1 . Deforestation is the purposeful clearing of forested land. Throughout history and into modern times, forests have been cut to make space for agriculture and raising animal, and to obtain wood for fuel, manufacturing, and construction.

Deforestation has greatly changed landscapes around the world. About 2,000 years ago, 80 percent of Western Europe was forested; today the figure is 34 percent. In North America, about half of the forests in the eastern part of the continent were cut down from the 1600s to the 1870s for wood and agriculture. China has lost great expanses of its forests over the past 4,000 years and now just over 20 percent of it is forested.

Today, the greatest amount of deforestation is occurring in tropical rainforest, aided by extensive road construction into regions that were once almost inaccessible. Building roads into forests makes them more accessible for exploitation. Slash-and-burn agriculture is also a big contributor. With this agricultural method, farmers burn large numbers of trees, allowing the ash to fertilize the land for crops. Tropical forests are also cleared to make way for logging, cattle ranching, and oil palm and rubber tree plantations.

Deforestation can accelerate global warming and threaten the world’s biodiversity. More immediately, the loss of trees from a forest can leave soil easy to be eroded (侵蚀). This causes the remaining plants to become more vulnerable (脆弱的) to fire as the forest changes from being a closed, wet environment to an open, dry one.

While deforestation can be permanent, this is not always the case. There have, however, been increases in the size of some forests, often, because trees in those areas were replanted. Forests can also naturally recover themselves if the land is nurtured and protected from any further timber harvesting.

Slowing the loss of forests, experts say, will require countries and communities to develop effective forest management plans. Such plans, they say, must strike a balance between environmental protection and the economic needs of human society.

1. What can be inferred about deforestation from paragraph 1 and paragraph 2?

A．It only happened in Europe, America and China in history.

B．North America has the most serious deforestation problem.

C．It is a process of people destroying forests on purpose.

D．The problem was more serious in the past than now.

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．The amount of deforestation in tropical rainforest.

B．The reasons for deforestation in tropical rainforest.

C．The influences of building roads on tropical rainforest.

D．The harmful farming methods used in tropical rainforest.

3. Why does deforestation make the remaining plants more vulnerable to fire?

A．Because it makes the environment dry and open.

B．Because it causes the loss of biodiversity.

C．Because it leads to warmer climate.

D．Because it pollutes the soil.

4. Where can the text be found?

A．In a history book.	B．In a travel guide.
C．In a science magazine.	D．In a local newspaper.

2 . Animals are gentle and often fall victim to cruelty because they trust and don’t fight back. We are so grateful to be able to save our animals and prove to them that the world can be good. Five years ago, six cows pushed through three fences and escaped from a slaughterhouse (屠宰场). However, sadly, they were finally rounded up and retuned to the slaughterhouse. Because it was national news, the community insisted they be allowed to live and even raised money for their freedom. The slaughterhouse owner agreed to release them to a sanctuary (庇护所), but no one came to get them.

Unwilling to see them die, Jay jumped on a red eye flight and got there in time to stop their slaughter. He took “The St Louis Six” to the hospital to be treated for their various wounds and infections. Later, I flew to St Louis to meet them. The minute I saw them, I knew they had a story to share with the world and that we had to help them.

In the coming months, we found a gorgeous property in St Louis and opened a Gentle Barn as home for The St Louis Six. Once scared and desperate to live, now the boys are trusting, loving, and giving hope to humans in our Cow Hug Therapy sessions where they wrap their necks around our guests who come to The Gentle Barm looking for hope.

Animals have always been my greatest teachers. They taught me whether we are trying to survive or looking for a safe home, sometimes we need to leave something behind to find a better way of life. We may be afraid of change, but only when we are brave enough to face the unknown and head out on our own can we realize our dreams!

1. Why did the slaughterhouse owner give up killing the cows?

A．The community urged him to do so.

B．Someone had already bought the cows.

C．He might get punished by the government.

D．The cows ran too far away from the slaughterhouse.

2. What happened to the cows after they were treated in the hospital?

A．They left St Louis for Jay and the author’s hometown.

B．They were taken to another place and lived happily there.

C．They still often felt too scared and desperate to meet humans.

D．They couldn’t trust anyone even though they were treated with love.

3. Which of the following best describes Jay and the author?

A．Lucky.

B．Energetic.

C．Wealthy.

D．Sympathetic.

4. What can be inferred about the author from the last paragraph?

A．She wants to look for a safer home.	B．She hates changes in life very much.
C．She is inspired by the animals’ bravery.	D．She suggests animals be treated a8 teachers.

3 . Every year, millions of birds are killed or hurt when they fly into buildings. Why does this happen?     1     Birds are flying into windows and tall buildings that are all covered by glass.

Many birds fly from one place to another. Most of the time, they live in the wild, such as forests and wetlands.     2     They might see small trees and flowers inside a window and want to rest on these plants. The birds do not know there is glass between them and the plants.     3    

Some birds fly at night. They use the moon and stars to help guide them in the right direction. Tall buildings with lights on at night can confuse the birds.     4     The birds see the light, but they cannot tell that the light is coming from inside a building. They fly toward the light and crash into a building. On many mornings, there might be several dead birds lying on the ground.

    5     Many office buildings now turn off their lights at night. This helps reduce the number of birds that fly into buildings and it also helps save energy.

A．This is a big problem, especially on foggy and rainy nights.

B．People are trying to solve the problem.

C．These birds have no idea what glass is.

D．As a result, they fly right into the glass.

E．The answer is glass.

4 . As the effects of climate change set in, coastal cites such as the Italian city of Venice and the American city of New Orlean are slowly sinking. So is Bangkok. Officials in the city and scientists say they do not know how long people will be able to continue living in the Thai capital.

Thailand’s military rulers are considering action. The National Reform Council wants the government to form a committee to deal with the warnings that Bangkok could be permanently underwater many years from now.

The Saen canal was built in Bangkok in the late 1830s. In a neighborhood near the waterway, walkways are breaking up. Walls on homes, small businesses and an Islamic center appear to be bending. The area is sinking about two centimeters a year, which is two times the average rate for the rest of Bangkok.

“I don’t know what to do.” says Vijitri Puangsiri who has lived in the neighborhood for 44 years. Her home needs to be repaired every year because of the sinking ground. The walkway in front of her century-old house where she operates a small restaurant must also be repeatedly repaired.

“If you travel on the canal boats, you can see how this is all hollow,” Somsak Kongeeng says, “The buildings to see him are sinking because they were not built on solid foundations,” He joked that if we come back to see him again in 20 years, the water level will be almost as high as his head. But he is also partly serious. That might be only a small overstatement in a city that is, on average, just two meters above sea level.

Observers say two reasons for the sinking are a rising sea level and too much pumping of groundwater. Another reason, they say, is the decision by developers to build so many high-rises because they earn quantities of money by doing so. This kind of development worries those who are concerned with the rising water level.

1. What do we know from the passage?

A．Vijitri Puangsiri’s home needs repairing owing to the broken walkway.

B．The Saen canal was a supporting evidence of the sinking ground.

C．Somsak Kongeeng simply treats the sinking as a joke.

D．Bangkok is not suitable for people to live in any more.

2. To slow down the sinking of the city in a practical way, we suggest ________.

A．replacing the loose soil with concrete	B．controlling pumping groundwater
C．forbidding the construction of high-rises	D．stopping the rising of sea level

3. What is the writer’s purpose of writing the passage?

A．To appeal to protect the city of Bangkok.	B．To explain the reasons for the sinking
C．To stress the significance of Bangkok.	D．To inform us of the situation of Bangkok.

4. What is the best title of this passage?

A．The Saen Canal — Cause of the Sinking	B．A Warning from Bangkok
C．Bangkok — a Coastal City at Risk	D．Reasons for Sinking Building

5 . A species of iguana (鬣蜥) that went extinct nearly 200 years ago on one of the Galápagos Islands appears to be making a comeback, with some help from a team of conservationists. The last person to spot a Galápagos land iguana on Santiago Island in Ecuador was Charles Darwin in 1835. When an expedition team from California arrived in 1906, the iguanas were nowhere to be found. And though this kind of iguana can still be found on the other Galápagos Islands, it’s believed to have been extinct on Santiago for the past 187 years—until now.

A team of scientists and park guardians discovered new lizards (蜥蜴) of various ages while walking the island in late July, which suggests the species has been successfully reintroduced. And according to Jorge Carrión, director of conservation of the Galápagos Conservancy, the ecosystem is thriving as a result. The evidence is in the details, he explained. Seeing lizards of different ages and coming across unmarked specimens means the iguanas are breeding (繁殖) in their natural environment.

Before joining the Galápagos Conservancy, Carrión worked for the Galápagos National Park Directorate, the caretakers of the islands’ ecosystems and resources. The GNPD is also the authority spearheading the iguana reintroduction project, with funding and assistance coming from the Conservancy. He said the collaborative has released more than 3,000 land iguanas on the island since January 2019.

Conservationists decided to reintroduce the land iguana after carefully considering how a return of the species would affect the ecosystem. These lizards are what’s known as an engineering species, like the Galápagos giant tortoise, in that they play a key role in keeping a healthy balance in an ecosystem.

“This kind of species are key for ecosystem in general,” Carrión said. “In this case it was the justification for the reintroduction of land iguanas, to return the natural dynamic to Santiago Island. When engineer species are not present, many imbalances occur in the ecosystem.”

1. What does the author want to tell us about iguanas in Paragraph 1?

A．They get help from an expedition team.

B．They have returned to Santiago Island.

C．They have disappeared for a few years.

D．They were found on Santiago in 1906.

2. What does the underlined word “thriving” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Growing strong.	B．Becoming active.
C．Working perfectly.	D．Breaking down.

3. Why are iguanas reintroduced?

A．They can live on Santiago Island.

B．They can help engineering species.

C．They can keep the balance of nature.

D．They play a role in Galápagos National Park.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To show his concern about iguanas.

B．To introduce the present situation of iguanas.

C．To call on people to protect iguanas.

D．To explain the reasons for iguanas extinction.

6 . The global sea level has risen by eight to nine inches since 1880. What’s more disturbing is that one-third of the rise in sea level happened in the last 25 years. Rising sea levels pose an existential threat for some small islands and some low-lying coasts. In a response to this threat, UN-Habitat, the Busan Metropolitan City of the Republic of Korea, and the company OCEANIX revealed the world’s first model floating city, OCEANIX Busan.

OCEANIX Busan has six integrated systems focusing on energy, food, water, waste, mobility and coastal habitat regeneration to ensure the floating city reuses and wastes as little as possible. The floating city has no roadways, only “pedestrian-friendly paths” to support walking, biking, and autonomous electric vehicles, so it won’t produce any vehicle emissions. Floating and rooftop photovoltaic panels(光伏板)will generate 100% of the operational energy needed for the city. Each neighborhood will treat and replenish(重新补充)its own water, recycle resources, and have urban farm areas to grow food.

OCEANIX Busan will consist of three floating neighborhoods totaling 15.5 acres. That’s about as much surface as a dozen football fields, and according to the developers, it has enough room to accommodate 12,000 people. The neighborhoods will connect to one another and the mainland via bridges, and each will serve a specific purpose. The living neighborhood will have residential buildings, shops and food sellers, and a “community backyard” where residents can gather at its center. The lodging neighborhood will be built to support visitors-it’ll have many shopping and dining options, as well as guest rooms designed to maximize ocean views. The third neighborhood will be a co-working and research center, with a temperature-controlled atrium(中厅)at its center for hydroponic agriculture.

“Today is an important milestone for all coastal cities and island nations on the frontlines of climate change. We are on track to delivering OCEANIX Busan and demonstrating that floating infrastructure can create new land for coastal cities looking for sustainable ways to expand onto the ocean, while adapting to sea-level rise,” said Philipp Hofmann, CEO of OCEANIX.

1. What is the purpose of designing OCEANIX Busan?

A．To promote the development of tourism.

B．To deal with the threat from rising sea levels.

C．To allow people to enjoy the pleasant coastal climate.

D．To monitor the effect of climate change on small islands.

2. Which word best describes OCEANIX Busan’s mode of operation?

A．Easy.

B．Impractical.

C．Sustainable.

D．Controversial.

3. What does the third paragraph mainly talk about?

A．The features of the residential buildings.

B．The structure of the floating neighborhoods.

C．The difficulties of building OCEANIX Busan.

D．The measures to attract visitors to OCEANIX Busan.

4. From which is the text probably taken?

A．A magazine.

B．A fiction novel.

C．A travel brochure.

D．A personal statement.

7 . As giant panda Tian Bao walked toward the feast placed in his enclosure (围场) on Thursday at Pairi Daiza zoo in Belgium, fans waiting outside began to sing Happy Birthday in Dutch and French.

One of the fans, Nora Verhoeyen, said she traveled there for the birthday party from the city of Oudenaarde, transferring between three trains in the process. Verhoeyen has visited Tian Bao and four other giant pandas at the zoo many times. She also came after Tian Bao was born on June 2, 2016—the first giant panda baby born in Belgium.

“I like pandas. I like Tian Bao very much,” she mentioned. She said she cried a year ago, knowing that Tian Bao would go to China later last year. Under the loan agreement with the Chinese government, giant panda babies born outside China to parents loaned from China belong to China and should go back by the age of four to join the breeding program as part of the conservation of the species.

“Tian Bao’s departure for China has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He is now expected to go to China at the beginning of next year,” according to the zoo’s founder and president, Eric Domb.

Giant panda keeper Robin Bouttefeux said that he prepared bamboo shoots, carrots and a cake made of soybeans, rice and corn for Tian Bao’s birthday. He said that every visitor loves Tian Bao. “He is my best friend,” he added. Bouttefeux, who has held the post for eight years, said that taking care of five giant pandas is a demanding job. “But it’s a nice job working with pandas every day,” he said.

Tian Bao weighed only 171 grams when he was born. He weighed 100 kilograms on Thursday. Domb said that everyone will be sad when Tian Bao leaves next year. But he and his colleagues also know that it is beneficial. Giant pandas are solitary (独立的) animals. Mothers and babies do not stay together for long in the wild. “If they were kept together beyond the point when a child is self-sufficient (自立的), it would eventually cause aggression”, according to a giant panda researcher, Elizabeth Dunn.

1. Why did fans sing a song for Tian Bao on Thursday?

A．To celebrate Tian Bao’s birthday.

B．To convey their sympathy for Tian Bao.

C．To draw people’s attention to giant pandas' preservation.

D．To express the unwillingness to say goodbye to Tian Bao.

2. What can we know about Tian Bao?

A．It is cute but aggressive.	B．It has been in Belgium for 6 years.
C．It is going back to China this year.	D．It has gained little weight since born.

3. Who is in charge of taking care of Tian Bao?

A．Nora Verhoeyen.	B．Eric Domb.
C．Robin Bouttefeux.	D．Elizabeth Dunn.

4. Where is this text probably taken from?

A．A travel brochure.	B．A textbook.
C．A science magazine.	D．A newspaper.

8 . LONDON—The U.K. recorded its highest-ever temperatures Tuesday with readings of over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, as a heat wave scorched the nation and caused fires around the capital.

During the day, at least 34 places across the country broke the previous record. Several blazes broke out across London—including a large fire in a residential area. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Twitter that the fire brigade was under “immense pressure,” and warned citizens to stay safe.

Tuesday has been the second successive day of extremely hot weather in the nation. The U.K. government has declared a national emergency, while the national meteorological (气象的) service, the Met Office, started its first-ever “red extreme heat warning” across England.

Nationwide, schools and summer camps have closed, hospitals have canceled routine visits and transport has been disrupted, with many railways and the London subway system urging customers to stay at home.

The heat warped (使变形) runways at U.K. airports on Monday, forcing Luton Airport to stop all flights until early evening. The Met office has warned against melting asphalt (沥青) on roads and has advised citizens not to travel.

“In this country we’re used to treating a hot spell as a chance to go and play in the sun,” said Penny Endersby, chief executive at the Met Office, in a press release. “This is not that sort of weather.”

Scientists have warned that climate change is likely to make weather of this severity more common. Dr. Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London, said, “It would have been almost impossible to see temperatures of 40 degrees in London without climate change.”

1. What do we know about the heat in U.K. according to the passage?

A．No more than 34 places broke the previous temperature record.

B．Tuesday was the first day of extremely hot weather in the country.

C．The highest temperature readings was over 104 degrees Celsius.

D．Some fires broke out in London because of the burning weather.

2. Why has the Met office advised citizens not to travel?

A．Because the heat damaged runways at U.K. airports.

B．Because of the first-ever red extreme heat warning.

C．Because the fire brigade was under big pressure.

D．Because the awful heat has melted asphalt on roads.

3. What can we learn from what Dr. Friederike Otto said?

A．Londoners are used to play outside in the sun.

B．Climate has changed and caused burning weather.

C．This kind of climate is less likely to happen again.

D．This weather is not suitable to outdoors activities.

4. What does the underlined word “scorched” mean in the first paragraph?

A．Flooded.

B．Blew.

C．Burned.

D．Warmed.

9 . From tiny hummingbirds (蜂鸟) to giant whooping cranes, roughly half of the world’s more than 10,000 bird species migrate (迁徙). Longer wings and powerful flying muscles often help these birds cross vast expanses of air. But a study of nearly all bird species suggests many migrators share another unexpected flight aid: lighter-colored feathers.

Being a bit more lightly colored than non-migrating birds may help these long-distance fliers stay cool as they work hard under the hot sun to fly, researchers report December 6 in Current Biology.

It’s known that color can help birds hide from predators (捕食者) by blending in, or attract mates by standing out. But color has subtle effects too, including regulating temperature by absorbing or reflecting light, says Kaspar Delhey, an expert at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany. For example, bird eggs laid in colder climates tend to be darker, which may help keep them warm. 

Migrating birds push their bodies to the physiological limit, which creates much heat. Some species cope by rising to cooler air during daytime. “If overheating is a problem in migratory birds, another way of dealing with that would be to evolve lighter colors that absorb less heat,” Delhey says.

Delhey and his colleagues analyzed over 20,000 illustrations of 10,618 bird species, ranking feather lightness for each species and comparing that with how far the birds fly. On average, lightness slightly increased with migratory distance, the team found. The longest-distance migrators were about 4 percent lighter than non-migrators, an effect that wasn’t explained by size, climate or habitat type for different species.

“It’s not a big difference,” Delhey says, noting that many migrators are darkly colored, perhaps for reasons unrelated to flight. But the trend was remarkably consistent.“Very different groups with very different biologies show this pattern,” Delhey says.“That surprised us.”

1. Which of the following ignored previously help migratory birds fly?

A．Longer wings.	B．Vast expanses of air.
C．Lighter-colored feathers.	D．Powerful flying muscles.

2. What does the underlined word “subtle” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Smart.

B．Terrible.

C．Ambiguous.

D．Tender.

3. How do migrating birds deal with overheating in them?

A．By evolving lighter colors.	B．By reaching bodies’ limit.
C．By flying higher to the sky.	D．By absorbing more lights.

4. What can be inferred from Delhey’s study?

A．10,618 bird species fly over a long distance altogether.

B．Species of migrating birds’ feathers vary significantly.

C．Migrators with dark feathers are clearly related to flight.

D．Migratory distance can be judged by feathers’ lightness.

10 . Artificial light should be treated like other forms of pollution, research says. Human illumination (照明) of the planet is growing in range and intensity by about 2% a year, creating a problem that can be compared to climate change, according to a team of biologists from the University of Exeter. Hormone levels, breeding cycles, activity patterns and vulnerability to predators are being affected across a broad range of species, they write in a paper published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.

From reduced pollination (授粉) by insects and trees budding earlier in spring, to seabirds flying into lighthouses and sea turtles mistakenly wandering inland to bright hotels in search of the dawn sun, their study brings together 126 previous papers to assess the extent of the impact.

In all the species examined, they found reduced levels of melatonin — a hormone that regulates sleep cycles — as a result of artificial light at night. Rodents (啮齿动物), which mostly search for food at night, were active for a shorter duration, while birds started singing and searching for worms earlier in the day. However, the outcomes were not purely negative. Owing to night-time light, some plants grew faster and some types of bats thrived. But the overall effect was disruptive, particularly to the insects drawn to hot bulbs or fast-moving car lamps.

“What stands out is how ubiquitous the effects are. The effects are found on microbes, invertebrates (无脊柱动物), animals and plants,” said the lead author, Kevin Gaston, a professor at the university's Environment and Sustainability Institute. “We need to start thinking about lighting in the way we think of other big systemic pressures like climate change.”

According to Gaston, there has been an increase in studies in the past five to ten years as the amount of lighting in the world has increased and the effects have become more evident. Satellite images of the Earth at night show how rapidly the problem is expanding geographically, and lights are also becoming more intense as expensive bulbs with yellow light are replaced by greater numbers of cheap bright white LEDs. This is biologically problematic because the white light has a wider spectrum, like sunlight.

Gaston urged governments, companies and individuals to be more discriminating. “At the moment, we just take lighting for granted. But we need to think in terms of using it only when we need it, where we need it and how we need it,” he said. “It is another pollutant.”

Unlike the climate crisis, however, he said solving the lighting problem would save rather than cost money. If people use fewer lights, it would mean lower costs, less electricity and lower emissions.

“At the heart of this is a deep-rooted human need to light up the night. We are still in a sense afraid of the dark,” he said. “But the ability to turn the night-time into something like the daytime is something we have pursued for beyond the necessity of doing so.”

1. Why is artificial light a pollutant according to the biologists?

A．It has a serious impact on nature.

B．It shortens the growing time of plants.

C．It contributes to other forms of pollution.

D．It threatens the existence of human beings.

2. What did the biologists find about artificial light?

A．It can be used to act as the dawn sun.

B．It can regulate the sleep cycles of animals.

C．It can prevent all species developing properly.

D．It can disturb behavior patterns in some species.

3. What does the underlined word "ubiquitous” mean?

A．Normal.	B．Common
C．Powerful.	D．Special.

4. How did Kevin Gaston feel about solving the lighting problem?

A．It is worth the cost.	B．It is time-consuming.
C．It requires a change of attitude.	D．It needs to be discussed globally.