1 . 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. perfectly       B. right       C. reach       D. mountainous       E. current       F. convince G. spotted       H. reverse       I. primarily       J. serve       K. worth

“When a snow leopard follows its prey (猎物) among the mountain walls, it moves... softly, slowly,” explains Indian biologist Raghunandan, who has studied animals for years. “If it knocks a stone loose, it will     1     out a foot to stop it from falling and making noise.” One might be moving right now,     2     silent, maybe close by. But where?

Best known for its     3     coat and long distinctive tail, the snow leopard is one of the world’s most secretive animals. These big cats can only be found high in the remote,     4     regions of Central Asia. For this reason, and because they hunt     5     at night, they are very rarely seen.

Snow leopards have been officially protected since 1975, but enforcing this law has proven difficult. Many continue to be killed for their fur and body parts, which are     6     a fortune on the black market. In recent years, though, conflict with local herders (牧人) has also led to a number of snow leopard deaths. This is because the big cats kill the herders’ animals, and drag the bodies away high up in the mountains to eat. Thus, the herders’ animals are in danger of snow leopard attacks, which can push those herders into desperate poverty. To address this problem, local religious leaders have called for an end to snow leopard killings, saying that these wild animals have the     7     to exist peacefully. They’ve also tried to     8     people that it is of great importance to protect those big cats.

As a result of these pressures, the     9     snow leopard population is estimated at only 4,000 to 7,000, and some fear that the actual number may already have dropped below 3,500．The only way to     10     this trend and bring these cats back from their threatened status, say conservationists, is to make them more valuable alive than dead.

2 . 阅读下面两篇短文，根据其大意，从方框中选择适当的短语，并用其正确形式填空。

in addition     turn one’s back     break down     a variety of          live in harmony     run out     maintain friendships     be concerned with

A

Friendship clubs provide a platform for people to take part in     1     social activities, such as group outings, shared hobbies, and interactive events. They help to bring together like-minded individuals who are seeking to make new friends.     2    , joining a friendship club is also beneficial for people to     3     through face-to-face interaction.

B

Nature is our home. Humans and other living things on the planet couldn’t survive without the resources that come from nature. We should take care of our “home” before it’s too late. If we keep overusing and destroying nature, it will finally    4     on us. We should try our best to     5     with nature.

3 . 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．experience       B. associated        C．position        D．claim       E．accompanied F．conducted        G．duration        H．preserve        I．breeze        J．representative K．weighed

One of the British royal traditions is that the king or queen can     1     ownership of any unmarked mute swan in open water in Britain. For many years, this tradition was     2     with Queen Elizabeth II. Every summer, the swans on the River Thames would be counted for Her Majesty. Now, with Britain having King Charles III on the throne, this centuries-old tradition known as the Swan Upping will continue to be     3     over five days during the third week of every July.

Several years ago, when I was living in London, I went along to     4     the tradition for myself. It was a completely enjoyable experience. School kids and elderly watchers gathered ahead of the day’s launch in Marlow (马洛，一个英国城镇) to meet the Royal Swan Marker — Queen Elizabeth II’s     5     in her absence — David Barber, and other Swan Uppers, or catchers.

The Uppers themselves are a mix of old boys and younger men-all dressed in uniforms. They paddle their way upriver in a fleet of wooden boats, shiny with gold detailing. Flags flutter behind them in the     6    .

The small fleet is     7     by an armada (舰队) of watchers. A boatload of journalists is there for the     8    . Hug e passenger boats cruise alongside, trying to get a view of each catch.

Not long after, the traditional call goes out: “All up!” it’s the first catch of the day. The Uppers carefully     9     their boats around the birds, moving closer, before catching and tying them. The young swans are taken ashore and     10    , measured and recorded with rings attached to their legs. And the adult swans are checked against the records. Then the young birds are released with their family, unharmed.

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. houses   B. approaching   C. appear   D. talent   E. exclusively F. lowered   G. hiding   H. limits   I. dramatically   J. natural   K. sensitive

Dolphin Senses

New research involving trained dolphins seems to further prove that these animals can sense electricity. The     1     may allow them to better lock onto hidden fish hunted and direct the path.

The ability to sense electric fields is known as electroreception(电感受). All animals produce a weak electric field, but electroreception has almost     2     been found in water creatures. About a decade ago, scientists published research suggesting that some dolphins have passive electroreception. And in 2021, researchers in Germany released their own study finding that dolphins likely have it, too.

This new research is a follow-up to that latter study by the same team—one intended to better describe the     3     of electroreception in bottlenose dolphins. The researchers teamed up with scientists from the Nuremberg Zoo, which currently     4     six dolphins. They specifically worked with two bottlenose dolphins named Donna and Dolly. They first trained them to rest their jaws on a metal bar in the water, and then to respond to an electric field     5     them by swimming away within five seconds. They then gradually     6     the strength of this field to test the dolphins’ sensitivity.

The findings further prove that bottlenose dolphins can indeed sense electricity, but suggest that some dolphins are better at it than others. Donna, for instance, was a bit more     7     and able to respond correctly to a weaker field than Dolly.

The electroreception found in dolphins doesn’t     8     to be as strong as it is in the typical shark, but it’s probably still useful enough for them to find fish     9     underneath sand, stones or mud within a few centimeters away. Other studies have suggested that dolphins also possess a sense that acts as a sort of     10     GPS for them. So these dolphins’ electroreception might provide an explanation for that ability as well, Huttner said.

5 . 根据上下文，用方框内所给短语的适当形式填空，使文章信息完整，意思准确， 每个短语只能使用一次。有两个短语是多余选项。

be aware of,   lead to,   now that,   recover from, adapt to,   stir up,        die out, turn to,   keep track of, in case that,   go through,        make out

A wild fire broke out in California,     1    many people losing their homes and trying to    2     a new shelter. The government said it would    3    their situations so that homelessness wouldn’t turn out to be a serious problem in the area. It also encouraged its residents    4    local charities in order    5    this difficult time. But before the authorities were able to     6     what challenges the state was facing, endangered wildlife was about to     7    because of the disaster. Emotions     8     due to this sad fact but     9     the damage was done, the government was trying its best to make it up by taking several actions. For example, an animal rescue center was built at the spot     10    injured creatures needed medical treatment.

6 . 阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后用方框中所给词的适当形式填空。每个词限用一次。

mouse   be   eat   health   stop   few   hungry   say   see   sometimes   body

Snake meat is popular in restaurants. Some people think eating snakes is good for their     1    . But these people don’t know that snakes feed on     2     and worms (虫), so there are many parasites (寄生虫) in snakes’     3    . They may     4     bad for our health. And we’re sorry     5     a butcher’s knife kill more snakes now.

An English newspaper     6    , “People eat about 1,000 tons of snakes every year in China. In Shenzhen,    7    , people serve 10 tons of snakes on dinner tables in a day. ”

If we continue (继续) to    8     snakes, there will be a vicious circle (恶性循环). If people eat more snakes, snakes are becoming fewer and fewer. But mice are becoming more and more, there will be     9     crops.

This will make more people     10    . Who wants to see such a bad thing happen? So people must     11    eating snakes. To protect snakes is to protect ourselves.

7 . 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. inky   B. ashore   C. facility   D. worldwide   E. female   F. conclusions   G. double    H. confused I. Talk   J. preservation   K. typically

Several deep-sea fish have been mysteriously washed up on California’s beaches this year, leaving marine biologists     1    .

The latest Pacific football fish to be washed     2     in the state was spotted near Encinitas last Friday. A surfer found the strange fish dead on Swami’s Beach and alerted lifeguards, who then notified scientists. Scientist Ben Frable then collected the unusual animal for research and     3     purposes.

The fish is black, almost spherical in shape and has sharp teeth. It has a strange external body sticking out from its head with multiple branches, used to attract prey in the     4     blackness of the deep ocean.

The fish found on Swami’s Beach is a mature     5     measuring nearly 13 inches in length and weighing around 5.5 pounds.

Pacific football fish are very rarely seen considering that they are     6     found at depths of between 650 and 2,600 feet. Only 31 known fish have ever been collected     7    and it has never been seen in the wild, so scientists know very little about the species.

Despite the fact that the fish are rarely seen, three of them have been washed up on California’s beaches this year —including one that was spotted last month at Black’s Beach, north of San Diego. The three sightings this year     8     the total number of sightings on record in California, and it’s the     9     of the town among the experts working at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum, which has four fish in its collection.

Despite the series of recent sightings, experts said, it’s hard to jump to any     10    about why this is happening.

8 . Directions: Fill in the 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. dramatic   B. concerns   C. frequently   D. threats   E. revealed F. emerge   G. previously   H. keep   I. deepened   J. native   K. exist

The reason for the mysterious deaths of hundreds of elephants

When hundreds of African savanna elephants dropped dead in Botswana’s Okavango Delta in 2020, conservationists were alarmed. As the death toll rose — from dozens in March to more than 350 animals by July — their     1     increased, especially because nobody knew what was happening. A short time later, the mystery     2     when 34 more individuals of the endangered species died across the border in northwestern Zimbabwe in a three-week period, with one more found in November. “It was very quick,” says Chris Foggin, a vet who examined the elephant carcasses (尸体) in Zimbabwe. “That was so     3    .”

African savanna elephants     4     to this area represent the majority of what’s left of that species. Around 350,000 African savanna elephants remain, and given the already significant     5     to their survival, a new disease could be what tips that last domino towards extinction.

Now, new research published recently in Nature Communications points to a bacterium not     6     found in elephants of any species, called Bisgaard taxon 45, that causes a massive systemic blood infection called septicemia. “It’s a disease we know can kill a reasonable number of elephants in a short space of time,” says Foggin, co-leader of the study. And “it has the potential to kill a lot more given the right circumstances.” What those are, however, remains unknown — yet it’s pressing to find out. Aerial population surveys in KAZA in 2022 found a high number of new elephant carcasses. The examination     7     the elephants had enlarged livers and spleens, as well as internal bleeding in multiple organs — signs of septicemia (败血症).

However, scientists still don’t know how widespread Bisgaard taxon 45 is, or if the bacteria     8     as a normal group of bacteria within elephants and other animals. “We’re assuming it’s probably present more     9     than we’ve known, without causing disease, but we don’t have proof of that,” Foggin says. It’s possible environmental stressors, such as heat and lack of food and water, may have led Bisgaard taxon 45 to multiply and cause the septicemia in the Zimbabwe elephants. With much of Africa predicted to get hotter and drier, the bacterium “could cause much worse mortalities down the line,” says Foggin. That’s why, he says, “it is important to     10     monitoring elephant deaths and see if it’s responsible.”

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 awareness       B. clear       C. encourage       D. ignore E. immediate       F. limiting       G. redesigning       H. significantly I. team       J. theme       K. unlikely

Go Recycling

No one looking at the state of Earth in 2023 can be in any doubt that we are facing three serious environmental problems: climate problem, loss of biodiversity (生物多样性) and pollution of air, soil and water. To solve the problems, we increase the use of electric cars,     1     greener eating and reduce plastic use. However, sometimes these solutions can be opposite to the expected goals. For instance, creating space for biofuel crops to give off fewer pollutants and greenhouse gases can, in fact,     2     increase the cutting down of trees. That means in most cases solutions aiming at one problem each time are     3     to be effective. And, what is perhaps lacking is a(n)     4     of how interlinked these problems are.

We should realize that a key     5     linking all the three problems is waste. The root cause of global warming is CO₂, a waste gas. The seas are polluted by plastic and other waste products. We     6     forests, among other things, to grow more food — much of which goes to waste.

A shocking figure lies at the heart of our special report on our world — of the more than 100 billion tons of things that humans use each year, hardly 10% is recycled. That makes it obvious a full-range war on waste should be paid     7     attention. The situation requires our speedy moving away from the way of thinking — “take, make, throw” — towards a more recyclable one, which means we should begin     8     the products and when they reach the end of their useful lives, they can be recycled.

Solving the three problems calls for a huge transition with joint efforts. Governments must take the lead by introducing laws with the purpose of rewarding green practices, such as the     9     of waste. Industries can reduce, re-use and recycle wherever possible, and     10     themselves with suppliers and the like-minded to realize recyclable business models.

10 . Directions: Complete the following passages 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. typically          B. limited            C. markings             D. items            E. treated F. fenced             G. fear               H. packs                    I. gently            J. present          K.pair

Red foxes exist throughout much of the United States, with the exception of the southwest. In Chicago, they are not common in high numbers, but are still     1    in certain areas of the city. Coyotes(丛林狼) usually compete with red foxes, and the large coyote population and     2    living space in Chicago maybe related to the small number of red foxes.

Red foxes are     3    smaller than coyotes, weighing 7-15 pounds on average and standing up to 20 inches. Easily recognizable by their striking redcoats, red foxes also have black     4    on their feet, black-tipped ears, as well as along tail.

Generally living alone, red foxes do not form     5    like other dog-like animals. Adults    6    during the breeding(繁殖) season to raise their young in hidden places, such as fallen trees, or other natural or artificial structures. As omnivores(杂食动物), red foxes eat a variety of foods including rabbits, birds, insects and fruits. Red foxes may store food in buried locations where they pile up     7    to eat later. Sometimes they are killed by coyotes and humans. They are also easily affected by harmful skin diseases that can lead to death if not     8    .

When digging homes under buildings, red foxes may come into conflict with people. Sometimes foxes may hunt outdoor cats or chickens. Keep cats indoors and get these areas     9    to prevent foxes entering. As with any wild animal, it is important to never feed red foxes, as this may cause them to lose their natural     10    of humans and exhibit unusual behaviors.