals. |
| A．Wildlife expert. | B．Local artist. |
| C．Potential artistic talent. | D．Infamous sculptor. |
| A．Improving impressively. | B．Heavily invested. |
| C．Declining dramatically. | D．Thinly populated. |
6 . The amount of plastic in our oceans-and thus in our seafood-is rising. A study says Europeans alone throw about 11,000 small pieces of plastic every year. And unless we make some very big changes, that number could reach 780,000 pieces per person within a few decades.
Microplastics are popular additives(添加剂)to a wide range of personal care products, from face wash to toothpaste. We wash them off and send them down the drain(下水道), where they head out into the water supply. And there they’ll stay, absorbing chemicals, until something or somebody comes along and eats them.
Studies have found that fish that consume microplastics are smaller than others. They refuse real food in favor of more plastic. Their eggs are less likely to hatch, and they are less likely to escape from other hunters.
Researchers at the University of Ghent in Belgium have been studying the effects of microplastics on shellfish(海贝). The average shellfish sucks(吮吸)in and spits(吐)out about 20 liters of water per day. Most of the plastic particles in that water will be sent back out into the ocean. Most, but not all; lead researcher Colin Janssen says the shellfish they examined had an average of one tiny plastic piece.
Janssen and his colleagues say the same process occurs in humans who consume shellfish. About 99 percent of the microplastics will pass through your system. That still leaves 1 percent to stay in the body, and we don’t yet know what that means for our health.
“We do need to know the fate of the plastics,” Janssen said. “Where do they go? Are they forgotten about by the body, or are they causing inflammation (炎症) or doing other things? Are chemicals coming out of these plastics and then causing damage? We don’t know.”
1. What does the underlined word “They” refer to in paragraph 3?| A．The researchers in the study. |
| B．The fish which eat the small fish in the ocean. |
| C．The common people who eat fish and seashell. |
| D．The small fish which eat plastic pieces. |
| A．It will be easier to catch them. |
| B．Their population will get smaller and smaller. |
| C．They will help reduce the amount of plastic pieces in the ocean. |
| D．People will find it an effective way to deal with water pollution. |
| A．It means developing a good taste in delicious food. |
| B．It means that eating sea creatures is dangerous. |
| C．It means storing plastic in the human bodies. |
| D．It means that plastic shellfish can take the place of real one. |
| A．No one will be sure of its effects. | B．They will lead to some strange diseases. |
| C．They will be forgotten. | D．They will give off some poisonous chemicals. |
7 . The Taklimakan (塔克拉玛干) Desert in western China has one of the world' s most difficult environments. With no water, fierce winds and terrible sandstorms, the temperatures get as hot as 40℃ in summer and as cold as -20℃ in winter. Yet, even though it was such a difficult environment, many people in history have traveled through the Taklimakan Desert. Why would anyone want to do this? Cutting through this desert was the famous Silk Road, the main trading route between China and Europe.
In China, the Silk Road ran through the ancient city of Kashgar (喀什) in Xinjiang, then north-east over the Taklimakan Desert to Dunhuang. From Dunhuang, the Silk Road went south-east through ancient Gansu, and then east to Xi' an.
The best-known product traded along the Silk Road was of course silk. Chinese silk was transported to Europeans, who liked it because it was soft. Other goods transported along the Silk Road included gold, ivory, glass, fur and ceramics (陶瓷器). The Silk Road could be quite dangerous: apart from the difficulty traveling through the desert, robbing was a constant problem. Many merchants traveled with guards to protect themselves and the goods they carried.
To westerners, the most famous traveler along the Silk Road was the Italian merchant, Marco Polo (AD 1254- 1324). However, Marco Polo was by no means the first person to travel along the Silk Road and tell others about it. In fact, in 139BC and 119BC, the Chinese explorer Zhang Qian was sent by Emperor Wu to visit the west. Zhang Qian ’s journey helped bring the Chinese people a greater knowledge of the western lands.
1. What is the biggest temperature gap in the Taklimakan Desert?| A．20℃ | B．40℃ | C．60℃ | D．80℃ |
| A．gold and silver | B．glass and fur |
| C．animals and fur | D．ivory and paper |
| A．Zhang Qian was sent to visit the west twice. |
| B．The main product traded along the Silk Road was silk. |
| C．Marco Polo was not the first person to travel along the Silk Road. |
| D．The Taklimakan Desert has the world’ s most difficult environment. |
1. Where did Erin meet Wolfgang first?
| A．In a street. | B．In a pet shop. | C．At an animal shelter. |
| A．He was too big. | B．He was unfriendly. | C．He had many diseases. |
| A．By putting him on a diet | B．By finding him a partner. | C．By taking him to the hospital. |
| A．His wisdom. | B．His appearance. | C．His personality. |
9 . Microbiologists have designed a sustainable way to remove polluting microplastics from the environment by using bacteria. Initial design as it is, it paves the way for sustainably lowering plastic pollution levels and stop the “plastification”.
Bacteria naturally tend to group together and stick to surfaces, and this creates a sticky material called “biofilm”. Researchers at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) want to use this adhesive bacteria character and capture microplastics in polluted water to form an easily disposable and recyclable blob(团) .
Sylvia Lang Liu, microbiology researcher at PolyU and lead researcher on this project, together with his team, has engineered a bacterial biofilm, which can fix and absorb microplastics floating around in the water, and make them sink to the bottom of the water. Then the researchers can separate the microplastics from the bacteria traps and get them ready to recycle.
Microplastics are the plastic fragments, usually smaller than 5mm, which are accidentally released into the environment during production and breakdown of grocery bags or water bottles, or during everyday activities such as washing synthetic (合成的) clothes or using personal care products with scrubbing microbeads in them. Microplastics are visually tiny, making it challenging to develop effective solutions to trap, collect, and recycle them.
Microplastics are not easily biodegradable (生物降解的), so they stick around for long and absorb and accumulate poisonous chemicals. They spread into wastewater and into the oceans, endangering marine animals and eventually threatening human health, Microplastics had been found in more than 114 species living in the water and also salt, lettuce, apples, and more in 2018 according to the International Maritime Organization.
“This is an innovative application of biofilm engineering l0 address the plastio pollution crisis,” said Dr Joanna Sadler, researcher at University of Edinburgh, who was not involved in this study. “One of the biggest challenges in dealing with microplastics is capturing such small particles. Liu and co-workers have denmonstrated an elegant solution to this problem, which holds great potential to be further developed into a real-world wastewater treatment technology.”
1. Which of the following best explains the underlined word “adhesive” in Paragraph 2?| A．Floating. | B．Sticky. | C．Diverse. | D．Visual. |
| A．They are visually too small. | B．They are hard to biodegrade. |
| C．They continue to exist for long. | D．They are poisonous chemicals. |
| A．Small particles are essential to address water pollution |
| B．Biofilm bas been widely used to settle plastic pollution. |
| C．Sadler thinks little of the biofilm engineering application. |
| D．Biofilm application is promising for wastewater treatment. |
| A．Microplastic removal. | B．Uses of bacteria. |
| C．Wastewater treatment. | D．Plastic pollution. |
10 . The following properties which the World Heritage Committee has decided to include on the List of World Heritage are in danger according to Article 11 (4) of the Convention (公约).
Virunga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Virunga National Park, covering an area of 790,000 ha., includes an outstanding diversity of habitats, ranging from swamps and steppes (沼泽和平原) to the snowfields. Mountain gorillas are also found in the park.
Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley (Afghanistan)
The cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamiyan Valley stand for the artistic and religious developments which from the 1st to the 13th centuries characterized ancient Bakhtria. The area contains a number of Buddhist monastic ensembles (佛教寺院), as well as strong buildings from the Islamic period.
Okapi Wildlife Reserve (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
The Okapi Wildlife Reserve occupies about one-fifth of the Ituri forest in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The reserve contains threatened species of primates and birds surviving in the wild. It also has some amazing scenery, including waterfalls on the Ituri and Epulu rivers. The reserve is inhabited by traditional nomadic pygmy Mbuti and Efe hunters.
Historic Center of Vienna (Austria)
Vienna developed from early Celtic and Roman settlements into a Medieval and Baroque city, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It played an important role as a leading European music center, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century.
1. Which of the following world heritage sites is located in Afghanistan?| A．Virunga National Park. | B．Historic Centre of Vienna. |
| C．Okapi Wildlife Reserve. | D．Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley. |
| A．It’s closely related to Buddhism. | B．It has some fascinating natural scenery. |
| C．It has an outstanding variety of habitats. | D．It plays an important role as a leading music center. |
| A．They are all in danger. | B．They are open to the public. |
| C．They are inhabited by local people. | D．They are to be removed from the World Heritage List. |
