1 . A houseplant is pretty to look at and brings fresh air to your home. Besides, looking after a plant will give you something more to do and care about. Let’s look at the four best houseplants you can grow.
 Australian Pine A perfect “living decoration” to add in your house, it is good to look at and has a comforting feel. It can also serve as the perfect Christmas tree. It grows around 10 feet tall indoors. Remember that it requires plenty of light and fresh air. Otherwise, it becomes weak and an easy target for mites (螨虫). |  Dracaena The green and yellow pattern on its leaves looks great. It can grow to be around 10 feet tall. Just make sure you keep the soil surface dry between your watering periods because it gets influenced by too much water. Also, having this plant around a dog can be dangerous. It can be poisonous to dogs if they eat it. |
 Grape Ivy If you want something off the ceiling (天花板), this houseplant is the one for you. It’s a climbing plant, and it will make for a beautiful hanging basket decoration. The plant is full of life wherever it is hung. It needs to be kept wet in all its parts for good growth. |  Peperomia It is little in size, with long leaves. It adds energy to your living room and creates a comforting environment. As it’s not a very tall plant, you needn’t worry about how much space it will take up. The plant likes a dry surface of the soil. |
So what are you for? Choose the one that attracts you most, and give your home a wonderful addition.
1. Which of the following can serve as a Christmas tree?| A．Australian pine. | B．Dracaena. | C．Grape ivy. | D．Peperomia. |
| A．be careful with mites | B．hang it from the celling |
| C．keep dogs away from it | D．leave the surface of the soil wet |
| A．Its leaves are short. | B．It is small in size. |
| C．It likes much water. | D．It is a climbing plant. |
| A．Politics. | B．Business. | C．Travel. | D．Life. |
If a sixth mass extinction occurs, scientists who have studied the issue believe that up to three quarters of all species on Earth could die out. Of course, as we humans depend on so many species for our survival, we would also be at risk of
3 . A national activity, which aims to make people more strictly follow laws on the illegal (非法的) wildlife trade, will try to find out a large number of cases, in which millions of animals and plants are killed. If you would like to do some volunteer work for wildlife protection, then the activity will be suitable for you.
What should the activity do?
The activity will be really important, which aims to take away illegal gains from the lawbreakers and force them to receive punishments. This activity will also take away their wildlife products and illegal hunting tools. What’s more, all the lawbreakers will be taken to the police station.
What’s the purpose of the activity?
The activity is to stop the complete connection with the illegal wildlife trade across the country, including illegal hunting, killing, transportation and the action of buying and using the wildlife products. The government says that China will have its strong official action to punish those who work on illegal wildlife trade.
What’s your duty?
During the activity, the government hopes you can help check carefully part of tools, main stations and natural environment of the wildlife. You and other volunteers will be working together to help the experts build a law system (系统) that will cover all areas and leave no stone unturned.
What’s the future plan?
The next step is to increase the ways of working for wildlife resource information and management. We need lots of efforts so that the situation of national protection for wildlife will become satisfying one day.
1. Why will the national activity be carried out?| A．To ask people to raise some kinds of wildlife. |
| B．To ask people to keep watching wildlife from now on. |
| C．To make people get to know some animals and plants. |
| D．To make people follow laws on the illegal wildlife trade. |
| A．To give lawbreakers punishment in order to protect wildlife. |
| B．To give some illegal products away to the people in poor areas. |
| C．To prevent lawbreakers from making more tools to hunt wildlife. |
| D．To stop the public from entering natural environment of wildlife. |
| A．Fine all of the lawbreakers. | B．Have a strong official action. |
| C．Build new useful management. | D．Start a new transportation system. |
| A．To check all the dangerous stones in all areas. |
| B．To help build a law system together with others. |
| C．To take away part of the tools from lawbreakers. |
| D．To help build more stations with the help of experts. |
| A．punish all the lawbreakers in the area | B．protect all the national animals in China |
| C．stop illegal wildlife trade all over the world | D．reduce illegal wildlife trade to a certain degree |
4 . I was having breakfast at home, checking out social media on my phone. Suddenly, a picture
I
On our way to the center, we had no idea of what was going to happen. We hadn’t got much information about Charlie’s
As soon as he got to our house, he soon made himself at home. He sniffed (嗅) around and then
We get out every day on walks and we’re much closer now. He’s always so happy to see us when my husband and I come through the door. If you give dogs
| A．hit | B．caught | C．found | D．gave |
| A．clicked | B．depended | C．tried | D．passed |
| A．excited | B．encouraged | C．satisfied | D．moved |
| A．drop in | B．rely on | C．apply for | D．suffer from |
| A．sent | B．selected | C．received | D．presented |
| A．visit | B．buy | C．replace | D．rescue |
| A．decoration | B．occasion | C．tradition | D．situation |
| A．teenager | B．owner | C．foreigner | D．reader |
| A．expectations | B．fights | C．difficulties | D．descriptions |
| A．glad | B．aware | C．proud | D．afraid |
| A．bored | B．interested | C．happy | D．worried |
| A．hid | B．put | C．turned | D．jumped |
| A．problems | B．advantages | C．manners | D．complaints |
| A．advice | B．home | C．fairness | D．support |
National parks are places to be treasured—places
In ancient times, people held nature in awe (敬畏). For example, the American Indians
7 . Why Do Mockingbirds Copy?
Mockingbirds live in North and South America. They are good copycats. They imitate other birds. But they can also imitate other animals. They can even make sounds like a piano or car alarm. Mockingbirds learn to sing many songs. Some learn more than 200 different songs. They can often trick people! But mockingbirds can’t trick other birds. If they can’t trick other birds, why do they copy sounds? They do it to attract and avoid other birds!
Males are loud singers, and they sing many songs. They always sing when they want to meet females. A male bird can sing most of the day and night. The singing attracts females. But it also keeps away other males. The longer a mockingbird lives, the more songs it knows. To show this characteristic, the male mockingbird sings all the songs it knows. A female mockingbird is attracted to a male who has lived a long time.
Mockingbirds usually sing short songs. They sing each sound several times. Then they move to the next sound. Female mockingbirds sing softly and less often than males. They usually sing at their nests in the winter to keep away other birds. When another bird comes near, the mockingbird makes a loud noise to frighten it. It’s amazing that the mockingbird can copy so many songs of other birds. Some songs are not easy to learn. The mockingbird must listen well to imitate the sounds. But a mockingbird also has good eyes and a good memory. When a person comes near its nest, the mockingbird remembers that person. It knows that person’s face after many years!
1. Mockingbirds are special because they can ______.| A．create songs | B．copy sounds |
| C．remember other birds | D．understand human's words |
| A．scare other birds | B．practise the songs |
| C．warn human beings | D．attract male birds |
| A．To recommend a course on birdlife. | B．To call on people to protect birds. |
| C．To give advice on feeding birds. | D．To introduce an interesting bird |
Dean Schneider leaves his life in Switzerland behind and goes to Africa
Edward O. Wilson, the “modern-day Charles Darwin”, damaged his right eye when he
10 . Climate activist Henry Emson told Euronews that when he became a father seven years ago, he was worried about his family’s effect on the environment. After doing some research, he found the best way to eliminate their carbon footprint was by planting giant sequoia trees(巨型红杉树).
Giant sequoias are ideal for capturing carbon dioxide because they continue to grow consistently for centuries, storing CO2 over time. General Sherman, the world’s largest sequoia tree, has stored an estimated 1,500 tons of CO2 in its trunk over the last 2,200 years and could live another 800 years. The average human could generate close to 1,000 tons of CO2 over their lifetime, so planting one giant sequoia could effectively reduce the carbon footprint of more than one person.
After realizing the power giant sequoias have to fight climate change, Emson devoted his life to planting thousands in the UK by creating the One Life One Tree project. Its final goal is to plant 100,000 giant sequoias in the UK by 2030, and according to The Mirror, as of March 2022, it has already planted 700. Trees are currently being planted near Abergavenny in Wales and the project is expanding to Devon, the Lake District and Scotland.
While the common assumption is that these giant trees can only be grown in Northern California, they actually do well in the UK at a time when the sequoia population is threatened back home.
According to One Tree One Life, 95% of the old-growth sequoia population has been logged over the past two centuries and what remains is under threat from climate change. “A 10 year＋ drought and temperature increase have greatly damaged the health of the trees. A secondary impact of the drought is making them increasingly susceptible(易受影响的)to insect attack and fire,” the site says.
Considering the danger that climate change is causing giant sequoias in California, Emson’s work also benefits these trees. “They’re like climate refugees(难民)—we help them with assisted migration,” he told Euronews.
1. What does the underlined word “eliminate” in the first paragraph probably mean?| A．Measure. | B．Remove. | C．Overlook. | D．Spread. |
| A．By giving an example. | B．By doing an experiment. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By referring to comments. |
| A．To protect the environment by planting trees. |
| B．To test the adaptability of giant sequoia trees. |
| C．To save different kinds of endangered trees. |
| D．To prove the value of giant sequoias to his kids. |
| A．It disturbs the whole ecosystem of California. |
| B．It indirectly turns giant sequoias into refugees. |
| C．It helps promote the survival of giant sequoias. |
| D．It assists California in recovering from drought. |
