1 . Bees are a big part of the life cycle of plants, pollinating flower after flower and allowing plants to produce their yummy output. But with bee populations on the decline, what can take their place? How about soap bubbles?

It may sound fantastical. But Eijiro Miyako and his colleague at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have used battery-powered bubble makers to pollinate a pear orchard. The details of their magical approach to agriculture are in the journal Science.

A few years back, Miyako and his team tried to copy the pollination of honeybees by adopting a two-inch-long toy drone with brushes made of horsehair. But the tiny flyer was tough to control. And its little hairy brushes ended up damaging the delicate targets.

After spending some time blowing bubbles with his son, Miyako started thinking more seriously about these little soapy wonders. He figured bubbles would be sticky enough to carry and deliver a pollen load but soft and flexible, so they shouldn’t hurt a flower when they land.

The researchers chemically bettered their soapy solution to make bubbles that were mechanically stable and actually enhanced the pollination process. In the orchard, they aimed their soap bubbles at row after row of pear trees. And they found the bubble system worked just as well as the more labor-intensive pollination by hand: pear trees pollinated by bubbles eventually produced fruit — a sweet sign of success.

Miyako has also upgraded the drone — this time using a larger model — equipped with a machine that lets out a huge number of bubbles in a short time. It has a big advantage over the hand-held model, because it’s fully autonomously controllab le by GPS with Google Map. So the drones can make a beeline to where farmers need them to be.

1. What is the function of the first paragraph?

A．To provide examples.	B．To lead in the topic.
C．To make comparisons.	D．To offer an argument.

2. What inspired Miyako to try a magic approach?

A．Observing bees pollinate flowers.	B．Pollinating pears with farmers.
C．Flying drones with his colleague.	D．Blowing bubbles with his child.

3. What can we say about the upgraded drone?

A．It is eco-friendly.	B．It is uncontrollable.
C．It is more efficient.	D．It is time-consuming.

4. Which section of a website does the text most probably come from?

A．Agriculture.

B．Business.

C．Culture.

D．Lifestyle.

2 . The government of Singapore has created a highly developed system that turns wastewater into drinking water. The system involves a network of tunnels and high-technology treatment centers.

Reused wastewater can now meet 40 percent of Singapore’s water demand. The country’s water agency says it expects to meet 55 percent of Singapore’s water demand by the year 2060.

Most of the water is used for microchip manufacturing centers and cooling systems in buildings. But some of it is added to the country’s drinking water supplies. The system helps reduce ocean pollution, as only a small amount of the treated water is sent into the sea.

Singapore has few natural water sources. The island nation has long had to depend mostly on supplies from neighboring Malaysia. Low Pei Chin, chief engineer of the water reclamation department of the Public Utilities Board, told reporters with Independent, “Singapore lacks natural resources, and it is limited in space, which is why we are always looking for ways to explore water sources and stretch our water supply.”

The Changi Water Reclamation Plant on Singapore’s eastern coast is the main part of the country’s recycling system. Parts of the water treatment center are underground. Wastewater enters the center through a 48-kilometer tunnel that is linked to sewers(下水道). The center contains a large system of steel pipes, tubes, tanks, cleaning systems and other machinery. It can treat up to 900 million liters of wastewater a day.

Waste that arrives at the plant goes through a cleaning process before powerful pumps send it flowing to areas above ground for more treatment. There, the treated water receives additional cleaning. Bacteria and viruses are removed through highly developed cleaning processes.

Singapore is also in the process of expanding its recycling system. The country will add another underground tunnel and a major water treatment center to serve the western half of the island. Officials expect work on the center to be completed by 2025. By the time the expansion is finished, Singapore will have spent about $7.4 billion on its water treatment systems.

1. What can we know about the treated water?

A．Most of it is sent into the sea.

B．It can only be used by factories.

C．Some of it is used as drinking water.

D．It can meet the whole country’s water demand.

2. Why has Singapore always relied on its neighbour for most of its water supply?

A．It has a friendly neighbor.

B．It is short of water resources.

C．Its people dislike using recycled water.

D．Its water consumption is particularly high.

3. What’s the sixth paragraph mainly about?

A．The history of a water treatment center.

B．The reasons for cleaning wastewater.

C．Introduction to groundwater networks.

D．The process of recycling the wastewater.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Singapore Turns Wastewater into Drinking Water

B．Singapore Builds a Strong Water-saving Culture

C．What Are Singapore’s Water Success and Lessons?

D．How Singapore Is Putting a Stop to Water Running out?

3 . 用单词的适当形式完成短文

Several years ago, I started riding a bike. At first, I thought it was only a short ride. But as I built up my     1     (strong), my friends inspired me to try some longer trips. The first one to come along was a 150-mile journey, an event held every year that raises money to fight cancer.

With my name     2     (sign), the idea seemed great. It was to support a worthy cause when we went for the distance. Of course, I should devote     3     (I) to such a cause. And I trained with great excitement. But as the time for the ride approached, myself-doubt gained ground against my endurance (耐力). I didn’t really want to bicycle all those miles for two days straight.

The ride began on a Sunday morning in the Georgia countryside: There     4     (be) a number of strong riders. For the first few hours, I felt wonderful. This was just the experience I had imagined, and my spirits were high. There were not many vehicles on the way. But by the end of the day, I had felt     5     (extreme) tired. I was sure I would give up before I reached the destination.

As I was riding to the top of the hill, the very fantastic sunset     6     appealed to me so much kept me going for a few minutes more, I said to myself, “So far I     7     (cover) half of the distance. That is enough.” Then     8     the distance, I saw alone (独自的) rider riding very slowly. I noticed that the person looked different in tiny some way, but I couldn’t tell the reason why that person was different. I was fast enough     9     (catch) up with her. There she was, riding slowly but steadily, with a determined smile on her face—but she had only one leg. I thoughts he could have trained hard before because she was so skilled in riding the bike, She was a     10     (represent) of people with strong determination.

6 . The world’s most famous tire (轮胎) graveyard (坟地) of 42 million tires in the sands of Kuwait is finally being cleaned up and recycled. This news in itself would be a major relief to locals who have to suffer from the clouds of black smoke arising during fires. But the government isn’t stopping there. They are aiming to create a green city of 25,000 homes in line with a post-oil Persian Gulf, with a focus on sustainability and tourism.

The first step is to clear the ground. The Salmiya area, nicknamed “Rubber (橡胶) Mountain”, is formed from hundreds of small mountains of spent tires — a reaction from the one million cars which were added to Kuwait’s roads over the decade.

EPSCO Global General Trading recycling company has opened a recycling plant for the tires, where they’ve been collected, sorted, cut up, and pressed into other materials like rubbery coloured flooring tiles (铺地砖). The plant opened in January of 2021, and can recycle up to 3 million tires a year. The recycled material is then exported out to nearby gulf neighbours and Asia. In the place of the tires will be South Saad Al-Abdullah City, a green city characterizing a new era in the Middle-Eastern country.

Spent tires are a major environmental problem worldwide due to the room they take up and the chemicals they can release.

“We have moved from a difficult stage that was characterized by great environmental risk,” says Oil Minister Mohammed al-Fares. “Today the area is becoming clean and all tires are being removed to begin the launch of the project of Saad Al-Abdullah city.”

Expected to cost €3.3 billion and require 30 years to complete, the city hopes to feature green technology, probably like the kind one can see in other cities on the Persian Gulf, both existing and not. Saudi Arabia is planning to build a zero-emissions, car-less future city that’s centered around access to big data rather than water or crops.

1. Why is the Salmiya area called “Rubber Mountain”?

A．It is rich in rubber.	B．It has too many waste tires.
C．It used to be a mountain.	D．It has been a tradition.

2. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．A recycling company.	B．The purpose for removing tires.
C．How to build a green city.	D．What is done with the spent tires.

3. Why does the author mention Mohammed al-Fares’ words?

A．To make a prediction.

B．To explain an idea.

C．To present a fact.

D．To analyze a cause.

4. What might be the best title for the text?

A．The Transformation of a Huge Landfill	B．Spent Tires, a Big Threat to the Environment
C．The Salmiya Area’s Measures to Kick Pollution	D．Kuwait Tire Mountain to Be into a Green City

7 . 假定你是李华，你打算参加学校英语社团组织的以“My Future Career”为题的演讲比赛。请你写一篇演讲稿，内容包括：
1. 职业目标：
2. 理由和打算。
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。

My Future Career

Good morning, everyone!

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Thank you for your listening!

8 . 假定你叫李华，你想邀请你的英语老师Joana来你家共同庆祝端午节，请给她写一封邀请信，要点如下：
1. 活动时间；
2. 活动内容；
3. 前往你家的交通方式。
注意：
1. 词数不少于80；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 信件的开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Joana,
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Yours,

Li Hua