1 . Humans can race to get out of a hurricane’s path. Some animals can sense a hurricane coming and leave quickly, but there are animals that can’t simply get out of the way. Here are the various effects of hurricanes on animals.

Birds may be able to sense air pressure and other changes in the environment, which encourages them to get out of harm’s way. Some birds will even speed up their migration (迁徙) leaving earlier than usual if a serious hurricane is approaching. However, strong winds can push birds hundreds of miles away from their home. Young or weak birds can become separated from the rest of their group and often have difficulty making it home.

Fish can also be affected. After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, about 184 million fish died in south Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin alone. Strong winds blew leaves off trees, blowing them into wetlands. The rotting (腐烂的) organic material to extremely low levels of oxygen in the water, killing the fish. Some fish will often find sheltered areas during hurricanes, but they’re not always safe. Dolphins have occasionally been blown to shore during big hurricanes.

There are many other dangers that come with hurricane-related water. Sharp rise of saltwater onshore can harm wildlife and plants that live in the freshwater and can’t bear the salt content.Heavy rain can also affect the balance of fresh and salt water in some areas, harming the creatures that live in them.

Many animals lose their regular food supply when a hurricane arrives, as strong winds and rains destroy trees of fruits, nuts and berries. During Hurricane Andrew, about one-quarter of Louisiana’s public oyster seed (牡蛎种苗) grounds were destroyed. Because the oysters were an important food source for some birds on Louisiana’s barrier Islands, the birds suffered mass death as a direct result of the hurricane.

1. What can we learn from paragraph 2?

A．Birds are adapting to a changing climate.

B．Birds can sense the coming of a hurricane.

C．Birds migrate at certain times of every year.

D．Birds’ habitats are destroyed by hurricanes.

2. What causes fish in south Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin to die after Hurricane Andrew in 1992?

A．Poisonous leaves.	B．Air pollution.
C．A lack of oxygen.	D．The loss of shelters.

3. What could be the effect of hurricane-related water?

A．Ocean ecosystem is destroyed.

B．Sea salt production is reduced.

C．Many animals move away from their habitats.

D．There would be less fresh water on the earth.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Animals suffer more than humans during a hurricane

B．What happens to animals during a hurricane?

C．Why do animals migrate earlier than usual?

D．Animals might face serious threats

3 . The Great Barrier Reef in Queensland has suffered several mass bleaching events due to the impacts of climate change. The Australian government turned down a proposal for a new open-cut coal mine near the Great Barrier Reef, considering environmental laws and the risk of “irreversible damage”. It was the first time the government had used its powers under environmental laws to reject a mine.

In turning down the project, Tanya Plibersek, the minister for the environment and water, cited significant potential environmental dangers to the reef, which is already heavily threatened by climate change.” The risk of pollution is real and the damage to the reef, once done, will never be repaired. “The project would have had unacceptable impacts on freshwater in the area and potentially on fragile seagrass meadows,” Plibersek said in a video posted on social media. She said that during the public consultation period, her department had received 9,000 public comments about the mine in just 10 business days.

The government has been under pressure from UNESCO to better protect the reef and in 2022, it pledged one billion Australian dollars for efforts to protect the fragile ecosystem, including climate adaptation measures and water quality programs. Last year, the Great Barrier Reef, which stretches for more than 2,300 kilometers, experienced its sixth mass bleaching event, due to warming waters caused by climate change.

The government, elected in 2022, came to power promising stronger action on the climate in a country still heavily depending on fossil fuels. But its climate policies are rated “insufficient” by Climate Action Tracker, which found Australia is not on course to meet targets to limit warming to 1. 5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The government has rejected calls from the country’s Green Party to turn down all new fossil fuel projects.

1. Which of the following can replace “irreversible” in paragraph 1?

A．Permanent.

B．Gradual.

C．Severe.

D．Significant.

2. Which statement would Plibersek probably agree with?

A．The reef is in good condition now.

B．9,000 people made good comments on the mining project.

C．The mining project has drawn the attention of the public.

D．The mining project has had bad effects on freshwater in the area.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Fossil fuels are not in demand in Australia.

B．The government has made effective climate policies.

C．The government failed to carry out its previous promises.

D．The Green Party reached an agreement with the government.

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

A．The Great Barrier Reef is faced with mass bleaching events.

B．Australia is on the way to protecting the Great Barrier Reef.

C．The Great Barrier Reef calls for help due to climate change.

D．Australia says “No” to a mine near the Great Barrier Reef.

4 . China’s second national botanical (植物学的) garden, South China National Botanical Garden, was set up in Guangzhou on July 11th, 2022.

With a total of 319 hectares of core functional area planned, the new national botanical garden was built based on South China Botanical Garden. It spans Guangzhou and Zhaoqing, two cities in Guangdong Province.

The South China National Botanical Garden aims to strengthen the conservation, scientific research and knowledge broadcasting of tropical (热带的) and subtropical (亚热带的) plants. The garden has three research centers, two national-level field stations and three key laboratories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. There are 17, 168 protected plants, 643 rare and endangered plants, and 337 national key wild protected plants in the garden at present.

The garden will participate in plant diversity protection both in China and the world and achieve the conservation goal of 20, 000 species. Meanwhile, it aims to play a world-leading role in collection and storage of living plants, among which 6, 000 species are economic plants.

Besides, 95 percent of rare and endangered plants in South China will be effectively protected, thus to provide plant resources for green development.

China is one of the countries in the world with the richest biodiversity, having more than 37, 000 known species of higher plants, accounting for about one tenth of the world’s total.

The South China National Botanical Garden, together with the national botanical garden in Beijing, has formed a system of collection and complete the retention of wild plant groups, which is helpful to maintain the country’s plant diversity.

1. What can be inferred about South China National Botanical Garden?

A．It is well equipped.	B．It only offers service for research.
C．It has become a popular scenic spot.	D．It is the largest national botanical garden.

2. What is the situation of rare and endangered plants in South China?

A．They are dying out sharply.

B．Most of them will be protected well.

C．They will be used to improve economic development.

D．Most of them are transplanted to botanical gardens.

3. What does the underlined word “retention” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Development.

B．Comparison.

C．Preservation.

D．Improvement.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．A Garden For Collecting And Studying Plants

B．A Novel Way To Strengthen Plant Conservation

C．China’s Various Environmental Protection

D．China’s Second National Botanical Garden

5 . The idea of billions of people going through a few masks a week during this pandemic definitely rings alarm bells, but a team of researchers in Melbourne may have the solution.

They’ve discovered that adding millions of discarded face masks to road-paving (铺路) mixtures would actually lower the cost of the road, while preventing billions of them from landfills. Just one kilometer of road would need three million masks, and the polypropylene (聚丙烯) plastic used to make single-use surgical face masks also increased the flexibility and durability of the road.

The new material is a mixture of about 2% torn masks, with recycled concrete aggregate (RCA)—a material obtained from waste concrete and other minerals from destroyed buildings. This recycled material was found in the study to be ideal for two of the four layers generally required to create roadways. Paving a kilometer of two-way road with the RCA and three million face masks would result in a change of 93 tons of waste from landfills.

The final product then is more resistant to wear than asphalt (沥青), as well as being cheaper too, provided there was a method for collecting masks. The research team did a cost-analysis and found that, at $26 per ton, the RCA was about half the cost of mining raw materials, and as much as a third of the cost of shipping the used masks to a landfill.

The widespread application would be ideal for large infrastructure (基础设施) projects. For example, Washington has the 11th worst roads in terms of unaddressed repairs in the U.S. If the damaged roads in Washington state were repaired with the RCA/mask mixture, it would reuse nearly 10 billion masks, sparing American landfills hundreds of millions of tons of trash.

It’s said that the team is looking for private industry partners or governments willing to give their plastic mask road an opportunity for a large-scale test.

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

A．Recycled.	B．Produced.
C．Mixed.	D．Abandoned.

2. What is the new material used to pave ways made of?

A．2% torn masks, concrete and tons of trash.

B．Polypropylene plastic and building materials.

C．Single-use surgical masks and recycled concrete aggregate.

D．Waste concrete and other minerals from destroyed buildings.

3. Why are numbers mentioned in paragraph 5?

A．To tell us what the team has found.

B．To prove this material is cost-effective in paving roads.

C．To explain repairing roads costs a lot of materials.

D．To praise the hard work the team has done.

4. What can we learn from the text?

A．The material used to pave roads is made of masks.

B．Generally speaking, it requires two layers to create roadways.

C．It remains to be tested whether the solution is practical.

D．The damaged roads in Washington were repaired with the RCA.

7 . John “Charlie” Veron-widely known as “the Godfather of Coral Reef (珊瑚礁)”-is a celebrated expert who has personally discovered nearly a quarter of the world’s coral species and has spent the past 45 years diving Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. But now the 73-year-old is raising the alarm about its future. The Great Barrier Reef, one of the natural wonders, is 2, 300 kilometers long and is the only living organism that can be seen from space. It is considered a World Treasure Site due to its biodiversity (生物多样性)with 30 species of whales, dolphins and sharks. Within the reef itself, there are also a number of tiny organisms and fishes.

However, its health is threatened. After the recent mass bleaching (白化)events, Veron dived in many areas of the Great Barrier Reef to see the damage for himself. “I was seeing and feeling it and it was absolutely shocking, ” he says.

Veron says the mass bleaching events in the past few years-and the possibility of losing one of nature’s greatest treasures-were a wake-up call for the world in the wider battle against climate change, which, together with the rising sea temperature, is considered the greatest threats to the reef.

Fortunately, earlier this year, the Australian government announced nearly 400 million dollars in new funding towards scientific projects designed to help the reef.

There has been criticism in Australia about the slow process for the funding. “It won’t be wasted, though,”Veron says. “As scientists will be able to create a sort of seed bank to protect the species until the climate is good enough to rebuild the reef. What the scientists hope to do is to help nature along a bit after the big carbon dioxide increase is over and it starts to come down.”

1. Why is the Great Barrier Reef considered a treasure site?

A．It is a natural wonder.

B．It can be seen from space.

C．It has a rich variety of species.

D．It is home to a great many fishes.

2. What does the passage mainly tell us?

A．Climate change is threatening biodiversity.

B．The Great Barrier Reef is in danger of extinction.

C．Scientists have found major factors in the reef’s blenching.

D．Veron has made great contributions to environmental protection.

3. What's Veron's attitude to the future of the reef according to the last paragraph?

A．Uncaring.

B．Doubtful.

C．Uncertain.

D．Positive.

4. What is the text?

A．A news report.	B．A travel guide.
C．A research plan.	D．A journal entry.

8 . Do you know that about 71 percent of our planet is covered by the ocean (海洋) ?     1    . People around the world wear blue to celebrate World Oceans Day on 8 June every year. World Oceans Day is a special day for learning about oceans, including why they’re in danger and how essential it is to protect them.

Without oceans, life couldn’t exist. Scientists don’t know the exact number, but they think that oceans are home to 50 percent to 80 percent of all species on Earth, from large whales to tiny plankton. Oceans absorb carbon dioxide and give out oxygen (氧气).     2    .

Humans use the ocean in many different ways. Lots of our food comes from oceans.     3    . Besides getting oil and gas from beneath the ocean floor, we can produce electricity using the power of waves. We even rely on submarine cables for international communication.

    4    , but sadly they are in danger. You’ve heard of plastic pollution. Billions of pieces of plastic are floating around in our oceans, harming and killing sea creatures. It’s also dangerous for our health too, because fish eat the tiny pieces of plastic and then humans eat the fish.

For World Oceans Day, you can use social media platforms to share posts, photos or videos showing how important oceans are and why we need to protect them.     5    . Remember that every day we can make a difference by using less plastic and recycling, and talking to others about protecting our precious oceans.

A．There are five oceans on Earth

B．You can also watch ocean-related films

C．That’s why we call Earth the “Blue Planet”

D．Our oceans play an important part in our lives

E．Oceans also provide us with much of our energy

F．World Oceans Day is a time to know about the fish in the ocean

G．Half the oxygen we breathe comes from the plants in the ocean

9 . Local authorities and firefighters in the United States are always on the lookout for new and creative methods to help control wildfires. Especially during the hot and dry summer months, thousands of wildfires cause damage to forests every year. The city of West Sacramento in North California has found a creative secret weapon to help deal with this phenomenon: goats.

These friendly animals have been assisting the city with wildfire prevention and fire risks by eating weeds, dry grass and dead trees. When the goats eat the things that are likely to catch fire, they prevent the problem from happening.

Wildfires occur naturally when dry plants are ignited(点燃)by the sun’s heat and catch on fire. However, most wildfires are caused by human carelessness, including unattended campfires, cigarettes and other flammable objects. The best strategy to battle the fires and minimize the damage is to attempt to remove the fuel that enables the spread of the flames, in this case the dry weeds, trees and plants. If the things that are most likely to catch fire are gone, the fire is less likely to spread.

The love able goats are able to reach difficult areas that people are not able to access. About 400 of these goats can clear two acres per day. They even fertilize(使肥沃)the area, a natural and free side effect of eating all those dry plants. Firefighters and government officials cannot be happier with the results.

“For us, the combination of turning to goats for help with the quick fire response is an effective method of keeping our neighbors safe from disastrous wildfires,“said assistant Fire Chief Khari Helae.” With climate change and the fact that our vegetation is being affected because of climate change, it’s necessary to focus on our fuel reduction program.”

1. How do goats assist the city in dealing with wildfires?

A．By identifying the fuel in forests.	B．By consuming dry plants.
C．By leading firefighters to fire sources.	D．By eating up green tree leaves.

2. What can we say about the new method?

A．It is complex but rewarding.	B．It causes damage to local land.
C．It is well accepted worldwide.	D．It is environmentally-friendly.

3. What can be learned from Khari Helae’s words?

A．He spoke highly of the new method.	B．He was dissatisfied with fire responses.
C．He was optimistic about climate change.	D．He considered fuel reduction impractical.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Goats Help Keep Wildfires Under Control	B．Firefighters Are Being Gradually Replaced
C．Disastrous Wildfires Need to Be Controlled	D．Animals Are Fighting Against Climate Change

10 . For sharks, the Mesoamerican Reef, which stretches over 600 miles, is a busy highway. Sharks use it to find their way and it provides them with food and habitat.

But as with on-land highways, this superhighway can be dangerous. Overfishing, commercial development and illegal practices are endangering the species. “We’re seeing a continued decline in shark populations. Our goal is to turn that round.” says Rachel Graham, founder of Mar Alliance, a non-profit organization focused on conserving sharks.

By monitoring sharks, Mar Alliance can collect important knowledge on the species to help inform conservation and push for political action. But rather than acting in opposition to the local fishing community, MarAlliance enlists their help.

“They are the ones who are on the sea every single day,” says Graham, “and they’re the ones who decide the species’ future.”

MarAlliance employs up to 60 fishermen across its range, mostly on a project basis, training them to collect data, record and release fish. Not only does this provide an alternative income to fishing communities, making them less dependent on natural resources, but it also teaches them about the benefits of a healthy ocean ecosystem and how to fish sustainably.

Among them, Ivan Torres, who used to catch sharks to sell locally as food, has learned how critical they’re to the whole ecosystem, saying he’d never fish sharks any more.

If this attitude change continues to spread throughout fishing communities, Graham has hope for the shark populations. “The primary threat to sharks is unquestionably overfishing,” she says, “By reforming the industry, populations can bounce back.”

In 2020, Belize outlawed the use of gillnets, large panels of netting of trapping large sealife. The ban’s impact is already noticeable with a recorded 10-fold increase in shark populations.

But such regulations need to be copied along the whole superhighway for long-lasting impact, and countries need to find a sustainable balance between fishers and the fished. “We need to find a win-win strategy between fisher livelihoods and shark survival,” Graham emphasizes. “I hope that through education and providing an economic alternative for fishing communities, MarAlliance will help ensure safe passage for sharks along the reef”.

1. Which of the following best describes the Mesoamerican Reef for sharks?

A．Romantic but messy.	B．Vital but insecure.
C．Adventurous but beautiful.	D．Unfamiliar but reliable.

2. What does the underlined “they” in paragraph 4 refer to?

A．MarAlliance.	B．The fishers.
C．Monitoring authorities.	D．The sharks.

3. What contributed to Ivan’s attitude shift apart from education?

A．A stricter fishing ban.	B．The insurance payout he earned.
C．An offer of extra work.	D．The fishing communities’ intervention.

4. What is mainly stressed in the last paragraph?

A．Solution to overfishing.	B．Difficulties facing MarAlliance.
C．Impact of existing regulations.	D．Features of international cooperation.