1 . Smaller than African savanna elephants, forest elephants feed on grass, leaves and fruit. The rainforests of Gabon are one of the last strongholds for forest elephants, whose numbers have suffered a dramatic decline in recent decades because of hunting.

Despite being remote and relatively untouched by people, Lope National Park and its elephants appear to be in trouble. The fruity yield (产量) of many species of trees at the park continues to fall, which seems to be causing forest elephants to go hungry. Because certain tree species depend on the animals to survive, the struggles of the elephant population could jeopardize the long-term sustainability of the forest.

Known as an Omphalocarpum procerum, the tree is dotted with doughnut-shaped fruit growing out of its trunk. The fruit has a tough shell that makes it distasteful for every animal species except elephants. The tree relies on elephants to disperse (传播) seeds through their dung (粪) and grows stronger in elephant-populated areas. The tree is rarely found where elephants no longer live. The elephants, in turn, depend on the highly nutritious fruit for their diet.

A 32-year survey recorded an 81 percent decline in the availability of the fruits that elephants eat. Examining Lopvé’s weather data for the previous three decades, researchers found that the average nighttime temperature had increased by about 1.5 degrees. The amount of rainfall also had decreased significantly. Climate change was making Lope hotter and drier. Researchers think this is the most credible theory as to why fruit has been declining.

They also found that, on average, the body condition of forest elephants had declined by a pronounced 11 percent from 2008 to 2018. The scarcity of fruit in Lope was the likeliest explanation. The lack of fruit makes it harder for elephants to get the nutrition they need. Lope’s elephants try to make up for the fruit shortage by suddenly entering people’s gardens in the middle of the night.

At Lope National Park, scientists now are investigating whether climate change is changing the elephants’ diet. As they continue their research, they thought: Could the fraying of the ancient bond between trees and elephants in a place as pristine as Lopé be a forewarning?

1. What does the underlined word “jeopardize” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Endanger.

B．Promote.

C．Achieve.

D．Ensure.

2. What is the purpose of paragraph 3?

A．To state the effect of habitat loss on elephants.

B．To prove the importance of the species diversity.

C．To present the gradual process of forest decline.

D．To show the close relationship between the tree and elephants.

3. What makes fruits in Lope less available to elephants?

A．Frequent heavy rainfall.	B．The lack of fruit growers.
C．Inappropriate tree cutting.	D．The threat of climate change.

4. How do Lope’s elephants deal with the fruit shortage?

A．They visit human’s gardens for food.

B．They travel farther to search for fruit trees.

C．They start to eat other highly nutritious plants.

D．They carry fruit seeds to elephant-populated areas.

2 . Books for Children

Spill the Beans

Author: Sarah Mlynowski

My brother Jonah’s dream has come true. We have finally landed in his favorite fairytale: Jack and the Beanstalk! It’s a lot of fun meeting Jack. But then we accidentally mess up his story, which means Jack can’t climb up the magic beanstalk to find the giant’s(巨人的) riches. It’s time to take matters into our own hands.

Seeing Red

Author: Sarah Mlynowski

Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go! Abby and Jonah are off to visit their grandmother, who knows all about fairy tales. But things go wrong when they wind (蜿蜒而行) up in the classic fairytale of Little Red Rid ng Hood. Will they escape from the big bad wolf in time?

Hearts of Ice

Author: Adi Rule

Evangeline has been lonely her whole life. Her mother rarely lets her play outside, especially not when it’s snowing. On her birthday, Evangeline finds her window has blown open, and her room is full of snow. There’s a message written in the frost. One word: HELP. Evangeline learns that she has a sister, a twin, in fact. They were both born in another world—a land of snow and music and ancient magic. Now, someone is calling Evangeline back, and will stop at nothing to attract her into the magical place where danger waits.

1. What does Jonah do in Spill the Beans?

A．He plays a trick on Jack as a giant.

B．He dresses up as Jack to cheat the giant.

C．He goes into a fary tale and meets Jack.

D．He gives Jack a lot of priceless treasures.

2. What happens to Abby and Jonah on their visit to grandmother’s?

A．They fall into the river.	B．They meet a big bad wolf.
C．They get lost in the woods.	D．They can’t find their storybook.

3. Where will Evangeline go in Hearts of Ice?

A．The world where she was born.	B．The country where it never snows.
C．The house where her mother lives.	D．The place where her sister has been to.

3 . Ways to Come Back Ready for Work After a Vacation

You finally took a break from work and went on a well-deserved vacation.     1    . But, going back to work is unavoidable. The following are some tips that may make your transition smoother.

    2    . Everyone needs some time to get back into quantities of things. If you can, take a day or two to relax and recover before heading back into the office.

Ease your way back into work. Take some time to plan out your day. Make a to-do list with everything you know you need to do and prioritize (确定优先顺序) what needs to be done. Focus on doing what you know how to do and what requires the least amount of time.     3    . Remember, you’re taking one step at a time.

Go to work with a new set of eyes. Maybe you were frustrated with a task before you went on vacation because you couldn’t make it work. After being away from it for a while, you can look at it differently and offer a new perspective.    4    .

Take breaks during the day.     5    . Don’t let guilt force you into believing that you have to work yourself into the ground because you were away. Be kind to yourself. Take about a five- or ten-minute break every three hours to relax.

A．Starting with small tasks can boost your confidence

B．Day breaks are helpful to people with work pressure

C．Don’t go back to work right after your vacation’s over

D．Sometimes you just need time away to restart your work

E．New tasks can be handled more effectively and smoothly

F．Days of relaxation have you wishing that it would never end

G．Going into full work without any breaks would make you exhausted

4 . The Louvre is the most popular museum in the world. Last year, about 10 million visitors, more than 75% of whom were foreign tourists, came to the museum. About 80% of them were here for Mona Lisa-and most of them left unhappy.

According to a survey of British tourists earlier this year, Mona Lisa was voted the world’s most disappointing attraction, beating out Checkpoint Charlie, Spanish Steps, and Urinating Boy in Brussels.

If the museum thinks that it is inspiring the next generation of art lovers, it is in fact doing the opposite, thanks to the huge crowds in front of the picture. The overcrowding here was so bad that Jean-Luc Martinez, the museum’s director, has to admit, “We have to take steps to deal with the overcrowding in the coming years: new entrances and timed tickets for the museum.”

He misunderstands the problem-for the Louvre, with more gallery space than any museum on the planet, isn’t that crowed. On my last visit, the French painting wing had just a few visitors. Even Venus de Milo, perhaps the second most famous work of art in the museum, only drew a comfortable few dozen visitors. In other words, the Louvre does not have an overcrowding problem. It has a Mona Lisa problem. No other famous painting comes anywhere close to monopolizing (垄断) a museum like she does. It is time for the Louvre to admit its failure. The museum does not need new entrances or timed tickets.

Instead, it only needs to set up a moving walkway in front of Mona Lisa and let Samsung or another smartphone company to fix its cutest cameras around her. So visitors can strike a pose on the moving walkway, and download their cutest selfies (自拍像) with Mona Lisa later. I can even picture the moving walkway smoothly guiding tourists past the Mona Lisa into the gift shops, where millions of selfiers can take time to enjoy their pictures, and spend money.

It is time to set it up now since the 2024 Summer Olympics is around the comer.

1. Which was the most disappointing attraction according to the survey? ________

A．Mona Lisa.

B．Venus de Milo.

C．Spanish Steps.

D．Urinating Boy.

2. What does the author think of Jean-Luc Martinez’s solution? ________

A．Amazing.

B．Practical.

C．Expensive.

D．Unworkable.

3. Why is it so crowded in front of Mona Lisa? ________

A．A lot of visitors stay there to appreciate it.	B．The room housing the picture is too small.
C．Too many visitors want to take a picture with it.	D．The ticket for the famous painting is too cheap.

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

A．To share his unpleasant visit to the Louvre.

B．To introduce a famous painting in a museum.

C．To offer a simple solution to the Mona Lisa problem.

D．To show the opportunity brought by the 2024 Olympics.

5 . Golden Generation

A national team, mostly consisting of teenagers, pushed China to its biggest-ever medal achievement at the Winter Olympics. At the same time, a series of breakthroughs at the Games _________ the country’s emergence as a much more well-rounded force on the ice and snow.

_________ the heroics of teenage sensation Gu Ailing and seasoned aerials(空中技巧滑雪)masters Xu Mengtao and Qi Guangpu, China _________ four gold to top the freestyle skiing medal standings for the first time after its Winter Olympic debut in 1980.

Gu Ailing also became the first athlete _________, and the youngest _________, to win three medals(golds in Big Air, halfpipe and silver in slopestyle)in three different freeski _________ at the Olympics, throwing her to international super-star reputation as the _________ of Beijing 2022.

Needless to say, another teenager star, Su Yiming, also became a _________   name by winning China’s first snowboarding gold medal in Big Air after claiming a silver in slopestyle. Su’s _________ helped the host finish a highest-ever third on the Games’ overall medal standings, ____________ nine gold, four silver and two bronze-its biggest-ever medal achievement at the Winter Games. China’s ____________ best was a tally of 11, including five gold, at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

“The ____________ of the new generation on the Olympic stage, even seeing the emergence of teenagers, ____________ a great future for winter sports in our country,” said Li Yang, manager of China’s Big Air, slopestyle and halfpipe national programs.

“With winter sports becoming popular in our country amid the fast social and ____________ development, I believe more and more young people will ____________ skis and snowboards to enjoy the sport, just as young as Su and Gu did when they were little, which will ____________ expand the talent pool for our future national programs,”Li said.

The Beijing Winter Games also ____________ the first time that China’s snow sports teams outperformed the country’s traditionally strong ice sports squads in the medal numbers, securing investment in high-performance training programs and ____________ the foundation for even better results at the next Winter Games in Italy.

“____________ we keep the tendency going, I believe we will ____________ a stronger performance in four years' time at the next Olympics in 2026,” said Yang Yang, China’s first Winter Olympic gold medalist, in women’s short-track speed skating at the 2002 Games.

1.

A．specializes

B．signals

C．swallows

D．subscribes

2.

A．Thanks to

B．In addition to

C．Regardless of

D．In terms of

3.

A．confirmed

B．concludes

C．clarifies

D．claimed

4.

A．in detail

B．in history

C．by nature

D．with pride

5.

A．ever

B．never

C．already

D．yet

6.

A．incidents

B．events

C．affairs

D．issues

7.

A．access

B．start

C．face

D．popularity

8.

A．civilization

B．teenage

C．household

D．education

9.

A．performance

B．knowledge

C．concept

D．ambition

10.

A．on

B．at

C．of

D．with

11.

A．typical

B．fortunate

C．relevant

D．previous

12.

A．rise

B．profession

C．convention

D．explosion

13.

A．accounts

B．represents

C．estimates

D．recommends

14.

A．agricultural

B．historical

C．economic

D．natural

15.

A．hold up

B．break up

C．get up

D．pick up

16.

A．deeply

B．greatly

C．thoroughly

D．countlessly

17.

A．signed

B．allowed

C．followed

D．marked

18.

A．lying

B．shaking

C．laying

D．rocking

19.

A．As long as

B．If only

C．As far as

D．In that

20.

A．focus

B．impress

C．witness

D．observe

6 . 2022年北京冬奥会上，燃爆冬奥赛场的中国运动健儿们，挑战极限、攀登顶峰的精神让无数观众热血澎湃，更是在我国掀起了巨大的运动潮。而面对高考，许多高三的学生却不愿意花时间运动。假设你是李华，请你用英文写一篇倡议信，呼吁你的同学们积极进行体育锻炼。
内容要点包括：1.对同学们分秒必争进行学习表示理解和肯定；
2.进行体育运动的益处；
3.提出倡议，表达期待。
注意：1．词数100左右；
2．开头已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear fellow students,

With the College Entrance Examinations approaching, many students of senior three feel quite stressed and are not willing to spare time for sports.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

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。

Honoring teachers and their intelligence has always been a tradition in China. Since ancient times, teachers     1    (respect) as messengers of wisdom. The famous Chinese idiom, “Cheng Men Li Xue”, which     2    (literal) means “standing in the snow at the gate of Cheng’s home”, is a wonderful example.

“Cheng” refers to Cheng Yi, a leading     3     (educate) of Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty. Attracted by Cheng’s theory, Yang Shi, a talented and hardworking young man, worshiped Cheng as his mentor.

One day, Yang and his friend had different opinions on one question and went to Cheng’s home for advice. It was in the middle of winter. Feeling     4     (freeze) by the wind and snow, the two men wrapped     5     (they) tightly in their clothes and hurried on. When they arrived at Cheng’s place, the gatekeeper said the master     6    (take) a nap.

The two students did not complain. Instead, they chose not     7     (disturb) the teacher and waited outside the door, standing in heavy snowfall.

After quite some time, Cheng, upon waking up, became aware     8     his students had been standing in the snow for a while     9     immediately invited them to come in. Deeply moved by their patience, Cheng gave detailed answers     10     the students’ questions. After years of study, Yang finally achieved his life goal as a great scholar.

8 . A study of adults suggests that the negative effects of alcohol consumption grow stronger with each additional drink, and cutting on the final drink of the evening could greatly improve brain health.

“There is some evidence that one additional drink in a day could have more impact than any of the previous drinks that day. Cutting back on that final drink of the night might have a big effect in terms of brain ageing,” said Dr. Remi Daviet, the study’s first author. The study found that the more a person drinks, the smaller their brain. And the link between alcohol consumption and reductions in brain volume grew stronger if the level of alcohol consumption is greater.

Previous work has shown links between alcohol consumption and brain health. But it was unclear whether moderate levels of drinking had an impact — some had even suggested that light drinking could be beneficial. The NHS recommends not drinking more than 14 units a week on a regular basis, although it states there is no safe level.

The latest study used MRI scans from more than 36,000 adults in the UK Biobank, which allowed the relationship between drinking and brain health to be examined in greater detail. The research showed a negative association between even one drink a day and brain volume. In 50-year-olds, increasing average drinking from one alcohol unit（half a pint of beer）a day to two units was associated with changes in the brain equal to ageing two years. It gets worse the more you drink. It’s believed that alcohol has a negative impact on the brain, leading to the loss of grey matter and the structure of white matter connection being hurt. “Our study doesn’t randomly assign people to drink, this wouldn’t be moral to do,” said Dr. Reagan Wetherill, a co-author.

The authors hope to look at whether drinking one beer a day is better than drinking none during the week and then seven on the weekend.

1. What does Paragraph 1 mainly tell us about drinking alcohol?

A．The ageing of the brain is determined by drinking.

B．Having some drink in the evening protects the brain.

C．The harm of drinking alcohol builds up in the body.

D．Drinking in the day is more harmful than in the evening.

2. How can higher levels of alcohol consumption affect the brain?

A．The function of the brain is boosted.	B．The volume of the brain is reduced.
C．The alcohol level in the brain rises.	D．The brain fails to send out signals.

3. What can we infer from Dr. Reagan’s words?

A．Moral rules are in place when designing the study.	B．Any small amount of drinking will do people harm.
C．The old suffer more than the young from drinking.	D．Grey matter in the brain can hurt the white matter.

4. What’s the next target of research for the researchers?

A．Whether drinking beer regularly hurts people.	B．How moderate beer drinking benefits our health.
C．Which of the two ways of beer drinking is better.	D．How much the NHS recommends about beer.

9 . The quality of the family relationship is more important than family configuration (结构). A healthy family relationship is the base of a happy family.     1    . Although family relationships are different, there are certain characteristics that healthy family relationships share.

    2    . Family members listen to and genuinely care about what the others are saying. In these families, communication is on a deep enough level that all members are able to share their feelings, goals, achievements and experiences. When some feedback and constructive criticism are given, love and affection are made clear by the use of positive words.

A family with a healthy relationship requires every single family member’s commitment. Family members hold family as a top priority (优先考虑的事) and consider the impact on relatives before making important decisions. Family members are dependable and always there for each other in times of crisis.    3    .

A characteristic of healthy family relationship is that they spend time doing enjoyable activities together.     4    . Often, these activities become family traditions, such as sharing meals together, having family outings every weekend or playing sports together.

    5    . Family members accept that they each have their own personalities, qualities and interests. Everyone plays an important role in the family. When there is conflict between family members, it is solved in a positive and healthy manner. Family members also acknowledge each other’s achievements and show appreciation for other members.

A．Therefore, members do not feel they are on their own

B．Family members share everything they have with each other

C．Respect is an important characteristic of healthy family relationships

D．It provides members with the support and encouragement that they need

E．Family members tend to select activities that help the family to grow closer

F．It is important to keep in mind that each family member is a unique individual

G．Families with healthy relationships engage in positive and meaningful communication

10 . Since 1991, a ceremony presenting an award called Ig Nobel Prize would be held in September before the authentic Nobel Prize ceremony every year. It honors unusual scientific research. The standard is “make people laugh and then think”.

It’s not hard to understand the first half of the standard when seeing the award-winning research.

Medicine Prize

One study firstly looked at the pain of hearing chewing sounds seriously but not as complaints from picky people. This symptom was diagnosed as misophonia (恐音症). This study also paid attention to people who can’t stand the sounds of keyboard typing and heavy breathing.

Ornitholog Prize

One study was considerate enough to care about whether woodpeckers (啄木鸟) would have headache after they bang their heads against trees.

Apart from the research, the prize ceremony also has many aspects worth laughing.

Event   

The tradition of throwing paper airplanes to the stage.

Staff

Sweepers—responsible for cleaning the paper airplanes.

Human spotlights—responsible for lighting up speakers with a flashlight and their shining bodies.

Miss Sweetie Poo, an eight-year-old girl—responsible for stopping long speeches by saying “Please stop. I’m bored”.

But there are important research processes and findings behind the unusual topics. Apart from diagnosing misophonia, the research team also studied the treatment of it. The study on the woodpeckers’ heads was helpful to the prevention of head injury. One study found that playing an Australian instrument called didgeridoo could treat snoring (打鼾).

So Ig Nobel Prize is not an ignoble version of the Nobel Prize. The prize is very meaningful as it shows people science can be funny and down-to-earth.

1. What is sweepers’ duty on the ceremony?

A．Lighting up speakers.	B．Cleaning the paper airplanes.
C．Preventing long speeches.	D．Hosting the ceremony.

2. What does the underlined word “down-to-earth” in the last Paragraph probably mean?

A．Traditional.

B．Challenging.

C．Universal.

D．Practical.

3. What do we know about the Ig Nobel Prize?

A．It focuses on unusual topics.	B．It has a history of fifty years.
C．It is held annually in spring.	D．It offers grand prizes to winners.