1 . Dear Doggy Diary

MONDAY

Now we’ve surely got all we require for the puppy’s arrival: a basket, a screaming toy banana and a bag of dog food. For names, we are hesitating between Spike or Lenny—but, as I tell this list to a Black friend, I suddenly realize both names are associated with famous Black men, and panic that this is a little offence.

TUESDAY

Our friend Sam has kindly volunteered to “puppy proof” our home. “You don’t want to give him that screaming toy, that’s encouraging him to eat your sofa,” she says, inspecting our purchases disapprovingly. She hands us a book, by Dr Ian Dunbar. “This guy”, she assures us, “is a Super Babysitter for dogs.”

WEDNESDAY

Spent last night ______57______ Dunbar has plenty of wisdom on “positively communicating” with the puppy, but nothing on how to get a puppy and also two young children.

THURSDAY

D-Day. Now the registration website wants a dog name at short notice. So, we go for “Buzz”. One syllable (音节) and with multi-generational fascination (Granny thinks Aldrin, kids think Lightyear).

FRIDAY

I feel very hesitant about saying so, but last night went well. Buzz is incredibly cute, the kids adore him and he’s very cute and only did one pee (排尿) on the blanket, and did I mention he’s cute?

SATURDAY

“Love” feels like a stretch right now. Our “play” was evidently not “focused” enough to prevent Buzz biting through our sofa. Also, our three-year-old thinks it’s funny to run away, so Buzz wrestles him to the ground and licks all over his face. I suspect this isn’t the best way to prepare Buzz for engaging with the public.

SUNDAY

The whole house smells of dog. I find this nasty, but friends, family, and people we barely know existed are dropping by to meet him. “It’s like having a baby, eh?” says my neighbor, Erik, brightly. “Yes, but it’s a baby you can neglect when it cries!” I respond cheerfully. He frowns (皱眉).

MONDAY

It’s 2 A.M. on the coldest day of the year and I’m on my hands and knees in the bushes. I think you’ve never really experienced a harsh mid-winter until you’re trying to run after a puppy. Then, we return inside, and it’s just me and Buzz. Peace. I should put him back in his cage, but I find I can’t resist a hug. Don’t tell my wife.

1. What does the phrase “puppy proof” our home mean in paragraph 2?

A．Make our home clean enough for the puppy.	B．Inspect our home to make it puppy-friendly.
C．Prove that the puppy will satisfy our needs.	D．Decorate our home with books on puppies.

2. In the diary of “WEDNESDAY”, a passage is missing. Which of the following plot best fits into the numbered blank?

A．Picking a dog ’s name from a name list of Blacks.

B．Looking over the house for potential safety hazards.

C．Studying Dunbar’s book on how to take care of a dog.

D．Visiting Dunbar in person in order to adopt his puppy.

3. Which of the following is the reason for naming the puppy “Buzz”?

A．Other choices imply strong prejudice against Black people.

B．Its pronunciation resembles the puppy’s cute and short bark.

C．The registration website recommends the name to the family.

D．The name holds appeal to both the elder and the younger generations.

4. Which of the following does the diary feature after the adoption of the puppy?

A．Chaos and cuteness.

B．Hatred and love.

C．Mess and cleanliness.

D．Abuse and affection.

2 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。1.

A．To fight against violent action.

B．To explore new ways of studying animals.

C．To stop animal being used for medical research.

D．To highlight the protection of endangered animals.

2.

A．It might be the most efficient way to free animals

B．The damage done in this case might not be so terrible.

C．It might not be such a serious crime in the eyes of the law

D．The cost of setting up the lab might discourage the firm from doing so.

3.

A．Evidence was found that no actual animal cruelty did happen

B．Evidence was found that the scientists didn’t obey certain rules.

C．The scientists couldn’t afford to find animals again for the research

D．The scientists were believed to have been involved in illegal action.

4.

A．It is not their original intention.

B．It does bring them much trouble.

C．It has made their life difficult.

D．It is what they apologise for.

3 . An environmental group in Colombia is leading a project to save wild areas in the San Lucas mountains with the help of coffee growers.     1     Colombia has more different kinds of living things than any country after neighboring Brazil, but destruction of forests has increased since 2016.

Government information shows that in 2017, almost 220,000 hectares of forest were destroyed compared to 124,000 hectares in 2015. Areas like San Lucas have been threatened by mining and growers of coca plants, which are used to make the drug cocaine.

To date, the project includes 10 families who farm 400 hectares of coffee plants. WebConserva said the project costs about $77,000 dollars a year. The group said it hopes that, in time, 200 families will be included. At that level, 20,000 hectares of untouched forest could be protected. In San Lucas, the families promise not to cut down trees to expand their crops or to hunt wild animals from the forest.     2    

Arcadio Barajas is among those taking part. His new coffee plantation establishes a barrier between cattle ranches and forests where wild animals like the jaguar live and hunt. The presence of the coffee fields reduces the likelihood that there will be conflict between cattle ranchers and the big cats. Barajas said that cutting down the forest to plant coca and killing wildlife were against his faith.     3     “I’m taking care of the environment, the forest and the animals, so that I don’t end up ruined as well,” he said.

Arnobis Romero is a former coca grower and miner. He said many families depended on illegal activities to support their children. For example, at times one kilogram of Coca could be sold for $760. Romero said, “We feel really proud to look after this biodiversity and to leave it... for future generations.”

    4     But each year, hundreds of thousands of hectares of land are destroyed. Activists want San Lucas to be protected as a national park, but the process has been slow.

A．In return, they receive $250 to $300 for 125 kilograms of coffee.

B．It protects forests, biodiversity and ecosystems at the same time.

C．Colombia has set aside 16 percent of its territory as protected land.

D．Gold mining and coca farming make more money than coffee growing.

E．But now he feels that growing coffee lets him be a good steward of the land.

F．The goal is to limit additional development in the northern San Lucas area which is rich in biodiversity, meaning many forms of life live there.

4 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Scientists have discovered that dogs produce more facial movements when a human is paying attention to them than when they are being ignored or presented with a tasty small piece of food.

The research argues     1     the belief that animal facial expressions are largely unconscious movements, that reflect internal sentiments, rather than a way to communicate.

Their expressions are responsive to humans — not just to other dogs. That shows us how domestication     2    (shape) them.

“Facial expression is often seen as something that is very emotionally driven and is very fixed, and so it isn’t something that animals can change     3    (depend) on their circumstances,” said Bridget Waller, professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Portsmouth, and an author of the study.

Researchers     4    (involve) in the study published in Scientific Reports, used a video camera to record the facial movements of 24 dogs over a series of experiments     5     a human either faced the animal, or faced away, and presented the dog with a tidbit (小片食物), or did not. The recordings were then examined by the team frame by frame     6    (determine) changes in the facial muscles of the canines.

The results reveal that the dogs produced far more facial expressions when the human was facing the dog, than when they turned away — in particular, the animals were     7    (likely) to show their tongues and raise their inner eyebrows.

But the presence of food had no impact on the animals’ expressions. That suggested canine facial expressions were not just down to excitement, and cast doubt over     8     dogs use their facial expressions to twist their owners around their paws, said Waller.

“We wanted to see if dogs would produce the most facial expressions when they saw the face and the food, because that might then tell us they are trying to intentionally manipulate the human in order to get the food — and we didn’t see that,” said Waller.

The study suggested doggy expressions were not simply the result of internal emotions, but     9     be a mechanism of communication. The team noted their work didn’t show whether dogs simply learn to pull faces when a human pays attention to them, or whether it reflects a deeper connection. But, they said, it was notable that the animals tended to make their eyes appear bigger —     10     trait humans are known to find cute.

5 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. build        B. precisely     C. reason     D. reinvent     E. relative   F. social G. survive     H. theoretically        I. traces     J. transmission       K. works

Three things that make us human

All species on Earth, including humans, are unique. Yet our intelligence and creativity go well beyond those of any other animal. Humans have long communicated through language, and invented ever more complex tools that have enabled our species to     1    and develop.

>Our brains

Without doubt, the human trait (特征) that sets us apart the most from the animal kingdom is our extraordinary brain. Humans don’t have the largest brains in the world—those belong to sperm whales. We don’t even have the largest brains     2     to body size—many birds have brains that make up more than 8% of their body weight, compared to only 2.5% for humans. Yet the human brain, which weighs about three pounds when fully grown, gives us the ability to    3     and think on our feet beyond the capabilities of the rest of the animal kingdom. It gave us the     4    of Einstein, Mozart and many other geniuses.

>Language

Many species communicate with vocal sounds. But language is a special form of communication. Full language, with rules for combining sounds into words, and words into sentences, probably originated at some point about 50,000 years ago. But we will probably never know     5     when and where language originated. Fossils, DNA evidence, comparisons with other animals, and studies of how languages change over time all provide clues, but spoken language itself leaves few     6    . It most likely evolved from a simpler form of communication. Chimpanzees use both gestures and vocal calls to communicate status and other complex     7     information. It is possible that our ancestors also expressed themselves first with gestures or simple words, then developed rules for linking them into sentences.

A Learning from each other

Our unique brains and dexterity (灵巧) of our hands use of tools possible, but we also rely on the cultural     8     of ideas. Culture is at the heart of being human. We put our heads together, we share ideas, and learn from each other, recognizing a past, a present, and a future. We learn from the past,     9     on this in the present, and expect the future. Without culture, each new generation would be forced to     10     the wheel.

6 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

The Real Cost of Travel

Mass tourism is a relatively recent phenomenon. The tourism industry     1     (take) off in the middle of the last century and it’s been growing ever since. In the last ten years especially, more and more people have been traveling to places     2     we had previously only read about or seen on television. But what kind of impact does tourism have on the planet?

A voyage to the end of the earth?

A large cruise ship (邮轮) can carry as many as 6,000 passengers and there are upwards of 50 such ships currently     3    (sail) the seas. Cruise ships dump about 90,000 tons of waste into the oceans every year. Any harmful effects of this are made even worse by the fact     4     cruises tend to visit the same places over and over again, thus concentrating the waste in specific places.

Trash on top of the world

From remote ocean habitats to the world’s highest mountain, our trash is everywhere. Though far fewer people go climbing the Himalayas than on a cruise, their impact     5    (still feel). Tourism is vital to the economy of Nepal,     6     it is to many non-industrial countries. But for decades, climbers have been abandoning their unwanted equipment on Everest. For the last few years, clean-up teams of local and international climbers have been organizing hiking trips just     7    (pick) up the waste. One group has brought over eight tons of waste down from the mountain!

When more is not better

Tourism of a different kind is causing problems in Europe. Construction on the Mediterranean coast has been     8     control for years. Beach resorts form an almost unbroken line from Gibraltar to Greece, and natural habitats have disappeared under miles of concrete. And so we pollute the sea, the land, and the air. Low-cost air travel is booming, in spite of (or perhaps     9     (help) by) economic problems. For many Europeans, low-cost flights allow them to take several short vacations a year. Yet curiously, short flights actually have a much bigger effect on climate change than long flights. So, are there    10     (damaging) ways of seeing the world? Traveling by train, for example, is a much greener way of getting around.

7 . Why Do Cats Love Boxes So Much?

There is an object that’s pretty much guaranteed to arouse your cat’s interest. That object, as the Internet has so thoroughly documented, is a box. Any box, really. Like many other really strange things cats do, science hasn’t fully cracked this particular feline (猫科的) mystery.

    1     In fact, when you look at all the evidence together, it could be that your cat may not just like boxes, he may need them.

The box-and-whisker plot

Understanding the feline mind is extremely difficult. Still, there’s a sizable amount of behavioral research on cats who are, well, used for other kinds of research. These studies have been taking place for more than 50 years and they make one thing quite clear:     2    

This is likely true for a number of reasons, but for cats in stressful situations, a box or some other type of separate enclosure can have a strong impact on both their behavior and physiology.

Ethologist Claudia Vinke of Utrecht University in the Netherlands is one of the latest researchers to study stress levels in shelter cats. Working with domestic cats in a Dutch animal shelter, Vinke provided hiding boxes for a group of newly arrived cats while keeping another group from them entirely.     3     In effect, the cats with boxes got used to their new surroundings faster, were far less stressed early on, and were more interested in interacting with humans.

The ‘If it fits, I sits’ principle

Some feline observers will note that in addition to boxes, many cats seem to pick other odd places to relax. Some curl up in a bathroom sink.     4     This brings us to the other reason why your cat may like particularly small boxes: It’s really cold out.

So there you have it: Boxes are insulating, stress-relieving, comfort zones—places where cats can hide, relax, sleep, and occasionally launch a surprise attack against the huge, unpredictable apes they live with.

A．Your furry companion obtains comfort and security from enclosed spaces.

B．Others prefer shoes, bowls, shopping bags, coffee mugs, empty egg cartons, and other small, enclosed spaces.

C．She found a significant difference in stress levels between cats that had the boxes and those that didn’t.

D．A box, in this sense, can often represent a safe zone, a place where sources of anxiety, hostility (恶意), and unwanted attention simply disappear.

E．So rather than work things out, cats tend to simply run away from their problems or avoid them altogether.

F．Thankfully, behavioral biologists and veterinarians have come up with a few interesting explanations.

8 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Meet the Woman Who Gives Rescued Farm Animals a Second Chance at Life

Shortly after doctors diagnosed ten-year-old Jenny Brown with bone cancer, they had to cut off her right leg below the knee to save her life. Facing a year of chemotherapy (化疗) after the surgery, Jenny begged her mother for a kitten. The orange calico Jenny named Boogie rarely left her side, licking tears from her cheeks after hospital visits and curling up in her lap as she adjusted to life with a prosthetic (假肢的) leg.

“My relationship with Boogie showed me that animals think, feel, and suffer as much as we do,” says Jenny, now 44.

In 1994, Jenny graduated from Columbia College Chicago and began a career in television and documentary production. On the side, she volunteered as a videographer for animal rights groups, and in 2002, she shot undercover footage of horrible animal mistreatment at several Texas farm animal stockyards. “After seeing that, I knew I needed to help animals,” says Jenny.

A year later, she gave up her film career and with her fiancé, Doug Abel, a film editor, opened the Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing and recovering farm animals, on a 22-acre property they bought in the rolling hills of Woodstock, New York, the next year.

In August 2007, she received a call from Animal Care and Control of NYC about a small goat it had found hopping around Prospect Park. Jenny guessed it had run away from one of the city’s murder-houses. The goat’s legs were severely injured, probably from being bound together with wire, and its mouth was covered in aching.

Jenny and her team brought the goat, which they named Albie, to the preserve, but they soon realized that Albie’s left front leg was injured beyond repair. After a veterinarian(兽医) cut off the leg. Jenny asked Erik Tomkins, the doctor who makes Jenny’s prostheses, to fashion a leg for Albie. To date, seven of the preserve’s animals have received prosthetic limbs or braces. “On most farms, animals with these illnesses would be immediately killed,” says Jenny.

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9 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. affect             B. challenge        C. controlled        D. change          E. evolved        F. extinction G. happening       H. key                 I. measure            J. minimize        K. warning

The Antarctic: Key to Planet Earth

The first people to reach the South Pole—in modern times, anyway—were Roald Amundsen and the Norwegian Antarctic expedition, in December 1911. Explorers had been trying to reach the Antarctic for over a hundred years because it represented the serious     1     : the coldest and windiest continent in the world.

Nowadays, scientists from over 27 countries work in the Antarctic all year round and there is even a small amount of tourism in the summer months. Since the 1960s, people have come to realize that the Antarctic holds the     2     to the history of our planet.

Antarctica has preserved valuable evidence of the natural history of our planet. Evidence from fossils shows how life     3     during geological time. The Antarctic has a crucial role to play in helping us understand global     4     .

The Antarctic provides valuable information about what is currently     5     to the ozone layer and about global warming. Scientists are also discovering that the ice sheet may contribute to changes in sea level. What happens in Antarctica will     6     the world’s climate and the world’s oceans. This is why the Antarctic is now one of the most     7     regions of the world, in terms of regulations concerning pollution.

Up until the 1960s, some species of whale and seal were driven almost to     8     by human activities in Antarctica. However, due to greater environmental awareness, all plants and animals in Antarctica are now protected by regulation. Commercial fishing is strictly limited and severe measures aim to     9     illegal fishing. There are also strict measures to control marine pollution.

Antarctica provides information on the past, present and future of our planet, and controls major issues in the rest of the world. In this sense, Antarctica is a(n)     10     because it tells us what we have done wrong. It is also a lesson because the regulations in force there show us what can be done and what must be done for the environment. It is up to us to listen and act, before it is too lat.

10 . Directions: After reading the passages below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Should we be rewilding more land?

Every day in the US, 6,000 acres of open land are cleared for various purposes such as farming, housing, roads, and others. This has led to concerns among scientists     1     believe that losing more open land can harm the planet. Natural habitats such as untouched forests, grasslands, and waterways provide numerous benefits     2     wildlife habitats, clean water, and reduced air pollution. To counter this trend, efforts are underway     3     the world to return animals and plants to certain areas. However, some people argue that rewilding is     4     expensive and risky process that may not work and could cause harm.

Despite the potential risks, rewilding can help slow down climate change by restoring forests that absorb harmful gases like carbon dioxide. It can also prevent species from     5    (die) out and reset natural ecosystems. For example, gray wolves     6    (reintroduce) in Yellowstone National Park in 1995, after being hunted to extinction there. The wolves reduced the booming population of elks (麋鹿),     7     gave the plants the elks ate a chance to thrive and serve as habitat for animals like beavers and birds.

    8     its environmental benefits, rewilding can also provide jobs for workers and scientists and attract visitors to an area. Despite the potential concerns and risks     9    (associate) with rewilding, it is an important tool for protecting the planet and its diverse ecosystems. As such, efforts     10     be made to ensure that rewilding projects are conducted responsibly and with careful consideration of their potential impact on the environment.