1 . Dog ownership may be associated with longer life, especially for heart attack and stroke (中风) suvivors who live alone, according to a new study.
Previous studies have shown that dog ownership alleviates social isolation (隔绝), improve physical activity and social bonds, even lowers blood pressure, leading researchers to believe dog owners could potentially have better health outcomes compared to non-owners. They sought to determine how dog ownership affected health outcomes.
Researchers compared the health outcomes of dog owners and non-owners after a heart attack or stroke using health data provided by the Swedish National Patient Register. Patients in the study were Swedish residents aged 40 to 85 who experienced a heart attack or stroke. Compared to people who did not own a dog, researchers found that for dog owners, the risk of death for heart attack patients living alone after hospitalization (住院) was 33% lower and 15% lower for those living with a partner or child. The risk of death for stroke patients living alone after hospitalization was 27% lower and 12% lower for those living with a partner or child.
The lower risk of death associated with dog ownership could be explained by an increase in physical activity and decreased depression and loneliness, both of which have been connected to dog ownership in previous studies.
While this study drew the conclusion from a large sample (样本), potential misclassifications (错误分类) of dog ownershipin couples living together, death of a dog and change of ownership could have affected the outcomes of the study.
The results of this study suggest positive effects of dog ownership for patients who have experienced a heart attack or stroke. However, more research is needed to confirm a cause-effect relationship. Moreover, from an animal welfare perspective (角度), dogs should only be owned by people who feel they have the ability and knowledge to give the pet a good life.
1. What does the underlined word “alleviates” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．reduces | B．increases | C．causes | D．shows |
| A．Healthy dog owners and those with illnesses. | B．Dog owners and non-owners in hospitalization. |
| C．40- to 85-year-old dog owners around the world. | D．Middle-aged and old heart attack or stroke survivors. |
| A．Dogs make people physically and mentally active. | B．Dogs give warning of heart attacks or strokes |
| C．Dogs encourage social participation. | D．Dogs save lives in emergencies. |
| A．Approving | B．Uncertain | C．Objective | D．Critical |
2 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出 提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。
A new study shows rapid decline in insect populations. A growing number of the Earth’s insect population now can
Pandas
4 . Nature can be unforgiving, especially when it comes to the animal world. As such, squirrels need every advantage they can get in order to protect themselves from a variety of predators that may want to make them their next meal. Squirrels pay incredibly close attention to their surroundings, and they pick up alarm calls from other nearby animals in reference to nearby predators. Now, a new study reveals that squirrels also listen to nearby birds’ conversations to make sure there is no threat close by.
Researchers from Oberlin University say that if the talk from birds is relaxing and normal, the squirrel knows it is not in immediate danger. The authors said that squirrels were listening to bird conversations and sounds to assess their safety, so in order to test their theory they observed the behavior of 54 wild Eastern gray squirrels scattered across various parks and areas in Ohio.
First, a threat was shown by playing a record of a red-tailed hawk(鹰), an animal known to hunt and eat both squirrels and other smaller birds. Then, researchers played one of two different recordings; one recording was of many songbirds chattering among one another happily, and the other was with no bird noises. After playing these recordings, each squirrel’s behavior was monitored for three minutes.
As expected, after hearing the initial record, all the squirrels displayed defensive attitudes, such as running away, looking around, or freezing their movements. Interestingly, the squirrels that heard the happy sounds of songbirds returned back to a normal, relaxed state much faster than the other group that heard the quiet sounds.
The study’s authors say that this indicates squirrels use the sounds of nearby animals to ensure their own safety. This allows the squirrel to either get back to what they were doing in a faster manner, or prepare for potential threats more efficiently.
“Perhaps in some circumstances, cues of safety could be as important as cues of danger,” the study reads. The study is published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
1. What does the underlined word “predators” mean in the first paragraph?| A．Animals that hunt squirrels as food. |
| B．Animals that make friends with squirrels. |
| C．Animals that hunt squirrels and birds at night. |
| D．Animals that steal the food from the squirrels’ nests. |
| A．They will stay and freeze. |
| B．They will behave normally. |
| C．They will keep on their guard. |
| D．They will look around and run away. |
| A．By studying the different data. |
| B．By listing the different figures. |
| C．By comparing the different responses. |
| D．By playing different games with the squirrels. |
| A．Three interesting experiments. |
| B．Squirrels listen to birds to stay safe. |
| C．Judging danger from nearby sounds. |
| D．Squirrels can record the dangerous sound. |
5 . Ecofriendly replacement products for single-use plastics are appearing everywhere. But have you heard of edible (可食性的) straws? Now EQUO, a new eco-friendly company in Vietnam has come up with a natural edible solution to plastic or paper straws.
The edible straws are completely plastic free, nontoxic, chemical free, and 100 percent biodegradable according to a company press release.
“It’s well known that plastic straws are harmful to the environment. Most of the 500 million used every day in America end up in oceans where they pollute water and harm marine life. Currently over eight billion straws pollute the world’s beaches,” said Marina Tran-Vu in the press release. “Although there are some plastic and paper straw alternatives on the market, most are environmentally harmful, and we were also unsatisfied with the quality and lasting of paper straws.”
All of the materials are locally from regions that support sustainable farming according to the company’s website and they struggle to have zero-net influence by” using the power of mother nature”. The name of the company was created by combining “ECO” — meaning environmentally friendly — with “STATUS QUO” — meaning the existent state. EQU stands for creating products that have minimal influence on the environment. The company was first shown on Kickstarter on May 18 and hit their funding goal in only 30 days.
Many countries are banning single-use plastics. The EU banned 10 single-use plastic products including straws that will take effect in 2021. Other items that will no longer be made of plastic include cutlery (餐具), and balloon sticks. These 10 items make up a large percentage of ocean waste that harms marine life.
So do your part, use biodegradable cutlery — you can carry your own , edible straws, and reusable water or coffee cups. These small items can contribute to reducing plastic waste.
1. What is the third paragraph mainly about?| A．The popularity of plastic straws. |
| B．The harm of plastic straws. |
| C．The pollution of beaches. |
| D．The necessity of change. |
| A．It means the original aim. |
| B．It means the existent state. |
| C．It means how to create products. |
| D．It means being good for the environment. |
| A．Plastic straws will be forbidden. |
| B．Edible straws will be sold cheaply. |
| C．Ocean waste can be rid completely. |
| D．Single-use plastic products will disappear. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. | C．Tolerant. | D．Approving. |
1. Why did the man go to the Philippines?
| A．For a trip. | B．For further studies. | C．For volunteer work. |
| A．The local students. |
| B．The local government. |
| C．The local businessmen. |
| A．To explore an island. |
| B．To help the poor students. |
| C．To protect the environment. |
7 . Amid rolling farms and green pasture 150 miles northwest of Sao Paulo, Brazil, two tropical forests bloom as one. The first consists of a single species, row after row of non-native eucalyptus (桉树), planted in perfect lines like carrots. The other is haphazard, an assortment of dozens of varieties of native saplings.
There’s no denying it: This forest looks ridiculous. The gangly (修长的) eucalyptuses shoot like witch fingers high above patches of stubby fig (矮壮的无花果树) and evergreen trees. Yet these jumbled 2.5-acre stands of native trees, ringed by fast-growing exotics, are among many promising efforts to resurrect the planet’s forests.
The eucalyptuses, says Pedro Brancalion, the University of Sao Paulo agronomist who designed this experiment, get big so quickly they can be cut after five years and sold to make paper or fence posts. That covers nearly half or more of the cost of planting the slow-growing native trees, which then naturally reseed ground that has been laid bare by the harvest. And this process doesn’t hamper natural regeneration.
You needn’t look far these days to find organizations trying to save the world by growing trees. Too often, tree-planting groups are so focused on getting credit for each seedling planted that they ignore what matters most: What kind of woodland is created? At what cost? And most importantly: How long will it last? Using the numbers of trees planted as a magic “proxy for everything,” Brancalion says, you “spend more money and get lower levels of benefits.” You can literally miss the forest for the trees.
Tree planting seems like a simple, natural way to counter the overwhelming crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Trees provide wildlife habitats and slurp carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. No wonder trees are hailed as the ideal weapon. Yet for every high-profile planting operation, devastating failures have occurred. In Turkey, Sri Lanka, and Mexico, mass plantings have resulted in millions of dead seedlings or have driven farmers to clear more intact forest elsewhere. Trees that have been planted in the wrong places have reduced water yields for farmers, destroyed highly diverse carbon-sucking grassland soils, and allowed for invasive vegetation to spread. Simply reforesting the planet isn’t going to do much if we don’t also start cutting down on our emissions from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas. Tree planting also can’t replace old-growth forests. Saving them is even more important than growing new forests.
So, what should we do?
To Brancalion, the answer is obvious: Restore native forests, mostly in the tropics, where trees grow fast and land is cheap. While that may require planting, it may also call for the clearing out of invasive grasses, the rejuvenation (使有活力) of soils, and crop yield improvements so that farmers will need less land for agriculture and more can be allowed to revert back to forests.
The combining of eucalyptus harvests with native plantings is just one more reminder that successful restoration must provide value to local communities. In many cases, if we let nature do the heavy lifting, Brancalion says, “the forest can regrow quite effectively.”
1. What can we learn from the first three paragraphs?| A．The non-native eucalyptuses bring profits that can pay for planting native saplings. |
| B．The non-native eucalyptuses compete with native saplings for water, nutrients, and light. |
| C．The variety of trees being planted determines whether or not the restoration will succeed. |
| D．Planting fast-growing exotics together with local trees does harm to the natural environment. |
| A．emphasize the significance of protecting existing forests |
| B．explain why tree planting is regarded as the ideal solution |
| C．illustrate the serious problems planting campaigns can cause |
| D．indicate the most important point tree-planting groups ignore |
| A．clear more forest to improve crop yields for farmers |
| B．combine harvests of fast-growing exotics with native plantings |
| C．restore native forests in the tropics and clear out invasive grasses |
| D．take into consideration the benefits of reforestation to local communities |
| A．Plant trees—and time will tell. | B．Plant trees—but don’t overdo it. |
| C．Plant trees—and save the world. | D．Plant trees—but mind the variety. |
8 . When our first son Brendan was born in Sydney in 1966, we planted a golden elm tree in our front yard.It and Brendan
A young couple bought our home and were
Recently on the way to Sydney, my husband
When I heard about her
What a pleasure it was to
| A．watched | B．grew | C．played | D．worked |
| A．built | B．sold | C．found | D．entered |
| A．sorry | B．afraid | C．angry | D．nervous |
| A．proud of | B．polite to | C．worried to | D．delighted with |
| A．never | B．seldom | C．always | D．still |
| A．forget | B．believe | C．mind | D．remember |
| A．feared | B．decided | C．agreed | D．refused |
| A．failed | B．finished | C．lost | D．stopped |
| A．Instead | B．Besides | C．However | D．Therefore |
| A．tree | B．address | C．key | D．message |
| A．encouraging | B．personal | C．important | D．secret |
| A．son | B．friend | C．parent | D．neighbour |
| A．ordered | B．bought | C．made | D．sent |
| A．strange | B．funny | C．exciting | D．heartbreaking |
| A．phone | B．. bowls | C．branches | D．package |
| A．picked | B．planted | C．stored | D．covered |
| A．dream | B．mistake | C．visit | D．suggestion |
| A．post | B．receive | C．offer | D．use |
| A．shocked | B．confused | C．amused | D．touched |
| A．end | B．fall through | C．form | D．come true |
Xiamen, lying in Fujian Province, is a famous coastal city. As far as I’m concerned, Xiamen is very clean and pretty. In that city, we can enjoy the clear sky, the beautiful sea,
However, in recent years, Xiamen has become a lot
Next year if I have enough time and money, I plan
10 . On a sunny afternoon in Dania Beach, a dozen scientist’s unloaded containers full of corals from a dive boat. They gently removed each piece from large tanks on the deck and placed them inside smaller containers, which were slowly taken onshore.
The operation is part of what scientists describe as a “Noah’s Ark(诺亚方舟)” mission to save corals from extinction as a mysterious disease damages mile after mile of the Florida Reef Tract. Since first being spotted in 2014, the disease has killed colonies already weakened by impacts from climate change, including frequent rounds of bleaching(漂泊).
During one trip, researchers spent six days diving in the Lower Keys to collect corals that haven’t yet been touched by a certain disease. Their mission, as the “Ark” reference suggests, is to preserve healthy examples of species that can be raised in labs, then later transplanted back to the barrier reef that parallels much of the Southeast Florida coastline.
“It’s a tough effort, but we need to do everything we can to help corals survive,” said Richard Dodge from Nova South eastern University’s [(NSU)] Halmos College, as he watched university staff and volunteers place the 341 corals in holding tanks on the university dock across from Port Everglades.
NSU is one of seven research facilities that will act as temporary hosts for samples collected for what is formally known as the Coral Rescue Collection Plan, part of an ambitious program led by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. NSU researchers will collect data on the species, then send them to other universities and zoos across the country, where they will be used to grow new colonies—seed stock for potential restoration efforts in the future.
1. What’s the best title for the passage?| A．Noah’s Ark mission | B．Corals are endangering |
| C．Corals are put in containers | D．Fight to preserve the corals |
| A．To emphasize it was very serious to corals. |
| B．To show few cared about its existence. |
| C．To appeal for international cooperation. |
| D．To state it was involved with climate change. |
| A．They conducted research on the spot. |
| B．They found it tough to collect corals. |
| C．They collected healthy corals. |
| D．They desired to get close to corals. |
| A．Culture. | B．Economy. | C．Entertainment. | D．Environment. |
