1 . The Best National Parks to Visit in Winter

While most parks tend to draw families in the summer and fall, there are also ideal spots for adventurous winter trips.

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

The country’s oldest and best-known national park takes on an almost otherworldly atmosphere in winter: the air filled with rolling steam, the strong colors of hot springs, the surrounding white landscapes, let alone the impressive wildlife during this time, like bison, wolves, and playful red foxes. Just book a guided hiking tour to get a ranger’s perspective on the park and local people.

Joshua Tree National Park, California

With its giant red rocks and unique trees, you’ll feel like stepping onto a foreign planet as you spend hours hiking the Panorama Loop or Maze Loop. The park is recognized as an International Dark Sky Park, featuring virtually zero light pollution and the country’s best views of a starry sky.

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

A significantly lower number of visitors in winter means you can take in unblocked views of the South Rim, and get to see the rare beauty of the Grand Canyon dusted with snow. For those adventurous and daring, it is recommended to hike the Bright Angel Trail and take the chance to see the canyon’s wintertime wildlife, including mule deer, elk, and bald eagles.

Virgin Islands National Park, St. John

Surprise! Not all wintertime national park trips need to involve snow. Virgin Islands National Park is most famous for its white-sand beaches. You can also hike inland to visit old sugar plantations, or venture out to the water to swim along with sea turtles and manta rays. You will definitely enjoy a different winter here.

1. Which park will one choose if he/she is interested in stars?

A．Yellowstone National Park.	B．Joshua Tree National Park.
C．Grand Canyon National Park.	D．Virgin Islands National Park.

2. What do we know about the Grand Canyon National Park?

A．We can have a poor view of the South Rim there.	B．It lies in an area with rolling steam and hot springs.
C．There is a slight decline in visitor numbers in winter.	D．The Bright Angel Trail is challenging in cold weather.

3. Which activity is mentioned in all of the parks?

A．Hiking.

B．Skiing.

C．Swimming.

D．Hunting.

2 . Winter can usually kill most wildfires. But in the far North，some forest fires just don’t die. They are thought of as “zombie (僵尸) fires”.

“Zombie fires” usually sleep underground in winter. Covered by snow, they smoke through the cold. Fueled by carbon-rich peat (泥炭) and soil in the North, most of these hidden fires spread slowly for less than 500 meters during the winter. When spring comes, the flames (火焰) of the fires appear near sites that they burned in winter, and they turn to burning fresh fuels around. This may happen well before the traditional fire season in the far North.

“Zombie fires” had been known mostly from firefighters’ stories. Few scientists studied them until details in some satellite images attracted one research team. Rebecca Scholten, a member of the team, studies earth systems at Vrije University Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Her team noticed an unusual thing. “New fires have been starting very close to the former years’ fires in recent years，and we wonder how often the fires might survive the winter,” Scholten explains.

These “zombie fires” are rarely seen before, according to a new study from Nature. But in recent years, they are becoming more common, the study warns. It is believed that the “zombie fires” are even on the road of being a threat. Forests in the far North are warming faster than the globe’s average (平均数). Scholten says, “We’re seeing more hot summers and more large fires and strong burning. That could set the stage for the fires to become a bigger problem,” she worries. And the region’s soils hold a lot of carbon—maybe twice as much as earth’s atmosphere. More fires here could give off huge amounts of greenhouse gases. That would drive a cycle of more warming and even higher risk of fires.

1. What do we know about the “zombies fires” in the far North?

A．They will completely die out in winter.

B．Carbon-rich peat helps them burn slowly in winter.

C．They often happen after the traditional fire season.

D．Their flames can only appear in spring.

2. What can we infer from Scholten’s words in paragraph 3?

A．“Zombie fires” appear earlier than the years before.

B．“Zombie fires” happen far from former years’ fires.

C．“Zombie fires” happen more frequently than before.

D．“Zombie fires” appear in different shapes every year.

3. What was a cause of being a threat for the “zombie fires”?

A．The global warming is slowing down.

B．The hot summers are less and less seen.

C．The area’s soils are short of carbon.

D．More greenhouse gases are given off.

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

A．Where Are “Zombie Fires” From?

B．Are “Zombie Fires” Frightening?

C．Pay Attention To “Zombie Fires”!

D．“Zombie Fires” Are Caused By Humans!

3 . Some interesting places in Barcelona

Barcelona is now Europe’s sixth most visited city. If you’ve never visited it before, a plan to go there is worth making because there’s so much to see. The following will definitely leave a deep impression on the first-timers in Barcelona.

Grab a fresh snack at La Boqueria Market

Barcelona’s biggest market is found right in the middle of the famous La Rambla. Its central location means that it’s always packed with people, so prepare to push your way through the stands! The selection and quality of ingredients are excellent. Grab a milk shake and get lost in the crowds.

Look down on the city from the majestic Park Guell

The mosaic-covered buildings of Park Guell have come to be the postcard photo of Barcelona! The park itself is remarkably beautiful and has one of the best views of the whole city. The best way to reach Park Guell from the city centre is to take Bus 24 from Placa Catalunya. Some areas of the park are free, while the best pats require you to buy a ticket.

Appreciate 4,000 original Picassos at the Picasso Museum

The Picasso Museum in Barcelona showcases one of the most extensive Picasso collections in the world, with a particular highlight on much of his early work. Picasso spent his adolescent years in Barcelona, and it is the place where he developed his artistic training. The Museum is located in the heart of the Old Town, in the very streets where the young Picasso lived his Barcelona life.

Take a tour of historic Camp Nou

The second biggest association football stadium in the world is home to one of the most historic clubs of all time. A tour at Camp Nou includes access to the Camp Nou Museum where you will be able to see 22 Liga and 4 Champions League trophies in the same room. Explore an area solely dedicated to Barcelona’s hero, Leo Messi.

1. What can you do at La Boqueria Market?

A．Buy souvenirs for friends.	B．Enjoy freshly-made food.
C．Meet the footballer, Messi.	D．Buy postcards in the market.

2. Who might be interested in Camp Nou?

A．Those who like beautiful scenery.	B．Those who like western paintings.
C．Those who are interested in football.	D．Those eager to taste delicious food.

3. What is the main purpose of the text?

A．To advertise for a grand park.	B．To attract more visitors to Barcelona.
C．To introduce a famous artist Picasso.	D．To praise delicious snacks in Barcelona.

4 . Decision hard

From the moment we wake up each day, we’re faced with a continuous stream of choices.    1    , when there are too many options. This is decision fatigue (疲劳), a state of mental overload that can impede (妨碍) our ability to make additional decisions.

When decision fatigue kicks in, you may feel like you just don’t have the mental bandwidth to deal with more decisions.     2    . As a result, you avoid making certain choices entirely, go with the default option or make ones that aren’t in line with your goals or values, experts say.

Here’s how to minimize or manage this phenomenon:

    3    . Some easy ways to do this: When you go grocery shopping, use a master list that has the same staples, and buy the same brands each time.    4    . And if you’re trying to exercise regularly, devote a consistent amount of time for it every day.

Tune into how you’re feeling. Be watchful of signs of decision fatigue and act accordingly: If you’ve had a demanding day that was filled with lots of decisions, put off making another one if you can. If things that wouldn’t normally upset you start bothering you, consider that a sign that you may not be in the best state of mind to make a major decision. “People may not realize that they’re experiencing decision fatigue,” Baumeister, a professor of psychology at the University of Queensland in Australia, says. “    5    .”

A．Make some choices automatic

B．It’s something to watch out for

C．They should turn to the experts for advice

D．Put down what you have in hand and take a break from them

E．This can lead to decisional disfunction or decreased self-control

F．If you like having oatmeal for breakfast, stick with it on a daily basis

G．We tend to feel overwhelmed, anxious, stressed or otherwise out of sorts

5 . Experts using a high-tech laser scanner (激光扫描仪) have discovered thousands of ancient Maya buildings hidden under the thick forests of northern Guatemala, officials said Thursday. Some 60, 000 buildings were found over the past two years in a scan of an area in the northern department of El Peten between Mexico and Belize, said Marcello Canuto, one of the projects’ lead researchers.

These findings are a “breakthrough in Maya archeology(考古),” Canuto said.

The new discoveries in this Central American country include city centers with sidewalks, homes, wide steps, farming facilities and so on, said Canuto, an archaeologist at Tulane University in the United States.

Among the finds was a 30-meter high pyramid (金字塔) that had been earlier recognized as a natural hill in Tikal. Also discovered in Tikal: a series of holes and a 14 kilometer-long wall.

The Maya development reached its height in what is present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, and parts of Belize, El Salvador and Honduras between 250 and 950 CE. Researchers now believe that the Maya had a population of 10 million, which is “much higher” than previous judgment, Canuto said.

The project depended on a remote (远程的) sensing method known as LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). Aircraft with a LiDAR scanner produced 3D maps of the surface by using light in the form of laser linked to a GPS system.

The technology helped researchers discover sites much faster than using traditional archeological methods. “Now it is no longer necessary to cut through the jungle to see what’s under it,” said Canuto.

Details of the research will appear in a documentary to air on February 11 on the National Geographic TV channel, said Minister of Culture and Sports Jose Luis Chea.

1. What did Canuto think of the new discoveries in the past two years?

A．Leading.

B．Frightening.

C．Annoying.

D．Puzzling.

2. Which one is NOT LiDAR’s advantage?

A．It saves time in discovering site.

B．It is more convenient for researchers to work in forest.

C．Explorers have to go deep into the jungle to research.

D．Research can be done at a distance.

3. According to the new discoveries, Maya might have been a nation________.

A．that lay in Africa	B．that was less developed
C．whose pyramid was made of a hill	D．with a surprisingly large population

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To inform readers of the new discoveries about Maya.

B．To introduce a new method used to discover Maya buildings.

C．To show Maya development was of great influence.

D．To tell us a new documentary will be launched on TV in Feb.

6 . Yangzhou paper cutting, with a history of 2,000 years, can be dated back to the Sui Dynasty, making Yangzhou one of the places where paper cutting first became popular.

In the Sui Dynasty, the people of Yangzhou would cut colourful paper or silk and satin (缎子) to celebrate festivals. It is said that Emperor Yang came to Yangzhou three times. In winter, the flowers and trees in the garden became dry and weak. The emperor ordered the gril servants to cut fine silk and satin into flowers and leaves and use them to decorate the trees and lakes. Since then, “colorful cutting” has become a popular art in Yangzhou.

In the Tang Dynasty, the paper cutting industry was highly developed and a large amount of high-quality paper was made as presents to the Court (宫廷).

In the Qing Dynasty, because of the economic development, the people of Yangzhou became interested in wearing fine clothing, especially embroidered (刺绣的) clothing. The embroidered designs were based on paper-cuts, the most well-know of them was from Bao Jun, a paper cutting master. He won a high reputation (名声) as Magic Scissors for his wonderful cutting skills.

After the People’s Republic of China was started, the Chinese government accepted the importance of paper cutting like many other arts and skills. In 2007, China Paper-cuts Museum opened to the public in the back garden of the Wang’s Residence (住所), Yangzhou, greatly helping the development of Yangzhou paper cutting.

1. When did “colourful cutting” become a popular art in Yangzhou?

A．In the Sui Dynasty.	B．In the Tang Dynasty.
C．In the Ming Dynasty.	D．In the Qing Dynasty.

2. The underlined word “decorate” in Paragraph 2 means ________ in Chinese.

A．种植

B．装饰

C．浇水

D．砍伐

3. When did China Paper-cuts Museum open to the public?

A．In 2007.

B．In 2008.

C．In 2009.

D．In 2010.

4. What’s the main idea on the passage?

A．How to make paper cutting.

B．The way to cut paper.

C．The importance of Yangzhou paper cutting.

D．The history and development of Yangzhou paper cutting.

7 . When a man says he wants to marry me, I ________ (run) against him. If he cannot run as fast as me, he will be killed. No one will be pardoned. （所给词的适当形式填空）

8 . 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，并将答案填写在答题卡上。

The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces(梯田), in southern Yunnan, China, cover a huge 16, 603-hectare area. The terraces,     1    (know)to all of the world now, were made out of a thick forest by the Hani people. The terraces rise at different angles from a shallow 15°    2     a steep 75°, forming a wonderful landscape(景观)that     3    (be)rare in the world.

In 2003, the terraced fields were     4    (official)recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage site. About 1,300 years ago, the Hani people first     5    (come)to the steep mountains. They struggled against the difficult terrain(地形), successfully creating the terraces, where they grew rice in order to make     6    (they) living. Over the past 1,300 years, the Hani people have developed a complex system of channels     7    (bring)water from the forested mountaintops. They show great appreciation for natural phenomena such as rivers, mountains, the sun, fire     8     the moon. They have also created a complete farming system     9     involves cattle, ducks, and fish and supports the     10    (produce)of red rice, the area's main crop.

The landscape changes through the year. In April the terraces are all green as rice starts to grow; in later parts of the year it is yellowish brown as the rice ripens. In February, the terraces become bare earth, with the water reflecting(反射)the sky.

9 . Satellite imagery like Google Earth makes it easy for ecologists halfway around the world to check up on tropical forests—see illegal roads and logging (伐木), for example. But the information is limited.

“Satellite data often tells you what happens after it's happened.” Rhett Butler said, the founder of Mongabay. com, an environmental science news website. In a perspective piece in the journal Science, he and his colleagues write that sound recordings can supplement satellite data as another conservation tool.

You can actually set up alerts. So you can hear things like chainsaws (电锯) or gunshots in real time. So you can get put ahead of potential deforestation before it occurs. Small audio recorders, some of which are solar-powered and connecteded to cellphone grids for data upload, also give ecologists the ability to listen secretly on a jungle's biodiversity over time.

If you're in a primary forest, you'll tend to see all the frequencies of the soundscape occupied by different species. These are insects, birds, calling mammals, frogs things like that.”

As a comparison, here is a forest plot after selective logging---meaning some trees were cut, others left standing. “As you move into a more disturbed ecosystem, you'd start to see more gapsacross the frequencies of that soundscape.”

Certain insects dominate. And the diversity of calls declines as disturbance increases. While the human ear is perceptive (感知的), algorithms (运算法则) are a much more powerful tool to comb through thousands of hours of data, to get a richer picture of changing tropical biodiversity.

Nowadays, many industries---like cattle farming, palm oil, soybean and paper production are committing to zero deforestation goals, which can be hard to measure. But by coupling satellite data and camera traps with audio recordings, ecologists can keep their eyes-and ears-on what's going on in the jungle.

1. What is the disadvantage of satellite data according to Rhett Butler?

A．It carries little information.

B．It helps see illegal roads and logging.

C．It doesn't serve as a conservation tool.

D．It doesn't tell you until something has happened.

2. What do we know about audio recorders?

A．The majority of them are solar-powered.

B．they can update data everyday.

C．They enable ecologists to monitor the biodiversity in the jungle.

D．They allows you to hear things like chainsaws or gunshots after they occur.

3. Which of the following can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Satellite imagery is used to check up on tropical forests.

B．A combination of Satellite imagery and sound recordings benefits forestation.

C．Many industries are committing to zero deforestation goals.

D．Sound recordings play an important role in preserving the forest.

4. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Science	B．Sports
C．Finance	D．Entertainment