1 . When our first son Brendan was born in Sydney in 1966, we planted a golden elm tree in our front yard.It and Brendan
A young couple bought our home and were
Recently on the way to Sydney, my husband
When I heard about her
What a pleasure it was to
| A．watched | B．grew | C．played | D．worked |
| A．built | B．sold | C．found | D．entered |
| A．sorry | B．afraid | C．angry | D．nervous |
| A．proud of | B．polite to | C．worried to | D．delighted with |
| A．never | B．seldom | C．always | D．still |
| A．forget | B．believe | C．mind | D．remember |
| A．feared | B．decided | C．agreed | D．refused |
| A．failed | B．finished | C．lost | D．stopped |
| A．Instead | B．Besides | C．However | D．Therefore |
| A．tree | B．address | C．key | D．message |
| A．encouraging | B．personal | C．important | D．secret |
| A．son | B．friend | C．parent | D．neighbour |
| A．ordered | B．bought | C．made | D．sent |
| A．strange | B．funny | C．exciting | D．heartbreaking |
| A．phone | B．. bowls | C．branches | D．package |
| A．picked | B．planted | C．stored | D．covered |
| A．dream | B．mistake | C．visit | D．suggestion |
| A．post | B．receive | C．offer | D．use |
| A．shocked | B．confused | C．amused | D．touched |
| A．end | B．fall through | C．form | D．come true |
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is road testing a new way to keep winter roads ice-free by spreading on them cheese brine, the salty liquid
Wisconsin, also called “America’s Dairyland”, is famous for its cheese. The state produced 2.8 billion pounds of cheese last year! As a result, there
Cheese brine has salt in it,
In addition to saving money, cheese brine could also be a more eco-friendly option. Many people suspect that all the rock salt used every winter
More than 11,000 scientists from 153 countries have sounded the alarm on climate change. In a paper
The scientists also gave some instructions to fight against global warming,
The scientists say the climate crisis is
4 . A smoke bomb from a party started a major blaze (火焰) near Los Angeles in September,just one of many recent wildfires ignited (引燃) by people. Now, an analysis of satellite data shows human-caused blazes spread much faster and kill more trees than ones ignited by lightning.
Fire has always been a part of California’s natural history. But several centuries of human settlement have created new conditions that promote its spread.Studies have shown human ignition is to blame for 84% of all wildfires in the United States,and 97% of all those that threaten homes.
Human-caused fires always seemed more extreme, says Stijn Hantson,a fire ecologist at the University of California,Irvine,who led the new research. But measurements of how fast they spread and their impacts on ecosystems (生态系统) in California had not been explored, he notes.
To examine those differences, Hantson and his colleagues analyzed satellite data for 214 wildfires in California between 2012 and 2018.Human-caused fires typically spread about 1.83 kilometers per day, more than twice as fast as lightning-ignited burns,the team reports.The faster spreading fires also burned more violently and killed “double or triple” the trees as lightning-caused ones.
However, there is no fundamental difference in the chemistry of a human-caused blaze. “A fire is a fire” Hantson says. “It’s the surrounding things that matter.” Causes of fires ranging from improperly thrown cigarettes to sparking (冒火花) power lines could ignite a blaze on any given day, he says, while lightning strikes and dry thunderstorms only happen seasonally.
The researchers tracked meteorological data and found that human-caused fires were more likely to start on days with extreme weather conditions,and were more associated with drier,less-forested landscapes. This adds to scientists’ understanding of how humans are extending the fire season, says Nathan Mietkiewicz, an ecologist with the National Ecological Observation Network.
1. The author uses some data in paragraph 2 to show that ________.| A．wildfires are mostly caused by humans |
| B．most wildfires threaten people’s homes |
| C．wildfire is a part of California’s natural history |
| D．wildfires break out frequently in the United States |
| A．To prove how extreme human-caused fires are. |
| B．To find out the causes and solutions of wildfires. |
| C．To explore the speed and effects of wildfires caused by humans. |
| D．To examine the differences between a human-caused blaze and a nature-caused one. |
| A．By giving examples. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By analyzing cause and effect. |
| D．By giving definitions. |
| A．Human-caused fires and lightning-caused fires are basically different. |
| B．Lightning strikes and thunderstorms can always lead to wildfires. |
| C．Wildfires only happen in dry,less-forested areas. |
| D．Humans are to blame for the extended fire season. |
A. The main cause for animals and disappearing is often a disruption (扰乱) to die food chain due to hunting, habitat loss or even the introduction of invasive species.
B. With rising awareness of how we affect the natural environment, hopefully we can learn to protect these food chains and help them to thrive.
C. Nowadays, there are strict rules controlling the movement of animals and plants between countries but some parts of the world are still experiencing problems with invasive species introduced hundreds of years ago.
D. When people first explored the world, they took animal and plant species from their home countries to the places they settled in but they did not realize they were disrupting the natural food chains of the area they explored.
E. Many animals and plants are endangered in the world today, these endangered species are threatened with becoming extinct, meaning they will no longer exist on earth.
6 . Begun 30 years ago, the Kubuqi desert greening project has succeeded in not only controlling the fast growth of the seventh-largest desert in China, roughly the size of Kuwait, it has also turned about 6,000square kilometers of the desert-one-third 6f it-green.
Lying about 800 kilometers to the west of Beijing in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region (自治区), the greening efforts have also controlled desertification (沙漠化) in the rest of the area.
The project, which began about 30 years ago, can be looked to as an example of efforts to advance green development, in order to create harmony between humans and nature, and leave a better environment for future generations.
The success of the project, which has been praised by the UN Environment Programme as an “eco-pioneer”, sets an example for successful desertification control and ecosystem improvement based on effective government policies, supported by investment (投资) in the eco-industry and combined with the efforts of local farmers. These three aspects are key to the success of the “Kubuqi model”.
Elion, a private ecology and investment company, has invested about 38 billion yuan ($5.82 billion) in the Kubuqi desert-greening project since 1988 helping to lift about 102,000 local farmers out of poverty. For example, the locals grow a drought-tolerant (耐旱) plant, Chinese licorice, which is the most used herb in traditional Chinese medicine. The plant helps enrich the desert soil, with the bacteria around the roots of the plants producing nitrogen. Besides, Cistanche, another type of drought-tolerant herb, was introduced after the successful planting of licorice. Under the company’s guidance and with the local government’s support, the local people benefit from the “environmental wealth”.
More companies should be encouraged to apply the “Kubuqi model” in other desert control projects in Inner Mongolia and neighboring Gansu province, where the climate conditions are similar but not quite the same, so as to further gain experience and enrich the model in practice. Showing it can be successfully applied in other areas will help it promote the model worldwide.
1. What do we know about the Kubuqi greening project?| A．It increases the areas of desert. | B．It turned all of the desert green. |
| C．It has achieved satisfying results. | D．It is applied all over the world. |
| A．The UN Environment Programme. | B．Joint efforts of local farmers. |
| C．Government policy support. | D．Investment in the eco-industry. |
| A．By following the time order. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By giving a definition. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．Negative. | B．Cautious. | C．Supportive. | D．Critical, |
7 . Many people just see crows (乌鸦) as a natural clean-up crew—eating insects, dead animals or food in trash cans. But researchers have found that crows are not only playful but also social and intelligent. They use tools to solve problems, and they remember faces for years and copy sounds they hear.
“Crows are always testing their environment,” said John Marzluff, University of Washington professor of wildlife science. “Anything that looks possibly edible, they will taste it.” This trait (特点) has led to interesting scientific findings. Some crows use sticks to gain hard-to-get treats. In other experiments, they learned to drop stones into narrow containers to raise water to a level where they can drink it or reach a floating treat inside.
Crows are social, living in large extended families of more than a dozen birds. Communication is key to their survival. Many calls are used—each having a different message. For example, they have separate warning calls for cats, dogs and people. Some crows even imitate the sounds of other animals and people.
Marzluff did several experiments to determine whether wild crows remember human faces. In one, researchers wearing masks caught seven crows around the campus and banded them. After setting them free, researchers found that regular passers-by got no reaction, but as soon as anyone wearing the same mask passed by, the crows made loud warning calls—even years later. Never be mean to a crow. They not only remember faces but teach their offspring who to beware of (当心). They also remember those who were kind to them and pass that information along, too, often bringing gifts of rocks or other small objects as a thank-you.
1. What does the underlined word “edible” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Difficult to get | B．Fit to be eaten |
| C．Suitable to be tested | D．Interesting to play with |
| A．Interacting with other crows effectively. |
| B．Developing similar warnings for dangers. |
| C．Recognizing the sounds of other animals. |
| D．Helping each other in big families to get food. |
| A．Crows-can tell right from wrong. | B．Crows are mean sometimes. |
| C．Crows are grateful birds. | D．Crows have a good memory. |
| A．Crows Can Use Tools to Get the Food |
| B．Crows Communicate in Intelligent Ways |
| C．Cute Crows: They Remember You Forever |
| D．Clever Crows: They Socialize and Memorize |
A. It’s already affecting nearly every aspect of our lives and our children’s futures, our heat waves more deadly, our storms more intense, and our wildfires burn.
B. But the most important thing we can give them is hope that there are solutions, and everyone has something to contribute no matter how old they are.
C. As parents, many of us have had challenging conversations with our children. There’s one more to add to the list — climate change.
D. By taking the time to understand how we feel about climate changes ourselves and then listening to our children discussion about their hopes around the issue, we can help them figure out how they can be part of the solution.
E. When we talk to our kids, we have to be honest. Climate change is real and serious.
A. These homes can easily collapse during earthquakes or slip and slide downhill in landslides, especially after heavy rain.
B. On the top of that, there is the added aspect of global warming. This has mainly been caused by the huge amount of carbon dioxide produced by factories and vehicles.
C. The reason why nature is beginning to turn on us is that overpopulation. The population of the world is growing at the rate of 10,000 people an hour, nearly 90 million a year.
D. The destruction of the world’s forests plays a part, too. As a result, a hotter ocean causes stronger winds. Atlantic hurricanes are 40% stronger now than they were 30 years ago.
E. Most of the growth is in the developing world. Poor people in agricultural areas often move to the cities. They build homes from whatever materials they can find.
10 . Celebrated on June16th, World Sea Turtle Day is a day dedicated to one of the world’s oldest and most fascinating creatures. Unfortunately, this is also a day to remind everyone of the sea turtle’s endangered status.
Sea turtles have been around since the time of dinosaurs. They typically live to between 30 and 50 years of age, spending most of their lives at sea. Part of the reptile(爬行动物) family, sea turtles can hold their breath for up to five hours. This comes in handy since some species can dive as deep as 1,000 meters below the water’s surface before needing to come up for air. Sea turtles also like to get around, often migrating very long distances. One species can migrate over 12,000 km from nesting beaches in Japan all the way to feeding grounds near Mexico.
Female sea turtles return to the beach they hatched on to nest. Some species lay up to 250 eggs in a single nest, and each egg takes around 60 days to incubate(孵化). However, it’s estimated that only one in a thousand baby turtles can survive to adulthood.
Although it is worth having a day to celebrate these magnificent animals, World Sea Turtle Day also has a more serious purpose: to raise awareness of their difficult situation. Sea turtles are threatened with extinction. Plastic trash is a big problem because the turtles often mistake bags and other plastic items for food like jellyfish. In fact, half of all sea turtles have consumed plastic at some time in their lives.
Rising global temperature is another threat facing turtles. Turtle eggs that lie on warm sand are more likely to result in female turtles, which affects the animal’s diversity. Also, trash-covered beaches can make it hard for baby turtles to reach the sea.
However you want to celebrate World Sea Turtle Day, take some time to spread the word about what we can do to protect these ancient animals. Reducing the amount of plastic we use is just one small way we can help make sure sea turtles stick around for another 100 million years.
1. Which of the following best explains “comes in handy” underlined in Paragraph 2?| A．is useful | B．is interesting | C．is close | D．is difficult |
| A．Turtles are a species which hates going around. |
| B．Turtles’ rate of survival is low though they are productive. |
| C．Turtles came into being long after the extinction of dinosaurs. |
| D．Turtles, belonging to reptile family, spend most of their lives on land. |
| A．Turtle eggs lying on warm sand tend to result in female turtles. |
| B．Sea turtles often mistake plastic bags and other plastic items for food. |
| C．Sea turtles are captured by fishermen for food or for other purposes. |
| D．Baby turtles will have difficulty in reaching the sea when they are on trash-covered beaches. |
| A．The factors of causing sea turtles to die out. |
| B．Raising the awareness of protecting sea turtles. |
| C．A brief introduction of sea turtles’ living habits. |
| D．How sea turtles lay eggs. |
