1 . The scent of hot bread drifting from the shops along the Street of Flour was sweeter than any perfume Arya had ever smelled. She took a deep breath and stepped closer to the pigeon. It was a plump one, speckled brown, busily pecking at a crust that had fallen between two cobblestones, but when Arya’s shadow touched it, it took to the air.
Her stick sword whistled out and caught it two feet off the ground, and it went down in a flurry of brown feathers. She was on it in the blink of an eye, grabbing a wing as the pigeon flapped and fluttered. It pecked at her hand. She grabbed its neck and twisted until she felt the bone snap.
Compared with catching cats, pigeons were easy.
She tied the pigeon to her belt and started down the street. A man was pushing a load of tarts by on a two-wheeled cart; the smells sang of blueberries and lemons and apricots. Her stomach made a hollow rumbly noise. “Could I have one?” she heard herself say. “A lemon, or…or any kind.”
The pushcart man looked her up and down. Plainly he did not like what he saw. “Three coppers.”
Arya tapped her wooden sword against the side of her boot. “I’ll trade you a fat pigeon,” she said.
“The Others take your pigeon,” the pushcart man said.
The tarts were still warm from the oven. The smells were making her mouth water, but she did not have three coppers... or one. She gave the pushcart man a look, remembering what Syrio had told her about seeing. He was short, with a little round belly, and when he moved he seemed favor his left leg a little. She was just thinking that if she snatched a tart and ran he would never be able to catch her when he said, “You be keeping your filthy hands off. The gold cloaks know how to deal with thieving little gutter rats, that they do.”
Arya glanced warily behind her. Two of the City Watch were standing at the mouth of an alley. Their cloaks hung almost to the ground, the heavy wool dyed a rich gold; their mail and boots and gloves were black. One wore a long sword at his hip, the other an iron cudgel. With a last wistful glance at the tarts, Arya edged back from the cart and hurried off. The gold cloaks had not been paying her any special attention, but the sight of them tied her stomach in knots. Arya had been staying as far from the castle as she could get, yet even from a distance she could see the heads rotting atop the high red walls. Flocks of crows squabbled noisily over each head, thick as flies. The talk in Flea Bottom was that the gold cloaks had associated themselves with the Lannisters, their commander raised to a lord, with lands on the Trident and a seat on the king’s council.
1. The story is set in a place where ______.| A．people raised pigeons | B．only privileged people lived |
| C．people sold and bought food | D．the watchmen received training |
| A．metaphor | B．overstatement |
| C．personification (拟人) | D．rhetoric rhyme |
| A．Remembering people’s appearance so that you can recognize them. |
| B．Perceiving people’s intention so that you can properly talk to them. |
| C．Understanding people’s living conditions so that you can help them. |
| D．Knowing people’ strengths and weaknesses so that you can beat them |
| A．Arya was more hunger than terrified in the story. |
| B．The Lannisters was a big enemy of the gold cloaks. |
| C．The atmosphere of the castle was agreeable and welcome. |
| D．The authority treated the executed people’s dead bodies in a cruel way. |
2 . Species (物种) can actually go extinct (灭绝的) more than once. In a biological sense, species become extinct when the last animal of a species stops breathing. But when the species disappears from our shared memory and cultural knowledge, it becomes extinct in a different way — society (与社会有关的) extinction.
The researchers looked at dozens of previous studies to look into how societal extinction happens, finding out contributing factors such as symbolic or cultural importance, how long ago a species was last alive, and how much of a connection it had to humans.
Societal extinction usually but not always happens after biological extinction. Sometimes, both extinctions can happen at the same time, depending on how well and widely known a particular species is.
Most species — such as those far removed from culture, or those too small to be noticed except through a microscope (显微镜) — never have a societal presence to begin with. Meanwhile, for other species, the societal presence can break with reality after a biological extinction.
“Species can remain widely known after they become extinct, or even become more popular,” says conservation biologist Uri Roll. “However, our awareness and memory of such species gradually becomes transformed, and often becomes incorrect, or disassociated from the actual species.”
Take the Spix’s macaw(金刚鹦鹉) for example, currently extinct in the wild: A 2013 conservation report from Brazil surveyed 242 children from the bird’s former habitat, and almost all of them incorrectly believed the species originated from Rio de Janeiro, because of its appearance in the 2011 cartoon movie Rio.
Finally, the researchers found various links between societal extinction and a lack of support for biodiversity protection. So, ifs important to keep the memories and the records of extinct species in order to realize what’s been lost.
1. When does a species most probably become societal extinct?| A．When it has difficulty in breathing. |
| B．When it faces some biological changes. |
| C．When it disappears unexpectedly in nature. |
| D．When it no longer exists in our memory and culture. |
| A．Relationship with humans. | B．Average length of life. |
| C．Biological importance. | D．Shape of the body. |
| A．They are not big enough to be seen. |
| B．They are closely linked to a specific culture. |
| C．They are in the process of societal extinction. |
| D．They are cleared away from scientific studies. |
| A．To draw a conclusion. | B．To prove an opinion. |
| C．To introduce a topic. | D．To make a prediction. |
3 . National Parks, Wyoming
A bike tour is a great way to access busy national parks. This six-day trip is a big loop out of Jackson 5s Rustic Inn Creekside Resort and Spa, with stops along the way to check out hot springs, moose (驼鹿) and the grizzly bear. Available June to September 2022; $3,095, vbt.com
Death Valley, California
This three-day trip starts with a meet and greet in Las Vegas before exploring a ghost town, on foot. Then the biking starts through the desert, heading to a hotel in time to catch a Death Valley sunset. The next day ifs a nearly 50-mile ride to the edge of a crater (火山口). Available October 2021 through December 2022; $1,649, rei.com
Finger Lakes, New York
This 121-mile bike tour snakes its way around Canandaigua lakes and rolling hills over five days. It starts with a wine tasting, then lunch and a ride through farmland. With only about 30 miles a day of riding, there’s plenty of time to try local wines and have a spa. Available June to July 2022;$5,499, trek travel. com
Florida Keys
Unless you book a custom trip, tours that include teens and kids can be difficult to find. Keep younger travelers engaged by mixing bike rides with other activities, like kayaking (独木舟), snorkeling, hiking and stand-up paddle boarding. This five-day trip heads south from Miami, through the Everglades National Park, and out to Key West. Along the way kids can learn to fish like the locals while parents can relax in excellent accommodations. Available December 2021 and December 2022;from $3,999, backroads. com
1. Which tour is the most suitable for families?| A．National Parks, Wyoming | B．Death Valley, California |
| C．Finger Lakes, New York | D．Florida Keys |
| A．Learning to fish. | B．Seeing wild animals. |
| C．Appreciating the sunset. | D．Trying local wines. |
| A．Seeing the world from a bike seat. | B．Having a taste of farm life. |
| C．Exploring local food on a bike trip. | D．Getting the most out of national parks. |
4 . The green and red watermelon is a sweet, refreshing summer snack. But it wasn’t always so sugary or brightly colored. So what did watermelons originally taste and look like, and from where did they come?
The fruit isn’t from the Fertile Crescent of ancient Mesopotamia, as so many other domesticated (家养的) crops are, research shows. Susanne Renner, a scientist, and her colleagues carried out comprehensive genetic sequencing (基因测序) of the domesticated watermelons — the kind you might find on supermarket shelves — along with six wild watermelon species.
“We found the modern genomes (基因组) of the domesticated watermelon are more closely related to the Sudanese wild type than any other that we analyzed,” she said. The Sudanese wild watermelon has some obvious differences from the domesticated version. “The flesh is white and not very sweet, and it’s mainly used as animal feed,” Renner said. Nevertheless, the genetic similarity between the two species led the researchers to conclude that the Sudanese fruit is probably a precursor (前身) to the red and sweet domesticated watermelon.
It’s likely that ancient farmers grew non-bitter varieties of the wild watermelon and thus increased its sweetness over many generations through the domestication process. The red color is probably also thanks to artificial selection, in which farmers likely favored and selectively bred red fruit.
We already knew that the ancient Egyptian king Tutankhamun was buried with watermelon seeds 3,300 years ago, yet that isn’t sufficient proof of a domesticated, sweet watermelon. But then, Renner found an image of a watermelon-like fruit on an ancient Egyptian tomb painting, thought to be more than 4,300 years old. In a separate tomb, another image showed the watermelon cut up in a dish alongside other sweet fruits. This realization, coupled with Renner’s genetic findings, suggests that the watermelon was most likely domesticated around that time either in Egypt or within trading distance of the ancient empire.
“Historically speaking, that’s a very significant finding,” said Hanno Schaefer, a professor of plant biodiversity. “It’s becoming clearer that we’ve greatly neglected the North African region. We’ve focused too much on the Fertile Crescent and we need to invest more resources into studying the agriculture of North Africa.”
1. What can we learn about the Sudanese wild watermelon?| A．It is brightly colored and sugary. |
| B．It is consumed mainly by animals. |
| C．It has no connection with the domesticated type. |
| D．It has more differences than similarities to the domesticated type. |
| A．More resources will be devoted to agriculture research in South Africa. |
| B．The domesticated watermelon has a history of at least four thousand years. |
| C．The domesticated watermelon probably developed from the Sudanese type. |
| D．Few domesticated crops are from the Fertile Crescent of ancient Mesopotamia. |
| A．The history of the Sudanese wild watermelon. |
| B．Where wild watermelons actually come from. |
| C．The characteristics of domesticated watermelons. |
| D．How domesticated watermelons came into being. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Doubtful. | C．Critical. | D．Tolerant. |
40,000 people cross Tower Bridge each day. Now you can see inside it.
Glass Floor
The Glass Floor measures 11 metres long and 1.8 metres wide, including panels (嵌板) weighing 530 kilograms each. It is no wonder the installation (安装) took a 20-strong team to complete it!
See London life through the Glass Floor, from a unique viewpoint 42 metres above the River Thames, and 33.5 metres above road level. Watch the hustle and bustle (熙熙攘攘) of the city right beneath your feet.
Engine Rooms
Immerse (沉浸) yourself in this atmospheric space, where exciting interactivities, films and photographs will explore and explain the role of this workplace at the heart of Tower Bridge.
Family Activities
Our family activities are FREE with entry and are offered throughout the day. Drop in and join in on the flu. It is open to children of all ages but is particularly appropriate for those aged 6 to 10.
Relaxed Opening
Once a month on a Saturday. We host Relaxed Opening for anyone who would like to explore the Bridge in a atmosphere, including people with autism (自闭症) and any other needs.
Time: 10:30, 10:50 and 11:10. Please note that Tower Bridge will open to the general public again at 11:30 but you are welcome to stay for as long as you like.
Tickets & Prices
| Ticket type | Price |
| Adult | £10.60 |
| Child (aged 5-15) | £5.30 |
| Senior (aged 60+ with ID) | £7.90 |
| Disabled child (aged 5 — 15) | £4.00 |
| Under 5s | Under 5s |
Open daily from 9:30 to 18:00.
1. What is the distance between the Glass Floor and the River Thames?| A．11 metres. | B．20 metres. | C．33.5 metres. | D．42 metres. |
| A．Exploring the bridge until 7 p.m. | B．Seeing films about the bridge’s history. |
| C．Enjoying family activities free of charge. | D．Experiencing a quieter bridge on Sundays. |
| A．£18.50. | B．£15.90. | C．£14.60. | D．£13.20. |
6 . Inakadate, a Japanese village of around 7, 000 people, is considered the home of a rice field art form. In the early 1990s, local authorities realized that youths were moving to big urban centers in large numbers, and started brainstorming for ways of breathing new life into the village. One of the proposed ideas was an art form inspired by the local’s traditional rice planting, done by hand for hundreds of years. Called Tanbo Art, it involved the use of different rice varieties to turn local rice fields into giant canvases (画布).
The first rice field artwork was displayed in 1993, when purple and yellow rice plants were used to create a detailed picture of Mt. Iwaki. The project was such a huge success that Inakadate authorities decided to turn it into a yearly event. Nowadays, a viewing platform is often set up somewhere above the rice field, from which people can admire the unique artwork.
To create the impressively massive field artworks, the locals use a technique unique to Japan, which involves surveying the rice fields, perspective drawing, and the planting of various types of rice plants to create the desired visual effect. Tanbo Art has come a long way in the last three decades, with designs gradually becoming larger and more complex.
Some of the most elaborate (精心制作的) rice field artworks created in Inakadate have required the use of no less than 10 rice plants in color. The process starts in the spring months, and by early summer, the fruits of this labor become clearly visible. July and August are the best months to visit this famous Japanese village.
There are many locals who say that rice field art has saved Inakadate, bringing in impressive numbers of tourists from all over the world every year, and boosting the local economy. The success of Inakadate inspired other rice cultivating communities to borrow the Tanbo Art concept, and today you can find this sort of impressive rice field artworks all across Japan.
1. The rice field art was originally built to ______.| A．promote its traditional rice planting | B．turn local rice fields into giant canvases |
| C．promote the tourist industry of the village | D．make the village more lively and energetic |
| A．farming | B．population | C．tourist industry | D．rice consumption |
| A．early spring is the best months to visit Inakadate |
| B．many countries also follow the example of Inakadate |
| C．a viewing platform can help tourists enjoy the rice field artworks |
| D．no less than 10 rice plants were used to create the first rice field artwork |
| A．Travel. | B．Economy. | C．Technology. | D．Local news. |
7 . Shrinkflation has made British shoppers unhappy. For years, producers have quietly shrunk product sizes rather than rise prices. A multipack(合装包)of Fazzles, used to cost £1 ($1.36) and contain eight bags. Now it contains six. Cadbury’s Creme Eggs used to come by the half-dozen; now they come in fives. Quality Street, a chocolate box, weighed 1.2kg in 2009; today, just 650g.
The logic of Shrinkflation is that consumers are less likely to notice it than its alternative: higher prices. For years, the government has worked on the same principle. Taxpayers paid roughly the same, but government services became worse. Now an era of price increases in the form of tax rises has begun. In a nasty combination of inflation and shrinkflation, voters will be expected to pay more for less.
It will be an awkward shift. Since coming to power in 2010, the Conservatives (保守党) have used shrinkflation just as retailers do. In the early austerity (财政紧缩) years, the government shrank (收缩，减少), but its cost did not. As a percentage of GDP, it fell from a peak after the financial crisis of 46% of GDP to 39%. Taxes stayed around their historic norm of about 32% of GDP. But citizens received fewer services.
And, as when shoppers fail to notice the missing packet of Frazzles, voters did not care much at first. Weekly bin collections became fortnightly or monthly. Once-generous legal aid became mean; in-work benefits fell; police solved fewer crimes. But eventually voters and shoppers start to feel confused. Was a box of Quality Street always so small? Were the police always so used to fraud (诈骗)? Moreover, shrinkflation cannot continue forever. Just as people will not buy an empty packet of Frazzles, taxpayers will not pay for government services that are not provided at all. Eventually prices must rise — as the Conservatives are discovering. By 2026 the tax burden will be 36% of GDP, the highest since the post-war era, under Clement Atlee. This will cause several problems such as one of expectations. Atlee’s government promised a new Jerusalem (耶路撒冷): voters accepted higher taxes in return for a welfare(福利)state. Similarly, when New Labour governments raised taxes in the 2000s, they provided more in return. They increased national insurance, in order to bring heath care spending in line with other European countries. Schools were rebuilt and repaired; civic art, though sometimes of questionable quality, appeared in town squares.
Unfortunately, this time higher spending will at best stop things getting worse. Sajid Javi, the health secretary, admits that the health-and social-care systems will struggle even after a 2.5 percentage-point rise in national insurance,
“Is that all we get for £12bn” asked the Daily Mail, a newspaper that lends to see eye-to-eye with the Conservatives, when the plan to cut hospital waiting-lists was announced. British voters are often said to want American taxes and a European welfare government. Instead, they face paying European taxes for services as insufficient as those in American.
1. Shrinkflation refers to the process of items ______.| A．shrinking in size or quantity while their prices remain the same |
| B．shrinking in size or quantity while their prices become higher |
| C．expanding in sire or quantity while their prices remain the same |
| D．expanding in size or quantity while their prices become lower |
| A．Consumers will pay higher taxes for government services. |
| B．Consumers are more sensitive to price increases in products. |
| C．Consumers can hardly notice the changes in government services. |
| D．Consumers are unwilling to pay for government services. |
| A．Critical. | B．Unconcerned. | C．Supportive. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Both inflation and shrinkflation exist in Britain. |
| B．The Americans pay high taxes for poor services. |
| C．The British government will be costlier with fewer services. |
| D．The Daily Mail is in favor of the current economic policy. |
8 . A lot of health care are connected with being around trees.
They also do a great deal of good for the environment by reducing air pollution and taking in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
A tree’s ability to take in carbon dioxide is especially useful when the tree.is in cities or towns, where there are too many industrial activities. For the study, the researchers used laser scanning methods to take their own carbon readings of trees from the ground as well as the air.
They determined that Camden had a median carton density (浓度) of around 55 tons of carbon per hectare (t/ha). Greener areas of the borough, like Highgate Cemetery, had a carbon density of 380 t/ha — levels that are typically seen in rainforests.
So what exactly does this mean? Trees could help cool the atmosphere by removing carbon dioxide from the air. However, some climate scientists argue that it’s more complicated (复杂的) than that.
| A．We need to protect the ones we already have. |
| B．Global warming is happening at a faster rate than ever. |
| C．These benefits aren’t just felt in the countryside, either. |
| D．For comparison, major cities in the US have a carbon density of 7.7. |
| E．They have been known to reduce people’s stress and improve overall mental health. |
| F．Then they compared their findings with the data from the UK Environment Agency. |
| G．They think the impact of tree-planting activities today may not be seen for many years. |
9 . After a month of fires that gave off record-breaking amounts of polluting gas, smoke from Siberian wildfires is now making its way to the west coast of the United States.
The New York Times’ Somini Sengupta reports that Arctic wildfires in June 2020 caused more pollution than the data (数据) that had been collected in the previous 18 years. Seasonal wildfires are common in Siberia, but this year’s fires are unusually widespread in part because of a climate change-driven heatwave. The Arctic is experiencing climate change-driven warming faster than the rest of the earth, which sets up the dry conditions that make fires spread.
“I was surprised to see a fire burning 10 kilometers south of a bay of the Laptev Sea, which is like, the sea ice factory of the world,” said fire researcher Jessica McCarty from Miami University in Ohio. “When I went into fire science as an undergraduate student, if someone had told me I’d be studying fire regimes (管强体制) in Greenland and the Arctic, I would have laughed at them.”
This June’s Arctic fires beat the pollution record set in 2019, said Mark Parrington, who works with the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service tracking worldwide wildfires. Some of the fires may have spent the winter months smoldering (闷燃) only to grow again in warmer weather. And the weather has certainly gotten warmer. In June, a Russian town above the Arctic circle called Verkhoyansk hit a high temperature of 100,4 degrees Fahrenheit.
The current situation in the Arctic circle shows that previous predictions (预测) “underestimate what is going on in reality,” earth scientist Vladmir Romanovsky sold. He added that temperature observation in the High Arctic made in the last 15 years weren’t expected for another seventy years.
Millions of acres of land are on fire this wildfire season. Most of the wildfires are located in Siberia’s Sakha Republic, which sees wildfires frequently, but fires are also spreading further north and into unusual ecosystems, like those that are characterized by permafrost (永冻土).
1. What made 2020 Arctic wildfires extremely widespread?| A．The warmer climate. | B．Stronger seasonal winds. |
| C．More fires caused by humans. | D．Humans’ poorer control of them. |
| A．She used to laugh at those who studied the Arctic. |
| B．She had decided to be a firefighter in Greenland. |
| C．She used to think fires rarely happened in the Arctic. |
| D．She had shown little interest in studying fire science. |
| A．The Arctic fires may go out in winter. |
| B．2020 Arctic fires may be related to those in 2019. |
| C．The pollution record in the Arctic is broken each year. |
| D．2020 Arctic fires affected temperatures across Russia. |
| A．Refer to. | B．Focus on. | C．Judge incorrectly | D．Ignore completely. |
10 . As a marine ecologist (海洋生态学家), Charlotte Young can often see unforgettable sights. But nothing has touched her quite like an experience she had while she was doing wildlife research with her partner, George Chislett. The British couple was searching for turtle hatchlings (刚孵化的小海龟) on a beach in Oman when they came across a creature who really needed their help.
Hopelessly stuck in n rocky crevice (裂缝) was a large green sea turtle. The turtle had been on her way back to the water after laying eggs when she fell between the rocks. While she tried to escape, her efforts only made her get more deeply stuck in the crevice. Without help, she would have died, but instead she fell into the perfect pair’s hands.
But freeing her was no easy task Green sea turtles can weigh up to 350 pounds, which meant Charlotte wasn’t strong enough to lift her out. Even with George’s help, she wasn’t able to move the helpless creature. They fruitlessly pushed and pulled for some time before realizing they would have to try something else. Meanwhile, the poor turtle was experiencing more and more anguish.
That’s when they had a bright idea. They saw a piece of wood nearby and wondered if it would make good leverage (杠杆作用). It did! With the board wedged (楔入) under the turtle, they finally began making progress. Using all their remaining strength, Charlotte and George lifted her up and out of her prison!
“We did it!” Charlotte cried as she and George celebrated with a high five.
Thank goodness Charlotte and George were in the right place at the right time — and had the determination and creativity needed to save the turtle.
1. What do we know about Charlotte Young?| A．She married a marine ecologist. | B．She was doing research on turtles. |
| C．She met the turtle on her way to work. | D．She went to the beach to save animals. |
| A．She was trapped between rocks. | B．She laid her eggs in n rocky crevice. |
| C．She was too tired to go back to ye sea. | D．She almost escaped when she saw the couple |
| A．Fear. | B．Stress. | C．Suffering. | D．Confusion. |
| A．An amazing rescue. | B．An impossible task. |
| C．An exciting adventure. | D．An unexpected discovery. |
