1 . How to Garden When There Is Too Much Water

Unusual weather this summer has hurt many gardens in the United States.     1     For others it is too much. In some gardens, water sits on the surface of the ground or the ground stays wet for hours after rain stops. We will look at three ways you can deal with the problem of too much water—you can use one, or all three, in the same garden.

Use a waterway to let water run away

    2     The simplest way is with a ditch (沟), or, if your garden is large, a few ditches. You will also, of course, need the ditch to flow onto lower ground. Ditches crossing your garden need not be unpleasant to look at or troublesome. Design a garden in which flat stones line ditches and form bridges across ditches that cross paths.     3    

Use pipes

Another way to do away with water—without changing the look of your garden—is to bury pipes with small holes underground. Dig a ditch, as described above, then lay in a black pipe that is about 10 cm across its width. The pipe is made to bend easily, and the holes in it let in water.     4     The cloth can keep out dirt. Then, put a layer of small stones and finally some soil.

Raise the roots (根)

A third way to give your plants more air is to raise them above the water. Trees and bushes can be planted on raised piles of soil, often called “beds”.     5     How wide depends on the final size of the plant. If you want a bigger plant, give its roots more room to grow.

A．Try to get enough air into the soil.

B．For many, the problem is not enough rain.

C．One way is to let the water flow (流) to some lower place.

D．Cover the pipe with a cloth that water can pass through.

E．The beds need to be wide enough to allow roots to spread.

F．The whole system can look like a beautiful water-town sight.

G．Build a box at least 15 cm high of wood or stone.

2 . Humans are not the only ones adapting to (适应) the effects of global climate change. Animals are also adapting to the environmental changes—some warm-blooded animals are beginning to “shapeshift (变身)” in response to shifts in climate, according to a recent study carried out by a team of researchers. The leader of the team is Sara Ryding, a researcher at Deakin University in Australia.

In the study, researchers have found new evidence that supports the theory that some warm-blooded animals are experiencing changes to their bodies due to the rising temperatures, resulting in larger legs, ears and beaks (喙) in some cases. The researchers have noted that warm-blooded animals living in colder climates have smaller legs, ears and beaks than animals of the same species living in warmer climates.

“When climate change is discussed in mainstream media, people are asking ‘Can humans overcome this?’ or ‘What technology can solve this?’” Ryding says.

She says that just like humans, animals also have to adapt to climate change, as shapeshifting for some of the warm-blooded animals is occurring over a far shorter time period.

“The climate change that we have created is putting much pressure on them, and while some species will adapt, others will not,” Ryding says.

Researchers have found body change in birds in Australia and North America. Certain species of Australian parrots have shown about 4%~10% increase in the size of their beaks since 1871, the reason for which is rising temperatures. In North America, the dark-eyed junco (灯芯草雀) also has seen an increase in beak size.

“Larger beaks help birds dissipate (驱散) extra body heat more effectively, which is useful as global temperatures rise. However, shapeshifting does not mean that animals are able to deal with climate change easily and that all is ‘fine’,” Ryding says. “It just means that they are struggling to adjust themselves to surviving it.”

1. What happens to some warm-blooded animals in warmer climates?

A．Some parts of their bodies are missing.

B．Their bodies become colder and colder.

C．Their bodies change into smaller ones.

D．Some of their body parts become larger.

2. Why are two types of animals mentioned in paragraph 6?

A．To warn about the decrease of animal species.

B．To speak highly of animals’ ability to survive.

C．To explain why animals change the body shape.

D．To show the evidence of animals’ shapeshifting.

3. What do Sara Ryding’s words in the last paragraph suggest?

A．Climate change does little harm to bird species.

B．Climate change is still a big challenge for birds.

C．Birds can easily deal with global climate change.

D．Birds fail to adjust themselves to climate change.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．All Animals Have to Adapt to Global Climate Change

B．Rising Temperatures Are Destroying Animals’ Bodies

C．Climate Change Is Making Some Animals Shapeshift

D．Warm-blooded Animals Inform Us of Global Warming

3 . Autumn Equinox (秋分) lies at the midpoint of autumn, dividing autumn into two equal parts. After that day, the location of direct sunlight moves to the south, making days shorter and nights longer in the northern hemisphere.     1     Autumn Equinox, the 16th solar term of the year, begins this year on Sept 23 and ends on Oct 7.

Here are things you should know about Autumn Equinox.

Cool autumn

As it is said in the ancient book, The Detailed Records of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC), “It is on Autumn Equinox day that the Yin and Yang are in a balance of power. Thus the day and night are of equal length, and so are the cold and hot weather.”

    2     When the cold air heading south meets the declining warm and wet air, rain is the result. The temperature also drops frequently.

    3    

In South China, there is a custom popularly known as “having Qiucai (an autumn vegetable) on the Autumn Equinox day”. Qiucai is a kind of wild plant. Every Autumn Equinox day, all the villagers go to pick Qiucai in the wild. Qiucai is fresh and green in the field, thin, and about 20 cm in length.

    4    

By Autumn Equinox, olives, pears, chestnuts, beans, and other plants are mature. It is time to pick and eat them.

Season for enjoying chrysanthemums

    5    

A．Eating Qiucai

B．Season for eating nuts

C．Season for eating various plants

D．But the moon won’t be full during Autumn Equinox.

E．The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms.

F．Autumn Equinox also is a good time to enjoy chrysanthemums in full bloom.

G．By Autumn Equinox, most of the areas in China have entered the cool autumn.

5 . 阅读下面短文,在空白处填人1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

For 30 years we have been told how temperatures have been soaring to unheard-of levels.

This is causing polar ice to melt(融化) ,sea level     1    (rise) and has brought about a dangerous increase in extreme weather     2    (event)，such as hurricanes, heatwaves, droughts and floods. These climate changes would likely present challenge to our society and environment. It is now a global concern     3     the climate changes occurring today have been severer because of man's activities.

    4    (trouble) by the serious situation, world leaders came together for talks, which were seen    5    a make-or-break situation for the United Nations climate talks.

The climate talks     6    (lead) to about 200 hundred countries reaching an agreement that would, for     7    first time, commit nearly every country to lowering planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions(释放)to address global climate change. That was     8    (certain)an encouraging step forward for our earth and mankind.

As the world leaders continue to commit    9    (they) to monitoring our "sick”planet. we need to continue to take small steps to "heal(治愈)the world. We are left with not much of a    10     (choose).If only we could just pack our bags and move to Mars!

6 . Climate change is known to negatively affect agriculture and livestock, but there has been little scientific knowledge on which regions of the planet would be touched or what the biggest risks may be. New research led by Aalto University assesses just how global food production will be affected if greenhouse gas emissions are left uncut.

The researchers assessed how climate change would affect 27 of the most important food crops and seven different livestock, accounting for societies' varying capacities to adapt to changes. The results show that threats affect countries and continents in different ways; in 52 of the 177 countries studied, the entire food production would remain in the safe climatic space in the future. These include Finland and most other European countries.

Already vulnerable countries such as Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana and Suriname will be hit hard if no changes are made; up to 95 percent of current food production would fall outside of safe climatic space. Alarmingly, these nations also have significantly less capacity to adapt to changes brought on by climate change when compared to rich western countries. In all, 20% of the world's crop production and 18% of livestock production under threat are located in countries with low capacities to adapt to changes.

“If we let emissions grow, the increase in desert areas is especially troubling because in these conditions barely anything can grow without irrigation. By the end of this century, we could see more than 4 million square kilometres of new desert around the globe,” Matti Kummu, professor of global water and food issues at Aalto University says. “We need to lighten climate change and, at the same time, improve our food systems and societies' capacities to adapt to changes—we cannot leave the vulnerable behind. Food production must be sustainable.”

1. How does the author show the effect of climate change on the food production in paragraph 2?

A．By raising questions.	B．By stating arguments.
C．By analyzing research data.	D．By making comparisons.

2. What is the third paragraph mainly about?

A．The measures to be taken.	B．The threat to the vulnerable countries.
C．The assistance of rich countries.	D．The damage to crop production.

3. What do Kummu's words suggest?

A．He feels very desperate.	B．He cares more about others.
C．He was in charge of the study.	D．He is worried about the vulnerable.

4. From which section of a newspaper is the text taken?

A．Environment.

B．Technology.

C．Culture.

D．Politics.

7 . A Russian natural gas tanker has completed an experimental round trip along the Northern Sea Route (NSR)— the first time the path across the Arctic has been made at this time of year. It returned to the Russian gas station at Sabetta on February 19. The voyage by the Christophe de Margerie tanker through the ice is the latest visual indicator of climate change in the cold region.

The tanker set out from a Chinese port on January 27 after delivering its cargo. It entered the Northern Sea Route, which traverses(横越) Russia's north coast. A few days later near Cape Dezhnev, it was met by the Russian nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory). Together they completed the 2, 500-nautical-mile voyage through the ice in l I days and 10 hours.

The ship managed-to complete the first leg of the trip from Russia to China without an icebreaker. Both of the journeys broke records for winter navigation(航行) due to the changing climate in the Arctic allowing passage through thinner ice. Using the Northern Sea Route lets shippers in Russia and other countries avoid a much longer southern journey around Europe, the Middle East and all of southern Asia, saving millions of dollars.

The ships encountered no multi-year buildup of old ice on the route, and the deepest ice was about 5 feet thick. However, meteorologist and journalist Eric Holthaus called that a clear indicator of "a climate emergency".

Last May, Christophe de Margerie became the first large-capacity cargo ship to complete an eastbound transit of the Northern Sea Route, two months earlier in the year than the journey traditionally made.

"As a result of the early Northern Sea Route voyage completed by Christophe de Margerie in May 2020, as well as the current NSR voyage, the navigation in the Eastern part of the Arctic was practically doubled," Eric Holthaus said. He noted that for decades the transit route along that part of the NSR had typically remained closed by ice from November until July.

1. Which factor contributed most to Christophe de Margerie's successful trip?

A．The ideal equipment.	B．The ocean current.
C．The nuclear power.	D．The climate change.

2. What’s Eric Holthaus' attitude to the gas tanker’s trip across the Arctic?

A．Skeptical.

B．Concerned.

C．Critical.

D．Tolerant.

3. What does the underlined word "encountered" in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Picked up.

B．Prepared for.

C．Came across.

D．Depended on.

4. How long can the NSR route be used by cargo ships now?

A．2 months.

B．3 months.

C．4 months.

D．6 months.

8 . Plant-eating dinosaurs probably arrived in the northern half of the world millions of years after meat-eating dinosaurs, a recent study found. Their late arrival was likely a result of climate changes that took place hundreds of millions of years ago.

The study used a new way to ascertain the age of dinosaur remains found in Greenland. Researchers found that the plant-eating dinosaurs were about 215 million years old. The mineralized（石化的）remains of bones are called fossils. Earlier, those fossils were thought to be as old as 228 million years. The findings could change how scientists think about dinosaur movements, or migrations.

The earliest dinosaurs all seemed to first develop about 230 million years ago or longer. They appeared in what is now South America. Then, the creatures moved north and spread all over the world. The new study suggests not all dinosaurs moved at the same time.

So far, scientists have not found any evidence of plant-eating dinosaurs living in the Northern Hemisphere before 215 million years ago. One of the best examples of these is the Plateosaurus, a two-legged, 7-meter-long plant-eater that weighed around 4,000 kilograms. However, meat. eaters lived worldwide by at least 220 million years ago.

During the Triassic（三叠纪）period, 230 million years ago, CO₂ levels were 10 times higher than now. The Earth was hotter with no ice sheets at the poles and two areas of extreme deserts north and south of the equator（赤道）. It was so dry in those areas that there were not enough plants for the plant-eaters to survive. But there were enough insects so that meat-eaters could.

About 215 million years ago, CO₂ levels dropped. The drop resulted in more plant life in the deserts. The plant-eaters were then able to make the trip. Triassic changes in CO₂ levels were from volcanoes and other natural forces. The changes were different from those in our times, when the burning of coal, oil and natural gas are considered the main causes of climate change.

1. Which can best replace the underlined word "ascertain" in paragraph 2?

A．Stress.

B．Choose.

C．Make use of.

D．Find out.

2. What do we know about the Plateosaurus?

A．It was the largest living thing at that time.	B．It was a plant-eating dinosaur.
C．It lived at least 220 million years ago.	D．It was the earliest dinosaur in the south.

3. Why were meat-eating dinosaurs able to survive in the deserts?

A．They had enough food.	B．They had a strong body.
C．CO2 is harmless to them.	D．They were not afraid of dry climates.

4. What made the deserts covered with more plants?

A．The spread of small plants.	B．Migration of dinosaurs.
C．The change of the atmosphere.	D．An increase in rainfall.

9 . 阅读下面句子，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Grain Rain, just as the name shows, is a key time for grains to grow. There is     1     old saying, “Rain brings up hundreds of grains,” which indicates the     2     (important) of this season.

In the northern part of China, the first heavy rain usually occurs during this time of year, which     3     (be) the best time for planting rice, corn, and the growth of cotton. It is also a good time for Chinese people     4     (eat) toona (香椿), a delicious seasonal plant,     5     new leaves are as soft as silk. Not only does it taste good, but it is also very good for health. It is very nutritious     6     can improve the immune system.     7     (fresh) made with Chinese tofu, toona is a traditional cold dish for people in the northern part of China.

Drinking tea is an old custom in the southern part of China. The mild temperatures and plentiful rainfall in the season make the spring tea leaves rich in a     8     (various) of vitamins and amino acids (氨基酸),     9     (give) the taste of spring tea a fresh and pleasant smell.

Along the northern coast of China, fishermen    10    (celebrate) the Grain Rain Festival for more than 2,000 years. On this day, fishermen in coastal areas pray for safety and a good harvest.

10 . A new United Nations scientific report says that human-caused climate change is greatly reducing land quality worldwide. It warns that the way humans use land is causing the earth's atmosphere to warm faster and could harm food production. The effects of climate change are already making food more costly and less nutritious (有营养的) and are worsening food shortages (缺乏).

The scientists write that if humans change the way they eat, grow food and manage forests, it could help slow world temperature rises.

About 30 percent of the earth's surface is land. But the report says that the land is warming two times faster than the planet as a whole. While heat-trapping (吸热的) gases are causing problems in the atmosphere, land has been less talked about as a part of climate change.

“The change could be worse,” the report says. Agriculture and forestry together account for about 23 percent of the heat-trapping gases that are warming the earth. That does not include energy costs, food transportation and packaging. With those activities added, the amount grows to 37 percent.

But land can absorb heat trapping gases out of the air. From 2009 to 2018, for example, agriculture and forestry each year put 5.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air. But the land pulled 11.2 billion metric tons out of it. Carbon dioxide is a main heat trapping gas.

Scientists have long believed that one of the few good things about higher levels of carbon dioxide is that plants grow well in such conditions. But many studies show that the high levels of carbon dioxide can reduce protein (蛋白质) and nutrients in many crops.

The report also suggests ways that carbon emissions could be reduced further. This could be done if humans reduce the amount of red meat they eat and instead eat more fruit, vegetables and seeds. That would also make people healthier.

1. What has not been paid much attention to in the study of climate change?

A．Greenhouse gases.

B．Land.

C．The earth's surface.

D．People's lifestyles.

2. How does the land function in global warming?

A．It takes in a lot of carbon dioxide.	B．It produces grains less nutritious.
C．It causes the majority of heat-trapping gases.	D．It sends off more carbon dioxide than it removes.

3. What is suggested to fight against global warning?

A．Growing plants to absorb carbon dioxide.	B．Planting high quality crops.
C．Limiting red meat intake.	D．Producing enough food.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Humans should live a healthy life.

B．Global warming is more and more serious.

C．There will be a food shortage in the future.

D．Climate change affects land quality and food production.