Summer floods are an annual occurrence for many cities across China. According to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, in 2012, urban flooding affected 184 cities, while in 2013 the number was 234, and last year it was 125, it said. Now, new measures are being introduced to reduce loss of life and the economic damage caused by flooding.
One of the most effective measures to increase the efficiency of storm drains in cities would be to reduce the storm-water runoff and raise the levels of water filtration（过滤）and conservation in urban areas, experts said. To solve the problem of urban flooding once and for all, the central government has decided to push forward the "Sponge City" program, which in part borrows the experiences of low-impact development from the United States and Canada in recent years.
The program will allow at least 60 percent of rainwater to soak into the ground, rather than being discharged into rivers. The level of filtration could be further raised in some areas with low levels of rainfall to increase the use of rainwater. The project includes the development of residential communities with storage ponds, filtration pools and wetlands, plus roads and squares built with materials that will allow storm water to soak into the ground more effectively, according to the guideline.
"It would require a major shift in ideas about urban construction. Rainwater should be regarded as a resource, rather than a burden to be dealt with. Concepts of urban construction should shift from the destruction of the ecosystem to its renewal," Chen Zhenggao, Minister of Housing and Urban-rural Development, told a work conference in May. "If the urban runoff cannot be effectively filtered into the ground, the floods that follow will cause the direct loss of life and property," he said. He also believes low-impact development represents the future of the country's urbanization drive. "It（the dealing with storm water）is an issue of public security. Thus it should be a compulsory requirement when new urban areas are being planned and built," he said.
1. The purpose to build a "Sponge City" is to________.| A．reduce the storm-water runoff in urban areas |
| B．raise the levels of water filtration and conservation |
| C．address the problem of urban flooding permanently |
| D．achieve low-impact development with borrowed experiences |
| A．At most 60% of rainwater is to soak into the ground. |
| B．The level of filtration could be increased in areas with more rainfall. |
| C．Residential communities should be replaced by ponds, pools and wetlands |
| D．Roads should be built with materials allowing water to soak into the ground |
| A．Floods take place because of the shift of the ecosystem |
| B．Floods will not happen when, urban runoff is filtered into rivers. |
| C．New urban construction concept means replacement of the ecosystem. |
| D．Low-impact urban development is a must to solve the issue of public security. |
| A．Summer floods have always been an issue for cities |
| B．"Sponge City" program is set to soak up urban floodwater. |
| C．Rainwater should be regarded as a resource rather than a burden. |
| D．Low-impact development can change the situation of urban ecosystem |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】A storm hit Houston, Texas, on Tuesday. It brought heavy rains and rising flood-waters. By Tuesday night, some parts of the city had received 10 inches of rain. Police and firefighters helped people move to safe places. They also saved people from cars and buses that were stuck on roads.
Certain areas around Houston were hit really hard. In just four hours, more than seven inches of rain fell in Sugar Land in the southwest of Houston. Cars could not pass through any of the areas main roadways. On Twitter, Sugar Land city officials asked people to get to high ground.
Tuesday’s rain hit parts of Texas that Hurricane Harvey had already damaged almost two years ago. Hurricane Harvey in August, 2017 was the second most costly hurricane in US history. It caused $125 billion worth of damage in Texas. In the Houston area, 36 people died and about 150,000 homes were flooded.
A spokesman for the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management spoke with the Houston Chronicle. The spokesman said that this week’s rain is “not in any way a Harvey-level event.”
But the worst may not be over yet. People will have a break from the heavy rain on Wednesday. According to the National Weather Service, the Texas Gulf Coast will continue to experience heavy rain later in the week. “Today should be our quietest over the next few days for rainfall,” said Don Oettinger, a National Weather Service meteorologist (气象学家).
Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peia warned, “As there is too much water on the ground, these are perfect conditions for flash floods, so we hope people are careful of what they’re doing and encourage them to stay home. There’s no sense in putting yourself, firefighters or anybody in danger needlessly. ”
1. What are Paragraphs 1 and 2 mainly about?| A．Hurricane damage in Houston. | B．Flood prevention in Houston. |
| C．Heavy floods hitting Houston. | D．People fighting heavy snow in Houston. |
| A．It caused no deaths or injuries. | B．It did a lot of damage to Texas. |
| C．It was less serious than this week’s rain. | D．It was the biggest hurricane on record. |
| A．Fine days are coming. | B．It will rain non-stop for a whole month. |
| C．A hurricane is unavoidable. | D．Floods will continue. |
| A．Stay indoors. | B．Join firefighters. |
| C．Give up needless things. | D．Comfort those who lost homes. |
【推荐2】The victims were carried in one by one, their paws and fur burned, suffering from lack of water and fear. Their caretakers bandaged their wounds and laid them in baskets with the only thing that was familiar -- the leaves of a eucalyptus (桉树) tree.
As catastrophic fires have burned more than 2 million acres in Australia, dozens of koalas have been rescued from smoky and burning trees and ashen ground. "They are terrified," said Cheyne Flanagan, clinical director of the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, the only facility of its kind in the world.
Koalas, unlike kangaroos, birds or snakes, do not flee from fires but instead climb trees to the top, where they can curd themselves into a ball for protection and wait for the danger to pass. But during high-intensity fires, such as those that have burned in recent weeks, the animals, conservationists said, are far less likely to survive. Even if the fire itself does not reach the tree top, the animals may overheat and fall to the ground, where they can be burned to death.
The suffering of the koala -- a national symbol of Australia -- has raised questions among conservationists and scientists about what it will take to preserve biodiversity in a country increasingly prone to intense fire, extreme heat and water shortage. While koalas have evolved to exist alongside wildfires, the animals are facing new threats not just from climate change but also from human development, which has affected local populations, impairing their ability to survive fires.
"We have these unique animals not found anywhere else on this planet, and we're killing them," Flanagan said. "This is a big wake-up call."
1. The description of the koalas in Para. 1 is to show .| A．koalas are quite lovely |
| B．the forests in Australia are severely burnt |
| C．global warming is becoming more and more serious |
| D．forest burning has put koalas into great danger |
| A．They escape from fires as soon as possible. |
| B．They climb to the top of trees for safety. |
| C．They curl themselves into a ball on the ground. |
| D．They wait where they're for the danger to pass. |
| A．Global warming. | B．Water shortage. |
| C．Intense fire. | D．Extreme heat. |
| A．koalas are not unique animals on the earth |
| B．people are killing koalas cruelly on purpose |
| C．measures should be taken to save koalas |
| D．people should wake up to preserve the earth |
【推荐3】For sports fans, there's nothing better than watching a live event on TV or at a sports venue（场地）. But there's nothing worse than that event being called off because of bad weather. Bad light, a waterlogged pitch （场地）or excessive heat can cause matches to be postponed. But according to the latest research, extreme weather might be disrupting （打乱） the sporting calendar more than ever in the future.
In one sport, golf, major tournaments like The Open, are already predicted to be victims of our changing climate. In the UK, an organization called The Climate Coalition says that golf courses such as St Andrews could be under water by the end of the century if sea levels rise even slightly. It told the BBC that its research predicts u cancelled football matches, flooded cricket grounds and golf courses crumbling into the sea.”
The threat to sporting fixtures （体育赛事）from climate change has been further highlighted in a new report, commissioned by the Rapid Transition Alliance. Writing about this for the BBC, Matt McGrath says that ”By 2050, it's estimated that almost one in four English football league grounds can expect flooding every year." This will mean fewer matches played, less opportunity to watch the beautiful game and reduced revenue （收入） from ticket sales.
Cricket also faces huge challenges globally as temperatures rise in places like India, Australia and the West Indies. The report says that stadiums in Adelaide and Perth will see a 60% 
increase in days with temperatures over 40°C over the next decade.
Of course, we know that the solution lies with reducing our carbon footprint. We could travel less to attend sports events, and reduce our waste when we do go. But this latest report finds that sports leaders are generally failing to address the issue seriously. However, because sport is universally popular and can be very influential, maybe it should be players, teams and their sponsors who promote a carbon-neutral message to help protect sporting venues - before it's ‘ game over’.
1. According to the passage, the following sports will be affected by extreme weather except| A．golf | B．table tennis | C．football | D．cricket |
| A．The number of people who are interested in football matches is expected to decrease. |
| B．The number of football players is expected to decrease. |
| C．The prices of football tickets are expected to go down. |
| D．Some football grounds are expected to be flooded. |
| A．Sports fans like watching a live event on TV better than at a sports venue. |
| B．Golf courses such as St Andrews could not be flooded if sea levels rise a little. |
| C．Cricket stadiums in Adelaide and Perth will get very hot over the next decade. |
| D．Sports leaders take the effects of climate change very seriously. |
| A．Sport and Sporting Venues. | B．Sport and Challenges. |
| C．Sport and Climate Change. | D．Sport and Revenue. |
【推荐1】For centuries, people have kept large amounts of cash at home during difficult times. But during the coronavirus crisis, things are different. Metal coins and paper bills can be a source of worry rather than hope.
The fear is that these objects, possibly touched by thousands of people, could provide a way for the coronavirus to spread. Public officials and health experts have said that the risk is small. Still, some businesses refuse to accept cash and some countries have suggested that their citizens should stop using it altogether.
Zachary Cohle is an economics professor at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. “In many areas, cash was already beginning to disappear due to the increased risk of robbery, the ease of Internet ordering, and the ubiquity of cell phones,” he said. “Sweden, Finland, Norway, Canada and others have slowly reduced cash use to the point where using it in large amounts seems unusual. Britain and Australia are expected to become cashless countries. And in China, cash use has dropped as electronic payment services have increased in popularity over the past decade.”
“Cash ist Fesch” is a common saying in Austria and southern Germany. The words mean cash is beautiful. But since the virus outbreak, shops that have remained open there, like grocery stores, have encouraged people to pay with cards. And Germany’s central bank said 43 percent of Germans recently paid for goods and services with a card. The Bank of Japan estimates that cash makes up for 53 percent of household assets. But the threat of the coronavirus could move the country toward going cashless, said Hiroki Maruyama, head of the nonprofit Fintech Association of Japan. He added, “The culture is slowly changing.”
However, cash use is still common in places like West and Central Africa. Some experts say that the world will not be cashless until everyone and every country has reliable access to the Internet.
1. Why is cash regarded as a source of worry?| A．Cash may carry viruses after being used. | B．Some countries refuse to accept cash. |
| C．It’s risky to keep a lot of cash at home. | D．Cash can’t be used during the crisis. |
| A．The disadvantages of paying in cash. | B．The introduction to cashless countries. |
| C．The present situation of cash use worldwide. | D．The increasing popularity of electronic payment. |
| A．Shops in Germany only take cash because it’s beautiful. |
| B．Less than half of the Germans still like to pay goods in cash. |
| C．More than half of the Japanese prefer to put cash in the bank. |
| D．The Japanese are changing their traditional attitudes to cash. |
| A．The virus crisis will last for a long time. |
| B．The habit of paying in cash is hard to change. |
| C．The Internet is not available in all the countries. |
| D．People in Africa can’t afford the banking services. |
【推荐2】On a recent spring morning. Susan Alexander, a retired government intelligence analyst, left her Maryland home, climbed into her Volkswagen Passat and drove about three miles to pick up two strangers. She battled rush-hour traffic on the Capital Beltway and George Washington Memorial Parkway before dropping them off at Reagan National Airport. She didn't earn a cent for her trouble, and that was the point.
Alexander is a member of the Silver Spring Time Bank-one of more than 100 such exchanges around the world trying to build community by exchanging time credits for services instead of dollars and cents. “I have time,” she said. “I like giving the gift of time to other people. “
In Alexander's case, passengers Mary and Al Liepold were grateful for the ride, but it wasn't charity. Mary,a retired writer and editor for nonprofit organizations, used time credits she banked for editing work and baking. Senior citizens who don't drive, the Liepolds cashed in their credits to catch a flight to Montreal for a five-day vacation.
Without money changing hands or shifting between virtual accounts, the airport drop-off was more like a coffee party than a taxi ride. Driver and passengers chatted about projects they've completed for the time bank, and no one raised an eyebrow when Mary said she likes “to avoid the conventional economy. “
“The beauty of this is that you make friends,” Mary Liepold said. “You don't just get services.”
The Silver Spring Time Bank formed in 2015 and has about 300 members, said co-founder Mary Murphy. Last year, she said, l,000 hours were exchanged for basic home repairs, dog walking, cooking and tailoring, among other services, without the exchange of money. “ You get to save that money that you would have spent,” she said. “You get to meet somebody else in your community and get to know that person. That's a bonus that's part of an exchange. “
A deal performed partly to make friends would seem to go against classical economics and one of Benjamin Franklin's most memorable sayings:”Time is money. “ To those at the forefront of modern time-banking,thatis the appeal.
1. What's the main purpose of the Silver Spring Time Bank?| A．To better serve the local economy. |
| B．To help people get to know more friends. |
| C．To provide the elderly with timely financial help. |
| D．To build community by exchanging time credits for services. |
| A．In cash. | B．By credit card. |
| C．By cheque. | D．With time credits. |
| A．Making friends. | B．Classical economics. |
| C．Modem time-banking. | D．Franklin's famous saying. |
| A．Time is money | B．The more friends, the better |
| C．Giving the gift of time | D．Swapping time credits for services |
【推荐3】Chinese and US table tennis players play a friendly game in Shanghai this month. Ping-pong, or table tennis, might seem like an ordinary game to play with friends or family. But it holds a special place in China-US relations, as it has helped both countries get along for the last 50 years. This has been called “ping-pong diplomacy (外交)”.
Judy Hoarfrost was just 15 years old when she was sent from the US to China as part of a nine-member table tennis team. The year was 1971, and for the before 20 years, relations between China and the US had been unfriendly.
But as the team toured around China, things started warming up. Hoarfrost even got to meet then-Premier Zhou Enlai. “The most memorable moment was Zhou shaking hands with me and looking into my eyes,” Hoarfrost recalled excitedly. “You have opened a new page in Sino-US relationships,” Zhou told the team.
US president Richard Nixon would make a landmark (里程碑) visit to China in 1972, which also saw Chinese table tennis players make their own visit to the US. Diplomatic relations between the US and China were fully established in 1979.
Players from both countries believed strongly in the idea of “friendship first, competition second”. To this day, many of them remain friends. Hoarfrost thinks we should remember ping-pong diplomacy in order to understand the importance of people-to-people exchanges in establishing bonds, human bonds between peoples.
Seeing tension (紧张) between two of the world’s biggest powers in recent years, Hoarfrost said China and the US should work together. “We have so much in common, and we need to build on what we have in common,” she added.
1. What do we know about Hoarfrost?| A．She has played table tennis for 15 years. |
| B．She set up a table tennis team 20 years ago. |
| C．She was part of efforts to improve China-US relations. |
| D．She thought Sino-US relationship unfriendly 20 years ago. |
| A．In 1951. | B．In 1971. | C．In 1972. | D．In 1979. |
| A．Respecting cultures. | B．Forming a relationship. |
| C．Holding a competition. | D．Understanding other countries. |
| A．Hoarfrost will come to China again. | B．“Ping-pong diplomacy” can solve the tension |
| C．China and the US should promote their relations. | D．China and the US should exchange players’ visit |
【推荐1】In the American Journal of Physics, three high school students from Portugal, along with their teacher, have reported the results of their project. The students programmed an add-on (附加装置)board for the Raspberry Pi computer to map out Earth’s magnetic field (磁场).
The European Space Agency teamed up with the U.K.’s Raspberry Pi Foundation to hold a competition for high school students. The competition, known as the Astro Pi Challenge, required the students to program a Raspberry Pi computer to be run aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The students used the data (数据) from the space station to map out Earth’s magnetic field and compared their results to data provided by the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF国际地磁参考场). “
“I saw the Astro Pi Challenge as a way to increase my knowledge and skill set, and it ended up introducing me to the exciting reality of the practical world,” Lourenço Faria, co-author and one of the students of the project, said.
The IGRF data is updated (更 新) every five years, so the students compared their results, taken in April 2021, with the latest IGRF data from 2020. They found their data differed from the IGRF results. This difference could be because of the magnetic field inside the space station.
The students repeated their tests using another set of data from ISS and found a good improvement in results. The students thought it astonishing that the main features (特征) of Earth’s magnetic field could be remeasured (再次测量) with only three hours’ worth of computing from their low-cost add-on board in the space station.
Although this project was carried out aboard the space station, it could easily be applied to ground-based measurements using apps for smartphones.
“Taking measurements around the world and sharing data through the Internet or social media would make for an interesting science project that could connect students in different countries,” said Alex Mora, manager of Raspberry Pi Foundation.
1. What did the three students do in the Astro Pi Challenge?| A．They made a new Raspberry Pi computer. |
| B．They computed Earth’s magnetic field. |
| C．They developed new apps for ISS. |
| D．They helped the IGRF collect data. |
| A．It should include more students from different countries. |
| B．It made him realize the importance of knowledge. |
| C．It was a great chance for self-improvement. |
| D．It should get more international attention. |
| A．Necessary. | B．Impossible. | C．Dangerous. | D．Surprising. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Doubtful. | C．Curious. | D．Positive. |
【推荐2】For more than a century, it was a simple way of making a child’s dreams come true during Christmas. Volunteers could go to the post office, sift through piles of letters that children had sent to Santa Claus and pick one—or more—that tugged (拉、拽) at their heartstrings. Gifts were then acquired, wrapped and shipped to families whose space beneath the tree might otherwise be bare.
With the coronavirus pandemic still raging, however, the US Postal Service announced Monday that it was taking its annual “Operation Santa” campaign nationwide, and that letters to Santa could be read merely online by people across the country.
Some things aren’t changing: Much as it had over the past 108 years, the Postal Service said that it was inviting American children to write letters and to mail them to the North Pole, using a special address and ZIP code and affixing the proper postage.
This year, however, the letters will be uploaded to the Operation Santa website, so long as they are legible and make specific requests for items like toys, clothes or games. Starting December 4, postal customers can then read them and choose to send gifts with their responses, with a signature saying it’s from Santa.
“Covid-19 has caused undue hardships, both financial and emotional, to so many Americans this year,” Kimberly Frum, a spokeswoman for the Postal Service, said in an email. “The program provides kids and families with an opportunity to receive gifts during the holidays from anonymous, generous postal customers.”
Those customers used to review the letters in person, but Operation Santa has moved largely online in recent years after a pilot program in 2017. By 2019, the online operation had expanded to 15 cities, including New York, Chicago, Denver and Grand Rapids, Michigan, to, “enhance the ability for generous people across the nation to help those in need no matter where they live,” Frum said.
So-called legacy programs still operated in New York and Chicago, where customers could go to a post office to read letters in person, but those programs will not be offered this year because of the pandemic, Frum said.
The Postal Service said the Operation Santa program had received hundreds of thousands of letters each year. “It seems like a small thing,” Frum said. “But for anyone who is struggling, it’s a huge deal to be able to give or receive a gift and share in a bit of the joy that is the holiday season.”
1. Among all the families sending letters to Santa, which one is most likely to get the gifts?| A．One who can contact Santa Claus on the Internet easily. |
| B．One who spares sufficient space beneath the Christmas tree. |
| C．One who has financial difficulty preparing gifts for children. |
| D．One who expresses a desire to accomplish a child’s dream. |
| A．All the letters will be uploaded to the Operation website. |
| B．Children are asked to mail their letters to the North Pole. |
| C．People nationwide can only read all the letters on the Internet. |
| D．Santa will make responses to the letters with his signature. |
| A．avoid the potential risk of being infected by Covid-19 |
| B．ease the burden from numerous letters |
| C．encourage more cities to accept this program |
| D．provide more chances to help people in need |
| A．A postal campaign online amid the pandemic. |
| B．Heartfelt support from generous customers. |
| C．Gratitude from the people receiving gifts. |
| D．Opportunities provided by US Postal Service. |
【推荐3】Following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP), also named COVID—19 by WHO, there is a general fear of the unknown virus as its full effects remain to be seen. Fever, coughing, sore throat, difficulty breathing—the NCP’s symptoms (症状) are similar to the common cold or the flu, but it’s potentially more dangerous.
Viruses could be deadly, like HIV and Ebola (埃博拉). But what are viruses? How can they cause so much trouble?
Viruses are non-living organisms (有机体) approximately one-millionth of an inch long. Unlike human cells or bacteria, they can’t reproduce on their own. Instead, they invade (入侵) the cells of living organisms to reproduce, spread and take over.
Viruses can infect every living thing — from plants and animals down to the smallest bacteria. For this reason, they always have the potential to be dangerous to human life. Sometimes a virus can cause a disease so serious that it is fatal. Other viral infections trigger (引起) no noticeable reaction.
Viruses lie around our environment all of the time, waiting for a host cell to come along. They can enter our bodies by the nose, mouth, eyes or breaks in the skin. Once inside, they try to find a host cell to infect. For example, HIV, which causes AIDS, attacks the T-cells of the immune system.
But the basic question is, where did viruses first come from? Until now, no clear explanation for their origin exists. “Tracing the origins of viruses is difficult,” Ed Rybicki, a virologist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, told Scientific American, “because viruses don’t leave fossils (化石) and because of the tricks they use to make copies of themselves within the cells they’ve invaded.”
However, there are three main hypotheses (假说) to explain the origin of viruses. First, viruses started as independent organisms, then became parasites (寄生者). Second, viruses evolved from pieces of DNA or RNA that “escaped” from larger organisms. Third, viruses co-evolved with their host cells, which means they existed alongside these cells.
For the time being, these are only theories. The technology and evidence we have today cannot be used to test these theories and identify the most reasonable explanation. Continuing studies may provide us with clearer answers. Or future studies may reveal that the answer is even murkier (含糊不清的) than it now appears.
1. What can we learn about viruses from the text?| A．Viruses have nothing to do with the common cold. |
| B．Viruses are really small living organisms. |
| C．Viruses can’t reproduce unless they find a host cell. |
| D．Viruses enter our bodies mainly through the mouth, nose and hair. |
| A．They evolved from the fossils of large organisms. |
| B．They evolved from parasites into independent organisms. |
| C．They evolved from the T-cells in animals. |
| D．They evolved along with their host cells. |
| A．Viruses live longer in human host cells than in animals’. |
| B．Viruses will become more like bacteria as they evolve. |
| C．It may take a long time to understand the origin of viruses. |
| D．The author is optimistic about future virus research. |
| A．The Mystery of Virus Evolution |
| B．The Invasion of Deadly Viruses. |
| C．The Reaction of Viral Infection |
| D．The Future Studies of Viruses |
