1. Which pet may an outgoing person prefer?
| A．A bird. | B．A dog. | C．A cat. |
| A．Clever. | B．Sociable. | C．Careful. |
| A．Pet people’s personalities. | B．More outgoing dog people. | C．Less sociable cat people. |
2 . This summer we witnessed interview teams at the North Pole wearing short sleeve shirts due to the warm weather. A study published on Aug 29 revealed more concerning issues in the supposedly coldest area of the world. Zombie ice from a massive Greenland ice sheet was confirmed to be melting, which would eventually raise global sea levels by at least 10 inches (27 centimeters) on its own, reported Associated Press (AP).
Zombie ice is the kind of ice that is still attached to thicker areas of ice, but is no longer getting fed by larger glaciers. Since glaciers are getting less snow to complement (补充) the amount of ice melted, once the zombie ice is melted, it cannot be re-formed.
Scientists decided to look at the balance of the ice. In perfect balance, snow in the mountains of Greenland flows down and thickens the sides of glaciers, balancing out what’s melting on the edges, according to AP. But in the last few decades, there is less refill and more melting, creating an imbalance.
Study co-author William Colgan at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland told AP that 3.3 percent of Greenland’s total ice volume will melt eventually. “Starving would be a good phrase” for what’s happening to the ice, Colgan added.
With a great number of natural resources buried under the earth, areas of melted ice revealed treasures that attracted the world’s richest men. According to CNN, in early August, there was a “treasure hunt” in Greenland. Billionaires, including Bill Gates and others, financially backed KoBold Metals, a US-based mineral exploration company, to explore the rare metals under the glaciers in Greenland. The company told CNN that since there were enough minerals to power hundreds of millions of electric vehicles, the critical resource is capable of powering the green energy transition.
1. What happened in North Pole this summer?| A．The massive Greenland sheet has melted. |
| B．North Pole experienced unusual weather. |
| C．The melted ice raised sea level significantly. |
| D．The interview team revealed concerning issues. |
| A．can be easily formed again |
| B．is still joined to bigger ice |
| C．complemented the thickest ice |
| D．is continuously fed by larger ice |
| A．There are abundant resources under the earth. |
| B．The treasure hunt can only benefit the richest people. |
| C．Businessmen wanted to make profit from the resources. |
| D．The minerals will soon become a green energy alternative. |
| A．Every coin has two sides |
| B．Man can conquer nature |
| C．The early bird catches the worm |
| D．One false move may lose the game |
3 . Laundry day isn’t exactly fun for most people, but it can be quite unpleasant for the Earth. Washing clothes can release microplastics that are accumulating in the world’s waterways at alarming rates.
·Choose efficient machines
The machines you use have a significant effect on the amount of energy and water you save or waste.
·
Avoid small loads, but don’t crowd a machine, which can make it work harder. And take a look at the amount of detergent(洗涤剂)you’re using. The extra detergent will be harder to clean out, extending washing and drying times.
·Read up on green products
Companies large and small have met consumer demand for products with no harsh chemicals.
| A．Wash clothes by hand |
| B．Rethink your laundry habits |
| C．They use less energy than standard models |
| D．Older appliances can waste many resources |
| E．But not all products are what they claim to be |
| F．Two to three tablespoons for detergents are enough |
| G．Luckily it’s getting easier to clean your clothes while staying green |
4 . During COVID’s first wave, the streets of New York and other major cities became empty. The sound of cars decreased, but urban citizens heard something new: an abundance of birdsong. During walks outside, they breathed cleaner air. Lockdowns had meant fewer cars on the roads, and the effects were unmissable. Levels of nitrogen dioxide-a by-product of fossil fuels burned in cars and in electricity generation—were 30 percent lower along the road from Washington D. C. to Boston in March 2020 compared with previous years. Summer coming, people sat at outdoor extensions of restaurants built in parking zones and moved around on newly added bike lanes. These incidental adaptations to the pandemic allowed citizens to experience the benefits of moving away from the “car is king“ situation in a way that policies for climate-friendly equipment never could, explains Christian Brand, an environmental scientist with the Transport Studies Unit at the University of Oxford. Now, he says, “they know what’s possible.”
Some fought to keep it that way. Paris has been a leader of this conversion. The French capital already had plans to press down car use and encourage cycling before COVID appeared, but in late spring 2020 some 50 kilometers of pop-up bike lanes, called coronapistes, were added almost overnight. They are now a permanent part of Paris’s cycling network, with more in the works.
These measures, Brand says, came in no small part because of political will. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo made climate change a focus of her reelection campaign. Besides providing subsidies(补贴)for purchasing and repairing bicycles, she emphasized the health benefits of reducing car emissions. In other cities, like New York, changes were more modest or temporary. Shutdowns may have presented the possibility of safer, healthier streets-but it was often a fleeting(飞逝的)vision.
1. What happened during COVID’s first wave?| A．Most people were infected with the virus: |
| B．City environment became better. |
| C．People drove cars instead of walking outside. |
| D．People no longer went to restaurants. |
| A．Condition. | B．Competition. |
| C．Change. | D．Struggle. |
| A．Protecting citizens’ safety. | B．Fighting the pandemic. |
| C．Measuring people’s political will. | D．Dealing with climate issues. |
| A．The Pandemic Led to Greener Cities Unexpectedly |
| B．More and More Bicycles Ended ”Car Is King“ Time |
| C．Political Leaders Took Measures to Reduce Pollution |
| D．Covid-19 Brought Benefits to People’s Health |
5 . Pigs may have a decided lack of table manners, but they are otherwise one of the more intelligent animals around.
Further evidence of their intellect has come from a new study that examined how well pigs might do with a simple video game and joystick. Given sufficient motivation, pigs know how to play.
Candace Croney of Purdue University published the results in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. Four pigs — Hamlet, Omelet, Ebony, and Ivory were taken in front of a screen that featured a simple game where a cursor (光标) could be directed into a wall with a joystick. If the pig was able to hit the wall with the cursor, they’d be rewarded with food.
All of the pigs had some success, but there was a clear difference in skill. Two of the pigs, Hamlet and Omelet, found the game’s increasing difficulty with two or more walls hard to navigate (指引). Ivory was clearly better than Ebony, hitting the wall 76 percent of the time to Ebony’s 34 percent.
Their success may have been restricted somewhat by their long mouth. Because their long mouths are right in front of their eyes when they look directly at the screen. They may have caught glimpses of the screen only before and after moving the joystick, not during. That could mean the pigs had to rely on some short-term memory to understand the movement of the cursor.
Curiously, the pigs continued playing even after the food reward was taken away. Researchers gave them gentle verbal encouragement to continue.
This isn’t Croney’s first study with pigs. Back in 1997, she focused her doctoral work on pig cognizance (认知), including a task in which pigs used a joystick to move one of several shapes across the screen to fit the single shape that matched it. Such experiments demonstrate that pigs appear to understand the connection between moving the joystick and the cursor, and that doing so successfully results in a reward.
1. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?| A．What pigs can learn. | B．Why pigs are intelligent. |
| C．How the study is conducted. | D．Why researchers do the study. |
| A．Their long mouths block the view. |
| B．The joystick is far from the screen. |
| C．The cursor only appears after moving the joystick. |
| D．They concentrate on the movements of the joystick. |
| A．They are interested in food. |
| B．They are intelligent in some ways. |
| C．They are equally skilled at playing games. |
| D．They don’t play games without food. |
| A．Pigs Lack Table Manners |
| B．Pigs Have Good Memories |
| C．Pigs Can Be Taught to Play Video Games |
| D．Pigs Are More Intelligent than Other Animals |
6 . Meredith J. Eberhart completed the 2, 190-plus mile Appalachian Trail on Sunday, becoming the oldest person to hold the honor.
Eberhart has probably hiked over 50,000 miles in his life though he doesn’t keep track. The 83-year-old man started walking when he retired more than 25 years ago, and never stopped.
Eberhart started the 261-day, 15-state trip back in February, with the goal of beating previous record holder Dale “Greybeard”Sanders, who finished the entire Appalachian Trail at the age of 82 in 2017. The trail covers over 2,190 miles from Springer Mountain, Georgia, all the way to Mount Katahdin, Maine. However, Eberhart began his journey far from the trail, at his home in Flagg Mountain, Alabama. That added hundreds of extra miles to the route. But Eberhart wasn’t worried about that. He once hiked 4,400 miles from the Florida Keys to Northern Quebec, and another time from Chicago to California on Route 66.
Eberhart admitted that he was feeling his age and the trail got tough at points, even for an experienced hiker like himself. He fell a few times on slippery rocks, and at one point he got his elbow scratched. However, the accidents didn’t stop him.“I’ve got a couple of injuries on me, but I’m okay,”he said.“You’ve got to have incredible determination to do this.”
Eberhart hiked the trail out of order in sections so he could complete each part in fine weather. Mindful of his age, Eberhart walked at a rate of no more than eight hours each day. He finished his journey in Massachusetts, where he celebrated with champagne wine and friends. And while some people think this will be his last hike, Eberhart seems to strongly disagree.
1. What set Eberhart apart from other Appalachian Trail hikers?| A．The maximum age. | B．The longest distance. | C．The minimum time. | D．The steepest trail. |
| A．Relaxing. | B．Challenging. | C．Pleasing. | D．Appealing. |
| A．To conserve his energy. | B．To catch up with other hikers. |
| C．To make use of good weather. | D．To avoid getting injured. |
| A．Life lies in movement. | B．All roads lead to Rome. |
| C．He who laughs last laughs longest. | D．It’s never too late to go after dreams. |
A new way to restore Earth’s biodiversity—from the air
Every year, humans change 10 million hectares of land, and not for the better. Right now, there is
But drones (无人机) change that by allowing us
With these technologies
8 . People depend on insects to pollinate the plants that make many of the fruits, nuts and vegetables we eat. Past studies had shown urban air pollution might veil the smells insects use to find flowers. Computer models predicted this would cause problems for insects, seeking flowers for a meal. But scientists weren’t sure that would happen in real life.
James Ryalls, a biologist, and his team decided to find out if it would. Working in a field, his group crafted a system made up of large rings. Each area was open, so nearby insects could fly into it. The researchers pumped pollutant gases into these rings. Then during each field season, the scientists recorded how many times pollinators visited the flowers in each ring.
“The results were much more severe than we thought,” Ryalls says. Adding pollution “caused up to 90 percent fewer insects to be able to find the flowers that they need for food,” he says. This was in comparison to the pollutant-free rings. In some cases, only some 30 percent of the pollinating insects even entered the circles with polluted gases.
Counting insects proved easier than getting the pollution into the rings, notes Ryalls. He spent much of his time working on parts of the system that needed fixing. Along the way, gas spills occurred. “By the end of each summer experiment I smelt like a petrol station,” he says. One effect: “Insects now avoid me.”
Later, they counted seed pods on the plants. Overall, only around seven in every 10 flowers had been pollinated. That means there were far fewer seeds in polluted circles. If these were fruit or vegetable plants, there would have been far less food produced.
This study focused on insects finding flowers. But insects also use smells for communication and attracting mates. If air pollution covers those smells too, these tiny animals might face more threats to their survival.
1. What does the underlined word “veil” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Add. | B．Mask. | C．Release. | D．Form. |
| A．They counted insect visits to flowers. | B．They studied different polluted gases. |
| C．They drove some insects into the rings. | D．They pollinated flowers by themselves. |
| A．Pollution can result in fewer flowers. | B．Insects are afraid of the rings in the field. |
| C．Insects struggle to find flowers in polluted air. | D．Plant flowers depend on insects to pollinate. |
| A．The aim of the study. | B．Ways to help pollinators. |
| C．Insects’ various survival skills. | D．Insects’ means of communication. |
9 . 55-year-old Michael Smith spotted an injured baby bird lying on the roadside as he cycled home one evening in May. He picked up the tiny bird, now named Patch, and took him home, where he made him a little nest and fed him boiled eggs. Now he has recovered and is about 16 weeks old. Patch has spread his wings, but comes back to his rescuer when Michael calls.
Bird and man have such a close relationship that Patch gives his friend little beaky kisses and hitches lifts (搭便车) on his bike rides and walks. Michael loves Patch so much that he even slept in the open air one night when his feathered friend didn’t come out of a tree.
Michael, an ex-builder from Malvern in Worcestershire, said, “I love nature and animals, so I couldn’t leave him injured in the wild. He’s like my best friend now, and I spend as much time with him as possible. He is the talk of the town, and if I am not with him, everyone is asking after him.”
Michael thought Patch, who he thinks is a boy, had been attacked by another animal when he found him with a broken wing. After living in an old pigeon box Michael got from a friend, and being fed boiled eggs, bread and milk, Patch took four weeks to recover the use of his wing. Michael still feeds Patch worms, and fruit like cherries and grapes, but the now-recovered bird catches moths for himself.
Patch lives in a nest that Michael built in the garden, but comes in for playmates and occasional sleepovers (在外过夜) in the house Michael shares with his 78-year-old mother Mary.
Michael said, “People call me the bird whisper, or birdman of Malvern. It came quite naturally to me. And I remember all these tales I’ve heard about people rescuing birds and forming a bond. I was quite well known around here but I am even more so now: it’s a lovely thing to be known for it. Having him is such a lovely thing to happen.”
1. How did Michael Smith treat Patch after finding him lying on the road?| A．He brought him home and fed him. |
| B．He handed him to a relevant department. |
| C．He did an operation on his wings by himself. |
| D．He had its wings treated in a pet hospital. |
| A．Patch was left injured in the nest. |
| B．He wanted to find Patch and take hold of him. |
| C．Patch sat in a tree and didn’t visit him. |
| D．He found Patch had spread his wings and flown away. |
| A．How Patch was attacked by another animal. |
| B．How Michael helped Patch get well again. |
| C．How Patch managed to catch moths for himself. |
| D．How Michael found a pigeon box for Patch to live in. |
| A．He lives with his mother who is old. |
| B．He hates it when Patch gives him a kiss. |
| C．He asked somebody to make a nest for Patch. |
| D．He is a construction worker and will retire soon. |
10 . Seven out of the eight planets in our solar system were named after Greek or Roman Gods. You’re living on the only exception to that rule.
The word “earth” has roots in the Old English term “eorþe”. Eorþe had multiple meanings like “soil”, “dirt”, “ground”, “dry land” and “country”. Yet the story didn’t begin there. Old English is the earliest known stage of what became our modern English tongue. Used until about 1150 C.E., it evolved from a parent language that scholars call “Proto-Germanic”. The German that’s spoken today is part of the same linguistic family. “Earth” and “eorþe” are therefore related to the modern German word “Erde”. Not only is this the German language’s name fox our home planet, but it can also be used to refer to dirt and soil.
Our dear Each has relatives in some other languages, too, For example, there’s the Old Saxon “ertha”, the Old Frisian “erthre” and the Dutch word “aarde”. All these likely originate from a Proto-Germanic term that was never recorded. Nevertheless, linguists have been able to go back and reconstruct this mystery word. Spelled “ertho” in scholarly texts, it’s always marked by an asterisk (星号). This asterisk acknowledges the lack of written confirmation that the word was really used.
Nobody knows when people started using words like “Earth” or “Erde” to refer to the planet as a whole and not just the ground they walked on. Back in 1783, German astronomer Johann Elert Bode named the seventh planet from our sun “Uranus” (after a Greek god). And though Pluto is no longer considered a planet, we know that 11-year-old Venetia Burney named it in 1930. But if a single person gave planet Earth its English name, his or her identity has been lost to the sands of time.
Still, it’s clear that while Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune all started out as the proper names of ancient gods, “Earth” did not. That’s why our planet is sometimes called “the earth” with a lowercase (小写字母) “e”.
1. Which language does the word “Erde” belong to?| A．Old English. | B．Old Saxon. |
| C．Modern German. | D．Proto-Germanic. |
| A．To stress its importance. | B．To indicate its unconfirmed source. |
| C．To remind readers of its spelling. | D．To challenge its academic value. |
| A．Johann Elert Bode. | B．Venetia Burney. |
| C．A Greek god. | D．Nobody knows. |
| A．The ways of naming the “earth”. | B．The origin of the name “earth”. |
| C．The meanings of the word “Earth”. | D．The uniqueness of the name “Earth”. |
