1 . In 2011, artist Grimanesa Amorós stepped off a boat made of totora reeds (芦苇) onto an island—also made of totora reeds — in the northwest portion of Lake Titicaca. It’s home to one of the world’s most innovative achievement of human engineering: the Uros Islands.

The man-made floating islands, which are home to the native Uros people, are created by putting layers upon layers of totora roots and reeds. This water-resistant plant grows in the lake and is the lifeblood of the Uros community. It is used to make boats, houses, roofs, mattresses (床垫) and more. The plant is also eaten and serves as medicine, and its flowers are used to make tea.

However, the Uros weren’t always dependent on the totora. More than 500 years ago, the growing Inca Empire began to invade the Uros’ mainland villages. To beat this threat, the Uros began to build the islands, which could be launched deep into Lake Titicaca, away from danger. Hundreds of years later, there are now about 120 of these constructed islands, with around 1,300 people living on them.

To build the islands, the Uros first gather large blocks of totora roots. Multiple blocks are pulled together, and the roots and reeds mix naturally to form a layer about 1 to 2m thick. The totora reed is laid on top of this floating base. The Uros use a long tool to reach deep down into the water and cut the plant above the base. Then, the reeds are dried in the sun for one to four weeks and bundled (捆绑) together using a rope. Once dried, totora reeds are placed in alternating directions on top of the root blocks and become the ground that the Uros walk and build their homes on.

Today, urban influences are evident on the islands: Solar panels power bedroom lights and small TVs; a radio station operates on the main island. It’s evident that these modern changes and tourism have changed the Uros’ life on the lake. One thing remains certain, though. As long as there is totora growing at Lake Titicaca, the islands’ rooted foundation will stay the same.

1. Which word can best describe the role totora reeds play in the Uro’s life?

A．Essential.

B．Symbolic.

C．Protective.

D．Sustainable.

2. What was the original purpose of building the floating island?

A．To develop tourism.	B．To maintain their lifestyle.
C．To escape from enemies’ attack.	D．To be separated from the world.

3. What does the fourth paragraph mainly focus on?

A．The key to selecting building materials.	B．The procedure of building the islands.
C．The difficulty of living on the island.	D．The method of spotting reeds.

4. What might be the best title for the text?

A．Fancy Lifestyles of the Uros	B．Innovative Building Materials
C．Floating Homes on Lake Titicaca	D．A Must-see Tourist Attraction of Lake Titicaca

2 . 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。

Placed among the busy streets of Washington, D. C. is a large public garden that many Americans have never heard of. The U. S. National Arboretum (植物园) includes     1     collection of flowering plants called azaleas, a field of native plants named ferns, and flowering trees in the dogwood tree area. The garden     2     (establish) by Congress in 1927. It plays a leading part in researching and developing plants like trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses.

Government scientists are in charge of the 180-hectare area. Their main goal is     3    (strengthen) the U. S. economy by making sure an important kind of agriculture,     4     (call) the nursery industry, continues to perform well. The most recent numbers from the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) show that the ornamental and landscape plant industry creates billions of founds in sales each year.

The arboretum is home to one of the     5     (large) collections of preserved seeds in the world. The National Arboretum Herbarium (植物标本)     6     (house) around 700,000 ex-ample seeds. They include seeds from plants that the USDA considers as     7    (economical) important. Scientists collect many genetically different seeds within a kind of plant from both native and non-native plants. The reason     8     collecting that data is that scientists protect plants from harmful situations like climate change, changed environments, or other new and possible risks.

While the scientists do their work, the public     9     (explore) plants is free to visit the arboretum. Though many people may not know it, the arboretum has had a hand in developing a number of plants     10     are part of American landscaping.

3 . Animals, including humans, feel sound as well as hear it, and some of the most meaningful communication happens at frequencies (频率) that people can’t hear. Elephants, for example, use these low-frequency sounds to, among other things, find family or a mate across long distances. Whales do it, too.

But you don’t have to weigh a ton to make a sound. In fact, you don’t have to be bigger than a pea. Consider, for example, the tree-hopper, a curious little animal that lives on the stems (茎) of the leaves. University of Missouri biologist Rex Cocroft has spent much of his time listening closely to tree-hoppers with his team.

The team discovers that all the sounds being heard from tree-hoppers are produced by males. They do it by vibrating (振动) their abdomens (腹部) to make a wide variety of strange sounds. There is almost no airborne sound produced with these vibrational sounds. Cocroft explained, “If a tree-hopper were to stand on your finger and produce a sound, you would feel the vibration but hear no sound.”

They showed that some sounds, not surprisingly, seem to be aimed at attracting females. And some are aimed at other males.

Cocroft explained, “When two males meet each other, or when they are mate-searching on a branch, we’re hearing ‘purring, bdddddrrrr…’ sounds that males give.” Normally, a person couldn’t hear any of this, because the sound travels along the stem, inside it. And that’s how other tree-hoppers detect it.

Cocroft said tree-hoppers have very sensitive legs. And they stand around on stems, which are good at spreading vibrations. So they just use what nature gives them to communicate with each other.

“They have so many different forms of social behavior and grouping,” Cocroft explained. “And once there are animals living in groups, then there will be all sorts of interesting possibilities for communication.”

1. What does Cocroft’s research focus on about tree-hoppers?

A．Their variety.	B．Their communication.
C．Their living areas.	D．Their numbers.

2. What can we know about tree-hoppers?

A．They sense sounds by legs.

B．They knock the stems to make sounds.

C．Their sounds can be easily heard by humans.

D．Females make sounds to meet each other

3. What does Cocroft say about animals’ living in groups?

A．It is key to their survival.

B．It drives an increase in their numbers.

C．It often leads to communication.

D．It contributes much to the division of animal types.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．A Magic Moment in Nature	B．A Journey to the Wildlife
C．Learning From Nature	D．Communication Sounds Among Animals

4 . Every year the start of the Atlantic hurricane season is another reminder for Margarite August that she still doesn’t have a roof.

The 70-year-old retired teacher’s home on the small Caribbean island nation of Dominica was mostly wiped out by hurricane Maria six years ago.

Six years after hurricane Maria, Dominicans like Margarite August still haven’t been able to rehabilitate their homes.

August is not alone. Since Maria, the government of Dominica has built 7,000 new homes—about a quarter of its housing stock-with materials to fight another Category 5 hurricane. They’ve also relocated two communities. But an untold number of the island’s 70,000 or so residents are like August, rebuilding their homes in any way they can afford.

Hurricane Maria is often referred to as a once-in-a-lifetime disaster. Scientists put much of the blame on warming ocean temperatures that could make frequent (频繁的) storms like it.

Maria damaged a terrible 95% of Dominica’s housing stock and 226% of the nation’s GDP. Before the storm, the country’s economy had long struggled since its independence from Great Britain in 1978. Unlike its more famous touristy neighbors along the chain of eastern Caribbean islands it lies on, Dominica is more known for its rugged mountains and jungles (丛林) than white sandy beaches.

The jungle mountains that crash down to the coast are beautiful but disasters visit easily. “I don’t think anybody ever got over Maria,” says Christine John of the Dominica Red Cross. “There are a lot of persons today—if it just starts to rain outside, they get anxious.”

1. What does the underlined word “rehabilitate” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Rebuild.

B．Leave.

C．Decorate.

D．Buy.

2. What is the main cause of frequent extreme storms according to scientists?

A．Over-farming.	B．Loss of the land.
C．The disappearance of the forests.	D．Climate change.

3. What is Dominica known for according to the text?

A．Its good economy.	B．Its architecture.
C．Its mountains and jungles.	D．Its sandy beaches.

4. Why are Dominicans nervous when it rains?

A．They have to stay bored at home.	B．Their houses are easy to take in water.
C．They don’t know how to make umbrellas.	D．They are afraid of another disaster like Maria.

5 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Waters may be flowing on the surface of an enormous planet that lies about 120 light-years from Earth, according to new evidence     1     (uncover) by the James Webb Space Telescope.

The investigation with the space-based observatory, one of the most advanced astronomy instruments in operation,     2     (reveal) that the exoplanet (外星球) K2-18b may have some key features of a planet     3     could support bodies of water — and life. Closely orbiting the cool dwarf star K2-18, the exoplanet lies within the star’s habitable, or Goldilocks, zone and is 8.6 times     4     big as Earth. An     5     (analyse) of Webb’s observations found the planet has huge quantities of methane (甲烷) and carbon dioxide in its atmosphere.

The Webb telescope, which can detect infrared (红外) light invisible to the human eye, searched for exactly     6     elements are featured in the planet’s atmosphere. And     7     latest observations of the planet also hint that a very special substance, called dimethyl sulfide (二甲基亚砜), could be     8     (presence) on K2-18b. On Earth, dimethyl sulfide “is only produced by life,” according to NASA. Researchers are not directly suggesting that K2-18b is crawling with alien life. Further research is needed     9     (confirm) the presence of dimethyl sulfide.

And even if scientists confirm the chemical compound’s presence, that doesn’t guarantee life-forms exist there. But this new evidence does expand scientists’ understanding of exoplanets similar     10     K2-18b.

6 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给的段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

One sunny Saturday morning, I got ready for a hike with my classmates. I was so excited about it since it was my first time to go hiking. I ate a light breakfast just a few slices of bread and an egg. After that I grabbed my backpack and hurriedly ran out of my house and then met my classmates at the school gate. At that time I didn’t think that there would be a terrible disaster ahead.

The jungle (丛林) that we are going to was far from our area. Its name was Salymbia Jungle. The drive was 3 hours long but it was not a dull ride as we were all eager about the hike and we bad each other’s company. We appointed a guide and his name was Thomas. He said that he had hiked in the Salymbia Jungle lots of times, and he was familiar with the pathways. When we arrived, Thomas allowed us to begin. There were a wide variety of plants which I had never seen before. The smell of the jungle was so earthy. All of us were amazed by the beauty of the scenery and the sound of the creatures.

After a while we were walking and then I looked at my wrist (手腕) to check the time but then I realized my watch had fallen off. Then I walked back without telling anyone. I did not worry about getting lost since there were other persons behind and I thought I would have been able to catch up with my classmates. I went back searching the pathway and I lost track of time and lost sight of my classmates. I immediately realized that I was alone.

After I realized I was lost, the first thing I did was to check my phone to see how far away I was from my companions. However, I was having no luck because there was no network in my phone, which made my phone practically useless.

Paragraph 1: The sky started to become darker.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2: As I was falling asleep, I heard a human voice.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . In the office of remote sensing scientist Liu Shaochuang, there is a huge photograph of a camel he snapped a decade ago in Xinjiang. He crouched for hours by a pool of water in the Gobi Desert to capture the image.

Since 2012, he has led a team in tracking and studying wild camels using satellite remote sensing technology.

Unlike zoologists who focus on species, Liu has studied the interrelationship between endangered animals and their environment, which he believes will help develop better protection strategies in the face of climate change.

His interest in wild camels began when his team tested a prototype(雏形)design of the lunar rover Yutu in the desert. Living in the harsh deserts in northwestern China and southwestern Mongolia, camels are listed as critically endangered animals. Experts estimate that the population of this species is currently less than 1, 000, of which around 650 are in China.

“Ten years ago, the research relied solely on human observation, which was very primitive, ”Liu says. Because camels are fully migratory and can travel over long distances, scientists used to learn their habits by studying hoof prints and droppings. It was hard to find one camel in the desert, let alone track it. But Liu thought his expertise in satellite navigation(导航)and remote sensing might come in useful in the study of wild camels.

It was not easy at first. Liu learned zoology from scratch. His team had to spend several weeks each year braving dust and sandstorms in the vastness of the Gobi Desert seeking out camels. A scar on his right eyebrow is the result of a rollover accident on a rugged mountain road in Xinjiang.

“The most exciting moment was attaching a satellite positioning collar to a wild camel. ”The tracking collar, equipped with special receivers, weighs only a few hundred grams. It can detach automatically and will not have a negative impact on the daily lives of the animals. The locations of the tracked animals are transmitted via satellite every day. Based on the data, scientists can get to know their migratory paths, living environments and possible threats they may meet with.

For Liu, it is worth the significant sci-tech effort to study such a rare species. He adds wildlife protection and research will become more precise and efficient with the help of technology.

1. What was it that made tracking wild camels difficult?

A．The number of camels experienced a sharp decline.

B．Massive migration made camels cover huge distances.

C．Primitive tools were used in human observation.

D．Hoof prints and droppings were never to be seen.

2. What can be inferred from the scar on his right eyebrow?

A．His carelessness in carrying out his research.

B．His inexperience at the very beginning of his work.

C．The rough conditions under which he worked.

D．The stress he met with in his work.

3. What does paragraph 7 mainly focus on?

A．The formation of the tracking collar.

B．The definition of the tracking collar.

C．The importance of the tracking collar.

D．The function of the tracking collar.

4. Which of the following can best describe Liu Shaochuang?

A．Generous and ambitious.	B．Confident and grateful.
C．Creative and determined.	D．Optimistic and modest.

8 . Kids everywhere love to play. And they know a ball is a perfect thing to play with. Now scientists at London’s Queen Mary University report that bumblebees seem to know the same thing, making bumblebees the first insects known to play.

When people talk about “play”, they’re describing an animal doing something that doesn’t really seem to help it. They’re not doing the action to get food or shelter or another similar “reward”. Play usually happens when a creature is relaxed and is often repeated.

However, scientists think many animals and birds’ playing is a kind of training for things they’ll have to deal with in later life. But before this, there were no reports of insects playing.

Scientists at Dr. Chittka’s lab, carried out an experiment. First, they tagged (贴标签) 45 young bumblebees, both male and female, between 1 and 23 days old. The tags made the bees easier to identify and follow.

The scientists set up a clear pathway from the bumblebees’ nest to a feeding area. On either side of the open pathway, the researchers placed small colored wooden balls. On one side of the path, the balls were attached and couldn’t move. On the other side, the balls could roll around. It turned out that the bumblebees weren’t interested in the unmovable balls, but they made lots of visits to the rolling balls.

Grabbing the balls with their legs, the bees would flap (拍打) their wings to pull on the balls, causing them to roll. The 45 tagged bumblebees rolled balls 910 times during the experiment. Though some only did it once, others did it a lot. The younger bumblebees spent more time rolling balls. Males seemed more likely to play than females.

“It’s not clear why the bees roll the balls or whether they enjoy it But the experiment raises important questions about how the insects’ minds work and whether they have feelings. With further research, the future will hold surprises and answers in store for us,” said Dr. Chittka.

1. What is the purpose of animals’ play according to scientists?

A．To find ideal shelter.

B．To receive extra rewards.

C．To develop survival skills.

D．To get their fellows’ attention.

2. What did Dr. Chittka’s experiment focus on?

A．Bumblebees’ categories.	B．Bumblebees’ habitats.
C．Bumblebees’ intelligence.	D．Bumblebees’ behavior.

3. What was the result of the experiment?

A．Younger male bumblebees preferred to roll the balls.

B．Bumblebees possessed different wing beat frequency.

C．Bumblebees could distinguish balls of different colors.

D．A specially-built pathway helped bumblebees find food.

4. What is Dr. Chittka’s attitude to their future research?

A．Uncertain.

B．Doubtful.

C．Optimistic.

D．Critical.

9 . The loss of housing due to floods is an undeniable issue. But now, Japanese housing developer Ichijo Komuten recently unveiled a “flood-resistant house” that can not only remain waterproof during floods, but also float off the ground.

Their new “flood-resistant house” was recently featured on a popular Japanese TV show and it has been getting a lot of attention online ever since. Japan’s TBS TV station recently visited one of Ichijo’s test sites where the company’s new flood-resistant house was being put through a simulated flood. Although it looked just like an ordinary house when the test began, by the time that water started rising around it, viewers could see the structure leave the ground and eventually float a few inches above it.

We’ve all seen floating houses being swept away in severe floods, but Ichijo’s newest invention features a system that prevents just that. The house is connected to a number of thick iron rod(杆)sticking out of the ground with thick cables(缆绳)that ensure it stays in place as the water floods past. When the water recedes, the floating house comes back down in its original position. The “flood-resistant house” also features special vents(通风口))hat close up in the event of flooding, and the plumbing also has special valves that prevent water from getting into the home. Electrical equipment like air conditioning is positioned on the upper half of the building to ensure that water doesn’t reach it.

According to engineers at Ichijo Komuten, most homes flood when water reaches the window level, but because their flood-resistant house can float up to five meters above ground, water is unlikely to reach the windows and everything else is sealed shut.

1. Why does Ichijo Komuten develop the “flood-resistant house”?

A．To make houses waterproof.	B．To get houses off the ground.
C．To keep houses forever floating.	D．To secure houses against floods.

2. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Houses throughout the world are in danger of being flooded.

B．Electrical equipment will be safe in Ichijo Komuten’s flood-resistant house.

C．Thick iron rods and cables were invented by Ichijo Komuten.

D．Ichijo Komuten’s flood-resistant houses have been put into market successfully.

3. What is the attitude of Ichijo Komuten’s engineers toward their newest invention?

A．Positive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Unclear.

D．Critical.

4. What’s the main purpose of the passage?

A．To assess the consequences of floods

B．To stress the necessity of a waterproof house.

C．To provide guidance on flood control.

D．To introduce a new invention and its functions.