1 . Lying in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, the fishing village Huatulco is home to nine bays, 36 beaches and thousands of baby turtles that apparently needed me. I had three open days on my calendar, and a desire to save some turtles. And so, away I went to Huatulco with Wildcoast, a group of champions-for-change who were protecting coastal and marine ecosystem in the U. S. and Mexico.

I was taken to La Escobilla to experience Wildcoast in action. Just one hour north of Huatulco, this protected beach is where mass turtle nesting happens. This natural phenomenon lasts just four days during rainy season, hundreds of thousands of female sea turtles swinging their way ashore to lay their eggs.

Between threats of dogs, crabs, development and oil spills, the little creatures have the whole world against them. As recently as 2002, turtles hunting was not only a common practice, but an important part of the culture and diet in the Oaxaca communities. Luckily, Wildcoast rescues turtle eggs and recreates habitats by monitoring temperatures and humidity. Thanks to their efforts, the sea turtles have made a major comeback, with now over 72 million turtles being born on the beaches that Wildcoast protects.

I got to hold 50 of the tiny creatures in a bowl. Despite an average laying of 100 eggs, just one in 1, 000 baby turtles will make it to adulthood. Gazing into the bowl, I so badly wanted them to taste the sea and find shelter somewhere deep in the ocean. Finally, it was time to liberate those little creatures. Out spilled the creatures, some moving full steam ahead while others barely paddled in place. Literally, hundreds of them began to spread out across the beach.

With each set of waves, we witnessed the survival of the fittest, some pushing past the whitewash while others crashed back to shore. Their fight for life made my eyes wet. A flock of birds were ready to dive into the sea for their moving targets. “One in 1, 000.” Nature was cruel and compassionate at the same time. After 30 long minutes, the last creature made his way to the sea.

1. The baby turtles are threatened by various factors except ________.

A．the cruel hunters	B．the rapid development
C．the extreme weather	D．the oil-polluted ocean

2. What do the underlined words “full steam ahead” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．With slow pace and fear.	B．With all energy and enthusiasm.
C．With full caution and curiosity.	D．With great satisfaction and responsibility.

3. What does the author indicate by mentioning “One in 1,000” in the last paragraph?

A．One baby turtle in 1,000 can make his way to the sea.

B．Thousands of baby turtles were crashed back to shore.

C．The struggle of baby turtles for life touched the author.

D．Baby turtles can hardly survive the harsh living conditions.

4. What can we learn from the author’s experience in saving baby turtles?

A．Think twice before you leap.	B．God helps those who help themselves.
C．Cease to struggle and you cease to live.	D．When the buying stops, the killing can too.

2 . If you think of a game of fetch, you might picture a dog running back and forth, eagerly recovering a ball. But a new study shows that they’re not the only pets that like the game: Cats play fetch, too, just on their own unique terms.

The researchers discovered almost 1,000 owners of 1,154 cats to find out if and why. According to their findings, nearly 95% of the cat owners reported that their cats fetched items naturally. One respondent said his cat returned the toy completely for no reason.

Fetching was mainly first noticed when cats were under I year old. What’s more, “cats who fetch largely determine when they engage in fetching activities and actively influence the play behavior of their owners,” according to the study. “So, it can say a bit about cats being in control of their interactions and being in control of their environments, even being in control of us. You might even go so far to say,” says Jemma Forman, the co-author of the study.

But the motivation for cats to fetch objects seems to be different from that for dogs. Cats are more likely to play on their own with objects similar to prey (猎物). For dogs, play is more social, involving either another dog or human.

In general, play has major advantages for both the pet and the owner, as it not only helps to prevent attack towards, the owner, but also models the act of preying on real animals, an important kind of play behavior. “So even if your cat doesn’t play fetch, obviously it’s a really good idea to try and engage them in any sort of play. Play does have a lot of benefits,” says Forman. “It’s about owner acceptance to your fur baby,” she says.

1. Why does the author mention dogs in Paragraph 1?

A．To offer basic information of dogs.

B．To make an outline for the passage.

C．To introduce the topic of the passage.

D．To conclude the meaning of the topic.

2. How does the author develop Paragraph 2?

A．By raising questions.	B．By listing data.
C．By making a comparison.	D．By offering an example.

3. What does a cat think of playing with an object?

A．A social action.	B．A learning process.
C．A serious task.	D．A preying activity.

4. What would be the best title for this passage?

A．Cats Play Fetch, Too	B．Train Cats to Fetch
C．New Findings on Dogs	D．Dogs Play Fetch, Too

3 . It is believed that it’s dangerous to have plants in the bedroom. Plants take in carbon dioxide (CO₂) and produce oxygen (氧气) in the day.     1    . The build-up of CO₂ is a real problem for indoor air quality, which has been shown to influence health, so it is easy to see where the concern comes from. But to consider whether sharing our bedroom with our plants can harm health, we should consider three things.

Firstly, how much CO₂ do plants produce at night compared with what they take in during the day?     2     For the answer depends on everything from species to light levels and even room temperature.

Thankfully, in 2015, researchers at Turkey’s Kastamonu University found that large houseplants take in between six and eight times as much CO2 in the day as they produce at night.

    3     A single human breath contains around 40, 000 ppm of CO2, more than 10 times the effect a plant could have in 8 hours, so you might want to throw your partner out before your plants.

Finally, we don’t live in the sealed (密封的) boxes in which these studies are carried out.     4     The air is even exchanged when we move around. According to one recent review, we need houseplants to keep indoor air fresh, and to fight some pollution.     5    

Let’s enjoy houseplants whenever we like, because if sleeping near plants were bad for our health, camping in a forest would be deadly.

A．This is hard to answer.

B．So, they are quite necessary.

C．The question has more than one answer.

D．Besides, we often share a room with someone else.

E．Indoor air is being exchanged through doors and windows.

F．At night they compete with us for the air we breathe while asleep.

G．Secondly, compare the influence of a plant with that of a person sharing a room.

4 . Mobile Bay in Alabama is home to a strange and unique occurrence. During the summer months, hundreds of fish and crustaceans (甲壳纲动物) from the deep waters of the bay move to the shallow waters. The free seafood is so plentiful and easy to catch with nets or bare hands that locals gather to fill their buckets with it. This natural phenomenon has existed for centuries.

Sarah Van Winkle, a student at the Alabama School of Math & Science, is no stranger to the scene. Growing up there, the rich plants and animals never stop to amaze her.

As the world’s oceans face numerous issues such as pollution, overfishing, and habitat destruction, she intended to figure out whether Mobile Bay was experiencing similar environmental threats in her most recent science project. Sarah studied the environment of Mobile Bay and she even extended the range of the research to the Mobile Tensaw-Delta, and the canals of a living district in Fairhope, Alabama. She analyzed key nutrient and metal levels in the ocean ecosystem.

Through the project, Sarah found that turbidity, an important indicator of water quality, increased sharply. This result showed, clearly that the area is filled with tiny pieces of matter, making the water there quite opaque.

For the project. Sarah was chosen as one of this year’s 24 Society for Science & the Public Community Innovation Award winners. “To me, this honor symbolizes that the ten months of late night readings, weekend field trips, and after-school sessions in the laboratory have truly come to fruition and impacted lives,” Sarah noted.

“Our local ocean ecosystem is in danger of chemical pollution from a variety of sources,” Sarah explained in an interview. “The bay plays a vital role in our community and every local should value what the bay offers. It’s our responsibility to work together to preserve it.”

1. What’s the unusual scene in Mobile Bay in summer months?

A．The water’s becoming shallow and clear.	B．The decline of the natural environment.
C．The flood of seafood into shallow waters.	D．The locals’ growing interest in fishing with buckets.

2. What does the underlined word “opaque” mean in paragraph 4?

A．Fresh.

B．Cloudy.

C．Clear.

D．Shallow.

3. What can we learn from Sarah’s winning an award?

A．Hard work pays off.	B．Time waits for no man.
C．Practice makes perfect.	D．Failure is the mother of success.

4. What does Sarah mainly stress in the interview?

A．The focus of her future work.	B．Her concern for the local people.
C．The complexity of the local ocean system.	D．Her expectation of protecting the bay.

5 . The “mark test” (or “mirror test”) is a way to test animal intelligence — whether an animal can recognize itself, especially animals with large brains. A mark is put on an animal, usually in a spot that can only be seen with a mirror. Then the animal is allowed to look in a mirror. If the animal seems to pay attention to the mark, scientists believe the animal has recognized itself.

But some scientists believe the mark test doesn’t work well for all animals. Roosters (公鸡) are a good example. Scientists at the University of Bonn recently ran the mark test on roosters. They put a pinkish triangle on the chest of the roosters. But when the roosters looked in a mirror, they didn’t seem to notice the mark.

The scientists needed a different way to test whether the roosters could recognize themselves. When there’s danger — like a hawk (鹰) flying above — roosters make loud calls to warn nearby chickens. But roosters only make the cries if other chickens can hear them. If they’re alone, they remain quiet so the hawk won’t see them. The scientists realized that they could use the shadow of a hawk to test if roosters could recognize themselves in a mirror.

First, the scientists let the roosters spend time getting used to being in a closed-in space and having a mirror around. Then, they ran several tests by making a hawk shadow appear above the bird and watching how the rooster reacted.

When there was no mirror, the roosters reacted as usual. They called out when they were near another rooster, but remained quiet when they were alone. But when a rooster was in a space where it could see itself in the mirror, it wasn’t fooled into thinking there was another rooster. It remained silent despite the hawk shadow.

It proves the roosters knew they were seeing themselves in the mirror, and not other roosters. That suggests that the mark test may not be a good test of whether an animal can recognize itself.

The scientists hope their results will encourage other scientists to look for better ways of testing self-recognition in animals.

1. What is the purpose of the “mark test”?

A．To test a bird’s ability to fly.

B．To measure an animal’s brain size.

C．To see if an animal can recognize itself.

D．To compare different animals’ intelligence.

2. How did scientists test whether the roosters thought they were alone?

A．By testing their eyesight with a mirror.

B．By putting a mark on the roosters’ chest.

C．By placing two roosters before the mirror.

D．By observing their reactions to a hawk shadow,

3. What do the results of the rooster experiment suggest?

A．Roosters are not intelligent animals.

B．The mark test is a reliable measure of self-recognition.

C．The mark test may not accurately determine self-recognition.

D．Roosters can recognize themselves better than other animals.

4. What do the scientists expect of further studies?

A．Conducting more experiments on roosters.

B．Using the mark test on other bird species.

C．Studying self-recognition in dolphins and elephants.

D．Searching for better ways to test animal intelligence.

6 . South Baltimore is surrounded by water, highways, and train tracks. It’s also often thought of as a place to avoid—folks are taught to be careful of or even avoid South Baltimore. “People think South Baltimore is a place filled with danger. It’s not. It’s just we’re surrounded by dangerous things,” says Taysia, 17.

Taysia is part of a group of student activists fighting against a very different kind of danger in their neighborhood: air pollution and climate change. Lots of trucks with their noise pass through the neighborhood. South Baltimore is also home to a junkyard where they crush (压碎)cars, an old landfill, chemical plants, and mountains of coal. These are not the communities anyone wants.

The residents of South Baltimore are breathing polluted air today. Coal releases a black dust that’s small enough to get into people’s lungs. It can cause disease and death if you’re breathing it day after day. The mountains of coal are the focus of a growing opposition movement called Free Your Voice, led by South Baltimore teenagers.

The teens of Free Your Voice are taking on a big opponent (对手): the massive transportation company CSX, which transports more than 8 million tons of coal through South Baltimore annually. CSX makes billions of dollars a year.

The teens went door to door, warning their neighbors about the dangers of the coal transportation. Not everyone was on board at first. “We were talking to people and that’s just like, ‘You’re a kid! Like this is not gonna change, it’s been happening forever.’” Taysia says.

Meanwhile, the students spent the summer using sticky paper to gather samples of dust from all over the neighborhood to prove that the dust was from coal and to pinpoint which parts of the neighborhood were most affected.

The goal is to eventually get the state regulators to deny the permit that CSX needs to operate, or at least require the company to enclose all the coal, or at the very least put water onto all of it so there’s less dust blowing around. And the state is considering all of those requests.

1. How did people describe South Baltimore according to Taysia?

A．Wealthy.

B．Dangerous.

C．Peaceful.

D．Inclusive.

2. What is the main focus of the opposition movement called Free Your Voice?

A．The junkyard.	B．The old landfill.
C．The chemical plants.	D．The coal transportation.

3. Why did some people in the neighborhood initially doubt the students’ efforts?

A．They believed the pollution was harmless.

B．They trusted CSX’s environmental practices.

C．They had no awareness of the pollution and climate change.

D．They thought the students were too young to make a change.

4. What method did the students use to gather evidence of coal-related pollution?

A．Conducting surveys.	B．Distributing leaflets.
C．Using sticky paper for dust samples.	D．Organizing protests.

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

Swim Buddies

I leaned (倚靠) over the side of the beat and stared at the clear blue water. This was my last chance, I thought. “I hope you find a green turtle (乌龟) today, Alexa, and realize your dream of swimming with it.” Dad said, as if reading my thought. “Me, too,” my brother, Jonah, said. “I want to see one, too!”

I lifted my head up, turned toward Jonah, and glared. Why, why, why did he always insist on following me everywhere, doing everything I did? Make your own friends. I wanted to scream at him. Find your own green sea turtle! But I said nothing. Ever since Jonah was a little kid and they discovered he acted so differently because he had autism (自闭症), I had been trained to show understanding for him. Trained to put up with a lot, including his shouts at the top of his lungs.

“We’ll stop here, and if we are lucky enough to see turtles.” Father said, “remember not to get too close, or they will be scared away. Do the ‘dead man’s float’ and wait. If they’re curious enough, they’ll cheek you out.”

Jonah said — too loudly, of course, so everyone on the boat could hear him —“That turtle sounds just like me. It wants to be friends but doesn’t know how, like me. I really, really, really want to see one, Dad.”

Putting the mouthpiece into my mouth, I dived into the water. I swam in a different direction and searched the seafloor. Suddenly, I saw a huge green turtle chewing on the seaweed. Excited as I was, I did the dead man’s float, lying as still as possible. “Come on, buddy (伙伴).” I said to myself, “Come swim with me!”

As I watched than lonely turtle, I couldn’t help bust think of Jonah’s words about friends — Jonah didn’t have friends. He functioned well enough to be in a regular class, but he was still strange enough that the other kids stayed away from him. This turtle might be the only one we could find today. And I knew that Jonah had got his heart set on seeing one, just like I did. Even though Jonah made my life really hard. I understood how he felt. I swam to Jonah.

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。

Together, we swam back toward my turtle.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Emerging from the water, Jonah shouted, “The turtle is our friend now!”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . Five months ago, a new species of box jellyfish was discovered in Hong Kong. It is a relative of the deadly Australian box jellyfish, one of the most venomous (有毒的) animals on Earth. One sting (刺伤) from it can kill a person in minutes.

A university team in Hong Kong, led by Qiu Jianwen from the Hong Kong Baptist University, discovered it at the Mai Po Nature Reserve, a local wetland area. It was the first discovery of a new box jellyfish species in Chinese waters.

But it’s not the first time biology professor Qiu has discovered a new creature. He’s made more than 30 discoveries in about 20 years spent exploring new marine (海洋的) animals.

Qiu doesn’t go looking for new species on purpose. In 2014, he did research on the health of coral in Hong Kong waters. To learn more, Qiu and his team needed to find all of the coral species involved. And in doing so, they discovered four new coral species.

Finding new species reminds Qiu of how biologically diverse Hong Kong’s waters are. Hong Kong takes up just 0.03 percent of China’s total marine area, yet it is home to more than 25 percent of all marine species recorded in China, a report by the University of Hong Kong showed.

However, Hong Kong’s marine animals face threats, due to factors including habitat loss, climate change and overuse of natural resources.

Although action is being taken, it focuses more on bigger creatures, like dolphins and birds. “Many marine species are small and they are often overlooked. If these species were to become extinct, few people would notice or care. But for me, each one has its rightful place,” said Qiu.

He hopes everyone can recognize the importance of the ocean. “When more people show concern for the ocean, we are, in fact, acting for our own benefit,” he said.

1. Where was the new species of box jellyfish found?

A．In a university lab of HK.	B．In the ocean of Australia.
C．In a nature reserve of HK.	D．In a wetland of Australia.

2. What was Qiu’s task in 2014?

A．To find new species of coral for the study.

B．To study the health condition of coral.

C．To study the living environment of coral.

D．To find all coral species in the world.

3. What can we know about the marine animals in HK?

A．All of them are dying out.

B．No action is being taken to protect them.

C．Habitat loss is the biggest threat to them.

D．Some of them were discovered by chance.

4. What can be inferred according to the last two paragraphs?

A．Small marine species aren’t protected as they deserve.

B．Bigger creatures like dolphins and birds should be better protected.

C．People are now taking action to better protect small marine species.

D．More and more people are aware of the extinction of small marine species.

9 . 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。

Jiangxi Province has taken many measures to protect finless porpoises (江豚),     1     have faced dramatic changes in their living environment as Poyang Lake, China’s largest freshwater lake, suffered a severe drought.

The species,    2     (list) as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, now lives only along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The number of finless porpoises    3     (drop) significantly in the past few years, with only 457     4     (live) in Poyang Lake.

As the water level dropped to less than 12 meters, the lake officially entered this year’s dry season on August 6,     5     (early) than at any time since records began in 1951. Severe drought has reduced the lake by 75 percent. This change will     6     (undoubted) increase the risk of the finless porpoises hitting boats and also result     7     a food shortage for the porpoises.

Wang Liang, who works for the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Jiangxi, said the province has released     8     total of 200 million fish, shrimps (虾) and crabs into the waters     9     (enrich) the food supply and more than 2,000     10     (volunteer) have been trained to rescue the species.

10 . At Marine Mammal Laboratory, laboratory director Herman put a dolphin through its paces. Using hand signals, Herman asked, “Is the ball in the pool?” The dolphin correctly pressed a lever for “YES”. Herman asked it to push the ball to a basket. It did. Then he signaled his pupil to do it again, but he removed the basket. Herman expected the dolphin to be confused. Instead, it carried the ball to the NO lever and stopped there. Herman was astonished. “This is a totally untrained, invented response,” he said, “We never dreamed the animal would ‘think’ the problem through like that.”

To get a closer look at these amazing creatures, Herman and his team spent a week on board the Jennifer Marie. Whenever they heard the cry “Dolphins!” they slipped into the water. The dolphins approached, curious about them, observing them with dark, liquid eyes. Dolphins love to imitate. If they swam on their backs, Dolphins did too. If they dived, Dolphins followed. This talent can be carried to extraordinary lengths. In one instance, a trainer blew a puff of cigarette smoke against the window of an observation tank. A young dolphin rushed to its mother, nursed briefly, and spat out a cloud of milk against the glass.

Herman said “We’re still in the early stages of learning about the intelligence of these animals and our ability to communicate with them.” Scientists are amazed at dolphins’ intelligence, but fear for the future of these trusting ocean creatures.

Dolphins’ trouble could be sharks, killer whales or, worse yet, a fishing vessel. Indeed, in the past three decades, commercial fishing, especially the biggest threat—the drift net fishing, has greatly decreased the world’s dolphin population. Every night in the North Pacific, hundreds of Asian fishing vessels put out these “curtains of death,” each up to 50 miles long. Floating with the currents, they sweep up all sea life in their path. People wonder what the world would be without dolphins.

1. Why did the dolphin stop at the NO lever?

A．It was confused.	B．It was unable to do the task.
C．It refused to listen to the order.	D．It found the basket wasn’t there.

2. Why did the dolphin spit out a cloud of milk against the glass?

A．To copy human behavior.	B．To threaten its playmate.
C．To show off its talent.	D．To drive the trainer away.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Further research on dolphins is essential.

B．Intelligent Dolphins could tackle their troubles.

C．Some measures should be taken to protect dolphins.

D．Drift nets are the biggest trouble for marine animals.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．Dolphins: clever, naughty	B．Dolphins: intelligent, threatened
C．Dolphins: humans’ best friends	D．Dolphins: smartest marine animals