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

2. Who were the subjects (主体) of the study?

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.

3. Why can dog ownership reduce the risk of death according to the researchers?

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.

4. What is the author’s attitude toward dog ownership?

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     1     (see) only in collections on exhibitions. Nobody’s seen those for 400 years. A new review of over 70 studies of insect populations     2       (suggest) that human pressures are causing insect populations to decrease by as much as a quarter every decade. The loss of species is inevitable (不可避免的) because often we don’t know     3     those species are doing or how other species are depending on them.

3 . Species (物种) can actually go extinct (灭绝的) more than once. In a biological sense, species become extinct when the last animal of a species stops breathing. But when the species disappears from our shared memory and cultural knowledge, it becomes extinct in a different way — society (与社会有关的) extinction.

The researchers looked at dozens of previous studies to look into how societal extinction happens, finding out contributing factors such as symbolic or cultural importance, how long ago a species was last alive, and how much of a connection it had to humans.

Societal extinction usually but not always happens after biological extinction. Sometimes, both extinctions can happen at the same time, depending on how well and widely known a particular species is.

Most species — such as those far removed from culture, or those too small to be noticed except through a microscope (显微镜) — never have a societal presence to begin with. Meanwhile, for other species, the societal presence can break with reality after a biological extinction.

“Species can remain widely known after they become extinct, or even become more popular,” says conservation biologist Uri Roll. “However, our awareness and memory of such species gradually becomes transformed, and often becomes incorrect, or disassociated from the actual species.”

Take the Spix’s macaw(金刚鹦鹉) for example, currently extinct in the wild: A 2013 conservation report from Brazil surveyed 242 children from the bird’s former habitat, and almost all of them incorrectly believed the species originated from Rio de Janeiro, because of its appearance in the 2011 cartoon movie Rio.

Finally, the researchers found various links between societal extinction and a lack of support for biodiversity protection. So, ifs important to keep the memories and the records of extinct species in order to realize what’s been lost.

1. When does a species most probably become societal extinct?

A．When it has difficulty in breathing.

B．When it faces some biological changes.

C．When it disappears unexpectedly in nature.

D．When it no longer exists in our memory and culture.

2. Which of the following factors is linked to societal extinction according to previous studies?

A．Relationship with humans.	B．Average length of life.
C．Biological importance.	D．Shape of the body.

3. Why do some species have no societal presence?

A．They are not big enough to be seen.

B．They are closely linked to a specific culture.

C．They are in the process of societal extinction.

D．They are cleared away from scientific studies.

4. Why does the author mention Spix’s macaw in Paragraph 6?

A．To draw a conclusion.	B．To prove an opinion.
C．To introduce a topic.	D．To make a prediction.

4 . The green and red watermelon is a sweet, refreshing summer snack. But it wasn’t always so sugary or brightly colored. So what did watermelons originally taste and look like, and from where did they come?

The fruit isn’t from the Fertile Crescent of ancient Mesopotamia, as so many other domesticated (家养的) crops are, research shows. Susanne Renner, a scientist, and her colleagues carried out comprehensive genetic sequencing (基因测序) of the domesticated watermelons — the kind you might find on supermarket shelves — along with six wild watermelon species.

“We found the modern genomes (基因组) of the domesticated watermelon are more closely related to the Sudanese wild type than any other that we analyzed,” she said. The Sudanese wild watermelon has some obvious differences from the domesticated version. “The flesh is white and not very sweet, and it’s mainly used as animal feed,” Renner said. Nevertheless, the genetic similarity between the two species led the researchers to conclude that the Sudanese fruit is probably a precursor (前身) to the red and sweet domesticated watermelon.

It’s likely that ancient farmers grew non-bitter varieties of the wild watermelon and thus increased its sweetness over many generations through the domestication process. The red color is probably also thanks to artificial selection, in which farmers likely favored and selectively bred red fruit.

We already knew that the ancient Egyptian king Tutankhamun was buried with watermelon seeds 3,300 years ago, yet that isn’t sufficient proof of a domesticated, sweet watermelon. But then, Renner found an image of a watermelon-like fruit on an ancient Egyptian tomb painting, thought to be more than 4,300 years old. In a separate tomb, another image showed the watermelon cut up in a dish alongside other sweet fruits. This realization, coupled with Renner’s genetic findings, suggests that the watermelon was most likely domesticated around that time either in Egypt or within trading distance of the ancient empire.

“Historically speaking, that’s a very significant finding,” said Hanno Schaefer, a professor of plant biodiversity. “It’s becoming clearer that we’ve greatly neglected the North African region. We’ve focused too much on the Fertile Crescent and we need to invest more resources into studying the agriculture of North Africa.”

1. What can we learn about the Sudanese wild watermelon?

A．It is brightly colored and sugary.

B．It is consumed mainly by animals.

C．It has no connection with the domesticated type.

D．It has more differences than similarities to the domesticated type.

2. What can be inferred from the text?

A．More resources will be devoted to agriculture research in South Africa.

B．The domesticated watermelon has a history of at least four thousand years.

C．The domesticated watermelon probably developed from the Sudanese type.

D．Few domesticated crops are from the Fertile Crescent of ancient Mesopotamia.

3. What is the fourth paragraph mainly about?

A．The history of the Sudanese wild watermelon.

B．Where wild watermelons actually come from.

C．The characteristics of domesticated watermelons.

D．How domesticated watermelons came into being.

4. What is Hanno Schaefer’s attitude towards Renner’s findings?

A．Favorable.

B．Doubtful.

C．Critical.

D．Tolerant.

5 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Scientists are utilizing (利用) new technology that allows them     1     (study) millions of small earthquakes in the hope    2     being able to predict (预测) the next big one.

The study comes out of the Los Alamous National Laboratory. It shows how advancing computer technology is now able to read 10 times the number of earthquakes previously       3     (record), as local experts of geology, Patrick Abbott explained.

“We     4     (know) since the 1800s that earthquakes come in swarms (群) — you get smaller ones, and a lot of aftershocks as well; but we have never been able to tell the difference between a foreshock     5     a big shock until afterwards, you look back over it,” explained Abbott. “you start with: here is the shaking from one earthquake, here is the shaking from another one, and try to sort     6     (they) all out and it turns out there is almost     7     (exact) 10 times as many earthquakes as we had thought.” The new technology showed some small earthquakes     8     had never been picked up before; like a magnitude (震级) of negative 2.0. Those earthquakes are considered invisible (看不见的) but by     9     (see) them collectively now, scientists can see where those happened before a 4.0 magnitude quake.

He said the study does not solve the problem of predicting earthquakes, but seeing when smaller ones are shaking gives     10     (researcher) a better shot at predicting a bigger one.

6 . A lot of health care are connected with being around trees.     1     According to one 2015 study, a walk in the woods can make you feel seven years younger.

They also do a great deal of good for the environment by reducing air pollution and taking in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.     2     A new study by researchers at University College London found that the trees in the London Borough (自治市) of Camden store as much carbon per hectare (公顷) as rainforests.

A tree’s ability to take in carbon dioxide is especially useful when the tree.is in cities or towns, where there are too many industrial activities. For the study, the researchers used laser scanning methods to take their own carbon readings of trees from the ground as well as the air.     3     They were able to know there are about 85,000 trees in Camden, where the university is based.

They determined that Camden had a median carton density (浓度) of around 55 tons of carbon per hectare (t/ha). Greener areas of the borough, like Highgate Cemetery, had a carbon density of 380 t/ha — levels that are typically seen in rainforests.     4    

So what exactly does this mean? Trees could help cool the atmosphere by removing carbon dioxide from the air. However, some climate scientists argue that it’s more complicated (复杂的) than that.     5     Still, with all of the other benefits trees offer, planting a seed or two couldn’t hurt.

A．We need to protect the ones we already have.

B．Global warming is happening at a faster rate than ever.

C．These benefits aren’t just felt in the countryside, either.

D．For comparison, major cities in the US have a carbon density of 7.7.

E．They have been known to reduce people’s stress and improve overall mental health.

F．Then they compared their findings with the data from the UK Environment Agency.

G．They think the impact of tree-planting activities today may not be seen for many years.

7 . After a month of fires that gave off record-breaking amounts of polluting gas, smoke from Siberian wildfires is now making its way to the west coast of the United States.

The New York Times’ Somini Sengupta reports that Arctic wildfires in June 2020 caused more pollution than the data (数据) that had been collected in the previous 18 years. Seasonal wildfires are common in Siberia, but this year’s fires are unusually widespread in part because of a climate change-driven heatwave. The Arctic is experiencing climate change-driven warming faster than the rest of the earth, which sets up the dry conditions that make fires spread.

“I was surprised to see a fire burning 10 kilometers south of a bay of the Laptev Sea, which is like, the sea ice factory of the world,” said fire researcher Jessica McCarty from Miami University in Ohio. “When I went into fire science as an undergraduate student, if someone had told me I’d be studying fire regimes (管强体制) in Greenland and the Arctic, I would have laughed at them.”

This June’s Arctic fires beat the pollution record set in 2019, said Mark Parrington, who works with the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service tracking worldwide wildfires. Some of the fires may have spent the winter months smoldering (闷燃) only to grow again in warmer weather. And the weather has certainly gotten warmer. In June, a Russian town above the Arctic circle called Verkhoyansk hit a high temperature of 100,4 degrees Fahrenheit.

The current situation in the Arctic circle shows that previous predictions (预测) “underestimate what is going on in reality,” earth scientist Vladmir Romanovsky sold. He added that temperature observation in the High Arctic made in the last 15 years weren’t expected for another seventy years.

Millions of acres of land are on fire this wildfire season. Most of the wildfires are located in Siberia’s Sakha Republic, which sees wildfires frequently, but fires are also spreading further north and into unusual ecosystems, like those that are characterized by permafrost (永冻土).

1. What made 2020 Arctic wildfires extremely widespread?

A．The warmer climate.	B．Stronger seasonal winds.
C．More fires caused by humans.	D．Humans’ poorer control of them.

2. What did Jessica McCarty want to say in paragraph 3?

A．She used to laugh at those who studied the Arctic.

B．She had decided to be a firefighter in Greenland.

C．She used to think fires rarely happened in the Arctic.

D．She had shown little interest in studying fire science.

3. What can we learn from paragraph 4?

A．The Arctic fires may go out in winter.

B．2020 Arctic fires may be related to those in 2019.

C．The pollution record in the Arctic is broken each year.

D．2020 Arctic fires affected temperatures across Russia.

4. What can the underlined word “underestimate” in paragraph 5 be best replaced by?

A．Refer to.

B．Focus on.

C．Judge incorrectly

D．Ignore completely.

8 . As a marine ecologist (海洋生态学家), Charlotte Young can often see unforgettable sights. But nothing has touched her quite like an experience she had while she was doing wildlife research with her partner, George Chislett. The British couple was searching for turtle hatchlings (刚孵化的小海龟) on a beach in Oman when they came across a creature who really needed their help.

Hopelessly stuck in n rocky crevice (裂缝) was a large green sea turtle. The turtle had been on her way back to the water after laying eggs when she fell between the rocks. While she tried to escape, her efforts only made her get more deeply stuck in the crevice. Without help, she would have died, but instead she fell into the perfect pair’s hands.

But freeing her was no easy task Green sea turtles can weigh up to 350 pounds, which meant Charlotte wasn’t strong enough to lift her out. Even with George’s help, she wasn’t able to move the helpless creature. They fruitlessly pushed and pulled for some time before realizing they would have to try something else. Meanwhile, the poor turtle was experiencing more and more anguish.

That’s when they had a bright idea. They saw a piece of wood nearby and wondered if it would make good leverage (杠杆作用). It did! With the board wedged (楔入) under the turtle, they finally began making progress. Using all their remaining strength, Charlotte and George lifted her up and out of her prison!

“We did it!” Charlotte cried as she and George celebrated with a high five.

Thank goodness Charlotte and George were in the right place at the right time — and had the determination and creativity needed to save the turtle.

1. What do we know about Charlotte Young?

A．She married a marine ecologist.	B．She was doing research on turtles.
C．She met the turtle on her way to work.	D．She went to the beach to save animals.

2. What happened to the large green sea turtle?

A．She was trapped between rocks.	B．She laid her eggs in n rocky crevice.
C．She was too tired to go back to ye sea.	D．She almost escaped when she saw the couple

3. What does the underline word “anguish” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Fear.

B．Stress.

C．Suffering.

D．Confusion.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．An amazing rescue.	B．An impossible task.
C．An exciting adventure.	D．An unexpected discovery.

9 . 阅读以下短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The Travels of Xu Xiake is a travel note     1     (create) by Xu Xiake,     2     geographer in the Ming Dynasty. After 34 years of travel, Xu Xiake left more than 600,000 Chinese words of travel notes. After his death, the materials were collected into Xu Xiake’s Travels by others.

This book is the first work to systematically investigate China’s geomorphology (水文地质学) and geology (地理学). In addition, the beautiful words also make it a masterpiece of literature,     3     is of great value in geography and literature.

The fresh and beautiful writing style used to describe things in The Travels of Xu Xiake     4     (make) readers love it. The     5     (describe) of the scenery is not only close to reality, but also very accurate. Modern science and technology has also confirmed the accuracy of Xu Xiake’s records of geological landform and rock landscape.

The historical value of The Travels of Xu Xiake covers a wide range     6     levels. Apart from the observation of mountain landform, he also has     7     (detail) records on hydrological (水文学) distribution, river source exploration and the experience of the relationship between landscape and climate.

From these rich     8     (content), this travel note can leave a name in history. It is considered to be a work     9     (cover) literature and Science in the late Ming Dynasty.

The day of the first chapter of The Travels of Xu Xiake (May 19) is     10     (official) named as China’s Tourism Day.

10 . 假定你是李华，你校将要举行一场关于“节约能源从我做起”的英语演讲比赛。请你准备一篇演讲稿，内容：1.节约能源的重要性；
2.人们在日常生活中节约能源的做法；
3.发出呼吁。
注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答；
3. 开头及结尾已给出，不包括在词数内。

A Lecture on Environment Protection

Good morning, everyone.

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Thank you