During summer vacation when I was twelve, a sawmill (锯木厂) was operating in the woods near our farm. Early each morning, I’d watch the men cut down big trees, saw them into logs, and deliver the logs to the mill.
The logs were dragged by a team of horses named Jack and Billy. They were gentle, and I petted them every chance I got.
One day, Mr. David, the mill owner, said he’d pay me 15 cents a day to bring fresh water to his men. In 1942, that was a lot of money! I said yes.
One afternoon when Jack and Billy were pulling a log up to the mill, a stick injured Jack’s right front hoof (蹄). After Mr. David removed the stick, the horse driver said that the foot should be doctored. But Mr. David said he didn’t have time for that. He said if the horse couldn’t earn his keep, he’d get one that could.
I felt sick inside. Jack and Billy were my best friends! I couldn’t stop thinking about Jack’s foot and what Mr. David had said.
For the rest of the day the team pulled logs from the woods. By nightfall, Jack was limping badly. Mr. David told his crew that the mill would be closed for three days because he’d be away for the Fourth of July. He offered to pay me a dollar to feed and water the horses while he was gone. I quickly agreed.
The next morning, I rode my bike to Mr. David’s barn. I wanted to look at Jack’s hoof. I reached down and grabbed the hair on the back of his leg, as I’d seen Mr. David do, and Jack lifted up his foot so I could see.
The part inside of the big iron shoe looked red and mushy (烂糊的).
I didn’t know anything about medicine, and Mr. David said he wouldn’t pay for a doctor. But if he didn’t earn his keep, Mr. David would get rid of him. But what could I do?
注意:1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
At my house, I saw our neighbor, Mr. Sherman who raised horses and knew how to care for them.
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The morning when Mr. David returned, I jumped on my bike to the mill.
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Undoubtedly, Mother Nature is always attractive to kids. In our childhood, how often did we turn a deaf ear to our parents’ advice? Very often! Thus, we landed ourselves in a situation where we greatly regretted our act of not having listened to the advice of the wise.
Such an unforgettable experience I had at the age of 7 gave me an invaluable lesson, after which I deeply understood why my gentle mother was repeating the boring suggestions and I would try to take her suggestions seriously.
In my childhood, I was so crazy about nature that even playing among the colorful flowers in our garden could make my day. Our house was next to the woods which had always stirred up(激起) great curiosity in me in wanting to find out what was within. Every time I saw fascinating butterflies dancing from the woods, my curiosity grew.
But my mother didn’t like me wandering off on my own and always ensured that I was within her sight. Even if she allowed me to explore the surrounding area on my own, it was only to be somewhere near the house. Being as curious as the cat, I always desired to explore the woods. It seemed as if my mother had understood my desire, so she had warmed me on lots of occasions never to enter the woods alone.
“Mom, can I go out and play in the garden?” I asked.
“Sure,” she would reply each time. “Kate, you can play in the garden but you must promise me one thing—only when I’m with you can you go into the woods. There are no cases of animal attacks on humans, but it’s still dangerous for a little kid like you. It’s too easy to get lost in the woods.”
“Sure, you’ve said that many times!” I answered without patience at her repeated reminders.
注意:1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
However, curiosity got the better of me one morning.
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“Kate?” Behind the trees covered by the rays of the setting sun came my mother’s voice.
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3 . A bill to conserve endangered species was passed by the U.S. House in a 231-to-190 vote on Tuesday.
The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act would create an annual fund of more than $1.3 billion, given to states, and territories for wildlife conservation on the ground. While threatened species have been recognized and protected under the Endangered Species Act since 1973, that law does not provide constant funding to actively maintain their numbers.
The effort comes as scientists and international organizations sound the alarm about accelerating species decline.
“Too many people don’t realize that about one-third of our wildlife is at increased risk of extinction,” said lead House sponsor Debbie Ding-ell, echoing (呼应) a recent study about climate change.
In the United States, there are more than 1,600 endangered or threatened species, but state agencies have identified more than 7 times that number in need of conservation assistance in their wildlife action plans.
“The bottom line is, when we save wildlife we save for ourselves,” said Collin O’ Mara, CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, which supports the bill. He said species loss threatens everything from the insects that pollinate (授粉) plants in the food chain, to sea life that helps to reduce damages to coastlines from storm.
The bill would improve a 1937 law, the Pittman-Robertson Act, which was passed in response to decreasing game and waterfowl species. That law allows states to tax hunting supplies to pay for wildlife and habitat restoration, but that money is not enough to do the same for non-game species.
The act would also invest more in conservation than the existing program for threatened non-game species, called the State Wildlife Grant Program, which awarded states a total of $56 million this year.
1. What do we know about the Endangered Species Act?A.It does not involve continuous funding. |
B.It was passed by the House this Tuesday. |
C.It has proved to be a failed Act. |
D.It ensured the population of all the species. |
A.Human behavior causes species to decline. |
B.People’s efforts matter a lot in conservation. |
C.People lack awareness of animal protection. |
D.The decline of species is beyond imagination. |
A.To indicate they are at risk of dying out. |
B.To illustrate how to protect them properly. |
C.To show they’re more important than others. |
D.To tell man and nature are an organic whole. |
A.Entertainment. | B.News. | C.Technology. | D.Health. |
1. What led to Puri’s research?
A.A wildlife exhibition. | B.Her family’s hope | C.A market visit. |
A.They aren’t accurate. |
B.They can’t catch pictures |
C.They can’t locate hunters |
A.By using better visual recognition. |
B.By analyzing movement patterns. |
C.By studying animals’ living situations. |
A.It is not as good as his system |
B.It will stop much illegal hunting. |
C.Its performance needs to be proved. |
5 . Silkworms(蚕)were first brought from Asia to the ancient city of Byzantium around A. D. 550. It was two men who presented some silkworm eggs from China to Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in Constantinople, where he created a fruitful silk industry. Silkworms reached Italy through Sicily in the 12th century, and by the 13th century, silkworm farming had moved north to the Po River Valley. By the 16th century, silkworm farming had been introduced to the Como area.
Since silkworms require a constant, mild temperature, entire sections of farmhouses were turned over to them and whole families would often join in the work, adding fuel round the clock to fires to maintain the proper warmth. “Some even gave the worms the house and slept outside with the animals, ”says Ester Geraci, an official at Como’s Educational Silk Museum.
The process began with the 10-to 14-day incubation(孵化)of silkworm eggs. According to the museum, keeping the tiny, delicate eggs at just the right temperature was the task of the women. Once hatched, the worms, only about one millimeter long, had to be fed night and day. From a birth weight of only half a milligram, they would grow 10, 000-fold to a final weight of around five grams and a length of 8 to 9 centimeters in just 30 days. Then, in the final three days of their youth stage, the worms would start to make their cocoons (茧) out of one continuous thin silk-up to 1, 200 meters long-which they produced from near their mouths. After about a week, the cocoons were placed briefly in a hot, dry place to kill the adult insects inside. These cocoons were then put in hot water to facilitate the difficult and boring task of obtaining the silk. The minute end of the cocoon’s silk had to be located and placed onto a round object, which then unwound it from the water-warmed cocoon. The silk was then cleaned and made into fabric.
1. Which can best describe silkworm farming outside China?A.It was a short-term investment. |
B.It benefitted fruit growers. |
C.It upset local emperors. |
D.It was a success story. |
A.Raising silkworms was a backbreaking job. |
B.Silkworms like living in a cool environment. |
C.Raising silkworms in farmhouses was common. |
D.Silkworms living with other insects grow healthy. |
A.They produce silk 3 days after being hatched. |
B.They gain weight quickly in about a month. |
C.They grow to 8 to 9 centimeters in two weeks. |
D.They need one week to come out of their eggs. |
A.To explain how silkworms reached Italy. |
B.To encourage people to raise silkworms. |
C.To introduce the farming of silkworms. |
D.To show the life cycle of silkworms. |
6 . Earth’s natural resources include air, minerals, plants, soil, water, and wildlife. Conservation is the care and protection of these resources so that they can survive for future generations. It includes maintaining diversity of species, genes, and ecosystems, as well as functions of the environment, such as nutrient cycling.
Continued human population growth has led to unsustainable rates of consumption of our natural resources, resulting in a loss of Earth’s biodiversity. The main factors driving biodiversity loss include habitat destruction, climate change, invasive (入侵的) species and pollution.
Declining biodiversity is closely intertwined with species extinction. While extinction is a normal process of nature, the rate at which it is happening today is not. Scientists estimate that current extinction rates are about a thousand times higher now than would be expected based on the fossil record, and that we may be experiencing a mass extinction event, which is when 75 percent or more species are lost at a time.
The extinction of the passenger pigeon is a famous example of an extinction caused by human activity. It was once the most richest land bird in North America, with a population of approximately three to five billion when Europeans arrived. Despite its vast numbers, this pigeon became extinct in the wild by the 1900s because of overhunting. The last individual bird, named Martha, died in captivity in 1941 at the Cincinnati Zoo.
Conservation practices and policies—ranging from the removal of invasive species, to setting aside protected land for wildlife and plants, to establishing the U. S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)—have been put in place to deal with these extinction pressures. Currently, more than 26,500 species are estimated to be at risk of extinction, though the exact number is difficult to calculate.
1. How does the author illustrate “conservation” in the text?A.By giving a definition. |
B.By offering an example. |
C.By listing some facts. |
D.By making comparisons. |
A.Caused by. |
B.Connected to. |
C.Disturbed by. |
D.Similar to. |
A.To show that animals die out quickly. |
B.To tell North America is perfect for animals. |
C.To explain how species die out in a short time. |
D.To state that man is to blame for extinction. |
A.Conservation, Necessary and Urgent. |
B.The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon. |
C.Effective Ways Done to the Environment. |
D.Protection, More Than the Care for Animals. |
1. How tall is Panda?
A.About 30cm. | B.About 60cm. | C.About 160cm. |
A.To help blind people. | B.To compete with dogs. | C.To dance in the shows. |
A.An English trainer. | B.A reporter. | C.The Panda’s owner. |
A.She can’t get lost. |
B.She will live longer. |
C.She can go everywhere. |
8 . The sun was beginning to sink as I set off into the Harenna Forest. I was on my way to
I
It was too
A.share | B.collect | C.celebrate | D.witness |
A.courtyards | B.fields | C.treetops | D.caves |
A.urgent | B.dangerous | C.expensive | D.pointless |
A.searched | B.recognised | C.followed | D.invited |
A.gathered | B.cleaned | C.dropped | D.checked |
A.shook | B.lit | C.measured | D.decorated |
A.jumping | B.talking | C.testing | D.climbing |
A.hives | B.leaves | C.rope | D.honey |
A.Finally | B.Surprisingly | C.Naturally | D.Immediately |
A.backed | B.dived | C.shouted | D.inched |
A.cut off | B.gone up | C.slid down | D.held onto |
A.high | B.early | C.fast | D.close |
A.hatching | B.training | C.sowing | D.trading |
A.curious | B.hungry | C.bored | D.angry |
A.moment | B.equipment | C.person | D.order |
9 . Hannah Huxford encountered the fry-stealing gull in Bridlington, a coastal town on the Yorkshire coast. Huxford snapped the well-timed photo on her iPhone in 2011; it went viral soon after. A decade later, the fry-stealing gull is appearing on billboards, as part of an advertising campaign for Google.
Researchers recently discovered that food may actually become more attractive to gulls when the birds observe humans handling it first, according to a 2020 study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
Because the birds seem to be attracted to food items that they’ve watched humans touch, another of the study’s authors, says that it’s even more important to properly throw food waste and snack wrappers in the trash. “Our findings suggest that gulls are more likely to approach food that they have seen people drop or put down, so they may associate areas where people are eating with an easy meal, ‘‘ Dr. Laura Kelley said.
The scientists approached 74 herring gulls in coastal towns in Cornwall, tempting them with weighted bags of fried potatoes. Only 19 gulls were curious or hungry enough to linger (逗留), allowing the scientists to place the bag on the ground and retreat a short distance away, waiting in a crouched (蹲下) position to see if a gull would approach.
Their experiments demonstrated that gulls were more cautious about approaching a tempting treat if there was a person nearby who was watching them closely. However, the scientists also found that far fewer of the birds than expected showed interest in investigating the food at all when being stared at.
In fact, people may be able to protect their lunches from gulls by avoiding areas where the birds tend to gather and keeping a closer eye on their meals, she added. “Gulls have a bad reputation but, like all animals, they are just trying to survive,“ Goumas said. “We can try to alleviate the conflict we have with them by making changes in our own behavior. ”
1. Why does the author mention “the fry-stealing gull photo“ in Paragraph 1?A.To open up the topic. | B.To kid about the gull. |
C.To tell us an episode. | D.To introduce the background. |
A.Photos taken by people. | B.Areas full of food waste. |
C.Food that visitors are eating. | D.Snack wrappers in the trash. |
A.They don’t like the food left over by humans. |
B.They approach the treat when they are hungry. |
C.They are interested in eating food with humans. |
D.They probably won’t eat the treat when being watched. |
A.Conservative. | B.Sympathetic. |
C.Skeptical. | D.Indifferent. |
10 . As Gwen Erickson approached 97, she began raising one of America’s most popular, yet endangered butterflies—the monarch butterfly (帝王蝶). She managed to
The whole process is a little
Erickson remembered her first attempt to raise
Erickson doesn’t like to talk about herself and what she does, but she does so this time as she wants to
This new
A.steal | B.donate | C.keep | D.photograph |
A.number | B.size | C.range | D.variety |
A.money-saving | B.labor-demanding | C.energy-efficient | D.time-consuming |
A.sped up | B.turned up | C.woke up | D.grew up |
A.impatient | B.delighted | C.surprised | D.unwilling |
A.accompanied | B.attended | C.greeted | D.impressed |
A.flies | B.pests | C.butterflies | D.bees |
A.regain | B.develop | C.remove | D.express |
A.decoration | B.fossil | C.herb | D.pleasure |
A.allow | B.encourage | C.arrange | D.invite |
A.passion | B.exit | C.species | D.fiction |
A.opportunity | B.result | C.change | D.inspiration |
A.hobby | B.version | C.rumour | D.exercise |
A.promises | B.reminds | C.upsets | D.strengthens |
A.polite | B.generous | C.optimistic | D.purposeful |