1 . The oil and gas industry may be emitting about three-times the amount of climate-warming methane than government estimates show, according to a new study from Stanford University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and other organizations in Nature. Methane (甲烷) is the main component of natural gas and among the greenhouse gases heating the planet, which is produced when extracting crude oil.
Specific measurements varied from a low of less than 1%, or about what the Environmental Protection Agency estimates, at a site in Pennsylvania to a high of nearly 10% in New Mexico. Researchers found the higher percentages of methane released generally had something in common. “These are places where production is mostly focusing on oil,” says Evan Sherwin, a research scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who conducted the research as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University. But oil and gas often come out of the ground together, and if there wasn’t a way to transport the less-valuable gas to where it could be sold, leaks were higher.
In Pennsylvania, by contrast, drillers are focused on producing natural gas, and there, very little of the methane was wasted. That complicates an argument many in the industry have made, generally in opposition to tighter government regulations on methane. They say drillers have the incentive to capture gas leaks so they can sell the fossil fuel. But that’s not always possible, if industry hasn’t built the pipelines and other infrastructure to get the gas to consumers. In this study, researchers estimate the industry releases about 6.2 million tons of methane a year, valued at $1.08 billion.
“Emissions of methane from fossil fuel operations remain unacceptably high,” said Tim Gould, chief economist at the International Energy Agency, during a Tuesday call with reporters. The organization’s Global Methane Tracker shows methane from the energy sector was near the record high level in 2023.
Despite that, the IEA concludes that if countries fully implement existing pledges on methane reductions, that would make significant progress toward achieving global climate goals. “2024 could mark a turning point and policies are starting to be put into place. Greater transparency is coming. Awareness is spreading and we have enhanced ability to track large leaks and act quickly to shut them down,” Gould said. Gould said he hopes to have good news to share, about a reduction in methane emissions, next year.
1. What can we infer from paragraph 2?| A．Various measures are taken to restrict the release of methane. |
| B．The low value of the gas in part leads to the high leak of the methane. |
| C．The more focused on the production of the gas, the higher the methane release |
| D．The percentage of methane in developing countries is higher than in developed countries |
| A．Equipment. | B．Productivity. | C．Drive. | D．Assessment. |
| A．Caution: Methane emission gives rise to serious global warming. |
| B．Methane emissions: Oil and gas industry’s hidden impact. |
| C．Measures taken to cut back on methane emissions. |
| D．Methane is to blame for the climate change. |
| A．Critical. | B．Dismissive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Optimistic. |
2 . Spain is a country that continues to surprise and let us tell you it’s not all sunbathing and shopping! We’re outlining our top 3 reasons to discover Spain along with our holiday suggestions to help you make up your mind.
Stunning sceneryFrom the dramatic, imposing mountains to the countless glistening beaches that dot its coastlines, Spain is a country full of natural beauty and inspiring landscapes. If breath-taking views and unique scenery captures your attention then our top suggestion is to experience a holiday to Tenerife where you can enjoy the inspiring its volcanic views and panoramic scenery. The largest of the Canary Islands, just south of Spain, Tenerife has a rugged, volcanic landscape as well as over 200 miles of coastline boasting a huge variety of flora and fauna.
Beautiful beachesDid you know that Spain has over 5,000 miles of coastline and thousands of beaches? Wherever you go, you are never far from a beach. From undiscovered, hidden alcoves to popular tourist resorts, there’s a beach for everyone and with over 300 days of sunshine each year you’re guaranteed the weather to enjoy them! This beautiful country also has the most blue flag beaches in the world so now you’ve no excuse! With thousands of beaches to choose from, where will you go?
Fabulous foodFor many people, one of the highlights of Spain is, of course, the amazing food on offer. The country’s vibrant cities offer up Michelin-starred restaurants and lively tapas bars, while small-town cafés and restaurants offer up traditional dishes such as paella, seafood stew, and chorizo, made with love from family recipes.
Spanish cuisine is known for being delicious, healthy, and full of flavour, so there are many unique dishes available that will tempt your taste buds. If we’ve made you hungry, then you should take a holiday to Costa Brava, a Spanish foodie destination that should not be missed!
1. What is the top suggestion for experiencing stunning scenery in Spain?| A．The beaches of Costa Brava. |
| B．The mountains in the northern region. |
| C．A holiday to Tenerife. |
| D．The hidden alcoves along the coastline. |
| A．Conventional cuisines and trendy bars. |
| B．Volcanic views and countless coastlines. |
| C．Sufficient sunshine and striking beaches. |
| D．Marine creatures and mouthwatering seafood. |
| A．To inform. | B．To report. | C．To review. | D．To entertain. |
3 . Have you heard of these four monuments?
Carhenge. Floralis Genérica. Traffic Light Tree. Hand of the Desert — these are four unusual monuments from around the world you might like to visit.
• CarhengeCarhenge is in Alliance, Nebraska (USA). As the name suggests, it has a lot in common with Stonehenge, the famous stone circle on Salisbury Plain. But while Stonehenge was built with stones, Carhenge was created with cars. The monument was made in 1987 by a local artist Jim Reinders and his family. He used old cars and even an ambulance. At first, the people of Alliance didn’t like it, but they soon changed their minds after it became popular with tourists, who brought lots of money to the town.
• Floralis GenéricaFloralis Genérica is a massive statue of a flower. It stands in a pool of water in front of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eduardo Catalano, a native of Argentina, gave the statue as a gift to the city in 2002. Every morning, the flower opens. Ask anyone who has seen it and they’ll tell you that watching it open is an unforgettable sight. In fact, many people believe it is one of the most beautiful statues in the world.
• Traffic Light TreeThe Traffic Light Tree is situated at Heron Quay, in one of London’s financial districts. The tree has 75 sets of traffic lights. It was created by French artist, Pierre Vivant, and was installed in 1998. A computer controls the lights, which are turned on and off randomly. The roundabout where the tree is was voted the most popular roundabout in the UK in a recent survey.
• Mano del Desierto (Hand of the Desert)The Hand of the Desert is in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The sculpture was designed by the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrazabal. From a distance, it looks as if there’s a giant in the sand who has stuck his hand out of the ground.
If you’re looking for something new to see, you know where to go!
1. Why did the people of Alliance change their attitude toward Carhenge?| A．It reminded them of Stonehenge. | B．It brought them financial benefits. |
| C．It added beauty to their community. | D．It displayed the creativity of the designer. |
| A．Carhenge. | B．Floralis Genérica. |
| C．Traffic Light Tree. | D．Mano del Desierto. |
| A．A guide book. | B．A news report. |
| C．A science magazine. | D．An architecture advertisement. |
4 . Around the globe, about 1 in 4 adults says they’re lonely. And the consequences of long-term social disconnection can be everything from an increased risk of heart attacks to dementia (痴呆). The following offers a road map to make connections.
Be curious. It’s easier to connect with people if you have shared interests or experiences, so start paying attention to what’s in your mind. What motivates you? What excites you?
Make something. When experts advise making something, people will say, “Well, I’m not Picasso. I don’t know how to do a fancy painting. ” Of course, you’re not!
Find a group that matches your interests. Whether it’s volunteering fora cause or playing frisbee (飞盘), try to find others who share your interests. There’s even an online group that has a quirky shared interest: a fascination with brown bears in Alaska, which led to Fat Bear Week. In interactions with others, you can begin to reveal yourself and share the unique things that matter to you.
Other people’s loneliness matters too.
| A．Pour out your hard feelings. |
| B．Loneliness can be infectious. |
| C．Take a risk by having conversations. |
| D．You should tolerate the risk of being lonely. |
| E．But the opportunities for creative expression are endless. |
| F．Knowing yourself can be a first step to bonding with others. |
| G．Then, other people recognize that and share their story in return. |
“I’ll bet Anjali knows. Right, Anjali? Why don’t you show us since you’re the star student,” Deepak taunted (奚落).
Anjali was confused. She wasn’t trying to show off. She was just playing tabla (印度塔不拉鼓), like everyone else. And why was Deepak being so mean lately? Is it because tabla is a boy’s thing? She didn’t care that people thought it was a boys’ instrument. Anjali knew there was no such thing. She danced her fingers across the tabla to perform the composition in confusion. “Ugh!” Anjali heard someone groan, and she stopped playing.
“I guess I don’t know it that well after all,” Anjali said sheepishly to the teacher, Mr. Zakir. Her stomach was doing flip-flops. That wasn’t true. Not even a little. Mr. Zakir’s eyes narrowed. He looked like he was about to say something, but changed his mind. “The recital (演奏会) is next week, everyone. Keep practicing. I will be announcing who will get to perform onstage with me at my next concert!” Anjali had dreamed of a moment like that. She wanted to win the opportunity, but she needed to sort things straight with Deepak first.
As the class was dismissed, Anjali hurried over to Deepak. When she finally made eye contact with him, he purposely looked away and walked off. The next day at school, Anjali overheard Deepak whispering to Mary. “People are only interested because she’s the only girl in tabla class and they want her to feel special. She’s not that good—” Anjali was furious. She excused herself and went to the bathroom. She took some deep breaths but couldn’t relax. Her heart was pounding:
“It’s not my fault that people make a big deal about a girl playing tabla. I make mistakes too, but I work really hard. Maybe he should too. He should be less mean and practice more.”
“If I play in this concert, no one will talk to me again. He will turn everyone against me.”
“I don’t want to see a tabla or hear a tabla or play a tabla EVER AGAIN!!” Anjali yelled at the mirror. It was quiet for a moment. She believed it was one of her darkest days ever.
注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
Stepping out of the bathroom, Anjali saw some inspiring posters on the wall.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After the recital, Deepak walked up to Anjali.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . In 1975, a San Diego homemaker named Marjorie Rice came across a column in Scientific American about tiling (瓷砖). There is a problem which has interested mathematicians since ancient Greek times. After Rice’s chance encounter with tiling, family members often saw her in the kitchen constantly drawing shapes. “I thought she was just drawing casually (随意),” her daughter Kathy said. But Rice who took only one year of math in high school, was actually discovering never-before-seen patterns.
Born in Florida, she loved learning and particularly her brief exposure to math, but tight budget and social culture prevented her family from even considering that she might attend college. “For Rice, math was a pleasure,” her son David once said.
Rice gave one of her sons a subscription to Scientific American partly because she could read it carefully while the children were at school. When she read Gardner’s column about tiling as she later recalled in an interview: “I thought it must be wonderful that someone could discover these beautiful patterns which no one had seen before.” She also wrote in an essay, “My interest was engaged by the subject and I wanted to understand every detail of it. Lacking a mathematical background, I developed my own symbol system and in a few months discovered a new type.”
Astonished and delighted, she sent her work to Gardner, who sent it to Doris, a tiling expert at Moravian College. Doris confirmed that Rice’s finding was correct.
Later, Rice declined to lecture on her discoveries, citing shyness, but at Doris’s invitation, she attended a university mathematics meeting, where she was introduced to the audience. Rice still said nothing of her achievements to her children, but they eventually found out as the awards mounted.
1. Why did Rice often draw shapes in the kitchen?| A．To become a mathematician. | B．To explore the secret of tiling. |
| C．To fill her leisure time. | D．To show her passion for drawing. |
| A．She longed to start a column. | B．She was rejected from a college. |
| C．She was good at designing patterns. | D．She succeeded in developing a system. |
| A．The magic of math. | B．The efforts of Rice. |
| C．The humility of Rice. | D．The patterns of tiling. |
| A．Nothing is impossible to a willing mind. | B．Actions speak louder than words. |
| C．Every cloud has a silver lining. | D．Practice makes perfect. |
注意: 1. 写作词数应为80个左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Edward,
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Best regards,
Li Hua
We moved here a few days ago, and I don’t know anyone, not one person, at the new place. Dad says things will get better. He says I’ll take to city living just like I took to climbing trees and playing ball. I look out the window of our new apartment.
“This was a good move for us, Sonny,” Dad says, “You’ll see.”
“I miss the guys,” I say. “I miss Michigan. I miss” — I gaze up and down the street — “trees.”
“Los Angeles isn’t a bad place,” he says. Then he tells me about a park he saw down the street. “It has a couple of basketball courts. Get out there and sweat today. You’ve kept yourself inside too long.” I nod.
That afternoon, I grab my basketball and head down the street to find the courts. Dad was right about being kept inside too long. It’s about time to shake the cobwebs(蜘蛛网)off my basketball legs, see if I can still dribble(运球)with both hands, and remain a good shooter. I walk past all the shops with bars on their windows. This is home?
When I get to the courts, I see three guys shooting around. They’re playing some kind of one-on-one, taking turns with the third guy in. Two of them are taller than me, but one is about my size. I can tell that the short kid knows how to play by the way he handles the ball, dribbling well with either hand. But the other guys are too tall for him. One-on-one isn’t his game. He needs someone to pass to.
I go down to the other basket to shoot around. I’m pretty cold at first. But after I warm up, the old feelings come back — the proper knee bend, the feel of releasing the ball just right.
“Hi, there.”
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。
I stop and turn around, catching sight of the short kid.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Without hesitation I accept his invitation to play in the upcoming League Cup.
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1. 活动目的；2. 活动过程；3. 你的感受。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Mike,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
10 . Templer was a tour guide in Zimbabwe, leading a canoe (皮划艇) safari down the Zambezi River. During the expedition, Templer’s canoe
Things were going the way they were supposed to go. Everyone was having a pretty good time. Eventually, they
Templer tried to steer (率领) the group safely around them. However, the third canoe was off the planned
Despite the unpleasant experience, Templer
| A．made | B．found | C．led | D．wound |
| A．encountered | B．interrupted | C．saved | D．killed |
| A．unfortunate | B．unexpected | C．uncertain | D．unnecessary |
| A．speed | B．angle | C．vision | D．distance |
| A．line | B．control | C．course | D．duty |
| A．watch | B．comfort | C．stop | D．rescue |
| A．leaning over | B．turning away | C．looking up | D．calming down |
| A．hearts | B．fingers | C．heads | D．thoughts |
| A．appeared | B．flowed | C．froze | D．erupted |
| A．free | B．empty | C．hurt | D．skinny |
| A．risk | B．avoid | C．permit | D．finish |
| A．surface | B．bottom | C．bank | D．sky |
| A．hoped | B．continued | C．refused | D．hesitated |
| A．habitat | B．safety | C．conservation | D．suffering |
| A．readily | B．finally | C．casually | D．simply |
