2 . In January when wildfires came within a kilometer of her home, Jessica Miles found herself reflecting on the bravery of firefighters in the Port Macquarie area.

Jessica said the tires had been frightening. “There were helicopters (直升机) flying around our house and smoke everywhere,” she said. Over a family dinner, the 12-year-old girl raised the idea of building a sculpture to honor the men and women on the wildfire front line and was greeted with support.

With artwork from the Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail on their doorstep, Jessica’s mother suggested she contact the organizers of the trail with her idea. In a message to Hello Koalas through a Facebook post. Jessica wrote: “I’ve recently thought of an idea as Australia has been facing disaster lately... The firefighters have risked their life and time to protect us. In recognition of their bravery, I wanted so share an idea I had about making a koala (考拉) in honor of the firefighters and to spread hope to Australia.”

Hello Koalas director Margret Meagher said while she had thought about creating a sculpture to honor Australia’s selfless and heroic firefighters in the past, Jessica’s message made her more determined than ever to make it happen. Having been involved in the Rural Fire Service (RFS), Ms. Meacher was also personally touched by summer’s wildfires: “So I really wanted to celebrate the local men and women who fought bravely to protect our community and to recognize all firefighters in Australia.” Ms. Meagher said.

Jessica, who is passionate about the environment and animals said she had been excited to receive such a positive response to her idea including her suggestion “it could have the RFS badge (章) painted on the koala or it could have a fireman’s jacket.” The new sculpture, Frankie Firefighter, created by artist Kim Staples, was unveiled (揭幕) this week and features both Jessica’s ideas.

1. What did Jessica’s mother advise her to do?

A．Send greetings to firefighters.	B．Put her artwork on their doorstep.
C．Build a sculpture to honor firefighters.	D．Seek help from Hello Koalas to apply her idea.

2. What finally drove Ms. Meagher to create a firefighter sculpture?

A．Firefighters heroic stories.	B．Her involvement in RFS.
C．Jessica’s Facebook post.	D．Her own past thoughts.

3. What do we know about the sculpture Frankie Firefighter?

A．It wears a badge donated by a fireman.	B．It draws inspiration from Kim Staples.
C．It is contrary to Jessica’s expectations.	D．It is a koala in a fireman’s jacket.

4 . More than 30 year and S10 billion later, the James Webb Space Telescope finally left Earth. The observatory was lifted skyward by an Ariane rocket from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. Is flight to orbit lasted just under half an hour, with a signal confirming a successful outcome picked p by a ground antenna(天线)at Malindi in Kenya.

Webb, named after one of the architects of the Apollo Moon landings, is the successor to the Hubble telescope. Engineers working with the US, European and Canadian space agencies have built the new observatory to be 100 times more powerful.

Webb’s launch is only the start of what will be a complex series of initial activities over the next six months. The telescope is being put on a path to an observing station some 1.5 million km beyond the Earth. In the course of travelling to this location, webb will have to unpack itself from the folded shape it adopted at launch.

This won’t be easy, said NASA administrator Bill Nelson: “We have to realize there are still countless things that have to work and they have to work perfectly. But we know that in great reward, there is great risk. And that’s what this business is all about. And that’s why we dare to explore.”

At the core of the new facility’s capabilities is its 6.5 m-wide golden mirror. This is almost three times wider than the primary reflector on Hubble. The enlarged optics(光学器件), combined with   four super-sensitive instruments, should enable astronomers to look deeper into space—and thus further back in time—than ever before.

A key target of Webb will be the pioneer stars that ended the darkness theorized to have dominated the whole universe shortly after the Big Bang more than 13.5 billion years ago. It was the nuclear reactions in these objects that would have created the first heavy atoms(原子)essential for life. Another goal for Webb will be to explore the atmospheres of distant planets. This will help researchers work out whether these worlds are in any way habitable.

1. What can we learn about the new space telescope?

A．An antenna helped it go into orbit.

B．It was named after a landscape architect.

C．It is a project of international cooperation.

D．It has reached its observing station.

2. What is Bill’s attitude towards the project?

A．Disapproving.	B．Supportive
C．Fearful.	D．Uncertain.

3. Why can Webb look further back in time than Hubble?

A．It is fitted with a more powerful engine.

B．It is capable of changing shapes.

C．It has a primary reflector.

D．It has a much bigger mirror

4. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．Suggestions for astronomers.	B．Origins of the universe.
C．Webb’s limitations	D．Webb’s functions.

5 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出 提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

A new study shows rapid decline in insect populations. A growing number of the Earth’s insect population now can     1     (see) only in collections on exhibitions. Nobody’s seen those for 400 years. A new review of over 70 studies of insect populations     2       (suggest) that human pressures are causing insect populations to decrease by as much as a quarter every decade. The loss of species is inevitable (不可避免的) because often we don’t know     3     those species are doing or how other species are depending on them.

9 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Pandas     1     (live) in China for over three million years. A giant panda has a typical bear’s body but is a distinctive black and white color, with black fur around the eyes and on the cars, legs, chest and shoulders, while the rest of the body is white. Giant pandas are the     2     (nation) treasure of China. A panda’s daily diet consists almost     3     (entire) of bamboo. Sometimes, however, they do not just eat bamboo. Only about 1% of their diet consists of other plants and even meat such as small rodents (啮齿动物).