3 . Directions: Fill in eat blank with a proper word chosen form the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. arrives       B. observable   C. boundless.       D. contained. E. distancing. F. expansion G. lies       H. parallel       I. perceiving       J. threads       K. volume

What Comes After Space?

Looking at a clear night sky you witness the vastness of space, which holds everything humans know to exist. To find out what     1     beyond a good place to start is to determine where the universe ends. However, the problem is that scientist are uncertain about where space ends or whether it ends at all.

The     2     universe

The furthest humans can see out into space,using all the technology currently available to us,is 46 billion light years (alight year is the distance that light can travel in one year,and is equivalent to about 9. 5 million million kilometres). The     3     of space that humans can see is called the visible universe. Beyond this, it remains a mystery whether it’s an expanse of more galaxies and stars or possibly the edge of the universe. Some think that the universe is     4    , meaning space goes on forever in every direction. In this case,there is nothing after space,because space is everything.

Moving further away

Experts have captured images of the entire Earth from space,and some astronauts have personally witnessed its beauty from orbit. Perhaps     5     the limits of the universe would also be possible too, if only humans knew where to go to look for it.

Another challenge is the universe’s rapid     6    . As galaxies move further away their light   takes longer to reach us. Eventually, some galaxies may be so distant that their light never     7    . This might imply that any edge— and whatever is on the other side — is increasingly     8     itself from us. Regardless of these uncertainties, scientists still spend a lot of time thinking about what comes after space.

Many universes?

It’s possible that there isn’t just one universe, and that our universe is just one small part of a “multiverse”. Perhaps our universe is     9     within its own distinct region of space, separated from others by vast expanses of nothingness. Or maybe     10     universes exist pressed tightly against each other. Getting an idea of the universe’s true shape may help astronomers find out whether it has an edge. What comes after that could be an even great mystery.

4 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point (s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Life On Venus?

Cats Make for Ideal Human Companions

Cats have a reputation for being colder and less cuddly (令人想拥抱的) than their counterparts—dogs. In reality, they form close bonds with their owners and provide a sense of companionship, particularly for women. In fact, the findings of one Austrian study show that owning a cat is the emotional equivalent of being in a romantic relationship.

Some people feel silly talking to their pets, since, of course, they can’t respond. But interacting with your feline (猫科的) companions has proven health benefits. Not only does talking to your cat improve your bond, but it’s also said to be beneficial to your mental health by helping to improve your mood, lower your stress levels, and reduce our feelings of loneliness.

Cats are experts at sleeping, so it’s perhaps no surprise that they can help improve your sleep, too. A Mayo Clinic study found that people who slept with their pets in the same room were almost twice as likely to get a good night’s rest, with only 20 percent saying that they found their pets’ presence destructive.

Cats may not be able to help with the housekeeping, but they can assist in keeping your house free of mice. It turns out there’s some truth behind the cartoon cat-and-mouse chase. When mice smell certain proteins in cat saliva (唾液), they become tearful and therefore avoid the area.

It’s important for children to learn to care for and look after a living thing, just as their parents take care of them. Cats can help children develop social skills as they learn to approach the feline carefully and gently. Looking after a cat also encourages a sense of responsibility.

In addition to filling your heart with love, cats can contribute to keeping your heart healthy. Numerous studies have shown that owning a cat can help reduce your blood pressure and heart rate, as well as lowering your triglyceride (甘油三酸酯) and cholesterol levels, thereby reducing your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

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5 .

YOUR IMPACT BEGINS TODAY Help us solve our world’s most pressing challenges With your support, we’re driving new knowledge, working to reduce our human footprint on the planet, and inspiring a new generation of changemakers to value the natural world and help create a brighter future.	100% of all donations go directly to our Explorers and programs. We’ve built a sustainable, innovative business model that allows us to invest every dollar you donate directly to our Explorers and programs. When you support the National Geographic Society, not only are you supporting your passion for the planet, but you also help protect its wonder. You ensure our mission lives on so we can continue exploring the planet, saving wildlife, protecting our ocean, empowering the world’s most innovative scientists to help solve the planet’s mysteries and challenges, and preserving our ancient heritage (遗产) for future generations. Your generous contribution will immediately go to work supporting the things you care passionately about — not operating costs.
SUPPORT OUR WORK Tax-free gifts National Geographic Society is a tax-free organization, and we rely on the generosity of donors like you to support our Explorers’ work in science, exploration, education, and storytelling.
Single and monthly donations Make a gift today to help explore and protect our planet. By giving monthly, your reliable support allows us to respond to the most pressing programmatic needs.	Employer Matching Gifts Many companies have a matching gift program for employees. You give an amount and your company donates the same. Double your impact by exploring your employer’s matching gift programs.	Honor/Memorial Giving Honor a friend or loved one’s passion for science, exploration, education, and storytelling by making an unusual gift in their name.

1. The above webpage is aimed at ________.

A．appealing to people to preserve ancient heritage

B．guiding people to invest in a sustainable business

C．attracting donations to National Geographic Society

D．publicizing the mission of National Geographic Society

2. To make your contribution twice as much, you can ________.

A．support the most pressing employer	B．reduce the tax attached to the donation
C．make it a gift in the name of your friend	D．try your company’s matching gift programs

3. What can be learned about National Geographic Society?

A．It needs no operating costs.	B．It is dedicated to protecting nature.
C．Its mission hasn’t been recognized.	D．Its employees needn’t pay income tax.

7 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Does Recycling Work For Plastic?

Dealing with plastic waste is always a tough problem. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), half of the world’s plastic waste ends up in a landfill, 19% burned, and another 22% escapes waste management systems and goes into uncontrolled dumpsites.

So environmentalists suggest plastic waste should be recycled properly, which proves an effective way to handle other waste like paper, cardboard, metal and glass. However, a new study by Greenpeace, and reporting in the Boston Globe, suggests that recycling plastic is a “myth” and raises a major question about the future: does recycling work? Unfortunately, the short answer is “not really.”

There’s been a lot of debate over what really happens to recycled plastic. But scientists say that recycling plastic waste has mostly failed because it’s very difficult to collect and nearly impossible to sort. Because plastic is often made from harmful materials, it can be harmful to the environment to reprocess.

Much of the solution falls on big companies to change the way they do business. The way forward seems to be mostly to cut down on companies’ reliance on plastic packaging, and to move toward reusable packaging and packaging-free alternatives. Above all, companies need to phase out all single-use plastics. For the consumer, living more plastic-free is the only real solution available. Avoiding drinks in plastic containers, using a travel mug or reusable water bottle, bringing your own reusable bag, buying in bulk and cutting back on pre-packaged foods are all a good start.

But in the end, corporate America needs a deeper commitment to the plastic waste problem. “Companies must take action now to get rid of single-use plastics and packaging and not rely on false solutions such as recycling,” says Greenpeace.

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8 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。1.

A．The possible existence of life on other planets.

B．Methods for building powerful new telescopes.

C．A technical problem that astronomers can’t solve

D．The discovery of planets orbiting distant stars.

2.

A．They studied variations in the appearance of the parent stars.

B．They were able to see the planets with a telescope.

C．They compared the parent stars to the Sun.

D．They sent astronauts on a mission into space

3.

A．Their surface features.	B．Their chemical composition.
C．Their temperature.	D．Their age.

4.

A．All the stars are orbited by their own planets.

B．We currently have a telescope that can be used to see other planets

C．By a very direct method,the astronomers measured subtle distortions.

D．By a very indirect method,the astronomers measured subtle distortions.

9 . As a botanists who studies our cultural relationship with plants, I am forever fascinated with what draws people to gardening.

Admittedly, connecting with the natural world might seem like an obvious motivation, and undoubtedly it is a key part of the attraction.    1     If they were, we’d abandon any attempts at design, planting or care and watch how walls of weeds slowly gave way to the mass of bushes. But that wouldn’t be gardening, of course, because for all their diversity, the one thing that all gardens have in common is how unnatural they are.    2     Dazzling plants, watch features and glorious blooms is all interconnected well beyond what would naturally occur. Whether it is green lawns created in the driest deserts or a tropical paradise on a stormy North Atlantic island, they are all about shaping the natural world to fit our idea of what it “ should” be.

As I work on my tiny terrariums (玻璃花园) on dark February nights, something magical happens to my brain.     3     In a world that has become increasingly uncertain, people are often fuelled by the same psychological desire: the instinctive need to have a bit of control amid chaos.

As our world becomes more and more unpredictable and often frightening, gardening seems to be able to appeal to and reach out to a whole new generation, often against all odds.

Of course, gardening in’ t the only thing people turn to. The rise of culture conflicts and fix at ion on body image have also been widely documented as being driven by a psychological need to feel a degree of certainty, control and safety. However, I can’t help but think of these alternatives:     4    

A．In reality gardens are anything but natural.

B．What are the things they have been attracted to?

C．They are idealized landscape with all the mud, pests and dead plants edited out.

D．How much better a place the planet would be if gardening was our outlet for this need!

E．Much like agriculture, gardening is a universal human desire coded into our cultural DNA.

F．The calmness created by owning a tiny green space under my control has a powerful effect on my mind.

10 . Goodish News of Climate Change

Emissions of carbon dioxide (related to energy production) have stabilized, for now.

Is it a peak, a stutter or just a brief pause? Time will tell. But whatever it is, on February 11th the International Energy Agency (IEA), an intergovernmental _________ which collects such data, announced that emissions of carbon dioxide in 2019 which were _________ energy had remained the same (33.3bn tonnes) as the previous year’s.

Energy-related emissions, which include those (produced by electricity generation), heating and transport, _________ for more than 70% of the world’s industrial CO pollution. The stall seems to have been caused by a(n) _________ in coal use, particularly in rich countries, combined with an increase in the use of renewable power.

As a result of this the CO2-intensity of electricity generation — a(n) _________ of how much of the gas is emitted per kilowatt hour of juice produced — fell by nearly 6.5%, to 340 grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour. It had already been _________, but this is three times the average for the past decade. Such declines more than offset the _________ of increased electricity production. The average emission-intensity of power generation in 2019 was “lower than all but the most efficient gas-power plants”, according to the IEA.

This is not the first time energy related emissions have plateaued (保持稳定). Between 2013 and 2016 they hovered around 32.2 bn tonnes a year, before _________ again in 2017 as the use of coal to fuel developing economies increased.This _________ plateau was accompanied by excited declarations that such emissions had peaked. Similar __________ have been made this week, perhaps also prematurely. __________ changes in coal use, a sluggish economy may have played a part and the data show that milder than usual weather caused a perceptible drop in emissions from several countries with large, carbon-hungry economies.

The news is also __________ by the latest data from the Amazon rainforest. This, one of the world’s largest woodlands, has acted __________ as an absorbing sponge (海绵)for CO2 by removing it from the atmosphere through photo-synthesis. Researchers at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research have shown that a vast part of the south-east of the Amazon, about one fifth of its area, has lost its __________ to soak up the gas and is now a net source of emissions into the atmosphere instead. This land has been widely deforested, so the result is little __________. But it is disappointing.

1.

A．circumstances

B．environments

C．contributions

D．organization

2.

A．available to

B．similar to

C．related to

D．owing to

3.

A．regard

B．account

C．desire

D．evolve

4.

A．decline

B．increase

C．promotion

D．recovery

5.

A．product

B．idea

C．measure

D．result

6.

A．floating

B．falling

C．disappearing

D．remaining

7.

A．solution

B．change

C．effect

D．achievement

8.

A．rising

B．creating

C．raising

D．demanding

9.

A．frequent

B．previous

C．natural

D．disastrous

10.

A．tips

B．plans

C．warnings

D．comments

11.

A．In place of

B．In spite of

C．Thanks to

D．In addition to

12.

A．tempered

B．sensed

C．attracted

D．explained

13.

A．accidentally

B．absolutely

C．historically

D．accordingly

14.

A．prospect

B．ability

C．need

D．decision

15.

A．anger

B．hope

C．devotion

D．surprise