1 . Friday night lights are good for the game, but they may be bad for biodiversity.
According to a study published Friday in the journal Animal Conservation, bright stadium lighting could affect the feeding habits of bats. Insects swarm (涌往) to these lights in large numbers, creating a competitive advantage for bat species who aren’t afraid of humans and human structures. This could impact local ecosystems and reduce biodiversity.
For most humans, there simply isn’t enough daylight hours—we have been developing new ways to light the night since we first controlled and used fire. But researchers say our need for continuous visibility can have serious consequences for neighboring species.
Light pollution has been linked to some ecosystem damage. Baby turtles, for example, naturally use the light of the moon to travel towards the open ocean. But constant and poorly designed artificial lighting can affect their sense of direction, obviously disturbing their life cycles.
“Increasing light pollution is a major feature of global change that’s caused by humans, and it is a potential threat to biodiversity,” co-author M. Corrie Schoeman said in a press release.
Dr Schoeman, a professor of biology at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, conducted field experiments to determine how stadium lighting affected bat behaviors. He found that “urban exploiter” bats were drawn to hunt near bright lights, while “urban avoider” bats were not. Exploiter species are able to take advantage of human resources, such as artificial light. Avoider species, by comparison, tend to avoid humans and human structures.
But it’s hardly survival of the fittest. This man-made, ecological scale-tipping could result in the decline or loss of avoider species. And that, in turn, could threaten the balance of local ecosystems.
Luckily, light pollution is considered an “easy fix” compared to other forms of pollution. Smart lighting design— hooded (带罩的) streetlamps，motion-sensitive residential lights (触控住宅用灯), and better controls to remove unnecessary brightness—can obviously reduce light pollution. As for stadium lights, earlier games could do a lot of good, both for bats and for our ecosystems as a whole.
1. What does the author want to demonstrate with the example of baby turtles?| A．Turtles are good at using human lights. |
| B．Light pollution has caused ecological damage. |
| C．Artificial lighting can train turtles’ sense of direction. |
| D．Human neighboring species have their own way of lighting. |
| A．They are the fittest of their species. |
| B．They are fond of artificial lighting. |
| C．They always defeat “urban avoider” bats. |
| D．They break the balance of their species. |
| A．How to reduce light pollution. | B．How to improve stadium lights. |
| C．How to balance the ecosystem. | D．How to recognize unnecessary brightness. |
| A．Evolution of Bats | B．Competition Among Bats |
| C．Stadium Lights Change Bat Behavior | D．The Number of Bats Are Decreasing |
Alexis Langlois, who manages a large farm, heard her neighbor crazily knocking on her front door on a Monday afternoon.
“There’s an emergency”, Amber Countryman yelled. “The horses are stuck in the water.” Langlois was struck with “absolute panic”. She threw on her winter boots — without socks — and rushed toward the small pond on the 80-acre property. She was surprised by what she saw: four horses were in the water up to their necks in 10 feet of ice water.
She immediately called 911.While waiting for help to arrive, “people just started showing up,” she said. “Neighbors were pouring in. People came with ropes, chainsaws, shovels and pick axes.”
“I grabbed a bunch of supplies,” said Countryman, whose two teenagers and their friend also as sited with the effort.
“It was-8℃that day,” she said, adding that she brought out handwarmers and water for the helpers.
Everyone was determined to get the horses out of the pond — which is about 15feetwide.
Beneath a six-inch layer of ice, the water was “just barely above freezing”, said Chris Yerkes, the South Kalispell Fire Department chief who rushed to the pond with about a dozen volunteer personnel.
When the firefighters arrived, neighbors had already attempted to pave a path through the ice toward the edge of the pond using pick axes, sledgehammers and shovels, and “we continued with that effort.” Yerkes said. Unfortunately, “as we got closer to the edge, we realized there was about three to four inches of mud.”
The thick layer of mud — which the rescuers couldn’t cut through — blocked the horses from climbing out. Firefighters enlisted additional support from Flathead County Animal Control, as well as staff from local equestrian organization Rebecca Farm.
“There had to have been at least 60 people here,” Langlois said. “It was very swift action on everybody’s part.”
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。
Paragraph 1
It took nearly two hours to find a workable solution that could bring all four horses to safety.
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Paragraph 2
To get the horses out, they used a powerful tractor (拖拉机) to get the animals out of the mud and ropes to pull them over the edge.
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3 . Wildlife crossings don’t just protect animals. They can also mitigate problems related to wildlife-vehicle collisions (碰撞) and save significant money for a community.
Wildlife crossings are man-made structures that help animals move safely around their habitat. They are often paths under or over another existing road or railway, or underground passages for animals to get past for food or avoiding attacks.
Some animals are unable to migrate to survive. People still rely on highways for business and travel, and animals continue to have mobility needs for survival, though. When new roads are built, animals living in a part of their habitat can greatly increase the number of wildlife vehicle collisions while trying to cross the new barriers.
In a new study, Wisnu Sugiarto, a Washington State University economics doctoral student, examined data for 13 of the 22 wildlife crossings, including bridges and underpasses, in the Washington State. He compared the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions each year before and after the construction of a wildlife crossing. He considered the area within 10 miles of a crossing.
Then he compared his analysis to a separate area in the state with no crossings at all. “The findings reported that wildlife crossing structures reduced the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions by one to three accidents on average per mile per year,” Sugiarto said. “Therefore, building wildlife crossing structures is typically an essential and effective strategy to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions.”
“Trior to working on this research, I wasn’t aware of any strategies to reduce wildlife vehicle collisions. I also thought we couldn’t do much about it, partly because we wouldn’t be able to communicate with wildlife and control their movement,” Sugiarto added. “However, it turns out that there are multiple strategies to deal with issues related to wildlife-vehicle collisions and we can do something about them. ”
It is reported that the government has invested $ 350 million over five years for the construction of wildlife crossings. Every wildlife crossing offers a mean benefit of between $235,000 and $443,000 each year.
1. What does the underlined word “mitigate” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Analyze. | B．Reduce. | C．Study. | D．Discover. |
| A．How the wildlife crossings are built. |
| B．Why wildlife crossings are necessary. |
| C．What should be done to cross the roads. |
| D．When wildlife-vehicle collisions happen. |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Skeptical. |
| C．Favorable. | D．Conservative. |
| A．Wildlife crossings save wild animals and money |
| B．The size of wildlife crossings affects animals greatly |
| C．Every wildlife crossing has a great effect on road safety |
| D．Wildlife crossings manage to help animals move safely |
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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5 . Celebrated on June16th, World Sea Turtle Day is a day dedicated to one of the world’s oldest and most fascinating creatures. Unfortunately, this is also a day to remind everyone of the sea turtle’s endangered status.
Sea turtles have been around since the time of dinosaurs. They typically live to between 30 and 50 years of age, spending most of their lives at sea. Part of the reptile(爬行动物) family, sea turtles can hold their breath for up to five hours. This comes in handy since some species can dive as deep as 1,000 meters below the water’s surface before needing to come up for air. Sea turtles also like to get around, often migrating very long distances. One species can migrate over 12,000 km from nesting beaches in Japan all the way to feeding grounds near Mexico.
Female sea turtles return to the beach they hatched on to nest. Some species lay up to 250 eggs in a single nest, and each egg takes around 60 days to incubate(孵化). However, it’s estimated that only one in a thousand baby turtles can survive to adulthood.
Although it is worth having a day to celebrate these magnificent animals, World Sea Turtle Day also has a more serious purpose: to raise awareness of their difficult situation. Sea turtles are threatened with extinction. Plastic trash is a big problem because the turtles often mistake bags and other plastic items for food like jellyfish. In fact, half of all sea turtles have consumed plastic at some time in their lives.
Rising global temperature is another threat facing turtles. Turtle eggs that lie on warm sand are more likely to result in female turtles, which affects the animal’s diversity. Also, trash-covered beaches can make it hard for baby turtles to reach the sea.
However you want to celebrate World Sea Turtle Day, take some time to spread the word about what we can do to protect these ancient animals. Reducing the amount of plastic we use is just one small way we can help make sure sea turtles stick around for another 100 million years.
1. Which of the following best explains “comes in handy” underlined in Paragraph 2?| A．is useful | B．is interesting | C．is close | D．is difficult |
| A．Turtles are a species which hates going around. |
| B．Turtles’ rate of survival is low though they are productive. |
| C．Turtles came into being long after the extinction of dinosaurs. |
| D．Turtles, belonging to reptile family, spend most of their lives on land. |
| A．Turtle eggs lying on warm sand tend to result in female turtles. |
| B．Sea turtles often mistake plastic bags and other plastic items for food. |
| C．Sea turtles are captured by fishermen for food or for other purposes. |
| D．Baby turtles will have difficulty in reaching the sea when they are on trash-covered beaches. |
| A．The factors of causing sea turtles to die out. |
| B．Raising the awareness of protecting sea turtles. |
| C．A brief introduction of sea turtles’ living habits. |
| D．How sea turtles lay eggs. |
6 . I live with my husband about miles from the beach. Every few years, the whales come into the
The next day I asked my friend Liz if she wanted to see whales. “I’m scared,” said Liz. “There is nothing to worry about,” I
Liz and I got out on the water the following morning. After a half hour, we had our first whale
Liz was shaken up and said her whale-watching days were over. But I was much more aware of the power of the nature than before. Liz,
| A．mountain | B．bay | C．desert | D．lake |
| A．absorbed | B．escaped | C．clapped | D．hunted |
| A．assured | B．removed | C．shouted | D．adjusted |
| A．information | B．advice | C．persuasion | D．movement |
| A．enthusiastic | B．energetic | C．romantic | D．dramatic |
| A．thinking | B．sighting | C．feeling | D．hearing |
| A．pulled | B．dived | C．jumped | D．lifted |
| A．skin | B．eye | C．fin | D．mouth |
| A．panicked | B．affected | C．removed | D．disappeared |
| A．fight | B．quit | C．overcome | D．reduce |
| A．small | B．large | C．deep | D．common |
| A．eat | B．bite | C．swallow | D．chew |
| A．Sadly | B．Absolutely | C．Severely | D．Fortunately |
| A．to begin with | B．to her heart’s content | C．to some extent | D．to sum up |
| A．pearls | B．turtles | C．silverfish | D．shells |
I have been a pet behaviorist for more than 25 years, helping animals “perform” on camera. But when a TV company asked if I could teach a dog to fly a plane, I faced the toughest challenge of my career.
Initially, I was hesitant about the project, which involved taking rescue dogs through training to control a light aircraft. I wondered if the idea was in the animals’ best interests but was won over by the program’s aim: to prove that an abandoned dog is capable of far more than people might expect.
My all-male crew was Alfie, Blondie and Shadow. We started with fun tasks that tested the dogs’ memories and abilities, training them to perform complicated moves. By breaking down a complex trick into simpler tasks, I was able to get my boys to achieve polished performances.
The tasks (barking on signals and pushing buttons with their paws) gave us a good feeling for which dogs might be most suited to flight school. I was delighted when Alfie and Shadow made it through, along with another trainer’s dog, Reggie.
We had six weeks to turn them into pilots. I built a copy of the plane’s seat and controls. Another system in front of the dogs included lights – red for right, blue for left and white for straight – and made distinctive sounds. We operated it from the back.
After six weeks, I was delighted at how far the dogs had come. Their final test was to perform a figure of eight, making turns while controlling their altitude. We needed a human co-pilot to take them to 3,000 feet before giving control to the dogs. All three of them performed admirably, flying the plane for minutes at a time.
In the five years since making the program, I visited London and saw Shadow, who is becoming a Hollywood star. Before the show, Shadow was only hours away from being put to sleep(安乐死). It’s a situation that tens of thousands of dogs find themselves in every year. They all have the potential to achieve amazing things if given the chance.
1. Why didn’t the author take the program at first?| A．Because he doubted whether it was good for the animals. |
| B．Because unwanted dogs’ ability was beyond expectation. |
| C．Because it was the biggest challenge. |
| D．Because the dogs might not be interested. |
| A．He got help from three human assistants. |
| B．He trained the dogs on a real plane. |
| C．He used small tasks to train the dogs step by step. |
| D．He let the dogs operate the aircraft on their own. |
| A．They flew the plane in the shape of the number eight. |
| B．They flew the plane to 3000 feet high. |
| C．They flew the plane only in straight lines. |
| D．They were helped by humans all the way. |
| A．Intelligent and ambitious. | B．Considerate and strategic. |
| C．Powerful and sympathetic. | D．Realistic and cooperative. |
Several years ago, my wife and I
The “land of a thousand hills” spread out before us as we drove. We were
The first morning, we set out at sunrise to meet our guide
We wish we were still immersing(使沉浸在) ourselves in the wonderful and
9 . New animal species
We share the Earth with millions of animal species.
In a South American rainforest, 60 new species of animals were found in 2012. Scientists say the reason so many new kinds of animals were found there is that this rainforest was almost untouched by humans. Six new species of frogs were discovered at this time.
In Turkey, scientists have found a new species of wood scorpion(木蝎).
When so many animal species are becoming endangered, finding new ones is exciting.
| A．Some are huge, like elephants. |
| B．There are steps that people can take to protect animals. |
| C．New kinds of animals are also being found in the oceans. |
| D．Some scientists offer classes on studying new animal species. |
| E．However, scientists are continuing to try to save endangered animals. |
| F．Scorpions are poisonous animals that usually live in dry environments. |
| G．This is particularly important because frogs around the world are dying out. |
When I was admitted to the University of Alabama, I decided to get a puppy. So I adopted an adorable Golden Retriever(金毛猎犬) puppy against my parents’ wishes.
Soon, I realized my parents were right. The dog was so naughty that it caused me a lot of trouble every day. In fact, she soon earned the nickname(绰号) Bella the Devil at school.
However, as time went by, she taught me how to be a better dog mom, and I taught her how to be a better dog. We became best friends and did everything together. Bella was there for me all the time: parties, restaurants, games, even dates! We loved spending time together. By the time I was a senior, Bella and I developed a stronger relationship. She was truly my best friend.
In the third year, I worked at the local college l bar not far from the house. One night, I was running late. Bella and I had been with friends down the street when I realized it was already 9:00 p.m. We had to rush home so I could make it to work by 9:30. I ran through the front door and jumped to the bathroom to have a shower. Bella followed me into the bathroom and lay in her usual place on the bathroom floor. Then I heard my front door open. It was so loud that I thought it was strange. It couldn’t be my roommate for she had flown to New York. I turned off the shower and yelled her name. No answer.
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。
Instantly(立刻), I knew something was seriously wrong.
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Then I went outside to find Bella with the policemen.
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