1 . Expecting to travel abroad but lacking a loose budget? Interested in meaningful volunteering programs but worried about issues like your security or working conditions? Here comes a right place for you — Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary (保护区).
Highlights●Volunteering with elephants and bringing them back into their natural habitat
●Making a difference in the conservation efforts to save elephants living under awful conditions
●Helping teach English to the communities and raising awareness about the captive (圈养的) elephant situation
●Wandering the forests and observe elephants’ natural behaviors in their home environment
Our Sanctuary
Our sanctuary has rescued 5 elephants from the tourism industry and we have now brought them home to live out their lives in the forest, in semi-wild conditions. We need volunteers to help us keep these elephants happy and healthy in their natural habitat. With volunteer support, we hope to return more elephants to the forest soon.
Your Tasks●Performing research on the natural elephant behaviors and the surrounding forest
●Taking part in community projects such as teaching English at the school and to other locals
●Carrying out litter pick-ups with the kids to educate on waste management
Your Rough Schedule
Day 1: Pickup from Chiang Mai at 9 am. Travel through a national park and stunning mountain s until you arrive in our unique village. Meet your homestay family and the other volunteers, and immerse yourself in hill tribe culture.
Day 2: Wake up early to hike in the forest and find our elephants. Spend the morning recording and learning about these amazing animals and their natural behaviors. Return to the village in the late afternoon and take part in our community & camp & teaching projects.
Day 3: Another early start to hike to observe our elephants one last time. Return to Chiang Mai in the afternoon.
1. Which of the following is a feature of volunteer work at the sanctuary?| A．Looking after captive elephants with the locals. |
| B．Finding and Feeding elephants in natural forests. |
| C．Teaching people to conserve elephants’ natural habitat. |
| D．Helping rescue elephants living in the poor environment. |
| A．Have the great ability to go hiking for days. |
| B．Participate in anti-poverty projects. |
| C．Undertake research into wild elephants independently. |
| D．Master local languages and know about tribe culture. |
| A．A travel journal. | B．A holiday brochure. |
| C．A geographical essay. | D．An educational website. |
2 . More than one-third of the world‘s food is wasted or thrown away, most of which ends up in landfills, producing very large amounts of planet-warming greenhouse gases. Now, many studies show that it is becoming harder to grow enough food to feed an increasing population due to climate change and soil degradation.
But one of the most promising and simplest solutions lies in the problem itself: this wasted food — if composted (制堆肥) — could slow climate change and improve soil quality. Higher-quality soil also continues to absorb more carbon from the atmosphere, helping to improve plants and contributing further to fighting climate change. Returning one ton of organic matter to each hectare of soil would increase the production of cereal crops each year in Africa, Asia and South America by millions of tons.
While it is true that people can compost in their yards, community gardens, or even on their kitchen counters, larger-scale efforts, including infrastructure (基础设施) and incentives (激励) for consumers, would take it to the next level. Imagine if consumers could just leave unwanted food in a roadside bin for pickup, or drop it off at a local store, earning a few cents a bucket, just like what has been offered for recycling bottles or newspapers.
Moreover, in the case of composting, the payment incentive system would be great because the end-product of compost can be sold to farmers, making it an economically workable model, something that is often lacking in recycling, especially for certain materials, like many types of plastics.
Eventually, more widespread composting of food would pave the way for solutions to additional waste challenges, such as the disposal of packaging and clothing. This will have other positive effects as well; if more consumers compost, companies will be more inspired to make and use compostable packaging, clothing, and other products. While more compostable items are starting to emerge today, additional composting will further drive demand and innovation, and offer a game-changing solution for the planet.
1. What can be concluded from paragraph 1?| A．The great impact of climate change on food. |
| B．The burden of population growth on the planet. |
| C．The uneven distribution of food around the world. |
| D．The urgency of properly dealing with wasted food. |
| A．It is only workable on a small scale. |
| B．It would take a long term to have an effect. |
| C．It may raise people’s awareness of reducing food waste. |
| D．It requires comprehensive efforts to achieve a better effect. |
| A．It is highly profitable. | B．It is easy to carry out. |
| C．It is a sustainable economic cycle pattern. | D．It is more effective than other recycling systems. |
| A．How Wasted Food Could Be Reduced | B．How Wasted Food Could Impact Humans |
| C．How Wasted Food Could Save the Planet | D．How Wasted Food Could Become a Business |
3 . In the 1920s, Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik observed a strange thing. While dining out, she was impressed by the complex orders the waiters were able to remember at one time.
The Zeigarnik Effect refers to our tendency to remember incomplete or interrupted tasks better than completed ones. At first glance the Zeigarnik Effect can seem like a handy adaptation: It’s good to remember the things we need to do, and it’s a positive thing to want to finish the things we start.
First, each incomplete task your brain reminds you about takes up a bit of your attention, making it harder to concentrate on whatever you’re currently working on. Second, even if we manage to physically disconnect from work, the Zeigarnik Effect ensures that our unfinished tasks follow us home. They bring trouble to our vacations, our weekends, and even our sleep.
So what can you do about it?
Write your tasks down. Your brain is a terrible filing system. Instead of keeping tasks in your head, make a habit of writing them down as soon as they come to you.
Don’t forget to look back at how far you’ve come.
| A．Establish a work shutdown routine. |
| B．Have a system for expanding your job skills. |
| C．The problem when it comes to our productivity is two-fold. |
| D．Yet when customers checked out, these were totally forgotten. |
| E．We always quickly forget everything we’ve already accomplished. |
| F．We need a way to mentally disconnect in our hours away from work. |
| G．You have to actually complete all of your tasks to feel mental relief from it. |
Dolly was my 9-year-old sister. She was mother’s favourite, always doing what she was told and never placing a foot wrong. Sometimes I didn’t like her. But she was my younger sister. I couldn’t do anything about it. And on the whole she wasn’t that bad.
Two weeks ago, on her birthday, I gave her a goldfish as a present. She loved it, named it Peppy and watched it swim freely in the glass container every day after school. She really enjoyed the delight the little angel brought. But recently I found the goldfish a little listless, staying at the bottom of the container most of the time.
One day after lunch, Dolly looked up at Mum and said,“Mum, I want to go to the lake. We go there on Sundays.”
“We can’t go today, dear. I have something else to do.” Mother said as she walked towards her and took the bowl away. Dolly looked a little unhappy, with eyebrows frowned.
“Shama,” Suddenly, Dolly whispered to me, leaning as close to me as her small frame would allow her while still sitting on the chair. “Would you come with me?”
I felt hesitant, but her unfamiliar stubbornness made me curious. What did she want to do at the lake? Still for the red fish? There was red fish in the lake. She had seen some coming to the shore every Sunday.
“Are you sure? Mom will be mad if we get caught.”
“We’ll come back in time before mom knows it.” Dolly gave a mischievous(调皮的) smile and slid out of her chair. I followed her out of the kitchen and came to the front door. Luckily, it didn’t lock. But as soon as we got ready to force out of the door, Dolly turned back and ran into the house again. I couldn’t shout out her name for fear that Mum could hear me but waited nervously.
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。
A moment later she came back, holding something in her hand.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Half an hour later, we arrived at the lake.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1.询问相关内容；
2.表达感谢。
注意：
1.词数80左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Joseph,
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tao Yuanming and Henry David Thoreau, one living in Ancient China and the other in 19th century America,
Both men made dramatic transformations to their lives in order to reconnect with nature. As an official in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Tao felt conflicted over life at court, thus later
While Tao’s return to nature resulted from his opposition to the previous lifestyle, Thoreau’s
Although they treat nature differently, their works show
In today’s modern world, their ideas about living
7 . I have only given blood once. The Red Cross trailer pulled into our school and
The process was painless but
But ideas always change with
I am grateful for the generous
| A．forced | B．begged | C．welcomed | D．invited |
| A．bonus | B．barrier | C．try | D．pity |
| A．breath-taking | B．time-consuming | C．head-spinning | D．life-changing |
| A．campus | B．classroom | C．medical room | D．hospital |
| A．sick | B．funny | C．secret | D．deep |
| A．excited | B．relived | C．discouraged | D．disappointed |
| A．knowledge | B．experience | C．emotion | D．ability |
| A．delivered | B．refused | C．made | D．received |
| A．fascinated | B．shocked | C．confused | D．embarrassed |
| A．race | B．circle | C．miracle | D．fate |
| A．teach | B．push | C．need | D．owe |
| A．forget | B．explore | C．value | D．hide |
| A．stranger | B．student | C．neighbor | D．nurse |
| A．rediscover | B．accept | C．rebuild | D．check |
| A．good | B．memory | C．comfort | D．thanks |
8 . Walking only 4,000 steps each day - not exactly 50% of the 10,000 steps frequently suggested for keeping a functioning way of life- might be sufficient to assist with expanding your life, according to a study distributed in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
The key point of the study shouldn’t discourage anybody from going for a more extended walk; the scientists observed that greater development is better, with 1,000 extra advances each day connected with a generally 15% lower chance of sudden passing. However, it joins a developing collection of examination that proposes exercises needn’t bother with to be all that difficult or extended to work on your wellbeing. All that from walking to housework to moving can make a difference, studies have shown.
To arrive at the new discoveries, a group of specialists investigated 17 recently distributed papers on walking and wellbeing. In total, those reviews included more than 225,000 grown-ups from various nations with a typical age of 64, some of whom were in commonly great wellbeing and some of whom had risk factors for cardiovascular(心血管的) illness.
After examining the information from those reviews, the specialists established that death risk logically declines as individuals walk more. They didn’t find a place where extra movement stops seeming useful, as far as possible up to 20,000 steps each day. In any case, they likewise assumed that it doesn’t take countless day to day moves toward further develop wellbeing. The edge was even lower-around 2,500 steps each day-while checking out exactly at the risk of dying from cardiovascular sickness.
There are a few limitations on the discoveries. The scientists couldn’t completely represent members’ financial situations with in general ways of life, and individuals who were most dynamic likewise had various other sound tendencies that could add to a longer life expectancy.
Regardless, the new study joins a lot of different investigations in a similar end: greater development is quite often better, yet a limited quantity is likewise not all that great, but not terrible either than nothing.
1. What is the author’s purpose of writing paragraph 2?| A．To bring in the topic of the essay. |
| B．To further explain the study result. |
| C．To indicate his own idea about the topic. |
| D．To make a comparison with previous research. |
| A．They had rich experiences. |
| B．They developed healthy diet habits. |
| C．They differed in physical conditions. |
| D．They had similar professional backgrounds. |
| A．Walking more can surely avoid death risk. |
| B．Extra movement is of no effect to individuals. |
| C．2,500 steps each day can help prevent death risk. |
| D．It needs 20,000 steps each day to develop wellbeing. |
| A．Scientists Offer You Suggestions for Healthy Life |
| B．What Specialists Find on Cardiovascular Sickness |
| C．How Much Science Says You Actually Need to Walk |
| D．Financial Situations May Limit Health Development |
9 . The Equatic Process, a novel carbon removal technology, is getting a major increase, with the world’s largest ocean carbon dioxide removal (OCDR) facility set to be built in Singapore-sparking optimism for what has been regarded as a potential game change r for global climate efforts.
On Tuesday, Singapore’s national water agency PUB announced that it was furthering its cooperation with the University of California in Los Angeles and Equatic, a startup founded by UCLA scientists. Together, they plan to build a $20 million plant that removes 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the ocean every year through the Equatic Process, which uses electrolysis (电解) to change carbon dioxide in seawater into stable solids.
The extracted (提取) carbon dioxide is stored in the form of solid calcium and magnesium-based materials-similar to how seashells are naturally formed- “for at least 10,000 years,” according to a recent press release. And the treated seawater that is pumped back into the ocean would then have the capacity to absorb even more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Advocates of the Equatic Process say that it would be a big boost for the global fight against climate change. But the technology has also been met with apprehension by some scientists who realize its potential ecological risks and who urge more research and investment into OCDR to better understand both its benefits and dangers.
Pang Chee Meng, PUB’s chief engineering and technology officer says that the treated seawater is specially processed before being poured back into the ocean, to “ensure that the ocean chemistry is preserved,” adding that the agency and Equatic will closely monitor the environmental impact of the plant.
PUB also says that they are currently exploring the potential for the solid carbonates (碳酸盐) produced by the Equatic Process to be used in the construction industry. And hydrogen, another by-product of the Equatic Process, may be used to power the process itself, the agency adds, or used as a clean energy source to produce electricity.
1. What is the main idea of the text?| A．Scientists have agreed to keep global warming at safe levels. |
| B．People have become more optimistic about global climate. |
| C．Singapore will strengthen ties with the University of California. |
| D．Singapore will boost carbon-removal power of the ocean with a new facility. |
| A．Building a factory to store seawater. |
| B．Changing the form of carbon dioxide. |
| C．Collecting natural seashells in the ocean. |
| D．Pumping treated seawater back into the ocean. |
| A．Support. | B．Confirmation. | C．Anxiety. | D．Underestimate. |
| A．PUB’s measures to guarantee safety. |
| B．How to make use of solid carbonates. |
| C．Dangerous by-products of the Equatic Process. |
| D．Other benefits brought by the Equatic Process. |
10 . Haili Smith, 16, says she and her sibling, Brooke, “have very different tastes in books.” Haili likes spine-tinglers. Brooke, 13, prefers fantasy. What they share is the belief that kids are more motivated to read if they relate to a book’s characters. That’s why, in 2020, they started Books Like Me. The nonprofit group supplies teachers with culturally diverse children’s books.
So far, Haili and Brooke have given away more than 16,000 books. Most have been donated in Florida, where the siblings (姐弟) lived when they started Books Like Me. Many have gone to California, which is where they live now. As word about their organization has spread, requests have come in from schools nationwide. Teachers and librarians can request a donation from Books Like Me online.
Educators say a book can be a mirror, letting kids see themselves in its characters. Or it can be a window, helping kids see from the perspective of characters with backgrounds and experiences different from their own.
Over the years, Haili and Brooke have been invited to speak with educators about the importance of culturally diverse books. They’ve also taken books directly to students. At a book fair in Florida, “I was at a table showing kids the books and they were picking them out,”Haili recalls. “They all looked so happy when they found a book that struck a chord with them.”
That, of course, is the goal. “I hope, and I think,” Haili says, “that all kids should see themselves represented in books so that they enjoy reading.”
1. What inspired the siblings to start the nonprofit group?| A．Their interests in books differed. | B．They held common belief in reading. |
| C．Children lacked motivation for reading. | D．They needed money to buy favorite books. |
| A．It has bought over 16,000 books. | B．It’s originally set up in California. |
| C．It has become known nationwide. | D．Its donations are mainly from teachers. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. | C．Intolerant. | D．Unclear. |
| A．She is proud to give speeches to kids. |
| B．She is critical about children’s books. |
| C．Kids are inspired to create new characters in books. |
| D．Kids enjoy books with characters reflecting themselves. |
