1 . Elephants eat plants. That’s common knowledge to biologists and animal-loving, schoolchildren alike. Yet figuring out exactly what kind of plants they eat is more complicated.

A new study from a global team that included Brown University conservation biologists used innovative methods to efficiently and precisely analyze the dietary habits of elephants in Kenya. Their findings on the habits of individual elephants help answer important questions about group food searching behaviors, and aid biologists in understanding the conservation approaches that best keep elephants not only sated (饱的) but satisfied.

“When I talk to non-ecologists, they are surprised to learn that we have never really had a clear picture of what all of these large animals actually eat in nature,” Kartzinel, an expert botanist who has conducted field research in Kenya, said. “The reason is that these animals are difficult and dangerous to observe from up-close, they move long distances, they feed at night and in thick bush and a lot of the plants they feed on are quite small.”

Then the team compared the diets of individual elephants through time. In their analysis, they showed that dietary differences among individuals were often far greater than what had been previously assumed, even among family members that ate together on a given day.

This study helps address a classic paradox (悖论) in wildlife ecology. Kartzinel said: “How do social bonds hold family groups together in a world of limited resources?” In other words, given that elephants all seemingly eat the same plants, it's not obvious why competition for food doesn't push them apart and force them to search for food independently.

“The simple answer is that elephants vary their diets based not only on what’s available but also their preferences and physiological needs,” said Kartzinel. These findings help inform theories of why a group of elephants may search for food together: The individual elephants don't always eat exactly the same plants at the same time, so there will usually be enough plants to go around.

These findings may offer valuable insights for conservation biologists. To protect elephants and create environments in which they can successfully grow their populations, they need a variety of plants to eat.

1. What did the new study focus on?

A．The results of conservation approaches.	B．The eating habits of elephants.
C．Ways to protect elephants from starving.	D．Elephants’ social behavior and needs.

2. What can we infer from paragraph 3?

A．Elephants are hard to monitor.	B．Elephants only live in thick bush.
C．Elephants are kind and friendly animals.	D．Elephants seldom eat with humans around.

3. What message can conservation biologists get from the study?

A．It is necessary for elephants to live together.

B．It is possible to observe elephants up-close.

C．It is social bonds that hold elephants together.

D．It is important to protect the variety of plants.

4. Which word can be used to describe the study?

A．Inaccurate.

B．Shocking.

C．Beneficial.

D．Subjective.

2 . You may have noticed some changes in your grandparents. As they get old, they start   ______things. And the older they get, the _______things they will forget. For example, they may not be able to_______ where they left their glasses, or they may forget the names of their close friends. If you don’t want to ______ memories very early, put down your sandwiches. A new study published in a science magazine shows that cutting calories can ______ people’s (especially the old people’s) memory.

Calorie restriction(热量限制) let lab animals live longer. And these ______ animals seemed to be ______. But it wasn’t clear _______it was the same with people.

In the latest______ , scientists asked 50 elderly women to ______ the number of calories they consumed(吃，喝) by a third. After three months, the _______found that the women were not only _____ , but they were better than they had been at_______ words—they remembered more words than ever, which suggested that keeping calories under ______ could help keep the brain ___________ .

In a word, the less you eat, the more you will remember.

1.

A．missing

B．understanding

C．forgetting

D．loving

2.

A．less

B．more

C．farther

D．deeper

3.

A．remember

B．leave

C．find

D．believe

4.

A．get

B．close

C．practice

D．lose

5.

A．reduce

B．improve

C．test

D．damage

6.

A．little

B．happy

C．dangerous

D．hungry

7.

A．healthier

B．weaker

C．higher

D．better

8.

A．what

B．why

C．whether

D．how

9.

A．magazine

B．match

C．study

D．exercise

10.

A．put

B．cut

C．increase

D．take

11.

A．researchers

B．farmers

C．teachers

D．postmen

12.

A．fatter

B．higher

C．shorter

D．thinner

13.

A．writing

B．memorizing

C．recognizing

D．drawing

14.

A．control

B．limit

C．reduction

D．repair

15.

A．weak

B．tired

C．fit

D．hard

3 . A small study out of Skidmore College examined the advantages of morning vs, evening exercise for both women and men. Paul, professor for health at Skidmore, led the study.

“We had the groups divided into evening and morning groups,” he says. “We found women and men answered differently to different types of exercise depending on the time of the day, which surprised us.”

The study showed that for women who want to lower blood pressure (血压), the risk of heart disease or reduce fat, morning exercise works best. Those women hoping for upper body muscle (肌肉) gains or mood (心情) improvement should consider evening exercise. For the men, the findings were somewhat different: Evening exercise lowers blood pressure, the risk of heart disease, and feelings of tiredness. But similar to women, they burn more fat with morning exercise.

“For many people, the best time to exercise will depend on their chronotype,” says Heisz, author of Move the Body, Heal the Mind.

“Chronotype is your body’s natural habit to sleep at a certain time—it’s what decides whether you’re a night owl or an early bird. For the 25% of the population that considers themselves a night owl, getting both enough sleep and enough exercise can be difficult,” adds Heisz.

He continues, “Sleep—which provides your body the necessary time to recover (恢复) and make gains from exercise—should always be the first choice. When it comes to exercise, regardless of research on the advantages of certain exercises at particular times of the day, your results will not be good if it doesn’t allow enough time for sleep.”

1. What can women get by doing evening exercise according to the study?

A．A fat loss.

B．A good mood.

C．A lower blood pressure.

D．A smaller risk of heart disease.

2. What does the author intend to do in paragraph 5?

A．Give an example.	B．Tell the difference.
C．Do an experiment.	D．Explain a term.

3. What does Heisz think is important to achieve good results of exercise?

A．Enough sleep.	B．Low-fat food.
C．Plenty of water.	D．Lots of exercise.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．A Night Owl or An Early Bird

B．Why Fitness Plan Being Important

C．How to Change Your Exercise Time

D．The Best Time of a Day to Exercise

4 . What is the most shocking about the heatwave affecting the Pacific Northwest is not that it has hit a usually mild area, nor that so many long-standing temperature records are being broken. It is that those records are being broken by such large margins (幅度). In Portland, Oregon, temperature reached 46.6℃(116°F) — making it one of several cities in the region where former records have been beaten by a full 5℃(9°F). At the same time, heatwaves are also hitting central Europe and even Siberia.

Heatwaves may become headlines, but less attention is paid to them. In 2018 about 300,000 people over the age of 65 died as a result of extreme heat, mainly in India, a 54% increase since 2000, according to a report in the Lancet, a medical journal. The report also shows that, unlike storms and floods, heat does not lead to dramatic before-and-after pictures or widespread damage to belongings. It is a silent killer. As many as 70,000 people died due to a heatwave in Europe in 2003.

Heat also kills by worsening health conditions such as heart problems, so not all the deaths it causes may be directly attributed (归因) to it. Climate change will make heatwaves more common and more extreme. Even if greenhouse-gas emissions (排放) are cut to zero by the middle of this century, temperatures will go on rising for decades. So other measures are needed to protect people against extreme heat.

Governments can set up early warning systems to alarm health workers, shut down schools and stop outdoor activities. They can provide the public with forecasts of coming heatwaves, explanations of the dangers and detailed advice on what to do. Improved facilities can also help. This includes providing shaded areas, water parks and “misting stations” to help people cool down, and get to airconditioned “cooling centers” where they can find shelter and sleep if necessary.

The world is, undoubtedly, facing a big health challenge right now. There is no excuse for ignoring heatwaves and their effects.

1. What shocks us most about the heatwave in the Pacific Northwest?

A．It has stricken a usually mild area.

B．It hits central Europe except Siberia.

C．Many temperature records are being broken.

D．Many records are being broken by large margins.

2. What can we learn from the report in the Lancer?

A．People have paid much attention to heatwaves.

B．Heat doesn’t cause widespread damage to belongings.

C．The damage of heat is as obvious as storms and floods.

D．About 300,000 middle-aged people died from extreme heat.

3. What can governments do to protect people against heatwaves?

A．Provide some cool places.	B．Build nursing homes.
C．Organize outdoor activities.	D．Shelter the homeless.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Improving Public Facilities	B．Taking Heatwaves Seriously
C．Preventing Natural Disasters	D．Reducing Greenhouse-gas Emission

5 . 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。

Since ancient times, human beings have tried to explore space and find other life forms. They even tended     1    (improve) the moon’s environment to support life. It was the first time that they had grown plants in the lunar soil. The scientists said they had no idea whether anything     2    (grow) in the moon dirt. They wanted to see if it could be used to grow food. The results surprised them.

Ferl is one of the     3    (professor) in the University of Florida’s institute, and he was     4    (amaze) at the results. “Plants     5    (actual) grow in the soil of the moon,” he said. Ferl and other researchers planted thale cress(拟南芥), a small flowering plant in lunar soil. The good news was that all the seeds grew. The bad news was that after     6     first week, the lunar soil put too much pressure on the plants,     7    (cause) then to grow slowly. The majority     8     the moon plants ended up stunted—meaning small or not fully developed.

The longer the soil was exposed to solar radiation and wind on the moon, the     9    (bad) the plants seemed to be. The soil,     10     was collected by the Apollo 11 mission, was the least helpful for growth because it had been exposed for a couple billion years.

6 . Harvesting fruit is a very precise operation. The fruit must be picked when it is perfectly ripe. But with pickers in short supply in recent years. growers needed to quickly find another way to harvest their crops. Tevel Aerobotics Technologies came to the farmers’ rescue with the Flying Autonomous Robots (FARs) that can help pick fruit.

“Not finding enough fruit pickers is every farmer’s biggest concern,” Yaniv Maor, Tevel’s founder and CEO said. Ask any farmer, anywhere in the world and they’ll tell you they don’t have the people. Food consumption is increasing, but labor availability(劳动力可用性) is decreasing. If pickers are not available. fruit will go bad on the trees. The flying robots will work day and night in almost any weather, without taking a break, to pick as much ripe fruit as possible.

Maor set up Tevel in 2017 and developed the technology after seeing young Israelis pick fruit and get tired after a few hours. He realized that there had to be a better way, so he began developing the software and artificial intelligence (AI) that are needed for the smart robot pickers. “We have to teach the robots about the structure of each fruit how to access the fruit and how to rotate(转动) it and disconnect it from the tree,” Maor said.

The flying robots circle round trees and pick only the ripe ones with a twist(扭动) of their integrated grasper arms. The robots are fitted with cameras that USC AI to assess the size and color of the fruit so that only the ripe ones are picked. The cameras also ensure that the robots’ paths are not blocked.

The robots arc currently picking Asian pears in Israel. In 2022, the FARs were used in pilot programs in Italy to pick peaches and other fruits, as well as in the US. They are not a replacement for labor, instead, they are a solution for the inadequate human pickers. In the future fewer people will work in picking and more will work in managing the robots, analyzing the data and making decisions.

1. Why are the FARs developed?

A．To meet the shortage of pickers to pick fruit.

B．To improve the software and AI for smart robots.

C．To help farmers keep the fruit in perfect condition.

D．To relieve farmers from the tiredness of picking fruit.

2. What can we infer from paragraphs 2 and 3?

A．Maor developed the FARs out of curiosity.

B．The FARs can produce more fruit for food consumption.

C．Labor shortage is an urgent problem in every country.

D．The FARs can work without stop in almost any weather.

3. What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?

A．How the robots work.	B．What the robots consist of.
C．Why the robots are useful.	D．Where the robots are used.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the FARs?

A．Doubtful.	B．Positive.
C．Worried.	D．Unclear.

7 . A California high school student recently took top honours at a worldwide science competition. Jeffrey Chen won the Breakthrough Junior Challenge prize in science earlier this month. The prize comes with $250,000 that Chen can use for college. The aim of the Breakthrough Junior Challenge is to influence young people so they will think creatively in science and mathematics. Students aged 13 — 18 produce short videos which explain a complex science or math subject in an interesting way.

The 17-year-old Chen was chosen over 14 other finalists from the United States, Canada and India. The judges included several well-known scientists and educators. Branko Malaverojvodic, 18, of Peru, won the challenge’s “Popular Vote” contest. He received more than 16,000 likes, shares and positive reactions for his video on cryptography (密码学). You can watch it and the other videos on the Breakthrough Facebook page.

In his prize-winning video, on YouTube, Jeffrey Chen talks about neutrinos (中微子). “This is a neutrino. You can’t see or feel them, but every second each of us are bombarded with trillions of them.”Chen explains neutrinos are particles that are smaller than an atom. He talks about how they can be used in astronomy.

The competition was open to students from around the world. More than 11,000 students competed in the 2021 competition. Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, praised Chen’s science video. “Jeffery is a natural science communicator,” Khan said. A California newspaper, The Daily Journal, said the competition combined Chen’s two great interests — astronomy and film-making and he artfully explains a complex top and makes it easier to understand. Chen said he hopes to continue combining his interests as he studies environmental technology in college. He wants to work on climate change.

1. How do the students participate in the competition?

A．By making short videos.	B．By designing a website.
C．By telling funny stories.	D．By face-to-face debate.

2. What’s the probable meaning of the underlined word “bombarded” in Paragraph 3?

A．Hit against.

B．Knocked down.

C．Laughed at.

D．Puzzled by.

3. What does the California newspaper think of Chen’s video?

A．Interesting and shocking.	B．Funny and instructive.
C．Scientific and artistic.	D．Vividly and specific.

4. What’s the best title of the passage?

A．A Teen Takes Top Science Prize

B．The Breakthrough Junior Challenge

C．Methods of Making Short Videos

D．Students Participate in the Competition Actively

8 . Mastering a new concept (概念) takes time and energy, but don’t you expect an easier way to get the hang of it?     1    

Take handwritten notes.    2    If you’re in a class,listen carefully to the lecture and write down the keywords you hear. If you’re learning something online or from a book,rewrite what you read in your own words since that can help you memorize it better. That way, you’ll be able to recall it more quickly.

Say it out loud. Hearing yourself repeat the information helps you remember it easier.     3     Go slowly through the text so you don’t skip over anything important. Try pointing at the words as you read them to help you commit them to memory even more. The more you say the information out loud,the easier it gets to pull it out from your brain.

    4    Explaining something helps you memorize the main points. Have some of your friends listen to you as you try to teach them the subject you’ve been learning. Try to tell them everything you know in a clear and direct way so you don’t confuse them. Ask them if they need a better explanation. If you have trouble explaining certain points,make sure you go back to review them as well.

Try self-testing. After you’ve read through or practiced something, test your memory by reciting (背诵) everything you just learned. If you need to remember keywords or information,try writing down their definitions without looking them up. Make note of what you have trouble remembering so you can go back and practice it some more.    5    

A．Teach the information to others.

B．Use simple language as much as possible.

C．Therefore, you are going to recall it a lot easier.

D．The following tips can help you pick it up a little quicker.

E．Read aloud if you’re studying from a book, website, or your notes.

F．You are more likely to remember something you have written down.

G．That way, you needn’t waste time focusing on things you already know well.

9 . We have been taught from a young age that red means stop and green means go. So why were these colors chosen for traffic lights? And what’s the history behind the colors?

To trace the connection between the colors and traffic lights,we have to travel back in time to the earliest railroad signals (信号灯) developed in the 1830s. Those first railroad signals were the forerunner of our modern stoplights. Like modern traffic controls,they contained three lights:one for stop,one for caution (警告),and one for go. The original color system was different from our modern system,though. Red meant stop,green meant caution,and white meant go.

The choice of red for stop was fairly obvious,since red — the color of blood — has been associated with danger for thousands of years, long before cars were even around. Scientifically speaking,red is the color with the longest wavelength which means that as it travels,it gets spread less in different directions than other colors,so it can be seen from a greater distance.

Why green and white were chosen for the other signals remains a bit of a mystery. It’s possible that the two colors were chosen because how they contrasted (反差) with red. This system of color-coded signals remained in place (仍然有效) for several decades until it became clear that using white for go could cause serious problems. Around 1914,a train signal’s red lights broke down,causing it to appear white. As a train approached the signal,it was supposed to stop,but the driver believed the white meant go. The result was a terrible train crash. After that,the color for go was eventually changed to green.

To provide the most contrast between red and green,yellow was then chosen as the new color for caution,because it can be seen well at all times of the day. After cars were invented and went into mass production,a similar signaling system was needed to control the flow of traffic. When traffic lights were put up,it became standard for them as well.

1. How does the author describe the original traffic lights?

A．By listing an example.	B．By offering a suggestion.
C．By making a comparison.	D．By showing the importance.

2. Why is the color red chosen for stop?

A．It is the easiest to recognize all day long.

B．It reminds people of accidents and danger.

C．It spreads fastest in all directions in the air.

D．It has proved the least harmless to our eyes.

3. What caused the accident in paragraph 4?

A．The driver’s tiredness.	B．The train’s high speed.
C．The travel system’s shortcoming.	D．The white light’s failing to work.

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

A．How did the present traffic lights form?

B．Why was the first traffic system invented?

C．Why did white disappear from the traffic lights?

D．How did an accident change the traffic systems?

10 . 阅读下面短文.在空白处填人l个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Scientists have discovered six new species of frog the size of a thumbnail (拇指甲) in the forests of Mexico, with one earning the distinction of Mexico’s smallest frog.

All six species are     1     ( small) than an Australian five-cent coin around 15 mm long when they are fully    2     ( grow). Adult males of the tiniest of these species, named Craugastor candelariensis, grow    3    only 13 mm. The newly discovered species    4    (know) as “direct-developing” frogs: Rather than hatching from eggs into tadpoles ( 蝌蚪)like most frogs. they emerge from the eggs as perfect mini frogs. And they’re so small that they’ re right at    5     bottom of the forest food chain.

With millions of these frogs    6    (live) in the leaf litter, they’re likely to play a    7    (huge) important role in the ecosystem as a source of food for everything else, from lizards to predatory birds. Until now these new species     8    ( go) unnoticed because they’re small and brown and look really similar to other frogs.

Their lifestyle is completely fascinating. These frogs live in the dark, humid leaf litter of the forests，    9    is like a secret world. Scientists don’t really know anything about what goes on there. They don’t understand their    10    ( behave), how they socialize or how they breed.