1 . Do you know how to cycle? It is a skill that, once learned, is never forgotten. For the majority of us, the art of balancing on two wheels was mastered during our childhood. Many still wear helmets, put feet on the pedals, and take a ride around the streets. And in recent years, cycling has become more and more popular. What attracts people to ride their bikes once again?
Cycling offers a lot of advantages that affect both our physical and mental health. For example, regular cycling can improve the function of our cardiovascular (心血管的)system, assist in the burning of extra body fat and strengthen our leg muscles. A long ride in the countryside helps us to clear our mind easily.
Riding a bike is a smart choice for getting to work, shopping, or sightseeing. You can save money that you would otherwise spend on fuels and fares. Unlike cars that struggle with parking, bikes can be easily locked up. Then, on the train, there are chances at stations and other people speaking loudly on their phones. Cyclists face neither of these problems. And if we’re worried about safety, there are cycle lanes in many cities, or we can wear light-colored clothes to improve our safety when cycling on the roads.
Cycling can also be good for the environment. It cuts our carbon footprint, which means we make less pollution. It’s great for our planet and keeps the air clean around us. When we ride bikes, we don’t use fuel like cars do, and that’s really good for our environment.
Therefore, more and more people choose to ride for many benefits such as improving their health, easily going to work, saving money, protecting the environment, or a combination of these factors.
1. When do most people learn to ride?| A．In their free time. | B．After their retirement. |
| C．At their young ages. | D．During their adulthood. |
| A．It is a good way to save money. |
| B．It is a great idea to relax cyclists. |
| C．It is dangerous to cycle on the roads. |
| D．It is difficult to find a place park the bike. |
| A．Consumes more fuels. | B．Increases air pollution. |
| C．Causes fewer accidents. | D．Reduces carbon footprint. |
| A．Sports & Health. | B．Travel & Culture. |
| C．Science & Technology. | D．Animals & Environment. |
2 . When nine-year-olds Ella Grace Rossen and Cash Daniels met in July 2019, they immediately connected. When their moms introduced them, they had no idea that the kids were about to become an environmental-activism powerhouse pair.
“We knew we could make a difference together, ” says Cash from his home in Ella agrees. “It was pretty much instant best friends.”
Within a short time, their meeting transformed into action, birthing the Cleanup Kids — a youth-led non-profit determined to make waves in environmental conservation.
Ella’s passion for the environment started with an early love of sharks and many first-hand encounters of cleaning up trash along the shores of Vero Beach. For Cash, the spark was ignited (点燃) at just seven years old, when a single plastic straw on the beach caught his eye, symbolizing a much larger issue. That’s when he became aware of the crisis facing thousands of turtles, seabirds and other wildlife, which risk death from consuming discarded plastic.
“My hope for the Cleanup Kids is that it’s not hundreds of kids, it’s thousands of kids who have joined us, and for that to have a chain effect,” says Ella. Member responsibilities include conducting at least one cleanup per month, documenting and photographing the collected trash, and sorting and recycling items. It’s a lot of work, and it hasn’t gone unrecognized. In 2022, out of more than 700 applicants from across North America, Cash and Ella were chosen as one of 25 projects to receive the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes.
How do you even begin to make that impact? Cash’s best advice is to start small. “I started with just a couple cleanups with my family. Don’t overdo it,” he says. “And just remember that kids may be only a small part of the population, but we’re 100 percent of the future.”
1. What do we know about Cleanup Kids?| A．It is aimed at making a fortune. |
| B．It is co-led by mothers and kids. |
| C．It helps kids make friends. |
| D．It focuses on environmental preservation. |
| A．Trash along the shores of Vero Beach, |
| B．A single plastic straw on the beach. |
| C．Turtles eating discarded plastic. |
| D．Death of the wildlife in the ocean. |
| A．Acknowledged. | B．Fruitless. |
| C．Wasted. | D．Inadequate. |
| A．A Cleaner Future |
| B．Friendship Between Two Kids |
| C．Young Geniuses in the World |
| D．Advice for Kids |
1.不文明出游的现象;
2.对文明出游发出倡议。
注意：1.可以增加细节，以使行文连贯;
2.词数80词左右;
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4 . Djukic is a biology and chemistry student at John Carroll University. She never thought that one day she would be in a classroom where an English teacher asked her to play a board game in order to learn about climate change.
Debra Rosenthal is the professor of the class. At first, Djukic said she was uncertain about Rosenthal’s board game idea. “I was just like: ‘this is interesting, but how much are we actually going to take away from it?”
Rosenthal thought her students would gain a greater understanding about how their own ideas and experiences affect climate change. Students do not compete against each other. They work together to choose the best plan of action. The game is different from board games such as Monopoly, where the goal is to win. Rosenthal said she hoped the games would give students a chance to talk about climate change in a new way.
“By playing the games, it’s a way to be social, to engage in conversation. There has to be a lot of energy around the table. It’s very collaborative. And in the game that I chose to play, they really were able to work together and try to come up with a solution so that the planet was not destroyed.”
During the class, she said, students laughed, disagreed and had to call for votes as a way to decide how to move forward in the game. Djukic said it was a “way to have fun...while also learning about such a serious subject.”
The games are global, Djukic said. That is because she and her classmates said they were able to see how one player’s decision about agriculture affected another player on the other side of the world.
She said the games showed her that “in the game of climate change and the climate crisis, no individual wins.” “It’s either we all suffer from this, or we all somehow collaborate to work our way out of this and turn the clock back on climate change.”
1. What is the purpose of Rosenthal’s class arrangement?| A．To inspire the competition among students. |
| B．To entertain the students with the board game. |
| C．To stress the damage caused by climate change. |
| D．To encourage student’s viewpoints about climate change. |
| A．Cooperative | B．Competitive | C．Creative | D．Exclusive |
| A．Agriculture is of vital importance to the world. |
| B．The world is a community of shared future. |
| C．Man with strong will can conquer nature. |
| D．Climate change is a tough problem to solve. |
| A．Climate change calls for teamwork. |
| B．Climate change leads to global impact. |
| C．A board game helps students understand climate issues. |
| D．A good teacher gives students lifelong benefits. |
1. What is the talk mainly about?
| A．The development of electric cars in California. |
| B．The new rules announced in California. |
| C．The temperature rise in California. |
| A．By 2026. | B．By 2030. | C．By 2035. |
| A．People. | B．Beaches. | C．Forests. |
| A．The policies made by other states. |
| B．The natural beauty in California. |
| C．The obvious rise in global temperatures. |
6 . The Luling Mountains in Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, used to be a deserted area without even a single tree. Now, it is a leafy paradise for birds, and tourists are flooding in. The huge transformation has occurred thanks to the consistent efforts of Tian Wangui, 67, and his wife Lu Min, 63, over nearly half a century.
In 1982, the couple contracted(承包)the land-use rights of the two mountains near their home. They intended to plant fruit trees in the mountains to make a living. Back then, the mountains were deserted with no trees at all. To help the seedlings(树苗)they planted survive in the barren(贫瘠的)land, the couple had to carry water to the mountains on their backs. They also bought whatever seeds were available from a nearby forest farm and spread them every spring, hoping to afforest the mountains. With such an extensive planting method, however, they initially failed to see many seeds take root in the barren soil. But the couple didn’t give up.
The couple’s perseverance finally paid off. They discovered that some tree species were tough enough to survive, including pine and mulberry. Now, more than 50,000 trees of over 20 species cover the land they contracted, following their consistent efforts to sow tree seeds year after year.
As the mountains became lush(郁郁葱葱), Tian and Lu were charged with a new task-patrolling(巡逻)their nearly 67 hectares of forest every day to prevent fires. The patrol even didn’t stop on the eve of last year’s Chinese Lunar New Year. Instead of watching the CCTV Spring Festival Gala on Jan. 21st like most Chinese, the couple went to patrol the mountains with the families of their son and daughter. “Many people set off fireworks to mark the arrival of the new year, so the holiday is a time when we have to stay cautious against fire threats,” Tian said.
The couple has no plans to quit their work, and they hope their children will follow in their footsteps. “We cherish the mountains and trees as we cherish our own children,” Lu said. “Even as we grow old, they will continue to patrol the woods and watch over the birds.”
1. What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?| A．The mountains. | B．The forest farm. |
| C．The poor couple. | D．The tough condition. |
| A．More than 20 species were sowed every year. |
| B．Pine and mulberry cannot survive on the land. |
| C．Their continuous efforts eventually worked. |
| D．They bought 50,000 trees according to the contract. |
| A．Honest and hardworking. | B．Curious and brave. |
| C．Determined and persevering. | D．Friendly and intelligent. |
| A．They regard the mountains as their children. |
| B．They want their children to succeed their career. |
| C．They can earn much money from the mountains. |
| D．They have a life-long contract with the government. |
Yellowstone is beautiful. No description I could give would do it in a right way. It is
On this 150th anniversary, the National Park Service and Yellowstone fans looked at the past, present and future with events
8 . Bees are more than just honey-makers, They are essential pollinators (传粉者) that help maintain the balance of our ecosystems and the diversity of our crops. Bees are among the most diverse and plentiful insects on Earth, with over 20,000 species worldwide. They belong to the order Hymenoptera (膜翅目昆虫), which also includes wasps, ants, and sawflies.
Bees have evolved to feed on nectar (花蜜) and pollen from flowers, and in doing so, they transfer pollen from one flower to another, enabling fertilization (受精) and reproduction. This process, called pollination, is essential for the survival of many plants, especially those that produce fruits, nuts, seeds, and vegetables that we eat.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), bees and other pollinators affect 35% of global agricultural land, supporting the production of 87% of the leading food crops worldwide.
Pollination also enhances the quality and quantity of the crops, as well as their resistance to pests and diseases. Without bees and other pollinators, our food supply and our biodiversity would be at risk.
Unfortunately, bees are facing many threats, such as habitat loss, pesticide use, climate change, diseases, and invasive species. The FAO estimates that 16.5％ of vertebrate (脊椎动物) pollinators and 40% of invertebrate pollinators, such as bees, are facing extinction. This could have serious consequences for our food security, our livelihoods, and our environment.
Therefore, it is important to protect the bees and their habitats, and to raise awareness about their role and value.
One way to appreciate and support the bees is to learn how to identify them and observe their behavior. You might be surprised by the diversity and beauty of the bees that visit your backyard, garden, or balcony.
1. Why are pollinators important?| A．They help the bees fertilize. | B．They keep the crops diverse. |
| C．They support the bees to make honey. | D．They protect insects such as wasps. |
| A．How pollination works. | B．How the flowers attract bees. |
| C．How the bees reproduce. | D．How the plants produce fruits. |
| A．Climate change. | B．Pesticide use. |
| C．Pollinators’ survival crisis. | D．Bees’ habitat loss. |
| A．A duty: Protect Bees’ Habitat | B．A Means: Observe Bees’ Behaviour |
| C．Bees: Maintainers of the Ecosystem | D．Bees: Consumers at the Top of the Food Chain |
For generations, Babusha,
Today, the desert’s southward spread has been stopped thanks to a green belt ten kilometers in
Guo’s father was one of the six men who first began planting trees in Babusha
Year after year, Guo and his colleagues have continued to plant trees each spring and fall,
10 . Plastic, which is now common, contains endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or EDCs (内分泌干扰物), that has been linked to increased risk of many chronic diseases. Parental exposure to EDCs, for example, has been shown to cause metabolic (新陈代谢的) disorders, including obesity and diabetes, in the later generations.
Led by Changcheng Zhou, a professor of biomedical sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of California, the researchers investigated the impact of fathers’ exposure to a phthalate called dicyclohexyl phthalate, or DCHP (邻苯二甲酸二环己酯), on the metabolic health of first generation (F1) and second generation (F2) in mice. Phthalates are chemicals used to make plastic more durable.
The researchers found that fathers’ DCHP exposure for four weeks led to high insulin (胰岛素) resistance and impaired insulin signaling in F1. The same effect, but weaker, was seen in F2 .
“We found fathers’ exposure to EDCs may have intergenerational and transgenerational detrimental effects on the metabolic health of their later generations, ”Zhou said. “To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to demonstrate this.”
In the case of fathers’ exposure in the study, intergenerational effects are changes that occur due to direct exposure to a stressor, such as exposure to DCHP of fathers (F0 generation) and his F1 generation. Transgenerational effects are changes passed down to later generations that are not directly exposed to the stressor (for example, F2 generation).
“This suggests that fathers’ DCHP exposure can lead to sex-specific transgenerational effects on the metabolic health of their later generations,” Zhou said.
Zhou stressed that the impact of exposure to DCHP on human health is not well understood, even though DCHP is widely used in a variety of plastic products and has been detected in food, water, and indoor particulate matter.
“It’s best to minimize our use of plastic products,” Zhou said. “This can also help reduce plastic pollution, one of our most pressing environmental issues.”
1. Why are phthalates added to plastic?| A．To beautify it. | B．To make it long-lasting. |
| C．To reduce its cost. | D．To increase its weight. |
| A．Negative. | B．External. | C．Distinct. | D．Adventurous. |
| A．Bury plastic waste. | B．Watch out for the food they eat. |
| C．Use fewest plastic products. | D．Never produce plastic products. |
| A．Plastic contains endocrine disrupting chemicals |
| B．Plastic pollution is a pressing environmental issue |
| C．DCHP is widely used in a variety of plastic products |
| D．Chemicals in plastic may impact two generations’ health |
