1 . Some people may be picky eaters, but as a species we are not. Birds, bugs and whales, we’ll eat them all. Yet our reliance on wild animals goes far beyond just feeding ourselves. From agricultural feed to medicine to the pet trade, modern society exploits wild animals in a way that beats even the most aggressive wild predator (捕食者). Now, for the first time, researchers have tried to capture the full picture of how we use wildlife, including how many, and for what purposes. The research showcases just how broad our influence on wild animals is.

In the study, researchers have found that humans kill, collect or otherwise use about 15,000 species. That’s up to 300 times more than the next top predator in any ecosystem.

Yet according to Chris Darimont, a co-author of the study, the biggest shock isn’t how many species we affect but why we take them. “The result,” he says, “is that we remove, or essentially prey on, more species of animals for non-food reasons than for food reasons.”And the biggest non-food use is as pets and pet food. “That’s where things have gone off the rails (轨道),” he says. The problem is especially serious for tropical birds. The helmeted hornbill, for example, is captured mainly for the pe trade, or for its beak to be used as medicine or to be carved like ivory. Their disappearance limits seed dispersal and the spread of trees around the forest.

Another big difference between humans’ influence on wild animals and that of other predators is that we tend to favor rare and exotic (外来的) species in a way other animals do not. Most predators target common species, since they are easier to find and catch. Humans, nowever, tend to covet the novel. “The more rare it is,” say scientists, “the more that drives up the price, and therefore it may go into extinction.”

If we want wild species to survive, we need to reestablish our relationship with them, perhaps from predator to caretaker.

1. What role do humans play in their present relationship with wildlife according to the author?

A．Picky predators.	B．Protectors of biodiversity.
C．Greedy predators.	D．Caretakers of the environment.

2. What shocked scientists most according to Chris Darimont?

A．More species hunted for non-food use.

B．The impact of pet industries on wildlife.

C．The number of species affected by humans.

D．The consequences caused by species extinction.

3. Which can best explain the underlined “cover the novel” in paragraph 4?

A．Long for huge profits.

B．Favor domestic species.

C．Take interest in pet trade.

D．Seek after new and unique things.

4. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To promote stricter rules for hunting.

B．To advocate eco-friendly pet choices.

C．To reveal how humans affect biodiversity.

D．To highlight the need for wildlife conservation.

2 . The harsh winters and modern cities can make life tough for a wild animal, especially when they get lost and are outside their natural habitat for too long. Animal shelters are crowded with animals in desperate need of help, especially during the winter season.     1    

One day, a man found a small owl (猫头鹰) that was soaking wet and appeared to be struggling. He brought it into a local shelter.     2     The little owl was unable to fly, not because of an injury, but because it was too fat.

The owl weighed 245 grams, which was 33% more than the upper limit of what an owl that size should weigh. The reason for the weight gain was quite natural. The owl was eating too much. The winter had been unusually warm, and as a result, the area had a higher than normal population of mice.     3     So it got carried away.

The shelter staff put the owl on a systematic plan of diet and exercise, and it started to lose weight quickly. After some time, the owl was back to its normal health and was released back into the wild.

The question of whether this obesity issue is a strange result of climate change or just a coincidence (巧合) is difficult to say.     4     Wild animals are not used to living in modern cities, and they often struggle to survive. Luckily, there are many animal shelters that offer refuge for these animals. These shelters help restore them to their natural condition and put them back into the wild

    5     Some focus on specific animals, such as owls, while others focus on a particular region. However, they all have the same goal -to provide a safe have n for wild animals.

A．Different types of animal shelters have different purposes.

B．Animal shelters are not just a place for injured or sick animals.

C．This meant that it was like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the little owl.

D．They are really important when animals struggle to survive in cold weather.

E．After a thorough check-up, the shelter staff found out that it was not injured at all.

F．However, it is clear that it is vital to care for wild animals and to ensure their safety.

G．However, recently, a wild animal was brought to a shelter for a very different reason.

3 . 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。

Joey, once again, had taken his entire lunch plate and mixed all the food together. He did something like this pretty much every day at camp. “It’s an experiment,” he told the other campers. “Like what we do in class. It’s fun.” Joey was crazy about experiments, which usually consisted of taking one or more things, and combining them somehow, just like mixing all his food together. Joey would usually take a bite as part of the experiment, and would try to get the other kids at the table to try it too. However, almost nobody ever would like to. Joey’s experiments almost always tasted absolutely horrible.

Joey offered a bite of his unique lunch to the kids at his table. ‘Eric, the only one who sometimes liked Joey’s experiments, decided to give it a try. But even he couldn’t eat more than a bite, which meant the table would lose their “wasted food challenge” —AGAIN.

As part of camp lunch, all the tables weighed their leftovers at the end of the meal. One by one, the tables would line up, empty their plates into a garbage can (垃圾桶), and then the garbage can would be weighed. Whichever table had the least amount of wasted food got to be first in line the next day at lunch. Whichever table had the most amount of wasted food had to stay and wash all the dishes. Each table had the same amount of campers, to be fair. The tables were each named after a different kind of tree. Joey’s table was the Scrub Pine table. Scrub Pine table had lost so many times that everyone laughed at them.

Everyone blamed Joey. He was always the one with the most leftovers. But Joey insisted it wasn’t his fault. He had a trick. Before each weighing, he always mashed up (捣烂) his mixture into the smallest ball possible. Almost everyone else’s plate was littered with uneaten food. Joey just had a ball in the corner of the plate.

Scrub Pine table had already washed dishes four days in a row, and it looked like it was about to be five.

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。

Paragraph 1: So Eric decided to find a way to figure out whose fault it was.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Paragraph 2: One by one, Scrub Pine table each weighed their plates.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . 假定你是李华，现已完成主题为“Food & Culture”英语演讲比赛的写作大纲，请给外教写一封邮件，简述大纲中你的观点和论证思路，并就此征求对方的建议。
注意：
1. 词数80左右，开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
2. 可适当添加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Sara,

I’m seeking guidance on my speech outline about “Food & Culture”....

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I’d greatly appreciate your thoughts and any suggestions.

Yours,

Li Hua

5 . Jessica Cox is the world’s first licensed armless pilot.

Born without arms, Cox never let her _________ become her disadvantage. She learned at a young age how to use her feet as her hands. And after eleven years of wearing prosthetic arms (假肢), she decided to be “the real Jessica” and _________ the arms. This was the start of her new life.

Cox loved swinging because it was something that she could control and _________ flying over everything. And this _________ her determination to become a pilot.

She had her first _________ of being a pilot during a trip to Mexico in a small plane. She had the _________ to place her foot on the yoke (操纵杆) and feel the experience of being in the air. After that, her childhood _________ of planes disappeared. The feeling of control of the freedom was more _________ than her horror. On that day, she decided to _________ her dream of becoming a pilot. This was not without __________ though. Finding an instructor was a challenge. A lot were __________ teaching and qualifying an armless pilot. Cox didn’t give up and eventually found herself a(n) __________. Her dream became a reality in 2008 when she took her first solo flight.

Cox is not only a pilot but also a __________ for people with disabilities. As a motivational speaker, she has traveled across the world to __________ others. She is a fighter for the __________ of persons with disabilities, which gives them access to education, health care, and the same advantages she had growing up.

1.

A．disability

B．shyness

C．experience

D．gender

2.

A．get rid of

B．put up with

C．get used to

D．take care of

3.

A．admit

B．practice

C．consider

D．imagine

4.

A．showed

B．renewed

C．launched

D．strengthened

5.

A．taste

B．lecture

C．licence

D．mission

6.

A．freedom

B．struggle

C．invitation

D．opportunity

7.

A．fear

B．puzzle

C．dream

D．memory

8.

A．distant

B．natural

C．powerful

D．complicated

9.

A．announce

B．pursue

C．defend

D．share

10.

A．risks

B．barriers

C．failures

D．possibilities

11.

A．busy

B．uncomfortable

C．irresponsible for

D．tired of

12.

A．plane

B．assistant

C．partner

D．teacher

13.

A．trainer

B．leader

C．champion

D．volunteer

14.

A．serve

B．fund

C．inspire

D．interest

15.

A．jobs

B．rights

C．fame

D．safety

6 . How much water does the average adult need to drink every day? “Eight 8-ounce glasses” is common advice, but any truly serious answer to the how-much question will begin with some version of it depends.”

Researchers have long known that a region called SFO in the brain monitors the concentration (浓度) of water and salts in blood and triggers the urge to drink. But they failed to fully explain how we experience thirst. For example, when we gulp a drink, we feel almost instantly satisfied, and yet it takes 10 to 15minutes for a liquid to enter our bloodstream. Recently neuroscientists have gained other remarkable insights into how thirst is monitored in the body and controlled in the brain.

In a series of elegant experiments with mice, Zimmerman, a neuroscientist, and his associates measured the activity of neurons (神经元) in the SFO. “We saw that their activity changed very fast when the mouse drank water or drank saltwater and when it ate food,” he says. The researchers showed that signals gathered at the SFO from several places. “You get a signal from the blood that tells your current state of hydration (水平衡), a signal from the mouth that tells you how much fluid you drank, and a signal from the gut that tells you what was consumed —was it . water, was it something else?” The SFO neurons, he explains, “add these signals together” and then transmit the urge to drink or stop drinking.

The big takeaway of Zimmerman’s work is that for the most part you can trust your thirst system to tell you when you need to drink. But there are exceptions. Because the system’s sensitivity may decline with age. People with certain health conditions, including kidney stones and diarrhea, also need extra water.

Other parts of the brain — the ones used in planning —should help with hydration on hot days and when exercising. Thirsty or not, Zimmerman says, he drinks water before going for a run: “My thirst neurons don’t know I’m about to run 10 miles.”

1. What has long been known about thirst?

A．Thirst experience varies among individuals.

B．Thirst is controlled by the water-salt balance in blood.

C．Thirst satisfaction occurs with water entering bloodstream.

D．Thirst response is influenced by the type of liquid consumed.

2. What’s the main idea of paragraph 3?

A．Why we feel thirst.

B．Where SFO gets signals.

C．How we experience thirst.

D．When SFO neurons get active.

3. What’s the major conclusion from Zimmerman’s study?

A．Thirst system is generally reliable.

B．Illness might affect thirst sensation.

C．Brain areas for planning aid in hydration.

D．Brain adjusts to age-related thirst sensitivity.

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

A．Drink Your Way to Health

B．Application of the Thirst Mechanisms

C．Misunderstanding of Daily Water Intake

D．Body Detects Daily Water Needs Cleverly

7 . 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。

Every year for over a millennium, fishermen have braved the subzero temperatures, biting winds and deep snow to search for     1     underwater fortune at Chagan Lake — one of the biggest freshwater lakes in our country.

Chagan is the only place in China     2     you can still find fishermen using a Mongolian fishing method that dates back centuries and has     3     (bare) changed over time. Holes are drilled in the ice     4     (lower) a 2-kilometer-long net into position underwater. Once it fills up with fish, the net is pulled out of the water using a giant wheel     5     (turn) by Mongolian horses. The largest fish in the     6     (season) first catch is believed to be lucky, and will go to the highest bidder at the auction (拍卖).

To ensure that this tradition can continue     7     damaging the lake’s ecology, fishermen keep nature in mind throughout the process.     8     (avoid) the use of modern vehicles helps reduce the chance of polluting the lake water, and the number of fish that can     9     (catch) is capped to ensure that there will be fish for years to come.

Also, over the past few years, the money from the auction has been invested into protecting the lake and surrounding environment. And during the summer, private fishing without     10     (permit) is strictly prohibited. These preservative measures have kept the tradition alive for thousands of years and certainly will be passed on to future generations.

8 . As a child, I was keen on collecting moths（飞蛾）and butterflies. By adulthood, I could identify about 700 species by sight, recognizing the stripes, dots and colors on their wings and bodies.

In 1972, I moved to Australia and continued collecting. But I started to struggle: identifying them quickly became an impossible task. The species there were so different from those at home, and there was no space in my mind to recognize them all.

My crisis soon increased. Throughout the 1970s, I led expeditions to Papua New Guinea to collect moths. One night, we could collect more than twice as many as those I had memorized in my childhood. Identifying them felt overwhelming. I gave up and stopped working on moths. But my instinct to identify them never went away.

Two decades later, I was in a supermarket and an idea started to develop in my mind: what if a part of DNA could be used to differentiate between species Just 13 lines on. the supermarket barcodes（条形码）were being used to identify products What if we could identify species in the same way?

To test the idea, I began collecting the moths again. Each sample had to donate a leg to science. I believed that COI（a single segment of a rapidly evolving gene）present in almost all animals could be used to tell species. With their legs, we used the PCR method to focus in on their section of COI. One by one, it became clear: every single moth could be sorted using a tiny slice of their genome（基因组）DNA barcoding was 100% successful on its first test.

In our study paper, we claimed that we had discovered a reliable, inexpensive and accessible solution to identifying the millions of animal species waiting to be discovered. I believe DNA barcoding is humanity’s first shot at finally discovering all life on Earth. This technique has helped conservationists to fight against wildlife crime and monitor the impact of mining on bıodiversity. One day, I am confident it will form part of a system to monitor the biosphere the Same way we monitor the weather.

1. How did the author recognize moth species in his childhood?

A．By turning to books.

B．By using lab equipment.

C．By obseiving their behavior.

D．By distinguishing their appearance.

2. What does the underlined “My crisis” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The loss of interest in studying moths.

B．The impossibility of recognizing moths.

C．The pressure of discovering new moth species.

D．The challenge of collecting as many moth samples.

3. What inspired the author to use DNA for species identification?

A．The ease of using PCR to focus on COI.

B．The simplicity of supermarket barcodes.

C．The success of DNA barcoding on moths.

D．The availability of COI in almost all animals.

4. What might DNA barcoding be used for in the future according to the text?

A．Protecting wildlife habitats.

B．Tracking wildlife population.

C．Assisting in monitoring biodiversity.

D．Updating weather monitoring systems.

9 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。

1. What does the man give the speech for?

A．To introduce the sales and marketing director.

B．To congratulate the employees on their achievement.

C．To express his gratitude for everyone’s hard work.

2. What will the listeners receive today?

A．More vacation days.

B．Three new products.

C．An extra payment.

3. What is the speaker most proud of?

A．The teamwork of the employees.

B．The development of their product.

C．The performance of the team.

10 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。

1. Who is the man?

A．A manager.

B．A secretary.

C．An interviewee.

2. Which line of business is the company in?

A．Clothing.

B．Education.

C．Electronics.

3. How does the woman respond to the man’s lack of work experience?

A．It might be an issue.

B．It won’t be a problem.

C．She needs more information.