1 . If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars, we would go in darkness happily, the midnight world as visible to us as it is to the vast number of nocturnal (夜间活动的) species on this planet. Instead, we are diurnal creatures, with eyes adapted to living in the sun’s light. This is a basic evolutionary fact, even though most of us don’t think of ourselves as diurnal beings. Yet it’s the only way to explain what we’ve done to the night: We’ve engineered it to receive us by filling it with light.

The benefits of this kind of engineering come with consequence called light pollution whose effects scientists are only now beginning to study. Light pollution is largely the result of bad lighting design, which allows artificial light to shine outward and upward into the sky. Ill-designed lighting washes out the darkness of night and completely changes the light levels and light rhythms to which many forms of life, including ourselves, have adapted. Wherever human light spills into the natural world, some aspect of life is affected.

In most cities the sky looks as though it has been emptied of stars, leaving behind a vacant haze (霾) that mirrors our fear of the dark. We’ve grown so used to this orange haze that the original glory of an unlit night—dark enough for the planet Venus to throw shadow on Earth—is wholly beyond our experience, beyond memory almost.

We’ve lit up the night as if it were an unoccupied country, when nothing could be further from the truth. Among mammals alone, the number of nocturnal species is astonishing. Light is a powerful biological force, and on many species it acts as a magnet. The effect is so powerful that scientists speak of songbirds and seabirds being “captured” by searchlights on land or by the light from gas flares on marine oil platforms. Migrating at night, birds tend to collide with brightly lit tall buildings.

Frogs living near brightly lit highways suffer nocturnal light levels that are as much as a million times brighter than normal, throwing nearly every aspect of their behavior out of joint, including their nighttime breeding choruses. Humans are no less trapped by light pollution than the frogs. Like most other creatures, we do need darkness. Darkness is as essential to our biological welfare, to our internal clockwork, as light itself.

Living in a glare of our making, we have cut ourselves off from our evolutionary and cultural heritage—the light of the stars and the rhythms of day and night. In a very real sense light pollution causes us to lose sight of our true place in the universe, to forget the scale of our being, which is best measured against the dimensions of a deep night with the Milky Way—the edge of our galaxy—arching overhead.

1. According to the passage, human being ________.

A．are used to living in the daylight	B．prefer to live in the darkness
C．were curious about the midnight world	D．had to stay at home with the light of the moon

2. The writer mentions birds and frogs to ________.

A．show how light pollution affects animals

B．provide examples of animal protection

C．compare the living habits of both species

D．explain why the number of certain species has declined

3. It is implied in the passage that ________.

A．human beings are curious about the outer space

B．human beings should reflect on their position in the universe

C．light pollution does harm to the eyesight of animals

D．light pollution has destroyed some of the world heritages

4. What might be the best title for the passage?

A．The Magic Light	B．The Orange Haze
C．The Disappearing Night	D．The Rhythms of Nature

3 . Growing Roots

When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t _______ lives, he was planting trees.

The good doctor had some interesting theories on planting trees. He believed in “No pains, no gains”. He never _______ his new trees, which was _______ many people. Once I asked why. He answered that watering plants spoiled them, and that if you water them, each following tree generation will grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things _______ for them. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of water. I came to understand that he meant deep roots were to be _______. I planted a couple of trees a few years back and I took good care of them. Two years of _______ has resulted in trees that expect to be waited on hand and foot. Whenever a cold wind blows, they shake and tremble their branches. Funny things about those trees of Dr. Gibbs’. The lack of water seemed to _______ them in ways comfort and ease never could.

I used to pray for my sons that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to _______ my prayer. I know my children are going to meet _______, and I’m praying they will be strong. The prayer for comfort is seldom met. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the winds blow, they won’t be __________ away.

1.

A．valuing

B．sacrificing

C．enjoying

D．saving

2.

A．watered

B．raised

C．loved

D．sheltered

3.

A．against

B．beyond

C．within

D．from

4.

A．harmful

B．favorable

C．tough

D．convenient

5.

A．treasured

B．challenged

C．respected

D．favored

6.

A．fondness

B．negligence

C．preference

D．devotion

7.

A．harm

B．raise

C．benefit

D．hurt

8.

A．attend

B．announce

C．change

D．maintain

9.

A．hardships

B．worries

C．opportunities

D．careers

10.

A．given

B．sent

C．broken

D．swept

4 . The Life Cycle of a T-shirt

We all probably have a lot of T-shirts, but do you ever stop and think about the influence of a T-shirt on the planet? You’d probably be surprised to learn what’s involved in the life cycle of   just one T-shirt.

There are 5 major stages: material, production, shipping, use and disposal. The material stage involves farming, irrigating, fertilizing, harvesting and ginning. While cotton is a natural fiber and not as harmful to the environment as man-made fibers, it still takes a toll in the material and production stages. Commercial cotton farming uses a large amount of water, and the use of pesticides (杀虫剂) is widespread across the globe, especially in cotton farming. Studies have shown that farmers spend around $4.1 billion on pesticides annually, of which 25% was spent on cotton crops in the US.

Once the cotton is grown and harvested, so begins the production stage: spinning, knitting, bleaching, dyeing, cutting, sewing, etc. — these processes also use a great deal of water and energy. Commercial dyes and bleaches are harmful pollutants and can eventually pollute groundwater.

After the T-shirt is produced, it enters the transportation stage. This often involves overseas shipping. Take a look in your closet. Chances are that most of your cotton garments (衣服) are made in China or India. Garments can be shipped via plane, ship or truck..., all of which spill CO₂, into the atmosphere. Calculations show that CO₂ emissions from light trucks alone amount to        1.15 pounds per mile.

Once the T-shirt reaches the retail market, it is purchased. This stage may seem like the least environmentally damaging part. But consider the number of times you’ve washed and dried your favorite T-shirt. Washing machines are certainly becoming more efficient. However, the average American household does 400 loads of laundry per year, using about 40 gallons of water per load. Such excessive water use is combined with the large amount of energy used by dryers.

The final stage of life is disposal. This releases harmful emissions, or involves a landfill where cotton takes years to break down. Current US records show that an estimated 15% of clothes and shoes are recycled, which means that consumers send a shocking 85% of these materials to landfill.

We all need new clothes every once in a while, but let’s all try to keep in mind what goes into the production of clothing. It has a real impact on the planet.

There are a lot of things you can do to help reduce your impact. Reuse and recycle clothes. If they’re too worn out to wear, cut them up and use them as cleaning rags. Donate them to charity or another organization that recycles textiles. When possible, make an effort to buy organic cotton. Turn down the thermostat on your washer, and line dry your clothes when the weather will allow it.

1. The underlined phrase “takes a toll” probably means              .

A．wastes water	B．has a bad effect
C．consumes energy	D．takes a lot of time

2. We can learn from the passage that in the US, _____________.

A．pesticides in cotton farming cost over 4 billion dollars every year

B．CO2 emissions of land transport amount to 1.15 pounds per mile

C．about 16, 000 gallons of water is used annually by an average family on laundry

D．about 15% of the clothes and shoes are made of materials that are recycled

3. What can be inferred from this passage?

A．The production process may affect water safety.

B．The clothing cost is relatively low in China and India.

C．Cotton clothes are buried because they are hard to break down.

D．The use stage is the least environmentally harmful of the five stages.

4. What is the purpose of this article?

A．To introduce the five stages in the life cycle of clothing.

B．To encourage people to donate clothes to charity.

C．To persuade people to purchase more organic cotton.

D．To promote eco-friendly actions related to clothes.

5 . What’s the first thing you remember doing? It could be playing with your friends at school, or going to a birthday party and eating amazing cake.     1     Did those special moments really happen or did we make them up?

It’s a strange concept to grasp, but according to research, about four out of ten of us invent our first childhood memory. Rather than having experienced something, we could have fabricated a fake memory from videos or photos we’ve seen. We could have been influenced by a story recounted to us that spurs our minds on to adopt someone else’s memory as our own.     2    

    3     Well, our ability to retain memories from before the age of two isn’t great. While at that age we do have short-term memories, according to Catherine Loveday, an expert in autobiographical memory at the University of Westminster, the memories that infants make are not long-lasting.     4     Some scientists also believe that as we get older, our childhood memories fade and after the age of seven, we get some kind of “childhood amnesia (健忘症)”.

So why do we create fake memories? Some experts believe that there is a clear desire for a sense of self and having a cohesive (连贯的) story of our existence.     5     As we get older, we want to have a complete picture of our entire lives.

So, the next time someone says they have a clear memory from when they were one or even before just remember that while it could be true, there’s a chance they just invented it at some point in their lives.

A．But why don’t we have clear memories from that age?

B．It happens to everyone no matter how educated he or she is.

C．This is possibly due to the rapid creation of brain cells in our early years.

D．We often talk about these memories with our families as if it were what happened yesterday.

E．Creating memories can fill in the gaps giving us a more complete structure for our early lives.

F．Most of us have a treasured early memory of our childhood, but can we really believe those vivid memories?

G．What it means is that memories of our younger years, especially before the age of two, may be inaccurate, or entirely false.

7 . “I hate New Orleans! I wanna go home!” I _______ to my mother as we moved boxes. _______, going home was not easy because my home was 1,100 miles away.

I was born and _______ in northern Virginia. Virginia was my home, and I never expected that to _______. In 2014, my family experienced a tragedy (悲剧), so my parents decided to move to my mom’s hometown of New Orleans.

Only three months after my parents made the _______ to move, I found myself moving boxes into our new house. My announcement to my mother that I _______ the new environment was partly motivated by how hot it was, but it was mostly due to the fact that I felt like my entire life had been turned upside down. 1,100 miles away from everyone and everything I had ever known, I was _______. To make matters worse, I was starting high school in two weeks. Beginning high school is a scary _______ on its own.

I spent my first few months in New Orleans, _______ wanting to go home to Virginia. But after a few months of missing home, I ________ that I had a choice. I could continue thinking about how much I missed my old home, or I could start trying to build a new home right here. I chose the latter.

As soon as I stopped giving all my attention to how much I missed Virginia, I was able to begin accepting the love that people were already giving me. I joined some clubs at school, which gave me the chance to make friends. My neighbor taught me how to cook some New Orleans food, and I found a wonderful race of fellow cooks and neighbors. Overall, I seized every possible opportunity to better myself and to rebuild my life.

1.

A．announced

B．replied

C．turned

D．pointed

2.

A．Therefore

B．Instead

C．However

D．Besides

3.

A．trained

B．raised

C．promoted

D．fed

4.

A．develop

B．continue

C．exist

D．change

5.

A．command

B．suggestion

C．excuse

D．decision

6.

A．preferred

B．missed

C．hated

D．imagined

7.

A．surprised

B．frightened

C．delighted

D．relieved

8.

A．performance

B．region

C．presentation

D．experience

9.

A．partly

B．badly

C．slightly

D．hardly

10.

A．realized

B．remembered

C．observed

D．complained

8 . The Day Lisa Lost

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about the many professional athletes of today who have developed a me-first attitude. I am talking about high school sports, where lessons of life are still being learned. Here, athletes still compete for the love of the game and their teammates. Lisa Kincaid is one of them.

I first met Lisa on the volleyball court. If anyone had a right to be cocky (自大的) or proud of herself, it was Lisa. Besides being one of the best volleyball players in the USA, she became a track legend (传奇人物) . She went sixty-four national games without losing any event.

However, she felt uncomfortable talking about her achievements and would usually change the conversation to others’ performances. She often lent her shoes to someone who’d forgotten her own, or sincerely sent best wishes to competitors from different teams.

Soon after, Lisa’s impossible failure in one game impressed me a lot. Lisa’s coach told her he needed her to run the mile. She had never done so, but agreed to do what was best for the team. Lisa easily outdistanced the competition, but on the last lap she seemed to grow tired. Jane, Lisa’s teammate, passed her. Lisa managed to stay just behind Jane and followed her across the finish line. Lisa lost an event for the first time in her track career.

Athletes in Lisa’s track program needed to earn a set amount of points to gain a varsity letter (校队标志微章). Lisa knew that Jane needed to finish first to earn a letter for the first time. Without Lisa, Jane would make it. Lisa remembered all this as she lined up for the start of that race. It suddenly struck me why she wore a slight smile on her face after having “lost” for the first time ever. Jane finally received her first varsity letter. And Lisa? On that day, the day she lost, she earned my respect and admiration.

1. From the passage, we can learn that Lisa_________.

A．valued the importance of respect	B．intended to prove herself in the race
C．won every race she had ever entered	D．cared less about what she had achieved

2. Why did Lisa wear a smile on her face after the race?

A．Because she did a deal with Jane.	B．Because she lent her shoes to others.
C．Because she carried out her secret plan.	D．Because she already earned her varsity letter.

3. Which of the following word can best describe Lisa according to the passage?

A．Generous.

B．Brave.

C．Patient.

D．Independent.

9 . 假设你是红星中学高一年级的学生李华。你校的交换生Tom受邀要去一个中国朋友家做客，他发来邮件询问一些做客习俗。请你根据以下内容回复：
1. 到达的时间及礼物；
2. 中国餐桌礼仪及含义。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数；
3. 餐桌礼仪：table manners。
Dear Tom,
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua