1 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. alarming       B. properties     C. revealed     D. invasive       E. rescue     F. instrumental G. households   H. document     I. concerned     J. amateur       K. initiatives

Before science became professionalized in the 19th century,     1     naturalists were collecting information and helping us understand the natural world. A 2009 study found that nearly 50% of UK     2     feed wild birds. The National Trust has more than 5 million members, and 60,000 active volunteers helping to protect the countryside as well as historic     3    . Now, with our environment arguably under greater threat than ever and species declining at a(n)     4     rate, volunteers are once again at the forefront of efforts to limit the damage.

Volunteers and enthusiasts can be powerful drivers for big changes. On the Isle of Man, more than 8,000 people (nearly 10% of the population) are involved in regular weekend beach cleans. At one recent event, 123 volunteers turned up and removed 183 bags of litter in just a couple of hours. Thanks to     5     such as this, the island shares Unesco biosphere reserve status with the Galápagos, Yellowstone in the US, Uluru in Australia, and hundreds of other sites.

Recreational divers are making a real difference underwater too. They monitor the spread of     6     species, and record how native species respond. Divers also     7     levels of marine litter and other human impacts. Volunteer divers have played an important role in collecting information about marine conservation zones. Volunteers have also made a vital contribution to the conservation of basking sharks. The work of a citizen science Basking Shark Project in the 1980s and 90s was     8     in getting these sharks on the protected species list in the UK, while satellite tagging     9     the first recorded transatlantic crossing by a basking shark.

Volunteers and enthusiasts can be powerful drivers for big changes. No one can know better, or care more about, our most special places than the people who live in them and give up their free time to look after them. As a group of divers and     10     residents who lived on the shores of the bay, they took their campaign on to national and international stages and continue to inspire people who might otherwise feel powerless when faced with threats to the places that matter to them.

2 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

There’s nothing more annoying than settling down to sleep and hearing the sound of a mosquito buzzing around you.

The only thought most of us ever give to this noise is “I need to get rid of this insect, immediately”, but it turns out that the mosquito is actually quite a(n)     1     creature.

A team of scientists from Oxford University in the UK, in     2     with the Royal Veterinary College in London and Chiba University in Japan, recently published a study that found some interesting facts about the world’s most     3     insect.

By placing eight cameras inside a tiny film studio, the scientists could study several mosquitoes up close. The high-tech cameras filmed the insects at 1,000 frames per second, meaning the scientists were able to study the insects’     4     in never-before-seen detail. However, it wasn’t always straightforward.

“Recording mosquitoes during free-flight represented a huge technical challenge due to their small size,     5     wing beat frequency, and the presence of large antennae and legs that can     6     the view of their wings,” Simon Walker of Oxford University, co-author of the study, wrote.

Published in the journal Nature, the study found that mosquitoes flap their wings around 800 times a second. As a     7    , house flies flap their wings about 200 times a second, and hummingbirds 50 times a second.

Richard Bomphrey of the Royal Veterinary College, the study’s leader, believes that mosquitoes have a unique flying method that sets them apart from other flying insects.

“We predicted that they must make use of clever tricks, as the wings     8     their direction at the end of each half-stroke.” he wrote in the study.

Hopefully, the discovery of the mosquito’s special abilities will be of benefit to engineers in the future. The findings could lead to better aircraft, or even improvement to tools like lenses or pumps.

But the scientists hope their study can one day be     9     to new developments in more human-focused use.

“The more we know about mosquitoes, the better our chance of understanding their flight behavior, how they carry disease and     10     how to stop them from doing so,” Walker wrote.

3 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

Like many people acting on the desire to eat healthy and local, Acropolis resident Eduardo Jimenez decided to plant a garden in his backyard. He ploughed the soil, he planted the seeds, and he even set up a fence to keep out the deer. Eduardo did everything right. Or so it seems. However, when     1     time has come, he has not one tomato, bean, or leaf of lettuce to show for his hard work. How did this happen? The answer comes in the form of a small, brown, particularly smelly insect: the stink bug.

Unlike their picky cousins, stink bugs feed on some 300 species of plants, including figs, blueberries, corn, and kiwi fruits as well as soybeans, peas, and weeds. Although they do little damage to the plant itself, they make the fruits and vegetables     2    . For this reason, stink bugs pose the most serious threat to the big agriculturalists and macro farm operators. Macro farmers have more     3     in their produce, and therefore have more to lose. While hobbyists like Eduardo are left to face the disappointment of an unsuccessful garden, macro farmers are forced to live with the loss of entire tracts of cash crops—a fact that has left many     4     able to clothe their children or put food on the table.

Last season alone, several New Jersey pepper farmers saw 75% of their crops damaged. Pennsylvania lost half of its peach population, and, according to the US Apple Association, apple farmers in the mid-Atlantic states lost $37 million. This year could be worse. As a result of this     5     in the supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, shoppers have seen     6    —sometimes quite dramatic—in prices at the grocery store. Prices of apples in Maryland are up 8%. In the north-Atlantic states, prices for peppers shot up an astonishing 14%. Not only are these items becoming more expensive, but they are also getting harder to find. Last week, Marge Jenkins of Athens, Georgia reported having to check three different stores before encountering a decent batch of peas. And this, she assures us, is a regular       7    . Accidentally brought from Asia, the stink bug has no natural     8     in America, and thus its population is rising sharply. Reported sightings of stink bugs are becoming increasingly numerous, as the dried, brown, trapezoidal(不规则四边形) shells of the dead bugs are everywhere in some areas. This has farmers and scientists alike     9     their heads in search of a remedy. Hope, they believe, may lie with an Asian parasitic wasp(黄蜂), which helpfully lays its eggs inside stink bug eggs.

The larvae(幼虫) of the wasp consume the stink bug from the inside. But the     10     of such a solution is still several years away, as scientists must first determine if it is safe for the wasp to be introduced into America. Until then, some farmers are resorting to homemade traps. Others have even contemplated the use of peacocks and praying mantises, which, they imagine, will gulp down the little stinkers.

4 . A desert doesn’t sound like the most promising place to plant a tree．Yet，since 1978，China has planted at least 66 billion of them across its arid northern territories，     1     (hope)to transform its sandhills into a Great Green Wall．

The tree-planting strategy is     2     massive attempt to help fight desertification(荒漠化)．    3     (Rough)a million square miles of China—a quarter of the country—is covered in sand．Many scientists are skeptical planting trees will make a difference in the long run．But China’s State Forestry Administration claims the measure     4     (reduce)sandstorms by 20 percent and desertification by nearly 5,000 miles in recent years．

Ian Teh lives in Malaysia but     5     (work)throughout Asia，documenting humans’ influence     6     the landscape．Over six days in May 2016，he photographed tree-planting     7    (plan) in the Gobi Desert in northern China．They seemed to be     8     (Success)in places like Duolun County，some 220 miles north of Beijing，    9     the government has planted 2．6 million trees over the past 17 years．The place felt almost grassy．“To be honest，    10     was hard to imagine it was ever a desert at all，”he says．