2 . 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。

Live video provided by the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) showed that    1    staff member turned on a seawater pump    2    around 1:00 pm local time (0400 GMT),    3    (mark)the beginning of the controversial ocean discharge, while concerns and opposition persisted among local    4    (fisherman)as well as in neighboring countries and Pacific island countries.

Under scorching heat, hundreds of Japanese from all across the country    5    (gather)in

front of the TEPCO headquarters in     6    (center)Tokyo on Thursday morning, demanding the Japanese government and TEPCO    7    (stop)the ocean release.

Taeko Fujimura with Japan's National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, also known as Zen-Noh,said the ocean discharge "cannot be forgiven" and was "     8     (extreme) unreasonable."Fujimura stressed that the ocean discharge,    9    is to continue for at least 30 years, will cause    10    (significance)environmental damage." It will pollute the sea, the marine life within it, the environment, and the Earth."

3 . 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。

I had ordered many gifts online for the upcoming Christmas. One day,when the doorbell rang, I was sure some of the packages arrived. I opened the door,but only to find a beautiful little dog sitting on the floor. It looked up at me with her big,cute eyes. I looked around, but there was no one in sight. It was obvious that someone had found the puppy somewhere and intentionally left her outside the door.

The lovely dog was a timely Christmas gift for me,indeed. The year marked a turning point in my life. In September,my husband was offered a new job in Africa. Feeling that I had hit a career bottleneck as a photographer journalist,I decided to relocate with him. While my husband was busy with his work,I didn’t know what to do anyway. I felt isolated,homesick and lacking purpose. We lived in a house near a river that cut across an expansive grassland. With few people around,I would take my camera and wander around,photographing aimlessly every day.

So we adopted the abandoned dog. My husband called her“our little angel”and I named it accordingly.   Angel seemed to be very happy with us and she turned out to be a perfect companion for me. Always by my side,she enjoyed exploring the shady bushes and mysterious tunnels all over the grassland. Encouraged by her curiosity,I decided to explore,too.

There was a deep cave near our house and I had been eager to explore it. The only way in was narrow and slippery. I had promised my husband that I wouldn’t do it unless he was around. But he was always busy. With Angel as my companion,I figured that it was time to stretch the rule a little bit.

One day, I equipped myself with a good flashlight and carefully walked down the dark cave. Suddenly, Angel,who had been following me closely,rushed ahead and disappeared into the darkness.

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。

A few seconds later, it brought back a little bird.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

During the recovering process, I took many photographs of the little bird.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . At first glance the sea turtles look as if they were dead because they hardly move. But if you look closely enough, they show a slow glimpse of life. These turtles are all washed up in Massachusetts every December, on the windy beaches of Cape Cod Bay.

Shaver, chief of the Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery at Padre Island National Seashore in Texas, said, “If we don’t help save this species, we will lose a piece that enriches us. There’s a whole variety of things that can harm them: oil spills, boat strikes, red tides, and so on.” That is why all the urgent care they’re getting back up North is more important than ever.

Saving could never happen unless hundreds of pilots were willing to volunteer their time, their planes, and their fuel to rush the rescued turtles to willing rehab facilities (康复中心) all around the country.

On this particular mission, Andrews, vice president of a unique nonprofit called Turtles Fly Too, with his dad as a co-pilot, will fly more than 2,000 miles, from Boston, to Atlanta, then on to Gulfport and finally Dallas, dropping off 44 sick sea turtles along the way, in hopes that one day they’ll be well enough to be released. It is worth mentioning that the pilots that are flying these missions are pulling $1 million out of their pocket to fly these missions every year.

With good care and the help of volunteers, these turtles were finally ready to go home again. According to Andrews, “90% of the turtles that we’ve moved to the rehab facilities have ended up back in the ocean.”

“We humans have not always been kind to the sea and those that live in it. But on this day, it was humans-not me, but the hundreds of veterinarians, biologists, volunteers, and pilots—who all came together to give these critically-endangered sea turtles a second chance that they rarely got, ”Andrews added.

1. What happens to the turtles on the beaches of Cape Cod Bay?

A．They are dying out.	B．They are in danger.
C．They adapt to living onshore.	D．They are caught by humans.

2. How did Shaver sound when speaking of the turtle rescue?

A．Thrilled.

B．Annoyed.

C．Concerned.

D．Moved.

3. What contributes most to the turtles’ returning home?

A．The pilots’ generous devotion.

B．The division’s urgent care.

C．The rehab facilities’ willingness to help.

D．The improvement of the turtles’ habitats.

4. What can we say about the rescuing result?

A．It is unsatisfactory.	B．It costs too much.
C．It is controversial.	D．It quite pays off.

5 . A sheep in Scotland, known as the “loneliest sheep”, was stuck at the bottom of a cliff for over two years. A group of farmers made it their _________ to rescue the sheep. The sheep was first _________ in 2021 by a kayaker (皮划艇运动员) and had been unable to move from that _________ since then. Local agencies were _________ but said the sheep was not in danger and could not be rescued. One of the farmers, Wilson, named the sheep Fiona and provided _________ about her on his social media account.

Wilson explained that it was too _________ to attempt a rescue earlier due to the dangerous location of the sheep. He expressed concerns about the safety of the rescuers and the difficulty of _________ the sheep by boat or with a dog. However, after careful _________, Wilson and four other men successfully rescued Fiona using heavy _________ and a winch (绞车). They __________ brought her to the slope of the cliff.

The Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was present to __________ the welfare of the sheep. They confirmed that Fiona was in good __________ but needed her wool to be sheared (剪).The ownership of the sheep was transferred to the __________ group of farmers.

Wilson __________ the risks involved in the rescue and expressed gratitude for the successful __________.

1.

A．obligation

B．ambition

C．purpose

D．mission

2.

A．discovered

B．witnessed

C．employed

D．followed

3.

A．base

B．form

C．spot

D．extent

4.

A．enthusiastic

B．sympathetic

C．optimistic

D．urgent

5.

A．accounts

B．identities

C．benefits

D．updates

6.

A．illegal

B．expensive

C．risky

D．complex

7.

A．reaching

B．finding

C．defending

D．caring

8.

A．identifying

B．planning

C．disguising

D．defining

9.

A．substance

B．material

C．equipment

D．machine

10.

A．frequently

B．physically

C．openly

D．safely

11.

A．provide

B．ensure

C．guide

D．promote

12.

A．condition

B．potential

C．mood

D．fashion

13.

A．charity

B．protection

C．rescue

D．cheering

14.

A．called up

B．brought in

C．broke down

D．reflected on

15.

A．outcome

B．scene

C．barrier

D．incident

7 . Humans have sailed the oceans’ surfaces for thousands of years, but their depths remain effectively uncharted. Only about a quarter of the seafloor has been mapped at high resolution (清晰度). Maps of most regions display only estimated depths and often miss entire underwater mountains or canyons (峡谷). So a group of researchers have turned to some deep-diving experts: Elephant Seals and Weddell Seals. Scientists have been placing trackers on these blubber y marine mammals around Antarctica for years, gathering data on ocean temperature and salinity (盐度).

For a new study, the researchers compared these dives’ location and depth data with some of the less detailed seafloor maps. They spotted places where the seals dove deeper than should have been possible according to the maps.

In eastern Antarctica’s Vincennes Bay, the diving seals helped the scientists find a large, hidden underwater canyon suddenly descending (下降) to depths of more than a mile. “The seals discovered the canyon, and the ship confirmed it,” says Clive McMahon, a researcher at the Integrated Marine Observing System in Australia and a co-author of the new study.

But seals can’t map the entire ocean floor. The trackers used in the study could pinpoint (为……准确定位) a seal’s geographical location only within about 1.5 miles, which allows for useful but not exactly high-resolution data. Plus, because the seals don’t always dive to the bottom of the ocean, they can reveal only where the bottom is deeper than in existing maps — not shallower. McMahon notes that scientists could improve on these data by using more precise GPS trackers and analyzing the seals’ diving patterns to determine whether they have reached the seafloor or simply stopped descending.

The current seal-dive data can still be valuable for an important task, says Anna Wåhlin, an oceanographer at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. The deep ocean around Antarctica is warmer than the extremely cold waters at the surface, and seafloor canyons can allow that warmer water to flow to the ice along the continent’s coast, Wåhlin explains. To predict how Antarctica’s ice will melt, scientists will need to know where those canyons are and how deep they go.

1. What’s the initial function of the device carried by the seals?

A．Collecting data about seawater.

B．Filming the images of the seafloor.

C．Recording the seals’ travelling routes.

D．Leading researchers to some remote areas.

2. What does the new study’s discovery prove?

A．It is impossible to fully uncover the secrets of the sea.

B．The existing depth estimates for the sea are inaccurate.

C．Seals’ ability to dive is worth further scientific studies.

D．It is urgent for scientists to map detailed seafloor maps.

3. What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?

A．The creative methods adopted in the study.

B．Major technical challenges faced by scientists.

C．New research directions inspired by the study.

D．The shortcomings of the approaches to the study.

4. Which of the following will Anna Wåhlin most probably agree with?

A．The new study is potentially beneficial to other scientific fields.

B．The deep waters of Antarctica are colder than the surface waters.

C．Seafloor canyons slow down the speed of ice melting in Antarctica.

D．The seal-dive practice is valuable for mapping the entire ocean floor.

9 . Between 20 and 40 per cent of planet Earth is covered in grasslands, across every continent except for Antarctica. Grass is a low-growing, flowering plant with groups of narrow leaves growing from its base. Strong roots typically hold this plant’s leaves firmly to the ground.

One of the most common sights along stretches of grass is grass-eating animals. This is because many large animals rely on extensive grasslands to survive, and grass grows well with this regular trimming (修剪). The plants gain their energy from sunlight and require healthy cells to do so. If the leaves aren’t cut, the tips die and start to rot. When they are damaged with a clean cut, however, the cells are caused to grow quicker and produce new, healthy tissue. This is also why cutting your garden’s grassland regularly can make your grass look thicker and healthier.

Humans rely on grass for food, too. Many grasses, such as w heat or corn, are harvested as a main part of some diets. Meanwhile, grass is used indirectly to produce food in the form of livestock (牲畜). Cattle farmers require grass in their fields to feed cows and sheep before they are turned into meat for human consumption.

One of the most debated questions is how long ago grass evolved. Because grass doesn’t preserve well as a fossil, a definitive answer is hard to come by. Until recently, many scientists estimated that grass began to grow on Earth between 50 and 65 million years ago.

However, within the last decade, a piece of 100-million-year-old amber (琥珀) was found that appeared to contain the oldest grass fossil to date. Studies of fossilized dinosaur faces (粪便) also suggest that some dinosaurs lived at the same time that grass grew on the planet, incorporating it into their diets.

1. What is the function of the roots mentioned in Paragraph 1?

A．To fix the leaves to the soil.	B．To store water and nutrients.
C．To support the growth of the plant.	D．To protect the plant from animals.

2. How does regular cutting of grass benefit the plants?

A．By improving soil quality.	B．By encouraging cell growth.
C．By preventing the tips from dying.	D．By attracting more animals to eat them.

3. Why is it difficult to determine when grass evolved?

A．Grass doesn’t preserve well as a fossil.	B．There are no fossils of grass available.
C．There is no solid evidence of its evolution.	D．Scientists can’t agree on its origin.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．The Variety of Grass	B．The Development of Grass
C．How Grass Change Life	D．How to Make Grass Grow Well

10 . Cruise through many neighborhoods or parks around the world, and you will find no shortage of well-mowed expanses of grass. Lawns (草坪) do look attractive.     1     Additionally, they can require environmentally questionable practices to maintain. Researchers and landscape architects are increasingly considering alternatives that are more sustainable, demand fewer resources and help people connect more intimately with nature. Here follows an edited excerpt of the conversation between researchers MariaIgnatieva and Marcus Hedblom.

Why did lawns become so popular?

    2     They were like a special frontier that separated cities and towns from the wilderness. A lawn was always a symbol of how a civilized society should be. That’s why it was so powerful. And of course, they are also important for recreation.

What environmental problems are lawns causing?

Lawns are homogenizing the environment, not only in terms of biodiversity but also visually. You compare countries’ and cities’ urban landscapes around the world, and they look exactly the same.     3    Mowers burn fossil fuels and emit gases that heat up the atmosphere.

    4       

You have to find your own local solution. We can take inspiration from the natural plant communities around us. In suburban and rural areas, that might mean having a meadow or prairie. In other places, it might be a savanna like environment or mountain plants. You can have a “grass-free” lawn; with only low-growing plants that create the same effect as a lawn, and you can walk on it.

How can we persuade people to adopt these alternatives?

When people see them, they appreciate them and like them.     5     We also have to try to change the minds of decision makers, including politicians. We need to show the public there are different ways of handling our urban environment and making it better.

A．So it is all about education.

B．What are these alternatives?

C．And it is understandable fondness.

D．What are the inspirations of lawns?

E．However, they choke out biodiversity.

F．Lawns came to be seen as a symbol of civilization and a way of life.

G．Lawn upkeep takes resources, fertilizer and pesticide that enter groundwater and runoff water.