1 . You may have recently seen a video from the Beijing Wildlife Zoo becoming a hit. What exactly was so interesting about this video? It shows a dog playing with big cats four to five times its size! Many people might wonder if this dog has a death wish, but it seems that the dog and the big cats are good friends.
The dog was actually raised alongside the lion and tiger cubs, making up an odd but loving family, according to zoo officials. As opposed to the common belief, cross-species friendship has been around for centuries. People have domesticated many animals, most notably cats and dogs, and formed bonds with them as pets. Perhaps you even have a pet yourself.
There are many other instances of cross-species friendships.
At an animal sanctuary in Santiago, Chile, a jaguar named Marina and a deer named Laura formed a friendship after they both came to the park. As neither animal had a mother, sanctuary staff said they instantly bonded when they met. Laura had been rescued from a slaughterhouse while Marina had been rescued from the street.
One possible explanation for these friendships is the environment of the zoo. Animals don’t hunt for their food and don’t need to worry about marking their territory or looking for mates in the way an animal in the wild would. “All those activities take time and energy, and if these needs are removed, the animals get bored,” Gordon Burghardt, a psychologist at the University of Tenessee, US, told The Atlantic magazine. “In this particular situation, the animal’s motivation to engage socially and playfully may be higher in its need hierarchy(等级)than eating.”
Marc Bekoff, former biology professor at the University of Colorado, US, told Slate magazine, “I think the choices animals make in cross-species relationships are the same as they’d make in same-species relationships. Some dogs don’t like every other dog. Animals are very selective about the other individuals who they let into their lives.”
1. What is the common opinion about the friendship between animals?A.It’s easier for dogs and cats to become friends. |
B.Animals tend to play with peers of the same species. |
C.The friendship between animals is not solid and reliable. |
D.It’s common that animals of different species can become friends. |
A.To present a truth. | B.To explain a phenomenon. |
C.To introduce the topic. | D.To provide a proof. |
A.The existing tradition. | B.The influence by mates. |
C.The animals’ inner social drive. | D.The animals’ raisers’ instruction. |
A.To appeal to people to treasure animals. |
B.To inform readers of a special friendship. |
C.To demonstrate the history of bringing up pets. |
D.To compare friendship between cross-species and same-species. |
2 . The aftermath (后果) of an earthquake can be horrible, but it is important that you are attentive and focused after an earthquake happens. Fires, gas leaks, and injuries are all dangers you might face after an earthquake.
Check yourself for injuries.
Aftershocks are smaller earthquakes which follow the main shock of an earthquake.
Exit the building and go to a safer place once the shaking has stopped. The structure of the building you’re in may have been weakened by the main earthquake.
A.Signal for help if you are trapped. |
B.They can cause significant damage. |
C.Remain calm as the earthquake occurs. |
D.The more prepared you are, the safer you’ll be. |
E.Make sure you’re not seriously hurt before you do anything. |
F.After the earthquake, you must get medical treatment in time. |
G.Therefore, you should leave as soon as possible in case of any aftershocks. |
3 . Living on the Florida Emerald Coast, people view a hurricane as a common thing. So it is not unusual for a family to have several full gas cans and bottled water stored in their houses all summer.
Though unwilling to evacuate from a hurricane, on September 15,my family was forced to leave our home for my grandfather's house several miles away. We spent the early part of that evening watching the hurricane draw closer on the Weather Channel. Around nine o'clock, a loud sound shook the house, turned over the roof and carried it off. Soon came an indoor rainstorm.
Realizing the damage, my grandfather began to be afraid. The storm had started, but he still ran out into the heavy rain and wind to see how much of the roof was left. We got him back inside. I had never seen him so scared. Mom finally asked him to lie down in his room.
The leak had progressed rapidly. It soon became a race against time to protect what was saved. Some people may think it necessary to save material things, but I hoped to save those items with emotional value, such as the photos. I still feared the storm, but I more feared the influence it brought.
The next morning, it started to clear up. Thankfully, my family weathered the storm, though the same could not be said for the house. Only the wooden beams remained, but inside many of his things were safe. My mom and I had worked tirelessly through the night.
It was late, but we were still unwilling to go to bed. We discussed the rebuilding of the house. Under the beautiful sky, we suggested looking after my grandfather more often in the future. After this disaster, I realized the truth that the hurricane itself was not so terrible if we loved each other.
1. Why do the people store full gas cans and bottled water?A.To save much money. | B.To watch a hurricane easily. |
C.To protect their houses well. | D.To be prepared for hurricanes. |
A.Frightened. | B.Surprised. | C.Calm. | D.Angry. |
A.Prepared well for. | B.Waited patiently for. |
C.Came safely through. | D.Suffered seriously from. |
A.Family love is powerful. | B.Take things as they come. |
C.Good health is over wealth. | D.Lost time is never found again. |
4 . Steve Forest is a scientist. He’s standing on an island off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Below him are several hundred penguins and their children. Forrest’s job is to count every one of them. It's snowing. There is a big wind, too. And their children won’t stay still. Penguins are great climbers. So Forrest and the team members must be too. And penguins aren't always clean.
Forrest has been coming to Antarctica every January for six years. He's helping count the area’s penguins. This will help researchers better understand the Antarctic environment. There used to be lots of penguins in Antarctica, “It's all because of climate change,” Heather J. Lynch says seriously. She is leading the research team. The team member Noah Strycker adds, “We know climate change is hitting the Antarctic Peninsula harder than anywhere else in the world. We are following the situation closely.”
Scientists think that warming waters do harm to krill, the tiny animals that penguins eat. This is bad for the sea life. But krill are hard to study, so researchers pay attention to penguins. They’re easier to follow. They return to the same place each year to lay eggs. If penguins aren't doing well , krill probably aren't either. “Penguins give us an idea about what is going on in the sea around us,” Forrest says.
This year, Lynch’s research team uses a drone to help them. They fly it over an area to take pictures to count penguins.
Counting penguins is quite necessary. The more we learn, the more we know about krill and the ocean animals that depend on them. When we understand them, we can start fixing them. We should consider carefully what Lynch says: “What’s happening in the Antarctic is happening everywhere.”
1. What is required of scientists like Forrest according to Paragraph 1?A.Being clean. | B.Being good at math. |
C.Being cool-headed. | D.Being skilled in climbing. |
A.To protect this animal species from extinction. |
B.To help find out how many krill might be living |
C.To have a better knowledge of the Antarctic environment |
D.To collect first-hand data for analyzing global warming. |
A.Scientists. | B.Krill. | C.Penguins. | D.Ocean animals. |
A.Penguins lay eggs in the same place on the island every year. |
B.The penguin population is increasing due to climate change. |
C.The penguin population determines the krill population. |
D.Climate change is most obvious in the Antarctic Peninsula. |
5 . Margot doesn’t have a garbage can. It doesn’t need one because Margot simply doesn’t cause anything to get thrown away. The restaurant doesn’t allow any type of single use plastic. Margot, which opened last year, is one of the small but growing restaurants around the world aiming to avoid not only food leftovers, but also any garbage.
“Food waste has been increasing as an issue for restaurants over the last 10 years,” says Calvin Brown. He runs the Sustainable Restaurant Association. Based in the United Kingdom, the organization helps food business become more environmentally responsible. He says that food waste contributes to releasing the greenhouse gas, so there is strong motivation to reduce waste and help the environment.
In the USA, food waste and packing account for nearly half of the material sent to landfills. Restaurants from McDonald’s to Starbucks are addressing this issue with “no straw Mondays” and limits on single-serving plastic, but a handful of restaurateurs are trying to get rid of rubbish entirely. There’s also economic case to be made for waste reduction. One study shows that restaurants save seven dollars for every dollar invested in anti- waste methods.
Avoiding food waste is the first and perhaps most obvious challenge for sustainable restaurants. Doug McMaster, chef at Silo in London, only serves a set menu. This removes the worry that one particular item won’t sell well, and will spoil in the refrigerator. Compost (堆肥) is a necessity as well. Nolla (meaning “zero” in Finnish) in Helsinki, Finland is giving compost to its suppliers as well as its diners. Nolla also has food- tracking software more commonly used among corporate food service companies to keep track of what sells and what rots.
Sometimes restaurants call themselves environmentally friendly, but they might just be using the label. Calvin offers some pointers on what to look for to make sure a restaurant is truly committed to sustainability.
1. What does Margot feature?A.Its large size. | B.Its opening hours. |
C.Its zero-waste goal. | D.Its plastic garbage cans. |
A.Ways of packaging food. |
B.The issue of investing in services. |
C.The importance of environmental protection. |
D.Efforts of some restaurants to reduce rubbish, |
A.Only serve a set menu. |
B.Hardly use refrigerators. |
C.Supply compost to its customers. |
D.Keep track of diners’ preferences. |
A.Expand food business. |
B.Use eco-friendly labels. |
C.Save money on dealing with kitchen garbage. |
D.Contribute to sustainable development of the food industry. |
注意:词数100左右,可适当发挥
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7 . Around a bend (拐弯处) on a narrow trail that runs deep into the forest of Gabon’s Loango National Park, Kamaya comes into view. The huge silverback gorilla (大猩猩) coolly watches
Seated on a
After two years of a total
That Kamaya and his
They work to make
Loango Park, which
Though expensive, the price is much lower than that paid to see the mountain gorillas in Uganda or Rwanda. It also gets income to manage protected areas that
A.monkeys | B.hunters | C.visitors | D.masters |
A.small | B.new | C.long | D.strong |
A.water drops | B.leaves | C.flying birds | D.insects |
A.slow | B.quick | C.risky | D.violent |
A.punishment | B.construction | C.research | D.shutdown |
A.personal | B.public | C.distant | D.special |
A.doubting | B.convincing | C.hoping | D.denying |
A.inspire | B.decide | C.honor | D.please |
A.company | B.school | C.family | D.club |
A.decision | B.courage | C.feeling | D.result |
A.collect | B.create | C.send | D.share |
A.games | B.praise | C.money | D.respects |
A.destroyed | B.threatened | C.tightened | D.distinguished |
A.attract | B.comfort | C.assume | D.astonish |
A.solution | B.explanation | C.access | D.damage |
A.loads | B.covers | C.buys | D.affects |
A.clouded | B.fogged | C.flowered | D.forested |
A.journey | B.task | C.march | D.care |
A.regular | B.final | C.usual | D.busy |
A.replace | B.refuse | C.experience | D.provide |
8 . A great earthquake happened in southwestern China on May 12,2008, killing thousands of people. The quake struck Wenchuan and other parts of Sichuan Province in the middle of the afternoon and a number of school buildings, shops and homes were destroyed. The number of the dead and missing rose as rescue workers dug through flattened (夷为平地的) schools and homes to find survivors. It was reported that many people were still buried under the ruins in and around Mianyang, a city about 60 miles east of the epicenter (震中). People there spent a second night sleeping outside in the rain. The government ordered people not to return to their homes for safety concerns. Few lights were on in the city, and people ate and chatted by candlelight.
Rescue teams brought people to Mianyang's stadium for food and shelter. Outside the railway station, the police shouted in megaphones (扩音器) telling people where they could get free food. Buses carrying survivors left Beichuan, which is in the northeast of the epicenter and was also flattened by the quake. 1,000 students and teachers were killed or missing at a fallen high school in Beichuan County. At another school in the town of Juyuan, 900 students were buried under the ruins. There was little hope that many survivors would be found under the rubble. But officials asked the people not to give up hope. 20,000 soldiers arrived in the disaster area on the way by plane, train and truck and even on foot.
Thirty-one British tourists who were panda-watching in Wolong National Nature Reserve were safe. And the pandas were reported safe, too.
1. What was the weather like after the great earthquake in Mianyang?A.Rainy. | B.Windy. | C.Sunny. | D.Cloudy. |
A.many people went back home to get some clothes and food |
B.Beichuan County is in the southeast of the epicenter |
C.some people were brought to a stadium in Mianyang |
D.the government said people could return home |
A.Beichuan | B.Juyuan | C.Mianyang | D.Pingwu |
A.How many people died in the earthquake. | B.The earthquake that happened in China. |
C.The places which were damaged. | D.How the earthquake happened. |
Today, giant pandas are one of the world's most well-known animals. And they are
The idea of the WWF's logo(标志)
Aware of the need for a recognisable symbol that would break through all language barriers(障碍), WWF's founders agreed that the big, furry bear with her special black and white coat would make a great logo. The first sketches(草图) were done by the British environmentalist and
Based on these, Sir Peter Scott, one of WWF's founders, drew
The panda has since become a symbol not just for WWF,
10 . A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Northern California coast on Monday, bringing significant shaking but likely slight damage to the less-populated area.
The earthquake occurred just after noon and was centered off the coast about 337 kilometers northwest of San Francisco, just off a tiny town called Petrolia that’s home to fewer than 1,000 people. The nearest population center, Eureka, is about 72 kilometers north. That left only about 25,000 people in the range of strong or very strong shaking, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), though residents as far away as Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area reported feeling trembling.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s office of emergency services closed a few roads. The USGs said the earthquake caused losses about less than $ 10 million and no deaths had been reported. The area last suffered an earthquake of a similar magnitude in 1993, when one person died.
“The shaking lasted for about 20 seconds. Glass bottles fell off the shelves at the store, breaking into pieces on the floor, but no one was hurt,” Petrolia General Store manager Jane Dexter said. “It was bigger than anything I’ve felt in my life, ” she added.
California’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) said 2,500 people were told about the earthquake before shaking began through the state’s early warning system called My Shake. “It is a very useful tool to announce warning tips. It saved us indeed. Yet, we still have to remain very careful...as large aftershocks (余震) will occur along the North Coast over the next few days, ” OES Director Mark Ghilarducci said in a statement.
1. What can we learn about the earthquake on Monday?A.It occurred on the Northern California coast. |
B.It brought significant damage to the area. |
C.It caused strong shaking in the whole nation. |
D.It destroyed a small town completely. |
A.The store had to be rebuilt. |
B.She never felt such a big earthquake. |
C.Some workers got badly injured. |
D.No one would go shopping at the store. |
A.Unloading the warning system. |
B.Keeping staying in shelters. |
C.Working from home over the next few days. |
D.Watching out for the aftershocks. |
A.A weather forecast. | B.A lab report. |
C.A news report. | D.A travel guide. |