1. What is the woman doing?
| A．Conducting an interview. |
| B．Reporting some news. |
| C．Organizing an event. |
| A．That his health condition will become worse. |
| B．That his duties at home and school will be affected. |
| C．That his efforts in the community won’t be recognized. |
| A．By talking to his teacher. |
| B．By quitting the community project. |
| C．By involving his family in community work. |
1. Why was it difficult to rescue the cat?
| A．It was too scared to move. |
| B．It was hurt by the branches. |
| C．It was in the top of a tree. |
| A．He got a neighbor to help him. |
| B．He borrowed a ladder. |
| C．He climbed the tree. |
3 . The deep and dark night sky is filled with wonder. Looking up at the bright stars, mysterious planets and ancient constellations (星座) brings a timeless feeling. Today, populated areas around the globe are enveloped in a type of fog that disconnects people from that amazing night sky, but reducing light pollution can help to restore the wonder.
After the sun sets, cities and suburbs across the globe are lit up with artificial lights. They glow along roads and highways and flood fields in sports stadiums. They also shine light on skyscrapers, malls, and flashing electronic signs. However, these lights negatively impact wildlife.
Artificial lighting has caused the firefly population to completely disappear in some areas, while lighthouse beams (光线) negatively impact marine species. In fact, in the US and Canada, 18 species of firefly are now classified as being threatened with a high risk of extinction in the next ten years.
Just leaving that light on affects the behavior of nocturnal pollinators (夜间传粉者) like moths, causing them to fly towards the light and not the flowers. This, in turn, negatively affects plants’ abilities to bear fruit and reproduce.
Many people are aware of many types of pollution including air, water, and land, but few realize that strong artificial lighting is harmful to all mammals, including humans. In order to make people aware of the importance of darkness, researchers wrote a world atlas (地图册) of artificial night sky brightness, which is published in Science Advances. Their findings reveal that 80 percent of the world populations live under a sky glow, with more than 99 percent of Americans and Europeans living under light-polluted skies.
Although individuals cannot control the highway and city lights, they can make a difference at home. And if everyone were to “turn off the switch”, it could help to bring back natural darkness in some areas. Light areas where light is needed and aim the light beams downwards. Try to use low-level lighting and be aware that some surfaces reflect more light into the sky.
1. What does the author mainly want to say in paragraph 2?| A．Light pollution is actually widespread. |
| B．Artificial lights bring people convenience. |
| C．The use of artificial lights should be cut down. |
| D．The night sky is beautifully lit up with those lights. |
| A．The light has been too strong. | B．The pollinators destroy them. |
| C．They are not pollinated in time. | D．They don’t receive enough light. |
| A．To popularize artificial lighting. |
| B．To call off environmental protection. |
| C．To stress the civilizations of human beings. |
| D．To bring awareness to the meaning of darkness. |
| A．Turn off highway lights. | B．Use low-level lighting. |
| C．Let light beams upwards. | D．Design energy-efficient lights. |
4 . Robins (知更鸟) are considered as a symbol of the festive season and are known for their lively, curious nature around humans. But even robins get road rage because they can become aggressive when there’s noise, a new study shows.
Researchers from the UK found that the sound of traffic made rural robins — not urban robins — “more aggressive”. The study was conducted by experts at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. Human activity has a colossal effect on wildlife, including on their social behavior,” the team said in their paper.
For their study, the team investigated the behavior of male European robins living in urban parks and rural forests in Istanbul. They measured aggression towards another robin intruder, which wasn’t a real robin but instead a model in the shape of an adult bird. The fake robin was equipped with a speaker, through which the team could play audio, and then attached to trees at the parks and forests. The audio consisted of recordings of robin songs, while additional traffic noise was added through another separate speaker nearby.
After recording the birds’ behavior during interactions with the fake intruder, they found the urban robins typically displayed more physical aggression than rural robins. However, rural robins became more aggressive with the addition of traffic noise — possibly because they’re less used to traffic noise than urban birds, which are already living in noisier habitats. What’s more, physical displays of territoriality could increase because the traffic noise interferes with their birdsong. “In normally quiet surroundings, we found that additional traffic noise leads to rural robins becoming more aggressive,” said Dr Caglar Akcay at ARU. “We believe this is because the noise is interfering with their communication.”
Overall, by comparing urban and rural robin reactions, the study provides a valuable glimpse into how urban-living species adapt to “life in a noisy world”. “Our results show that human-produced noise can have a range of effects on robins, depending on the habitat they live in,” said Dr Akcay.
1. What can we learn about the robins according to the text?| A．They like larger habitats. |
| B．They cannot stand other intruders. |
| C．They prefer villages to urban areas. |
| D．They can remind people of joyous seasons. |
| A．Positive. | B．Mutual. | C．Weak. | D．Dramatic. |
| A．It affected their communication. |
| B．It severely damaged their hearing. |
| C．It prevented them from finding food. |
| D．It made it hard for them to return to their habitats. |
| A．To persuade people to protect the robins. |
| B．To compare the differences between robins. |
| C．To show man-made noise’s effect on robins. |
| D．To prove that human and birds are connected. |
5 . In the scenic coastal city of Cornwall, Lizzi Larbalestier has become a beacon of hope for marine (海洋的) wildlife. As a committed volunteer for British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), her journey began with transforming her Airbnb, an online platform that allows people to rent out their homes or accommodations to travelers, into a temporary haven for injured seals. This effort came as the result of the increasing incidents of marine animals suffering from human-related injuries and the lack of specialized care facilities in the region.
Recognizing the urgent need for a more permanent solution, Lizzi, alongside her husband and a team of committed volunteers, established a fully equipped seal hospital. This facility, now in its third year of operation, has expanded its capacity to ten pens and is prepared to recover around 100 seals annually. The hospital caters to a variety of cases: seals injured by boats or caught in fishing gear (用具), young pups separated from their mothers, and young seals weakened by poor nutrition. Each animal receives personalized care, ranging from basic first aid to extensive recovery programs. After initial treatment, seals are often moved to larger recovery centers for further care before their release back into the wild.
Lizzi’s commitment to marine conservation extends beyond seal rescue. She is an active participant in environmental campaigns like Surfers Against Sewage and Ghostnetbuster. Her tireless efforts were recognized when she received the Animal Action Award from the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Lizzi owes the success of BDMLR’s operations to the collective effort of all volunteers, emphasizing the importance of teamwork in achieving their conservation goals.
The BDMLR team also responds to emergencies involving other marine wildlife, like whales and dolphins. Lizzi recalls several successful operations, including the rescue of stranded (搁浅的) dolphins and a turtle that required specialized care.
Lizzi’s story is not just about rescuing marine animals; it’s a proof of the power of community involvement and the impact of individuals on environmental conservation.
1. What inspired Lizzi to protect the marine wildlife?| A．One of her trips to the seaside. | B．Increasing profits from her Airbnb. |
| C．Her love for the marine creatures. | D．More and more injured marine animals. |
| A．It has been in operation for five years. |
| B．It provides a separate space for each seal. |
| C．It is the largest recovery center in the area. |
| D．It offers temporary help to injured animals. |
| A．All roads lead to Rome. | B．Many hands make light work. |
| C．Every cloud has a silver lining. | D．Actions speak louder than words. |
| A．A professional guide to seal rescue. |
| B．Challenges of marine wildlife recovery. |
| C．The journey of a marine life rescuer in Cornwall. |
| D．The impact of human activities on marine ecosystems. |
The Great Wall of China was built in sections over a period of around 2,000 years, the most famous parts of
A group of researchers from China Agricultural University examined
These findings could be important for people who manage ancient structures around the world. Although biocrust may not look
7 . Travelling allows us to see landscapes we wouldn’t be able to explore otherwise. Sometimes, the beauty is so attractive that we’d like to extend our stay to immerse (沉浸) ourselves in it, or simply have a version of it we could carry with us back home. Inspired by questions about personal land preservation and wondering how the hurried pace of travel can be slowed, Kathleen Vance launched her Travelling Landscapes series. With it, she creates miniature (微小的) landscapes inside antique suitcases and trunks.
“In first creating the Travelling Landscapes series, I was thinking about accessibility to nature and exploring the concept of ‘untouched natural sites’,” Vance says. “The perfect landscapes I sculpt are visual connections from my personal memories of travels and focus on waterways as a primary element. I consider these a reminder of how precious our natural resources are, and how necessary it is to protect these vital elements for life.”
The initial pieces of Travelling Landscapes were created in 2005 and each contained soil, water, and grasses native to the area it described. “It was created as a ‘site displacement’ sculpture, in which I removed the soil and plants from a designated stream and transplanted them into a container,” the artist says.
The well-travelled beauty wouldn’t come alive if it weren’t for the use of antique luggage in her work. These additions further the message she’s trying to put out into the world. “I use primarily antique luggage for this series as it denotes not only this concept of containment, but travel, preciousness, and possession,” Vance points out. “I consider each case carefully, investigating its prior history, its owner, and for which type of travel it was designed to be used. All these indicators help to inform the landscape that I create.”
Throughout her expressive body of work, Vance tries to connect people to local aspects of nature that are overlooked or underappreciated, opening new channels to bring nature into our daily lives.
1. What are the main elements in the landscapes sculpted by Kathleen Vance?| A．Waterways. | B．Trees and forests. |
| C．Mountains and valleys. | D．Grasses native to the area. |
| A．The need to get close to nature. | B．The concept of travel and transport. |
| C．The importance of protecting nature. | D．The historical value of antique luggage. |
| A．Identifies. | B．Confirms. | C．Requires. | D．Indicates. |
| A．Noble-minded and brave. | B．Eco-conscious and talented. |
| C．Hard-working and optimistic. | D．Far-sighted and knowledgeable. |
8 . On Inaccessible Island, you hear the sound of the Inaccessible Island rails (秧鸡) everywhere. The small flightless birds move around, feeding on worms and berries. During a trip in 2011, it took days for Stervander, then a doctoral student, to spot one. “Even then, you see something little and dark, running for a second, and that’s about it,” he says. Catching one, though, proved easy. When scientists played a recording of the bird’s call, a male and female ran into the net a few minutes later.
Inaccessible Island rails live only on Inaccessible Island. “No one knew the history,” says Stervander, now a research fellow at the University of Oregon. He aimed to answer the question about these birds: How did they get to Inaccessible Island to begin with?
The first scientist to describe the rail was Percy Lowe. He thought the bird was from Africa and had always been flightless. In his view, it had arrived at the island by walking over land bridges. But now the science of plate tectonics (板块构造论) suggests that’s not the case. In a recent paper, Stervander and his colleagues give evidence for a different version.
After studying the genome (基因组) of the rails, scientists found the Inaccessible Island rail’s closest relative — the crake in Uruguay. Both birds are related to the black rail in America. The finding suggests the ancestors of these birds could fly. That means Inaccessible Island rails flew to their present home, and like many birds living on islands with no predators (捕食者), they gradually lost the ability to fly. Flying takes energy, so if there’s no reason to fly, it’s more practical not to.
On this island, there’s a growing population of rails, but they’re fragile. Should a predator reach the island, it could make quick work of the birds. People on nearby islands are careful to avoid introducing any predators to Inaccessible Island, and the risk is low, given how hard it is to get there. For now, the rails live peacefully in a place where few humans are eager to go.
1. What can we learn about the Inaccessible Island rails?| A．They are hard to trap. | B．They can be seen everywhere. |
| C．They move around quickly. | D．They are not afraid of humans. |
| A．Their lack of energy. | B．Their living environment. |
| C．Their way to search for food. | D．Their connection with their ancestors. |
| A．Safe. | B．Tough. | C．Unexpected. | D．Dangerous. |
| A．The Development of Rails on Inaccessible Island |
| B．The Need to Protect Flightless Inaccessible Island Rails |
| C．How Did the Flightless Bird Get to Inaccessible Island? |
| D．Why are Inaccessible Island Rails Limited on the Island? |
9 . The North Atlantic right whale is one of the world’s most endangered large whale species. Its population loss appears to be slowing. But scientists warn that the large sea animals still face threats.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says that by the early 1890s, commercial whalers almost destroyed the species. They got their name from being the “right” whales to hunt because they floated when they were killed. Commercial whale fishing is no longer a threat, but its population has never fully returned. They have been protected for many years now.
Right whales primarily occur in Atlantic coastal waters on the continental shelf, although they also are known to travel far offshore, over deep water. They migrate seasonally and may travel alone or in small groups. In the spring, summer, and into fall, many of these whales can be found in waters off New England and further north into Canadian waters, where they feed and mate.
Recently, the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium (NARWC) said the population decrease appears to have leveled off. A strong birthing year in 2021, when 18 baby whales, or calves, were born, kept whale population numbers up. However, the organization warned that the high number of deaths faced by whales from getting caught in fishing equipment or struck by ships remains a major problem for the whales.
“The news is less bad than it has been. My heart is a little less heavy, but certainly not light or hopeful,” said Philip Hamilton. “It shouldn’t be dependent on the whales to give birth to enough calves to reverse what we’re doing to them.”
Scientists say as waters have warmed, the whales must travel outside of protected areas of the ocean in search of food. That has left them open to strikes with large ships and getting trapped in commercial fishing equipment. Those are the biggest causes of early death.
Many fishermen have opposed proposed fishing restrictions that they fear would hurt their business. But environmental groups want new rules to save the species, including one to make ships slow down for whales.
1. What do we know about the North Atlantic right whales?| A．They regard humans as their friends. | B．They are easy to catch when they die. |
| C．Their population has fully returned recently. | D．They are the largest sea animals in the world. |
| A．habitats | B．hobbies | C．behavior | D．reproduction |
| A．Favorable. | B．Intolerant. | C．Satisfied. | D．Complex. |
| A．Insufficient reproduction of right whales doesn’t matter. |
| B．Fishing restrictions are in great need to be established. |
| C．New findings of right whales bring hope for scientists. |
| D．Threats remain though right whale number decrease slows. |
10 . The biggest risk to UK forests over the next 50 years is a “catastrophic” collapse of their ecosystems, according to a group of experts. The group of 42 researchers were asked to identify the issues that would have the greatest impact on UK forests in the next half-century. The list was topped by “catastrophic forest ecosystem collapse”, the prospect of a number of risks, from droughts and floods to storms and pests. If action is not taken, the ecosystem will no longer function effectively.
This is the first “horizon scanning” exercise — a technique to identify relatively unknown threats, opportunities, and new trends — of UK forests. The aim is to help researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and society in general, better prepare for the future and address threats before they become critical.
Experts define such a collapse as a “sudden, long-lasting and widespread change in ecosystem state that has major negative impacts on biodiversity and key ecosystem services”. Those ecosystem services include clean air and water. Some species could be pushed to extinction. “Forest collapse will have significant short-and long-term influences on the forest, and wider environment, economy and society,” the researchers said.
The UK is one of the least forested countries in Europe, with 13 percent of land being forested, compared with a European average of 46 percent. The government has a UK tree-planting goal of 30,000 hectares by 2025, but is widely expected to miss it.
A spokesman for the Department for Environment said,“ We will continue to work with partners to tackle the challenges and opportunities raised in today’s report to ensure our trees and woodlands remain healthy, so they can support habitats and a range of wider environmental benefits.”
The Times revealed this year that more than 400,000 trees planted in England to make up for road projects had died since 2018. Experts think an increase in dry spring s and hot summers has made tree aftercare harder.
1. What’s the purpose of the researchers’ making the list?| A．To apply more serious laws. | B．To search for potential opportunities. |
| C．To learn about the overall situation. | D．To get an insight into natural disasters. |
| A．Its definition. | B．Its process. | C．Its consequences. | D．Its causes. |
| A．Short-sighted. | B．Time-consuming. | C．Intolerable. | D．Impractical. |
| A．It depends on climate. | B．It has a long way to go. |
| C．It is bound to be a failure. | D．It needs support from all over the world. |
