1 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

    1     the night of July 28, 1976, one of the greatest earthquakes in the twentieth century hit Tangshan, Hebei. Strange things were happening, but people thought little of the       2     (warn). Then, at 3:42 a. m., the earth shook

Nearly a       3     (three) of China felt it. In less than one minute Tangshan was in ruins and more than 400,000 people were killed or injured. In the afternoon came another quake. Even more building     4     (fall) down. People began to wonder if the disaster would end.

3 . Dutch researchers have discovered that birds living in cities are using metal spikes (尖刺) to build their nests. People put these spikes on buildings in order to keep birds off their balconies, benches, and chimneys, but birds seem to be stealing them and using them to keep people away from their eggs.

The research began when, in the courtyard of a hospital in Antwerp, Belgium, biologist AukeFlorian Hiemstra found a large nest that had been built by a magpie (喜鹊). The nest was made from about 1,500 metal spikes. They were pointing outward to create a protective system around the nest.

“I just stared at it, this strange, beautiful, weird nest,” Hiemstra told BBC News. When he investigated further, he found that magpies had moved away nearly 165 feet of metal spikes that had been glued to the hospital’s roof.

After Hiemstra made this discovery, his team heard about a similar nest created by crows in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, and another magpie nest in Glasgow, Scotland. The crows had positioned the spikes in a different way, perhaps using the metal to support the nest’s structure.

In their report, the researchers mention many kinds of birds moving spikes off buildings, but they chose to focus their study on corvids(birds from the crow family). The researchers pointed out that there have been previous studies on how corvids use everything from telephone wires to clothes hangers to build their nests. They said the use of anti-bird spikes “hints at a functional use”—meaning the birds seem to know exactly what they’re doing.

Magpies have often been seen nesting in thorny (多刺的) places, where the thorns can prevent people from attacking the small eggs and chicks inside the nest. Thorny hedges aren’t common in cities, however, so the theory is that magpies use the human-made version instead. Hiemstra calls this the birds’ “revenge”. “We’re trying to get rid of birds, but the birds are collecting our metal spikes and actually making more birds in these nests,” he said.

1. Why are metal spikes put on buildings?

A．To draw birds’ attention to the nest.	B．To prevent strangers entering.
C．To keep birds off the buildings.	D．To make the buildings more beautiful.

2. Magpies use metal spikes to build nests ________.

A．to protect their eggs and chicks	B．to decorate their nests
C．to provide a strong hold	D．to support the structure of the nests

3. What does Hiemstra think of birds’ collecting metal spikes?

A．Disappointing.	B．Appreciative.
C．Confusing.	D．Indifferent.

4. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To introduce a new species of bird that has adapted to city life.

B．To compare different nesting habits of birds in urban environments.

C．To emphasize the negative impact of human activities on bird habitats.

D．To inform readers about birds using metal spikes to build nests in cities.

5 . For long, Preifer Fall Trail (路线) was a most popular attraction in Big Sur. Annually, thousands of people hiked the trail. Unfortunately, the trail, along with stairs, signs, railings, an observation station and wooden bridges, was destroyed in the 2008 Basin Complex Fire. But now a new trail has risen from the burned land.

With its amazing rocky coastline and mountains, Big Sur, the writer Henry Miller once said, is “the face of the earth as the creator intended it to look.” But the landscape always suffers natural disasters. There have been three major wildfires in Big Sur in the past years. “You can still see the impacts there,” said John Hiles, a state parks repair team leader, pointing to black marks 30 feet up a huge redwood.

Parks planners designed a new track, moving the trail out of the river to reduce its impact on the environment. People from the California protection group, state parks department and the nonprofit organization put in 66,000 hours of work over the past four years. They built 160 redwood stairs and dragged hundreds of 16-foot-long redwood sticks by hand to build railings. They removed 4,150 square feet of old building stuff, enough to cover a basketball court. They used iron cables and pulleys (缆线和滑轮) to build a 70-foot long wooden bridge over the hills. “Nature is probably the best place to learn,” Hiles said. “More than any college or school, you learn so many life lessons out here.”

However, the huge Soberanes Fire s wept through the area in 2016, putting a stop to the work. When they began again in 2017, great river storms flooded the area and damaged part of Highway 1. Everybody gathered around this project. They saw the loss. They missed it. They wanted it to come back. They kept combining efforts. It’s been a long journey, but worth the wait.

1. What can we learn about Preifer Fall Trail?

A．It is an attraction rebuilt in 2008.	B．It met with many natural disasters.
C．It features man-made landscape.	D．It is an addition to a previous track.

2. How did the people reduce the impact of the trail on the environment?

A．By moving the trail off watercourse.	B．By using huge redwood sticks.
C．By recycling the old building stuff.	D．By applying iron cables and pulleys.

3. What can best describe the people’s work?

A．Limiting and typical.	B．Adventurous but smooth.
C．Mysterious and attractive.	D．Tough but rewarding.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．The rise and fall of a hiking trail.	B．California protection projects.
C．The recovery of a lost attraction.	D．Journeys into wilderness.

6 . 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 . El Nino is a weather pattern that brings hotter temperatures and less rainfall than usual. It is caused by warmer surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean leading to a change in wind movements. Warmer ocean temperatures lead to more rainfall over that part of the ocean and less rain over Northern Australia.

An El Nino weather pattern has been declared in Australia for the first time in seven years and experts say people should get ready for extreme heat. The Bureau of Meteorology（欧洲气象局） said the country would sweat through hot and dry weather for the rest of 2023 thanks to El Nino and another weather pattern called a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, or IOD, which relates to ocean temperatures.

Both weather patterns have already brought hotter and drier weather to southern and eastern Australia while making heatwaves, droughts, bushfires and having effects on coral reefs much more likely.

Australia’s last El Nino was in the summer of 2015 before cooler, wetter La Nina weather took over. The Bureau said it was very likely El Nino would last the whole Australian summer.

“When a positive IOD and El Nino occur together, their drying effect is typically stronger and more widespread across Australia,” the Bureau warned.

The news comes after an unusually long period of warm spring weather, with some places recording temperatures 15°C higher than the average. A disastrous fire warning was announced for the NSW south coast on Tuesday as firefighters battled against the fire in the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.

Senior Leeturer in Climate Science at the University of Melbourne Dr Andrew King said the recent hot weather “is a warning of the kind of extremes we’re likely to see more of over the next few months”.

1. What information can we get from Paragraph 1?

A．Something about El Nino.	B．Ways to avoid El Nino.
C．Reasons of global warming.	D．Areas tending to have El Nino.

2. From Paragraph 2 we can learn that El Nino ____________.

A．happens every 7 years	B．occurs only in Australia
C．causes extreme weather	D．is often accompanied by IOD

3. What is one of the predictions of the Bureau of Meteorology?

A．Southern Australia will suffer the most.	B．More places of Australia will be affected.
C．This El Nino will last for the whole year.	D．It will become wetter and cooler next year.

4. What does Dr Andrew King mean in the last paragraph?

A．Things could be worse.	B．People have got prepared.
C．Extreme weather will pass.	D．El Nino will become weak.

10 . 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。

Wildlife protection is     1     global issue, as illegal hunting and habitat loss continue to threaten the balance of ecosystems (生态系统). The decrease in species has caused concerns among individuals and organizations all over the world.     2     (recognize) the serious need for actions, people are making efforts to raise awareness to fight     3     these harmful practices.

To deal with the threats faced by wildlife, building reserves and habitats plays an important role. These areas provide a safe place for various species to survive, allowing     4     (they) to live and grow without the effect of human activities. By     5     (create) these protected spaces, we can ensure the     6     (preserve) of their natural habitats and protect their populations for future generations to enjoy. However, the challenge     7     (lie) in keeping the balance between conservation and economic development. Practical practices, such as responsible tourism and the promotion of environment-friendly industries, can create income without doing harm to the well-being of wildlife and their habitats. By carrying out these practical practices, we can develop a     8     (harmony) relationship between human activities and the natural world.

    9     (true), wildlife protection is a necessary issue     10     requires efforts from governments, organizations, and individuals. By rising awareness and applying stricter management, we can reduce the threats faced by endangered species.