1 . Lucy was rescued from a rural farm in New South Wales, Australia, two years ago. She was suffering from chlamydia (衣原体病), a disease widespread among koalas. Today, she is one of “the lucky” living creatures in tree corridors (走廊) that have been created by volunteers to protect koalas and other animals by saving their quickly shrinking habitats, or natural environment.

The corridors, planted by the local conservation group Bangalow Koalas, are made up of large systems of plants. They are intended for koalas and other animals like the glossy black cockatoos, possums, and wallabies. All of them are endangered, or at risk of becoming extinct. The corridors provide a safe path across the koala’s increasingly broken habitat. “Our corridors are actually trying to get them away from humans, from cars and from dogs,” said Linda Sparrow, president of Bangalow Koalas. “They can safely move across the landscapes and don’t have to put up with us humans.”

The koala is predicted to be extinct in the wild in New South Wales by 2050. Some of the biggest dangers include wildfires and habitat loss through land clearing for development. Koalas have already been declared endangered in several Australian states. A recent report by the Australian Koala Foundation said the animal was worth an estimated $3.2 billion per year to the tourism industry.

Founded in 2016, Bangalow Koalas has planted over 936,000 trees on 119 properties, helping koala conservation and improving the local ecosystem. The group, which depends on com munity volunteers, aims to plant 500,000 trees by 2025. Volunteer Lindy Stacker, who has been planting trees for over five years, still remains devoted to the cause. She said the activity is good for mental health and has brought the community together. “I can’t imagine a world where there’s no koalas in the wild. We’re going to do everything we can possibly to. make sure that won’t happen,” Lindy said.

1. Who is Lucy?

A．A farmer.

B．A patient.

C．A volunteer.

D．A koala.

2. What are the tree corridors intended to do?

A．To shelter koalas from human threat.	B．To test the local natural environment.
C．To save koalas suffering from chlamydia.	D．To stop koalas’ habitats from being rebuilt.

3. What does the author want to show in paragraph 3?

A．The reason for koalas’ extinction.	B．Koalas’ value in tourism industry.
C．The necessity of saving koalas.	D．People’s deep love for koalas.

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

A．Bangalow Koalas: A Group Intended For Koalas

B．Tree Corridors: A Lifeline For Endangered Koalas

C．Bangalow Koalas: Call On Volunteers For Koalas’ Protection

D．Tree Corridors: Responsible For The Loss Of Koalas’ Habitats

2 . Family Vacations in Hawaii

Whether your interests are history, native cultures, hiking, water sports, or simply relaxing in the sun, Hawaii has abundant choices to keep you and your family entertained.

Waikiki Beach

This famous two-mile stretch of sand is home to scores of family-friendly beach hotels and all kinds of action-packed excitement. Waikiki Beach is the perfect place to go if you’re looking for warm ocean water and golden beaches. Kids will enjoy walking along the beach, stopping for shaved ice or an ice cream and taking a dip in a safe area of the ocean.

Oahu’s North Shore

Some of the tallest ocean waves in the world are found at Oahu, Hawaii’s North Shore coastline during the winter months. These crashing walls of water are born for surfing and offer one of the best free shows on the islands. The North Shore is home to world-class surf contests, attracting the world’s top surfers.

Polynesian Cultural Center

Nothing appeals to the whole family like Hawaiian past coming alive. Besides, the colorful costumes, lively songs, and traditional dances in the Pacific region are presented here. You’ll see customs of Fiji, New Zealand, Marquesas, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, and Hawaii all represented in Polynesian Cultural Center’s re-created island villages, which is decorated with palm trees and tropical gardens.

Waimea Canyon (峡谷) State Park

More than 3,500 feet deep, this landmark on Hawaii’s island of Kauai is the largest canyon in the Pacific. Unlike Grand Canyon, plentiful rain keeps Waimea Canyon and its surrounding area thick with vegetation (植被), and visitors are frequently treated to the sight of vivid rainbows. It offers a great canyon view and a covered picnic area.

1. What makes Oahu’s North Shore known to the world?

A．Its best free cultural shows.	B．Its family-friendly beach hotels.
C．Having the tallest coastline.	D．Being a perfect place for surfing.

2. Which place is most likely to attract those who are interested in history?

A．Waikiki Beach.	B．Oahu’s North Shore.
C．Polynesian Cultural Center.	D．Waimea Canyon State Park.

3. What is special about Waimea Canyon compared to Grand Canyon?

A．It has a covered picnic area.	B．It has a depth of over 3,500 feet.
C．It’s rich in plants and rainfall.	D．It owns a unique kind of vegetation.

3 . Begus is a linguist at the University of California, Berkeley. He got the chance, last summer, to observe sperm whales in their wild Caribbean habitat. With him were marine (海洋的) biologists and roboticists. There were also cryptographers and experts in other fields. All have been working together to listen to sperm whales and figure out what they might be saying. They call this Project CETI. Project CETI’s team is not the only group turning to AI for help decoding animal talk. Researchers have trained AI models to sort through the sounds of prairie dogs, dolphins, naked mole rats and many other creatures.

Long before AI came into the picture, scientists and others have worked toward understanding animal communication. Some learned that vervet monkeys have different calls when warning of leopards, eagles or pythons. Others discovered that elephants communicate in rumbles too low for human ears to hear. Bats chatter in squeaks too high for our hearing. Still other groups have explored how bees communicate through dance.

“It took us a long time to measure all these things,” says researcher Karen Bakker. AI, she notes, has the potential to greatly speed up this type of research. Perhaps one day we’ll be able to use AI to build a futuristic chat box that translates animal sounds into human language, or vice versa (反之亦然).

“Al could eventually get us to the point where we understand animals,” says Bakker. What’s interesting to her is what we can learn from how bats and other creatures talk among each other. We should listen to animals for better protection, she argues. For example, a system set up to record whales or elephants can also track their locations. This can help us avoid whales with our boats or prevent elephants from illegal hunters.

1. What is Project CETI aimed at?

A．Applying AI to animal research.

B．Improving the living conditions of sperm whales.

C．Preventing all marine life from extinction.

D．Analysing talks of sperm whales.

2. How is the second paragraph developed?

A．By listing figures.	B．By giving examples.
C．By making comparisons.	D．By analyzing causes.

3. What is NOT true according to Karen Bakker?

A．Animal researches used to be time-consuming.

B．Animals may one day understand human language.

C．We can already well figure out animal talk with AI.

D．We apply AI to eventually assist us protect animals.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．AI: A Potential Threat to Human Future

B．AI: A Technology Beneficial to the Earth

C．AI: A Tool to Understand and Protect Animals

D．AI: A Field of Fierce Major-country Competition

4 . Louie, a pet parrot, saved a whole family. He ______ the sleeping Klein family in the middle of the night as flames swept through their home.

“Louie is a true ______,” Barbara Klein recently told news agency South West News Service(SWNS). “If it hadn’t been for him, I probably wouldn’t have been ______ at that time. He started shouting ‘Fire’. He had never said that word before in my ______. When I woke up, the fire was starting to spread across the living room floor.” Unluckily for the family, Louie didn’t ______. Barbara said, “He was like our babies, so it’s ______.”

Barbara took her five-year-old granddaughter ______ and ran out of the house. Her husband Larry also made it out, but was severely wounded when escaping from the burning building. “He ran to the kitchen and tried to ______ the fire out with water,” Barbara told SWNS. “After we left, he ran back into the house and insisted on ______ the pet but with no ______.” The Kleins suffered great ______ in the fire. Their house was in ______ along with its contents and the parrot Louie passed away.

“People have ______ with clothing and someone donated an apartment for three months,” Barbara said. “The man who donated the apartment also ______ us with a baby parrot. We call him Louie Jr to _____   Louie.”

1.

A．annoyed

B．alarmed

C．impressed

D．noticed

2.

A．model

B．genius

C．hero

D．pioneer

3.

A．awake

B．asleep

C．alone

D．afraid

4.

A．opinion

B．way

C．memory

D．sight

5.

A．survive

B．resist

C．arrive

D．respond

6.

A．frightening

B．shocking

C．sorrowful

D．grateful

7.

A．angrily

B．gently

C．secretly

D．immediately

8.

A．turn

B．blow

C．keep

D．put

9.

A．accompanying

B．saving

C．comforting

D．adopting

10.

A．luck

B．doubt

C．evidence

D．barrier

11.

A．injuries

B．losses

C．pressures

D．failures

12.

A．detail

B．place

C．ruins

D．rows

13.

A．rushed out

B．come back

C．run away

D．reached out

14.

A．presented

B．equipped

C．linked

D．compared

15.

A．replace

B．honor

C．forget

D．reward

5 . The Art of Spreading New Plants from Cuttings

In the world of gardening, there’s a magical journey where you use the power of cuttings to create new life. Spreading plants from cuttings is a satisfying and sustainable (可持续的) practice. This increases your green treasures.    1    

Selecting and Preparing Cuttings

Not all plants respond equally to the spreading process.    2     Many plants are proper for spreading through cuttings. Research the specific needs of the plants you’re interested in, paying attention to factors like season, plant age, and overall health.

Choose healthy, disease-free stems (茎). Using clean, sharp knives, take your cuttings in the morning when the plant’s water levels are best. Once you have your cuttings, remove leaves from the lower part of the stem to reduce water loss.

Developing Your Cuttings to Plants

    3     Regularly water the cuttings to maintain wetness and monitor the soil condition. As roots develop and the plant establishes itself, gradually adapt it to the conditions of its future home. The journey from a simple cutting to a healthy plant may take weeks or even months, but the rewards are well worth the wait.

Sustainable Gardening Practice

Spreading plants through cuttings is not just about expanding your garden. It’s a sustainable practice.    4     Sharing your new plants with friends and fellow gardeners creates a sense of community and spreads the joy of growing your green family.

Creating new plants from cuttings is a fascinating journey that will change your garden into a pleasant plant-filled garden.     5     With a bit of patience, care, and a touch, you’ll find great joy in seeing the cycle of life happen in your very own garden. Happy spreading!

A．It also starts a deeper connection with nature.

B．This technique can not be easily learned.

C．So, it’s important to choose the right plants.

D．The reason is that it creates new plants without using seeds.

E．Growing plants from cuttings is a lesson in patience.

F．Getting an independent plant from just a tiny cutting is a fortune in itself.

G．As you start on this journey, each cutting holds the possibility for a new beginning.

6 . The cry of the fishing cat sounds like the quack of a duck, and the rest of this midsize cat also enables it to hunt in the water. Its streamlined head is perfect for moves in the mangrove swamps (红树林沼泽地) and wetlands of South and Southeast Asia, and its pointy ears even fold (折叠) down when it jumps into deep water. The short and strong tail helps control its direction. The extra-thick coat keeps it warm and dry while swimming.

“I found fishing cats to be very ingenious,” says Tiasa Adhya, co-founder of The Fishing Cat Project, a research and conservation group based in eastern India. Her research recently showed that the animal has two methods of catching fish. In deep waters, the cat stays still on the banks for hours before jumping into the water for the kill. In shallow (浅的) waters, though, the cat actively drives the fish out of their hiding places by moving about with heavy steps.

Now the fishing cat is facing another challenge: humans. The world has lost almost 90 percent of its wetlands since the 1700s, with Asia suffering the greatest loss. These days, industrialized fish farming, pollution and other human behaviors have destroyed the living condition of freshwater fish and set fishing cats against farmers, as the hungry cats steal farmed fish, and the farmers get even with them (报复). Once found along river systems from Pakistan to Vietnam, the cats have disappeared from large areas of their range.

Researchers are testing new methods, including the commercial launch (商业化推出) of a type of native rice variety. Depending on nutrients (营养物) washed in by rains rather than on chemicals, the rice creates living space for the fishing cat and its food. The idea is that in healthy lakes where there is plenty to feed fishing cats and fishermen alike, killings will be unnecessary. “Nobody takes a loss,” Adhya explains, “when somebody takes a fish.”

1. What does the author want to explain about fishing cats in the first paragraph?

A．Why they moved to South and Southeast Asia.

B．What helps them swim well in the water.

C．What pushes them to live with ducks.

D．Why they love staying in the water.

2. What does the underlined word “ingenious” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Friendly.

B．Alarmed.

C．Clever.

D．Lazy.

3. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The battle between fishing cats and humans.

B．The decision to protect freshwater fish.

C．The importance of stopping pollution.

D．The method of increasing wetlands.

4. What can we infer about the new method mentioned in the last paragraph?

A．It will do some harm to the environment.

B．It will create a win-win situation.

C．It will increase food production.

D．It will cost a lot of money.

7 . 读后续写

The Araguaia River is one of the biggest rivers in Brazil. It is home to thousands of animals. River dolphins swim and play in the water, and there are many different colored fish.

In one town, a 13-year-old boy named Rhenan walks along the river every day. But looking at the river makes him worry because there is rubbish everywhere. He sees plastic bottles, old clothing, and empty food packages. The water looks dark and ugly.

One day Rhenan asked about the dirty river at school. “You wouldn’t want rubbish in your house,” said his teacher. “Think about the poor animals!” For days, Rhenan couldn’t stop thinking about the river. It doesn’t seem right to him that this big and powerful river is filled with rubbish. “It’s hurting the animals in my area,” he thought. “And it’s also hurting the families who live here.” Then Rhenan had an idea.

The next morning, Rhenan talked to his mother about his plan for the river. He wanted to go around his town and ask for everyone’s help. Maybe if they all worked together, they could clean up the river!

Rhenan’s mother loved his idea. “I believe the most important thing for you, Rhenan, is learning how to change things that you care about. That will stay with you forever.” She said. She told him she would help him along the way.

The next day, Rhenan went to the police department and next to the office of the Mayor (市长). He visited offices, businesses, and other schools. Soon he had a very big group of people who like his idea! They all decided to meet at the river the following week. On the day of the river clean-up, Rhenan was excited—but he was also nervous. What if no one showed up? But when he and his mother arrived, there were almost a hundred people there, including many of Rhenan’s friends.       

注意: 1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Over the whole day, they all worked together to clean up the rubbish.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
At the end of the day, everyone started to cheer.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . A small car around the size of a Mini Cooper, the Seagull is a fast-charging electric vehicle (车辆) (EV) produced by BYD. It’s hardly a luxury car but it’s well-equipped, with a power driver’s seat and cruise control. The best part? Its base model costs about $10,700 in China. That’s about a third of the cost of the cheapest EV you can buy in the US. In 2018, Trump put, and Biden has since continued, a special 25 percent tax on Chinese-made cars, on top of the ordinary 2.5 percent tax on foreign-made cars, which perfectly shows that however motivated the Biden government might be by climate concerns, it is much more motivated by a desire to help American carmakers.

The basic environmental argument for electric cars is simple: Burning petrol in internal combustion enginest (内燃机) produces CO₂. Electric cars emit (排放) less per mile traveled both because some electricity is generated through clean sources like wind, solar, and because electric motors are far more efficient than petrol engines. EVs are slightly more carbon-intensive (密集) to produce in the first place, but most estimates suggest the lower per-mile emissions of EVs quickly make up for the extra emissions involved in their creation.

But is this still true for Chinese EVs? China still gets more than 60 percent of its electricity from coal, compared to less than 20 percent in the US. So, does this mean that BYD’s cheap EVs are bad for the environment? Hardly. Close to 90 percent of the emissions of a fossil fuel vehicle (化石燃料汽车) are from the combustion of the fuel. Besides, EVs of whatever origin are getting cleaner over time as the electrical grid (电网) gets cleaner. That means EVs will do even more for the environment as the years go on.

The biggest factor for China is that they control all the upstream material supply chain for lithium batteries (锂电池). Even if your EV’s battery is made by a plant of Panasonic in the US, the raw materials for that are processed in China first. “Part of why they’re so successful is they’ve been thinking outside the box on cost reduction for a long time,” an expert says.

1. What can be inferred from the first paragraph?

A．Chinese EVs are a threat to American electric cars.

B．American government has placed a ban on Chinese EVs.

C．The seagull provides luxury experience at a reasonable price.

D．Climate concerns are the only driver of EV development in the US.

2. What does the author think of EVs?

A．They are no better than typical gas vehicles.

B．Their power is generated in green ways.

C．They are eco-friendly in the long run.

D．Their production causes no pollution.

3. What is the advantage of Chinese EV industry?

A．Lower carbon emission.	B．The advanced technology.
C．The low budget marketing.	D．The control of raw materials for batteries.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．EVs: opportunity and challenge.	B．Chinese EVs: powering ahead.
C．Green cars: a long way to go.	D．Petrol vehicles: faded glory.

9 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What has the highest temperature been in Argentina?

A．About 45 degrees Celsius.

B．About 42 degrees Celsius.

C．About 31 degrees Celsius.

2. How did Jose Casabal cool his children down?

A．By turning on an air conditioning for them.

B．By asking them to drink much water.

C．By taking them to do a water sport.

3. What is Lucas Berengua?

A．A weather expert.

B．A local leader.

C．A weatherman.

10 . Asian short-clawed otters (水獭) can teach each other how to solve puzzles to get food, according to a new study that took place in England. The research also showed that these cute animals have a good long-term memory —they could remember how to solve the puzzles even after several months.

Scientists from University of Exeter observed groups of Asian short-clawed otters in different places. They gave each group a selection of transparent (透明的) containers with meatball treats inside. Each box could be opened by twisting or pulling a particular lid or handle.

To get the food, the otters had to solve the puzzle of how to open the containers. The otters had two attempts at the puzzle several months apart. The researchers found that if one otter cracked the puzzle, its closest friends quickly solved it, too. The findings provide evidence of “social learning”—animals can learn from each other.

The scientists also found that on average the otters solved puzzles 69% faster the second time. It means that they can remember the details of how each puzzle works. “Our study is the first to show evidence of social learning and long-term memory in Asian short-clawed otters, which may be good news in terms of their adaptability and future survival,” said Alex Saliveros, lead author of the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Penryn Campus in Cornwall.

Saliveros says the findings are important, because Asian short-clawed otters are declining in the wild, partly due to overfishing and pollution affecting the crustaceans and small fish they feed on. The discovery that the otters are able to find food in new ways and to pass on that knowledge toothers could be significant to their long-term survival.

1. What task did the scientists set for the otters?

A．Separating one container from another.	B．Finding ways to break the containers.
C．Opening the containers to get the food.	D．Picking out meatballs from different containers.

2. What can be inferred about the otters from Paragraph 3?

A．They had to remember the puzzles.	B．They learned from human society.
C．They solved unfamiliar puzzles faster.	D．They passed on knowledge to others.

3. Why are the findings significant according to Alex Saliveros?

A．Asian otters solve puzzles faster.

B．Findings reveal decline in otter population.

C．Otters have strong physical strength and hunting skills.

D．Social learning and good memory is good for otters’ survival.

4. Which of the following could be the best title for the text?

A．Asian short-clawed otters love puzzles	B．Puzzled otters learn from each other
C．Pollution reduces otters’ food	D．Animals can pass knowledge