1 . On Friday January 14, 2022, blast was heard 2,000 km away in New Zealand and 3,300 km away in Australia. Boats crashed into a quiet harbor in Southern California, a remote island was battered in Japan by 4 foot waves and two women were swept to their deaths on a beach in Peru some 6,000 miles from an undersea volcanic eruption so powerful that the tsunami which it set off stirred ocean waters halfway across the globe.
But on Sunday, as reports of the volcano’s effect crowded in from far-flung countries, there was little word from Tonga, the island nation just 40 miles from the site of the extraordinary explosion. As concerns from all over the world grew, the nation of about 100,000 people remained largely cut off from the rest of the world, its undersea internet cables knocked out of commission by the volcano.
In Tonga on Sunday, many residents lost not only communication channels but electric power. Up to 80,000 people there could be affected, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told the BBC.
New Zealand and other nations in the region pledged to give Tonga aid to recover. But with heavy concentrations of airborne ash making flights impossible, just like the Iceland volcano eruption in 2021, it was difficult even to know what was needed. Ardern, the New Zealand prime minister, said flights over Tonga were planned for Monday or Tuesday, depending on ash conditions.
Tonga has experienced a succession of natural disasters in recent years. In 2018, more than 170 homes were destroyed and two people killed by Cyclone Gita, a Category 5 tropical storm. In 2020, Cyclone Harold caused about $111 million in damage.
1. Which country wasn’t affected by Tanga undersea volcanic eruptions?| A．America | B．Japan | C．Peru | D．Iceland |
| A．20% | B．30% | C．50% | D．70% |
| A．out of action | B．out of range | C．out of existence | D．out of account |
| A．The Iceland volcano eruption in 2021 made nearby flights delayed. |
| B．New Zealand as well as other nations in the region gave Tonga aid timely. |
| C．Flights could reach Tonga two days after the eruption. |
| D．The undersea volcanic eruption caused severer damage to Tonga than ever before. |
Against a backdrop of misty green forests and with its buildings on stilts (桩) above the River Tuo, Fenghuang is a picturesque place to spend a day or two. Its winding allays, lined with traditional shops and temples, lead
Although the town can get
Fenghuang itself does have a section of rebuilt Ming city walls
3 . When Finn the golden retriever (寻回犬) was diagnosed with a terminal cancer in May , his family decided to do something special to make his last days on earth brighter—and made a doggie bucket list.
Cynthia and Robert Peterson, who live in Burlington, Vermont, wanted to treasure his last days as part of their family. The family said that the idea is to “make him comfortable, make him happy, Spoil him a little bit”.
They said the list is full of fun and includes everything that Finn would want to do. Finn has already completed over half of the ten activities on his bucket list and there are an exciting mixture of things he’s set to do. Some of them are fairly regular dog activities like going for a hike, playing fetch, having a steak dinner, making a new friend and walking along the beach. There’re also some more unusual activities like taking a hot air balloon ride , going apple picking and having a song written about him.
People on social media have found the sweet idea by Finn’s family heartwarming. One person commented on the video:“An animal is so often more than a pet, the unconditional bond and love they pro-vide is a reward in itself. But this couple show their own love back for Finn ten times.” The family said that they think Finn has inspired others to live “more authentically”.
The family have appealed for help with his final bucket list activity. The family say they need help to have a children’s book written about him. Cynthia and Robert are raising money for the book on their Go Fund Me page.
1. Why did Finn’s owners make the bucket list?| A．To brighten his last days. | B．To rid him of pain. |
| C．To raise money from public. | D．To help to cure the cancer. |
| A．It lists tasks full of challenges. | B．It focuses on physical sports. |
| C．It contains some special activities. | D．It is designed by people online. |
| A．They were touched. | B．They donated money. |
| C．They attacked the idea. | D．They rewarded the owners. |
| A．Going apple picking. | B．Offering comfort to other pets. |
| C．Taking a hot air balloon ride. | D．Having a specially-written book. |
When visiting China, many travellers expect to have close contact with the giant panda, one of the msot adorable creatures in the world. Actually, no other country can provide such a
The giant panda's diet is mainly herbivorous,
As a result, the giant panda has its behavior
The giant panda typically lives around 15-20 years in the wild and above 30 years in captivity. The oldest one ever in captivity is a female named Jia Jia, who
The giant panda is one of the world's most adored and protected rare
5 . The world’s coral reefs are in bad shape. Climate change has led to coral whitening. Overfishing has disturbed the ecosystems that keep reefs healthy. Poisonous runoffs from human industry are destroying the “rainforests of the sea.” A new study has highlighted another threat to coral reefs：plastics.
Researchers analyzed corals from reefs in Southeast Asia and Australia. Almost everywhere they looked, they saw bits of plastic, including chip wrappers, Q-tips, garbage bags.
The team estimates that at least 11 billion plastic items are trapped in coral reefs in the Asia-Pacific and that number is increasing alarmingly. This could spell disaster for the world’s reefs. The likelihood of the corals developing a disease jumps from 4 to 89 percent when corals come into contact with plastics.
Further investigations are needed to determine precisely how and why plastics make coral open to different diseases. But it seems that plastic debris（碎片）slices open the skin of the corals, exposing them to bacteria.
“Plastic debris can cause damage to coral tissues by accelerating invasion of bacteria or by exhausting resources for immune system function during wound-healing processes,” the authors of the study write. Drew Harvell, co-author of the study, says that plastics also “shade the light coral needs and cut off water flow.”
It is vital to preserve the health of coral reefs for a number of reasons. Many marine creatures make their homes within the reefs. Reefs also protect coastlines from waves and tropical storms, support fishing industries and generate billions of dollars for the worldwide tourism industry every year.
Throughout the research, scientists noticed that the plastics problem was not evenly distributed. Reefs near Indonesia had the highest amount of plastic rubbish, while reefs near Australia had the lowest. This could be because Australia has the best waste removal system. It suggests that there is a relatively easy fix to the issue.
“We can clean up the problem,” Harvell told Fears. “It’s so much easier than climate change.”
1. What does the underlined part in the first paragraph refer to?| A．coral reefs | B．ecosystems |
| C．runoffs from human industry | D．plastics |
| A．By cutting off the food supply. |
| B．By bringing bacteria to the sea. |
| C．By speeding up the immune system function. |
| D．By hurting the facial tissue and exposing them to diseases. |
| A．To advertise for the waste removal system. |
| B．To show optimism about solving the plastics problem. |
| C．To praise the efforts made by the Australian government. |
| D．To emphasize the importance of dealing with plastics problem. |
| A．Threats to Coral Reefs. | B．Plastics Endangers Coral Reefs. |
| C．Coral Reefs and Climate Change. | D．Protecting Coral Reefs for Our Future. |
6 . For humans, adapting to climate change will mostly be a matter of technology. More air conditioning, better-designed houses and bigger flood defenses may help lessen the effects of a warmer world. Animals will have to rely on changing their bodies or their behaviour. In a paper published inTrends in Ecology & Evolution, a team led by Sara Ryding, a professor in Australia, shows that is already happening. In some species of Australian parrot, for instance beak (喙) size has increased by between 4% and 10%since 1871. Similar trends are seen in species of mice and bats growing bigger ears, tails, legs and wings.
All that fits nicely with evolutionary (进化的) theory. “Allen’s rule”, named after Joe Allen, who suggested it in 1877, holds that warm-blooded animals in hot places tend to have larger appendages (附加物) than those in mild areas. Such adaptations boost an animal’s surface area relative to its body volume, helping it to get rid of additional heal. Fennec foxes, meanwhile, which are native to the Sahara desert, have strikingly large ears, especially compared with their Arctic cousins.
Ryding’s team combined data from different species in different places. Now that they have little in common apart from living on a warming planet, climate change is the most reasonable explanation. Since any evolutionary adaptation comes with trade-offs, it is unclear how far the process might go. Bigger beaks might interfere with feeding, for instance. Larger wings are heavier, and bigger legs cost more energy to grow.
Honestly, studying a broader range of animals will help firm up exactly what is happening. For now, at least, the increase is small, never much more than 10%. That may change as warming accelerates. Every little bit of avoided future temperature increases results in less warming that would otherwise stay for essentially forever.
1. Why do some species grow bigger parts of their body?| A．They are following the new trends. |
| B．They have to adapt to warmer climate. |
| C．Scientists need them to do experiments. |
| D．Larger parts tend to help them feed well. |
| A．In mild areas. | B．In hot places. |
| C．In the Arctic. | D．In deserted regions. |
| A．It comes at a cost. |
| B．Its cause is definite. |
| C．It happens in the same habitat. |
| D．Its process will end soon. |
| A．Living on a Warming Planet |
| B．Measures to Remove Heat |
| C．Pioneering Research on Animals |
| D．Evolution to Survive Heat |
7 . We’ve been hearing for decades about the complex intelligence of plants; but a new study, conducted by researchers at the University of Missouri, managed to figure out one new important element: plants can tell when they’re being eaten, and they don’t like it.
The word “intelligence”, when applied to any non-human animal or plant, is imprecise and sort of meaningless: research done to determine “intelligence” mostly just aims to learn how similar the inner workings of another organism is to a human thought process. But these studies do give us insight into how other organisms think and behave, whatever “think” might mean.
The researchers were seeking to answer an unusual question: does a plant know when it’s being eaten? To do that, the researchers had to first make a precise version of the vibrations (振动) that a caterpillar (毛虫) makes as it cats leaves. The theory is that it’s these vibrations that the plant can somehow feel or hear. In addition, the researchers also came up with other vibrations the plant might experience, like wind noise.
This particular study was on the thale cress. It actually produces some mustard oils (芥子油), which are mildly poisonous when eaten, and sends them through the leaves to stop caterpillars. And the study showed that when the plants felt or heard the vibrations made by caterpillars, they sent out extra mustard oils into the leaves. When they felt or heard other vibrations? Nothing. It’s a far more dynamic defense than scientists had realized: the plant is more aware of its surroundings and able to respond than expected.
There’s more research to be done; nobody’s quite sure by what mechanism the plant can actually feel or hear these vibrations. But it’s really promising research; there’s even talk of using sound waves to encourage crops to, say, grow faster, or send out specific defenses against attacks. Imagine knowing that a frost is coming, and being able to encourage plants to fruit faster by simply blasting them with music. That’s the kind of crazy sci-fi future this indicates.
1. What does the underlined part “other organisms” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Intelligence of plants. | B．Non-human living things. |
| C．Human thought processes. | D．The inner workings of plants. |
| A．Keeping the plant’s surroundings safe. | B．Acting as defenses to stop caterpillars. |
| C．Making the plant aware of the vibrations. | D．Sending warnings against caterpillars’ coming. |
| A．The plants failed to identify other vibrations. |
| B．The plants sent out more mustard oils into the leaves. |
| C．The plants could identify vibrations from caterpillars. |
| D．The plants prevented caterpillars from eating the leaves. |
| A．The plans for the study. | B．The problems with the study. |
| C．The significance of the study. | D．The achievements of the study. |
8 . Unusually bright light in the sky that appeared suddenly last June has got astronomers in great excitement. After months of study, they still aren’t sure what the object — universally referred to as the “Cow” — is. Whatever it is, says astronomer Liliana Rivera Sandoval of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, “It’s super strange.”
The Cow first appeared in telescope observations on 16 June 2018, in what turned out to be a small galaxy (星系) about 200 million light years away. “When we saw that we thought, let’s get on this,” says Daniel Perley, an astronomer at Liverpool John Moores University.
The early observations confirmed the Cow was truly strange. It didn’t show the obvious changes in its light output that an exploding star would make. Sandoval says as soon as she and colleagues knew the Cow was truly distant, they requested time on NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to see what the Cow was doing in X-rays. Although the X-ray brightness varied over the early weeks, “the spectrum (光谱) didn’t change, which is very unusual,” she notes. After 3 weeks, the X-ray signal began to vary more wildly while also dropping off in brightness.
Many astronomers agree that the long and steady duration of the event means that it was powered after an initial explosion by some form of central engine. But what that engine may be is also far from clear. Some argue that it could be a very unusual star whose central part has collapsed (坍塌) inward after it exploded. Others say it is a tidal disruption event — a star being torn apart by a black hole. But that usually requires the supermassive black hole in the center of a galaxy, and the Cow is situated in its galaxy’s arm. So, some say, it could be a tidal disruption event generated by an intermediate mass black hole, although evidence for the existence of such smaller black holes remains controversial. “All explanations have problems,” Sandoval says, “I hope there are more Cows.”
1. What is astronomers’ main concern about the Cow?| A．What it is. | B．How it forms. |
| C．When it appears. | D．Where it is from. |
| A．What the Cow was doing. |
| B．How far the Cow is from the earth. |
| C．Whether the Cow is an exploding star. |
| D．Why the X-ray signals varied wildly. |
| A．The research results help little. |
| B．More Cows will appear. |
| C．Extra attention should be paid to the Cow. |
| D．More information is needed. |
| A．A Strange Explosion in Deep Space |
| B．An Interesting Observation of NASA |
| C．A Wide Range of Changes in the Galaxies |
| D．A Great Achievement in Astronomy |
President Xi Jinping underlined the importance of afforestation on April 2. and reaffirmed the need to stick to the green development path to meet peopled ever-growing demand
He stressed that the annual tree-planting activity aims to get the whole of society
2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the country's voluntary tree-planting activity. Over the past four decades, people throughout the country have made efforts in afforestation and the people's living environment has become
Consistent and long-term efforts
10 . Moscow-based photographer Anastasiya Dobrovolskaya is not a typical “pet photographer.” Her trademark photos look like something out of a fairy tale, but everything is real-from beautiful and unique people to breathtaking landscapes, and various animals you wouldn’t expect to pose alongside people. Tigers, owls, horses anything you can think of is featured in Dobrovolskaya’s incredible portfolio, including the most-wanted bear model, Stepan, who was rescued as a cub and raised by loving humans.
In July of 2018, Anastasiya started taking photos by accident. After three failed attempts at photography, giving up trying, and finding her way to photography again, she received a message from a woman who wanted a photo shoot with a rooster Although she had never photographed people with animals and didn’t have much experience altogether, she took on a challenge and fell in love. In a week, she photographed an owl , then a horse, and it kicked off from there with some of her photos going viral online. It was enough to quit her job and pursue a career in commercial photography.
The 30-year-old photographer takes dreamlike photos that capture the magical bond between animals and humans and show how beautifully diverse, yet similar they are. “In my work, I want to show common features between people and animals so that animals become more respected by people and people will do their best to minimize the harm they do to nature.” She says.
However, some people accuse her of using animals, that animals suffer during photoshoots, and so on. But they don’t even know how far they are from the truth. In most cases, the animals were rescued from poor conditions, from fur factories, or were abandoned by the owners. Almost all large animals live in the countryside, in spacious areas, in specially equipped enclosures with regular walking. Each animal feeds on the basis of its species.” Only those animals with a certain character are selected for the photoshoots, and the process is almost always very comfortable,” explained the photographer.
The photographer now has an astonishing 179k followers on Instagram-an audience that has become a source of endless support, energy, and inspiration.
1. Which of the following statements about Stepan is true ?| A．He was saved in the wild. | B．He enjoys great popularity. |
| C．He was adopted by other bears. | D．He is kept in a small cage. |
| A．How Anastasiya faced her failure. |
| B．How much Anastasiya loved photography. |
| C．How Anastasiya began her photography careen |
| D．How Anastasiya’s photos became well-known online, |
| A．a baby sleeping in its mother’s arms . | B．a parrot resting on a girl’s shoulder. |
| C．a stream winding through a valley. | D．a fox running after a rabbit |
| A．The animals are treated badly. |
| B．Few people appreciate the photos. |
| C．The photos may arouse people’s awareness of protecting nature. |
| D．I he photographer has worked on photography for over four years. |
