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

A．backed     B. commonly     C. cover     D. customs     E. special     F. major G. mark     H. misfortunes       I. performed     J. puzzled     K. thoroughly

Telling the bees

“London Bridge is down” is how Sir Edward Young, Queen’s private secretary, conveyed the official news about the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. As the news spread through the world, a headline     1     many on social media: “royal beekeeper has informed the Queen’s bees that the Queen has died.”

Did bees need to be told about human affairs? Would they have any sort of opinion on the matter?

But some beekeepers,     2     by historians, say “telling the bees” is a standard practice that goes back centuries, with potentially serious consequences if not followed.

“It’s a very old and     3     tradition, but not something that’s very well-known,” said Mark Norman, a folklorist and the author of Telling the Bees and Other     4    : The Folklore of Rural Crafts.

The tradition holds that bees, as members of the family, should be informed of     5     life events in the family, especially births and deaths. Beekeepers would knock on each hive, deliver the news and possibly     6     the hive with a black cloth during a mourning period. The practice is more     7     known in Britain but is also found in the United States and other parts of Europe, Mr. Norman said.

In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, it was believed that neglecting to tell the bees could lead to various     8    , including their death or departure, or a failure to make honey. Nowadays, beekeepers may be less likely to believe they risk bad luck, but they may continue to follow the tradition as “a     9     of respect,” Mr. Norman said.

Stephen Fleming, a beekeeper for 25 years and the co-editor of BeeCraft, a magazine for British beekeepers, said he once     10     the tradition after a friend died. He went to the friend’s bees, gently knocked on the hives and told them the news, he said.

“It was just something I thought my friend would have enjoyed,” he added.

Mr. Fleming said most beekeepers would most likely be aware of the tradition, but not as many would practice it.

“It’s generally thought to be a good and nice thing to do,” he said.

2 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A.catches B.combined C. contributors D. demand E. driver F.mere G.pressing H.prosperity I. speeds J.thirstiest K. trends

Feeding nine billion

When we think about threats to the environment, we tend to picture cars-not dinner. But the truth is, our     1    for food causes one of the biggest dangers to the planet.

Agriculture is among the greatest     2     to global warming. It emits more greenhouse gases than all our cars, trucks, trains, and airplane     3    —largely from methane released by cattle and rice farms, nitrous oxide from fertilized fields and carbon dioxide from the cutting of rain forests to grow crops or raise livestock. Farming is the     4     user of our precious water supplies and a major polluter, as runoff from fertilizers and manure pollute lakes, rivers, and coastal ecosystems across the globe. Agriculture also     5    up the loss of biodiversity: As we’ve cleared areas of grassland and forest for farms, we’ve lost crucial habitat making agriculture a major     6     of wildlife extinction

The environmental challenges caused by agriculture are huge, and they’ll only become more     7     as we try to meet the growing need for food worldwide. We’ll likely have 2 billion more mouths to feed by mid-century-more than 9 billion people. But population growth isn’t the     8     reason we’ll need more food. The spread of     9     across the world is driving an increased need for meat, eggs, and dairy, boosting pressure to grow more corn and soybeans to feed more cattle, pigs, and chickens. If these     10     continue, the population growth and meat-and-dairy-intensive diets will require us to roughly double the amount of crops we grow by 2050.

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

A. processing   B. matters C. equivalent     D. packaging        E. essential F. producing G. changes H. supporting   I. reward   J. average   K. special

Eat Green: Our Everyday Food Choices Affect Global Warming and the Environment

What we eat     1    . The food choices we make every day have a big effect on the environment. The good news is that even small     2     in what we buy and eat can add up to real environmental benefits, including fewer toxic (有毒的) chemicals, reduced global warming emissions, and preservation of our ocean resources. Eating “green” can also mean eating fresher, healthier foods while reducing your grocery bill and     3     our farmers.

1. Choose Climate-Friendly Food

Food that comes from high on the food chain or arrives to your plate after extensive     4     tends to require more energy and release more global warming pollution into the air. The “carbon footprint” of hamburger, for example, includes all of the fossil fuels that went into     5     the fertilizer and pumping the irrigation (灌溉) water to grow the corn that fed the cow, and may also include emissions that result from converting forest land to grazing land(牧场). NRDC estimates that if all Americans eliminated just one quarter pound serving of beef per week, the reduction in global warming gas emissions would be     6     to taking four to six million cars off the road.

2. Buy Organic and Other Sustainable Certifications

Eco—labels like USDA Organic and others give us a way to     7     environmental performance in the marketplace. Organic agriculture, for example, is a safer choice for the environment and your family because organic growers don’t use synthetic (合成的) pesticides and fertilizers.

3. Watch Your Waste

The USDA estimates that an astonishing 27 percent of all food produced for people in the United States is either thrown away or is used for a lower—value purpose, like animal food. A recent study estimated that the average household wastes 14 percent of its food purchases—a loss of significant value for most families. In addition to the water, energy, pesticides, and global warming pollution that went into producing.     8    , and transporting this discarded (废弃的) food, nearly all of this waste ends up in landfills where it releases even more heat—transporting gas in the form of methane (甲烷) as it decomposes.

4. Eat Locally

A typical American meal contains ingredients from five foreign countries, and even domestically grown produce travels a(n)    9     of 1,500 miles before it is sold. Buying locally can help reduce the pollution and energy use     10     with transporting, storing and refrigerating this food.

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

A. bend     B. fascinated   C.implication     D. invites     E. resembles F. habitable   G. outpacing   H. determine       I. exploration     J. alternative     K. colonized

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen:

We’re at a tipping point in human history, between gaining the stars and losing the planet we call home. At the same time as we’re discovering this treasure of potentially     1     worlds, our own planet is sinking. 2014 was the hottest year on record. Glaciers and sea ice are now disappearing in a matter of decades. These planetary-scale environmental changes are rapidly     2     our ability to alter their course.

I’m not a climate scientist, I’m an astronomer. You could say that I look for     3     alien real estate. Now, as somebody who is deeply     4     in the search for life in the universe, I can tell you that the more you look for planets like Earth, the more you appreciate our own planet itself. Each one of these new worlds     5     a comparison between the newly discovered planet and the planets we know best: those of our own Solar System.

Consider our neighbor, Mars. Though the Martian view     6     the deserts of our own home world, Mars is a pretty terrible place to live considering the extent to which we have not     7     the deserts of our own planet. Even in the driest, highest places on Earth, the air is sweet and thick with oxygen exhaled (呼气) from thousands of miles away by our rainforests.

I worry that Mars and other planets carries with it a long, dark shadow: the     8     by some that Mars will be there to save us from the destruction of the only truly livable planet we know of, the Earth. As much as I love interplanetary     9     , I deeply disagree with this idea. There are many excellent reasons to go to Mars, but for anyone to tell you that Mars will be there to back up humanity is like the captain of the Titanic telling you that the real party is happening later on the lifeboats.

If we truly believe in our ability to     10     the hostile environments of Mars for human habitation, then we should be able to surmount the far easier task of preserving the habitability of the Earth.

6 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. deliberately B. justifiable C. accumulating D. consume E. spills F. spent   G. potential H. charging I. boost J. subscription K. collected

Is rental fashion the future?

With a cost-of-living crisis and climate awareness sitting heavily at the forefront of our minds, many of us are having to make choices about what we    1    . Fashion is one of them. As of 2021, UK households    2    approximately 57.3 billion British pounds on clothing, significantly contributing to the very real effects of climate change that can be felt around the world.

Even the fastest of fashion retailers are taking note; this summer, BooHoo announced that they will be    3     a returns fee to try and help customers reflect on overshopping habits. Meanwhile, Love Island teamed up with eBay as their official partner for 2022’s series,     4     avoiding their usual tie-ins.

However, there will still be times where a new item feels like a    5    treat: to attend a wedding, to suit the requirements of a job interview, for that much-needed; confidence    6    on a date. For those who love to shop, getting oneself completely out of retail seems a little like a punishment, taking away yet another source of joy during already-undesirable times.

So here comes rental fashion. The set-up is simple. Rent three, five or ten items and swap (替换) every month, with prices starting from £39 a month for a three-item. In the case of any accidents, do not fear     7    and light damages (think broken zips and small stains) are accounted for in the pricing, as is laundry. If you fall in love, there are options to keep certain items longer, or if you’re not in the market for anything new, your     8    can be easily paused or cancelled.

At the end of each cycle, you’ll receive an email reminding you to choose your next box. With a three-item return, items can be returned at a local drop-off point, whilst bigger parcels will be     9    when the team make their next delivery. Think of it a kind of clothing library, where items are rotated in and out of your life instead of     10     dust.

7 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one more word than you need.

A. magic       B. alternative       C. flawlessly       D. housed       E. detective       F. premature G. supply       H. works       I. packed       J. acceptable       K. completely

NASA Begins High-Stakes Repair to Hubble Space Telescope

NASA engineers are trying to carry out repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope, which stopped working on June 13 as a result of a problem with the payload computer on board.

After a month of trying, engineers with the space agency were unable to restart the computer, so the Hubble team will switch to a(n)     1     power unit on Thursday. If successful, it will take several days to     2     return the observatory to normal operations, NASA reported.

The Hubble Telescope has shaped our understanding of the cosmos for over 30 years. It proved that almost every galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its heart. It also played a vital role in the discovery of dark matter — a mysterious substance that can’t be seen.

The payload computer is used to control and coordinate Hubble’s scientific instruments. The computer’s programs also analyze and manipulate the data it collects.

NASA engineers believe the problem is related to the Power Control Unit, or PCU, which ensures a steady voltage     3     to the payload computer. The PCU is     4     with the payload computer in the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling unit. “The team’s analysis suggests that either the voltage level from the regulator is outside of     5     levels, or the secondary protection circuit has degraded over time and is trapped in this inhibit state,” according to the NASA statement.

The telescope itself and science instruments remain “healthy and in a safe configuration,” the statement confirmed. The Hubble Space Telescope, which orbits 340 miles above Earth’s surface, hasn’t always functioned     6    . A similar repair was performed in 2008, when another part of the PCU failed.

A replacement for Hubble is in the     7    . NASA’S James Webb Space Telescope is expected to launch later this year. The large, infrared telescope appears to become the next great     8     in the universe.

But it’s     9     to give up on Hubble, said Don Lincoln, a senior scientist from NASA. “The instrument has generated scientific data leading to countless papers and also gorgeous images that have transfixed the science-interested public. In that sense, an inoperable Hubble would be a devastating loss,” he wrote in an opinion piece.

“The best-case scenario is one in which both are operating, and we must wait for those clever engineers to work their     10     to see if that is possible.”

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

A. conservation       B. relocate       C. momentarily       D. program       E.   critical      F. initiative       G. ensure              H. permanently        I. additional       J. reserve        K. unexpected

A team of scientists led by Alejandro Arteaga, grantee of The Explorers Club Discovery Expeditions and researcher at Khamai Foundation, discovered three new cryptozoic (living underground) snakes dwelling under graveyards (墓地) and churches in remote towns in the Andes region of Ecuador.

It was an exploration that led to the most     1    of places.

First published in the journal, Zookeys, Arteaga and his team named the small brown color-patterned snakes in honor of institutions or people supporting the exploration and    2     of remote cloud forests in the tropics.

The Discovery Ground Snake (Atractus discovery) was found underground in a small graveyard. Two     3    new species were found near an old church and inside a small school. Destruction of the snake’s native forest habitat may have forced them to     4     to these people-less areas according to Arteaga’s findings.

Atractus discovery was named to honor The Explorers Club Discovery Expedition Grants     5    , a program seeking to foster scientific understanding for the betterment of humanity and all life on Earth and beyond. The grant program supports researchers and explorers from around the world in their quest to ease the climate change crisis, prevent the extinction of species and cultures, and    6    the health of the Earth and its inhabitants.

Atractus zgap was named in honor of the Zoological Society for the Conservation of Species and Populations (ZGAP), a(n)     7     seeking to conserve unknown but highly endangered species and their natural environment.

Atractus michaelsabini was named in honor of Michael Sabin, grandson of American philanthropist and conservationist Andrew Sabin. Through conservation organization Re:wild, the Sabin family has supported field research of threatened reptiles and has protected thousands of acres of     8     habitat throughout the world.

“The discovery of these new snakes is only the first step towards a much larger conservation project,” says Arteaga. “We have already started the process of establishing a nature     9     to protect the ground snakes. This action would not have been possible without first unveiling the existence of these unique and cryptic reptiles, even if it meant     10     disturbing the peace of the dead in the graveyard where they lived.”

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

A. livelihood          B. geographical          C. increasingly        D. exhausted        E. amuse        F. beyond G. unsupported       H. slightly                 I. motivational          J. matters             K. surviving

The mission for explorers, BØrge Ousland, a Norwegian, and Mike Horn, a South African-born Swiss, was to navigate their way across the 600 miles to the South Pole    1    —no dogsleds or airdrops of equipment, no food or fuel along the way. When, in 2006, the two men finally reached their destination, Cape Arkticheskiy in Siberia, in the pitch dark of polar winter, they were utterly    2    , had frostbite(冻疮), but were still in one piece. What they had accomplished stands as one of the most daring polar expeditions in recent memory: setting out in total darkness and     3    physically and mentally. That had been the essence of the trip. Reaching the pole was necessary, but almost irrelevant conclusion.

Why would they have put themselves in this position? This was, actually, exactly what they had wanted. Both men had been adventuring since boyhood, taking    4    high calculated risks. At some point, they left their comfort zones and never went back. For them, going to extremes that may seem insane was actually a logical progression. They discovered that they could earn a living—writing books, taking pictures, making films, and presenting    5    speeches. Now, they have sponsors: outdoor gear manufacturers, construction outfits, an adventure travel agency, a watch company. Extreme adventure is their    6    .

Some people say that the two men have a death wish, but this just seems to    7    Mike and BØrge. They will tell you that it isn’t a desire to be closer to death that attracts them; it’s a desire to be closer to life. They’ve been to the mountaintop. They know that willpower can be built, and that ordinary people, like themselves, have abilities    8    their wildest dreams. They’re just the ones who are out there, searching the wilderness on behalf of the rest of us. They aren’t marking dots on a    9    map anymore. That was accomplished long ago. What they are doing now is exploring the inner map, the mental and emotional map. What will they learn about themselves from being in a position where nothing    10    except staying alive? What, exactly, is the human being capable of? This is what drives them.

10 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. express       B. concerns        C. accompaniment        D. rise        E. approaching        F. specific G. portions       H. remain       I. growing       J. obviously        K. particularly

Exploring the growth of plant-based dairy

Plant-based milk is the largest plant-based group in North America. It grew five per cent last year, with sales of plant-based dairy products     1    $2billion.

There are many reasons for the popularity of plant-based milks. As well as a(n)    2    in the number of vegans (素食主义者) and plant-based diets due to health and moral grounds, environmental     3    are also driving uptake with supporters claiming that plant milk has a lower greenhouse gas footprint than dairy production-although the overall picture is highly complex and the figures are questioned by the dairy industry. An apparent increase in the level of lactose intolerance (乳糖不耐受) in developed countries is also helping to increase demand.

The range of plant-based milks also allows for consumers to     4    their tastes and identities as cafés and restaurants open up after lockdown. As one industry analyst said earlier this year, “To choose your     5    type of plant-based milk in Starbucks seems to be a way of identifying yourself.”

While dairy milk has long been seen as a drink or a meal     6    -for example, being used as the material to make food or with cereal (谷物)-here are increasing signs thatplant-based drinks     7    those with a thicker, more yogurt-like texture (质地) or those sold in individual     8    -are being seen as a healthy snack. Research by the Brisan Group suggests that up to a third of these products are viewed as a snack, and 61 per cent are viewed as “a treat.”

Globally soy milk products     9    the most popular and they accounted for 29.5 per cent of income globally in 2019. Coconut-based drinks are one of the fastest     10    parts, predicted to increase 8.6 per cent between 2020 and 2027. Across all types of plant milk, plain flavours have the highest sales, accounting for 71.1 per cent of the total value.