| A．In a hospital | B．In a restaurant. | C．In his bedroom |
2 . The endangered pandas in Qinling Mountains might face a new threat (威胁): the loss of their food, bamboo, which makes up 99% of their meals.
Adult pandas spend most part of the day eating bamboo and have to take in at least 40 pounds a day to stay healthy. However, a new study published in Nature and Climate Change warned that they may soon find their food gone because most of the bamboo in Qinling Mountains might disappear by the end of the century as a result of rising temperature worldwide.
A team made up of researchers from Michigan State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has studied the effects of climate change on the bamboo in Qinling Mountains. They have found that bamboo is very sensitive to climate changes. “80% to 100% of the bamboo would be gone if the average temperature increases 3.5 degrees worldwide by the end of the century.” said Liu Jianguo, one of the report’s authors.
He added, “This is how much the temperature would rise by 2100 even if all countries will keep their promises in the Paris Agreement. But you know what is happening around the world.”
In recent years, China has been trying its best to protect the endangered pandas by setting up more and bigger natural reserves.
“But it is far from being enough and the endangered pandas need cooperation from the rest of the world, because their future is not just in the hands of the Chinese,” said Shirley Martin from World Wildlife Fund but not a member of the team.
The Qinling Mountains, in the southwest of China, are home to about 260 pandas. That is about 13% of the China’s wild panda population. In addition, about 375 are living in research centers and zoos in China.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．Lots of the bamboo in Qinling Mountains will probably disappear. |
| B．Qinling Mountains cannot provide enough bamboo for the pandas. |
| C．Pandas in Qinling Mountains are just threatened by the loss of food. |
| D．Pandas have already eaten 99% of the bamboo in Qinling Mountains. |
| A．China needs more help from World Wildlife Fund. |
| B．Bamboo is sensitive to the changes of temperature. |
| C．China is making great efforts to protect the pandas. |
| D．It is difficult to control the temperature rise within 3.5℃. |
| A．About 260. | B．About 635. |
| C．About 2,000. | D．About 2,635. |
| A．The Disappearance of Bamboo | B．Necessity to Change Pandas’ Food |
| C．Efforts Made to Save Pandas | D．A New Threat Faced by the Pandas |
When you think of the Arctic (北极), you imagine an icy land of pure white snow. Others imagine it as the last really clean place left on Earth. We have polluted the deepest oceans with plastic trash, and now, CNN says, “It’s the Arctic’s turn”
German scientists have recently found micro plastics (微塑料) in Arctic snow, the Associated Press reported. Micro plastic are pieces of plastic smaller than 5 millimeters. Sadly, the scientists found 1,800 pieces of micro plastic per liter of snow.
How is plastic pollution reaching the Arctic? According to scientists, “It’s readily apparent (显然的) that the majority of the micro plastics in the snow comes from the air.” they fall off of plastic objects and are moved by the wind, just like dust. They mix with ice in the air and fall to the ground as snow. Finding these plastics in Arctic snow means that we may breathe them in. An even higher amount of micro plastic was found in the snow around cities.
The high concentrations (浓度) found in snow samples (样本) suggest micro plastics, which contain rubber or chemical used in synthetic fabrics (合成纤维), may cause significant air pollution.
Are they bad for us? Scientists cannot answer this question for now, according to the World Health Organization. We do know that our bodies cannot take in “large” pieces of micro plastics. However, if the plastics are small enough, they can find ways into our bodies and stay there for a long time, which can be bad for our health. What’s more, earlier studies have shown that micro plastics may contributes to lung cancer risk, heightening the need to further assess (评估) the risks of taking them in, the study said.
Micro plastics have also been found in rivers and oceans around the world. Previous research has found that they flow long distances and into tour oceans, damaging ecosystems (生态系统) along the way. They start in our wastewater when we wash clothes with plastic fibers. The waste water then flows into rivers and out to sea, where they are eaten by sea animals. If people then eat these animals, it means that we’re eating the plastic as well.
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4 .
Elephant Conservation
Country:Thailand
This is a working vacation at a wildlife centre. Anyone can become a volunteer if he/she agrees to help the elephant keepers with tasks.
Daily tasks
Collect the elephants at 6:30 a.m. Take them to look for food in the forest. Clean the enclosure. Swim with the elephants in the lake in the afternoon. If volunteers want to relax after work, they can watch satellite television.
How this vacation helps
If these elephants hadn’t been rescued, they would still be living on the streets of Bangkok. A rural environment is much better for them than an urban environment where there is lots of pollution.
Gorilla Safari
Countries:Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda
Departures:Aug.—Dec., 2—3 departures per month
Extras:gorilla permit ￡220
If you’re lucky, you’ll see lions, elephants and rhinos on safari. The highlight of the trip is the opportunity to see gorillas in the mountain forests. However, you must be in good health—if a gorilla caught a cold, it would be extremely harmful to its whole family.
How this vacation helps
There are only about 600 mountain gorillas left in the world as human activity has reduced the area where they can live. When you buy a permit, this will pay for the protection of the national park.
Polar Bear Watching
Country:Canada
Departures:sixty trips between Oct. 1—Nov. 19
Every October and November, groups of polar bears gather in Hudson Bay. As they are normally lonely creatures, this is unusual. The bears wait for the ocean to freeze so they can hunt seals, so this is the perfect opportunity to see them.
How this vacation helps
If the Arctic ice cap melts due to global warming, polar bears will be in danger. We give a share of our profits to the Polar Bears Alive Charity.
Your comment
These awesome bears get all the liquid they need from their food.
1. What will an elephant volunteer do?| A．Take food for elephants at 6:30 a.m. |
| B．Sweep the houses of elephants. |
| C．Wash elephants in the lake in the afternoon. |
| D．Watch satellite television on elephants. |
| A．You can find gorillas in Kenya and Canada. |
| B．You might get a cold in the mountain forests. |
| C．Visitors need to pay $220 to see 600 gorillas. |
| D．There are about 10 trips to visit gorillas. |
| A．Bears don’t need to drink water. |
| B．Bears store their liquid in their food. |
| C．Bears drink all kinds of liquid. |
| D．Bears eat mainly liquid food. |
| A．solve the problem of global warming |
| B．protect wild animals |
| C．deal with the pollution in cities |
| D．build more national parks |
5 . Population data for European mountain birds have been for the first time combined in a recent study, with worrying results: the abundances of mountain-specialist birds has declined by as much as 10% in the 2000s.
Ecological communities in mountain areas include species not found in any other habitats. These species are also very susceptible to climate change, as global warming is reducing their liveable habitats. In principle, species may relocate further up the mountains, but closer to the top their habitat inevitably shrinks.
According to the new article, the abundance of European mountain birds has in fact declined in line with climate change projections.
The recently released study examined the population trends of 44 bird species in the 2000s in the mountain and fell regions of Fennoscandia, Great Britain, the Alps and the Iberian Peninsula. A decline was seen in 14 of the observed species, while eight of them saw significant increase.
“On average, population decline among the species studied was 7% over the 13-year research period, making the situation of mountain birds distinctly worse compared to, for example, European forest birds, whose numbers did not change during the same period,” explains Aleksi Lehikoinen, an Academy of Finland research fellow at the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus (part of the University of Helsinki), who headed the study.
The situation is the direst for species that only inhabit mountain regions and are unable to live in other European environments. For these species, known as mountain specialists, the numbers dwindled by as much as 10% during the monitoring period.
1. What can we get from the passage about European mountain birds?| A．They are newly found species. |
| B．They can be found at any place of the world. |
| C．The number of the birds has decreased greatly. |
| D．The number of the birds has increased greatly. |
| A．Air pollutions. |
| B．Global warming. |
| C．Human activities. |
| D．Competition with other species. |
| A．All 44 bird species decreased. |
| B．Only 8 of the species declined. |
| C．14 of the observed species declined. |
| D．There was no change in the number of the bird species. |
| A．Serious. | B．Useful. |
| C．Suitable. | D．Waterless. |
1. Which pet may an outgoing person prefer?
| A．A bird. | B．A dog. | C．A cat. |
| A．Clever. | B．Sociable. | C．Careful. |
| A．Pet people’s personalities. | B．More outgoing dog people. | C．Less sociable cat people. |
7 . Even though these monuments are extremely well known, they hold secrets that not many people are aware of.
Empire State Building
On the 103rd floor of the Empire State Building in New York, there is a secret observation deck that not a lot of people know about. To access the balcony, you have to take a series of elevators and then a very steep, narrow staircase. The observation deck isn’t open to the public, but many celebrities have been photographed there.
Eiffel Tower
There is a secret apartment and office at the very top of the Eiffel Tower that has just recently become open to the public. In 1889, Gustave Eiffel, the engineer of this famous Paris landmark, built himself a private apartment and office. It has been restored and has wax models of Gustave, his daughter, and American inventor Thomas Edison on display.
Statue of Liberty
There is actually a room in the torch of the Statue of Liberty that showcases breathtaking views of the city. People used to be able to visit that room until 1916 when German agents blew up a nearby wharf (码头). The explosion sent broken pieces into the raised arm of Lady Liberty, making the staircase up to the hidden room unsafe.
Disneyland
Hardcore Disney fans might think they know all of the secrets of the park, a famous U.S. landmark, but many haven’t heard of Club 33. This exclusive restaurant is hidden behind an unmarked door in Disneyland’s New Orleans Square. If you want to dine here on your next trip to Disneyland, don’t get your hopes up. It costs $25,000 to join the club, plus an annual fee of $12,000.
1. What do the monuments have in common?| A．They are all in Europe. |
| B．They all have skyscrapers. |
| C．They are all the best-known. |
| D．They all hide little-known secrets. |
| A．Disneyland. | B．Eiffel Tower. |
| C．Statue of Liberty. | D．Empire State Building. |
| A．Attractive. | B．Expensive. |
| C．Wonderful. | D．Beautiful. |
8 . When I was a baby, I entertained you and made you laugh．Whenever I was “bad”, you’d shake your finger at me and ask: “How could you?”—— but then you’d give up, and roll me over for a belly scratch and I believed that life could not be any more perfect．
My housetraining was a long process, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. We went for long walks, runs in the park and car rides. We stopped for ice cream. I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.
Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. Eventually, you fell in love. She, now your wife, is not a dog person, but I still welcomed her into our home. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement, I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them too. Your wife was afraid I would bite them. But nevertheless, as they began to grow, I became their friend.
Now, you have a new job in another city and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You’ve made the right decision for your “family”, but there was a time when I was your only family.
I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the dog pound. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said: “I know you will find a good home for her.” They shrugged and gave you a pained look. The children were in tears as they waved me goodbye. And “How could you?” were the only three words that swept over my mind.
Is it better to live with hope or without hope? At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you, that you had changed your mind and that this was all a bad dream.
My beloved master, I will think of you and wait for you forever. I hope you receive more faithfulness from your family than you showed to me.
1. Who tells this story?| A．A dog. | B．A child. | C．A dog’s owner. | D．A dog trainer. |
| A．He had a newborn baby. | B．His wife did not like the dog. |
| C．He was moving into a new building. | D．He thought the dog tootroublesome. |
| A．It hoped to be adopted by another family. | B．It continued to love its former owner. |
| C．It did not trust humans any more. | D．It was excited about the pound. |
| A．relieved | B．aggressive | C．scared | D．loyal |
9 . At Sho Farm in northern Vermont, farmers Melissa Hoffman and Shawn Smith work hand in hand with the land and its inhabitants, and among them are hundreds of ducks. The ducks at Sho Farm are not being raised to be killed for food. Rather, they are naturally involved in farming operations, helping to manage pests and add fertilizer (肥料) to the soil.
In the beginning, Hoffman, who has a background in organic farming and ecology action, worked with ecologists and biologists to survey the plants and wildlife all around the area. This was “to understand who was living here, so that everything we did was in relationship to the life already here,” he says.
So, at Sho Farm, focus is placed on living harmoniously alongside other life and working with traditional ecological knowledge. Food is seen not as a commodity (商品) but as a relationship with land and life.
The methods of food production at Sho Farm, as well as the farmers’ philosophy of working with rather than against nature, are in sharp contrast to most modern agricultural systems. And that’s the point. “We’ve been talking a lot about the broken food system and the consequences of it to the environment, to wildlife, to the animals in animal agriculture and to human health,” says Hoffman, adding that it’s not just the food system that’s broken. “It’s the relationship between humans, non-human animals, land and nature.”
The ducks play a vital, integrated role on the farm, explains Hoffman, by naturally providing pest control, fertilizer and (fuel-free) land maintenance (维护), just as by-products of their existence. “We noticed where we summered groups of ducks and parts of the food system that were not doing very well. The following year, the food system was efficiently improved,” he says.
It’s a symbiotic relationship that works well. “Animals don’t have to be part of a farm in a commodity sense. They can be part of the farm as a partner,” Hoffman says. “They are wonderful partners.”
1. Why did Hoffman do a survey in the beginning?| A．To get familiar with the surroundings. |
| B．To have a good relationship with other people. |
| C．To live in harmony with other life on the farm. |
| D．To have a good understanding of organic farming. |
| A．The causes of the broken food system. |
| B．The reasons for Hoffman’s farming methods. |
| C．The changes in modern agricultural systems. |
| D．The process of food production at Sho Farm. |
| A．Animals are treated well at Sho Farm. |
| B．Animals are not to be sold for money. |
| C．People and animals play the same role in organic farming. |
| D．People and animals work together and benefit each other. |
| A．Efficient. | B．Modern. | C．Natural. | D．Economical. |
10 . The United States Department of Agriculture has a program called Wildlife Services. Its job is to help protect agricultural and other resources. Often that means helping farmers deal with unwelcome visitors. This organization has experts from different fields and it has set up thousands of inquiry centers all over the country where farmers can explain their difficulties and get practical help.
One example from Wildlife Services of its work involved a farmer in Washington State in the Pacific Northwest. Several years ago, thousands of Canada geese landed on his fields. The geese began to eat his carrot crop. Biologists from the program suggested that the farmer use noise-making devices and other measures to scare the large birds away. These efforts succeeded, which made the farmer quite happy. Wildlife Services also has a livestock protection program. The program just offers suggestions to keep those unwelcome visitors away instead of killing them. The Wildlife Services program is part of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS. APHIS offers some suggestions for ways to keep predators away. For example, try to keep food and water safe from wildlife. Fences may help keep out wolves, especially if the fences are at least two meters high.
Experts suggest providing secure shelter for chickens, sheep and other animals that could be attacked. They also suggest using lights above places where these animals are kept. And they advise people who see wolves to chase them away by shouting, making loud noises or throwing rocks. And to protect livestock, consider using guard animals such as dogs and donkeys, which are very effective.
For home gardeners, a two-meter fence might help keep out deer. To keep out rabbits, a wire fence has to be only about a half-meter high. It should extend fifteen centimeters underground to keep rabbits from digging under it. If snakes are a problem, remove dead trees and cut high grass to destroy their hiding places. Due to its effective work, ever since Wildlife Services was started, it has been well received by farmers all over the States and neighboring countries such as Canada and Mexico.
1. What does Wildlife Services intend to help farmers handle?| A．Animals that attack farmers. |
| B．People who pollute the farmland. |
| C．People who don’t care about wildlife. |
| D．Animals that do harm to crops or livestock. |
| A．The cabbage crop was eaten up by Canada geese. |
| B．The farmer didn’t have a gun to kill those Canada geese. |
| C．Wildlife Services involves some biologists in its group. |
| D．The farmer likes to eat Canada geese very much. |
| A．Ways to protect livestock. |
| B．Ways to deal with wolves. |
| C．How to protect crops. |
| D．How to hunt wildlife. |
| A．A tourist brochure. |
| B．A science magazine. |
| C．An entertainment program. |
| D．A business report. |
