1 . The world’s first named heat wave hit Seville, Spain, pushing temperatures past 110 degrees Fahrenheit and earning the most severe tier (级别) in the city’s new heat wave ranking system. Heat wave “Zoe” has brought burning temperatures to the southern part of the country for the last few days, particularly the area where Seville is located.
Zoe is the first named heat wave to hit Seville since it officially used a new system last month to name and rank heat waves, similar to hurricanes (Climatewire, June 22). Only the most severe heat waves get names, named this year in reverse (颠倒的) alphabetical order. After Zoe come Yago, Xenia, Wenceslao and Vega. The worst of the heat is expected to begin tapering off (减弱) today, but it has already posed a significant risk to human health.
Seville’s new ranking system takes a three-tiered approach to categorizing heat waves, with Category 1 as the lowest ranking and Category 3 as the most severe. The system has specific criteria for each category, involving not only daytime temperatures, but also nighttime lows, humidity and the heat’s expected effects on human health.
Spain has been struggling with extreme temperatures for much of the summer already. High heat broke local records around the country last month, and the first two weeks of June were the hottest on record in the country. Across the continent, this year was Europe’s second hottest June on record. Extreme heat returned again earlier this month. Cities across Spain broke monthly temperature records and wildfires broke out on the landscape.
Climate change is causing heat waves to become more frequent, more severe and longer-lasting all over the world, increasing the risks to human health. Seville’s new naming and ranking system is intended to raise public awareness about the dangers of extreme heat.
1. What can we know about Zoe?| A．It’s the most severe heat wave in the world. | B．Its power is similar to the hurricane on June 22. |
| C．It has had a negative influence on human health. | D．It’s the first heat wave hitting Seville, Spain. |
| A．The effect of heat waves on human health. | B．The way and standard of sorting heat waves. |
| C．The approaches to dealing with heat waves. | D．The present situation of extreme heat in Spain. |
| A．To distinguish their different types. | B．To raise our awareness of good health. |
| C．To remind us to get ready for them. | D．To help the public know about their dangers. |
| A．Zoe—the World’s First Named Heat Wave |
| B．The Most Severe Tier Heat Wave Hitting Seville |
| C．Climate Change—the Major Contributor to Heat Waves |
| D．Reasons for More and More Frequent Extreme Heat Waves |
2 . No doubt that humans have widely changed, developed, and exploited (开发) much of the natural world for our own ends. But how much of the land surface remains free of our often-harmful influence?
In a new study, scientists compared figures from four different sets of data using different kinds of methods and classification (分类) systems to answer this question. On average, the researchers say roughly half (48 to 56 percent) of the world’s land shows “low” influence of humans. While the figures may inspire many—stressing the vast expanse of significantly untouched lands that can still be protected through conservation measures—the study also shows just how much of the Earth has already been occupied and used by humans.
In fact, only about a quarter (20 to 34 percent) of the planet’s ice-free land surface shows “very low” signs of human influence, the researchers say, and the parts of the planet that we have left alone up until now constitute (构成) some of the least livable places on Earth. In other words, whether through urbanization, forestry, agriculture or other means, humans have applied the most influence on biodiverse land that presented ripe and easy opportunities for immediate human needs; in contrast, roasting deserts in the world’s hottest places, or frozen wastelands in its coldest spots, have been ignored.
Even so, the researchers say the results shown here give us a strong, clear marker that we can use to help structure existing and future conservation efforts by preventing disturbance on existing low influenced areas, meanwhile, recovering areas for conservation in land that has already been exploited too much.
“The encouraging takeaway from this study is that if we act quickly and decisively (果断地), there is a slim window in which we can still conserve roughly half of the Earth’s land in a relatively untouched state,” says biologist and lead author of the study, Jason Riggio.
There’s a chance, right now, to draw a line in the sand, and say “no more”.
1. Why was the new study carried out?| A．To find out why humans exploit nature. |
| B．To figure out the land free from human influence. |
| C．To prove humans are harmful to nature. |
| D．To clarify the Earth is not occupied by humans completely. |
| A．Woodless lands. | B．Ice-free lands. |
| C．Places with biodiversity. | D．Places with warmth. |
| A．Make use of the unlivable area through different means. |
| B．Remove the influence on the previous disturbed area. |
| C．Attempt to have no bad effect on the “untouched” land. |
| D．Reconstruct the overexploited land with forest and agriculture. |
| A．It should be urbanized immediately. | B．It should be covered with plants. |
| C．It should be free from humans and animals. | D．It should be undisturbed and preserved. |
In every photo from our family vacation to Washington, D.C., I was showing off the souvenir I picked out at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo — a white, oversize, cotton sweatshirt with pandas
Nearly 30 years later I found myself among
After the photographs of Bei Bei
On that first day with Bei Bei, I felt a little thrill as a zoo staffer took me down a quiet path to the back of the panda enclosure
Soon I was making regular
Over the past few years, the interest in exploring Mars has grown, with some important
Images taken by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express satellite show the marks that
Mars formed more than 4.5 billion years ago and there is no liquid water on the surface of it today. But scientists generally believe it
Beijing is a city that straddles(跨越)the divide between the ancient and the modern. It is home
This integration of styles
Yet
The development of this city, which is carefully designed
6 . Parenting techniques may have long lasting consequences for behavior—even when it comes to dogs.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania studied the early development, parenting and the following performance of 98 puppies who underwent guide dog training. Dogs who received more independence and less support from their mothers were more likely to be successful in becoming a guide dog. The study was published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Mom-pup interactions were used to define how highly involved the puppy’s mothers were. Puppies raised with highly involved mothers were more likely to be released—or dropped out from the guide dog program—compared to those with less attentive mothers.
“Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing,” said lead study researcher Emily Bray. Although the study couldn’t definitely point to what was driving this effect, “one possibility is that the dogs that are having overbearing(专横的)mothers are never given the chance to deal with small challenges on their own, and is harmful to their later behavior and outcome in their problem solving. Another possibility is that the puppies for whom the mothers are always around are also the most anxious or stressed,” she explained.
“What I was happy about was that there is a study being done about early life experiences in dogs,” another researcher Dolores Hole said. “If the mom is trying to protect her pups against small challenges, then they will not be suited for the big challenges.”
The study included three breeds(品种):German shepherds, Labrador retrievers and Golden retrievers. The puppies were followed from the first weeks of life for several years. Interestingly, Labrador retrievers tended to wash out from the program, while Golden retrievers tended to succeed.
As for whether the findings can be applied to human babies of so-called “helicopter parents,” Bray was hesitant.
“I think people can draw parallels(相似之处), but I think you also have to be careful because they are different species,” she said.
She added, “The nice thing about dogs is that they are a lot less complicated than humans.”
1. What makes successful guide dogs according to the study?| A．Less attentive owners. | B．More practical training. |
| C．Less supportive mothers. | D．More tense environment. |
| A．The necessity of mom-pup interactions. |
| B．Some characteristics of good guide dogs. |
| C．The significance of high parental involvement. |
| D．Potential causes of some puppies’ poor performance. |
| A．They choose to stay. | B．They fail to be qualified. |
| C．They rise to challenges. | D．They are easy to notice. |
| A．Parenting techniques can apply to guide dogs |
| B．Guide dogs are less complicated than humans |
| C．Researchers help raise public awareness of blind people |
| D．A study is done about early life experiences of human babies |
7 . What Is Your Pet Trying to Tell You
Animals want our attention, and sometimes they’re quite obviously about asking for it. Unusual behaviors are often our pets’ way of telling us to stop what we’re doing and play with them. It’s why Fido constantly chases his tail and why Kitty keeps rolling around. A desperately bored pet may have “bad” behaviors to get a reaction-even a negative one!
Feed me.
Sure, your dog loves you, but that’s not why he’s licking(舔)your face. A puppy learns to lick his mother’s mouth to get a little leftover food, so Spot isn’t kissing you in our sense of the word; he just wants a snack.
I’m stressed.
Cat owners also misinterpret their furry friends’ kisses. While a cat might lick you to show love, sometimes she’ll do it to ease herself. One way to tell if her licking is stress-related is to see if it goes on for an extended period of time. Birds also overclean when they feel anxious. Some will even drag out their own feathers.
My tail tells all.
Dogs wag(摇)their tails to the right when they see something or someone they want to approach, and to the left when they see something they want to avoid. When frightened, dogs curl their tails in, while cats wrap theirs around themselves. And if a cat’s tail looks like a question mark, she’s eager to play.
1. What does a dog show if it kisses its owner?| A．Hunger. | B．Love. | C．Fear. | D．Sadness. |
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
| A．They will drag others’ feathers. |
| B．They will approach someone they like. |
| C．They will clean their feathers more than necessary. |
| D．They will stare at their owners for a longer time. |
8 . Back in November 2019, Alessandra Mascaro, a volunteer working at the Ozouga Chimpanzee Project in Loango National Park, Gabon, West Africa, saw something she couldn’t quite believe — one of the apes named Suzee noticed her son Sia had hurt his foot. After seemingly thinking about the best course of action, she then plucked an insect out of the air, licked it and applied it to the wound.
Mascaro captured the whole touching moment on film and showed her tutor, Dr. Tobias Deschner, a zoologist working for Ozouga. The Ozouga team then set about monitoring the chimpanzees in the park and looking for other examples of the behaviour. Over the following 15 months they captured 76 incidences of the apes applying insects to wounds on themselves or other group members. The researchers are uncertain why the chimps use the insects, or even which insects they are, but suspect they might have lenitive properties that could provide pain relief.
However, the finding really proves that the act of applying an insect to treat other’s wounds is a clear example of prosocial behaviour (亲社会行为) that echoes the acts of empathy displayed by human beings. “This is, for me, especially breathtaking because so many people doubt prosocial abilities in other animals. Suddenly we have a species where we really see individuals caring for others,” Deschner said.
The team now aims to identify the insects being used by the chimpanzees and investigate who is applying insects to whom to establish whether the behaviour is based on a social rank. “We need to still put much more effort into studying great apes because it is crucial to shed light on our own cognitive evolution,” said Deschner.
1. How did Suzee treat her son’s wound?| A．By licking the injury. | B．By adopting an easy way. |
| C．By using a certain insect. | D．By preventing the infection. |
| A．Original. | B．Relieving. | C．Refreshing. | D．Resistant. |
| A．Apes are capable of caring for others. |
| B．Chimps can distinguish useful insects. |
| C．Prosocial abilities come from imitation. |
| D．Social ranks decide the power of empathy. |
| A．It remains a mystery. | B．It facilitates evolution. |
| C．It highlights apes’ intelligence. | D．It clarifies people’s doubt. |
I didn’t see the thin plastic tape running across the bread bag when I put the bread in my shopping cart or when I checked out. It wasn’t until I unpacked the bread at home that I realized that I’d broken the rules again.
That stupid plastic tape joined the long list of mistakes I made in just one week of trying to eat plastic-free. Last month, I challenged myself to purchase a week’s worth of food without bringing home any plastic. That meant no yogurt containers or plastic packages.
I chose a budget of $115 (roughly half-way between the average weekly grocery bill for a family of two in Massachusetts). On Saturday afternoon, I pulled into the parking lot of a well-known zero-waste shopping center.
I started in the produce section, where I typically got a plastic bag of organic baby carrots. This time, I could not go there because every vegetable in the organic section was packed in plastic containers. But I found some beautiful carrots among the non-organic produce. Then I saw the plastic price labels hanging off their rubber bands. I rolled my cart past the green beans and grapes, all inside the plastic. I weighed loose apples, onions and sweet potatoes. My anxiety kicked in — a feeling that I wouldn’t have enough. So, I bought a head of cabbage.
I tapped prices into the calculator on my phone. Leaving the produce section, I was in good shape, at $32. It was time to search for protein.
I headed to the meat counter. Again, everything was prepackaged in plastic. But the man behind the glass kindly agreed to put some chicken and meat, separately, in paper bags. Together they were $21.
Tofu, cheese, yogurt and pretty much everything in the dairy section were prepackaged in plastic. Even the bottled milk had a plastic cap. But there were lots of eggs in those paper bags.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
At checkout, I still had $62 left but I could not find anything else without plastic.
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At the moment, I realized that perhaps I shouldn’t have had aimed too high.
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10 . Much of gardening is learned by trial and error — for many, mostly error. But the good news is that we can learn from others’ mistakes as well as our own.
Failing to test the soil
Proper soil pH value is vital for successful gardening. That’s because nutrition is available to plants only at proper pH levels, which vary for each type of plant. For example, blueberry plants will likely turn yellow and produce less if the pH level is higher than 5.5.
Watering incorrectly
Most garden plants require 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week. But leaving the work to a sprinkler (喷头) puts your plants at risk.
A plant labeled as needing “full sun” will likely disappoint you if it is planted in the shade. And no matter how much you hope otherwise, “water tolerant” will never mean “likes wet soil”. Selecting plants suited to your growing conditions will result in a better-looking and healthier garden that requires less care.
Protecting the roots improperly
Proper covering keeps water and helps keep soil temperatures even. So it’s an important part of gardening. Improper covering, however, can kill your plants. Apply 2 to 3 inches of covering around plants. Never pile up against them.
| A．Applying proper nutrition to the soil |
| B．Planting wrong plants at wrong places |
| C．Here are some well-tested tips on good gardening |
| D．Instead, snake a watering tube over the soil surface |
| E．Otherwise, it will lock in too much water and heat which might kill them |
| F．Fortunately, test tools are relatively cheap and available at gardening stores |
| G．Here are some of the common gardening mistakes -and how to avoid them |
