【推荐1】REDUCING WATER POLLUTION IN THE LI RIVER

The beautiful Li River and its amazing surrounding scenery is one of the most well-known tourist destinations in Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It attracts millions of domestic and foreign visitors each year. However, its reputation as a top destination has had negative effects on the river’s water quality. This report looks at the problem of water pollution and some actions that have been taken to deal with it.

Previously, water quality in the Li River had suffered greatly from an increasing volume of tourists, many of whom frequently threw garbage into the river. Many tour boats contributed to the problem too. Kitchens on board were using lots of oil. which was often thrown into the water. The growth in tourism also meant the local population rose rapidly, as well as the number of commercial and industrial enterprises. Water pollution levels increased, with more household and commercial waste ending up in the river. In order to feed more people, more chemicals were used to increase crop production. These chemicals led to severe water quality issues, causing a decrease in the number of fish species. Local officials were concerned that the pollution was damaging the natural environment and felt that urgent steps should be taken to restore the rivers original beauty

A comprehensive initiative was started, with a number of measures that addressed the issues. The construction of waste water treatment facilities improved the water quality and water conservation. The collection and transport of household waste was also improved. Dozens of polluting enterprises were closed or moved. The local government set up strict regulations regarding further industrial development. New rules were also introduced regarding tour boat routes and garbage disposal methods. Furthermore, the local authorities began to use the media to spread environmental awareness and encourage greater use of clean energy. At the same time, they started to carry out inspections regularly and fine tourist organisations for abuses. With these measures, it is believed that the beauty of the Li River will be preserved for generations to come.

In addition, the ambitious “Water Ten Plan” is also now tackling water pollution across the country. Other initiatives, such as the “River Chief System”, hold senior officials responsible for reducing water pollution. With such campaigns in effect, Chinas waterways are heading towards a clean and sustainable future.

1. Read Para. 2 and find all the factors that caused the pollution.

2. Read Para. 3&4 and find all the solutions mentioned to solve the Li River water pollution.

【推荐2】In between all the measures to battle the severe air pollution in Delhi, India, there’s one more option----a bar that has “pure air”.

Founded by Aryavir Kumar, Oxy Pure, Delhi’s first-ever oxygen bar, offers 15 minutes of 80-90 percent pure oxygen, costing Rs 299 ($4.2). Customers are given a lightweight tube for oxygen intake. The device (装置) is placed near the customers’ noses through which they are advised to breathe in the oxygen.

The bar also offers its customers several aromas (气味) to go with oxygen, including lemongrass, cherry and more. According to the aroma people choose, each session promises to improve sleep patterns and digestion, cure headaches, and even work as a treatment for depression (抑郁).

Bonny Irengbam, a senior sales assistant at the bar, said, “Some people, who try it for the first time, will feel relaxed and fresh. But only people who do this regularly will get real benefits. By regularly, I mean once or twice a month. We don’t encourage back-to-back sessions, as increased levels of oxygen in the body can make a person dizzy.”

Dr. Rajesh Chawla, a senior doctor at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, said, “Even if you breathe in the so-called pure oxygen for two hours in a day, you will go back to breathing the polluted air for the rest of the 22 hours. The concept is purely money-driven.”

Recalling the first few months of the bar, Irengbam admitted that people were skeptical. “Many people criticized, saying we were selling air. Others were simply scared to breathe through the tube.”

Irengbam said the bar saw a significant rise in the number of customers two to three days after Diwali, an Indian festival mainly celebrated by fireworks and lights, as the pollution levels were high.

1. What do we know about the oxygen intake?

A．It was not well-received at first.	B．It will always cause side effects.
C．It surely has a promising future.	D．It can cure people of depression.

2. Which of the following can replace “back-to-back” in Paragraph 4?

A．Once — a — month.	B．Once — in — a — while.
C．Once — and — for — all.	D．One — after — another.

3. What is Dr. Rajetha Chawla’s attitude towards the bar?

A．Unconcerned.	B．Positive.
C．Doubtful.	D．Ambiguous.

4. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To explain how to breathe in the oxygen.	B．To show people’s responses to the bar.
C．To advertise for Aryavir Kumar’s business.	D．To introduce the first oxygen bar in India.

【推荐3】When Helly Scholten makes dinner, if she needs a tomato or an onion, she heads upstairs — the top floor of her house, a 440-square-foot indoor vegetable garden. She starts cooking before the sun goes down, while warmth is still flooding through the glass walls of the kitchen downstairs. The entire home is wrapped in a greenhouse.

In Rotterdam, the second-largest city in the Netherlands, such house is part of an experiment called Concept House Village, created to push the limits of sustainable (可持续的) design. It is an attempt to take things in different directions, experimenting with more radical features (特征).

Down the street, in the middle of a mostly empty field, another house tests features of an energy-producing toilet that uses waste. Another house, built from renewable materials, is designed to be constructed in a day.

Inside each of the three houses, volunteer families promised to live there for three years while giving feedback on the designs.

“Of course, it’s a test,” says Scholten. “We knew in advance that everything was not going to be perfect right away.” A rainwater-harvesting system on the roof, which was designed to directly water the vegetables growing in the loft, hasn’t been working correctly, so the family spends at least an hour a day watering the plants by hand. The parts of the house directly under the greenhouse walls can overheat, while the rest of the house can be cold in the winter. The current solar hot waters aren’t enough to keep showers comfortable.

When these new challenges arise, a team of students and professors from the University of Rotterdam — who originally designed and built the home — come over, continually tweaking the design to solve the problems.

Sustainable architecture is not unusual in Rotterdam. Next to the Concept House Village test site, another planned development of 170 homes will be completely energy-neutral — meaning, at the end of each year, the homes will have produced as much power as they used. By 2020, all new houses in the Netherlands will have to be carbon-neutral, by law.

Rotterdam is becoming a sustainable design capital, home to dozens of experimental projects. Next year, the world’s first floating dairy farm will open in a local harbor. The city is testing one-of-a-kind recycled bike paths and climate-proof parks; the port will soon start filtering(过滤) plastic waste from the harbor. Local businessmen are experimenting with mushroom farming, bread recycling, and turning food waste into leather.

1. What do we know about Concept House Village?

A．It is built based on sustainable concepts.

B．It fixes an indoor vegetable garden on each house.

C．It uses renewable materials to build toilets for its villagers.

D．Its buildings are completely different from traditional ones.

2. According to Helly Scholten’s words in Paragraph 5, her attitude towards the greenhouse can be described as _____.

A．cautious	B．reserved
C．uninterested	D．objective

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Volunteer families were required to live in the house for at most three years.

B．The home was not so satisfactory because it was designed and built by some college students.

C．Rotterdam has started filtering plastic waste from the harbor.

D．It is easy for people to find sustainable architecture in Rotterdam.

4. What’s the passage mainly about?

A．Ways to build sustainable buildings.

B．New greenhouses in the Netherlands.

C．An experimental city in the Netherlands.

D．The importance of Concept House Village.

【推荐3】Hotels were full, local specialties were nearly sold out, tourists came in droves from all parts of China… Rongjiang, a small county of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture in Guizhou Province, has recently gone viral for its “Village Super League”.

Every week, more than 40,000 audiences flooded to the stadium for the “Village Super League”. As of the end of June, 2023, the championship has had more than 20 billion views on the Internet.

“This is a soccer carnival deeply rooted in the soil! I’ve covered varieties of sports events, including the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics. But it is really the first time that I have experienced such a down-to-earth and lively scene as this,” said Han Qiaosheng, a Chinese sports TV commentator.

During a match in May, Wu Chuguo, a decoration worker from Liubaitang village, Rongjiang County, scored a classic 40-meter goal that ignited the crowd. Wu said he was influenced by elders in his village and fell in love with the sport. In the county, rural soccer matches have taken place regularly since the 1990s. When there was a lack of facilities, soccer players used barren land as a field and wooden stakes (桩) for the posts. The boundaries were marked out with lime powder. When they can’t gather enough players, they play futsal, a soccer-based game played on a smaller hard court.

In recent years, the county has focused on gymnastics, soccer, rock climbing and other sports, which has developed outstanding national and provincial-level sporting talent. What sets the Village Super League apart from other sports events are the vibrant displays of ethnic (民族的) cultures and traditions at the championship.

“I hope that more and more tourists will come to Rongjiang to watch the matches, enjoy the folk customs and local cuisine, and have fun,” said Xiong Zhuqing, a melon grower who is also a cheerleader. She says she has sold over 10,000 kilograms of watermelons since the start of the championship. As of June 27, a total of 654 new businesses were established, including 91 in the catering sector, 188 in retail, and 195 in agriculture and food processing, the local government said.

By combining tourism with sports, Rongjiang has found a creative and meaningful way to promote rural revival and rural economic growth.

1. What can we infer from paragraph 4?

A．Rural soccer matches are demanding on facilities.

B．Wu Chuguo started the sports event at Liubaitang village.

C．Rongjiang County has a deep tradition of soccer matches.

D．The small court greatly limits soccer players’ performances.

2. What is special about the “Village Super League”?

A．It covers players from all walks of life.

B．It combines ethnic elements with sports.

C．It aims to select athletes for national-level games.

D．It has a cheering team consisting of football fans.

3. What do the statistics in the last but one paragraph tell us?

A．The matches can help promote economic growth.

B．Rongjiang’s tourism has fueled the sports industry.

C．Selling agricultural products is key to rural vitalization.

D．Local companies have offered significant financial support to the matches.

4. Where can we find this passage?

A．Science magazine.

B．Tourism brochure.

C．Newspaper.

D．Textbook.

【推荐1】Leaders in the aviation (航空) industry plan to launch a campaign (发起运动) that they hope will work against what they call a “Flight Shaming Movement” (FSM). They say FSM has weakened people’s demand for air travel in Europe. Some travelers there are increasingly concerned about the effects of flying on the environment. Activists have been calling for greater action against climate change. That includes avoiding air travel.

FSM has affected air travel demand in many European countries, including Britain, France and Germany. The campaign will try to explain to the public how the industry is reducing its effect on the environment. Juniac, head of IATA, said FSM gave off “misleading information”.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is organizing the plan through the Air Transport Action Group, a group of aviation industry organizations and companies. Juniac didn’t say when the campaign would start, but noted that details would be available to airports and airlines.

Commercial flying is estimated to cause about 2.5% of worldwide carbon emissions (释放). However, that number could rise as worldwide air travel increases.

The aviation industry says it has already cut carbon emissions by one-half since 1990. The improvements are mainly the result of aircraft that use fuel more effectively. The industry plans to cut emissions further by 2050. It has a goal of stopping the growth of carbon emissions by 2020.

Airlines also have warned of the harmful effects of FSM. Some have criticized the industry for failing to explain itself. Tim Clark, president of the Airline Emirates, said that improvements in technology have reduced the environmental effects of passenger airplanes.

1. What is FSM about?

A．Weakening people’s demand to travel abroad.

B．Calling on all to fight against global warming.

C．Announcing the environmental harm of flying.

D．Scaring people from approaching the airport.

2. How does Juniac comment on FSM?

A．Airlines will charge the movement for their loss.

B．It ignores the efforts of airlines to reduce pollution.

C．Airlines are to blame for the cause of it.

D．It has positive effects in urging airlines to be green.

3. What conclusion can we draw from the fifth paragraph?

A．The effective use of fuel has made air travel greener.

B．FSM has caused great loss for aviation industry.

C．With more passengers, carbon emissions by planes may rise.

D．The aviation industry aims to stop carbon emission by 2020.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Improvement of air quality since FSM.

B．Measures by aviation industry to reduce pollution.

C．Travelers’ inconvenience caused by FSM.

D．Disapproval of aviation industry against FSM.

【推荐2】The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place. Now it is an ecological disaster area. Nauru’s heartbreaking story could have one good consequence — other countries might learn from its mistakes.
For thousands of years, Polynesian people lived the remote island of Nauru, far from western civilization. The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798. He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship. He called the island Pleasant Island.
However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first. The whaling ships and other traders began to visit, bringing guns and alcohol. These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island. A ten-year civil war started, which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900.
Nauru’s real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate(磷酸盐)on the island. In fact, it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate, which a very important fertilizer for farming. The company began mining the phosphate.
A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground; it is a strip mine. When a company strip-mines, it removes the top layer of soil. Then it takes away the material it wants. Strip mining totally destroys the land. Gradually, the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon.
In 1968, Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world. Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate.
Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars. In addition, they used millions more dollars for personal expenses. Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem — their phosphate was running out. Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing. By 2000, Nauru was financially ruined. Experts say that it would take approximately $433,600,000 and more than 20 years to repair the island. This will probably never happen.
1. What might be the author's purpose in writing the text?

A．To seek help for Nauru's problems.

B．To give a warning to other countries.

C．To show the importance of money.

D．To tell a heartbreaking story of a war.

2. What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?

A．Rich and powerful.	B．Modern and open.
C．Peaceful and attractive.	D．Greedy and aggressive.

3. The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from _______.

A．soil pollution	B．phosphate overmining
C．farming activity	D．whale hunting

4. Which of the following was a cause of Nauru's financial problem?

A．Its leaders misused the money.

B．It spent too much repairing the island.

C．Its phosphate mining cost much money.

D．It lost millions of dollars in the civil war.

5. What can we learn about Nauru from the last paragraph?

A．The ecological damage is difficult to repair.

B．The leaders will take the experts'words seriously.

C．The island was abandoned by the Nauruans.

D．The phosphate mines were destroyed.

【推荐3】People from all over the world filled the cruise ship (游轮). My husband, Dale, and I were sailing along the Alaskan coast, and there were so many things to do : eat delicious food, swim in the pool or relax in the cafe.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about my secret dream: to sing on a cruise ship. You must have thought I was crazy. Back when Dale and I went on our first cruise, the music made me want to sing onboard, to share the joy I got from the cruise.

We greeted the other passengers in the cafe, and the host said something to get things started. Then he opened the floor to anyone who wished to speak. Dale raised his hand. “My wife has a song she’d like to sing.”

The host nodded his head. The other passengers looked at me hopefully. I stood up, my heart beating fast. Dale held my hand. The group applauded (鼓掌) as I finished the final note. Yd barely touched the chair when someone called out, “Sing another one!” Everyone agreed. I sang two more songs. What a day! What a trip!

The next afternoon, Dale and I were walking to our room when I heard my name. It was a woman from the cafe. “Won’t you sing something for me?” I sang right there in the hallway. Heads turned toward me. One man nodded to my words. A woman smiled as she passed. We continued to our room. But we didn’t make it far. Another woman stopped us. “You have a great gift,” she said.

We sailed on. And all the way, people kept asking me to sing. Dale and I had gotten used to it by now. I felt honored, but not because the other passengers liked my voice.

1. Why did the author look forward to singing on a cruise ship?

A．To show off her gift on music.

B．To attract more attention.

C．To make more friends.

D．To express her joy with the music.

2. Why did the host open the floor on the cruise ship?

A．To encourage others to speak.

B．To invite someone to enter the cabin.

C．To invite people present to drink.

D．To advise starting a dance party.

3. What can we know about the author from the text?

A．She was a professional singer.

B．She sang two songs in the cafe at that time.

C．She felt nervous the first time she sang in the cafe.

D．She became famous all over the world after that sail.

4. Why did the author feel honored?

A．She could sing songs with beautiful voice.

B．She could do anything as she wished.

C．She was popular among other passengers.

D．She finally realized her secret dream.

【推荐1】Do you like chocolate? It’s popular all over the world, but why? Scientists have been trying to discover its secrets.

The main thing is that chocolate makes us happy. This may have something to do with the 380 known chemicals found in it. The problem is that many of these chemicals appear in other types of food too. So, it’s difficult to know why the ones in chocolate make us feel good. But we aren’t all lost. Adam Drewnowski at the University of Michigan found that chocolate makes the human brain produce natural opiates, called opioids(鸦片). These can stop pain and make us feel good.

Others think that we feel good after eating chocolate because of a chemical called anandamide. This occurs naturally in the brain and seems to give us a feeling of happiness. Normally, our levels of anandamide are very low and our body uses it quickly. But two scientists, Emmanuelle di Tomaso of Harvard University and Daniele Piomelli of the University of California believe that the anandamide in chocolate raises levels of the chemical in our brain. And other substances in chocolate slow down the speed at which we use it. So, chocolate helps us feel happier for longer! Great!

But which chocolate is the best? Well, for a start, there’s more anandamide in dark chocolate than milk chocolate. So, you need to buy some dark chocolate. Then, you should follow these five tips from connoisseur chocolate makers Ghirardelli. They say that when choosing chocolate, you need to use all five senses:

1. Sight: good chocolate has a shine to it.

2. Smell: rub the chocolate with your finger to release the aroma. It should have a deep chocolate smell.

3. Sound: when you break a piece of chocolate it should snap crisply, creating a sound similar to that of a thin piece of wood being broken.

4. Touch: the chocolate should melt easily in your mouth becoming a thick liquid.

5. Taste: good chocolate should not taste too sweet or too bitter.

1. Why does the author mention opioids in Paragraph 2?

A．To prove chocolate contains the same chemicals as opioids.

B．To show the sharp contrast between chocolate and opioids.

C．To suggest that chocolate is as highly addictive as opioids.

D．To help explain the reason why chocolate brings pleasure.

2. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refers to _______.

A．anandamide	B．chocolate
C．opiate	D．Brain

3. Which of the following best suits “perfect chocolate” according to chocolate makers?

A．Milk chocolate that produces a dull sound when broken.

B．Milk chocolate that has shiny appearance and bitter taste.

C．Dark chocolate that is easy to melt and of moderate taste.

D．Dark chocolate that gives off a sweet and deep fragrance.

【推荐2】When I was in my fourth year of teaching, I was also (and am still) a high school track and field coach . One year, I had a student, John, who entered my class when he was a junior. John changed to our school from Greece, and seemed to be interested in athletics, so I encouraged him to join our track team. I explained to him that even though he had never taken part in it before, I did believe that he could do well in any event, and I would be willing to coach him at whichever ones interested him. He accepted the offer, and began to work hard at every practice.

About a month later, I had found out from other sources that John was a first-class tennis player, winning various junior awards in his home country. I went to him asking, "John, I really appreciate that you came out for the track team, but why didn't you play tennis instead? It seems that would interest you a lot more, since you're so good at it." John answered, "Well, I like tennis, but you told me that you believed in me, and that you thought I could do well in track, so I wanted to try it for that reason."

From then on, I often remember my student's reply. I told it to a friend and she suggested I write it down to share somewhere with more teachers. No matter how critical students can be of themselves, I've found that a simple "I trust that you can do it!" can go a long way!

1. According to Paragraph 1, what does the author think more about?

A．John's state of health.	B．John's PE marks.
C．John's self-confidence.	D．John's interest in sports.

2. Why did John take part in the track team?

A．He had no tennis coach to train him.	B．He had been an excellent runner.
C．He was encouraged by his teacher.	D．He liked running more than tennis.

3. What's the writer's purpose of writing this passage?

A．To show the importance of encouragement.

B．To build a close teacher-student relationship.

C．To introduce a new way of sports training.

D．To explain the value of sports and games.

4. Who is the passage mainly written for?

A．Players.

B．Teachers.

C．Parents.

D．Students.

【推荐3】Some of the world’s most significant problems never hit headlines. One example comes from agriculture. Food riots and hunger make news. But the trend lying behind these matters is rarely talked about. This is the decline in the growth in yields of some of the world’s major crops. A new study by the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal looks at where, and how far, this decline is occurring.

The authors take a vast number of data points for the four most important crops: rice, wheat corn and soybeans. They find that on between 24% and 39% of all harvested areas, the improvement in yields that took place before the 1980s slowed down in the 1990s and 2000s.

There are two worrying features of the slowdown. One is that it has been particularly sharp in the world’s most populous countries, India and China. Their ability to feed themselves has been an important source of relative stability both within the countries and on world food markets. That self-sufficiency cannot be taken for granted if yields continue to slow down or reverse.

Second, yield growth has been lower in wheat and rice than in corn and soya beans. This is problematic because wheat and rice are more important as foods, accounting for around half of all calories consumed. Corn and soybeans are more important as feed grains. The authors note that “we have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars rather than on crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world.”

The report qualifies the more optimistic findings of another new paper which suggests that the world will not have to dig up a lot more land for farming in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050, as the Food and Agriculture Organization has argued.

Instead, it says, thanks to slowing population growth, land currently ploughed up for crops might be able to revert to forest or wilderness. This could happen. The trouble is that the forecast assumes continued improvements in yields, which may not actually happen.

1. What does the author try to draw attention to?

A．Food riots and hunger in the world.	B．News headlines in the leading media.
C．The decline of the grain yield growth.	D．The food supply in populous countries.

2. Why does the author mention India and China in particular?

A．Their self-sufficiency is vital to the stability of world food markets.

B．Their food yields have begun to decrease sharply in recent years.

C．Their big populations are causing worldwide concerns.

D．Their food self-sufficiency has been taken for granted.

3. What does the new study by the two universities say about recent crop improvement efforts?

A．They fail to produce the same remarkable results as before the 1980s.

B．They contribute a lot to the improvement of human food production.

C．They play a major role in guaranteeing the food security of the world.

D．They focus more on the increase of animal feed than human food grains.

4. What does the Food and Agriculture Organization say about world food production in the coming decades?

A．The growing population will greatly increase the pressure on world food supplies.

B．The optimistic prediction about food production should be viewed with caution.

C．The slowdown of the growth in yields of major food crops will be reversed.

D．The world will be able to feed its population without increasing farmland.