1 . In about a week I will start one of my most expected adventures ever. Sarek National Park will be a mission. It is not a place for the unprepared. It is a place for adventurous hearts who are looking for solitude (独处), wildness and a connection with nature that is hard to find on our planet these days. High up in the north of Sweden at the border with Norway, it is called the last European Wilderness.
The preparation for this trip started a few months ago. I tried to prepare in the best way possible as this is uncharted territory for me. It will be the first hike really off the beaten path. I will not go into details until I get back and actually know what I am talking about.
There are a few things to keep in mind when you plan to hike in Sarek National Park. First of all, there are no huts or any accommodation. If you are at the heart of Sarek you will be at least a 4-5 days hike away from the next mountain hut. So this means I will have to carry everything I need for 8-10 days. The biggest part of the load will be food. There are no paths or waymarks. I will have to make my own route with GPS and maps.
In addition, the weather can be very challenging. Sarek is the area in Sweden with the heaviest rainfall. It is also known for strong wind and there’re not many places to shelter from it because there are hardly any tees. It is important to bring professional hiking gear (装备). Finding and choosing a good campsite might take some time as well.
1. What kind of destination does the author consider Sarek National Park to be?| A．Popular and convenient. | B．Busy and well-connected. |
| C．Remote and forest-covered. | D．Attractive and demanding. |
| A．Not explored. | B．Not accepted. | C．Not vast. | D．Not dangerous. |
| A．Make a map of Sarek. | B．Build shelters for tourists. |
| C．Reach the depths of Sarek. | D．Measure the rainfall of Sarek. |
| A．To explain why there are few trees there. |
| B．To recommend ways of finding good campsites. |
| C．To discuss causes of heavy rains and strong wind. |
| D．To remind possible travelers of the challenging weather. |
2 . Hardly had I finished my work and left my office building at 9 p. m. on a Saturday when it rained cats and dogs. I noticed a man wandering around my car the moment I
He was alone,
I ran and called out to the man,
“Are you the
“Yes, I am. And who the hell are you?” I replied with an unfriendly
The man went on to tell me that he was a
When the man gave a clear
“Why didn’t you take the money?” I asked him.
“I beg, sir. But I don’t steal!” He replied determinedly and left hurriedly.
1.| A．measured | B．swept | C．entered | D．left |
| A．living | B．shaking | C．dealing | D．annoying |
| A．struck | B．puzzled | C．impressed | D．touched |
| A．naturally | B．probably | C．certainly | D．exactly |
| A．imagining | B．suggesting | C．expecting | D．stressing |
| A．catch up with | B．put up with | C．get along with | D．make friends with |
| A．producer | B．owner | C．designer | D．dealer |
| A．unusual | B．pleasant | C．special | D．unclear |
| A．expression | B．conclusion | C．introduction | D．suggestion |
| A．farmer | B．gardener | C．beggar | D．villager |
| A．preferring | B．offering | C．happening | D．planning |
| A．deciding | B．pretending | C．agreeing | D．promising |
| A．reachable | B．gone | C．safe | D．convenient |
| A．direction | B．opinion | C．examination | D．explanation |
| A．satisfaction | B．disappointment | C．awkwardness | D．excitement |
As Amy walked home from school one afternoon, she saw images of symmetry (对称) all around her: in the faces of people, in the buildings she passed, and in the cars that went by. Even the autumn leaves that covered the sidewalk. A butterfly landed on a branch above her, and Amy suddenly stopped. She held her breath and smiled, watching as it opened and closed its perfectly symmetrical wings.
All that month, Amy’s class had been studying different forms of symmetry, and Amy was deeply attracted. They’d observed the mirror symmetry of violins and the rotational symmetry of starfish. They’d even studied symmetry using a microscope and recorded the beauty with a phone camera. Now Mr. Garcia, their science teacher, had given them their final assignment: to find the most beautiful example of symmetry and give a report to the class on it.
“The most beautiful example of symmetry. What on earth could that be?” Amy asked herself. She finally decided to use her microscope to find one. Amy spent hours in the garden on the examination of cells, pieces of rock, and drops of pond water. Although she was amazed by what she saw, none was truly beautiful.
“What are you bringing to class?” Amy asked her friend Cathy on the bus ride to school. “A model airplane,” replied Cathy proudly. “And my brother Mathew is bringing his guitar.” Those things are nice, thought Amy, but there must be something more beautiful.
That evening, she stayed with her microscope until her father called out, “Get inside, Amy. It’s freezing outside. The weather forecast says it’s going to snow.”
Amy’s heart sank. There would be fewer things to study under the microscope. Snow would cover the area like a blanket, hiding everything from sight. Her assignment was due in just a few days. Amy began to feel panic as she was packing up her microscope. Then she caught sight of something white blown onto the stage of her microscope. Yes! The snowflake (雪花)! She looked through the microscope and was amazed by its beauty.
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 have to show it to my class,” Amy cried excitedly.
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Finally, it was the day to report.
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4 . Retired couple May Proctor, 71, and her husband Rod, 73, have transformed their garden into a fairyland(仙境) themed light show for local kids to enjoy. May and Rod came up with the concept last year but this time is to be the biggest display yet. The mystical (神秘的) garden is open for children to walk through and upon entry they will find a “fairy world” filled with pizza shops, very small shops and a magical forest. This year the home itself has been transformed according to Alice in Wonderland.
May says she is a fairy fan and that the huge amount of decoration is worth it for the magic. “I’ve always liked to make a bit of a magical garden, but this year I’ve just been excited.” she said.“Especially it’s just magic at night, absolutely amazing.”
An ex-dinner lady, May Proctor, the native, said she and her husband never planned on doing the light display this year. Then as autumn approached, the couple felt that they had to show something. So they decided again to go on to create a light display.
The topic for this year’s fairy display—Fairy Lane in Wonderland—is inspired by the mystical world of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
Throughout the house and garden, visitors will go down a rabbit hole into a fantastic kingdom. “Last year it was just outside, but this year it’s inside, and it’s just amazing,” May explained.
“Outside, I’ve made my own fairies and they were hung with the flowers, so it looks like a real Christmas fairyland. But inside, we’ve got some stage properties—so we’ve got a mirror with all Alice in Wonderland features around it. The kids absolutely love it, but I only let ten to twelve inside at a time due to the pandemic (流行病), where they can sit down and have their pictures taken.”
1. What can we know about May Proctor from Paragraph 1?| A．She lives in a fairy land. |
| B．She is familiar with Alice in Wonderland. |
| C．She has many small shops in the town. |
| D．She has many children and grandchildren. |
| A．Satisfied. | B．Regretful. | C．Worried. | D．Expected. |
| A．Walking through the house. |
| B．Walking through the garden. |
| C．Going down a rabbit hole. |
| D．Going through a magic mirror. |
| A．The garden was really small. |
| B．She was concerned about their health. |
| C．The hole is too narrow to get into. |
| D．There were not many kids enjoying the display. |
5 . When Kurt Benirschke started collecting skin samples from rare and endangered animals in 1972, he didn’t have a plan on what to do with them. As a researcher at the University of California San Diego, he believed that one day the tools would be developed to save those animals. A few years later, he moved his collection to San Diego Zoo, and called it the Frozen Zoo. Today, the Frozen Zoo is the world’s largest animal cryobank (生物冷库), with samples from over 10,500 individual animals from 1,220 species.
Since the Frozen Zoo was founded, Oliver Ryder, a geneticist at San Diego Zoo, says many achievements have been reached in the field of genetics, starting with the cloning of the first animal -- a sheep named Dolly in 1996. Since 2001, four endangered species have been cloned using genetic material from the Frozen Zoo: the Indian Gaur, a humpbacked Asian wild ox; the Banteng, a Southeast-Asian species of cattle; Przewalski’s horse and the Black-footed ferret.
In recent years, the clock has been ticking for many species in danger. According to the WWF Living Planet Report 2020, as a result of loss of habitat due to human activities, one million species -- animals and plants -- are threatened with extinction over the coming decades and centuries. With the current rate of biodiversity loss, some scientists believe collecting samples from species that might not be here tomorrow is a scientific must-do.
One of the main challenges will be persuading conservation agencies that cryobanking is a reasonable strategy and worth funding. “Many of us are doing this without any national or government support beyond donations,” says Lisa Yon, an associate professor of zoo and wildlife medicine at the University of Nottingham. “Cryobanking is increasingly being recognized as an important resource, so it’s a bit puzzling that there isn’t more funding support.”
1. Why did Kurt Benirschke start the Frozen Zoo?| A．To attract more visitors. | B．To find new tools for research. |
| C．To sell samples more conveniently. | D．To help save endangered animals. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. | C．Unclear. | D．Uncaring. |
| A．Biodiversity is in great danger. | B．WWF is working with the Frozen Zoo. |
| C．Wildlife population is getting bigger. | D．The Frozen Zoo has stored 1,220 species. |
| A．The efforts of Kurt Benirschke. | B．The development in cloning. |
| C．The importance of the Frozen Zoo. | D．The problem of genetic technology. |
6 . Everybody knows that Massachusetts is a great place to see fall leaves. But surely there are other places to catch the leaves turning green to reddish-golden? The short answer is yes.
Aspen, Colorado
Aspen—as its name suggests—doesn’t fail to impress with its backdrop of majestic snow-capped mountains. Head to the Maroon Bells to look into mirror-like lakes to see double: on a calm day, the mountains and trees are reflected in the still waters.
Bavaria, Germany
Take a trip into a Brothers Grimm fairytale. Not only can you catch breathtaking views—such as castles emerging from red, green and golden trees—but you can experience the region’s fall traditions, such as the “Almabtrieb” event, bringing in the cattle from the grasslands, and local parish (教区) fairs, called “Kirchweih-Feste” where beer is everywhere.
Catskills, Upstate New York
If spotting fall in one state isn’t enough, head to the Catskills, where you can see five states at once. Head to the Northern Catskills of Greene County, to the “Five State Lookout” in Windham, where you can view treetops in New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, as well as beautiful scenery of the Hudson River Valley.
Edinburgh, Scotland
This city is made for fall with its tree-lined streets and big open parks. Head to Princes Street Gardens, which is home to some of the city’s most typical monuments, such as the storybook-style Gardeners’ Cottage and the Scott Monument, or take a hike through Holyrood Park, marveling as the russet tones (红褐色) cover the rolling hills which climb up to the famed Arthurs Seat offering full views of the city and beyond.
1. What is a special view of the Maroon Bells?| A．Typical monuments in Scottish style. |
| B．Beautiful castles among golden trees. |
| C．Clear lakes with reflections of surroundings. |
| D．Mountains completely covered with snow. |
| A．Aspen, Colorado. | B．Catskills, Upstate New York. |
| C．Bavaria, Germany. | D．Edinburgh, Scotland. |
| A．To explain how to develop hobbies in the fall. |
| B．To stress the importance of traveling in the fall. |
| C．To introduce some places to appreciate fall leaves. |
| D．To describe how lo enjoy fall leaves with your own eyes. |
7 . Think back to the last time you shopped for fruits and vegetables. You may have noticed some items labelled with the word “organic”.
“Organic” refers to the way food is grown. To be labelled as organic, food production must meet strict guidelines. These can be different depending on where you live. In the United States, organic foods must be grown or raised without using pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
The organic movement was started to get back to the old traditional ways of farming. Why? Many believe the chemicals and pesticides used in modern farming can be harmful to your health.
Have you ever compared organic and non-organic foods at the grocery store? If so, you know that organic food tend to cost more. This happens for many reasons. Organic farming produces fewer crops.
Is organic food worth the extra cost? Some people believe it is. They may think it tastes better or just prefer to eat food that has not been grown using chemicals.
| A．Have you ever wondered what that means? |
| B．The cost of production is also usually higher. |
| C．For most of history, almost all food was organic. |
| D．Many people are willing to pay more for organic food. |
| E．Some also think organic foods are naturally more nutritious. |
| F．Are you wondering if organic food is right for you? |
| G．Scientists have studied organic and non-organic foods for many years now. |
8 . A herd of 15 Asian elephants has been making its way North across China since March 2020, and nobody is quite sure why.
The herd has covered more than 500 kilometers since they wandered out of their home in the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve, located in southwestern China along its border with Laos and Myanmar. Authorities in China have tried to keep the animals away from populated areas with piles of fruit and vegetables and physical barriers. The herd was spotted last week on the outskirts (郊区) of Kunming.
“One potential explanation for the elephant migration is overcrowding in the nature reserve these animals once called home,” says George, an elephant specialist at Colorado State University. Asian elephants are endangered, only around 300 surviving in China, but the population living in the reserves of the Xishuangbanna region has been growing in recent years. George says this wayward (任性的) group might have set out to find a new home with less competition for resources.
“We’ve seen elephants expanding their range for decades now, as their populations increase, and they search for more food for the growing herd,” says Becky Chen, a conservation scientist at the Zoological Society of London who has studied elephant-human interactions. Other experts wonder if this is an example of a herd being misled by an inexperienced leader, or if the decision to roam was an almost random choice.
Authorities have instructed residents along the route to stay inside if the elephants are nearby and avoid disturbing the herd. If the animals can’t be turned back to their former forested home, scientists and land managers may need to make provisions (准备) for the elephants to live permanently in Kunming.
Chen says she hopes the situation will raise awareness of human-elephant conflict and elephant conservation. “What we have to learn is not how to solve the problem, but how to increase tolerance,” she says. “How can we use this event to let everybody pay attention to coexistence between people and animals?”
1. Which is the possible reason for elephant migration?| A．The population of people. | B．Inhabitant loss. |
| C．Annual migration. | D．An act of a misleading head. |
| A．Settle. | B．Wander. |
| C．Leave. | D．Accompany. |
| A．It takes long to live in harmony with animals. |
| B．It is important to reflect on how to live with animals. |
| C．The increasing elephants threaten human’s settlement. |
| D．The endangered elephants migrate due to human development. |
| A．Nature. | B．Health. |
| C．Entertainment. | D．Life. |
9 . The tradition of giving gifts didn’t start with the modern holidays we celebrate. Many ancient cultures celebrated holidays with the exchange of gifts. People who love to give gifts often can’t wait until it’s time for the recipients to open their gifts. If you’ve ever been given a gift, you know that part of the fun is the curiosity that builds as you wonder what the gift is.
The wish to hide the identity of a gift until just the right moment led people to wrap gifts long, long ago. Historians believed wrapping gifts in paper probably started not long after paper was invented thousands of years ago.
Wrapping paper like what we use today, though, is a much more recent invention. More than 100 years ago, gifts were usually wrapped in heavy brown paper. Before that, cloth was often used. The technology to mass-produce wrapping paper didn’t come along until the early 1900s. The first American gift wrap company— Hy-Sill Manufacturing Inc. — was founded by Eli Hyman and Morris Silverman in 1903. It wasn’t as easy to wrap presents back then as it is today, though, because adhesive tape (胶带) wasn’t invented until 1930.
Over the years, wrapping paper has developed into what we see in stores each holiday season. But scientists say that the United States alone produces an extra 5 million tons of waste over the holidays, most of which is from wrapping paper and shopping bags. To cut down on this waste, some people carefully unwrap presents, so that the wrapping paper can be reused. Others have started to use reusable gift bags instead of wrapping paper.
1. What is the interesting part of people giving a gift?| A．Hiding their gifts and their feelings. |
| B．Giving the recipients a surprise. |
| C．Letting the recipients open gifts at once. |
| D．Following a century-old tradition. |
| A．People didn’t know wrapping paper until 1903. |
| B．Heavy brown paper has been used to wrap gifts for 100 years. |
| C．Technology made wrapping paper widely available. |
| D．Adhesive tape was first created by gift wrap companies. |
| A．The future of reusable gift bags. |
| B．The waste produced by Americans. |
| C．Wrapping paper’s influence on the environment. |
| D．People’s admiration for wrapping paper. |
| A．The popularity of wrapping gifts. |
| B．The start of wrapping gifts in paper. |
| C．The problems caused by wrapping paper. |
| D．The story behind wrapping paper. |
10 . New independent booksellers are setting up shops across Britain. In the 20 years after 1995, the number of bookshops dropped (减少) sharply, followed in 2016 with their number increasing. Having lost more than 1,000 bookshops in the UK, this turnaround (好转) was interesting. Then, in 2018, a total of 12 bookshops opened their doors for the first time.
In the summer of 2018, Sam Taylor came across a note in the window of an empty shop, asking locals what they would like to see in the space. Taylor wrote that he would open a bookshop. After careful consideration, Taylor and his wife Jessica Paul drew up a business plan, gave up their jobs, and opened their bookshop in September. “The community really supported the bookshop that was here before, so we knew that it could work,” says Taylor.
But why, given that prices are often slightly cheaper online, are people turning back to independent bookshops? “Locals really know the importance of an independent bookshop and what it brings to the community. I think it makes people stop and think: ‘actually I’m going to endorse my local shop, and this will improve our community as a whole,’ ” says Emily Ross, another bookseller.
“The threat (威胁) of online retails and e-readers exists, of course, but some booksellers do not necessarily consider them direct competition. We want people to know that bookshops aren’t highbrow (高雅的) places to visit,” says Ross.
However, it is sales of e-readers and e-books that have slowed, with the latter dropping by 17 percent in 2016 alone. It is possible that people decide that they already spend long enough staring at screen and then have no interest in doing anything else. By contrast, there was a 31 percent increase in the sales of hardback books in 2017. “There’s just no comparison to holding and smelling a book. Books are collectable things to have and keep,” says Ross.
1. What most probably drove Taylor to open a bookshop?| A．His wife’s dream to own a bookshop. |
| B．His wish to continue the tradition of the UK. |
| C．His recognition of the locals’ need for a bookshop. |
| D．His desire to raise young people’s interest in reading. |
| A．Support | B．Recall | C．Trust | D．Leave |
| A．Worried | B．Uncertain | C．Pleasant | D．Objective |
| A．Some of them would were of poor quality. |
| B．Much screen time might cause people’s tiredness. |
| C．They offered fewer services than bookshops. |
| D．They would result in poor memory. |
