WEEK 15 自然环境（2）一、完形填空（共20小题；共35分）AToo hot? Some mountains offer climate animals lots of land. Pikas(兔鼠) like living there. When it gets warm, they like 1 uphill. They look for cooler environments they like better. And pikas aren't alone. A 2011 study found that many mountain 2 move their living place. They move uphill by about 11 meters every ten years since the 1960s.Scientists think this would be 3 news for the animals. For one, the higher up a mountain they travel, the 4 space that they can live in. After all, mountains look like pyramids, right?In many 5 , animals like pikas and birds may actually get ground when they move uphill, the study shows. Paul Elsen is a scientist. His team published its 6 on May 18 in Nature Climate Change.Most scientists thought that higher living place for migrating(迁移) animals became 7 and smaller. If it is true, that would mean that many earth-warming animals might run out of their new living place—and face 8 .But Elsen started to doubt about this while he was studying 9 in the Himalayas. "That's a huge mountain area in East Asia. Such mountain area might actually 10 more living place to some animals that like living in cooler environments," he said.1. A. playing B. living C. working D. eating2. A. animals B. plants C. people D. flowers3. A. good B. bad C. short D. long4. A. more B. much C. little D. less5. A. seas B. villages C. mountains D. cities6. A. lesson B. class C. study D. paper7. A. smaller B. small C. big D. bigger8. A. life B. happiness C. luckiness D. death9. A. maths B. rivers C. cars D. birds10. A. offer B. provide C. send D. takeScientists in the UK are surprised that so many flowers are in bloom(开花期) this winter. They said that in usual years, between 20 and 30 kinds of flowers and plants are open. However, on New Year's Day, scientists found 368 different kinds in bloom.Scientists believe so many flowers are in bloom because of climate change (气候变化). Last year was the warmest year Britain has ever had. Dr. Tim Rich told the BBC about his surprising at the number of flowers he saw at the start of this year. He said, "Fifty years ago, it was difficult to find plants in winter. But it seems everything's becoming different." He said some flowers were in bloom five months earlier.Scientist Rich explained how the weather affects flowers. The flowers are usually killed by the cold in December. He said, "We are now in our fourth warm winter. Usually flowers go away by Christmas but this year it hasn't happened." He added, "But many flowers are still in bloom now, after New Year's Day."Britain's weather report talked about the climate for last year. It said, "All months except August were warmer than usual years, and this was the warmest year on record for the UK. It was also wetter than usual years for many areas."11. People in the UK get surprised because .A. 30 kinds of flowers are in bloom this winterB. 368 kinds of flowers are in bloom this winterC. the weather is very cold on New Year's DayD. the weather is very hot on New Year's Day12. From the second paragraph, we can guess that .A. the weather now is colder than 50 years agoB. the weather now is warmer than 50 years agoC. the weather now is similar to 50 years agoD. the weather keeps warm all the year round13. How does the weather affect flowers?A. The cold weather in December kills flowers.B. The cold weather in January kills flowers.C. The hot weather in August kills flowers.D. The hot weather in July kills flowers.14. How many months were warmer than usual years?A. Nine.B. Ten.C. Eleven.D. Twelve.15. What's the best title for the passage?A. Climate Change in the UKB. Special Flowers in the UKC. Flowers on New Year's DayD. Hot Weather This YearThe most unusual bird in the world is looking for a new home with lots of wetland and lots of food! There are only a few red-brown pochards (红头潜鸭) in Madagascar. People thought the bird died out after they last saw it in 1991, but they found it again in 2009.A new study showed that 96 percent of the small wild chicks are dying between two and three weeks old, and scientists believe most of them die because they have nothing to eat.Cutting down trees, fishing, and farming have made the bird move to another lake. Sadly, this lake is very, very deep. Young birds are too hungry because their parents can't go down deep enough into to the water to get food for them.The last home of the pochard is one of the cleanest wetlands in the country, but it's simply too small for the pochard. The scientists in the wetland watched 10 or 11 parent pochards hatch(产卵). They found some chicks would die.The birds could live in the wild again if they can find a new home. Dr. Hilton works in the wetland. He said they had found a lake that could be a great new home for the ducks."We should work with the villagers to keep the pochard safe. We must also try to keep the lake clean and help people to get a better life from the lake they live around. We should all take part in the work," he said.16. How long didn't people see red-brown pochard?A. About ten years.B. About twenty years.C. About thirty years.D. About forty years.17. Why do most baby red-brown pochard die between two and three weeks?A. Because they have nothing to eat.B. Because they have nothing to drink.C. Because their mothers don't like them.D. Because their fathers don't like them.18. The lake is so that mother pochard can't get food for their babies.A. dirtyB. littleC. deepD. hot19. What do the scientists think of the last home of the pochard?A. Big enough.B. Too dirty.C. Too deep.D. Too small.20. The last paragraph mainly tells us that .A. we must work with the villagers to keep the pochard safeB. we must also try to keep the lake clean for the pochardC. we must help people to get a better life from the lakeD. the birds can live in the wild if they can find a new home二、阅读理解（共5小题；共10分）If you are in the northern half of the earth and above the tropics(热带), have you noticed that the sun is rising earlier every day? It shows that spring is here and days are getting longer. If you are in the US and in a state that keeps Daylight Savings time (DST 夏时制), the clocks have been moved one hour ahead on March 8. DST is the ritual(仪式) we jump over one full hour of a Sunday in March, when clocks get reset to 2 a.m. at the usual 1 a.m.!The idea came from Benjamin Franklin! While serving as US ambassador(大使) to France in 1784, Franklin woke up at 6 a.m. to find the sun up really early. He thought that if everyone were up an hour earlier, people could save a lot on the cost of candles. Meanwhile in the late 1800s, George, from New Zealand, suggested changing the clock during summers instead of springs. More daylight in the evenings helped people do much work.It was in 1917 that DST was accepted in Europe and America. During World War I, the West realized that to save oil and keep factories producing, it helped to have more hours of daylight.To make it similar in different areas that accepted DST and those that did not, the US government declared(宣布) a DST standard(标准) in 1966. Nowadays clocks are reset forward on the second Sunday in March and fall back on the first Sunday in November.21. What is the first sign that spring is coming?A. The sun is rising earlier.B. The sun is rising later.C. The sun rises in the east.D. The sun goes down in the west.22. The underlined word "reset" means " " in Chinese.A. 重新设置B. 取消设置C. 错误设置D. 定位设置23. Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea of DST in order to .A. save timeB. save foodC. save moneyD. save light24. When was DST accepted in Europe and America?A. In 1784.B. In the 1800s.C. In 1966.D. In 1917.25. How long does Daylight Savings time keep in a year in the USA?A. About six months.B. About seven months.C. About eight months.D. About nine months.三、阅读与表达(问答式)（共5小题；共10分）This is a good-news story about sea life. Scientists have reported that there are more blue whales(鲸鱼) in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Scientists report that there are now over 2,200 blue whales between Mexico and Alaska.Humans killed nearly all the blue whales in that area(地区) and the blue whales were close to extinction(灭绝). Killing whales was against rules in 1971 and the numbers of the world's largest animal started going up. It has taken over 40 years for the blue whale to recover. Dr. Cole Monnahan was very happy at this news. He said, "For us, this is a great story."Dr. Monnahan said the number of 2,200 blue whales in the area might not rise any more. He said, "Before this study, some people thought that number should be going up, but if there are about 2,200 whales now, it's the biggest number our environment can help."Monnahan warned that we should still protect the animal, saying, "California blue whales are recovering(恢复) because we have tried our best to stop killing them. If we hadn't, the number would have been gone down." He added that, "The recovery of California blue whales from whaling shows that we can save blue whales if we try our best. It's time for us humans to do something helpful."根据短文内容，完成下列小题。