【推荐1】California has lost half its big trees since the 1930s, according to a study to be published Tuesday and climate change seems to be a major factor(因素).

The number of trees larger than two feet across has declined by 50 percent on more than 46, 000 square miles of California forests, the new study finds. No area was spared or unaffected, from the foggy northern coast to the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the San Gabriels above Los Angeles. In the Sierra high country, the number of big trees has fallen by more than 55 percent; in parts of southern California the decline was nearly 75 percent.

Many factors contributed to the decline, said Patrick McIntyre, an ecologist who was the lead author of the study. Woodcutters targeted big trees. Housing development pushed into the woods. Aggressive wildfire control has left California forests crowded with small trees that compete with big trees for resources(资源).

But in comparing a study of California forests done in the 1920s and 1930s with another one between 2001 and 2010, McIntyre and his colleagues documented a widespread death of big trees that was evident even in wildlands protected from woodcutting or development.

The loss of big trees was greatest in areas where trees had suffered the greatest water shortage. The researchers figured out water stress with a computer model that calculated how much water trees were getting in comparison with how much they needed, taking into account such things as rainfall, air temperature, dampness of soil, and the timing of snowmelt(融雪).

Since the 1930s, McIntyre said, the biggest factors driving up water stress in the state have been rising temperatures, which cause trees to lose more water to the air, and earlier snowmelt, which reduces the water supply available to trees during the dry season.

1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．The seriousness of big-tree loss in California.

B．The increasing variety of California big trees.

C．The distribution of big trees in California forests.

D．The influence of farming on big trees in California.

2. Which of the following is well-intentioned but may be bad for big trees?

A．Ecological studies of forests.

B．Banning woodcutting.

C．Limiting housing development.

D．Fire control measures.

3. What is a major cause of the water shortage according to McIntyre?

A．Inadequate snowmelt.	B．A longer dry season.
C．A warmer climate.	D．Dampness of the air.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．California’s Forests: Where Have All the Big Trees Gone?

B．Cutting of Big Trees to Be Prohibited in California Soon

C．Why Are the Big Trees Important to California Forests?

D．Patrick McIntyre: Grow More Big Trees in California

【推荐2】Whether you live in Seattle or the Sahara desert, the time has come to invest in a good raincoat or umbrella, a new study suggests.
As global temperatures continue to rise, more “extreme rain” events—intense, cats-and-dogs downpours—can be expected, said thestudy, published Monday in the journalNature Climate Change. And that, scientists said, means an increased flood risk, particularly for the world’s driest areas. The study challenges the idea that global warming is causingdry areas to become drierand wet areas wetter.
“In both wet and dry regions, we see these great increases in heavy precipitation（冰雹）,” lead author Markus Donat, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales, told Nature.
Donat and his team collected data from 1951 to 2010 on extreme precipitation events from 11, 000 weather stations around the world, Nature reported.
In that time, the number of days with “extreme precipitation” increased 1 percent to 2 percent per decade.
“We found a strong relationship between global warming and an increase in rainfall, particularly in areas outside of the tropics,” Donatsaid in a statement.
“Importantly, this research suggests we will see these extreme rainfall events increases at regional levels in dry areas, not just as an average across the globe,” Donat added.
Peter Stott, a senior climate scientist at Met Office, told Climate Central that the study’s findings are important, because more violent rainfall and flooding will “challenge our capability to adaptto a rapidly changing climate.”
As Nature reported, the research aligns（结盟）witha 2015 study that found global warming has led to a sharp increase in record-breaking precipitation events. Donat told Nature that his study should come as a warning to world governments.
1. Which of the following is one of the study’s findings?

A．Global warming is causingdry areas to become drierand wet areas wetter.

B．Extreme rain events can be expected at regional levels in dry areas.

C．Extreme rainfall events increase at regional levels in wet areas.

D．Rainfall increases particularly in the tropics areas.

2. Why does Scott think the findings are important?

A．The research aligns with a 2015 study.

B．They are about extreme precipitation events.

C．They remind us to adjust to rapid climate changes.

D．The study involves many famous climate scientists.

3. The purpose of the study is to ______.

A．encourage investors to start business in Seattle or the Sahara desert

B．persuade people to take a raincoat or an umbrella with them

C．challenge the previous findings of research on climate

D．warn world governments to focus on global warming

【推荐3】请认真阅读下面短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的单词。
注意:每个空格只填1个单词。请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。

Time for Americans to act on climate change

The climate crisis is worsening at a rate that is becoming harder and harder to ignore. For more than two decades, scientific reports have made it clear that global warming is real, that humans cause it and that the consequences will be disastrous.

The scientific community has become increasingly panicked over the past year. The latest assessment from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change painted a far more terrible picture than its previous analyses, and the long-awaited National Climate Assessment made clear that climate change represents a severe threat to human health as well as our economic security. Out of this panic came the treaty(条约)reached this past weekend by world leaders to keep the Paris climate agreement alive.

Yet many Americans still don’t regard the threat as a key priority for our government, and support President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris treaty. Campaign contributions from fossil fuel companies have convinced elected officials to look the other way. A certain amount of despair has resulted in widespread apathy(漠然).

But there is another reason that has been discussed far less openly. While a growing number of people understand that climate change will have significant worldwide consequences, many Americans have an intuitive(直觉的)belief that their nation is more capable than others of adapting to a changed environment. Why? Because they have before.

This historical success, however, resulted from the federal government taking science seriously, and making investments to urge revolution and innovation.

But these innovations did not happen by themselves, or simply because of the United States’ rich resources. They depended on consistent support from the leaders about the need to take action when faced with crises. This has been especially true in the environmental crisis.

President Bill Clinton had a shockingly modest record of advancing climate security, particularly given that his vice president, Al Gore, had been one of the most outspoken environmentalists in Congress. By far Clinton’s biggest accomplishment was assigning Gore to participate іn thе Куоtо Рrоtoсоl negotiations. Сlіntоn сhоѕе, hоwеvеr, tо аvоіd whаt ѕurеlу wоuld have been a terrible fight in the Senate to gain approval of the treaty. While this effort probably would have failed, it would have signaled to the American people how seriously the Democratic Party took climate change.

Thus, the time has clearly arrived for progressive candidates to start campaigning on a platform built around the need for a sustainability revolution. Such a plan should include a carbon tax, well-funded clean energy research, evolved agricultural policies and smarter public transport. Given that Generation X and millennials(千禧一代)never bought into the fiction that the United States is immune to the dangers of global warming, the time is ripe to make climate security a crucial government responsibility. Only by doing so can we begin the long-overdue(拖延好久的)campaign to save the planet.

Time for Americans to act on climate change

Introduction	More and more people have become     1     of the severity of climate crisis. It is human beings that are to     2     for the real global warming and should     3     for what they have done.
Worldwide efforts	Given that human health as well as our economic security is     4     a severe threat caused by climate change, Paris Climate Treaty has been reached by world leaders.
Current American’s responses	A negative attitude	Unable to grasp the seriousness of the threat, many Americans are in     5     of President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris treaty.
	6     for responses	Elected officials turn a deaf ear to the threat on account of their     7     relationship with fossil fuel companies. A certain amount of despair has resulted in widespread apathy. Many Americans are wildly     8     about their ability to a changed environment.
Earlier American’s responses	A(n)     9     attitude	Wisely assigning his vice president to participate in the Kyoto Protocol negotiations, President Bill Clinton took climate change seriously.
	Inspiration form responses	The Democratic Party used to take adequate notice of the potential crisis of the climate change.
10	It is high time for Americans to begin the long-overdue campaign to save the planet.

【推荐2】I have never forgotten the firm belief I had in the arrival through the chimney (烟囱) of the little Santa Claus (圣诞老人), the kind, white-bearded old man who at midnight left in my tiny shoe a present I found the next morning.

Midnight! It’s the perfect hour children don’t know. What great efforts I made not to go to sleep before the little old man appeared!

I had both a great desire and great fear of seeing him, but could never stay awake until then, and the next day my first look was for my shoe. He never failed to carefully wrap (包装) every present for me. I would run barefoot to get my treasure. It never was a very expensive present, for we were not rich. It was a cookie, an orange, or very simply a fine red apple. But it felt so precious that I barely dared to eat it. What a great role imagination plays in a child’s life!

I do not at all agree with the idea that the lies about Santa Claus should be stopped. Doubts and truth come all too soon on their own. I very well remember the first year, when I was five or six, I doubted that it was not Santa Claus who put the cookie in my shoe. Since then, it has never tasted as good as the first few years of my life.

I noted that my son believed in him longer; boys are more naïve (天真的) than little girls. Like me, he made great efforts to stay awake until midnight. Like me, he loved the cookie baked in Heaven’s kitchens. And like me, the first year of his doubts was the last year of the visit of the good old man.

1. As a little girl, the author loved the gifts on Christmas Day because ________.

A．they usually cost a lot of money

B．she always got the very gifts she asked for

C．they were beautifully wrapped

D．she believed they were from Santa Claus

2. According to the article, what role does imagination play in a child’s life?

A．It adds value to the common Christmas gifts.

B．It makes a child curious about everything.

C．It encourages him to climb the chimney.

D．It makes him doubt whether Santa Claus really exists.

3. By saying “Doubts and truth come all too soon on their own” in Paragraph 4, the author feels ________.

A．unsatisfied with being cheated

B．sorry for realizing that Santa Claus doesn’t exist

C．happy at finding out the facts of Santa Claus

D．angry about parents’ lying to children about Santa Claus

【推荐3】How does a place become a World Heritage Site? It takes a lot of people to decide.
1) If a country wants one of its places to be on the World Heritage List, it has to ask UNESCO. The place must be important and special. UNESCO put the Great Wall on the list in 1987 because, it said, it was a great part of Chinese culture and beautifully made to go with the land. When a country asks, it must also make a plan for taking care of the place.
2) The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO talks about different places and decides whether to put them on the list. The committee meets every June. Many experts help the committee to decide.
3) After a new place goes on the list, UNESCO gives money to help keep it looking good.If a place is in serious danger, it may be put on the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger. UNESCO gives special care and help to those places.
4) Countries have to give UNESCO regular reports about places on the list. If UNESCO thinks a country isn’t taking good enough care of a place, the site will be taken off the list.
1. The passage implies that _____.

A．becoming a world heritage site takes hard work

B．a place with beautiful scenery is often on the World Heritage List

C．a place which was taken good care of is often on the World Heritage List

D．the Great Wall became a World Heritage Site for its long history.

2. If a place successfully becomes a World Heritage Site, the country _____.

A．can ask UNESCO for more money and help

B．should continue to take special care of it

C．won’t take trouble of caring for it

D．will try to put it on the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger

3. The passage mainly discusses ______.

A．how the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO decides a World Heritage Site

B．how the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO protects a World Heritage Site

C．how the Great Wall becomes a World Heritage Site

D．how a place becomes a World Heritage Site

4. The purpose of putting a place on the World Heritage List is _____.

A．to attract more tourists from other countries

B．to get more money and help from other countries

C．to have it taken better care of

D．to make it known to other countries