1 . Unbelievable Stories of Animals Acting Just Like Humans

Horses are picky eaters

Horses have an even better sense of smell than humans do. When horses raise their noses and open their nostrils (鼻孔), their nervous system allows them to sense smells we can’t sense. This might explain why they refuse dirty water and carefully move around meadows, eating only the tastiest grasses, experts say.

Whale says thanks

In 2018, a whale expert spotted a humpback whale trapped in a fishing net and spent an hour freeing it. Afterward, in an hour-long display of thanks, the whale swam near their boat and leaped into the air about 40 times.

Pandas like to be naughty

Is there anything more lovely than a baby panda, except maybe a human baby? In fact, baby pandas sometimes behave like human babies. They sleep in the same positions and value their thumbs. Pandas are shy by nature for its shy behaviors such as covering its face with a paw or ducking its head when confronted by a stranger.

A cat honors its owner

Paper towels, and a plastic cup are just a few of the gifts that Toldo, a devoted three-year-old gray-and-white cat, has placed on his former owner Iozzelli Renzo’s grave every day since the man died in September 2018. Renzo adopted Toldo from a shelter when the cat was three months old, and the two formed an inseparable bond. After Renzo passed away, Toldo followed the coffin to the cemetery, and now “stands guard” the grave for hours at a time.

1. What can horses do to pick delicious grasses?

A．Feel them.

B．Taste them.

C．Smell them.

D．Observe them.

2. What do the whale and the cat have in common according to the passage?

A．They are clever.

B．They have a grateful heart.

C．They are active and lovely.

D．They have a good sense of smell.

3. Which of the following acts like a human baby according to the passage?

A．The whale

B．The cat.

C．The horse.

D．The panda.

2 . The Amazon rainforest is as undisturbed a place as most people can imagine, but even there, the effects of a changing climate are playing out. Now, research suggests that many of the region’s most sensitive bird species are starting to evolve in response to warming.

Birds are often considered sentinel (哨兵) species — meaning that they indicate the overall health of an ecosystem — so scientists are particularly interested in how they’re responding to climate change. In general, the news has not been good. For instance, a 2019 report by the National Audubon Society found that more than two-thirds of North America’s bird species will be in danger of extinction by 2100 if warming trends continue on their current course.

For the new study, researchers collected the biggest database so far on the Amazon’s resident birds, representing 77 non-migratory species and lasting the 40 years from 1979 to 2019. During the study period, the average temperature in the region rose, while the amount of rainfall declined, making for a hotter, dryer climate overall. According to the report on November 12 in the journal Science Advances, 36 species have lost substantial weight, as much as 2 percent of their body weight per decade since 1980. Meanwhile, all the species showed some decrease in average body mass, while a third grew longer wings.

Because of the study’s long time series and large sample sizes, the authors were able to show the morphological (形态学的) effects of climate change on resident birds. However, the researchers themselves are unsure and wonder what advantage the wing length changes give the birds, but suppose smaller birds may have an easier time keeping cool. In general, smaller animals have a larger rate of surface area to body size, so they dissipate more heat faster than a bigger animal. Less available food, such as fruit or insects, in dryer weather might lead to smaller body size.

1. Why are scientists fond of doing research on birds?

A．They have small body sizes.	B．They are sensitive to hot weather.
C．They are ecological balance indicators.	D．They live in an undisturbed rainforest.

2. What can we learn from the new study?

A．Two-thirds of species showed a considerable decrease in weight.

B．About 26 species responded to climate change with longer wings.

C．36 species lost 2% of their body weight every year from 1979 to 2019.

D．A third of species have been extinct for a decade due to the hotter climate.

3. What does the underlined word “dissipate” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Put off.

B．Give off.

C．Put away.

D．Give away.

4. What would probably the researchers further study?

A．Why it is easier for smaller animals to keep cool.

B．Why the Amazonian birds have lost substantial weight.

C．Whether bird species in Amazon will be extinct in 2100.

D．What effects the wing length changes have on birds.

3 . The air is thin and we have to rest several times on the short hike from camp. To our left, snow-covered mountains disappear into clouds that seem almost close enough to touch. On the grassland in front of us, we can just make out a herd of graceful animals. This is why we’re here — to observe Tibetan antelopes.

Tibetan antelopes live on the plains of Tibet, Xinjiang, and Qinghai. Watching them move slowly across the green grass. I’m struck by their beauty. I’m also reminded of the danger they are in. They are being hunted, illegally, for their valuable fur.

My guide is Zhaxi, a villager from Changtang. He works at the Changtang National Nature Rcserve. It covers an arca of about 120,000 square miles. The reserve is a shelter for the animals and plants of northwestern Tibet. To Zhaxi, protecting the wildlife is a way of life. “We’re not trying to save the animals,” he says. “Actually, we’re trying to save ourselves.”

The 1980s and 1990s were bad times for the Tibetan antelope. The population dropped by more than 50 percent. Hunters were shooting antelopes to make money. Their habitats were becoming smaller as new roads and railways were built.

In order to save this species from extinction, the Chinese government placed it under national protection. Zhaxi and other volunteers watched over the antelopes day and night to keep them safe from attacks. Bridges and gates were added to let the antelopes move easily and keep them safe from cars and trains.

The measures were effective. The antelope population has recovered and in June 2015, the Tibetan antelope was removed from the endangered species list. The government, however, does not intend to stop the protection programmes, since the threats to the Tibetan antelope have not yet disappeared.

In the evening, I drink a cup of tea and watch the stars. I think about the antelopes and what Zhaxi told me. Much is being done to protect wildlife, but if we really want to save the planet, we must change our way of life. Only when we learn to exist in harmony with nature can we stop being a threat to wildlife and to our planet.

1. Why did the writer visit Tibet?

A．To watch the Tibetan antelopes.	B．To go on a short hike from camp.
C．To see the snow-covered mountains.	D．To visit their friend Zhaxi in Changtang.

2. What happened to the Tibetan antelopes in the 1980s and 1990s?

A．Their habitats disappeared.	B．They were attacked by other animals.
C．They were shot by hunters for money.	D．Their population dropped by less than 50 percent.

3. What can we know about the Changtang National Nature Reserve?

A．It was built by volunteers and villagers.

B．Its protection programmes have been stopped.

C．It was founded to protect the wildlife that live there.

D．Its antelopes are on the list of endangered species now.

4. What does the author intend to tell us?

A．The importance of a good lifestyle.

B．Protecting wildlife is protecting ourselves.

C．Changtang is the best place to observe Tibetan antelopes.

D．More volunteers are needed to keep the antelopes from attacks.

4 . Will Gladstone remembers first learning about the blue-footed booby in his fifth grade science class. They are a symbol of the Galapagos Islands.

The blue-footed booby population in the Galapagos has fallen to a third of its size since the1960s. This fact stayed with Will, who grew up bird-watching with his dad around their hometown. Will had never been to the Galapagos, nor seen a blue-footed booby in person, but decided he wanted to help protect them.

A few days later, he came up with a plan: He could sell blue socks, the same color as the bird's feet, to raise money for protection efforts. Will set up his online site The Blue Feet Foundation in March 2016. The website was up for three months before Will and his younger brother Matthew sold their first pair of socks. “We reached out to a lot of people and they wouldn't take us seriously...because we were just kids.”

But being “just kids” comes with its own strengths. They made an Instagram account for the foundation and started direct-messaging stars. Will says one of their biggest supporters is his longtime favorite hockey player, Kevan Miller. They have sold about 10,000 pairs of socks to customers in 46 countries, raising about $90, 000 after costs. All profits go to the Galapagos Conservancy and the Charles Darwin Foundation, two research and protection organizations based in the Galapagos Islands.

Will's and Matthew's efforts are already having a beneficial effect. Their money was used for a blue-footed booby population survey in 2017 by a team of 10 researchers. The researchers report that they did see many more baby birds than in their previous study in 2012.

Three years after forming the foundation, Will got to visit the Galapagos on a week-long school trip. And Will finally got to see a blue-footed booby in person. “I was crazily looking around and when l saw one, it was really cool,” Will said.

The brothers have won several awards for their work. But they each say the biggest award they've got is perseverance.

1. What inspired Will to protect the blue-footed booby?

A．The drop of the birds' number.	B．His trip to Galapagos Islands.
C．His experience of bird-watching.	D．The symbolic meaning of the bird.

2. What did Will and Matthew do while people didn't take them seriously?

A．They started The Blue Feet Foundation.

B．They asked protection organizations for help.

C．They reached out to their classmates and other kids.

D．They opened an account and contacted famous people.

3. The money Will and Matthew raised was used to ______.

A．take care of more baby birds	B．do scientific research on the birds
C．attract people to watch the birds	D．award people who protect the birds

4. Which of the following words can best describe Will?

A．Humorous.

B．Generous.

C．Determined.

D．Creative.

5 . 阅读下列短文，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。

Five-year-old Naomi lost her teddy bear on a hiking path     1     the autumn of 2020. Teddy was the first gift Naomi’s parents gave to her. Despite     2    (constant) checking with the lost and found, her family didn’t get the bear back. Fortunately, Ranger (护林员) Tom,     3     monitors actual bear activity, came across the teddy bear. He kept it and rode with it until a friend of the family spotted the bear and helped send it back home nearly a year later.

6 . My, what a big beak you have!

For humans, adapting to climate change will mostly be a matter of technology. More air conditioning, better-designed houses and bigger flood defenses may help to make the effects of a warmer world less harmful.     1     In a paper published in Trends & Evolution, a team led by Sara Ryding, a PhD candidate at Deakin University, shows that is already happening. Climate change is already altering the bodies of many animal species, giving them bigger beaks (喙), legs and ears.

In some species of Australian parrot, for instance, beak size has increased by between 4% and 10% since 1871. Another study, this time in North American dark-eyed juncos, another bird, found the same pattern.     2    

All that is perfectly consistent with evolutionary theory. “Allen’s rule”, named for Joel Asaph Allen, who suggested it in 1877, holds that warm-blooded animals in hot places tend to have larger body parts than those in temperate (温带的) regions.     3     Being richly filled with blood vessels, and not covered by feathers, beaks make an ideal place for birds to get rid of heat. Fennec foxes, meanwhile, which are native to the Sahara Desert, have strikingly large ears, especially compared with their Arctic cousins.

Ms. Ryding is not the first researcher to take that approach. But it is hard, when dealing with individual species, to prove that climate change was the cause of an anatomical (解剖学的) changes. All sorts of other factors, from changes in prey to the evolving reproductive preferences of males or females, might have been driving the changes.     4     The team combined data from different species in different places. Since they have little in common apart from living on a warming planet, climate change is the most reasonable explanation.

    5     That may change as warming accelerates. Since any evolutionary adaptation comes with trade-offs (妥协), it is unclear how far the process might go. Bigger beaks might make feeding harder, for instance. Larger wings are heavier, and bigger legs cost more energy to grow.

A．However, looking at the bigger picture makes the pattern clearer.

B．For now, at least, the increase is small, never much more than 10%.

C．Animals will have to rely on changing their bodies or their behaviors.

D．It seems that the future world is going to be hotter than humans are used to.

E．Therefore, the negative effects of a warmer world are visible in these animals’ bodies.

F．Such adaptations boost an animal’s surface area relative to its body, helping it to release extra heat.

G．Similar trends are seen in mammals, with species of mice and bats evolving bigger ears, legs and wings.

8 . In America when people say “man’s best friend” they don’t mean another person. Instead they are talking about a lovely animal: A dog! These words show the friendship between people and animals. Dogs and other pets can give happiness to people’s lives. Some people think of their pets as their children. A few even leave all their money to their pets when they die!

Animals can help people too. Dogs can be taught to become the "eyes" for a blind person or “ears” for a deaf people. Scientists have found that pets help people live longer! They make people happier too. Because of that animals are brought into hospitals for “visit”.

Americans hold “Be—Kind-to—Animals Week” in the first week of May.

Pets shows are held during the week. Even if you don’t live in America you can do this too. How? First think about how animals make your life richer. If you have a pet take more time this week to play with it. Remember to give it delicious food. Also be sure to keep your pet from those unwanted babies.

If you don’t have a pet, be kind to animals around you. For example if you see a street dog don't kick it or throw things at it. Instead just leave it alone or better yet make friends with it.   If others around you do bad things to an animal try to stop them. As people we must protect animals who can’t speak for themselves.

1. "A few even leave all their money to their pets when they die!" means that__________

A．pets have the right to inherit(继续)money.	B．money can give pets happiness.
C．it’s the best way to spend money.	D．some pets are taken as children.

2. Why are dogs brought to hospitals?

A．Because they are ill and need to see doctors.	B．Because they can make the patients happier.
C．Because they can find out the problems of the patients.	D．Because doctors can do experiments on them.

3. The words "man’s best friends" shows____________.

A．the friendship between people.	B．the friendship between people and animals.
C．the friendship between animals.	D．the friendship between men and women

10 . They Consider Rats Lifesavers

When people hear the word “rat”, they may think of dirty animals that spread diseases. And if you are an English learner, you may also connect the word rat with bad expressions. For example, calling someone a rat is a big insult (侮辱) and “rat race” describes a joyless, hurried way of living.

    1    

However, the rat trainers at the nonprofit organization, APOPO, see these animals very differently.     2    

Based in Tanzania, APOPO trains a kind of rats to find landmines (地雷). And the rats with their extraordinary sense of smell are very good at the job. APOPO calls their animal team Hero Rats.

Ellie Cutright is an APOPO trainer from Charleston, South Carolina. The researcher shared her very high opinions of rats in a discussion with VOA.     3     “Everybody should know that these rats aren’t stupid. They’re not terrible animals. They're really intelligent and they can be trained to do some amazing things.”

Human beings have used metal-searching devices to do this work for years. But rats — it turns out — do it better. And they also cost less money.

    4     “When the rats are working in the field and they find a landmine, they scratch (挠) on the ground and that’s how we know. We place a little marker there, and then we can go safely to remove those landmines and get rid of them.” Once trained, the rats can work in minefields in Tanzania and other countries around the world.

    5     However, they still do not weigh enough to cause a landmine to explode. Cutright praises the impact of their work. “I think the work that APOPO does is really important in kind of spreading the word that rats are not just a pest. They really are heroes and they show us every day that they are worthy of that name.”

A．So, rats generally are not beloved animals either in life or in the English language.

B．Worldwide there are 110 million hidden landmines left over from wars.

C．A rat is an animal that looks like a large mouse with a long tail.

D．She wants everyone to know how useful these animals are.

E．This kind of rats are large compared to other kinds of rats.

F．Cutright explains how the search process (过程) works.

G．They consider rats “lifesavers”