Every year, Tara Atkins collects warm clothing from her community, in order to give to the less fortunate. This year, she took to Facebook to call, for donations and the response was strong-their front porch ( 门厅 ) was filled with bags of clothes. Since the family was traveling to Halifax on November 15 with their daughter Jayda and seven of her friends to celebrate her 8th birthday, Tara decided it was the perfect time to teach the children a valuable life lesson.

The kids spent time handing out coats to any homeless they met on the streets and tied the rest around lamp posts for others to pick up. According to Tara, the experience helped the children better understand the difficult situation of homeless people having to confront the serious winter on the streets.

There is no way to be sure that the coats left hanging on street posts were actually picked up by the homeless, but Tara says she isn’t too worried about that. By next morning, all the jackets and scarves on the posts were gone. Photographs of the inspiring project have been shared about 8,000 times on Facebook, and got over 10,000 likes. Tara, who did something similar in Toronto in December last year, says she’s already planning next year’s coat drive. She’s hoping to spread the word well ahead of time, so more people can contribute. And she also wants to add $5 fast food gift cards so the recipients ( 接受者 ) can also enjoy a hot meal. “We’ve had help from others when we were in need, and we knew how great it made us feel,” said Zachary Atkins, Tara’s husband.

1 ． How did locals react at the sight of the warmly dressed poles?

A ． They got confused.

B ． They were annoyed.

C ． They took photos and spread the news.

D ． They unwrapped and put on the clothes.

2 ． Why did Tara Atkins go to Halifax on November 15?

A ． To go sightseeing.

B ． To celebrate Jayda’s birthday.

C ． To collect warm clothing for the homeless.

D ． To spend the holiday with family.

3 ． What does the underlined word “spread the word” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A ． Make the activity known to more people.

B ． Send clothing to more people.

C ． Teach the word “cold drive” to more people.

D ． Understand the word very well.

4 ． What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A ． Tara is sure that the coats will be picked up by the homeless.

B ． People reacted warmly to the photographs on Facebook

C ． Tara is calling on the government to donate.

D ． Zachary Atkins is against what Tara has done.

As our boat nears the shore, the dark shadows beneath the sea sharpen into focus. Coral stones, organized neatly into rows, glisten from the reef of this shallow bay. We are drifting over the foundations of the neighborhoods of Tebunginako. The village was once home to more than 200 households, but today, it lies beneath several meters of water.

“We used to swim out there to see the ships when we were boys. They’d tie them up to the coconut trees just over here,” explains the Mayor, pointing enthusiastically as we coast over the remains of his town. Locals say Tebunginako was once the island’s main harbor—before the rising sea swallowed its coast.

Many of Kiribati’s citizens have escaped to the capital island, South Tarawa, due to climate related disasters. Objectively, developed countries should be responsible for global warming. Like any other developing island state, the fresh water supply here is being strained. The Mayor adds.“ “Climate change and the rising sea worsen a problem we already have concerning our water resources.” A teacher approaches and complains. “We are very simple people with very simple needs, but we do not want to be faced with something that is not entirely of our own doing.”

As the sun sets in Tebunginako, the Mayor guides us to the shore of the town’s two remaining structures, a Church and a traditional community center. The Mayor states, “These places are important to our people because of their religion and because it was the last place they were all together.”

1 ． What do you know about Kiribati according to paragraph 1?

A ． It belongs to one island of South Pacific. B ． It has been independent for about 40 years.

C ． Climate change has led to its disappearance. D ． People there are among the first to see the sunset

2 ． Which statement applies to Tebunginako?

A ． It is home to 200 households. B ． It is still above the sea level.

C ． It is a victim of global warming. D ． It was once the island’s only harbor.

3 ． What can be inferred according to the teacher in the fourth paragraph?

A ． Locals expect more from others. B ． The fresh water supply is cut off.

C ． More people should be responsible. D ． Locals are ready to leave their community.

4 ． How do people in Kiribati feel about the present situation?

A ． Favorable. B ． Careful. C ． Careless. D ． Worried.

A pre-2011 visit to Malta wouldn’t have been complete without a ride on one of the colorful buses. Until 1973 you could tell the destination of the bus just by looking at its color--Sliema was green and white, Zabbar was red and white with a blue stripe( 条纹 )etc. Later, the buses all had numbers. For a while, they were all painted green and white before the ‘final’ orange, yellow and white.

In their prime , walking around the Triton fountain at the Valletta bus station, you would have found it very difficult to see two buses of exactly the same design. Most of them had locally built bodies. On the front of the buses carried names like Dodge, Leyland, Bedford etc. You were equally likely to find football pennants( 锦旗 )and the like decorating the cabs. Real bus experts would have recognized that these were there mainly for decorative reasons, and were seldom an exact idea of the vehicle’s origins.

Nowadays much more modern buses are to be found at the Floriana bus station. They are more environmentally friendly and possibly even more comfortable than the older types. However, I miss the old buses. I remember, when you boarded your bus, you had to prepare the correct change to pay the usually bad-tempered driver as you got on. If you were seated anywhere near the front, you would have noticed that most drivers sat well to the right of their steering wheel. The reason for this, as any Maltese would tell you, was to leave space for their pet to sit alongside them. I wonder where the pet sits these days.

9 ． What makes a pre-2011 visit to Malta special according to Paragraph 2?

A ． Traveling in colorful buses.

B ． Using buses with stripes.

C ． Painting buses bright colors.

D ． Telling destinations by different colors.

10 ． Which of the following best explains ‘prime’ underlined in Paragraph 3?

A ． the most painful time. B ． the loudest time.

C ． the most disappointing time. D ． the strongest time.

11 ． What message does the author want to tell the readers about Malta buses?

A ． They were of the same pattern.

B ． The decorations showed their origin.

C ． Most were uniquely designed.

D ． Only football pennants decorated the cabs.

12 ． How would the author feel about the old style Malta buses?

A ． Comfortable. B ． Environment-friendly.

C ． Safe. D ． Memorable.

Whales, like all mammals （哺乳动物） , need air, and come to the surface to breathe through a blowhole. A drone （无人机） that floats over the blowholes of humpback whales as they are making annual journey along Australia’s east coast is being used by Australian scientists for collecting nasal mucus （鼻腔粘液） of whales.

Vanessa Pirotta, a biologist at Macquarie University says that nasal mucus indicates the health of the whale. “It is the biological mixture that you see as a whale takes a breath as it surfaces from the water,” she said. You can hear sounds of sharp breaths as a whale breathes because, after all, they are animals like you and I. So as they take a breath it is a lot of lung bacteria （细菌） coming out from their lungs （肺） , which we can collect to provide a brief idea of whale health.

Australian researchers have attached a special dish that is used in scientific tests to a drone which flies through the whale's nasal mist. As a whale comes to take a breath-you can actually see it coming to the surface on really good weather days -- the done then lowers, the dish is then opened, collecting nasal mucus for later research.

The research could help to solve one of the secrets of another impressive creature of the deep-the Southern Right whale. Its numbers have recovered on Australia’s west coast since hunting became suppressed but its population on the eastern seaboard is still stubbornly low.

In the past, studies into whale health had to rely on examining whales that were either killed or those whales that had been trapped on a beach. Drones allow scientists to collect nasal mucus from free-swimming whales to gather information in a safe way.

1 ． What is the drone mainly used to do?

A ． To gather information for researchers.

B ． To record new species of whales.

C ． To make sure of the safety of whales.

D ． To take photos of whales yearly journey.

2 ． How can a biologist find out a whale’s health condition in the study?

A ． By examining liquids from its breath.

B ． By checking its lungs on a machine.

C ． By listening to the sounds of its breath.

D ． By studying its similarity with humans.

3 ． What does the underlined word “suppressed” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A ． Commercial. B ． Rewarding C ． Hidden D ． Forbidden.

4 ． Why is the Southern Right whale mentioned?

A ． To describe the difficulty to track it.

B ． To show the difference between eastern and western coast.

C ． To stress the effect of increasing whale population.

D ． To show the possible application of the research.

A different view of money

Danes ( 丹麦人 ) tend not to be concerned with “keeping up with the Joneses”. 1 ． Rather than buying the fanciest cars or the most expensive houses, Danish people spend money on leisure activities such as hobbies, outings with friends, or games.

An enjoyable jobs climate

2 ． They also work, on average, 1,522 hours per year, which is lower than most countries. Not only does this give them more leisure time, it is not detrimental( 不利的 ), as the average yearly income is $59,850. Besides, Denmark has the lowest income inequality and highest minimum wage in the world.

3 ．

The importance placed on human communication fosters a belief in one’s neighbours, and a trust that if something bad were to happen, the community would come to help them. 94% of Danes report that they have somebody they could rely on in time of need.

A clean environment

The government encourages green policies, such as bicycling in cities, in order to cut down on harmful emissions. Like bicycling, many of these measures also have other benefits. 4 ． In Denmark, levels of air pollution, water pollution, and agricultural pollution are also lower than most other countries.

5 ． .

A ． Somebody to lean on

B ． Somebody to seek advice from

C ． There are also many beautiful parks in Denmark

D ． Danes have lower unemployment rates than most countries in the world

E.Instead, they view money as a kind of means to connect with other people

F.Cities where bicycling is common have less traffic, less noise, and healthier citizens

G.Look over all these factors ， it becomes apparent that almost anybody would love living in Denmark