1 . From lettuces (生菜) farmed on New York’s skyline to thick corridors of trees occupying Colombian roadsides, green initiatives are running wild in cities around the world.
Replanting initiatives have sprung up since the start of the 21st century as urban development goals have shifted and alarm about global warming has grown.
In nine cities around the world, thanks to planting schemes on walls and roofs, the temperature can be reduced by 3.6 to 11.3 degrees Celsius (摄氏的) at the hottest time of day, according to a report by the French Agency for Ecological Transition. Green spaces have also been shown to improve health and well-being, including by reducing stress, anxiety and depression, improving attention and focus, bettering physical health, said Stephanie Merchant of Bath University’s department for health. “However, it’s about where they are created in relation to the needs of the local communities,” she added.
So, are all urban replanting projects worthwhile?
“For a scheme to be seen as effective, it must fulfill as many functions as possible,” said the economist and urban planner Jean Haentjens. In addition to lowering the temperature, he said it should also preserve biodiversity, improve well-being, raise awareness, be appealing to residents and suitable for its social context.
The Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm in New York grows more than 45 tonnes of organic produce a year. Covering three rooftops, totalling more than 22,000 square metres, the farm cultivates a wide variety of vegetables. But it has to limit the soil depth to about 30 centimeters and irrigate (灌溉) the soil a little more frequently, because it dries out very quickly. Another question is whether pesticides (杀虫剂), which scare off birds and insects, are used when the aim is to boost biodiversity. For Jean Haentjen, it represents “an interesting route”, depending on the context. “But we can’t make it the model of tomorrow,” he said.
1. What contributes to the popularity of green initiatives?| A．Global warming. | B．Improving attention. |
| C．Reducing stress. | D．Preserving biodiversity. |
| A．The characteristics of planting schemes. | B．The evaluation of urban replanting projects. |
| C．The classification of green initiatives. | D．The benefits of replanting initiatives. |
| A．Dissatisfied. | B．Cautious. | C．Indifferent. | D．Approving. |
| A．To tell readers the approach to global warming. |
| B．To inform people of the green initiatives worldwide. |
| C．To appeal to people to take part in the replanting initiatives. |
| D．To show the advantages and disadvantage of the planting schemes. |
2 . When our first son Brendan was born in Sydney in 1966, we planted a golden elm tree in our front yard.It and Brendan
A young couple bought our home and were
Recently on the way to Sydney, my husband
When I heard about her
What a pleasure it was to
| A．watched | B．grew | C．played | D．worked |
| A．built | B．sold | C．found | D．entered |
| A．sorry | B．afraid | C．angry | D．nervous |
| A．proud of | B．polite to | C．worried to | D．delighted with |
| A．never | B．seldom | C．always | D．still |
| A．forget | B．believe | C．mind | D．remember |
| A．feared | B．decided | C．agreed | D．refused |
| A．failed | B．finished | C．lost | D．stopped |
| A．Instead | B．Besides | C．However | D．Therefore |
| A．tree | B．address | C．key | D．message |
| A．encouraging | B．personal | C．important | D．secret |
| A．son | B．friend | C．parent | D．neighbour |
| A．ordered | B．bought | C．made | D．sent |
| A．strange | B．funny | C．exciting | D．heartbreaking |
| A．phone | B．. bowls | C．branches | D．package |
| A．picked | B．planted | C．stored | D．covered |
| A．dream | B．mistake | C．visit | D．suggestion |
| A．post | B．receive | C．offer | D．use |
| A．shocked | B．confused | C．amused | D．touched |
| A．end | B．fall through | C．form | D．come true |
If you want to hike alone in the woods, it’s always a good deal to bring along your best friend — the dog.
A hiker in Nevada recently learned that lesson the hard way. A 53-year-old man was hiking in the woods in Nevada County on the night of July 12 when he fell down a 70-foot embankment (路堤). He was badly injured, breaking his hip and ribs, but he managed to drag himself to a spot with cell service and call for help.
After getting cellphone reception, the wounded hiker, whose name was not released by authorities, phoned first responders at noon the following day asking for help and telling them about his broken bones. The man then covered himself in a camouflage tarp (伪装油布) and waited for help to arrive. His loyal friend, Saul, waited by his side.
Upon receiving the man’s emergency call, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection enlisted the help of the nonprofit Nevada County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue to locate and rescue the man.
Twenty-five members of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue organization set out to find the hiker, whose last GPS location was used to get to the general neighborhood, but with miles of huge wilderness around them, they worried it would take a long time to find him.
At about 7 p. m. on July 13, the search was still going on. “Having searching for the man for over seven hours, we were tired out and felt a bit disappointed,” said Dennis Haack, leader of the Search and Rescue team, “But I do put a lot of faith in our searchers because they’re extremely good at what they 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。
Suddenly, a black dog came into the sight of a group of rescuers.
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The hiking victim was put into a helicopter.
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4 . One afternoon in 2022, something on the Internet caught my eye：a tiny hedgehog (刺猬) held by a big hand. The post read: “HELP! My hedgehog abandoned (抛弃) her two babies, and I cannot raise both of them because I have to go to school fulltime. Good home with experience needed as soon as possible!”
I had no experience with baby hedgehogs. I was an animal person through and through and had raised cats, dogs, birds, and guinea pigs. But this tiny animal was new to me, and it touched me that he was abandoned, that maybe I could love him and be the best mom for him.
I wrote the most heartfelt email I could. That was how I found my Louie. True to my word, he was my baby. Louie didn’t know he was a hedgehog. He never curled (蜷缩) into a ball, and he liked my two cats, no fear. The cats, however, were afraid of him, as he often moved into the room, running after the cats and blocking my way.
By the time he reached old age, Louie had only three feet. However, he still managed to climb the stairs to visit other animals. He helped me realize my dream of hedgehog photography, a hobby that began during childhood with cats and dollhouses. I love showing off his modeling.
Life has meaning because of the purpose we have. Louie needed a good home and mom, and in return, I got to be a good mother and be needed. Hedgehogs require great amounts of patience, trust, and knowledge—but the payoff (回报) is pretty great.
1. The author got Louie from .| A．a pet shop | B．a family friend |
| C．a hedgehog owner | D．a hedgehog rescue center |
| A．Frightened. | B．Relaxed. | C．Lonely. | D．Tired. |
| A．He disliked climbing stairs. | B．He enjoyed being left alone. |
| C．He always refused to be in photos. | D．He was active despite his difficulty in moving. |
| A．It was easier than expected. | B．It gave her a sense of safety. |
| C．It made her lose her patience. | D．It was satisfying and meaningful. |
“Sophie would make a good therapy(治疗) dog.”
The day my dog trainer said those words, I didn’t even know what a therapy dog was. I certainly had no idea what features my little dog had that would make her a candidate. But why not, I thought, if we can help people in need of some cheering up?
Last week, I accompanied Sophie to a hospital for our first day on the job. In the year and a half I had spent getting her certified, I had learned what to expect. I would bring Sophie into a patient’s room to be a pleaser, and then we would move on. Of course, Sophie herself couldn’t understand her purpose in all of this, but she was always happy to meet new people, and that was enough.
We walked through the wide automatic sliding glass doors and into the hall, where we were met by a nurse who ran the therapy dog program at the hospital. “Welcome,” Sophie, she said. “I’ll be taking you two around today.”
I followed the nurse down the hall. Sophie trotted (小跑) along at my side, just as she had been trained. “We’re a care unit,” the nurse explained. “Most of our patients are seniors.” I knew how important it was for Sophie to be her gentlest. “She was trained and ready for this, I reminded myself.
Up ahead was an old lady making her way down the hall with a walker. A nurse walked beside her, holding on to a gait belt (步态训练带)to keep her steady. We caught up with them, but the patient remained focused on her walker. As we were passing by at a safe distance, the lady turned her walker towards a chair against the wall. “Okay, we’ll stop for a rest,” her nurse said. Once the lady was settled, she pointed a finger at Sophie, as if to say “Please bring me that dog.”
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。
I picked up Sophie and placed her in the lady’s lap.
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“It’s a wonder! We had thought the lady lost the ability to speak,” the nurse told me excitedly.
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Last week I visited a small village to see the brown bears, what come to the villages at night to look at food. I waited with some tourist. As it grew dark, we see the huge black shapes of the bears. Those clever bears knew where to go for its dinner: the rubbish where there was lots of food people have thrown away. Although it’s wonderful to see the bears in the village, but it can only mean one thing: their habitat is disappearing. They would prefer to stay hiding in the mountain forests, but the trees have cut down for firewood. However, they cannot find enough food any more.
7 . The fishermen of Senegal have joined forces to protect one of the ocean’s most endangered species — the sea turtle, a classic case of “poacher turned gamekeeper”.
The coastal waters of Senegal in West Africa are home to several species of sea turtles which are all beautiful creatures but are affected by pollution, poaching and even fishing nets.
“Once we were the biggest eaters of turtles, now we have become their biggest protectors,” said Abdou Karim Sall, a fisherman who led the Management Committee for the Marine Protected Are (MPA) of Joal-Fadiouth.
The Joal-Fadiouth MPA, covering about 174 square kilometers, was founded in 2004, and it’s backed by the government, local authorities and several associations. It is an area aimed at protecting marine ecosystem, habitats and species, including endangered species like the sea turtle. Its benefits are obvious: maintaining biodiversity, increasing fish catches on fishing grounds, as well as economic development.
For a long time, Sall has been working to raise local awareness of sea turtle protection. “Even former turtle sellers have been ‘changed’ by receiving three small boats to take tourists to sea,” he said. Instead of strict restrictions, the Joal-Fadiouth MPA has been trying to educate local communities about the economic benefits so that they would join the project. “It’s after they are told: ‘It’s an endangered species’,” Sall said.
Local residents have also set out to protect the nests. During summer and fall, a few dozen turtles may stop to lay eggs on the beaches of Joal-Fadiouth. MPA agents and village volunteers protest their nests with fences. “People come at 6 a. m. so that other animals do not take the young.” said Sall.
Sall added the number of turtles had decreased by about 30% in the past 20 years, and chances of survival of a young turtle were no higher than one in a thousand. But the fisherman-conservator agreed, “Awareness has not worked 100%.”
1. What do the underlined words “poacher turned gamekeeper” in Paragraph 1 probably refer to?| A．A person beginning to hunt animals illegally. |
| B．A person switching from a hunter to a protector. |
| C．A person changing completely from good to bad. |
| D．A person continuing to protect endangered species. |
| A．Building more nests for turtles to lay eggs. |
| B．Publicizing the economic benefits of the project. |
| C．Placing strict restrictions to educate the communities. |
| D．Providing different means of transportation for turtle sellers. |
| A．The measures the MPA will take in the future. |
| B．The argument about the Marine Protected Area. |
| C．The danger sea turtles still face from fishermen. |
| D．The benefits brought by the Marine Protected Area. |
| A．Fishermen of Senegal have joined together to protect sea turtles. |
| B．Sea turtles in Senegal are endangered because of human activities. |
| C．The situation of sea turtles in Senegal has been improves significantly. |
| D．The Marine Protected Area has played an important role in protecting sea turtles. |
8 . Sydnee Geril knows life wouldn’t be the same without her service dog Tulsa. After all, the pup has
Geril was diagnosed with cancer in October 2017. She underwent nine months of
Life threw Geril another
Unfortunately, when COVID-19 began, Geril had to
Now, Geril has her best friend at her side whenever she
| A．surprised | B．delighted | C．annoyed | D．depressed |
| A．Furthermore | B．Anyway | C．Overall | D．Therefore |
| A．Suddenly | B．Incredibly | C．Luckily | D．Consequently |
| A．discussion | B．research | C．practice | D．treatment |
| A．evidence | B．answer | C．comfort | D．effort |
| A．rescue | B．adopt | C．sell | D．beat |
| A．happy | B．regretful | C．afraid | D．confident |
| A．argument | B．chance | C．plan | D．challenge |
| A．continued | B．decided | C．pretended | D．hesitated |
| A．fast | B．short | C．complex | D．mental |
| A．learning | B．expecting | C．imagining | D．teaching |
| A．problem | B．mistake | C．success | D．help |
| A．encourages | B．alerts | C．changes | D．impresses |
| A．In addition | B．On the contrary | C．As a result | D．After all |
| A．start | B．try | C．keep | D．stop |
| A．enjoy | B．risk | C．delay | D．remember |
| A．absence | B．death | C．return | D．arrival |
| A．legs | B．head | C．fur | D．eyes |
| A．needs | B．aids | C．meets | D．feeds |
| A．show | B．forget | C．claim | D．realize |
9 . 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. |
| 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. |
| A．When to save monarch butterflies. | B．How to save monarch butterflies. |
| C．Who to save monarch butterflies. | D．Why to save monarch butterflies. |
| A．idea. | B．promise. | C．sign. | D．doubt. |
10 . When Yang Fan was taking a walk around the Yuliang Island, she saw a black swan (天鹅) in the grass. Yang Fan knew that swans could be fierce (凶猛的). But as she got close to this one, it didn’t move.
She was sure that the swan needed help. So Yang covered the bird’s head with her jacket to keep its cool, picked it up carefully, and held it in her arms. She decided to send it to the Animal Care Center, but the center was across the Han River, far from the park. She didn’t know how to carry the swan there. Luckily, some strangers driving by gave her and the swan a lift to a nearby bus stop.
On the bus, no one seemed surprised by “the unusual passenger”. Instead they were worried. Someone helped Yang Fan call the center on the way. And Li Tao, an animal-care manager, picked her up at the bus stop and drove them to the center. There, the animal doctors found that the swan was poisoned, caused by eating something used to kill mice. The swan was well looked after at the center. She even made a friend—a little dog. Thanks to people’s love and care, luckily, she was cured (治愈) two months later.
“It’s a moving story. Yang Fan travelled about two hours and it was really a long way.” Says Li Tao. “And all the strangers wanted to give her and the swan a hand.” He adds, “I am happy to see that more and more people have realized the importance of protecting the wild life since Xiangyang began to build the civilized (文明) city.”
1. Which is the correct order of the things that happened to the swan?①She was found by Yang Fan.
②She ate something wrong.
③She was cured.
④She made friends with a dog.
⑤She was sent to the Animal Care Center.
| A．①②⑤③④ | B．①⑤②④③ |
| C．②①⑤④③ | D．⑤②①③④ |
| A．困住 | B．中毒 | C．射伤 | D．掉队 |
| A．Yang Fan didn’t try her best to save the swan. |
| B．The swan could be helped in a much better way. |
| C．Li Tao cared more about the swan than Yang Fan. |
| D．People went out of their way to protect the wild life. |
| A．Ways to Protect the Animals |
| B．More Animal Care Centers Are Needed |
| C．A Swan Meets a City Full of Love |
| D．Efforts the Animal Doctors Have Made |
