3 . Migratory (迁徙的) birds are declining globally because of the way that humans have changed the landscape over recent decades — according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA).

A new study published today reveals that population declines have been greatest among species that migrate to areas with more human infrastructure — roads, buildings, power lines, wind turbines (涡轮机) — as well as more population and hunting levels.

Dr. James Gilroy, from UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences, said, “We know that migratory birds are in greater decline than non-migratory species, but it’s not clear why. We want to find out where in their life cycles these migratory species are most exposed to human impacts.”

The research team identified 16 human-induced threats to migratory birds, including infrastructure associated with bird disturbance and impacts, transformation of land from natural habitat to human land use, and climate change. Advances in satellite imagery allowed the team to map each of the 16 threats across Europe, Africa and Western Asia. The team also created the first ever large-scale map of hunting pressure across the region. A total of 103 species of migrating birds were studied, including many rapidly declining species like the turtle dove and the common cuckoo, using large-scale datasets. The team calculated threat scores for factors such as habitat loss and climate change, across breeding locations, as well as non-breeding ranges. They then explored the relationships between these threat scores and bird population trends calculated from 1985 to 2018 by the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (PECBMS).

Dr. Aldina Franco, also from UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences, said, “Our findings are important because we need to understand where declining species are being most impacted by humans across their seasonal migrations. Locating where birds are most exposed to these threats could help us target conservation actions.”

1. What causes migratory birds to decrease?

A．A longer migratory route.	B．Serious industrial pollution.
C．Illegal hunting from humans.	D．The changing of landscape.

2. What does the underlined word “infrastructure” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Basic systems and services.	B．Local transportation.
C．Internet facilities.	D．Power supplies.

3. What does paragraph 4 talk about?

A．The results of the study.	B．The promise of the study.
C．The process of the study.	D．The database of the study.

4. What is the purpose of studying migratory birds according to Dr. Aldina Franco?

A．To raise people’s awareness of protecting birds.

B．To offer advice to do conservation work precisely.

C．To stress the necessity of increasing bird population.

D．To state the importance of living in harmony with nature.

5 . 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.

2. What do mining and oil producing have in common?

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.

3. What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?

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.

4. What does the text mainly tell us?

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.

6 . 阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。

Watering is key to growing plants well, so here we look at how to get it just right. This not only means providing the water our gardens need but using it wisely. Water is a precious resource and supplies in the UK are under pressure from the effects of climate change, population increase and the need to protect the environment. Generally, several aspects need to be considered.

When to water

Water in the mornings, if you can, as this is when the sun comes up and plants start to transpire (蒸腾) in sunlight, drawing water from the soil, through their roots, up their stems and to their leaves. Evening watering is also fine, as the cooler conditions mean less water is lost to evaporation (蒸发). Watering in the heat of the day is not a good idea, as much water is lost through evaporation from the surface of the soil. Plants will use water more efficiently if watered in the cooler parts of the day.

How to water

Watering thoroughly matters. It helps get the water down to the deeper root tips where it’s needed. But, equally important, the soil doesn’t have to be really wet all the time because plants roots need air as well as water to grow well. Otherwise, there might be no flower or fruit, and even a worse result might come along.

Other tips

To use water in the most economical way, it’s good to learn different plants’ watering requirements. For example, a container plant in hot sunny weather may need watering daily, whereas a mature shrub might only need a drink in extreme drought. Annual flowers and vegetables produced in the spring are likely to need more watering than self-sown or autumn grown plants as they have new and shallow root systems. So, don’t treat all the plants in the same way.

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7 . 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。

For those consuming Asian food, using chopsticks     1    (be) almost second nature. About 20 to 33 percent of people in the world use chopsticks     2     a daily basis. Not all of those are disposable (一次性的),     3     no doubt many are.

Felix Böck, a student at the University of British Columbia, was eager to find a way to recycle wood from construction projects, and he had a particular interest in bamboo. One day he found a drawer in his friend’s house     4    (fill) with disposable bamboo chopsticks, and an idea hit him.

He decided to give     5     second life to disposable chopsticks by making them into home     6    (decoration) or other accessories (配件). He told the idea to restaurant owners,     7    (convince) them to install recycling bins in their restaurants. He cleaned the chopsticks, pressed them into square pieces and coated them with glue. The square pieces were then     8    (creative) arranged into household and office products. Böck’s company, called Chop Value, has repurposed chopsticks into desktops, cutting boards and even table games.

Since 2016 when the company     9    (found), Chop Value has rescued billions of chopsticks from landfills. Instead of an economy of the typical take-make-dispose model, Chop Value seeks to create one     10     transforms waste into a usable resource.

8 . Covered in lush fur, the thickest in the animal kingdom, sea otters (海獭) can live their entire lives in the ocean, feeding heavily upon seafloor animals such as shellfish. They are often seen to eat clams(蛤), which bury themselves in meadows of eelgrass (大叶藻场),   a wide-ranging plant species growing in water. Eelgrass meadows where sea otters dig for clams become partly bare, which is commonly a concern for ecologists.

As it turns out, the meadows with otters are healthier, with more eelgrass, according to a new study published in Science. That's because by gently disturbing the seabed, the otters make the plants flower and produce seeds. What's more, their digging provides more space and sunlight for seeds to settle and grow. The enhanced genetic diversity caused by sea otters could make eelgrass more adaptable to present and future threats.

The finding is a powerful example of how animals such as otters influence their ecosystems beyond predation (捕食), often in unseen and little-known ways, says study leader Erin Foster, a research associate at the Hakai Institute. It also means sea otters, an endangered species, are vital to their environments and give eelgrass, which is in danger worldwide, a better chance at staying healthy and surviving.

Seagrass habitats are also important for many fish, providing food for animals, absorbing, and filtering harmful pollution and bacteria from the water. "Genetic diversity typically strengthens the adaptability of species, and considering the challenges we're facing…this will be important for eelgrass meadows, and from this aspect, the impact the otters are having deserves our lasting concern," says Foster.

1. What do we know about sea otters?

A．They live part of their lives underwater.	B．They mainly feed on sea animals like fish.
C．They eat clams beneath eelgrass meadows.	D．They become a new concern for ecologists.

2. How does the author develop paragraph 2?

A．By giving opinions.	B．By presenting reasons.
C．By clarifying concepts.	D．By comparing results.

3. Why does the author mention the endangered condition of eelgrass?

A．To provide examples of sea otters' predation.

B．To show the urgency to protect the environment.

C．To highlight the role of otters in their ecosystems.

D．To warn against the potential risk of climate change.

4. What does Foster think of the impact otters have on underwater meadows?

A．Overestimated.

B．Noteworthy.

C．Temporary.

D．Unpredictable.

9 . Valerie Bolduc is exploring a path under a four-lane highway to fit wildlife cameras, when she gets stuck in the mud. “I am really stuck,” says the road ecology student, trying to pull her feet out of a streambed that travels through the concrete culvert (涵洞) of Quebec Route 117. “I do not want to be a deer going through that.”

Bolduc’s dilemma makes evident the risks for wild animals using the same path.

A warming climate is pushing many animals to migrate toward higher latitudes (纬度) to remain within their desirable environments, but that comes with risks as they cross dangerous areas, such as highways. In eastern Canada, Bolduc and other researchers and conservationists are trying to preserve safe corridors (走廊) for wildlife.

The motion-activated cameras they have brought will record which species are using the tunnels. An outward-facing camera will identify what animals approach but do not enter, perhaps prevented by traffic noise, the tunnel’s size or other factors.

Bolduc explains that this highway running through southern Quebec separates a series of Canadian national and regional parks on either side, along with their animal populations. “It’s super important,” she notes, “because the animals want to move north and they encounter these and then can they move through? Will they get hit by a car? We’ll need to figure that out. And we need to help them, at least I want to help them.”

After finishing fitting their cameras on the northbound side of the highway, Bolduc and her team decide they need an alternate path to the other side to avoid another misfortune in the mud. “We’re generally trying to be safe,” Bolduc says, “but for the animals, this is their life!”

1. What can we learn from Bolduc’s experience of being trapped?

A．It is difficult to fit wildlife cameras.

B．She is out of luck during the exploration.

C．Road conditions of the highway are unexpected.

D．It is dangerous for wild animals to cross this area.

2. What do these animals move to higher latitudes for?

A．Less traffic noise.

B．Warmer climate.

C．Safe corridors.

D．Favorable environments.

3. What function is expected of the wildlife cameras?

A．To record the changes in traffic flow.	B．To figure out difficulties wild animals face.
C．To track animals in and around the tunnels.	D．To photograph the living environment of wild animals.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．High Tech Protects Wildlife	B．Animal Migration Is under Threat
C．Ecologists Fear the Future of Wildlife	D．Researchers Seek Paths for Animals to Migrate

10 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文，续写词数应为150左右。

Malachi Bradley doesn’t show signs of being panicked or worried when he talks about how he spent 29 hours lost in a rough area of the High Uintas. “I didn’t really feel scared. I was just trying to get back to my family,” the 10-year-old said Tuesday in a quiet, almost matter-of-fact way just one day after he was rescued. When asked what happened to him, he simply replied: “A lot of things. I hiked a long way.”

Malachi confidently believes he could have survived two or three weeks on his own, dressed in only his jeans and his shoes, and with no food, tent or blankets. But the look in the eyes of Malachi’s father, Danny Bradley, told a different story, one of much deeper concern, when he realized his son was missing. “It’s a horrible feeling, just knowing how vast the Uinta Mountains are,” he said, “I quickly felt how severe the situation was.”

Malachi recalled his great adventure Tuesday. He showed no signs of going without food for a day or sleeping between rocks for an hour at night to block the cold wind. But he admitted when he got home to his own bed on Monday night that he was asleep within a minute of his head hitting his pillow and stayed there for 12 hours.

His adventure began Sunday when Malachi, his father, two siblings(兄弟姐妹), and a family friend were about to leave their campsite near Paul Lake to go home. “We were just going to cook up a fish he caught and head out, and,” Danny Bradley paused, “it ended up being a lot longer.”

Malachi said he went to look for mushrooms about 10:30 a.m. He had just walked a long way when he encountered a snake. He was so frightened that he decided to get back but he could no longer see the lake where his campsite was set up. He knew he was lost.

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。

Malachi didn’t have his whistle with him that he normally carries in case he gets lost when exploring.

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But on Monday afternoon, Malachi took off his shoes to take a break in an open area and heard another helicopter nearby.

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