【推荐1】The Amazon Rainforest: A Natural Treasure

Welcome to the Amazon rainforest. As the largest rainforest in the world, it plays a significant role in maintaining the fine balance of the Earth’s ecosystem.

The Amazon rainforest crosses into eight countries. With an area of 5.5 million square kilometers, the Amazon rainforest is more than half the size of China. The Amazon River, from which the rainforest gets its name, is about 6,400 kilometers in length. On its journey from the mountains to the ocean, the river supports many different ecosystems.     1    

The forest’s different levels support an unbelievable variety of wildlife. At the bottom, there is a system of roots beneath the ground. Above that is the mass of leaf litter on the dark forest floor.     2     Then there are the towering ancient hardwoods, and finally the tops of the tallest trees many metres above the ground. Each level of the forest forms its own little world, and is home to different kinds of living things.

More than 1,300 species of birds and over 400 species of mammals hide among the jungle’s plant life. The jaguar(美洲豹) is one example. It has yellowish-brown coat with black spots. While a significant number of jaguars survive here, they are only one element of this forest’s food chain.     3     These frogs, in turn, feed on insects which eat leaves and fruit. When a jaguar dies, a tiny army of microorganisms helps break down its body and return the nutrients to the earth.

The Amazon rainforest breathes life into the planet by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing over 20 percent of all the Earth’s oxygen.     4     Moreover, the Amazon rainforest is a treasure house of species that can be used for food or medicine. Yet there is one major danger to these irreplaceable plants and animals: us.

    5     As the impact of human activities such as agriculture and cattle fanning continues to grow and the list of species in danger of extinction becomes longer, we are left with a question: can we afford to damage the “lungs of the planet”?

A．They feed on many species, including frogs.

B．Thus, it’s often known as the “lungs of the planet”.

C．Rivers tend to be the easiest way to enter the forest.

D．The next level is made up of shorter plants with large leaves.

E．They give this area the richest species of plants and animals on the Earth.

F．Currently the trees in the Amazon rainforest absorb around 500 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

G．Over the past 50 years, 17 percent of the rainforest has disappeared due to human activities.

【推荐2】Port Lympne Reserve (保护区), which runs a breeding (繁育) programme, has welcomed the arrival of an uncommon black rhino calf (犀牛幼崽). When the tiny creature arrived on January 31, she became the 40th black rhino to be born at the reserve. And officials at Port Lympne were delighted with the new arrival, especially as black rhinos are known for being difficult to breed.

Paul Beer, head of rhino section at Port Lympne, said, “Obviously we’re all absolutely delighted to welcome another calf to our black rhino family. She’s healthy, strong and already excited to play and explore. Her mother, Solio, is a first-time mum and she is doing a fantastic job. It’s still a little too cold for them to go out into the open, but as soon as the weather warms up, I have no doubt that the little one will be out and about exploring and playing every day.”

The adorable female calf is the second black rhino born this year at the reserve, but it is too early to tell if the calves will make good candidates to be returned to protected areas of the wild. The first rhino to be born at Port Lympne arrived on January 5 to first-time mother Kisima and weighed about 32kg. His mother, grandmother and great grandmother were all born at the reserve and still live there.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the global black rhino population has dropped as low as 5500, giving the rhinos a “critically endangered” status.

1. What does Paul Beer say about the new-born rhino?

A．She is in good condition.	B．She dislikes outdoor activities.
C．She loves staying with her mother.	D．She is afraid of hot weather.

2. What similar experience do Solio and Kisima have?

A．They enjoyed exploring new places.

B．They lived with their grandmothers.

C．They had their first baby born in January.

D．They were brought to the reserve young.

3. What can be inferred about Port Lympne Reserve?

A．The rhino section will be open to the public.

B．It aims to control the number of the animals.

C．It will continue to work with the World Wildlife Fund.

D．Some of its rhinos may be sent to protected wild areas.

4. What is the article mainly about?

A．A black rhino family.	B．A breeding programme.
C．The rhinos in danger.	D．A new arrival at Port Lympne.

【推荐3】Schools in US are huge consumers (消费者) of energy. According to ENERGY STAR, K-12 schools spend more than $ 6 billion every year on energy, far more than the amount spent on other resources, and at least 30 percent of this energy is used inefficiently or needlessly.

Realizing that, some schools are looking for measures to save energy in several ways, from low-cost adjustments, such as turning off lights in unused rooms, to large-scale projects, such as turning to green equipment.

As solar energy (太阳能) is becoming a more financial choice for powering buildings, more schools are making the move toward the renewable energy and using solar panels (电池板) on their rooftops. According to an online solar marketplace Energy Sage, schools have their strong points to use solar energy. They often have the kind of enough space, suitable locations that are perfect for setting up solar panels.

In September 2020, a nonprofit Generation 180 released its third edition of a study on solar use in US schools. The findings showed that more than 7,300, or 55 percent, of K-12 public and private schools used solar energy, the number has increased by 81 percent since 2014.

They also described how solar schools were saving millions in energy bills, and provided several cases to show the increased savings achieved by solar-powered school districts. For example, an Arkansas school used its every year’s energy savings of nearly $ 100,000 to increase its teachers’ salaries.

The Interstate Renewable Energy Council, which tracks the number of K-12 schools with solar equipment and helps schools go solar, says on its website that schools with solar setups have an opportunity to educate students about clean energy, and show them that they are doing something for students’ and the planet’s health and future.

Third-party ownership also makes funding for 79 percent of schools to use solar energy possible, meaning a majority of schools don’t have to spend large amounts of money but can get the rewards of solar energy.

1. How does the author lead in the topic of the text in the first paragraph?

A．By giving an example.	B．By raising a problem.
C．By offering an evidence.	D．By making a comparison.

2. What is the advantage of using solar energy for the schools in the US?

A．Enough space to fix solar equipment.

B．Fund support from solar marketplace.

C．Free access to using solar energy.

D．Being the largest consumers of the energy.

3. What effect does using solar energy have on the schools?

A．Increasing their operating expense.

B．Threatening their teachers’ income.

C．Raising the students’ environmental awareness.

D．Reducing their total amount of energy consuming.

4. Which word can best describe the schools’ using solar energy?

A．Supportive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Cautious.

D．Worrying.

【推荐1】The connection between people and plants has long been the subject of scientific research. Recent studies have found positive effects. A study conducted in Youngstown, Ohio, for example, discovered that greener areas of the city experienced less crime. In another, employees were shown to be 15% more productive when their workplaces were decorated with houseplants.

The engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have taken it a step further — changing the actual composition of plants in order to get them to perform diverse, even unusual functions. These include plants that have sensors printed onto their leaves to show when they’re short of water and a plant that can detect harmful chemicals in groundwater. “We’re thinking about how we can engineer plants to replace functions of the things that we use every day,” explained Michael Strano, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT.

One of his latest projects has been to make plants glow (发光) in experiments using some common vegetables. Strano’s team found that they could create a faint light for three-and-a-half hours. The light, about one-thousandth of the amount needed to read by, is just a start. The technology, Strano said, could one day be used to light the rooms or even to turn trees into self-powered street lamps.

In the future, the team hopes to develop a version of the technology that can be sprayed onto plant leaves in a one-off treatment that would last the plant’s lifetime. The engineers are also trying to develop an on and off “switch” where the glow would fade when exposed to daylight.

Lighting accounts for about 7% of the total electricity consumed in the US. Since lighting is often far removed from the power source (电源) — such as the distance from a power plant to street lamps on a remote highway — a lot of energy is lost during transmission (传输). Glowing plants could reduce this distance and therefore help save energy.

1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A．A new study of different plants

B．A big fall in crime rates.

C．Employees from various workplaces

D．Benefits from green plants.

2. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Can we grow more glowing plants?

B．How do we live with glowing plants?

C．Could glowing plants replace lamps?

D．How are glowing plants made pollution-free?

【推荐2】Most kids grow up learning they cannot draw on the walls. But it might be time to unlearn that training — this summer, a group of culture addicts, artists and community organizers are inviting New Yorkers to write all over the walls of an old house on Governor’s Island.

The project is called Writing On It All, and it’s a participatory writing project and artistic experiment that has happened on Governor’s Island every summer since 2013.

“Most of the participants are people who are just walking by or are on the island for other reasons, or they just kind of happen to be there,” Alexandra Chasin, artistic director of Writing On It All, tells Smithsonian.com.

The 2016 season runs through June 26 and features sessions facilitated by everyone from dancers to domestic workers. Each session has a theme, and participants are given a variety of materials and prompts and asked to cover surfaces with their thoughts and art. This year, the programs range from one that turns the house into a collaborative essay to one that explores the meaning of exile (流放).

Governor’s Island is a national historic landmark district long used for military purposes. Now known as “New York’s shared space for art and play,” the island, which lies between Manhattan and Brooklyn in Upper New York Bay, is closed to cars but open to summer tourists who flock for festivals, picnics, adventures, as well as these “legal graffiti (涂鸦)” sessions.

The notes and art scribbled (涂画) on the walls are an experiment in self-expression. So far, participants have ranged in age from 2 to 85. Though Chasin says the focus of the work is on the activity of writing, rather than the text that ends up getting written, some of the work that comes out of the sessions has stuck with her.

“One of the sessions that moved me the most was state violence on black women and black girls,” says Chasin, explaining that in one room, people wrote down the names of those killed because of it. “People do beautiful work and leave beautiful messages.”

1. What does the project Writing On It All invite people to do?

A．Unlearn their training in drawing.

B．Participate in a state graffiti show.

C．Cover the walls of an old house with graffiti.

D．Exhibit their artistic creations in an old house.

2. What did the project participants do during the 2016 season?

A．They were free to scribble on the walls whatever came to their mind.

B．They expressed their thoughts in graffiti on the theme of each session.

C．They learned the techniques of collaborative writing.

D．They were required to cooperate with other creators.

3. What kind of place is Governor’s Island?

A．It is a historic site that attracts tourists and artists.

B．It is an area now accessible only to tourist vehicles.

C．It is a place in Upper New York Bay formerly used for exiles.

D．It is an open area for tourists to enjoy themselves year round.

4. What does Chasin say about the project?

A．It just focused on the sufferings of black females.

B．It helped expand the influence of graffiti art.

C．It has started the career of many creative artists.

D．It has created some meaningful artistic works.