1 . Yesterday, I was shopping in a store, minding my own business, when I saw someone
But the dog’s behavior got
At this point, I couldn’t stand it anymore, and
| A．mistreating | B．walking | C．selling | D．greeting |
| A．attention | B．praise | C．money | D．patience |
| A．neck | B．legs | C．tail | D．teeth |
| A．Probably | B．Luckily | C．Typically | D．Finally |
| A．saved | B．helped | C．frightened | D．attracted |
| A．looked at | B．made way for | C．searched for | D．fell in love with |
| A．worker | B．teacher | C．reporter | D．hunter |
| A．in safety | B．in need | C．in silence | D．in trouble |
| A．politer | B．worse | C．sillier | D．simpler |
| A．ground | B．tree | C．car | D．grass |
| A．candy | B．bread | C．fruit | D．milk |
| A．denied | B．considered | C．forgot | D．marked |
| A．bank | B．hospital | C．store | D．office |
| A．confident | B．sorry | C．worried | D．relieved |
| A．generous | B．humorous | C．good | D．rude |
1. Where does the conversation take place?
| A．At home. | B．In a bookstore. | C．At school. |
| A．Her pet got lost. | B．Her work is difficult. | C．Her parents have problems. |
| A．Get a cat. | B．Read a book. | C．Focus on her lessons. |
3 . Artificial Intelligence (AI) has greatly sped up how long it takes to sort, label and analyze(分析) animal sounds—as well as to figure out which aspects of those sounds might carry meaning. One day we’ll be able to use AI to build a chat box that translates complex(复杂的) animal sounds into human language. Project CETI is just one organization working toward this goal.
“AI could eventually get us to the point where we understand animals, but that’s hard to deal with and long-term,” says Karen Bakker, a researcher at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. “Some species have been on the planet longer than humans. Some species could go extinct before we figure out their language,” Bakker adds. “Besides, the idea of walking around with an animal translator may seem cool, but many animals might not be interested in chatting.”
“Why would a bat want to speak to you?” she asks. What interests her is what we can learn from how bats and other creatures talk amongst each other.“We should listen to nature and ask the animals’ requirements in order to better protect them,” she argues. For example, a system set up to record whales or elephants can also track their locations. This can help our boats avoid whales or protect elephants from poachers (偷猎者).
Protection is one goal driving Project CETI. “If we understand sperm whales better, we will be better at understanding what’s troubling them,” says Gašper Beguš, a linguist at the University of California, Berkeley. Learning that a species has something very similar to language or culture could also inspire people to work harder to protect it.
When we protect an animal that has some version of language or culture, we’re not simply protecting nature and we’re also saving a way of life. Marine biologist Denise Herzing says that animals are supposed to have a healthy environment so that their cultures can develop well.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?| A．We can tell the complex animal behavior. |
| B．We will find ways to talk with animals. |
| C．We can share our language with animals. |
| D．We need conduct more research on animals. |
| A．difficult. | B．costly. | C．harmful. | D．worthless. |
| A．By learning about their needs. | B．By setting up shelters for them. |
| C．By mapping out their locations. | D．By living peacefully with them. |
| A．Animals’ culture should be given up. |
| B．Saving nature means saving ourselves. |
| C．Short-term and long-term goals need to be set. |
| D．Animals should be in a healthy natural world. |
4 . Thai wildlife officials have laid out a plan to bring peace to a central Thai city after at least a decade of human-monkey conflict （冲突）.
The monkeys that hang around Lopburi are a major tourist draw. But after years of conflicts with residents and visitors, and several failed attempts to bring peace with population controls, local people and businesses have had enough.
The monkeys often try to take food from humans, sometimes leaving people with injuries. In March a woman got her knee hurt after a monkey pulled her off her feel, and another man was knocked off a motorcycle by a hungry monkey.
The authorities hope to catch some 2,500 monkeys and place them in massive wildlife preserves, said Athapol Charoenshunsa, the director-general of the Department of National parks, Wildlife and plant Conservation. They’ll work with wildlife experts to find a way for a limited number of monkeys to stay freely in the city, he added.
“I don’t want humans to have to hurt monkeys, and I don’t want monkeys to have to hurt humans,” he told reporters during a news conference in Bangkok. “I expect the first period of the operation to start within weeks, and I believe the wildlife preserve will be able to contain （容纳） thousands of them and will solve the problem very quickly.”
Athapol said they are also working in other areas of Thailand that are facing problems with monkeys. He said 52 of the country’s 77 provinces often report monkey problems.
The monkeys are said to be a symbol of the province, about 140 kilometers north of Bangkok, where the ancient Three Pagodas temple celebrates a yearly “Monkey Buffet” festival. However, some have complained about the city’s monkey troubles on tourists and residents feeding the animals, which they say drew monkeys into the city, helped with their numbers, and got them used to getting food from humans.
1. What does the underlined phrase “have had enough” mean in Paragraph 2?| A．They are fond of those moneys. | B．They hope to feed more monkeys. |
| C．They are troubled by those monkeys. | D．They want to protect those monkeys. |
| A．Cut off the monkey’s food supply. | B．Catch them for use as research subjects. |
| C．Enclose them in a zoo to entertain tourists. | D．Cut down the numbers of them in the town. |
| A．The significance of those monkeys. |
| B．People’s different opinions on those monkeys. |
| C．The environmental problems caused by those monkeys. |
| D．Reasons why monkeys become a symbol of the province. |
| A．Thailand Residents Suffered from Too Many Tourists |
| B．Thailand Decides to Limit Monkeys in Tourist Town |
| C．Monkeys Serve Special Meaning in the Thailand Town |
| D．People in Thailand Try to Improve the Life of Monkeys |
5 . Are you a fan of birds? If so, you may have admired their beautiful colors and sweet songs. But do you know these feathered friends can actually do more than that?
A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports finds that exposure to birds, either in the home or outdoors, can boost people’s moods.
Researchers at King’s College London used a smartphone app built by the school’s Urban Mind project to collect the real-time feelings of study participants upon seeing or hearing a bird. A total of 1,292 people living in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States participated in the study which was conducted between April 2018 and October 2021.
The app asked participants three times a day whether they could see or hear a bird followed by a series of questions on their mental well-being. Participants were also asked questions about whether they could see trees, plants or hear any water to see if people were experiencing better mental well-being due to being in or seeing nature, and not just because of exposure to birds.
According to the study, the mental well-being of study participants with and without depression was significantly improved after seeing a bird or hearing birdsong compared to not seeing or hearing a bird.
There is a growing number of studies that link spending time outdoors (either in green leafy places or next to bodies of water) to improved mental health. But there are few studies that look at how different aspects of nature can play into humans’ mental well-being.
And while the study adds to the small pile of research on birds and mental health, the report marks the first time researchers have studied the responses to birds and mental well-being in real-time, according to Ryan Hammoud, lead author of the study.
“They kind of examine nature as a single object when nature includes many different characteristics and features like trees, plants, water, birds,” said Hammoud, “We choose to focus on bird life to try and understand which specific characteristics of nature benefit mental well-being.”
1. What is the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To introduce a phenomenon. | B．To bring in the topic. |
| C．To ask an interesting question. | D．To provide background information. |
| A．By analyzing previous studies. | B．By observing the behavior of birds. |
| C．By gathering feelings of participants. | D．By studying people’s effect on birds. |
| A．Pioneering. | B．Interesting. | C．Conventional. | D．Practical. |
| A．Bird watching has become a popular hobby. |
| B．Exposure to birds can improve mental well-being. |
| C．Nature is the best medicine for mental health issues. |
| D．Spending time outdoors can impact mental health positively. |
1. Who takes the dog for a walk every Sunday?
| A．The man. | B．The man’s father. | C．The man’s mother. |
| A．He does the housework. |
| B．He prepares meals. |
| C．He goes to the park. |
7 . I always watch my two sons, Chad and Charlie, sitting on the bench petting their pet chickens. Like me, my boys and my husband, Matt, have a soft spot for animals. My parents owned a farm, so I grew up surrounded by animals. Now, I breed silky chickens as pets. “Mummy, the chicken coop (笼子) is dirty,” Chad said. So I got up to clear it up. It is what I always do.
But a few years ago, things weren’t as good as they could have been. At that time, I wasn’t in a good place, struggling with my mental health (心理健康). I constantly felt angry and got annoyed easily. It began when I was pregnant with Charlie. I felt so sick and led a life consumed by anxiety. I even gave up my job working in a bank.
“I can’t go on like this. I need a focus,” I cried to Matt, deciding to work for myself at home and be flexible for the kids. With my love for animals, it didn’t take long to come up with a plan. “I’m going to start an online shop selling beautiful accessories (装饰物) for feathered and furry friends,” I told Matt.
I did some research and purchased many products, and the shop was soon fully stocked with dog and cat toys. I named it Edna Co after my cat, which went live in 2020. To my surprise, the customers loved it. Sometimes, I come up with some novel ideas. One afternoon, I had an idea to sell chicken nappies (尿布), believing they would be a hit with customers.
Working like nappies for babies, the chicken nappies sold out soon, with orders coming from all over the country. Now, they are my bestsellers. As for me, I’m finding happiness again and my online shop is helping me to finally heal.
1. What do we know about the author from paragraph 1?| A．She owns a farm. | B．She likes animals. |
| C．She has many coops. | D．She loves eating chicken. |
| A．To raise more pets. | B．To kill her spare time. |
| C．To earn enough money. | D．To recover from mental issues. |
| A．Confident. | B．Honest. | C．Creative. | D．Humorous. |
| A．Funny. | B．Stressed. | C．Disappointed. | D．Grateful. |
8 . Sometimes we only appreciate something when we realize we may lose it. That is the story of the Everglades. A shallow slow-moving river, the Everglades once covered about 18,000 square miles of southern Florida. Until the 1900s, few people lived in the grassy wetlands. Not much was understood about the unique balance of nature that existed there. Plants, creatures, and water had formed a remarkable ecosystem.
By the early 1900s, Florida’s pleasant winters attracted more people. Visitors became new permanent residents. They built homes and roads. The conditions looked good for farming, so the newcomers planted large agricultural crops. But South Florida’s cycle of flooding was a problem. To address that, developers attempted to drain (排水) the land. They also built structures to control water levels and flow.
Those changes made it easier for more people to live year-round in South Florida. However, they also disturbed life in the Everglades, which depends on freshwater regularly refilling the land. The area’s growing human population needed freshwater. And large farms consumed large quantities of freshwater. By the mid-1900s, water levels in southern Florida began to go down. Lack of freshwater wasn’t the only problem. As more and more land was developed for people and farms, the Everglades’ historic boundaries contracted. Loss of habitat and hunting threatened the survival of native species in the Everglades.
Some people hoped that the government’s recognition might save the Everglades. They fought for it. Everglades National Park was established in 1947. It became the first park in the United States created for its biodiversity.
Now, Everglades National Park protects 1.5 million acres along the southern tip of Florida. An amazing variety of creatures live there. About 360 different species of birds have been sighted in the park. Nearly 300 different species of fish have been identified. About 40 species of mammals and 50 species of reptiles inhabit the park. Nature still rules in the Everglades, a place worth understanding, appreciating, and protecting.
1. What was the Everglades like before the 1900s?| A．Naturally wild. | B．Partly explored. |
| C．Completely lifeless. | D．Thickly populated. |
| A．A cycle of flooding. |
| B．Pollution of freshwater. |
| C．Possible extinction of native species. |
| D．The extension of historic boundaries. |
| A．To attract visitors to the park. |
| B．To stress the great power of nature. |
| C．To call for more efforts to protect nature. |
| D．To show the successful conservation of the park. |
| A．How people adapted to life in the Everglades. |
| B．How Everglades National Park was established. |
| C．How humans harmed and saved the Everglades. |
| D．How the ecosystem of the Everglades was formed. |
9 . Here are four organizations that rescue and train shelter dogs to be service animals.
Merlin’s Kids
Merlin’s Kids is a wonderful organization that rescues and trains shelter dogs to become service animals for children and adults with special needs for physical or emotional support. Merlin’s Kids dogs are also trained for disease detection by screening people for cancer, diabetes and so on. Other dogs have been used to go into hospitals or assist living facilities. In the public’s eyes, these working dogs have proved that shelter animals are amazing.
Pets for Vets (退伍军人)
This organization recognizes that many veterans return home with scars, both seen and unseen,which makes it difficult for them to live a normal life. Many suffer from severe anxiety. Pets for Vets was founded to rescue and train shelter animals to provide therapy (治疗) dogs for the retired service people.
Paws with a Cause
This organization has been around since 1979 and improves the independence and quality of life for people with disabilities. Paws with a Cause specializes in helping people with disabilities complete essential tasks and the pups can open doors, pull a wheelchair, alert (使警觉) a hearing-impaired person, and offer help whenever necessary.
Service Dog Express
This organization’s motto is “A dog’s life saved, a human’s life enriched” and believes that the connect ion between the service dog and his or her person is life transforming. Service Dog Express specializes in the training of service dogs for wounded service people. People in need of a service dog are encouraged to go to a rescue organization to choose a dog. This reduces the cost of services and saves a dog who may otherwise have been out to sleep.
1. What do we know about shelter dogs from Merlin’s Kids?| A．They can cure people of cancer. |
| B．They often bring the public amazement. |
| C．They repair living facilities in the hospital. |
| D．They benefit ones with physical and mental health problems. |
| A．Merlin’s Kids. | B．Pets for Vets. | C．Paws with a Cause. | D．Service Dog Express. |
| A．It teaches dogs to pull a wheelchair. | B．It focuses on injured soldiers. |
| C．It charges for services. | D．Its motto moves people in need. |
10 . Built in 1990, the Moriyama City Firefly Forest Museum has been trying to recover the number of the Genji firefly (源氏萤火虫), whose population was near extinction in the first half of the 20th century.
In Japan, fireflies have long been the sign of summer. Moriyama’s Genji fireflies were especially prized for their vivid, yellow-green glow. However, from 1868 to 1912, a commercial firefly industry developed. In just one night, a single hunter could catch about as many as 3,000 fireflies, sweeping the earth with brushes to frighten just egg-laying fireflies from riverbanks. It was easiest to catch female fireflies when they laid their eggs. Thus, there were fewer and fewer left to produce the next generation. At the same time, a fast-urbanizing Japan was turning Moriyama’s once ideal habitats into places where few fireflies could survive. Concrete was laid on the banks where there was once grass. Wastewater ran into the waters where the larvae (幼虫) grew.
The founders set its museum in the kind of habitat that Genji fireflies would find attractive. They created an artificial river and planted its banks with grass. Inside the museum, they mate and reproduce Genji fireflies; it is still the only organization to do so in a large size. Fireflies lay thousands of eggs. When the larvae come out, they are moved to boxes with flowing water. They grow there until February when the larvae are moved to the man-made river. Then, the fireflies leave the water and take flight in June.
The museum also has educational purpose. Throughout the year, it lectures on the insect’s history and ecology in schools. They also lead museum activities and other training and awareness campaigns, including the museum’s magazine, From the Firefly Forest. Cleanup activities around waters are also organized.
The action is reasonable but, despite their efforts, the number of Genji fireflies hasn’t increased so much in Moriyama. Most other habitats continue to become worse due to urbanization. Unless people preserve them, fireflies will continue to suffer. “The only chance at recovering Genji firefly populations is to act now,” ecologist Kato warns. “We’re running out of time to provide the environmental education to save Japan’s beloved insect.”
1. Why did the number of the Genji fireflies decrease?| A．Because the banks where they once lived disappeared. |
| B．Because the waters where the larvae grew were polluted. |
| C．Because over 3,000 female fireflies were caught every night. |
| D．Because a commercial firefly industry developed their habitats. |
| A．It has organized various educational activities. |
| B．It has helped Genji fireflies lay thousands of eggs. |
| C．It has helped Genji fireflies leave the water and take flight in June. |
| D．It has created the kind of habitat that the Genji fireflies would find attractive. |
| A．It is reasonable. | B．It makes no sense. |
| C．It wastes lots of time. | D．It needs immediate action. |
| A．The extinction of Genji fireflies in Japan. |
| B．The reappearance of Genji fireflies in Japan. |
| C．Efforts made to recover Genji fireflies by a Japanese museum. |
| D．The effect of urbanization on Japan’s favorite glowing insect. |
