1 . A few weeks ago, I received a package containing a small batch (一批) of seeds from my friend. When I asked her what it would grow
I sowed the seeds in a beautiful flowerpot. In the first few days, I was excited to search for the slightest
I watered the plant carefully. I placed the plant in the sunlight and rotated (旋转) it for a
Bending down and carefully studying the seedlings, I could almost
Now they are taller than the edge of the pot,
I am certain that after a few more days, my coriander plants will be ready for
| A．into | B．for | C．up | D．out |
| A．gradually | B．incredibly | C．ultimately | D．intently |
| A．samples | B．signs | C．routes | D．proofs |
| A．apparent | B．distinct | C．conventional | D．massive |
| A．allowed for | B．longed for | C．provided for | D．went for |
| A．intense | B．violent | C．balanced | D．exceptional |
| A．emerged | B．hatched | C．reserved | D．sank |
| A．pray | B．assess | C．forecast | D．hear |
| A．conflicted | B．facilitated | C．crowded | D．surrounded |
| A．subsequently | B．constantly | C．extensively | D．merely |
| A．howl | B．scream | C．thunder | D．whisper |
| A．initiative | B．leisure | C．harmony | D．luxury |
| A．possession | B．consumption | C．exposure | D．harvest |
| A．breaking into | B．relating to | C．brightening up | D．wearing down |
| A．touch | B．bunch | C．host | D．lot |
2 . As the world sees more and more extreme weather patterns, it's becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the effects of climate change.
The term "cli-fi" was first used in 2007 by US climate activist and writer Dan Bloom.
The genre is also gaining popularity with high school and college students because it looks at topics that are relevant to what's really happening today.
Cli-fi has also helped to inspire students to pursue science majors, with some universities even offering courses specifically focusing on climate fiction.
“These books aren't going to save the world in any straight form or way: Johns-Putra commented.” “
As Atwood wrote in her dystopian cli-fi novel MaddAddam, “People need such stories, because however dark, a darkness with voices in it is better than a silent void (空间)”.
| A．He considered cli-fi would be popular with young readers. |
| B．He wanted to make "climate fiction" more appealing. |
| C．But they're certainly going to help us think about how the world gets saved. |
| D．It is now a common topic of discussion and has even found its way into the books we read. |
| E．It's a feedback, as these books feed into our awareness and that feeds into our demand to read these books. |
| F．As the name suggests, climate fiction refers to stories with the central theme of climate change or global warming. |
| G．Also, many cli-fi novels tend to have dystopian (反乌托邦的) themes, which are very popular in young adult novels. |
With the Chinese New Year less than a month away, people are getting ready to welcome the Year of the Tiger.
Do you know anyone born in the Year of the Tiger? Are they always independent and
In Chinese culture, tigers are regarded as fearless creatures, so that's
Tigers have
Tigers are also one of my favorite animals. I first
4 . Made out of thin air
The world has experienced a lot of extreme weather this year due to climate change, which carbon emissions are believed to be most responsible for.
Meat made from air
It is hard to imagine that food consisting of protein could be produced from CO2, but that is exactly what Solar Foods is working on. To create the protein, the company uses renewable energy to split water cells into hydrogen and oxygen.
What about wearing a pair of shoes made of carbon emissions? On Running, a Swiss sports shoe brand, is trying to make foam(泡沫) for its shoed from captured carbon. In November, it announced it was teaming up with US-based company LanzaTech to make ethanol(乙醇) out of waste CO2, which would otherwise be burned, releasing CO2. On Running hopes to produce its first pair of shoes made wholly from carbon sometime next yeat.
Turning CO2 into perfume
What is the smell of a perfume made from CO2? New York-based startup Air Company is selling perfume made from CO2. Perfume has an alcohol base. When mixed with a bit of water and fragrance(芳香) oil, it becomes perfume. Ethanol is widely used in perfume production because it has a neutral smell. This means you only smell the oil.
| A．Running on foam |
| B．Stepping on carbon |
| C．This kind of fragrance oil is made from CO2 by Air Company. |
| D．Then it mixes the hydrogen with CO2 and adds other nutrients. |
| E．They are expected to not cost much more than a regular pair of shoes. |
| F．To solve the problem, capturing and reusing CO2 is an option for tech companies. |
| G．What Air Company is able to do is transform CO2 into a very pure form of ethanol. |
5 . A little social support from your best friends goes a long way, whether you‘re a human or a chimp (黑猩猩). A new study that followed a chimp community in the forests of Uganda has found that quality time with close companions significantly decreased stress hormone (荷尔蒙) levels—whether they were resting, cleaning or facing off against enemies.
Researchers have long known that stress can worsen health and raise the risk of early death in humans as well as other social mammals. “It can have effects on immune function, cognition, and even your mood,” said study co-author Kevin Langergraber, a scientist at Arizona State University.
Maintaining close social bonds can help these animals reduce some of that stress, potentially reducing some health risks. But scientists have yet to work out how. “Social bonds make you survive and produce better—but how do they do that？”Langergraber said.
To find out, the international team of researchers studied members of a chimp community in Uganda‘s Budongo Forest, a group of 15 males, 35 females and 28 young chimps. Like humans, chimps tend to have besties—bond partners with whom they appear to feel close. The researchers wanted to see whether interactions with these bond partners led to lower stress levels during particularly stressful situations, such as when fighting enemies, or whether time spent with friends helped lower stress levels more generally, throughout the day.
The scientists observed the chimps perform three types of activities: resting, cleaning or fighting with other groups of chimps. The researchers kept track of whether the chimps were doing any of these three things with their bond partners or with other chimps in their group.
A team of up to six observers watched the chimps and followed them around to collect urine(尿液) samples. The samples, collected from nine adult male and eight adult female chimps, were tested to see how much of the stress hormone they contained.
The scientists found that chimps‘ levels were 23% lower, on average, during the activities when they were with their bond partner. This was especially true for stressful activities, such as the intergroup rivalries, where any chimp on the front line might face physical harm or even death.
The findings in chimps, some of our closest living relatives, could shed light on the role such close social relationships play in human health too, he said. Such friendships may be just as important during good times as bad—though more research needs to be done before any conclusions can be drawn.
1. How did the scientists carry out their research?| A．By interacting with chimps. |
| B．By studying a chimp community. |
| C．By analyzing previous studies on chimps. |
| D．By comparing chimps’ three types of activities. |
| A．Observers. | B．Chimps. |
| C．Bond partners. | D．Urine samples. |
| A．To emphasize the bad effects of stress on health. |
| B．To show us how chimps control their stress level. |
| C．To inform us friendships benefit both chimps and humans. |
| D．To urge scientists to further study the benefits of friendships. |
6 . In 17th-century Europe, it was unheard of for a woman to travel by herself, but that didn’t stop Maria Sibylla Merian. In 1699, she and her 21-year- old daughter Dorothea sailed from Amsterdam to Surinam in South America. The three-month voyage was dangerous but she was determined to go. She would be the first person to go to a foreign country to study and paint insects directly from nature.
When they arrived in Surinam, Maria and Dorothea started working. Day after day, they took their painting materials into the hot rainforest to collect and draw insects and plants. Artists had never done such a thing before. Still life painters drew from dead specimens (标本). But Merian had always been interested in painting living animals and plants, and her favourite subjects were insects.
In the rainforest, she climbed ladders to study and collect insects. She had trees cut down so she could see what lived at the top level of the forest more than a hundred feet overhead. Merian combined both art and science in her work. As skilled observer, she kept detailed notes.
Merian planned to stay in Surinam for five years, painting and collecting insects and plants that Europeans had never seen. She learnt about the medicinal plants of the area and expanded her interest to spiders, birds and snakes. She planned to publish a book of her new work on her returm to Amsterdam.
After two years, she had to leave Surinam. It was extremely hot, and unluckily she was ill with malaria. But she had more than enough material for a book. In June 1701, Maria and Dorothea sailed back to Amsterdam with many paintings and specimens- buttrflies kept in brandy, bottles with snakes, and boxes of pressed insects.
Four years later, in 1705, Merian published the book for which she is best known, Metamorphosis of the Insects of Surinam. The paintings of insects and plants in their natural habitats advanced the scientific study of insects.
1. Why did Merian make up her mind to go to Surinam?| A．To paint living creatures. | B．To draw dead species. |
| C．To study still lifes. | D．To experience adventure trips. |
| A．She stayed in Surinam for 5 years as planned. |
| B．Her works were a mixture of art and science. |
| C．She returned to Amsterdam after her new book came out. |
| D．She was devoted to painting what Americans had no interest in. |
| A．Outgoing. | B．Traditional. |
| C．Warm-hearted. | D．Pioneering. |
| A．A devoted painter. | B．Life in Surinam. |
| C．An insect research. | D．Love for nature. |
7 . In September 2017, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, killing 3,000 people and affecting normal life for months. The storm first arrived on a small island off the main island’s eastern coast called Cayo Santiago, which is home to some 1,500 rhesus macaques (恒河猴). To everyone’s surprise, nearly all the monkeys survived the storm. The monkeys reacted by changing their social order, it turned out.
After the storm, the observers noticed that the monkeys seemed to become more tolerant. Were they really more tolerant of one another? To find out, the new paper compares two behaviors during the three years before the storm and for one year afterward.
The team assumed that the monkeys would strengthen existing bonds, but that is not what happened. “We saw active building of relationships with individuals that they didn’t really interact with before.” says Michael Platt.
That probably came largely from the need for shade, which had become a limited resource after the hurricane. “What types of social relationships are going to be most helpful if what you need is relief from the Caribbean sun?” says behavioral ecologist Lauren Brent. “The best solution might be to expand areas, make some new connections, and make sure you’ve always got some shade available. Imagine walking into a crowded bar and trying to find a seat at a table: the more people you know, the more likely you are to be able to sit down.”
When humans face natural disasters, we often behave as the macaques did, coming together as a community and reaching out to help strangers. “Unfortunately, those have largely been limited by the social distancing restrictions necessitated by COVID 19”, Platt says. Instead, during COVID-19, we have had to do the opposite of what the monkeys did.
This paper is only the team’s first study on the macaques after Hurricane Maria. “It’s going to be really exciting, as we dig into all of this biological data that we have,” Platt says. “We’re going to be able to lean things from these monkeys that we have not been able to learn from humans or from any other animal.”
1. How did nearly all rhesus macaques survive the storm?| A．By seeking safer habitats together. |
| B．By building broader social networks. |
| C．By strengthening their current bonds. |
| D．By tolerating their former partners. |
| A．By making a comparison. |
| B．By introducing a concept. |
| C．By using an expert’s words. |
| D．By referring to another study. |
| A．Our communicative behaviors. |
| B．Natural disasters. |
| C．Communities and strangers. |
| D．Rhesus macaques. |
| A．Platt is unsatisfied with the results of the study. |
| B．Platt wants to collect more data about the macaques. |
| C．Platt will continue the study on the rhesus macaques. |
| D．Platt will conduct similar studies on other animals. |
8 . The general understanding of slow fashion is that it is sustainable fashion with a slightly different focus-speed. In 2007, when author Kate Fletcher coined the term "slow fashion", she called on consumers, designers and brands to slow down and care about quality.
Natural clothing materials and low-impact manufacturing are large parts of the sustainable fashion movement. This movement has invited a closer look into what sustainability looks like and how a change in thinking and practices could influence the fashion industry. Slow fashion is considered to be a continuation of sustainable fashion. Today, it is distinguished by quality, locally manufactured clothing, producing clothes on a smaller scale and with slower production times. Mindfulness is paid to workers, the environment, and cultural connections.
Slow fashion was a reaction to the rapid development of the fast fashion industry, which focuses on cheap, stylish, mass-produced clothes that have a huge impact on the environment. People had begun to notice the instability of the fast fashion model — from the employment of workers to pollution. However, fashion isn't always like this, and slow fashion aims to take us back to where it began, even before the Industrial Revolution.
When Kate first described slow fashion, she wanted it to focus on quality instead of quantity, in addition to the environmental ideals that were associated with sustainable fashion. Though Kate presented slow fashion as an opportunity to create an effective relationship between designer, production and consumer, it has developed over time to function even more. No longer is slow fashion only a theory on connection and better products; now, it includes consumer lifestyles and ethical production.
As consumers learn more about the troublesome practices within the fashion industry, the circles of sustainability are growing closer. Social media has only helped slow fashion brands reach more consumers. Adopting a slow-fashion way of living may seem frightening if consumers are new to the movement; however, it doesn't have to be difficult.
1. Why does Kate Fletcher initially put forward slow fashion?| A．To better the lifestyle of the workers. |
| B．To care more about quantity. |
| C．To emphasize the environmental influence of the fashion industry. |
| D．To introduce the science of choosing clothing materials. |
| A．It produces clothes of low quality. | B．It encourages producers to earn the most profit. |
| C．It has a lot of unstable influences on society. | D．It changes the basic function of the fashion industry. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Doubtful. | C．Indifferent. | D．Negative. |
| A．Future of the fast fashion industry. | B．Involvement in the slow fashion. |
| C．Reduction of clothing production. | D．Common practice in slow fashion. |
1. 写信的目的；
2. 旅行所带必需品。
注意：词数80左右
Dear Martin,
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Love,
Li Hua
10 . Some of the world’s most important scientists think the idea of people living on Mars will come true one day.
However, scientists will need to teraform（地球化）Mars for people to be able to live, which means changing the environment on Mars so that it is similar to Earth’s. One of the main goals of terraforming Mars is to warm it up because the average temperature is about-60℃.
Another big concern for scientists is whether humans can move to Mars and still stay healthy in mind and body. As a test, six people lived in a Mars-like environment in Hawaii for a year before “returning to Earth” recently.
One particular organization is planning to send the first humans to Mars before 2030. The organization believes that its project is giving people worldwide the chance to be part of the first human crew ever to live on Mars for good.
| A．However, many experts think it can cost too much money. |
| B．Stephen Hawking believed humans must move into space to survive. |
| C．NASA believes new astronauts should be chosen for future missions without delay. |
| D．One idea for warming Mars is to build factories there that produce greenhouse gases. |
| E．It will prevent us from learning about the ability of humans to live in a different environment. |
| F．It was a 1,200-square-foot room that was on the side of a volcano and used the sun for energy. |
| G．Another important thing was that the people living together should all be able to get along and work together. |
