1 . Scientists from the University of Texas at Austin have finally solved the mystery of a huge fossil that has been unlabeled and unidentified sitting at a Chilean museum for almost a decade. The relic, which looks like a deflated football, is the largest known soft-shelled egg from a marine reptile that lived on the earth over 66 million years ago. Measuring more than 11 by 7 inches, it is also the second-largest egg belonging to any known animal, only behind the now-extinct elephant bird.

The rare fossil named “The Thing” was discovered inside a rock formation in Seymour Island off the coast of Antarctica in 2011 by a team of researchers including David Rubilar-Rogers. Over the years, the paleontologist at Chile's National Museum of Natural History has showed the strange fossil to every geologist that came to the museum. However, no one was able to identify “The Thing's” origin until Julia Clarke, a professor at UT-Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences, visited in 2018.

“I showed it to her, and, after a few minutes, Julia told me it could be an egg!” Rubilar-Rogers said.

To confirm Clarke's suspect, Lucas Legendre, a student at UT-Austin who led the study, examined the fossil under a microscope. Sure enough, he found several layers of membrane, confirming that the fossil was indeed a soft-shelled egg, similar to the obvious, quick-hatching eggs laid by some modern-day snakes. “The shell is very thin,” said Clarke.

The fossil's identification led to an even bigger mystery — what animal could have laid an egg this size? After considering several potential parents, the researchers concluded that the egg was laid by an ancient marine reptile like a mosasaur. The fact that the rock formation where the egg had been found had fossil evidence of baby mosasaurs and the offspring of other marine animals further strengthened their theory.

1. What can we know from the first paragraph?

A．"The Thing" is the largest egg laid by animals.

B．"The Thing" has been discovered for a century.

C．"The Thing" looks like a football not having enough gas.

D．“The Thing” belongs to an elephant bird.

2. What is Clarke's guess about "The Thing"?

A．It may be laid by a snake.	B．It could be an egg.
C．It has a very thick shell.	D．It has existed for 66 thousand years.

3. What did Legendre do to test Clarke's guess ?

A．Use a microscope to examine "The Thing".

B．Analyze a lot of data collected by researchers.

C．Do as many as experiments with his colleagues.

D．Compare the fossil with the eggs of various animals,

4. What does "their theory" in the last paragraph refer to?

A．An ancient marine reptile laid the egg.

B．The egg's potential parents are snakes.

C．The way of rock formation affects the egg.

D．The size of the eggs lies in the weight of the animals.

3 . 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。

As the name suggests, Sichuan Hot Pot was born in Sichuan Province,     1     is known for its     2    (prefer) for spicy food. This mouth-burning and tongue-numbing hot pot has been gaining a large amount of attention in recent years in foreign countries.

The     3    (common) accepted theory traces the Sichuan Hot Pot back to early 20 century when the port workers and fishermen who worked and lived along the Yangtze River could not afford     4    (eat) the regular cuts of meat so they figured out a way to cook cheap meats and offal(内脏)     5     boiling them in a pot of extremely spicy soup. The use of spicy soup was first     6    (intend) to cover the taste from the offal. However, after some     7    (adjust) of fragrant spices, this one pot meal became a popular dish in Sichuan region.

After years of continuous development, eating Sichuan Hot Pot today is no longer     8     the poor like. Offal still remains as classic hot pot ingredients, but high quality meats and seafood ingredients are also common on the menu. Over the past years, the modern hot pot     9    (shape) into a complex meal that starts with sliced meat, offal, and seafood,     10    (follow) by vegetables and ends with noodles.

5 . 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。

By the Shang Dynasty (around 1600-1046 BCE), these symbols     1     (become) a well-developed writing system. Over the years, the system developed into different forms, as it was a time     2     people were divided geographically,     3     (lead) to many varieties of dialects and characters. This,     4    , changed under Emperor Qinshihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BCE).

6 . 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。

The 1918 Spanish flu was the most deadly outbreak in history. It was caused by an HIN1 virus found in genes of birds’ origin. Although there is no     1     (universe) agreement regarding     2     the virus actually originated, it was first identified in the army in the United States.

It     3     (estimate) that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population of that time became infected with this virus. The number of     4     (death) was reported to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000     5     (occur) in the United States. The death rate was high in people younger than 5 years old, 20-40 years old, and 65 years and     6     (old). The high death rate in healthy people, including     7     in the 20-to 40-year-old age group, was     8     unique feature of this disease.

    9     no vaccine to protect against influenza infection and no medicine to treat secondary bacteria infections, control efforts worldwide were limited to non-medical methods, like separation, quarantine, good personal hygiene, and ban on public gatherings, which were applied in     10     (heavy) infected areas.

8 . 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。

Located in the Haidian District, northwest of Beijing, the Summer Palace is 15 kilometers away from the downtown area. The Summer Palace,     1    is made up of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, covers an area of 2.9 square kilometers. Being the     2     (large) and most well-preserved royal garden in China, it     3     (great) influences Chinese horticulture (园艺) and landscape     4     its famous natural views and cultural interests.

Originally named Qingyi Yuan or the Garden of Clear Nipples, the Summer Palace was first built in 1750. It later became the main residence of royal members in     5     end of the Qing Dynasty.     6    , like most of the gardens in Beijing, the Summer Palace     7     (destroy) by fire. Then rebuilt in 1886, it was supposed to serve as a summer resort(避暑胜地) for the Empress Dowager Cixi. After another hit by the Eight-power Alied Forces in 1900, the Summer Palace took the government two years     8     (repair). In 1924, it was open to the public.

It was not until 1998     9     The Summer Palace was added to the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO , and became one of the first national AAAAA tourist     10     (attraction) in China.