1 . 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。

Shark fin soup,     1     is a famous and expensive dish in southern China, is endangering certain species of sharks and threatening the ocean’s ecosystem.

Sharks are     2     the top of the food chain and they are of great     3     (important)for the ocean’s ecosystem. However, around 70 million sharks     4     (kill)for the fin soup each year and the number of sharks has been falling during the last decades. If their number drops     5     (low)than the current level, life circle in the ocean will be     6     (serious)threatened.

Environmental protection     7     (group)around the world, such as WildAid, are trying to stop the fin soup. They have even asked governments     8     (pass)laws to ban the sale of shark fins. But     9     is not enough. We need to stop     10     (enjoy)the fin soup to save our sharks.

2 . Nunavut is a faraway polar area in Canada. Here_______ is so expensive that people regularly post photos in a Facebook group called Feeding My Family to _______ the prices at their local stores. Leesee Papatsie, founder of the Facebook group, says she has to _______ at least $500 a week to feed her family of five and that’s just for _______.

Because it costs a lot to fly food into the _______ area, there’s not much that can be done to reduce _______. That’s why “country foods”, such as polar bears, seals and whales, are _______.

Such _______ foods, which are often consumed raw, frozen or dried, are rich in the vitamins and nutrients people need to stay _______ in the hard conditions. The parts of the ________ that can’t be eaten, like the fur and skins, are used to create clothes and other products that hunters can sell to make a(n) ________.

People in Nunavut also hold community feasts to make sure no one goes ________. Hunters will share their ________and everyone enjoys the meal in each other’s company. This is especially ________ for families who may not have the equipment or skills to hunt.

Food sharing occurs on a smaller scale too, and is a(n) ________ part of life in Nunavut. Papatsie ________ how her parents would prepare large breakfasts every day and invite neighbors or community members over to ________.

“Eating together is one of the ________ that have kept us alive for thousands of years,” she says. “But the best way to ________ is to invest in programs that keep the traditions alive by teaching our ________ about hunting, harvesting and other arts and crafts and pass them on.”

1.

A．medicine

B．food

C．clothing

D．entertainment

2.

A．show

B．cut

C．set

D．learn

3.

A．donate

B．hide

C．spend

D．lend

4.

A．ingredients

B．salt

C．oil

D．basics

5.

A．remote

B．rich

C．wet

D．developed

6.

A．fat

B．wastes

C．prices

D．happiness

7.

A．ignored

B．preferred

C．banned

D．imported

8.

A．poisonous

B．expensive

C．processed

D．native

9.

A．healthy

B．excited

C．quiet

D．asleep

10.

A．vegetables

B．animals

C．plants

D．fruits

11.

A．announcement

B．hat

C．living

D．excuse

12.

A．satisfied

B．annoyed

C．cold

D．hungry

13.

A．house

B．money

C．catch

D．story

14.

A．significant

B．convenient

C．unfortunate

D．unkind

15.

A．sad

B．abnormal

C．ugly

D．regular

16.

A．wonders

B．remembers

C．knows

D．lies

17.

A．play

B．dance

C．share

D．chat

18.

A．dreams

B．memories

C．missions

D．customs

19.

A．settle down

B．move forward

C．break up

D．die out

20.

A．children

B．ancestors

C．teachers

D．parents

3 . Over the last 60 years, the size of farm machinery has been increasing. For example, from 1958 to 2020, the typical weight of a fully loaded combine harvester for corn or wheat increased nearly ten times.

In a way, it’s fantastic if you see how much we can harvest in a certain amount of time today and how long it would have taken us 60 years ago. Some wheat harvesters, for example, can clear 30 acres in an hour. That incredible efficiency enables about 5 percent of the world’s population to feed the other 95 percent.

But it is at the soil’s expense. One recent study reported that soil compaction (土壤板结) from heavy machines has reduced yields in some fields by as much as 50 percent. If current trends continue, it may eventually reduce global crop production by as much as 20 percent.

“Healthy soil is alive. A teaspoon of garden soil might hold a billion bacteria and networks of air pockets. Heavy farm machinery squeezes the life out of that rich soil by compacting it at depths of a foot or more, lowering oxygen levels and destroying the life that creates the basis for healthy soil. Once damaged, heavily compacted soil can take decades to recover, if it recovers at all.” says Paul Hallett, a soil physicist at the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland.

Farm machinery makers have tried to limit the impact on the soil by equipping heavy vehicles with fatter tires, which distribute the load more widely and keep the vehicles from sinking too deeply into the soil surface. “But if you have a heavier load, the stress decreases less quickly with depth.” says Paul Hallett. “It is a bit like the way tall chimneys on a power plant spread air pollution far downwind.”

1. What does the author think of the heavy farm vehicles?

A．They are environment-friendly.	B．They will go out of style very quickly.
C．They do much harm to the soil.	D．They can help increase crop production.

2. Which of the following is most unlikely caused by soil compaction?

A．Decreased crop production.	B．Soil with abundant air pockets.
C．Lack of bacteria in the fields.	D．Lower oxygen levels in the soil.

3. What does Paul Hallett want to show with the tall-chimney example?

A．It is a very good idea to spread air pollution downwind.

B．Vehicles with fatter tires will be less harmful to the soil.

C．Heavy farm machines with fatter tires just spread the stress.

D．More effective measures have to be adopted to cut pollution.

4. What message does the author seem to convey in the text?

A．We have to strike a balance between efficiency and damage.

B．It’s fantastic to use more and more advanced farm machinery.

C．It is high time that we let the damaged soil recover slowly.

D．We can’t produce enough food to feed the world’s population.

4 . Huge crowds are forming on Monday at the US Botanic Garden in Washington, DC. Usually, it’s a place to see flowers that look pretty, smell fantastic and bloom (开花) annually. But today, the so-called “corpse plants” on show are the opposite in all aspects.

Native to the rain forests of Sumatra, Indonesia, the corpse plants don’t bloom on a regular cycle -- the length of time between blooms ranges from a few years to a few decades and they are ugly and smelly.

“Last night it started out like a good French cheese, stinky but delightful. Then it moved on to a lazy boy’s socks. At last, it was junior high school gym followed by full-on rotten fish. Finally, it moved all the way to a rotting meat smell that was so thick and heavy that I experienced a sore throat, burning eyes and had a bitter taste in my mouth.” said John Clements, one of the garden employees,

“It smells bad to us, but it smells great to flies. It makes them think there’s rotten meat somewhere to lay their eggs, and that helps the corpse plant to get pollinated (授粉),” says Rob Raguso, a professor at Cornell University. “Since it takes a lot of energy for the plant to produce the smell, it puts it on reserve during the day, and will put it out in full strength from 9 pm to 3 am when the air is still and the smell can travel more easily.”

The smell comes from a number of chemicals that smell differently on their own, and that together draw flies to the plant’s cup-like flower. One of these, timethylamine, smells like rotting fish. Another, isovaleric acid, is responsible for the terrible smell of sweaty gym socks.

“It also heats up. The flower actually reaches human body temperature, making it all the more convincing to flesh-loving insects,”adds Rob Raguso.

1. What does John Clements mainly talk about?

A．Lazy boys’ socks.	B．Delightful French cheese.
C．The smell of a flower.	D．The taste of corpse plants.

2. When should visitors go to the US Botanic Garden to experience the strongest smell?

A．At noon

B．At dusk.

C．In the afternoon.

D．After midnight.

3. Why does the temperature of corpse plants’ flowers go up?

A．To reserve energy.	B．To attract pollinators.
C．To heat the environment	D．To send the smell further.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．What Makes Corpse Plants Smell So Bad?

B．How Do Corpse Plants Appeal to Insects?

C．When Do Corpse Plants Bloom in Full Strength?

D．Why Can Flies Find Corpse Plants in the Darkness?

5 . Zhou Youguang was the inventor of Pinyin, a spelling system that converts (转化) Chinese characters into words with the Roman alphabet. The system, adopted by China in 1958, gives readers an important tool to pronounce the Chinese characters that they are unfamiliar with.

While it is not the first system to Romanize Chinese, Pinyin has become the most widely accepted tool to teach a language that has disparate dialects in different parts of China.

Beyond China’s borders. Pinyin allows the standardization of Chinese names. For instance, it’s a big reason why the name Westerners commonly use for the Chinese capital has shifted from “Peking” to “Beijing”. And it’s why many other such names have changed dramatically along with it.

And yet Zhou, the man behind one of the most important innovations in the 20th century, said he was unwilling to take on the task in the mid-1950s. At the time, he was an economist and only recently returned to China.

“I said I was an amateur and that I couldn’t do the job,” he told the BBC in 2012, laughing. “But they said, ‘It’s a new job. Everybody is an amateur.’ Everybody urged me to change professions. So I did. In 1955, I abandoned economics and started studying writing systems.”

The committee led by Zhou spent three years working on its alphabetic system. “Some people made fun of us, joking that it had taken us a long time to deal with just 26 letters,” he said in the interview.

Others took the committee’s invention very seriously, however. The Chinese government immediately introduced Pinyin in schools. The international community eventually adopted it as the standard Romanization for Chinese writing, as well, with the United Nations doing so in 1986.

Before the invention of Pinyin, 85% of Chinese people could not read. Now, about 95% can read. Pinyin has also played a vital role in determining the ways mobile phones and computers recognize Chinese characters.

1. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “disparate” in paragraph 2?

A．Different.

B．Ugly.

C．Standard.

D．Understandable.

2. What did Mr. Zhou probably study in university?

A．English.

B．Chinese.

C．Computer.

D．Economics.

3. What can be learned about Pinyin?

A．It has twenty-six spelling rules.	B．It was introduced in schools in 1955.
C．The United Nations adopted it in 1986.	D．It is the first attempt to Romanize Chinese.

4. Which paragraph mainly focuses on the significance of Pinyin?

A．Paragraph 5.

B．Paragraph 6.

C．Paragraph 7.

D．Paragraph 8.

6 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What do we know about the “ikumen” course?

A．It’s for new mothers.

B．All the participants are men.

C．It’s organized by the government.

2. What is taught in the course?

A．Cooking for kids.

B．Designing clothes.

C．Getting a baby dressed.

3. What is the main purpose of the course?

A．To help participants find a partner.

B．To prepare kids for future challenges.

C．To introduce a scientific parenting way.

4. What’s Mr. Masaya Kurita’s problem?

A．He doesn’t have an aim in life.

B．He is too shy to talk with others.

C．He tends to cover up his weaknesses.

7 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Where is AmLion College?

A．In New York.

B．In Leon.

C．In Chicago.

2. What is the woman concerned about most?

A．The tuition fee.

B．The employment rate.

C．The accommodation.

3. How much does the dormitory cost per month?

A．$300.

B．$500.

C．$600.

4. What will the woman do?

A．Pay the fees.

B．Think twice.

C．Look for a better college.

8 . Why does the man stay outside the house?

A．He’s leaving for the lab.

B．He didn’t bring the key.

C．He wants some fresh air.

9 . Over the past century, science has made lots of advances in understanding the meanings of body language. Here are some of the most useful findings.

Open palm(手掌)

Have you noticed how someone swears to tell the truth in a court of law? He usually puts one hand on a religious book and raises the other hand into the air, palm facing whoever he is speaking to. He does this because an open palm has been associated with truth and honesty throughout our history.     1     . So we cannot be a threat to anyone.

Finger pointing

If someone is closing their palm and pointing with their index finger, then he is trying to display power, though it doesn’t always work out. Psychologists say, the pointed finger is used like a symbolic stick with which the speaker tries to beat his listeners.     2     .

Forced smile

Researchers say, smile is all about the lines around the eyes.     3     . If he is trying to force a smile, you won’t see the lines and the facial expression tends to be very awkward. Making a genuine smile-also known as a Duchenne smile-is nearly impossible to do on command. So look for a lack of lines around the eyes to detect a forced smile.

    4    

In the same way that real smiles shape the lines around the eyes, worry, shock or fear can cause people to raise their eyebrows in discomfort. So if someone praises your new hairstyle or clothes with his eyebrows raised, he or she may not be sincere.

Crossed arms

    5     While crossed arms typically indicate that someone is closed off, people are also more likely to cross their arms when it’s cold and when their chair doesn’t have an armrest. Be aware of the environment before making a decision or changing strategy based on these types of behaviors.

A．Lowered eyebrows

B．Raised eyebrows

C．When he is just pretending to smile, they don’t

D．We also use this gesture to show that our hands are empty

E．When someone is smiling joyfully, a lot of lines will appear

F．Therefore, it usually leads to negative feelings in the audience

G．It’s easy to detect body-language signs, but it’s important to be aware of the context

10 . We did a quick survey of New Year traditions around the world, and couldn’t help but notice that the traditions might reflect cultural varieties? but the meanings behind them are pretty universal.

Philippines

In Philippines? families hold traditional dinner parties called Media Noche to greet the New Year. Circle-shaped fruits are their favorites, such as grapes, oranges and melons, since they look like coins, you know. Filipinos actually try to choose 12 different kinds of fruit to put on the table—one for each month in the New Year.

Make sure you leave some food in your plate. It’s bad luck to start the New Year off as a hungry wolf.

Spain

Many Spaniards will eat 12 fresh grapes at midnight—one with each strike of the clock. Each grape represents a wish for happiness and good luck for every month in the coming year. This “12 grapes in 12 seconds“ custom came from a grape farmer in the Alicante region who wanted to promote his produce about a century ago. The tradition has spread to other countries too? with a few adjustments. In Portugal? they eat 12 dried grapes. In Peru? they eat a thirteenth grape.

Denmark

In Denmark_? they eat kransekage, a big horn-shaped cake, on New Year’s Eve. When they’re finished with the cake, it’s Danish custom to throw the used plates against the front doors of their friends and neighbors. It’s actually a sign of friendship.

Italy

Pork sausages are usually served on New Year’s Eve in Italy. Italians choose pork because they think pigs are fat and keep moving forward, while other animals, such as chickens or cows, move backward or stand still.

But whatever you eat into the New Year in Italy-pork, fish or chicken-make sure you stay at home. Italians throw old possessions out of the window after midnight as an out-with-the-old, make-room-for-the-new gesture.

1. How many kinds of fruit are usually served at Media Noche?

A．6.

B．8.

C．10.

D．12.

2. Who eat dried grapes at midnight to greet the New Year?

A．The Portuguese.

B．Spaniards.

C．Filipinos.

D．Italians.

3. What do the last two traditions have in common?

A．Eating special meat.

B．Throwing away old things.

C．Leaving food in plates.

D．Preferring coin-shaped fruits.