1 . Every year on 2 February, Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog (土拨鼠), comes out of his hole in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. If the sun is shining and he sees his shadow before going back into his hole, it means winter will last six more weeks. But if the day is cloudy, spring will come early. Curiously, Phil is not alone. In the region around Milan, tradition has it that if the bear comes out of his hole on a sunny day, he will be able to make himself a nice dry bed and then he’ll want to keep on sleeping. This will show that the winter will continue. But if it’s a rainy day, the bear will have to stay out—and spring will come soon.

“These traditions can be traced back to Indo-European civilisations 3,000-5,000 years ago,” says Venetian historian Elena Righetto. “That’s why they are spread all over Europe,” she explains. The deepest meaning of the tradition, according to Righetto, is in its seemingly contradictory (矛盾的) nature. It might seem illogical (不合逻辑的) that cold days indicate the coming of spring, or that groundhogs and bears would decide to stay out just when the weather is bad.

“The idea is that the darkest moment, when everything seems to go wrong, is when we experience a rebirth, a new life,” explains Righetto. There is a thought that life comes from darkness, just as plants start to grow from the seeds left underground during winter. This thought is so powerful that it crossed countries and survived centuries.

Traditions don’t protect people from bad weather, death, or illness, but they protect them emotionally from some of the anxiety related to those coming realities. They don’t solve the real problem, but they solve the mental problem—they help you live through the hard times of life. In a way, if we can believe in the magical powers of groundhogs and bears, we might find even an extended (延长的) winter a bit warmer and friendlier.

1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．Animals are cleverer than humans.	B．The groundhog dislikes his shadow.
C．The bear prefers to sleep in the dry bed.	D．Nice weather indicates an extended winter.

2. What does the second paragraph talk about?

A．The origin of the traditions.	B．The nature of the world.
C．The laws of the nature.	D．Indo-European civilisations.

3. What can we learn about these traditions from the last paragraph?

A．They can prevent bad weather.	B．They can provide emotional support.
C．They can solve the real problem.	D．They can exercise magical powers.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the idea behind the traditions?

A．Critical.

B．Puzzled.

C．Respectful.

D．Uncertain.

2 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. How do students celebrate Earth Day?

A．By holding a celebration.	B．By doing some clean-up.
C．By promoting a volunteer job.

2. How long will the event last?

A．Two hours.

B．Three and half hours.

C．Four hours.

3. What requires the participants to do?

A．Go there with parents.

B．Complete an online form.

C．Bring their own gloves.

3 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What will the woman do after the interview?

A．Advertise the garden.

B．Visit the man’s garden.

C．Write for a newspaper.

2. What firstly made the man show an interest in gardening?

A．Being gifted plants by friends.

B．Reading about gardening in 1980.

C．Visiting Kew Gardens frequently.

3. Where did Mr. Whinfield learn a lot about gardening?

A．From gardening classes.

B．From visiting Kew Gardens.

C．From reading gardening books.

4. What did the man’s first garden look like?

A．It was a tiny piece of land.

B．It was filled with wildflower.

C．It was located in West London.

4 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What was the temperature by mid-afternoon in southeast England?

A．26℃.

B．23℃.

C．17℃.

2. What will the weather be like in Scotland for much of the weekend?

A．Sunny.

B．Rainy.

C．Cloudy.

3. What is the speaker doing?

A．Doing a survey.

B．Giving a speech.

C．Hosting a program.

5 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Nanjing, the capital city of China’s Jiangsu Province and located ( 位于) along the Yangtze River Delta (三角洲),     1     (be) once the capital of the Ming Dynasty and is recognized as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China alongside Beijing, Xi’an     2     Luoyang.

But if you’ll only be visiting for 72 hours, there are a few     3     (experience) that you shouldn’t miss out on.

Any trip to Nanjing, no matter     4     short it is, wouldn’t be complete without some excellent food. Nanjing cuisine is a part of Jiangsu cuisine and often shows the area’s     5     (local) grown produce and fresh seafood.

The city is also considered the birthplace of Peking Duck, but it also prepares a local favorite: Nanjing salted duck,     6     is served cold after being cooked in very salty water.

The area’s close     7     (connect) to the river delta ensures that travelers will have a taste of seafood, such as hairy crab.

Nanjing is known for     8     (it) cultural and political importance. Today, travelers can visit numerous temples (寺庙) within the city and walk along Stone City, the remains of the city’s ancient fortifications (防御工事), at a local park.

Nanjing is also home     9     one UNESCO World Heritage Site — the Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty, located in the Zhongshan Mountain National Park, where many other    10     (importance) sites, such as Dr. Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, are also located.

6 . 根据课文内容，在空白处填入所缺的单词。

About 75 percent of the city’s factories and buildings, 90 percent of its homes, and all of its hospitals were gone.     1     covered the ground like red autumn     2    .

7 . 阅读下面短文，有5处划线，从每题所给四个选项中选出与划线意义的最匹配选项。

China is willing to continue cooperation _________ with the United Kingdom and other international partners on endangered species protection and biodiversity, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday as two pandas will return to China in early December after a 12-year stay at Edinburgh Zoo.

Crowds gathered to say goodbye and catch one final look at Yang Guang and Tian Tian on Wednesday, who for 12 years have enraptured _________ millions of visitors and residents _________ of Edinburgh, the New York Times reported.

Since Beijing and London started cooperation in 2011, the two sides have made positive outcomes_________ in the conservation, scientific research, technological exchange and public education regarding giant pandas, Wang said.

This has played an important role in enhancing _________ mutual(相互的) understanding and friendship between the Chinese and British peoples, he added.

1.

A．making up

B．teaming up

C．packing up

D．giving up

2.

A．rescued

B．recognised

C．applied

D．attracted

3.

A．natives

B．survivors

C．masters

D．experts

4.

A．results

B．reasons

C．means

D．comments

5.

A．reducing

B．improving

C．organizing

D．quitting

8 . Birders get nervous when they see landscapes covered in wind turbines (涡轮机). When the wind gets going, their blades (叶片) can turn around at well over 200km per hour. It is easy to imagine careless birds getting cut into pieces and wind turbines do indeed kill at least some birds. But a new analysis of American data suggests the numbers are negligible, and have little impact on bird populations.

Erik Katovich, an economist at the University of Geneva, made use of the Christmas BirdCount, a citizen-science project run by the National Audubon Society. Volunteers count birds they spot over Christmas, and the society gathers the numbers. He assumed, reasonably, that if wind turbines harmed bird populations, the numbers seen in the Christmas Bird Count would drop in places where new turbines had been built. Combining bird population and species maps with the locations and construction dates of all wind turbines, he found building turbines had no noticeable effect on bird populations.

Instead of limiting his analysis to wind power alone, he also examined oil-and-gas extraction (开采), which has boomed in America over the past couple of decades. Comparing bird populations to the locations of new gas wells revealed an average 15% drop in bird numbers when new wells were drilled, probably due to a combination of noise, air pollution and the disturbance of rivers and ponds that many birds rely upon. When drilling happened in migration centers, feeding grounds or breeding locations, bird numbers instead dropped by 25%.

Wind power, in other words, not only produces far less planet-heating carbon dioxide and methane than do fossil fuels. It appears to be significantly less damaging to wildlife, too. Yet that is not the impression you would get from reading the news. Dr Katovich found 173 stories in major American news media reporting the supposed negative effects that wind turbines had on birds in 2020, compared with only 46 stories discussing the effects of oil-and-gas wells.

1. What does the underlined word“negligible”in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Insignificant.

B．Inaccurate.

C．Inconsistent.

D．Indefinite.

2. What is Dr Katovich's conclusion based on?

A．Previous studies.	B．Relevant data.
C．Reasonable prediction.	D．Experiment results.

3. What message does paragraph 3 mainly try to convey?

A．Oil-and-gas extraction has expanded in America.

B．Birds are heavily dependent on rivers and ponds.

C．Many factors lead to the decline of bird populations.

D．Well drilling poses a serious threat to birds' survival.

4. Which of the following may Dr Katovich agree with?

A．Wind turbines could share the sky with wildlife.

B．More evidence is needed to confirm the finding.

C．Wind power will be substituted for fossil fuels.

D．Wind turbines deserve wider media coverage.

9 . 假如你是李华。你的澳大利亚朋友Tom听说春节期间你去了马街书会 (Majie Quyi Show), 请你给他写封回信, 介绍下马街书会的基本情况。

历史	700 多年	性质	民间艺术盛会; “中国十大民俗”之一
时间	每年阴历正月十一至十三	地点	河南宝丰马街
演员	来自全国的曲艺艺人	内容	40多种曲艺和其它传统曲目

注意: 1. 词数80 左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节, 以使行文连贯。
Dear Tom,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

10 . Keep a Moon Diary

Grab a notebook and your favorite pen or pencil, and you’re ready to begin your very own Moon Diary. You’ll discover all kinds of fascinating things about how the moon travels and notice the various phases of the moon.

Before you start you can collect together some books about the moon to learn about it.     1     And even though you are older you can still try these kinds of books about the moon.

Start your Moon Diary by looking for the moon one night and recording all the things you notice. Note the date, time, and weather. Is the moon full? Half full? Or maybe gone entirely? What color does it seem to be?     2     Take time to look at the moon each night for four weeks. Every night, record what you see. Does the moon appear to be getting bigger? Smaller? Where does the moon appear in the sky? Maybe record what natural sounds you hear when the moon is high in the sky!

    3     Sometimes you will see the moon in the daytime, and other times you may have to wait until nighttime for the moon to rise. You can check when the moon will rise each night by looking for the information online.

It takes about 28 days for the moon to make one complete orbit around the Earth. So after four weeks, you’ll have completed your very own Moon Diary!     4     What do you notice? How does the moon change shape over time? Is the moon rising earlier or later in the sky each day? How does it affect the amount of light in the sky?     5     See where the moon takes you!

A．Look back over what you wrote and drew.

B．You could draw a sad face in the box instead.

C．Write and draw your observations in your notebook.

D．Every day for a month, look in the sky and find the moon.

E．Maybe you’ll decide to keep going with your Moon Diary.

F．Picture books and stories are a great way to introduce a topic.

G．Predict what shape the moon will be each night for the next month.