1 . When the explorers first set foot upon the continent of North America, the skies and lands were alive with an astonishing variety of wildlife. Native Americans had taken care of these precious natural resources wisely. Unfortunately, it took the explorers and the settlers who followed only a few decades to decimate a large part of these resources. Millions of waterfowl (水禽) were killed at the hands of market hunters and a handful of overly ambitious sportsmen. Millions of acres of wetlands were dried to feed and house the ever-increasing populations, greatly reducing waterfowl habitat.
In 1934, with the passage of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act (Act), an increasingly concerned nation took firm action to stop the destruction of migratory (迁徙的) waterfowl and the wetlands so vital to their survival. Under this Act, all waterfowl hunters 16 years of age and over must annually purchase and carry a Federal Duck Stamp. The very first Federal Duck Stamp was designed by J.N. “Ding” Darling, a political cartoonist from Des Moines, lowa, who at that time was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as Director of the Bureau of Biological Survey. Hunters willingly pay the stamp price to ensure the survival of our natural resources.
About 98 cents of every duck stamp dollar goes directly into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to purchase wetlands and wildlife habitat for inclusion into the National Wildlife Refuge System — a fact that ensures this land will be protected and available for all generations to come. Since 1934, better than half a billion dollars has gone into that Fund to purchase more than 5 million acres of habitat. Little wonder the Federal Duck Stamp Program has been called one of the most successful conservation programs ever initiated.
1. What was a cause of the waterfowl population decline in North America?| A．Loss of wetlands. | B．Popularity of water sports. |
| C．Pollution of rivers. | D．Arrival of other wild animals. |
| A．Acquire. | B．Export. |
| C．Destroy. | D．Distribute. |
| A．The stamp price has gone down. | B．The migratory birds have flown away. |
| C．The hunters have stopped hunting. | D．The government has collected money. |
| A．The Federal Duck Stamp Story | B．The National Wildlife Refuge System |
| C．The Benefits of Saving Waterfowl | D．The History of Migratory Bird Hunting |
2 . I have worked as a keeper at the National Zoo, Paris for 11 years. Spot and Stripe are the first tiger cubs that have ever been born here. Globally, a third of Sumatran cubs in zoos don't make it to adulthood, so I decided to give them round-the-clock care at home.
I've got two children—the younger one, Kynan, was extremely happy about the tigers arriving - but all of us really looked forward to being part of their lives and watching them grow. I wasn't worried about bringing them into my home with my wife and kids. These were cubs. They weighed about 2.5 kg and were so small that there was absolutely no risk.
As they grew more mobile, we let them move freely around the house during the day, but when we were asleep we had to contain them in a large room, otherwise they'd get up to mischief. We'd come down in the morning to find they'd turned the room upside down, and left it looking like a zoo.
Things quickly got very intense due to the huge amount of energy required to look after them. There were some tough times and I just felt extremely tired. I was grateful that my family was there to help. We had to have a bit of a production line going, making up “tiger milk”, washing baby bottles, and cleaning the floors.
When Spot and Stripe were four months old, they were learning how to open doors and jump fences, and we knew it really was time for them to go. It was hard for us to finally part with them. For the first few days, Kynan was always a bit disappointed that the cubs weren't there.
I'm not sad about it. I'm hands-on with them every day at the zoo, and I do look back very fondly on the time that we had them.
1. Why did the author bring the tiger cubs home?| A．To ensure their survival. | B．To observe their differences. |
| C．To teach them life skills. | D．To let them play with his kids. |
| A．Behave badly. | B．Lose their way. | C．Sleep soundly. | D．Miss their mom. |
| A．Boring. | B．Tiring. | C．Costly. | D．Risky. |
| A．They frightened the children. | B．They became difficult to contain. |
| C．They annoyed the neighbours. | D．They started fighting each other. |
Shennongjia is a household name in China because it’s the home of the legendary “wild man”. Its folk tale spans the generations.
Between 1976 and 1981, the Chinese Academy of Sciences organized three large scale
Nowadays, Shennongjia’s attraction is not merely about “wild man”. Its appeal
The “wild man” legend has been passed on for generations by word-of- mouth. In 2016, the legend of "wild man" in Shennongjia
The classical gardens of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, date back to the 6th century
Built in the 11th century on the site of an
The classical gardens of Suzhou
5 . A single tremble shook beneath my feet. The trees above me began to sway(摇摆) hard. Then came the deadly
Years have passed since the disaster that
Today I am going on a trip to California to help
| A．silence | B．power | C．emergency | D．extinction |
| A．under pressure | B．in ruins | C．on hand | D．in shock |
| A．promote | B．supply | C．contain | D．measure |
| A．extremely | B．obviously | C．actually | D．simply |
| A．adapted to | B．thought of | C．concentrated on | D．worked out |
| A．carved | B．buried | C．designed | D．observed |
| A．balance | B．memory | C．strength | D．impression |
| A．request | B．comparison | C．path | D．reaction |
| A．struck | B．identified | C．threatened | D．reminded |
| A．amazing | B．frightening | C．exciting | D．challenging |
| A．professionals | B．volunteers | C．survivors | D．experts |
| A．painful | B．unusual | C．awkward | D．unique |
| A．appreciate | B．possess | C．exchange | D．improve |
| A．affect | B．recognize | C．recommend | D．contact |
| A．establish | B．change | C．remove | D．revise |
6 . Pets are like our family members and their good health is something that is very important to all pet owners. Just as the pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (一氧化物) and carbon dioxide in the air, affect our health, these same environmental nasties can affect our pets too.
Air purifiers have been brought into use in recent years. They work to remove harmful chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other environmental pollutants from the air.
Whether the air purifier improves or damages the health of our animals is also something we have to consider. The air purifiers are safe for pets, but only if they do not produce any ozone (臭氧) byproduct.
Picking the wrong air purifier type can quickly make things worse for our pets. On the other hand, picking the correct air purifier can lead to a big increase in the quality of life for them.
| A．At present many homes are equipped with these useful devices. |
| B．Before buying an air purifier, we should keep two aspects in mind. |
| C．Pet owners always pay close attention to the physical health of their pets. |
| D．Even the smallest pets shouldn’t be able to access the insides of air purifiers. |
| E．This greatly depends on the type of air purifier and air cleaning technology used. |
| F．So always check the product specifications and try to find a model that does not produce any carbon monoxide. |
| G．A 2008 study published in Brain and Cognition showed that dogs’ brains were negatively affected by the heavy pollution levels. |
7 . Pollution is one of the biggest problems in the world today. In many places, rubbish is thrown into lakes and rivers.
In some cities, the air is filled with pollution.
If we do not act to improve the environment, more living things will be killed by pollution.
If we can do these, we will make the world a better place to live in.
| A．This makes some old people and children ill. |
| B．As well as people, animals are also harmed by pollution. |
| C．We can make our lakes and rivers cleaner and cleaner. |
| D．It’s time for all of us to take action right away! |
| E．Because of this, these places have already been polluted. |
| F．Trees reduce dust and help keep the air clean. |
| G．A few of us should take action to protect the environment. |
8 . Afroz Shah, a lawyer in Mumbai, hasn’t had a weekend off in four years. But he hasn’t spent this time preparing for court. His mission is to save the world’s oceans from plastic pollution.
It’s a calling he found in 2015 after moving to a community in Mumbai called Versova Beach. He had played there as a child and was upset to see how much it had changed. The sand was no longer visible because it was covered by a layer of garbage more than five feet thick — most of it was plastic waste. The unsightly(难看的)mess Shah had stumbled upon is part of a global environmental crisis. It’s predicted that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean.
In October 2015, Shah began picking up trash from the beach every Sunday morning. At first, it was just him and a neighbor, and then he began recruiting others to join in. Word spread and with the help from social media, more volunteers got involved. He’s now spent 209 weekends dedicated to this mission, inspiring more than 200,000 volunteers to join him in what’s been called the world’s biggest beach clean-up. By October 2018, Versova Beach was finally clean and Shah’s clean-up expanded to another beach, as well as a stretch of the Mithi River and other regions of India. So far, the movement has cleared more than 60 million pounds of garbage — mostly plastic waste — from Mumbai’s beaches and waterways.
While he continues to work as a lawyer during the week, Shah now devotes nearly all of his free time to this cause. He also works with coastal communities to tackle plastic pollution at one of the sources. In areas lacking sufficient waste management systems, Shah and his volunteers educate and assist villagers in reducing, managing, and recycling their plastic waste.
1. What has kept Shah busy at weekends over the four years?| A．Handling legal cases. | B．Cleaning up the beach. |
| C．Swimming in the ocean. | D．Fishing on the coast. |
| A．The beach no longer existed. |
| B．The community was in a mess. |
| C．Many fish in the ocean were killed. |
| D．There was severe plastic pollution. |
| A．By raising money to recycle plastic waste. |
| B．By encouraging others to join his clean-up. |
| C．By appealing to people not to throw garbage. |
| D．By devoting all his time to collecting garbage. |
| A．Report. | B．Predict. | C．Deal with. | D．Cover up. |
9 . The entire country struggled with the unprecedented heat of the July 2022 heatwave, but for the disabled, the heat hit even harder. The climate crisis is a threat to everyone’s health, but according toa report in 2021, people with disabilities are more vulnerable to the extreme weather events and natural disasters that result from the climate crisis.
Professor Kristie Ebi of the Centre for Health and the Global at the University of Washington, described the topic of heatwaves and disabled people as being an important issue. “Groups at higher risk during periods of high temperature include people with chronic(慢性的) medical conditions, people who take certain medications that can reduce the ability of the body to sweat, and the “disabled”, notes Ebi, going on to describe the different threats that heatwaves pose for different types of disabilities. Ebi notes the difficulty people with mobility issues or blindness may have with accessing services, such as cooling shelters, Ebi also comments on the importance of making messaging on the dangers of high temperatures accessible to those with learning disabilities or to deaf people,“ Some studies suggest higher rates of suicide and other mental health issues during heatwaves, requiring targeted help for those with mental disabilities,” she added.
Ailsa Speak, a disability and lifestyle blogger, experiences uncontrollable movements in the heat due to her cerebral palsy (脑瘫) “As you can imagine, when my involuntary movements increase, I get even hotter. It’s just a painful circle really.
In the absence of a concrete set of plans for people with disabilities during the climate crisis and extreme weather events, people with disabilities continue to be at increased risk of heat-related disease.
To prevent future death and destruction, the Climate Change Committee CCC), an independent organization tackling climate change, advocates for adaptation planning, as the temperature is set torise further due to the climate crisis and global warming. The CCC’s 2022 report on the health risks of overheating offers adaptation options to the government to ensure that buildings are fit for future climate change. Nevertheless, the publication does not offer specific advice about people with disabilities and overheating, which thus remains to be discussed promptly and thoroughly.
1. The underlined word “vulnerable” in Paragraph 1 possibly means| A．defensive | B．delicate | C．experienced | D．adaptable |
| A．Heatwaves make people with chronic diseases suffer most. |
| B．The mentally disabled have no access to cooling shelter. |
| C．Some disabled people are ill-informed about the risks of heatwaves. |
| D．Mobility disability contributes to higher risk of suicide in the heatwaves. |
| A．To share a disabled blogger’s painful life. |
| B．To show what a terrible disease cerebral palsy is. |
| C．To illustrate the trouble the disabled have in the heat. |
| D．To prove the never-before-seen highs in temperature. |
| A．stress the urgent need to care for the disabled in the heat |
| B．suggest methods of helping the disabled in heatwaves |
| C．tell readers how severe the July 2022 heatwave was |
| D．introduce adaptation alternatives for future buildings |
10 . In 2004, Pen Hadow became the first person to trek (跋涉) to the North Pole alone, without being resupplied on the way. That meant swimming through unimaginably cold waters, and risking encounters with polar bears. Just eight months later, he made a similar trip to the South Pole. Now he is back in the Arctic again, preparing for an expedition (远征) he says is even more ambitious. Explorers are confident, driven individuals. They have to be. This time, however, more significance is attached. Pen and two colleagues will set out on a three-month, 1000-kilometre trek to the North Pole, taking detailed measurements of the thickness and density of the ice. Nobody has ever done this before, and he knows the results will be of vital significance to the scientific community. This will be the truest picture yet of what global warming is doing to the ice that covers the polar region.
Pen and his wife, Mary, live in the country with their two children. “It’s much harder to be away from them this time,” he admits. They were one and five when I last went, and I made a mistake in the way I said goodbye. I thought it would be a good idea to say to my son, “You’re the man of the house now, look after your mum and your sister.” He absolutely took it to heart, asking his mum how she was all the time, but the stress eventually became too much. While it was well intentioned, it was an unfair thing to do.
He is spending these last days before departure preparing his things. “Out on the ice, one is virtually unable to mend things or do anything that isn’t absolutely straightforward,” he says. With him will be Ann Daniels, one of the world’s leading polar explorers, and the photographer, Martin Hartley. They will be supported by a crew of six, flying in supplies. Being part of a team is actually more stressful to someone with his mentality, says Pen, and something else is on his mind too. “I’m going to be 47 on Thursday. I’ve done far less training than I’m comfortable with.” Why? “Organisational things always seem more urgent. So I’m almost fearful of what I’m going to ask of myself.”
Pen believes his mission reconnects exploration with the search for knowledge that drove previous generations into the unknown. “Making it to the North Pole was a personal ambition,’”he admits, “and of limited value to anyone beyond the polar adventuring community. This time, scientists will profit from the data, and we’re creating a platform in which to engage as many people as possible in what’s happening in the Arctic Ocean. This is important work, and nobody can do it but us,” he says. “Our skills, which are otherwise not that necessary, have become really relevant. Suddenly, we’re socially useful again.”
1. In the first paragraph, what do we learn about Pen Hadow’s opinion of the new expedition?| A．He feels certain that it will be stressful. |
| B．He is aware of the huge importance of its aims. |
| C．He thinks it may be harder than his previous journeys. |
| D．He is less than confident of the scientific work it involves. |
| A．He started to feel unwell. | B．He memorised his father’s words. |
| C．He was afraid of the responsibility. | D．He carried out his father’s words carefully. |
| A．Whether he will be mentally prepared |
| B．Whether he will still be fit enough to take part. |
| C．Whether the arrangements he has made will turn out well. |
| D．Whether the equipment will work properly in icy conditions. |
| A．uncertain if it will collect information. |
| B．doubtful about its long-term usefulness |
| C．pleased that more people will benefit from it |
| D．relieved that the general public will be more supportive |
