1 . 4 Reasons Why Wild Animals Are So Important

As we know, the earth gives us food, medicines and materials, often through wild animals. These wild animals are important to our existence. Sadly, they are becoming extinct at an alarming rate. We need to change this loss of nature and create a future where wildlife and people thrive (蓬勃发展) again.     1     Here are some reasons why wild animals are so important to the world at large.

Wild animals keep balance in ecosystems.

    2     If any part is threatened or becomes extinct, this has a knock-on effect on the whole ecosystem. sending shock waves through the environment. For ecosystems to survive and perhaps even thrive, we must protect all of our wildlife.

Diversity (多样性) means healthier ecosystems and healthier wild animals.

When there is a wildlife issue, you’ll often hear the term biodiversity, which refers to the number of species in an ecosystem.     3     Why do we consider this important? A wide variety of animals means greater productivity and better health. If there are fewer animal species, a disease that affects any species spreads faster and more effectively.

    4    

All of the food that we eat comes from an animal or plant. Living without various food sources causes our nutrition (营养) to suffer. Protecting wildlife and its natural habitats strengthens food safety for humans around the world.

Wildlife helps medical research.

Wild animals have helped us find important medicines that help with many diseases.     5     Many medical systems like Chinese traditional medicines still rely on herbs and spices, but even Western medicine have made great progress with wildlife research.

A．All living things are interconnected.

B．Healthy ecosystems mean a lot of diversity.

C．Or we will lose these animals to future generations.

D．People worldwide depend on wildlife for their snack.

E．Wildlife provides important nutrients for the human race.

F．The human race has always turned to nature for medicine.

G．We should notice the influence caused by wildlife on culture.

2 . The African continent has seen its average monthly temperatures rise by 0.5 — 2 degrees Celsius over the past century, with up to another two degrees of warming projected for the next 100 years. The changing climate will break historical rainfall patterns, but which of these, temperature or rainfall, will have the most impact on a species, like rhinos (犀牛) ?

“Generally speaking, most, if not all, species will. in one way or another, be affected by the changing climate,” says lead author Hlelowenkhosi S. Mamba, who completed this research. It is therefore important to catch tendency (趋势) and model futures for some of the world’s weakest species. It can help prepare to reduce climate change’s effects, hence reducing global biodiversity losses.

To understand how our changing climate will affect rhino populations, Mamba and Timothy Randhir, professor of environmental protection, focused their efforts on the five large national parks that are home to most of the rhinos.

Mamba and Randhir then modeled two scenes for each of the parks: the IPCC’s high-emissions (排放) scenes and a more moderate (适度的) emissions scenes. They projected temperature and rainfall for each of the scenes out to 2055 and 2085 to arrive at a possibility that each park would remain suitable for the rhinos.

Nearly every park will become increasingly drier as emissions increase. This is all very bad news for the rhinos, because the team also found that, though the change in rainfall will not be most suitable for the rhinos, the changes in temperature are greater than what the species can bear.

“The temperature conditions in all study parks will become increasingly unsuitable for the species. And under the high-emissions scenes, the possibility of occurrence of the species falls to zero by 2085,” the authors write.

But to be forewarned is to be prepared in advance. “We propose that park managers think now about increasing water supplies, tree cover, watching for stress and planning to allow rhinos to move from one place to another place as the world warms,” says Randhir.

1. Why does the author ask a question in Paragraph 1?

A．To show an evidence.	B．To stress the main idea.
C．To lead in the topic.	D．To offer some background.

2. What does the second paragraph mainly focus on?

A．The means of the research.	B．The content of the research.
C．The process of the research.	D．The significance of the research.

3. What can we know about the research from the text?

A．Changes in rainfall have a greater effect on rhinos.	B．Each park will have no rhinos in 2055.
C．Changes in temperature affect rhinos more.	D．Each park will be warmer by 4. 5℃ in 2085.

4. What does Randhir mean in the last paragraph?

A．Rhinos are better suited to natural growth.	B．Rhinos are in great danger in the five parks.
C．Park managers should plan to protect rhinos.	D．Park managers must pay more attention to nature.

3 . Blue whales have made themselves at home in a part of the Indian Ocean where they hadn’t been seen for many years, according to a study published late last year. The blue whale, an endangered species, is the largest animal on Earth. These whales can grow to about 100 feet long and the animal’s heart alone can be the size of a small car.

Blue whales were filmed in the waters around the Seychelles in 2020 and 2021. The Seychelles area group of islands that make up the smallest African country. Hunters almost completely wiped out blue whales in the area in the 1960s.

During this recent exploration, however, scientists spotted several of the creatures. Research suggests that these whales are not just passing through — they are staying in the region for months. The discovery was made with the help of a “sound trap”, an object that was fitted with recording equipment and batteries and placed on the seafloor in November 2021. It was left there for a year, recording 15 minutes every hour. When scientists studied the recordings, they discovered the blue whales’ recognizable song, which is so deep that it can’t be heard naturally by human ears.

The whale songs were found between December and April, a common time for blue whales to breed (繁殖) and nurse their young. Kathleen Stafford, one of the researchers, told BBC News that the scientists think the noise was the singing of male whales. “They sing during the breeding season to attract the females,” she explained. This could mean that the Seychelles is an important breeding area or nursery site for the species.

The government of the Seychelles has been making major efforts to protect the oceans around the islands since 2015. The appearance of these whales shows that its work seems to have made a big difference. Stafford said that the Seychelles, which doesn’t have ma my big ships sailing nearby, could be “a nice, quiet, safe place for blue whales”.

1. What does the underlined phrase “wiped out” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Killed.

B．Washed.

C．Removed.

D．Approached.

2. What is the purpose of the “sound trap”?

A．To track sounds.	B．To video whales，
C．To study the seafloor.	D．To play songs every hour，

3. What did the researchers say about the noise?

A．It is seasonal.	B．It is annoying.
C．It can be heard by humans.	D．It can drive away other animals.

4. Who contributes a lot to the appearance of blue whales?

A．Local hunters.	B．Foreign sailors.
C．The government.	D．Kathleen Stafford.

4 . 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。

Like many nature reserves in Kenya, Borana used to be a cattle ranch (牧场). For thousands of years, cows were     1     center of culture for the Maasai, Samburu, Pokot, and other local groups. When national parks and nature reserves began to     2     (establish) in the middle of the 20th century, these same groups found themselves prevented from grazing (放牧) their animals on land they had depended on for     3     (generation).

Borana now aims     4    (go) into partnership with its neighbors, with programs such as Mazingira Yetu     5     intend to promote environmental protection. Students from nearby communities can spend a day at the nature reserve, go on game drives     6     learn more about various land practices, including water storage, regenerative farming, and tree nurseries. The program was started in 2022, bringing 365 students to Borana, and it     7     (grow) to welcome more than 1, 100 students in 2023,

Borana put all profits (收益) into efforts like this one, and it has made a     8     (different): Last year, tourism produced over $1 million,    9     (lead) to the protection of 28 endangered species, the training of 114 workers, scholarships for 55 students, and drought relief to seven communities. Now there is a growing recognition that change doesn't happen alone, and that long-term efforts to protect wildlife require a     10    (share) purpose across communities and interests.

5 . For most of December, Adele Adkins had the top-selling album in Australia, followed by Ed Sheeran, and then there was a collection of songs that took everyone by surprise.

Songs Of Disappearance is a collection of calls from endangered Australian birds. Last month, it briefly reached No.3 on the country’s top 50 albums chart (排行榜) — ahead of Taylor Swift.

Anthony Albrecht, a PhD student at Charles Darwin University, produced the album with Professor Stephen Garnett. “I knew it was a crazy thing to suggest. But Stephen’s a little bit crazy like me and he let me do it,” Albrecht said.

Songs Of Disappearance was published with a university report which found that 1 in 6 Australian bird species are now threatened. The album records 53 of those species.

“Some sing what you might think of as bird songs, but not all of them,” said SeanDooley, who represents the conservation organization Bird life Australia. “Songs from the golden bowerbird sound like a death cry from some sci-fi series. And the love songs from Christmas Island frigate bird, which has a piece of skin hanging under its mouth that caninflate (膨胀) like a huge red balloon, sound as bizarre as its unusual looks.”

There’s also the Christmas Island pigeon. When people hear that pigeon, they might think that it’s a human making silly noises, Dooley added.

The Charles Darwin University and Bird life Australia report does document successes in protecting endangered birds, the hope being that the album will protect more species.

“The increased awareness can make a difference,” Dooley said. “When we have a community on board, that brings pressure to the government to do the right thing. We know that these conservation actions do work.”

1. Whose album reached No.1 on the chart in December?

A．Taylor Swift’s.

B．Adele Adkins’.

C．Ed Sheeran’s.

D．Anthony Albrecht’s.

2. What can be learned from the university report?

A．About 53 bird species are threatened in Australia.

B．It has not found success in protecting endangered birds.

C．One sixth of Australian bird species are now endangered.

D．Music is very powerful in encouraging people to protect birds.

3. Which is closest in meaning to “bizarre”in paragraph 5?

A．Strange.

B．Beautiful.

C．Loud.

D．Sharp.

4. What does Sean Dooley think of Anthony Albrecht’s project?

A．Crazy.

B．Amusing.

C．Uncreative.

D．Helpful.

6 . When you go on vacation next time, make sure to take lots of pictures of the wildlife you see. These photos can help save different types of wildlife because of a new field called “imageomies”. Imageomies uses computers to study pictures of wildlife and learn information from them.

Until recently, scientists didn’t have the technology to analyze (分析) the data in wildlife photos. But now, machine learning and computer vision are helping researchers unlock valuable information hidden in these images.

There are platforms where people can share their wildlife photos, like cBird, iNaturalist and Wildbook. These platforms help scientists keep track of different species and create databases. If you have rare (稀有的) photos of wildlife, it’s a good idea to share them on these platforms.

Scientists have limited time and resources to study all endangered wildlife in the world. By using artificial intelligence (人工智能) to analyze public photos, we can learn more about different species and their behaviors. This technology can even help us find things in photos that humans might miss.

It’s important to use the collected information responsibly and protect it from poachers (偷猎者). If we do that, imageomies can not only help save wildlife but also contribute to other fields like medicine and agriculture.

1. How can imageomies help scientists study wildlife?

A．By offering information from wildlife.	B．By analyzing the data in wildlife photos.
C．By analyzing the trend of human population.	D．By knowing the origin of biological processes.

2. What are the platforms where people can share their wildlife photos?

A．eBird, iNaturalist and Wildbook.	B．Imageomics, eBird and Wildbook.
C．Imageomics, eBird and iNaturalist.	D．Photos of wildlife, iNaturalist and Wildbook.

3. Why should people share their rare wildlife photos on platforms?

A．To appreciate the beauty of wildlife.	B．To contribute to the public safety.
C．To inspire others to protect nature.	D．To help scientists study wildlife.

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

A．Computers help identify the biological features	B．Poachers stop killing threatened animals
C．Photos can save wild species	D．Photos can protect our environment

7 . 听下面一段对话，回答以下小题。
1. What is the man going to do?

A．Buy some bird food.

B．Feed birds in the garden.

C．Catch an unusual-color bird.

2. What does the man ask the woman to do?

A．Join the organization.

B．Find the habitats of some species.

C．Help him recognize birds.

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。

The red panda, also called red cat-bear, has soft and thick fur with a red-brown stripe (条纹) from each eye to the corners of the mouth. Its body     1     (long) is about 50—65cm and its front legs are slightly     2     (short) than the back legs, which gives it a bit of a waddle (摇晃) when it walks.

The red panda lives in an area     3     rocks and trees can be found. It seems to do most of its feeding on the ground. It is gentle and can easily     4     (keep) in the zoo.

About two     5     (three) of the red panda’s diet is made up of bamboo. Red pandas do a lot of eating so providing plenty of food is important. There must be plenty of trees for them     6     (climb) and sleep too.

The red panda can live together     7     (peace) with other pandas. Most of their activity happens at night, during sunrise or sunset.

Now red pandas are     8     danger. Their main threat (威胁) is the disappearance of the forests and habitat loss. These     9     (animal) are also illegally hunted, and the number of them     10     (drop) by 50% in the past forty years.

9 . For the past four years I had been having up to 30 seizures (癫痫发作) a day. It made me _________ a lot.

Despite _________ visits to hospitals, no doctor could tell me the cause of it. At night, my family had to check on me just in case I wasn’t _________. So I could never be in a room alone and as a 21-year-old young man, I was finding the lack of _________ getting me down.

One day, my friend Kerri asked if I wanted an assistance dog. I knew there were guide dogs for the _________, but I wasn’t sure how a dog could help me. A few days later, Kerri told me she’d done some search and found a company “Dogs For Life”. From the website of the company, I _________ that they teach dogs to smell a chemical change in the body and _________ people when a seizure is about to _________.

Soon after, I _________ Baloo, a dog trained by Dogs For Life. It sat silently in the corner. As I sat down, Baloo suddenly __________ and jumped on me. Minutes later, I had a seizure. It had __________ the chemical changes in my body and tried to warn me. It was by my side until the __________ came. Instantly, I knew it was a good __________ for me, and I took her back home.

It’s __________ my life more than a handful of times and I couldn’t be more __________ for it.

1.

A．think

B．hide

C．suffer

D．learn

2.

A．personal

B．countless

C．formal

D．impressive

3.

A．sleeping

B．working

C．replying

D．breathing

4.

A．warmth

B．fun

C．safety

D．independence

5.

A．deaf

B．blind

C．injured

D．elderly

6.

A．wrote

B．learnt

C．overheard

D．planned

7.

A．warn

B．attract

C．follow

D．hit

8.

A．burn out

B．break in

C．come on

D．drop by

9.

A．saved

B．addressed

C．met

D．invited

10.

A．rose

B．lay

C．struggled

D．played

11.

A．sensed

B．caused

C．touched

D．cried

12.

A．action

B．attack

C．guide

D．help

13.

A．boss

B．teacher

C．partner

D．listener

14.

A．risked

B．stopped

C．kept

D．saved

15.

A．thankful

B．anxious

C．excited

D．patient

10 . Many monarch butterflies hurry along Chicago’s streets. They’re looking for milkweed, which monarch butterflies and about 450 other species feed on. It’s greatly needed, because the American Midwest doesn’t have as many monarch butterflies as before.

Each year, as summer days grow cooler, the monarch butterflies living east of the Rocky Mountains will fly to the forests of Mexico. But the number of monarch butterflies preparing to make the journey has fallen rapidly. The reasons include buildings spreading out over a wide area, chemical use, and more. However, researchers from the Field Museum in Chicago said, “Cities aren’t just the enemy of insects — they can be useful habitats (栖息地), too. That’s especially true for insects like monarch butterflies that can survive with small areas of habitat.”

The researchers studied the milkweed situation in some U.S. cities along the butterfly’s flyway. They calculated (计算) how much milkweed is growing in these cities. They also found many areas that could grow a bit of milkweed, especially within “non-forested green spaces”. No one is suggesting growing milkweed in a soccer field, but yards, roadsides, and vacant lots (空地) all would be OK. Even if only 2% of these green spaces were turned into milkweed areas, the researchers said these cities could hold millions of additional plants. “Cities could support about 30% of the milkweed needed to save monarch butterflies,” said a researcher.

The team found that the people they spoke with reacted actively to growing milkweed. There is already an indication that planting efforts paid off: In 2018, monarch populations were the highest in 10 years, which is in part because of cities’ efforts to grow milkweed and other butterfly-friendly plants.

1. What can be learnt about milkweed?

A．It draws more and more insects.	B．It usually grows along Chicago’s streets.
C．It grows widely in the American Midwest.	D．It’s important for monarch butterflies’ survival.

2. What do the researchers’ words in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Cities used to be a good place for insects.	B．Monarch butterflies are very popular in cities.
C．Monarch butterflies depend too much on cities.	D．Cities can be monarch butterflies’ good habitat.

3. What’s the third paragraph mainly about?

A．When to save monarch butterflies.	B．How to save monarch butterflies.
C．Who to save monarch butterflies.	D．Why to save monarch butterflies.

4. What does the underlined word “indication” in the last paragraph mean?

A．idea.

B．promise.

C．sign.

D．doubt.