This season, the bushfires in Australia have burned more than 12.35 million acres of land. At least 25 people have been killed and 2000 homes destroyed. According to the BBC, this is the most casualties（伤亡）from wildfires in the country since 2009. The University of Sydney estimates that 480 million animals have died in South Wales alone.
Zeke Hausfather, an energy systems analyst and climate researcher at Berkeley Earth, said warmer temperatures and extreme weather have made Australia more susceptible to fires and increased the length of the fire season. “The drier conditions combined with record high temperatures in 2019 created main conditions for the disastrous fires.Australia’s fires were worsened by the combination of those two. 2019 was the perfect storm for being the warmest year on record for Australia and the driest year on record for Australia,” Hausfather added on Friday.
Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, said warmer ocean temperatures also contributed to more variable weather around the world. Trenberth believes that global warming contributed to energy imbalances and hot spots in the oceans, which can create a wave in the atmosphere that locks weather patterns in places, causing longer rain events in Indonesia, for example, and at the same time contributing to drought in Australia.He said that once an area experiences drought conditions for two months or more, it increases the risk of fires catching and spreading. Those changing weather patterns due to global warming make drought events longer.
Climate experts stress that climate change is not the only factor in the severity of wildfires. How land is managed can also impact the amount of fuel available for fires. Practices like controlled burns and other factors can impact the risk to people and property, such as warning systems and the type of development in a given area. Changing those policies has great potential to limit future damage from wildfires along with changes to how fire management resources are dispatched (派遣).
1.What are the numbers about in paragraph 1?
A.The causes of Australian fires. B.The consequences of Australian fires.
C.The damaged areas of Australian fires. D.The property destruction of Australian fires.
2.Which of the following best explains “susceptible to” in the second paragraph?
A.Very quickly to adapt to. B.Very seriously to focus on.
C.Very likely to be influenced by. D.Very easily to be protected against.
3.What can we infer from Trenberth’s research?
A.Global warming is the root cause of the bushfires.
B.Longer dry weather contributes to global warming.
C.Warmer ocean temperatures promote fires spreading.
D.The imbalanced energy leads to the temperature rising.
4.What does the author intend to do in the last paragraph?
A.To stress the effects of Australia fires.
B.To show the methods for controlling burns.
C.To predict the seriousness of Australia fires.
D.To provide some advice about reducing damage.
Today's world is not an easy adjustment for young adults. Key skill set for success is persistence (毅力), a characteristic that researchers say is heavily influenced by fathers. Researchers from Brigham Young University discovered that fathers are in a unique position to help their adolescent children learn persistence.
BYU professors Laura Padilla-Walker and Randal Day arrived at these findings after following 325 American families over several years. And over time，the persistence gained through fathers led to higher achievement in school.
"There are relatively few studies that stress the unique role of fathers，"Padilla-Walker said. "This research also helps to prove that characteristics such as persistence-which can be taught-are key to a child's life success.”
Researchers determined that dads need to practice an "authoritative" parenting style. Authoritative parenting is not authoritarian:rigid，demanding or controlling. Rather，an authoritative parenting style includes some of the following characteristics:children feel warmth and love from their father；responsibility and the reasons behind rules are stressed children are given an appropriate level of autonomy(自主权).
In the study，about 52 percent of the dads exhibited above-average levels of authoritative parenting. A key finding is that over time，children raised by an authoritative father were significantly more likely to develop persistence，which leads to better outcomes in school.
This particular study examined 11 to 14-year-olds living in two-parent homes. Yet the researchers suggest that single parents still may play a role in teaching the benefits of persistence，which is an avenue of future research.
1.What is special about the BYU professors' study?
A.It centered on fathers' role in parenting.
B.It was based on a number of large families.
C.It analyzed different kinds of parenting styles.
D.It aimed to improve kids' achievement in school.
2.What would an authoritative father do when raising his children?
A.Ignore their demands. B.Make decisions for them.
C.Control their behaviors. D.Explain the rules to them.
3.Which group can be a focus of future studies according to the researchers?
A.Single parents.
B.Children aged from 11 to 14.
C.Authoritarian fathers.
D.Mothers in two-parent homes.
4.Which of the following is the best title for the text?
A.Three Characteristics of Authoritative Fathers.
B.Key Skills for Young Adults to Succeed in Future.
C.Children Tend to Learn Determination from Father.
D.Family Relationship Influences School Performance.
Growing up, Deka Ismail says she let labels define what she could be. “I was a black girl, from a refugee (难民) family,” Deka said. “It was as if I was only allowed to explore in this predetermined box.”
After a high school chemistry class inspired her to think about a career in science and gave her confidence in the field, Deka learned to live outside labels and began making big plans for her future. Now she is about to begin her freshman year at the University of California, planning to become a professor.
Born and raised in San Diego’s City Heights neighbourhood, Deka is the daughter of a Somali refugee couple. While some might say Deka’s success happened in spite of her background, she would say differently, that her experiences shaped her and inspired her to be the driven, young scientist that she is today.
When Deka was eight years old, her mother got a job by studying hard back in school in order to support the whole family. That made Deka realize that education could make a difference to one’s life. She spent a lot of time in the library reading books, and didn’t do many of the things her peers did, like partying or having romantic relationships.
“I always felt like I had to be the perfect girl for my family,” Deka said. “You have to not even do your best but two times better than everyone else. I felt like the whole world was waiting for me to mess up.”
Deka’s efforts paid off. The summer before her senior year of high school, she was accepted to the American Chemical Society Project SEED Programme. “She brought both enthusiasm and focus,” Botham, a researcher at this research institute, recalled. “She arrived every day ready to work, ready to learn and ready to tackle new challenges regardless of whether or not she had done anything similar.”
When asked what advice she would give to others like her, Deka warned them not to underestimate themselves. “Don’t tell yourself that scholarship is too big or this programme is too competitive or I’ll never get into this school, ” she said. “I was not sure whether I could make it until I started seeing the acceptance letters rolling in.”
1.From the passage, we can learn that ______.
A.Deka was adopted by a refugee family
B.Deka spent a lot of time going to parties
C.Deka became a professor after graduation
D.Deka’s experiences drove her to work hard
2.Deka realized the importance of education ______.
A.from her mother’s experience B.after her chemistry class
C.by reading books in the library D.through working at the institute
3.According to the last paragraph, Deka advised that students be ______.
A.patient B.confident
C.ambitious D.generous
4.What does the story intend to tell us?
A.Life is not all roses.
B.Practice makes perfect.
C.Well begun is half done.
D.Hard work leads to success.
The Ig Nobel Prize, a spoof (滑稽模仿) of the actual Nobel Prize, exists to award the 10 strangest research projects of the year that bring you fun and make you think. The following are three of them in 2019.
Medicine Prize: Pizza
It’s one of the world’s most popular foods. According to the Ig Nobel Medicine Prize winner, eating more pizzas can lower the risk of cancer and heart disease — if your pizza is loaded with fruits and veggies. These provide flavonoids (类黄酮) to fight against certain diseases. So, if you’re a pizza enthusiast, you now have one more reason to love it!
Economics Prize: Dirty Money
Paper money, the most frequently passed items on the planet, is known to pick up all kinds of bacteria. Which country’s currency is the dirtiest? An international team compared seven countries’ paper money. The Romanian Leu was the only one to carry all three types of bacteria tested. And the US Dollar was also a finalist. Perhaps this will make cashless payments more popular.
Biology Prize: Cockroach
Cockroaches (蟑螂) are well known for their survival abilities, but few folks know they can sense magnetic fields. More surprisingly, an international team found that dead cockroaches have more magnetic properties (磁性) than live ones. That’s because magnetic properties decrease when the temperature gets higher. So if you can stand cockroaches, they may be good magnetic sensors.
1.What do the three prizes have in common?
A.They are well-known to the general public.
B.They are entertaining and unusual.
C.They’ve gained the recognition of the Nobel Prize.
D.They are stranger than any other project in previous years.
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A.People with heart disease should eat more pizzas.
B.US Dollar is relatively dirtier than Romanian Leu.
C.Dirty paper money leads to cashless payments.
D.Dead cockroaches are better magnetic sensors than live ones.
3.In which column can you find this passage in a newspaper?
A.Discovery. B.Sports. C.Health. D.Business.
阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇 60 词左右的内容概要。
Being a high school student is probably one of the hardest things in the world. From the countless classes to the endless homework, your school may seem stressful some days. So, it’s understandable if you feel under pressure sometimes.
However, by making a few changes, your high school life could become easier. First, as starters, try to build a better relationship with the most important people in your life: your parents. “To succeed, teens need love, acceptance and support from their parents,” psychologist Sara Villanueva wrote on Psychology Today website. With this in mind, try to explain your difficulties to your parents. That way, they’ll understand you better. To do this, simply talk to your parents and share your feelings with them and they may be able to help you. Having a good relationship with your teachers is important too. If you’re finding a certain class too hard, talk to your teachers and ask them for help. It’s teachers’ job to make sure their students understand what they teach, so they’ll be more than happy to help you.
And then, you also should start by helping yourself to become more successful at anything you do. To start with, set yourself some realistic goals, like “I’ll improve my math grade by next semester,” or “I’ll join one more after-school club.” And rather than just tell yourself these goals, plan them out carefully－and stick to them. You can get yourself a calendar, and mark every piece of school work you have on there, for example. That way, you can see exactly what you need to do and when you need to finish it by.
Another thing to remember, however, is that relaxation is just as important as working hard. “It is good to take time to relax during heavy periods of work to stay energized (精力充沛的) and focused,” US student Anna Pohoryles wrote on university website Odyssey. So, if things get too difficult, taking a break may be the best solution of all.
假定你是李华，你将参加学校组织的暑期社会实践活动，请你根据表格的内容用英语写一封邮件，向你的英国笔友 Chellie 介绍这次社会实践活动。
时间 | 8月1-3日 |
主题 | 创建文明城市 |
内容 | 劝导不文明行为、清扫公共场所等 |
你对参加本次活动的看法 | …… |
注意：
1. 词数 80 左右；
2. 可以适当增加情节以使行文连贯。
参考词汇： 社会实践 social practice； 文明的 civilized
Dear Chellie,
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Yours ,
Li Hua
