1 . On a trip to the forests of southern India, amateur photographer Kaushik Vijayan was shocked to see some massive rodents（啮齿动物），who are maroon（紫褐色），leaping from treetop to treetop.
Vijayan uploaded the images of the four-pound rodents to Instagram, and the Internet went crazy immediately. Some had a difficult time believing that the squirrels, photographed in the Pathanamthitta District of Kerala, actually exist, thanks to the animals' bright spots of black and maroon.
But the Indian giant（巨大的）squirrel, also known as the Malabar giant squirrel, is the real deal. Believe it or not, it is not alone. There are three other giants in the squirrel family, Sciuridae-each of which weighs in at two to three times the size of the gray squirrels native to the eastern United States.
＂The four species that make up this group are fascinating in their large size, brilliant coloration, and tendency for feeding on some of the massive tropical fruits on the trees, "says Koprowski.
Even among its relatives, the Indian giant squirrel stands out with its bright colors, which makes one wonder why its evolution would select fur. That would call so much attention to itself. After all, these forests are also home to predators such as lion-tailed macaques, leopards, and crested serpent eagles-all of which have been known to hunt rodents.
No one knows for sure, says Koprowski, but the squirrel's purple patterns may serve as a way to hide the animal itself. This is because the broadleaf forests these squirrels inhabit create a pattern of sun spots and shaded areas-not unlike the rodents' markings.
In other words, what looks flashy and fun to us in an Instagram post may make the squirrels disappear when hungry mouths come to hunt. Now that's a common trick.
1. How did people feel after seeing the Malabar giant squirrel's images?| A．Nervous. | B．Incredible. | C．Embarrassed. | D．Sorrowful. |
| A．Its size. | B．Its habitat. | C．Its color. | D．Its lifestyle. |
| A．To show itself off. |
| B．To protect itself. |
| C．To drive other animals away. |
| D．To compete with its companions. |
| A．Human beings. |
| B．Rodents' hunting. |
| C．The Instagram post. |
| D．The broadleaf forests. |
| A．Snowy. | B．Rainy. | C．Sunny. |
3 . In the past five years, about 2.8 billion of school textbooks were sold per year, with total spending of 20 billion yuan ($3 billion), news magazine Outlook Weekly reported, citing data released recently by the National Press and Publication Administration.
If these textbooks are reused for one year, the costs saved can be used to help build around 40,000 Hope Schools in impoverished regions.
The figures show that in 2018, the number of retailed textbooks for primary and secondary schools was 2.93 billion copies, totaling 25.99 billion yuan. If all of them are reused, a total of over 20 billion yuan will be saved per year.
Zhao Dehua, in charge of a company recycling resources, said many college graduates sell the textbooks they have accumulated over the years at an average price of 1 yuan per kilogram. As these textbooks are mostly used to produce recycled paper, the cost is even higher than that of raw paper as the processing procedure of recycled paper is complicated.
At present, free textbooks related to music, art and P.E for the nine-year compulsory education have been reused, but account for less than a fraction of the total number of textbooks. Because of the supply chain obstruction, which increases the costs to match supply with demand, the lack of sound platform and service supporting system for the second-hand textbook trade, most of the textbooks used for compulsory education and higher education end up as waste.
“Every year, second-hand booksellers collect textbooks at a price of about 4,000 yuan a ton, which is more than twice the price of ordinary waste paper, but the number of people who come to collect second-hand books is still few,” Zhao Dehua said.
Besides, the incomplete policies and regulations might bring second-hand book sales platforms and sellers to legal risks.
“Establishing the system of textbook recycling can not only save resources, but also help to cultivate students’ consciousness and sense of responsibility,” said Zhu Pin, deputy head of a school of nine-year compulsory education in Jiangxi province. The school has set up a system for reusing the textbooks and the books are disinfected every week.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 4?| A．College students sell textbooks in order to make profits. |
| B．Recycled paper is mainly used for environmental considerations. |
| C．The cost of recycled paper is greater than that of raw paper. |
| D．Certain groups of collectors tend to choose second-hand textbooks. |
| A．It is blocked because of lack of funds. |
| B．The supply of recycled textbooks is not adequate to meet the demand. |
| C．The regulation of second-hand textbooks has not been carried out yet. |
| D．A large number of second-hand textbooks are not used properly. |
| A．The school frees recycled textbooks from bacteria regularly. |
| B．The school proposes regulations for wasting second-hand textbooks. |
| C．The school calls on students to participate in the system of textbook recycling. |
| D．The school requests the government’s support. |
| A．Textbooks recycled for less waste |
| B．Recycled textbooks used for compulsory education |
| C．Reusing textbooks good for environment and wallet |
| D．Reusing textbooks good for collection |
4 . There have been numerous wake-up calls about the effects of climate change on sea life. As ocean waters heat up, they are making coral lose color. Growing levels of carbon dioxide are making seawater more acidic. Now climate change is starting to affect fish's sense of smell, a phenomenon that will worsen in the coming years if global warming continues growing.
A sense of smell is what the fish can't do without. They use it to find food, detect upcoming danger, escape from predators (捕食者）find safe environments, and even recognize one another. "Future levels of carbon dioxide can have large negative effects on the sense of smell of fish, which can affect fish population numbers and the entire ecosystem, ”said an ocean life expert. "This can be prevented, but we must reduce carbon emissions now before it's too late.”
Experts believe that about half of carbon dioxide emissions produced by human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels--have over time ended up in the oceans, lowering the pH of seawater, and making it more acidic.
Researchers found that sea bass (鲈鱼）exposed to the more acidic conditions swam less and were less likely to react when encountering the smell of a predator. Also, they were more likely to "freeze", a sign of anxiety, according to the study. They found the longer the fish were in high CO2,the worse they got along. The researchers also measured the ability of the fish to detect certain odors (气味）in different levels of acidity (酸度）。 The study showed that their ability to detect and respond to some odors connected with food and threatening situations was more strongly affected than other odors.
The research is important because 20 percent of the protein consumed by 3 million people comes from seafood, and about 50 percent of this comes from fish caught from the wild. “Therefore, increases in carbon dioxide in the ocean have the potential to affect all fish species, including those that many people rely on food and livelihood, "the ocean life expert warned.
1. What do we know from the first paragraph?| A．Global warming will continue in the coming years. |
| B．Global warming is starting to affect fish's sense of smell. |
| C．The temperature of seawater is rising to a dangerous level. |
| D．Few people are worried about the impact of climate change. |
| A．It can affect the survival of fish. |
| B．Fish can stay safe with their sense of smell. |
| C．Fish rely on their sense of smell to find food. |
| D．Fish can find each other by their sharp noses. |
| A．He wants to blame human beings for global warming. |
| B．He wants to criticize human beings for overuse of fossil fuels. |
| C．He concludes that human activities can destroy the sense of smell of fish. |
| D．He concludes that human activities can improve the ecosystem of the ocean. |
| A．Satisfied. | B．Enthusiastic. | C．Disappointed. | D．Concerned. |
5 . Bamboo is one of the nature's most surprising plants. Many people call this plant a tree, but it is a kind of grass.
Like other kinds of grass, a bamboo plant may be cut very low to the ground, but it will grow back very quickly. A Japanese scientist recorded one bamboo plant that grew almost 1.5 meters in 24 hours! Bamboo grows almost everywhere in the world except Europe. There are more than 1,000 kinds of bamboo that grow around the world on both mountains and plains (平原)．
Not all bamboo looks the same. Some bamboo plants are very thin. They may only grow to be a few centimeters wide while others may grow to more than 30 centimeters across. This plant also comes in different colors, from yellow to black to green.
Many Asian countries have been using bamboo for hundreds of years. They often use bamboo for building new buildings. As a matter of fact, the cables (绳索) that hold up the hanging bridge across the Min River in Sichuan are made of bamboo. The bridge has been in use for more than 1,000 years, and is still holding strong.
In Africa, engineers are teaching poor farmers how to find water using bamboo. These African countries need cheap ways to find water because they have no money，and their fields often die from no rain and no water. It seems that bamboo is one of the best things they can use. Bamboo pipes and drills (钻) can help to make the poor thirsty fields to be watered.
1. How is bamboo like grass?| A．It is thin and easy to cut. | B．It grows everywhere. |
| C．It grows quickly after its cut short. | D．It is short and green. |
| A．short | B．strong | C．thick | D．tall |
| A．most people call bamboo plant trees |
| B．bamboo plant may grow 4.5 meters in three days |
| C．the bamboo plant changes its colors when it grows |
| D．a bridge held by bamboo cable was built thousands of years ago |
| A．Because it is cheap. | B．Because it is colorful. |
| C．Because it drills fast. | D．Because it is used by Asians. |
At 3:42 a.m. everything began to shake.
7 . A 14-year-old killer whale named Wilkie has learned how to “speak” to humans. Wilkie, who lives at a whale aquarium（水族馆）in France, is able to imitate（模仿）a human saying “hello”, “bye-bye” and “one, two” after working with a team of researchers from the UK, Spain, Chile and Germany.
“Killer whales use their blowholes to make noises, almost like speaking out of your nose, so we were not expecting it to be perfect,” Jose Abramson, the lead author, told The Independent. “But we were surprised by how close it was.”
This isn’t the first time animals have learned how to imitate human sounds. Scientists have already made a record of animals like elephants，parrots，dolphins and beluga whales all imitating our words and noises, but it marks a first for killer whales.
Wilkie had already been trained to imitate the actions of a fellow killer whale. Once the scientists made her again learn how to mimic an action; they had her repeat four familiar sounds made by her 2-year-old calf（幼鲸），Moana. Next, they had her make five killer whale sounds she had never heard before, like a noise of opening the door. Then the researchers had Wilkie imitate the sounds made by a human and，finally，words like “ah ha” and her trainer’s name, “Amy”.
Wilkie was quickly able to imitate all the sounds and words, and she was even able to imitate some on the first try. Researchers said they had the first evidence that killer whales might be learning sounds by imitation, but they had no evidence that the killer whales understood what their “hello” stood for.
1. What is the main idea of the text?| A．Killer whales are the first to imitate humans. |
| B．Killer whale Wilkie has been used to test other animals. |
| C．Killer whales are able to imitate the sounds of their children. |
| D．Killer whale Wilkie has learned to imitate some human sounds. |
| A．Wilkie enjoyed human sounds. |
| B．Wilkie lived so close to humans. |
| C．Wilkie made sounds different from human voices. |
| D．Wilkie made sounds quite close to those of humans. |
| A．Change. | B．Copy. |
| C．Arrange. | D．Compare. |
| A．Quick. | B．Kind. |
| C．Honest. | D．Brave. |
| A．whether Wilkie can make human sounds |
| B．whether killer whales can tell voices from noises |
| C．whether Wilkie can understand the words like “hello” |
| D．whether other killer whales can do the same as Wilkie |
If you went looking for a
Jupiter is also a planet full of
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9 . Modeste Traore has lived his whole life near Lake Wegnia, in the Sahel area of Mali. The lake’s fish have provided him with a way to earn money to support his extended family. How-ever, because he can’t catch enough fish to feed his family, he now raises farm animals. But as temperatures rise, evaporation increases, making the body of water shrinks. Studies have linked rising temperatures on Earth’s surface to climate change.
The lake is shrinking, so are the chances of his children becoming fishermen. “If things go on like this, I don’t think our children can become fishermen like us. They will have to choose other jobs,” the 56-year-old Traore said. “During the rainy season, there is a lot of water but as soon as it’s over, there is no water left in the lake. We are fishermen. I don’t think our children will be,” he said.
Lake Wegnia is in the Sahel region of Koulikoro, around 120 kilometers north of Mali’s capital, Bamako. Some 12,000 people, including fishermen and farmers, depend on it for food, water and employment. But the lake has shrunk by 20 percent since 2017.
The UN expects temperatures there to increase 1.5 times higher than the average increase worldwide. UN officials note that the flooding and a severe lack of rainfall can cause problems in the Sahel: Food insecurity, the fight over farmland and the fast population growth can lead to conflict.
Aid group is leading the Eco-Lac Wegnia project. The group is working to improve water management and fight the effects of global warming. Moussa Savagodo is Eco-Lac Wegnia’s local representative. He says that failing to make changes quickly can mean the lake will disappear completely in less than 5 years.
People in the rural areas Wegnia and Kononi-Sirakoro have planted 56,000 trees in the past two years. And they are better controlling their water by building stone barriers to help the soil keep the rain that does fall. The progress and international official support are not enough for them, however. More and more people are turning to other agriculture.
1. How did Traore work to support his family in the past?| A．By fishing. | B．By raising farm animals. |
| C．By taking charge of the lake. | D．By working as an environmentalist. |
| A．A lot of farmland will form. |
| B．The rainy season will end early. |
| C．Many fishermen will flee their homes. |
| D．The later generation will change their careers. |
| A．Drought and flood will directly cause conflict. |
| B．Reducing population is a way to protect the lake. |
| C．Water management makes no difference to the lake. |
| D．The rise in temperature will cause water resource problems. |
| A．The local officials. | B．The Aid group members. |
| C．The villagers. | D．The representatives. |
10 . As climate change affects the planet, the world is turning to seaweed (海草)as a possible settlement and play a huge role in fighting climate change. It is used to create natural fuel and renewable plastics. It helps improve oceanic ecosystems.
People think of forests as the best defense(防护)against climate change. But some researchers say seaweed is a better settlement. Unlike trees, seaweed doesn't need fertilizers or fresh water. It grows faster than trees do. And it doesn't require any land. Most importantly, it absorbs carbon from the environment.
Seaweed could also become a key global food source. Many worry about the environmental influence of eating meat. Could seaweed farms provide enough protein for the world? Carlos Duarte, a professor of oceanic ecology thinks so. When you look at how we are going to feed the world population by 2050, in a way that doesn't harm the environment, there is only one pathway," he says. "Seaweed fanning."
In the past decade or so, global seaweed production has doubled. In British Columbia, seaweed farming becoming popular. For thousands of years, First Nations people, the native people of Canada, have farmed on land and in the ocean. Seaweed farming helps them create economies of their own that agree with their traditions. Their role has always been to connect with the land and repair it.
Seaweed might fight climate change but it isn't without risks. If it isn't harvested, it can go bad and give off carbon back into the air or water. Growing too much of it could also affect the amount of light that reaches species living deeper in the water. That would be dangerous for underwater ecosystems. So some scientists think seaweed can be a part of the settlement to climate change, but it's not a perfect one on its own.
1. What is an advantage of seaweed in fighting climate change compared with trees?| A．Growing taller. | B．Using fewer resources. |
| C．Living longer. | D．Absorbing more carbon. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Doubtful. | C．Uncaring. | D．Supportive. |
| A．First Nations people have changed their traditions. |
| B．Seaweed farming has its origin in British Columbia. |
| C．Seaweed farming isn't risk-free for the environment. |
| D．Global seaweed production has been less in recent years. |
| A．Seaweed Farming for Food | B．Seaweed Production in the World |
| C．Seaweed Creating Natural Fuel | D．Seaweed in Environmental Protection |
