1 . Antarctica has not always been a land of ice and snow. Earth’s southernmost continent once was home to rivers and forests full of life.
Scientists are using satellite observations and radar imagery to look deep under the ice. The researchers report finding a large ancient landscape buried under the continent’s ice sheet. It is full of valleys and ridges (山脊) , shaped by rivers before being covered by glaciers long ago.
The landscape is located in East Antarctica’s Wilkes Land area bordering the Indian Ocean. The researchers said the landscape appears to date back to at least 14 million years ago and perhaps beyond 34 million years ago, when Antarctica entered its deep freeze.
“It is difficult to know what this lost world might have looked like before the ice came along, but it was certainly warmer back then,” said Stewart Jamieson, a professor at Durham University. “Depending how far back in time you go, you might have had climates that ranged anywhere from the climate of present-day Patagonia through to something more approaching tropical.”
“Such an environment likely would have been populated by wildlife”, Jamieson said. “But the area’s fossil record is too incomplete to know which animals may have lived there.”
The researchers said the surface of the planet Mars is better known than the earth surface below the ice in Antarctica. They said one way to learn more would be to drill through the ice and take a piece of the earth below. This could uncover evidence showing ancient life, as was done with samples taken in Greenland dating back two million years ago.
Jamieson said the researchers think that when Antarctica’s climate was warmer, rivers flowed toward a continental coastline that was created as the other land masses broke away. When the climate cooled, some small glaciers formed on hills next to the rivers. When the climate cooled even more, an ice sheet grew which covered the whole continent, the landscape got preserved, likely for 34 million years.
1. What can we learn about the ancient landscape?| A．It locates in the center of Antarctica. | B．It’s discovered by drilling through the ice. |
| C．It’s once a warmer area than it is now. | D．It has a history of no more than 14 million years. |
| A．There is a lack of complete fossil record. |
| B．The ice sheet of Antarctica is melting quickly. |
| C．Scientists lack enough advanced equipment. |
| D．Climate conditions vary greatly from place to place. |
| A．To attract more scientists to study Antarctica. |
| B．To strengthen the importance of the Mars. |
| C．To indicate the complex situations of the Mars. |
| D．To show the difficult to know Antarctica’s earth surface. |
| A．The colder climate. | B．The protection offered by coastlines. |
| C．Other land masses’ reduction. | D．A decrease in the number of wildlife. |
2 . There are countless stories of man’s best friend stepping in to
Single mom Nicole Evans was out of town when a fire
The fire completely
Meanwhile, Nicole won’t face this
Our pets not only provide us with companionship and unconditional love, but can even act as our furry
| A．approach | B．rescue | C．inspire | D．reward |
| A．broke out | B．set off | C．gave away | D．checked in |
| A．confirmed | B．satisfied | C．aware | D．concerned |
| A．selfishly | B．strangely | C．badly | D．professionally |
| A．pretending | B．agreeing | C．refusing | D．determining |
| A．debate | B．mission | C．request | D．reaction |
| A．disappear | B．hide | C．escape | D．depart |
| A．destroyed | B．affected | C．removed | D．threatened |
| A．disaster | B．adventure | C．drought | D．contest |
| A．speech | B．idea | C．experience | D．journey |
| A．Instead | B．However | C．Gradually | D．Similarly |
| A．arranged | B．recognized | C．caught | D．survived |
| A．unique | B．valuable | C．replaceable | D．useful |
| A．challenge | B．opportunity | C．reason | D．relief |
| A．character | B．performance | C．talent | D．responsibility |
| A．specific | B．pleasant | C．boring | D．tough |
| A．pouring in | B．running out | C．showing up | D．taking off |
| A．suffer | B．benefit | C．struggle | D．recover |
| A．support | B．creation | C．advice | D．information |
| A．leaders | B．instructors | C．protectors | D．neighbors |
3 . Cities, often seen as ecological wastelands, actually have the potential to produce exceptional biologists. While traditional biologists typically come from rural backgrounds, urban residents possess diverse skill sets that make them better ones.
Take myself as an example. Growing up in Philadelphia provided me with a unique angle to look at urban ecology. The city’s distinct seasons, plentiful squirrels, row homes, and festivals served as my first ecological classroom. It was there that I witnessed wild cats eating birds and rats, people driving bats from their homes, and snakes being killed by lawn mowers (割草机). This was ecology in action, as real as any observation in fields and forests.
The unique environment of urban areas encourages wildlife there to develop distinct feature s and behaviors that set them apart from their rural counterparts: they may be larger in size, be active at different times of the day, move differently, and even display different personalities. Some biologists argue they are even “smarter” because they balance more risks, such as exposure to roads, poisonous chemicals and diseases from domestic animals — with rewards, of course, like inhabitable parks and human-provided food.
As human residents of cities, we too adapt to the risks and challenges of urban living. This adaptation sharpens our intuition (直觉) — we learn which streets to avoid and lock our doors for safety. Our ability to assess threats and our awareness regarding safety influence our behaviors and choices, much as they do for urban wildlife. Shared experiences such as these enable us to better understand and appreciate urban wildlife.
Most of the world’s population now accesses green and blue spaces, as well as wildlife, within urban neighborhoods. Nature is no longer only untouched wilderness; it includes sounds of human laughter, trash trucks and fire alarms. We urban residents are resourceful and imaginative. We need more capacity, more participation, more energy and more innovation in science to create solutions to fight environmental degradation and reduce biodiversity loss. Identifying this talent across cities presents a practical approach.
1. What did growing up in Philadelphia teach the author?| A．Philadelphia is uniquely rich in wildlife. |
| B．Studying biology at school helps greatly. |
| C．Urban wild creatures need protection too. |
| D．Cities are far from ecological wastelands. |
| A．Similar species. | B．Potential enemies. |
| C．Natural resources. | D．Qualified biologists. |
| A．Eco-friendly habits. | B．Risk-aware behaviors. |
| C．Ill-informed choices. | D．Fast-paced urban life. |
| A．Cities Build Better Biologists | B．What Makes Smarter Residents? |
| C．Urban Areas Encourage Wildlife | D．Who Saves Ecological Wastelands? |
4 . “Found something!” Susan Baur, a swimmer, ducks into the water. She
Since 2017, Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage (OLAUG), which accepts
Many outsiders have expressed their
Criticism
| A．surfaces | B．surfs | C．flows | D．bathes |
| A．forward | B．back | C．overhead | D．downward |
| A．border | B．home | C．pond | D．shore |
| A．match | B．dive | C．voyage | D．drag |
| A．precisely | B．absolutely | C．mainly | D．merely |
| A．recover | B．reuse | C．remove | D．release |
| A．gratitude | B．concern | C．sympathy | D．curiosity |
| A．commented | B．questioned | C．proposed | D．suspected |
| A．ages | B．ranks | C．sections | D．genders |
| A．As | B．Although | C．Since | D．Unless |
| A．occasionally | B．eventually | C．initially | D．frequently |
| A．profile | B．distinction | C．personality | D．identity |
| A．demonstrate | B．imply | C．warn | D．declare |
| A．altogether | B．beyond | C．aside | D．besides |
| A．substantial | B．infectious | C．fierce | D．thrilling |
A powerful storm erupted in North Carolina, causing many roads to be severely damaged and some houses to collapse. In the aftermath of the terrible storm, an animal protection society discovered a surprise at their booster that both broke and warmed their hearts.
The surprise was that a group of baby dogs were left with a sad note, revealing a tale of sympathy in the hardship. The note, written by a homeless man, explained that the heartbreaking circumstances led him to adopt the baby dogs. He regularly fed their mother dog, but he discovered that she had unfortunately been hit by a car. Despite his own homelessness, he had provided the baby dogs with a chance to have a better life. However, the storm destroyed his temporary residence, and he had to leave them at the animal protection society’s doorstep with a heartfelt request for help.
The note read, “Please help! I was sad to find a local homeless dog that I used to feed when I could, dead by the road. What made me sadder was that her babies were left homeless. I’m sorry for leaving them like this, but I am also homeless and cannot afford to look after them. My heart breaks for them and their mother. I just want them to be taken good care of. I know that it’s wrong to abandon them. But please don’t think poorly of me. I really don t have any other choice. Sincerely, a homeless man, George.”
David, who was in charge of the animal protection society, posted the story, on the social media pages, expressing gratitude to the homeless man and admiration for his selfless act. David assured nim that his kindness, had not gone unnoticed and promised to honor his gesture by offering the baby dogs the love and care they would deserve. David also gave an invitation to him which read, “If you would like, please come to the animal protection society to see how the baby dogs will live, and I think that they will be glad to see you again!”
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。
A few days later, George, the homeless man, walked into the animal protection society.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Then George and David started looking for new homes for the baby dogs.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . Polar bears normally feed on ringed seals that they catch on ice floes (浮冰) offshore. But as the ice disappears in a warming world, many bears are spending greater amounts of time on shore, eating birds’ eggs, berries and grass. However the animals rapidly lose weight on land, increasing the risk of death. The polar bear has become the victims for global climate change, but the reality of the impact on this species is complicated.
Increasing global temperatures are now seen as their biggest threat. That’s because the frozen Arctic seas are key to their survival. The animals use the sea ice as a platform to hunt ringed seals, mostly in late spring and early summer. But during the warmer months many parts of the Arctic are now increasingly ice-free.
To understand how the animals survive as the ice disappears, researchers carried out a study, where they followed the activities of 20 polar bears during the summer months over a three-year period. As well as taking blood samples, and weighing the bears, the animals were fitted with GPS-equipped video camera collars. This allowed the scientists to record the animals’ movements, their activities and what they ate.
In the ice-free summer months, the bears adopted different strategies to survive, with some essentially resting and conserving their energy. The majority tried to search for vegetation or berries or swam to see if they could find food. Both approaches failed, with 19 of the 20 bears in the study losing body mass, by up to 11% in some cases. On average they lost one kilogramme per day. “Regardless of which strategy they were trying to use, there was no real benefit to either approach as far as being able to prolong the period that they could survive on land,” according to lead author Dr Anthony Pagano, from the US Geological Survey in Alaska.
“It is likely that polar bears will disappear from areas where sea ice will be lost in future, but difficult to say just when and where,” said Jon Aars from the Norwegian Polar Institute who was not involved in the study.
1. Why is global warming seen as the biggest threat to polar bears?| A．Polar bears can not survive in warm environment. |
| B．Polar bears can not find bird’s eggs, berries, and grass. |
| C．There are fewer ringed seals in warm environment. |
| D．There are fewer ice floes for polar bears to hunt for food. |
| A．To record the polar bears’ health condition. |
| B．To figure out how the bears survive without sea ice. |
| C．To observe the daily activities of these polar bears. |
| D．To fit the bears with GPS-equipped video camera collars. |
| A．The bears haven’t found ways to live on land. |
| B．It’s efficient for the bears to rest and conserve energy. |
| C．All the bears in the study lose weight greatly. |
| D．The bears can not survive without ice floes. |
| A．A science fiction. | B．A book review. |
| C．An entertainment magazine. | D．An environmental journal. |
7 . The effects of “weird weather” were already being felt in the 1960s, but scientists linking fossil fuels with climate change were dismissed as prophets of doom (末日预言家).
In August 1974, the ClA produced a study on “climatological research as it is related to intelligence (情报) problems”. The diagnosis was dramatic. It warned of the emergence of a new era of weird weather, leading to political unrest and mass migration (which, in turn, would cause more unrest).
The new era the agency imagined wasn’t necessarily one of hotter temperatures; the CIA had heard from scientists warning of global cooling as well as warming. But the direction in which the temperature was changing wasn’t their immediate concern; it was the political impact. They knew that the so-called “little ice age”, a series of cold snaps between, roughly, 1350 and 1850, had brought not only drought and famine, but also war.
“The climate change began in 1960,” the report’s first page informs us, “but no one, including the climatologists, recognised it.” Crop failures in the Soviet Union and India in the early 1960s had been attributed to standard unlucky weather. The US shipped grain to India and the Soviets killed off livestock to eat . But, the report argued, the world ignored this warning, as the global population continued to grow and states made massive investments in energy, technology and medicine.
Meanwhile, the weird weather rolled on, shifting to a collection of west African countries just below the Sahara. People in Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad “became the first victims of the climate change”, the report argued, but their suffering was masked by other struggles or the richer parts of the world simply weren’t paying attention.
As the effects of climate change started to spread to other parts of the world, the early 1970s saw report s of droughts, crop failures and floods from Myanmar, Pakistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Costa Rica, Honduras, Japan, Manila, Ecuador, USSR, China, India and the US.
1. The climatological research by CIA showed that ______.| A．global cooling had more evidence than warming |
| B．political impact was more unpredictable than climate |
| C．climate change could cause conflicts between countries |
| D．historical ice age had an impact on future weather |
| A．Because climatologists lacked equipment for observation. |
| B．Because crop failures attracted the world’s attention. |
| C．Because climate change was a national secret e of Soviet Union. |
| D．Because the world was busy developing economy and technology. |
| A．The US provided them with grain to reduce hunger. |
| B．The rich countries failed to notice their struggle. |
| C．The world praised their courage in the face of weird weather. |
| D．The African people migrated to the area near Sahara. |
| A．unclear and confusing | B．widespread and neglected |
| C．rare and disastrous | D．frequent and insignificant |
| A．To inform people of the ignored signs of climate changes. |
| B．To call on people to protect the environment. |
| C．To explain why climate changes have effects on politics. |
| D．To tell people how to prevent weird weather. |
8 . Out in the Atlantic Ocean, roughly 60 miles off the northwest coast of Africa, lie the Canary Islands. In the 1950s, the boom in package tourism showed promise as a new cash crop. But while the Canary Islands had the sunshine, warm climate and ease of access from Europe needed for this new industry, they were missing a vital element picture postcard sandy beaches.
So the developers on Tenerife in the Canary Islands constructed a breakwater (防波堤) over half a mile long. And then, from the Western Sahara on Africa’s northwest coast, they shipped in 270, 000 tons of sand. By 1973, the project was complete. As anticipated, tourists arrived. Along the engineered beach, rows and rows of tourists relax on beach chairs under umbrellas or walk across soft sand to cool down in the water.
Unanticipated was what their presence gave to one of the world’s most endangered fish species, angel sharks — visibility. The gentle wind creates tiny waves on the water’s surface, a magical cover for what lies beneath — an angel shark nursery. Female angel sharks regularly migrate to these ideally sheltered waters to give birth to pups (幼崽), who remain in the shallows for about a year. Feeding on small fishes, they grow to around the same length as a newborn human baby.
Surveys have shown that other beaches in the Canary Islands are also potential nursery sites. Interestingly, most of them have been remade to make them more attractive to people. Playa Chica has another long sweep of imported sand. It’s an attraction for divers as well as angel sharks, so the number of sightings of mature angel sharks of this shoreline is one of highest in the islands.
Normally, massive, environmentally disruptive projects are bad for wildlife. But what’s clear is that after the breakwater was built and the sand arrived, people followed, and in the calm, shallow waters they began to see baby angel sharks. And unlike how many an association between humans and wildlife ends-in conflict and dead animals, this time it led to conservation.
1. Why did the developers on Tenerife carry out the project?| A．To build a base for shipping. | B．To boost the local tourism industry. |
| C．To fight against the rising sea. | D．To protect the island’s eco-system. |
| A．It caused the disappearance of some fishes. |
| B．It made a magical tourist attraction. |
| C．It gave angel sharks a home. |
| D．It created conflicts between sharks and tourists. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unclear. | D．Intolerant. |
| A．To highlight the financial benefits of tourism. |
| B．To introduce potential human-wildlife coexistence. |
| C．To explain the situation of endangered species. |
| D．To emphasize the importance of wildlife conservation. |
I still remember what I felt on a bright Saturday morning in late September, at a five-kilometer race in Clarkston, Georgia.
It was an unusual morning. About an hour earlier, when we drove into town to participate in the race, my 11-year-old son noticed a green tree cricket（蟋蟀） on my car. It was friendly, no longer than a fingernail. It jumped onto my son’s finger, and walked across my shirt, and then went back to my son’s hand, where it stayed so long that we eventually gave it a name: Little Friend.
The walk from the car to the registration table was perhaps a quarter of a mile. Little Friend stayed with my son. Then, we walked back across the railroad tracks and waited for the race to start. A few minutes before the race, Little Friend either fell or jumped off my son’s hand and landed on the sidewalk. Maybe it wanted to go free. But this was not a good place for that. Pedestrian（行人） traffic was heavy, so Little Friend was in danger. My son knelt and reached out his hand. It came back.
The race was about to start, and the tiny green insect was in for a wild ride. My son would run fast, and the race would be long. The race began. I ran well enough, and felt excited at the finish line. But that thrill gave way to anxiety when my son didn’t show up.
I knew he could run 5 kilometers in about 30 minutes. When I didn’t see him at the 35-minute mark, I began to wonder what had gone wrong. And as the 40-minute mark approached and he still didn’t appear, I went out looking for him. Had he got lost? I crossed the railroad tracks and looked down a long straightaway, hoping to see his face. Finally, there he was, just ahead of the 45-minute mark.
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。
Little Friend was riding proudly on one finger of my son’s right hand.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Smiling, we walked back to the car with Little Friend.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . Dad had been a lumberjack (伐木工). As the years passed on, he became angry whenever he couldn’t do something he had done as a(n)
My husband, Dick, and I invited Dad to live with us on our small farm. We hoped the fresh
I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon and back home with a dog.
When I reached the house, I helped my
Dad just ignored me, when suddenly the dog
It was the
| A．older | B．younger | C．happier | D．luckier |
| A．rushed | B．forced | C．kept | D．transformed |
| A．consistent | B．fresh | C．gone | D．troublesome |
| A．town | B．countryside | C．city | D．state |
| A．cried | B．smiled | C．regretted | D．opposed |
| A．depression | B．disappointment | C．fitness | D．confusion |
| A．devotion | B．commitment | C．treatment | D．responsibility |
| A．prize | B．company | C．burden | D．reward |
| A．nearby | B．along | C．on | D．inside |
| A．closed | B．barked | C．annoyed | D．neared |
| A．anxiously | B．delightedly | C．patiently | D．bitterly |
| A．bringing up | B．picking up | C．pulling up | D．catching up |
| A．beginning | B．resolution | C．addition | D．display |
| A．undisturbed | B．incredible | C．inseparable | D．unattended |
| A．arose | B．decreased | C．restored | D．faded |
