1 . When Yang Fan was taking a walk around the Yuliang Island, she saw a black swan (天鹅) in the grass. Yang Fan knew that swans could be fierce (凶猛的). But as she got close to this one, it didn’t move.
She was sure that the swan needed help. So Yang covered the bird’s head with her jacket to keep its cool, picked it up carefully, and held it in her arms. She decided to send it to the Animal Care Center, but the center was across the Han River, far from the park. She didn’t know how to carry the swan there. Luckily, some strangers driving by gave her and the swan a lift to a nearby bus stop.
On the bus, no one seemed surprised by “the unusual passenger”. Instead they were worried. Someone helped Yang Fan call the center on the way. And Li Tao, an animal-care manager, picked her up at the bus stop and drove them to the center. There, the animal doctors found that the swan was poisoned, caused by eating something used to kill mice. The swan was well looked after at the center. She even made a friend—a little dog. Thanks to people’s love and care, luckily, she was cured (治愈) two months later.
“It’s a moving story. Yang Fan travelled about two hours and it was really a long way.” Says Li Tao. “And all the strangers wanted to give her and the swan a hand.” He adds, “I am happy to see that more and more people have realized the importance of protecting the wild life since Xiangyang began to build the civilized (文明) city.”
1. Which is the correct order of the things that happened to the swan?①She was found by Yang Fan.
②She ate something wrong.
③She was cured.
④She made friends with a dog.
⑤She was sent to the Animal Care Center.
| A．①②⑤③④ | B．①⑤②④③ |
| C．②①⑤④③ | D．⑤②①③④ |
| A．困住 | B．中毒 | C．射伤 | D．掉队 |
| A．Yang Fan didn’t try her best to save the swan. |
| B．The swan could be helped in a much better way. |
| C．Li Tao cared more about the swan than Yang Fan. |
| D．People went out of their way to protect the wild life. |
| A．Ways to Protect the Animals |
| B．More Animal Care Centers Are Needed |
| C．A Swan Meets a City Full of Love |
| D．Efforts the Animal Doctors Have Made |
Ancient Forest Found Inside A Giant Sinkhole In China
The residents of Leye County in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are familiar
Lixin Chen,
Since then, the scientists
The sinkholes,
3 . San Francisco’s public garbage cans have long outlived their lifespan (寿命) and need to be replaced. However, the current design is not enough for the city’s large population and the increasing number of tourists. The garbage cans also get messed up by the homeless. To address the issues, in 2018, San Francisco Public Works officials set out in search of a perfect garbage can. This proved harder than they had thought.
The officials had a few criteria in mind. The ideal garbage can had to be durable (耐用的) and easy to empty. It would also have a built-in sensor (传感器) to send warnings when full, cost between $2,000 to $3,000 a piece, and, most importantly, look good! After an extensive search failed to find a suitable off-the-shelf replacement, the committee asked local firms to design customized garbage cans.
The four-year exploration ended on July 18, 2022, with three selections. They include the “Slim Silhouette” “Salt & Pepper” and “Soft Square”. Since none of them meet all the required criteria, the officials have turned to the city’s residents for help.
The customized cans and three new off-the-shelf options have been placed across San Francisco for a 60-day trial. Residents can scan the QR codes on the cans and provide opinions on their use experience. A location map of each option is included at the end of the survey. The most popular garbage can will be publicized after the trial ends in mid-September.
The time spent on the project and the cost of the three customized garbage cans — which ranged between $11,000 to $20,900 a piece — have drawn criticism from the city’s retired official Matt Haney.
“The idea that San Francisco is so unique that we need a separate garbage can from any one used in any city around the world is laughable,” Haney said. “It’s something that reflects a broader and deeper brokenness of city government and the services it provides.”
However, Beth Rubenstein, director of policy and communications at San Francisco Public Works, believes their research will benefit cities across the US.
1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The local tourism industry. | B．The origin of garbage cans. |
| C．The problems faced by the city. | D．The city’s poor environment. |
| A．The function. | B．The appearance. | C．The material. | D．The cost. |
| A．Take good care of the new garbage cans. | B．Make improvements to the new garbage cans. |
| C．Check new criteria for the new garbage cans. | D．Give their opinions on the new garbage cans. |
| A．Rewarding. | B．Meaningless. | C．Misleading.. | D．Efficient. |
1. What is the weather like in the southeast of the country?
| A．Rainy. | B．Sunny. | C．Dry. |
| A．26℃. | B．23℃. | C．20℃. |
| A．The north. | B．The south. | C．The southeast. |
| A．Sunny. | B．Rainy. | C．Foggy. |
5 . Have you ever seen an “ugly” oyster(牡蛎)? That is the term oyster farmers use for the sea animals whose shells get too large to sell to seafood restaurants. Each year, farmers grow oysters to just the right size so people at restaurants will enjoy eating them. If they get too big, restaurants no longer want to buy them.
So last year, when many seafood restaurants in the U.S. closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic(流行病), oyster farmers lost the chance to sell their products. Eventually, they had a lot of “uglies” and didn’t know what to do with them.
That was a big problem until a conservation program came to the rescue. The program is called Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration, or SOAR. It is buying more than 5 million oysters at the cost of about $2 million from farmers on the east coast of the U.S. and in Washington State.
Farmers take living oysters that are too big to sell and send them to places like the Great Bay in the northeastern state of New Hampshire. Oysters are placed in special locations called reefs(暗礁). Once they attach to the structures in the water, they can live for a number of years. They help create a good environment for other sea life. The hope is that the oysters will help clean the water and also have babies.
Lisa Calvo runs Sweet Amalia Oyster Farm in southern New Jersey. She said the program helped her business get through the pandemic and “stay afloat”.
Calvo started her farm about 20 years ago. She sells her oysters to restaurants close to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and those in the towns along the ocean in New Jersey. Oysters are ready to sell when they are about two years old. When all the restaurants started closing, she said she was “in a panic”.
She was able to earn about half the usual amount of money by selling her oysters to the program. That was better than nothing.
1. What is the problem with an “ugly” oyster?| A．It is too small. | B．It looks strange. |
| C．It is overgrown. | D．It is too large to catch. |
| A．To save their lives. | B．To attract other sea life. |
| C．To produce more oysters. | D．To create a belter eco-environment. |
| A．Take off. | B．Keep up. |
| C．Break up. | D．Fall down. |
| A．All roads lead to Rome. | B．There are two sidles to everything. |
| C．Half a loaf is better than no bread. | D．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| 基本信息 | 位置：广州番禺区(Panyu District)迎宾路 |
| 面积：1000多亩(mu) | |
| 地位：中国领先的海洋主题公园之一 | |
| 特点 | 1.有6个园区，各种各样的种娱乐设施，如过山车、跳楼机等； |
| 2.富丽堂皇的演艺广场(performing square)和大型巡游； | |
| 3.在白虎大街(The White Tiger Street)购物。 |
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Guangzhou Chimelong Paradise
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7 . Climate change is a global challenge. One way to fight it is by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. New research shows that trees planted in China have helped in this fight.
A recent study in the journal Nature shows that the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed (吸收) by new forests in two parts of China is more than we thought. These areas are in the northeastern Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces and the southwestern Yunnan and Guizhou provinces and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. They make up about 35 percent of China’s land-based (基于陆地的) carbon sinks (碳汇). A carbon sink is a natural area like a forest or ocean that absorbs more-carbon dioxide than it emits (排放). Carbon sinks help to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
China’s goal is to peak (达到峰值) its CO2 emissions (排放) before 2030 and reach carbon neutrality (中和) by 2060, Xinhua reported. Carbon neutrality refers to removing as much CO2 as one puts into the air.
According to study co-author Yi Liu at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, “the afforestation activities described in our Nature paper will play a role in reaching that goal.”
1. A recent study in Nature shows that ________.| A．China has serious air pollution | B．China has planted the most trees in the world |
| C．China has fewer CO2 emissions now | D．China has planted fewer trees |
| A．is the world’s largest emitter of CO2 | B．will bring CO2 emissions down after 2030 |
| C．will not release CO2 in the future | D．will reach carbon neutrality by 2030 |
| A．One way to fight climate is by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. |
| B．Trees planted in China have helped fight against climate change. |
| C．New forests in two parts of China absorbed more carbon dioxide than we thought. |
| D．35 percent of China’s land has been affected by CO2 emission. |
| A．It takes a long time for carbon sinks to form. | B．Climate change is no longer a serious problem. |
| C．More trees will be planted in China in the future. | D．China has beaten climate change. |
8 . Did you know that birds could be “property owners”, too? In spring, the male robin (知更鸟) looks for a place to build a nest. A tree near a green lawn (草坪)th at has many worms (虫子) suits him best. When he finds the right place, he sings loudly. He tells other birds that this place is his property.
At the same time, other birds are choosing places for their nests. A robin does not mind if swallows nest nearby because swallows eat insects. They leave his worms alone. But other robins are different. They would eat the worm supply he needs for his own family.
When another male robin comes near, the robin owner sings to warn him away. The property owner looks cross and fierce (凶猛的).He raises his head feathers and holds his tail high. If the owner cannot frighten away the new robin, he attacks. The two fight until one is the winner. The new bird often gives up and flies away. So the first bird has defended his property. He now has the right to build a nest in the place.
1. The male robin looks for a place to build a nest ________.| A．near swallows | B．near other male robins |
| C．near a lawn with worms | D．in the woods |
| A．drive away all the other birds | B．do not care where they build their nests |
| C．are careful when choosing a place to nest | D．are not afraid of other birds |
| A．what robins eat | B．robins finding a nesting place |
| C．robins finding friends | D．how robins live with swallows |
9 . The mangrove tree might not look very impressive, but it is an essential part of our ecosystem. However, more than half of the mangrove forests have been destroyed in the past century. Several World Heritage Sites have been listed largely because of their mangrove ecosystems. Among them are the Sundarbans across India and Bangladesh, the Everglades National Park in the US, and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Being a World Heritage Site requires for the mangroves to be protected. However, one country in Asia has gone further by having a five-year program to protect and conserve all their mangroves. They even have a mangrove museum and observe World Mangrove Day. This country is Sri Lanka. Why are mangrove trees so important to Sri Lanka and to other countries where mangroves grow?
The mangrove tree grows along coastal saltwater shorelines. They have adapted to the harsh coastal weather and have deep roots. This means that they are strong and cannot be easily removed. In countries where natural disasters such as tsunamis and cyclones occur, the forests provide protection. The villages in Sri Lanka with full mangrove forests have suffered less damage when hit by these natural disasters. The reason is that the mangroves break up the force and strength of the waves.
The mangroves also quickly absorb carbon dioxide and send oxygen into the atmosphere. This makes them an important part of the fight against climate change. They absorb far more carbon dioxide than other types of forest, and store it in their structure and even in the soil. This is important as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is believed to be a cause of detrimental changes in the weather, such as global warming.
The strong roots also provide protection for young fish as they grow. With the oceans around the world being overfished, it is important to maintain the ecological balance in the oceans. For Sri Lanka, one of the threats to the mangrove forests is the shrimp farms being set up. To build saltwater ponds for the shrimps, the mangroves are cut down. This has resulted in fewer fish surviving among the mangrove roots and fewer fish being caught by the fishermen. The local fishing communities noticed that they were losing money and it made them aware of how important the mangroves were. They are now helping to conserve the forests.
Sri Lanka is showing that a nation can preserve all of its mangroves. The conservation model they have can be used by other countries. It might take many years of planning, but the benefits of saving mangroves definitely outweigh the costs.
1. What do we know about the mangrove trees from the passage?| A．They are mainly grown in Australia. |
| B．They can prevent young fish from growing. |
| C．They have been damaged by natural disasters. |
| D．They are less impressive but important to the ecosystem. |
| A．A world mangrove festival has been founded. |
| B．Saltwater ponds for the shrimps have been set up. |
| C．A 5-year mangroves protecting program has been started. |
| D．More mangroves along the coastal areas have been grown. |
| A．The mangroves can keep the ecological balance in the oceans. |
| B．The mangroves are essential for fighting against climate change. |
| C．The mangroves have deep roots and hold the soil in place firmly. |
| D．The mangroves can break up the force and strength of the waves. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
World leaders at the 5th meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) agreed that by 2024, they would create and sign a new treaty on plastics. The new treaty would create international laws
Because plastic is useful for so many purposes, it has become a part of nearly all areas of our lives. It’s hard to look anywhere without finding dozens of
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) reports that
Plastic gives off dangerous gases when it’s made and also when it’s burned or buried in the ground. Scientists say plastics are responsible
Plastic doesn’t “decompose (腐烂)” like natural materials. Instead, it just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. And as the plastics
Microplastics are so tiny that
