1 . I dreamed of playing the piano as a kid and managed to get into the Royal Academy of Arts in my 30s, I visited Thailand where I met my wife. My wife works at a sanctuary(保护区) called Elephants World. On my 50th birthday, she persuaded the manager of Elephants World to allow us to bring a piano there to play for the rescued elephants. I wanted to make the effort to carry the heavy piano myself, knowing these animals have worked for humans all their life and that many are disabled from being treated badly. It was challenging. At last, we used a truck to transport my piano and placed it in a field.

Elephants are almost always hungry — if they get the opportunity, they’ll eat and won’t stop. But as soon as I started playing, one elephant, who was blind, stopped eating and listened. I realized that this elephant, trapped in a world of darkness, loved music. From that day, there was no more concern, and that was the beginning of the connection between me and these huge creatures.

I continue to play for these elephants that run freely, though I could be under threat of attack. But I have faith that music somehow makes them quiet and relaxed. Once, a particularly dangerous male elephant walked straight to me when I started playing, and curled (卷) his trunk. He looked like a baby and just stood by the piano, which was incredible.

I’d played pre-recorded music in the jungle, but they didn’t seem to react; the same with the electric piano. A traditional piano, the sounds of which spread across the woods, seems to communicate better with the animals. They can pick up sounds through their feet. I also think elephants understand the human expression, which shows music really is a universal language. And music has become an essential part of their life, illustrating the profound impact that music can have on these creatures.

I never would have thought I’d combine my love for the piano with an unexpected love for elephants.

1. What does the underlined word “It” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Playing the piano for the elephants.	B．Getting the manager’s permission.
C．Getting the piano into the sanctuary.	D．Working for human beings for long.

2. What boosted the author’s confidence to play for the elephants?

A．His passion for music.	B．The response of an elephant.
C．The support from his wife.	D．His sympathy for the elephants.

3. What does the example of the male elephant in paragraph 3 show?

A．The music has a calming influence.	B．Male elephants prefer music.
C．The author is highly skilled in piano.	D．People often misunderstand elephants.

4. What does the author say about the elephants in paragraph 4?

A．They have special language.	B．They bond with him soon.
C．They are sensitive to sounds.	D．They can feel live music.

2 . Lucy was rescued from a rural farm in New South Wales, Australia, two years ago. She was suffering from chlamydia (衣原体病), a disease widespread among koalas. Today, she is one of “the lucky” living creatures in tree corridors (走廊) that have been created by volunteers to protect koalas and other animals by saving their quickly shrinking habitats, or natural environment.

The corridors, planted by the local conservation group Bangalow Koalas, are made up of large systems of plants. They are intended for koalas and other animals like the glossy black cockatoos, possums, and wallabies. All of them are endangered, or at risk of becoming extinct. The corridors provide a safe path across the koala’s increasingly broken habitat. “Our corridors are actually trying to get them away from humans, from cars and from dogs,” said Linda Sparrow, president of Bangalow Koalas. “They can safely move across the landscapes and don’t have to put up with us humans.”

The koala is predicted to be extinct in the wild in New South Wales by 2050. Some of the biggest dangers include wildfires and habitat loss through land clearing for development. Koalas have already been declared endangered in several Australian states. A recent report by the Australian Koala Foundation said the animal was worth an estimated $3.2 billion per year to the tourism industry.

Founded in 2016, Bangalow Koalas has planted over 936,000 trees on 119 properties, helping koala conservation and improving the local ecosystem. The group, which depends on com munity volunteers, aims to plant 500,000 trees by 2025. Volunteer Lindy Stacker, who has been planting trees for over five years, still remains devoted to the cause. She said the activity is good for mental health and has brought the community together. “I can’t imagine a world where there’s no koalas in the wild. We’re going to do everything we can possibly to. make sure that won’t happen,” Lindy said.

1. Who is Lucy?

A．A farmer.

B．A patient.

C．A volunteer.

D．A koala.

2. What are the tree corridors intended to do?

A．To shelter koalas from human threat.	B．To test the local natural environment.
C．To save koalas suffering from chlamydia.	D．To stop koalas’ habitats from being rebuilt.

3. What does the author want to show in paragraph 3?

A．The reason for koalas’ extinction.	B．Koalas’ value in tourism industry.
C．The necessity of saving koalas.	D．People’s deep love for koalas.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Bangalow Koalas: A Group Intended For Koalas

B．Tree Corridors: A Lifeline For Endangered Koalas

C．Bangalow Koalas: Call On Volunteers For Koalas’ Protection

D．Tree Corridors: Responsible For The Loss Of Koalas’ Habitats

3 . Laura Sharkey breeds mixed-breed dogs, but they’re not Goldendoodles, Chiweenies, Pomskys, or any other designer crosses. She doesn’t even aim for a specific build, size, or coat. “I’m not concerned with what they look like,” she says of her puppies. “I don’t want any genetic pressure other than health and state of mind.”

Sharkey and Eric a Pytlovany, both dog trainers, founded BosunDogs in 2019 after witnessing clients continually face severe behavioral challenges in adopted dogs. They regularly see owners face rehoming or even euthanizing (使安乐死) their pets due to health issues. “I would really love for all families who want a nice dog to be able to get a nice dog —and we don’t have that right now,” says Sharkey, who also owns WOOFS! dog-training centers in Arlington, Virginia. “I decided that the best way I could do that was to breed them.”

Sharkey is part of the growing functional-breeding movement, which raises dogs in small-scale settings to be friendly and healthy pets, with less focus on purebred (纯血统的) status. “I want to breed dogs for what I think is the actual highest function a dog has, especially in this country, which is as a companion animal,” says Sharkey.

In particular, Sharkey hopes to offer an alternative to purebred puppies, around a third of which are bred in high-volume kennels (犬舍). And while some of these facilities are regulated by the USDA and meet standards such as Purdue University’s Canine Care Certified, many don’t pay as much attention to selecting healthy breeding dogs and providing adequate puppy enrichment as small-scale breeders do, says Sara Reusche, owner of Paws Abilities Dog Training in Rochester, Minnesota.

Some concerned with the health and welfare of purebred puppies choose to adopt shelter animals as an alternative. But this route may not be feasible for everyone—especially in high-demand areas, such as the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, and West Coast. Twenty years ago, many U. S. shelters euthanized dogs to provide space for new intakes, explains Reusche.

1. Why does Laura Sharkey breed mixed-breed dogs?

A．She likes the dog’s appearance.

B．Mixed-breed dogs are easy to raise.

C．She aims for a specific build and size.

D．She cares more about dog’s health and inner nature.

2. What’s the purpose of the functional-breeding movement?

A．To breed healthy dogs to accompany people.

B．To raises dogs in small-scale settings.

C．To adopt shelter animals as a pet.

D．To sell dogs to make money.

3. What’s the author’s opinion on the condition of dogs in high-volume kennels?

A．They are not so healthy.	B．They get balanced nutrition.
C．They are all very tender and mild.	D．They don’t meet certain standards.

4. What does the underlined word “feasible” mean in Paragraph 5?

A．popular	B．acceptable
C．dissatisfied	D．inconsistent

4 . A British company has proposed releasing a GM(genetically modified) strain of the diamondback moth (菱形斑纹蛾), which has been developed to help reduce the population of these vegetable-eating insects.

Male diamondback moths carrying a deadly gene would be released which would cause their off springs (后代) to die almost immediately. Then the fall in their numbers could help to increase crop yields for farmers.

Oxitec, the company which came up with the idea, hopes to begin trials next year but faces opposition from groups who say the untested technology could threaten wildlife and human health.

“Mass releases of GM insects into the British countryside would be impossible to recall if anything went wrong. Changing one part of an ecosystem can have knock-on effects on others in ways that are poorly understood. This could include an increase in different types of pests. Wildlife that feeds on insects could be harmed if there are changes to their food supply” said Dr Helen Wallace, the director of Gene-Watch UK, who has sat on government advisory bodies.

Hadyn Parry, Oxitec’s chief executive, said there was demand from farmers for the technology and that using GM insects to kill the pests that feed on food crops is better for the environment than chemical sprays. The firm, which is supported by grants from the taxpayer, is developing a number of GM insects that would be used in Britain and around the world to protect crops and combat disease in humans.

Oxitec has contacted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to ask what controls, if any, should be put in place around GM moth trials. A spokesman said that while its officials and advisers have discussed Oxitec’s plans, there is yet to be a formal application for a trial. Consequently the department has not reached a view on whether it should go ahead.

1. People strongly object to the idea mainly because they think _______.

A．the technology won’t be as effective as chemical sprays

B．the technology may bring about knock-on effects on insects

C．the technology won’t be well controlled

D．the technology may not be good for wildlife and human health

2. What is Dr Helen Wallace’s attitude towards the idea?

A．Disapproving.

B．Positive.

C．Doubtful.

D．Not mentioned.

3. The underlined word “combat” in the fifth paragraph can be replaced by“_______”.

A．struggle

B．avoid

C．fight

D．contract

4. Which of the following can be learned from the text?

A．Oxitec still hasn’t formed any plans to control the trials.

B．Oxitec has decided to begin the trial this year.

C．Taxpayers will not continue to support Oxitec’s research.

D．Farmers prefer GM insects to chemical sprays.

6 . One Saturday in June, I got off the train from Vienna at Altenberg station, in the midst of a gathering of bathers, such as often flock to our village at fine weekends.

I had gone only a few steps along the street and the crowd had not yet scattered when, high above me in the air, I saw a bird whose species I could not at first determine. It flew with slow, measured wing-beats, varied at set intervals by longer periods of gliding. It seemed too heavy to be a hawk; for a stork (鹳), it was not big enough and, even at that height, neck and feet should have been visible. Then the bird made a sudden turn so that the setting sun shone for a second full on the underside of the great wings which lit up like stars in the blue of the skies. The bird was white. By Heaven, it was my cockatoo (凤头鹦鹉)! The steady movements of his wings clearly indicated that he was setting out on a long-distance flight.

“What should I do? Should I call to the bird?” Well, have you ever heard the flight-call of the greater cockatoo? No? But you have probably heard pig-killing in the traditional method. Imagine the loudest long cry a pig could make, picked up by a microphone and amplified many times over by a powerful speaker. A man can imitate it quite successfully, though somewhat weak, by shouting at the top of his voice “O-ah”. I had already proved that the cockatoo understood this imitation and promptly “came to heel”. But would it work at such a height? A bird always has great difficulty in making the decision to fly downwards at a steep angle. To yell, or not to yell, that was the question. If I yelled and the bird came down, all would be well, but what if it sailed calmly on through the clouds? How would I then explain my song to the crowd of people?

Finally, I did yell. The people around me stood still, rooted to the spot. The bird hesitated for a moment on outstretched wings, and then, folding them, it descended in one dive and landed upon my outstretched arm. Once again I was master of the situation.

1. What was the author’s cockatoo like?

A．It looked like a hawk.	B．It was blue and shiny.
C．Its neck and feet were long.	D．It was white with great wings.

2. How did the author signal to his cockatoo?

A．By waving at it quickly.	B．By singing a song loudly.
C．By screaming his head off.	D．By using a powerful loudspeaker.

3. What does the underlined part “came to heel” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Flew about.

B．Came back.

C．Came around.

D．Landed on the ground.

4. Which can be inferred about the author from the text?

A．He knew birds very well.	B．He could speak with his bird.
C．He liked showing off in public.	D．He often surprised people around him.

8 . A new study reveals that pigeons (鸽子) can tackle some problems just like artificial intelligence, enabling them to solve difficult tasks that might challenge humans. Previous research has theorized that pigeons employ a problem-solving strategy, involving a trial-and- error approach, which is similar to the approach used in AI models but differs from humans’ reliance on selective attention and rule use. To examine it, Brandon Turner, a psychology professor at the Ohio State University, and his colleagues conducted the new study.

In the study, the pigeons were presented with various visual images, including lines of different widths and angles, and different types of rings. The pigeons had to peck (啄) a button on the right or left to indicate the category to which the image belonged. If they got it correct, they received food; if they were wrong, they received nothing. Results showed that, through trial and error, the pigeons improved their accuracy in categorization tasks, increasing their correct choices from about 55% to 95%.

Researchers believed pigeons used associative learning, which is linking two phenomena with each other. For example, it is easy to understand the link. between “water” and “wet”. “Associative learning is frequently assumed to be far too primitive to. explain complex visual categorization like what we saw the pigeons do,” Turner said. But that’s exactly what the researchers found.

The researchers’ AI model tackled the same tasks using just the two simple mechanisms that pigeons were assumed to use: associative learning and error correction. And, like the pigeons, the AI model learned to make the right predictions to significantly increase the number of correct answers. For humans, the challenge when given tasks like those given to pigeons is that they would try to come up with rules that could make the task easier. But in this case, there were no rules, which upsets humans.

What’s interesting, though, is that pigeons use this method of learning that is very similar to AI designed by humans, Turner said. “We celebrate how smart we are that we designed artificial intelligence: at the same time, we regard pigeons as not clever animals,” he said.

1. What is the purpose of the new study?

A．To test a theory.	B．To evaluate a model.
C．To employ a strategy.	D．To involve an approach.

2. What were the pigeons expected to do in the experiment?

A．Draw circles.

B．Correct errors.

C．Copy gestures.

D．Identify images.

3. What do pigeons and AI have in common according to the study?

A．They are of equal intelligence.

B．They are good at making rules.

C．They respond rapidly to orders from humans.

D．They employ simple ways to get things done.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Pigeons’ trial-and-error method is revealed

B．Pigeons outperform humans in tough tasks

C．“Not smart” pigeons may be as smart as AI

D．AI models after pigeons’ learning approach

9 . Of all the creatures on the planet, the narwhal is one of the strangest looking. It’s a whale which has a large protruding tusk coming out of its head; that’s how it got, its nickname, the unicorn of the sea. They live in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Canada, Russia and East Greenland. However, experts say some populations of narwhal could be extinct by 2025, and it’s all because of noise pollution.

Narwhals rely on echolocation, which they use to find food and navigate their surroundings. The animal produces a sound wave which bounces off an object. They pick this reflected sound up through their lower jaw, and information on features like size and speed passes to their ears. However, increase in human marine activity, as well as climate change, has resulted in the Arctic Ocean becoming noisier, which means it’s more difficult for narwhals to rely on sound. Susanna Blackwell, who studies the effects of underwater noise on marine animals, told the BBC that there is noisier activity in the Arctic Ocean than ever because, as sea ice melts, new navigation routes are opening. And while icebergs breaking and creaking have been part of the ocean soundscape for hundreds of years, man-made noise is much harder for animals to adapt to, particularly as these changes are so sudden.

Research published in Science Advances in 2023 recorded the reactions of narwhals to the simulated (模拟的) noises of oil expeditions made by a patrol vessel (巡逻船). The scientists tagged and tracked the creatures and found that, on hearing these sounds, they ended deep dives and stopped clicking, the echolocation signal they use for finding food underwater. This is the same reaction narwhals have to orcas, who hunt them, meaning human-made noise could trigger the creature’s “threat button”.

So, what can we do? Charlotte Findlay, a postdoctoral fellow at Aarhus University, says “noise is actually quite easy to solve. We need to either turn it off or turn it down.”

1. What can we learn about the narwhal from the first paragraph?

A．It has a large tusk from its jaw.	B．It currently faces the risk of dying out.
C．It lives in the southern hemisphere.	D．It sounds different from other whales.

2. What does Susanna Blackwell’s study show?

A．Narwhals navigate their surroundings by echolocation.

B．Sea ice melting makes the ocean noisier than ever.

C．Man-made noise has a greater impact on marine animals.

D．Narwhals are not used to icebergs breaking and creaking.

3. What does the research mentioned in paragraph 3 imply?

A．A patrol vessel was applied in the research.	B．Orcas are the natural enemy to narwhals.
C．Noises would change the echolocation signal.	D．Scientists tagged narwhals under the water.

4. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Survival of Narwhal threatened by man-made noise.

B．Experts predicting the extinction of the narwhal.

C．New research set to solve underwater noise pollution.

D．Narwhal population affected by underwater noise pollution.