1 . Researchers have found two different species of sea snake that were previously thought to be extinct. The snake, discovered off the coast of Western Australia, had not been seen for more than 15 years.
“This discovery is really thrilling, and we get another chance to protect these two specific Western Australian sea snake species,” study lead author Blanche D’Anastasi said happily in a news release.
The two species of sea snake—short-nose and leaf-scales—have disappeared from Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, previously their only known habitat. So scientists thought the animals had gone extinct. Instead, it seems they have been driven elsewhere. The short-nose snake was spotted by a Western Australia Parks and Wildlife officer, Grant Griffin, on Ningaloo Reef.
Some leaf-scales sea snakes were found in the seagrass beds of Shark Bay, over 1,000 miles south of Ashmore Reef.
“In order to succeed in protecting them, we will need to monitor populations as well as undertake research into understanding their physiological characteristics and the threats they face,” D’Anastasi said.
Sea snakes across the board have seen a decline, especially in Ashmore Reef. That reef used to be rich in biodiversity, but only one or two in nine sea snake species that used to live there are still rich in biodiversity, according to a 2013 study.
These sea snakes aren’t the only animals to be rediscovered this year. Animals that were thought to be extinct but were found alive have been regarded as “living fossils ”.
In August a mollusc（软体动物）called the nautilus（鹦鹉螺）was seen again after about three decades, leading scientists to call for protection against illegal fishing of the animals for nautilus shells.
1. How did Blanche D’Anastasi feel about the discovery?| A．Relieved. | B．Stressed. |
| C．Astonished. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．have long noses and leaf scales |
| B．still live in Ashmore reef |
| C．have gone extinct |
| D．have moved to Ningaloo Reef |
| A．They had good nutrition. |
| B．They were fished for shells. |
| C．They were very beautiful. |
| D．They were living fossils. |
| A．The rediscovery of two species of sea snake. |
| B．The habitat and living conditions of sea snakes. |
| C．The threats that sea animals face. |
| D．The research of sea animals. |
2 . A duck is causing curiosity and thinking since its appearance recently in New York’s Central Park. It’s even gained the nickname as “New York’s most eligible bachelor(单身汉)”.
People gather at the Pond in New York’s Central Park to enjoy the rare appearance of a male Mandarin Duck, a water body at the southeast corner of Central Park, just to have a look at the male Mandarin duck, a brightly-colored bird originated in East Asia.The ducks are commonly found in China, Japan and occasionally some parts of Europe, rather than North America.
Barrett and his fellow birders came up with two theories of why the duck showed up in Central Park. It might be an unwanted pet as it is not an uncommon practice for people to bring pets they no longer want, particularly birds and turtles, to the park and release them, said Barrett. The duck might also be an escapee from a nearby house, with New Jersey a particularly likely location as the state, unlike New York, allows these kinds of birds to be kept as pets. People originally suggested that the duck might have escaped from a local zoo, but none of the four major zoos in New York has a lost Mandarin duck, ruling out this speculation.
Mandarin ducks do not breed with other species, and no female duck is around to accompany it, Barrett said. Because of that, it has been named “ New York’s most eligible bachelor” by New York Magazine.
The park authorities have publicly stated that they would not intervene with the duck unless it gets injured and needs medical care. “ It’s a fun thing — people can have a good time,” added Barrett, “ and maybe they will take an interest in nature, and in other wild birds.”
1. The purpose that people go to the Central Park is to ________.| A．appreciate an unusual male Mandarin Duck |
| B．enjoy the beauty of autumn |
| C．spend weekends with families |
| D．have a look at the park |
| A．It is very beautiful. |
| B．It has no female for company. |
| C．They do not breed with other animals. |
| D．They are real bachelors. |
| A．The Mandarin Duck is common in Europe and North America. |
| B．There are two sayings about the duck’s disappearance in the Central Park. |
| C．Barrett says that people can have fun watching it. |
| D．New York allows these kinds of birds to be kept as pets. |
| A．Shot. | B．Kill. |
| C．Catch. | D．Disturb. |
1. Why were no people injured?
| A．The buildings weren't damaged. |
| B．The people escaped the buildings. |
| C．The earthquake hit the countryside. |
| A．Twenty miles. | B．Fifty miles. | C．One hundred miles. |
| A．Getting in touch with people you know. |
| B．Paying attention to small quakes. |
| C．Taking cover in buildings. |
4 . If you're daydreaming of future travels while stuck at home during the Covid-19 outbreak, why fantasize about the beaches of Ball or the canals of Venice when vacationing in space could be in your future?
Back in 2019, Californian company the Gateway Foundation released plans for a hotel that could one day float above the Earth's atmosphere. This futuristic concept was scheduled to be fully operational by 2027.
Now the hotel, Voyager Station, is set to be built by Orbital Assembly Corporation, a new construction company run by former pilot John Blincow, who also heads up the Gateway Foundation.
In a recent interview, Blincow explained there had been some Covid-related delays, but construction on the space hotel is expected to begin in 2026, and a hotel in space could be a reality by 2027.
"We're trying to make the public realize that this golden age of space travel is just around the corner. It's coming. It's coming fast," said Blincow.
Space tourism is becoming an increasingly hot topic, and there are several companies trying to make it happen — from Virgin Galactic to Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The team behind Voyager Station have said they're hoping to eventually make a stay at the hotel equal to "a trip to Disneyland ".
The team are also hoping to build research stations and spark space tourism and commerce opportunities. They imagine the government or private companies might use the space hotel for training crews heading to the moon, Mars and beyond.
The eventual goal, as the team put it in 2019, is "to create a starship culture where people are going to space, and living in space, and working in space. And we believe that there's a demand for that."
1. What can we learn about the space hotel from the text?| A．Its construction has already begun. | B．It has been delayed due to Covid-19. |
| C．It can float to the moon, Mars and beyond. | D．It is in great demand worldwide. |
| A．The Gateway Foundation. | B．Orbital Assembly Corporation. |
| C．The government. | D．The universities. |
| A．Exploring outer space. | B．Competing with other companies. |
| C．Opposing space tourism. | D．Building a spaceship culture. |
| A．First Ever Space Hotel Is Coming | B．There Is A Place Like No Other |
| C．Research Stations Are Getting Popular | D．Human Explorations Are Endless |
5 . The pupils of Grange town High have been busy getting to know their newest and tallest classmate, a 7-meter-tall giraffe outside their school
The giraffe is a huge sculpture made by a local artist. The school's headmaster noticed the sculpture in the artist's garden as he drove past one day. He thought it would be perfect for his school. “I knew everyone would love it,” he said, “because our basketball team is known as Grange town giraffes, and they wear giraffes on their shirts. So I asked them to write a letter to the artist, asking how much it would cost to buy the giraffe. He was very kind and got it ready to deliver in six weeks - all for nothing. It was expected to arrive on Sunday morning so that the pupils would see it when they got to school on Monday - at that time they had no idea that we were getting it.
The artist, Tom Bennett, was a university professor of chemistry before he left that job in 2006 and only took up metalwork a couple of years ago. “I've always drawn pictures,” he said, “I can even remember doing it on my first day at school - I drew a horse. I wanted it to be the best horse picture ever, but I don't think I succeeded.” Tom's first metalwork was a bicycle for two that he and his wife could go cycling on together. “It was a most uncomfortable bike ever created,” he said, “So I gave up making bicycles and went into sculpture instead.”
Meanwhile, the pupils at Grange town High are very happy with their new classmate. “We are going to hold a competition to give it a proper name.” said one girl. “Everyone likes the expression on his face, so perhaps that will give us some ideas.”
1. According to the text, the giraffe _______________.| A．was as tall as a basketball player | B．was given to Grange town High for free |
| C．was sent to Grange town High on Monday | D．was specially made for a basketball team |
| A．excited | B．nervous | C．worried | D．confident |
| A．He learned a lot about sculpture at university. | B．He visited Grange town High |
| C．He was good at drawing, especially horses. | D．He showed interest in art at an early age. |
| A．It was a difficult job to name a giraffe. |
| B．Tom Bennett is well-known as a sculptor. |
| C．A metal giraffe arrived at Grange town High. |
| D．The Grange town Giraffe is a strong basketball team. |
1.活动开始时间
2.活动开展情况
3.活动后社区变化
注意：
1.写作词数应为80词；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Jack,
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
7 . One evening, Catherine was at home as usual. As her
With a deep
Catherine and Davey
Being at the right place at the right time became almost normal, and they realized that much of what they
| A．hands | B．balance | C．thoughts | D．position |
| A．bothered | B．interrupted | C．moved | D．frightened |
| A．found | B．cheered | C．learned | D．taught |
| A．abandoning | B．shaking | C．raising | D．hiding |
| A．pride | B．trust | C．fear | D．love |
| A．difference | B．promise | C．mistake | D．plan |
| A．self-corrected | B．self-discovered | C．self-repeated | D．self-described |
| A．driving | B．covering | C．riding | D．fixing |
| A．slowly | B．secretly | C．helplessly | D．frequently |
| A．heard | B．shared | C．wrote | D．read |
| A．useful | B．helpful | C．amazing | D．disappointing |
| A．worrying about | B．replying to | C．depending on | D．meeting with |
| A．time | B．food | C．money | D．room |
| A．marked | B．supplied | C．decorated | D．filled |
| A．set off | B．broke down | C．headed for | D．held on |
| A．gradually | B．unexpectedly | C．obviously | D．easily |
| A．members | B．reporters | C．tourists | D．volunteers |
| A．purpose | B．question | C．decision | D．lesson |
| A．introduced | B．evaluated | C．experienced | D．examined |
| A．turn | B．limit | C．compare | D．devote |
8 . It is not easy to excite New Yorkers. This is one reason why actors and other famous people move to the city. They can live quieter lives and escape the paparazzi(狗仔队)photographers who would follow then in Hollywood.
But New York has a new media star. And this star is not living so quietly.
The star is a colorful Mandarin duck. The bird first appeared this month in a small body of water in Manhattan's Central Park.
Large crowds have gathered to see the duck. Reporters have been following its every move. The media attention on the duck has earned the name "quackarazzi"-a word combination of paparazzi and the sound a duck makes!
The duck has chosen to live in a costly pan of New York-just off Fifth Avenue, near the historic Plaza Hotel. There, hundreds of people turn up every day, hoping to see the bird show off its extremely colorful feathers.
Many people like the duck because its colors are like "sunsets," says New Yorker Joe Amato. He comes to the park nearly every day with his camera equipment.
Bird expert Paul Sweet heads a large collection of bird species at the New York-based American Museum of Natural History. He says there is nothing special about a Mandarin duck in Central Park. Central Park Zoo has its own Mandarin duck, he says. These ducks are often imported to the United States from Asia for use on private property.
Sometimes they escape, he said. Sweet said he believes this duck is an escapee. If it were wild, he added, traditional bird watchers-often called birders-would be "very excited." And they are not. "A lot of non-birders tend to see colorful birds as more beautiful," Sweet said. "But to me, it's no more beautiful than, say, a sparrow."
In this case, though, common New Yorkers get to decide what is beautiful. And they have clearly chosen this Mandarin duck.
1. What does paragraph 1 want to tell us?| A．Nothing can excite New Yorkers. |
| B．New Yorkers are hard to be attracted. |
| C．There are no actors or stars in New York. |
| D．Paparazzi photographers are popular in New York. |
| A．All New Yorkers. | B．Paparazzi photographers. |
| C．Reporters following the duck. | D．The bird experts. |
| A．This Mandarin duck is very special. |
| B．The birdwatchers are very excited. |
| C．The Mandarin duck got away from somewhere in U.S. |
| D．Paul Sweet believes the Mandarin duck is more beautiful than a sparrow. |
| A．Welcoming. | B．Indifferent. |
| C．Resistant. | D．Unclear. |
9 . Visitors to Rome can now see one of the most important private collections of ancient Greek and Roman marble sculptures. The 90 works from the Torlonia Collection opened this week in the newly rebuilt Palazzo Caffarelli, overlooking the Roman Forum. Among the works is a marble fountain that was made in ancient Greece. Experts on ancient Rome believe the fountain once stood in the garden of the general and statesman Julius Caesar. At the time, it was already hundreds of years old.
The 620-piece Torlonia collection is believed to be the greatest private collection of classical art in the world. It was started more than a century ago by Prince Alessandro Torlonia. He found many of the pieces on the grounds of his family's Roman properties. Wealthy from a business relationship with the Vatican, the family purchased other well-known sculpture collections. In 1884, the Prince built his own museum to show off his collection. When the museum closed in 1976, the pieces went into storage.
“The reappearance of such a collection is a very important event, said art historian Salvatore Settis. “When I saw them for the first time, it was very emotional, because I knew most of those pieces from books, but I had never seen them. " The Torlonia family chose Settis to help with the difficult job of deciding which works should be shown to the public.
1. What can tourists to Rome see this week?| A．All kinds of antiques of great significance. | B．Some well-known statues carved by wood. |
| C．The 90 ancient Asian works collected privately. | D．A marble fountain from Julius Caesar's garden. |
| A．It was exhibited to the pubic in the 18th century. |
| B．The works have been in storage for more than 40 years. |
| C．Torlonia and his business partner Vatican began it together. |
| D．It is considered as the greatest private collection in the world. |
| A．Disgusting. | B．Thrilling. | C．Promising. | D．Meaningless. |
| A．The Exhibition, a Returning Wonder |
| B．Prince Totlonia, a Great and Wealthy Collector |
| C．Torlonia Collection, a Brilliant Contribution to History |
| D．Marble Sculptures, a Combination of Imagination and Creation |
10 . A new study suggests Earth could have lost up to 60 percent of its atmosphere in the collision of space objects that created the moon. Most scientists believe this event happened about 4 billion years ago when Earth was still developing. They think a massive object, possibly the size of the planet Mars, hit the Earth, sending vaporized particles （颗粒）into space. Gravity is believed to have brought these particles together to form the moon.
The study presents evidence that this collision might have caused Earth to lose between 10 to 60 percent of the atmosphere it had. A report on the study appeared in the publication Astrophysical Journal Letters. The researchers‘ impact assumption is one of three leading theories of how the moon was formed. The others suggest the moon was either created at the same time as Earth, or that it was captured by Earth's gravitational field as it traveled through space.
The researchers decided to explore how massive collisions of objects affected rocky planets with thin atmospheres. To do this, they carried out more than 300 “supercomputer simulations （模拟）The experiment considered the positions at which the objects hit the planet, the speed of the impacts, as well as the size and mass of the colliding objects. Earlier research suggested that impact collisions during the latter stages of the formation of a planet can affect its atmosphere. The computer models in this study expanded on this idea. They showed that a collision like the one that may have formed the moon likely took a large part of Earth's atmosphere.
1. What do most scientists believe?| A．Earth has lost its atmosphere in the collision. |
| B．The moon was created in the collision of space objects. |
| C．The planet Mars hit Earth about 4 billion years ago. |
| D．The collision of space objects caused the atmosphere to increase. |
| A．The collision of Earth and the moon affected gravity. |
| B．The atmosphere on Earth is the cause of the collision. |
| C．Scientists hold different points on how the moon was formed. |
| D．An agreement on the formation of the moon has been reached. |
| A．The process of the moon's being formed. |
| B．The heated debate among different scientists. |
| C．The supercomputer experiment of planets’ collision. |
| D．The collision of space objects affected Earth's atmosphere. |
| A．To inform. | B．To persuade. | C．To debate. | D．To warn. |
