My husband and I enjoy seeing life through the eyes of our children. It’s amazing to watch as they discover their world.
While we were outdoors last summer enjoying the sunshine, our oldest daughter, Kaytlin, called me to the doorway. Beneath the steps was a baby red squirrel.
We watched it from a distance, not wanting to disturb it or scare off its mother. But after a long wait—and looking all around our house for signs of a nest or a mother—we realized the tiny squirrel was lost.
Shaking terribly, he was weak, thin, and hungry. We tried to find an expert to help, but the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website showed that there were no wildlife experts in our area. After some quick research, we concluded that the best way to give the squirrel a fighting chance was to care for him ourselves. So a trip to the local store for milk and supplies was in order. More research taught us how much to feed him, how to estimate his age, how and when to wean (断奶) him, and that we should let him go as soon as he could survive on his own.
Our daughters and I took turns in feeding “Squirt.” Kaytlin took on the most responsibility. She taught him to eat from a bottle, and she woke in the night for his feeds.
To our relief, Squirt soon became healthy and strong. Within a few weeks he became more active. He would chatter (吱吱叫) for his next meal, playfully go around the girls, and lie down on them for sleep. It wasn’t long before he was weaned onto solid food and reintroduced to the wild.
His first few visits to the great outdoors were funny. Just like a child, he would play in the grass some and then run back to Kaytlin for safety. Soon she had him climbing trees and finding nest material.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
One day in the trees, Squirt met up with a family of gray squirrels.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One night, Squirt didn’t come back to our house and it rained hard.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I must admit, I haven’t always liked animals. In fact, I distrusted them greatly while growing up, and I still fear the ones I don’t know personally. What set my beliefs in stone was being attacked—not once but many times, including the summer after second grade when I was bitten by a rabbit. Then, when I was nine and riding my dirt bike down the road, a large dog charged me and tried to bite my ankle. After all those negative experiences, there was one thing I knew for sure: All creatures, great and small, were no friends of mine.
After college in California, I returned to live the single life in Las Vega. Then I met Lisa. In no time at all, we fell in love, married and moved into a new house. Despite my avoidance of animals, Lisa had a dog called Bailey. Bailey didn’t like me, but he tolerated my existence once he realized I wasn’t going anywhere.
Things changed as spring came. We welcomed a new member of our family: our son Evan. One evening Evan grabbed hold of the dog’s tail. The irritated dog paused and turned to look at his stuck tail but waited patiently until being released. Still the stories I’d heard of animals attacking babies worries me.
Then my worst fear occurred. I sat on the couch (沙发) reading after a long day while my wife worked at the dining-room table paying the bills. I saw Evan crawl across the family-room carpet as he made his way behind the couch. One minute, all was quiet and then Bailey entered the room and headed to where Evan had crawled. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the dog start a fearful barking behind me.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Throwing the book away, I rushed around the couch with great fear.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Having witnessed our dog killing a scorpion (蝎子) and saving my son, I was speechless.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . The rhino census (犀牛普查) is out, bearing good news for the greater one-horned rhinos! In September, 2022, the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) documented in a report that there is a baby boom in this population, representing an increase of 167 percent.
According to the report, there are a total of 4,014 greater one-horned rhinos living in India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Although this is positive news, their IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) status still remains vulnerable.
In India alone, the home to 70 percent of the world’s greater one-horned rhinos, there was an increase of 274 rhinos since the last biannual census, according to the organization Rhino Review.
An important reason for this baby boom is the fact that Assam, India, has enlarged Kaziringo National Park, home to the world’s largest one-horned rhino population. The park went from 430 square kilometers to 1,040 square kilometers. This gives more breeding areas for the rhinos, and they are closed to visitors during breeding season.
India and Nepal are also protecting the rhinos by enforcing wildlife crime laws. To reduce rhino death by poaching (偷猎), the IRF donates vehicles and equipment, plus education including guard training and crime investigation.
The IRF data for other rhino species is not as promising, although the greater one-horned rhino numbers are encouraging for future conservation. According to the report, there is a decline in Sumatran rhinos, Africa’s white rhinos, while the Javan rhino population is stable and threatened by loss of habitat.
The State of the Rhino report offers hope for these other species. Given that the greater one-horned things were once close to extinction, with fewer than 100 living in the world, their recovery is incredible. This demonstrates that there are solutions when organizations and people work together. Let us hope that this successful rhino baby boom will affect other endangered wildlife species around the globe.
1. What contributes to the baby boon of one-horned rhinos in Assam, India?| A．Extending the protected areas for rhinos. |
| B．Raising fund to set up more reserves for rhinos. |
| C．Leaving the one-horned rhinos alone in the wild. |
| D．Keeping visitors away from the Kaziringo National Park. |
| A．By cooperating with other organizations. |
| B．By enhancing anti-poaching efforts. |
| C．By transferring the rhinos to other habitats. |
| D．By guarding the rhinos with new equipment. |
| A．Rhinos are no longer a vulnerable species. |
| B．Rhinos will affect other wildlife in the world. |
| C．Everyone can play a role in protecting nature. |
| D．It is possible to protect other endangered species. |
| A．To inform good news on the greater one-horned rhinos. |
| B．To show the measures taken to protect the one-horned rhinos. |
| C．To introduce an endangered species—the greater one-horned rhinos. |
| D．To indicate the decline of other species of rhino population. |
Yunnan is the hometown of tea. It provides the ideal climate and the ecological environment for large-leaf tea trees, which are located in the
Other
Yunnan has diverse resources of tea trees. The regulation also advocates proper research and
5 . In the 1960s, while studying the volcanic history of Yellowstone National Park, Bob Christian-sen became puzzled about something that, strangely, had not troubled anyone before he couldn’t find the park’s volcano. It had been known for a long time that Yellowstone was volcanic in nature—that is what accounted for all its hot springs and other steamy features. But Christian-sen couldn’t find the Yellowstone volcano anywhere.
Most of us, when we talk about volcanoes, think of the classic cone(圆锥体)shapes of a Fuji or Kilimanjaro, which were created when erupting magma(岩浆)piled up. These can form remarkably quickly. One day in 1943, a Mexican farmer was surprised to see smoke rising from a small part of his land. In one week he was the confused owner of a cone five hundred feet high. Within two years it had topped out at almost fourteen hundred feet and was more than half a mile-across. Altogether there are some ten thousand of these volcanoes on Earth, all but a few hundred of them extinct. There is, however, a second less known type of volcano that doesn’t involve mountain building. These are volcanoes so explosive that they burst open in a single big crack, leaving behind a vast hole, the caldera(火山口).Yellowstone obviously was of this second type, but Christian-sen couldn’t find the caldera anywhere.
Just at this time NASA decided to test some new high-altitude cameras by taking photographs of Yellowstone. A thoughtful official passed on some of the copies to the park authorities on the assumption that they might make a nice blow-up(放大的照片)for one of the visitors’ centers. As soon as Christian-sen saw the photos, he realized why he had failed to spot the caldera: almost the whole park—2.2 million acres -was a caldera. The explosion had left a hole more than forty miles across-much too huge to be seen from anywhere at ground level. At some time in the past Yellowstone must have blown up with violence far beyond the scale of anything known to humans.
1. What does the underlined word “its” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．The ground. | B．The nature. |
| C．The volcano. | D．The park. |
| A．A single big crack was forming there. | B．Someone was burning stalks there. |
| C．A volcano was erupting underneath. | D．There were some hot springs there. |
| A．By looking at the photographs. | B．By analyzing its steamy features. |
| C．By researching historical documents. | D．By using some advanced equipment. |
| A．Its level is much higher than the surrounding areas. |
| B．The volcano in it involved mountain building. |
| C．It is a large hole left by the explosion. |
| D．Its shape is much like a cone. |
6 . Nan Hauser has spent much of her life in the South Pacific Cook Islands. As a whale researcher, she has been
One day in 2017, Nan dived into the ocean to shoot some videos with the whales, when the most
After the shark disappeared, the whale safely
Almost a year later, Nan received a call from a local fisherman saying that he
After Nan’s encounter, she
| A．featured | B．recorded | C．awarded | D．ranked |
| A．chemist | B．physicist | C．doctor | D．biologist |
| A．remarkable | B．comfortable | C．valuable | D．reliable |
| A．rescuing | B．warning | C．greeting | D．thanking |
| A．adventure | B．effort | C．attempt | D．attack |
| A．excitement | B．panic | C．surprise | D．disappointment |
| A．out of range | B．out of mind | C．out of hearing | D．out of question |
| A．conserved | B．forced | C．accompanied | D．chased |
| A．impression | B．expectation | C．commitment | D．appreciation |
| A．sands | B．darkness | C．depths | D．landscape |
| A．challenge | B．experience | C．leisure | D．memory |
| A．spotted | B．waved | C．refused | D．followed |
| A．known | B．suffered | C．returned | D．refreshed |
| A．smartly | B．vaguely | C．constantly | D．instantly |
| A．distinct | B．private | C．multiple | D．positive |
| A．met | B．struggled | C．lived | D．played |
| A．pretty | B．funny | C．tricky | D．vital |
| A．influential | B．interesting | C．logical | D．popular |
| A．beautifying | B．protecting | C．surrounding | D．leaving |
| A．continuing | B．considering | C．missing | D．avoiding |
1. 介绍校园不良现象；
2. 提出合理的建议和措施。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Small Actions Can Make a Difference
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8 . Like all mammals, whales need to sleep in order to survive. But they are also air breathers, meaning that they cannot sleep in the water all the time. There are around 90 different types of whale, which can hold their breath for about an hour, depending on the species. However, they usually travel up to the surface to breathe every 15 minutes.
Some scientists have found that whales cannot become fully unconscious or they would drown. To deal with living in the water full-time while having to breathe air, these air-breathers have evolved into voluntary ones, as a way to prevent accidentally breathing in water at inopportune moments.
Whales have some of the largest brains on the planet.
| A．So how exactly do they get any sleep? |
| B．They continue to swim slowly and regularly. |
| C．They won’t lose their body temperature by staying still. |
| D．It’s an interesting dilemma for wholly ocean air breathers. |
| E．This sleeping technique varies slightly among species, however. |
| F．Whales consciously control their blowholes with powerful muscles. |
| G．Sperm whales in particular have the biggest brain of any living mammal. |
9 . About 40,000 elephants and 1,000 rhinos are hunted in Africa every year, Poachers kill elephants for their tusks and rhinos for their horns to earn money even though it is against the law. Then other people, called “traffickers”, buy the tusks and horns and ship them out of the country. The traffickers sell the tusks and horns again for even more money, usually in Asia.
It has been hard to catch the criminals. Usually by the time the dead animals were found, the poachers were far away. And when traffickers were caught with tusks or horns, it was impossible to say where the horns came from. Until recently, African scientists are using DNA to help find the criminals and send them to jail.
Now scientists in Africa are using DNA tests to connect traffickers with elephants and rhinos that have been killed. They have used computers to build complete lists of the DNA of almost all of the elephants and rhinos in Africa from any part of the animals-blood, skin, hair, horns, or tusks. This DNA records allowed the scientists to build powerful tools for protecting the animals.
Now when tusks or horns are found on a ship in another country, DNA tests can show where they came from. This information can lead to quick actions in the country where the animals were killed. It can also help police discover patterns in the ways the poachers and traffickers work. With the new DNA information, it is easier to prove that someone has been involved in killing animals for their tusks or horns.
So far, these DNA records have been used to send poachers and traffickers to jail in many countries in Africa. People hope that by punishing poachers and traffickers, they can save the lives of more African elephants and rhinos. That's important, since there are only about 400,000 African elephants and 20,000 white rhinos left.
1. What is the problem in Africa according to paragraph 1?| A．The loss of the tusks and horns. | B．The increasing number of criminals. |
| C．The decline of habitats of wild animals | D．The illegal wildlife hunting and trading. |
| A．To do scientific research on the animals. | B．To help save more elephants and rhinos. |
| C．To track the movements of the animals. | D．To recognize African elephants and rhinos. |
| A．By providing evidence of the crime | B．By finding the lost tusks and horns. |
| C．By discovering the tools of criminals | D．By understanding the habits of animals. |
| A．DNA tests can help catch all the poachers and traffickers |
| B．The number of African elephants and rhinos might grow. |
| C．It's easy to prevent poachers killing elephants and rhinos |
| D．The sale of tusk and horn products is illegal in the world. |
10 . Top universities for employability 2021 in USA
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology, founded in 1891, is one of the best private universities in the world, ranking 9 in National Universities. Its setting is suburban and the campus size is 124 acres. The student population is tiny compared with other colleges with just over 1,000 undergraduates and 1,200 postgraduates (2021 ). Students are admitted on the basis of strong maths, science and engineering skills and interest. Some of them may get high scholarship.
Tuition and fees: $58,680(2020-2021)
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private research university that was founded in 1740 in Pennsylvania, USA. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 9,872(fall 2021). Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and is one of several institutions that claim to have been the first university in America. University of Pennsylvania is ranked number 4 in National Universities.
Tuition and Fees: $ 57,770(2020-2021)
Columbia University
For more than 260 years, Columbia university has been a leader in higher education in the nation and around the world. The oldest private institution recognizes the importance of its location in New York City and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 6,170(fall 2021) and is the 5th oldest in the United States. It is ranked number 11 in National Universities.
Tuition and Fees: $53,000(2020-2021)
University of Chicago
University of Chicago is a private institution that was founded in 1890. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 6,989(fall 2021). In an urban setting, the campus size is 217 acres. University of Chicago has a reputation for devotion to academic scholarship and its ranking is number 6 in National Universities.
Tuition and Fees: $49,298(2020-2021)
1. What is special about California Institute of Technology?| A．It is the oldest university in America. |
| B．It is a small but well-known university. |
| C．It offers the highest academic scholarship. |
| D．It only admits international talented students. |
| A．University of Chicago. | B．Columbia University. |
| C．University of Pennsylvania. | D．California Institute of Technology. |
| A．They are all built in urban areas. | B．They are all small schools in size. |
| C．They are all private universities. | D．They are all ranked top 10 in the USA. |
