A leaked IPCC draft reports, “Widespread use across millions of square kilometers globally of tree-planting and bioenergy crops could have potentially serious consequences for food security and land degradation (退化).” In other words, more massive monocultures (单种栽培) and more bioenergy crops, fueled by more fertilizers, could damage the structure of the environmental soil and its capacity to absorb carbon.
Everyone knows that to help ease the increasing climate crisis, we need to plant new trees. It’s said that the earth could support an additional 9,000,000 square kilometers of forest, potentially hosting 500 billion trees capable of capturing more than 200 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide at maturity. It would be a serious help to the environment.
Bioenergy now holds a 50 percent share of the world’s renewables consumption—as much as hydro, wind, solar and all others combined. It’s good news, but not entirely. If we consider that increasing desertification and rising ocean levels will take away more arable (可耕种的) land, we arrive at a crucial “trilemma”(三难困境). Should we use our spare soil for agriculture, reforestation or bioenergy?
Such a question would make sense in a multilateral, harmonious world, not on a planet where the richest country cancels an environment-saving agreement, thus encouraging the most tropically-forested nation to set about cutting trees.
Last year, 36,000 square kilometers of forest was cut down. Wouldn’t it be better to start by stopping deforestation altogether? Animal farming takes up 77 percent of the world’s arable land and provides us with 18 percent of the calories. Shouldn’t we cut back on global meat consumption? Modern bioenergy is already available. Shouldn’t we get rid of first-generation biofuels, which are produced from food crops?
1. What’s the IPCC’s attitude to the widespread planting?| A．Ambiguous | B．Positive | C．Disapproving | D．Uncaring |
| A．Add some background information. | B．Summarize the previous paragraphs. |
| C．Provide some advice for the readers. | D．Introduce a new topic for discussion. |
| A．There is less sustainable energy for use. |
| B．No more land is available for bioenergy. |
| C．More trees are cut in the richest country. |
| D．Bioenergy can cause more climate problems. |
| A．Developing farmland as much as possible. |
| B．Planting trees to prevent global warming. |
| C．Using bioenergy to reduce environmental pollution. |
| D．Protecting present resources instead of developing new ones. |
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【推荐1】A project in Gambia is empowering women and reducing dangerous waste at the same time.
The Waste Innovation Center, funded by the European Union’s Global Climate Change Alliance，shows women in the Brikama area how to recycle waste into useful materials and products, which they can then sell in local markets.
Wood-like waste is recycled into charcoal (木炭)，for example，which can be used to supersede firewood and reduce the number of trees that are cut down for firewood. Food waste is recycled into compost(混合肥料）to function as environmentally friendly fertilizers and plastic is turned into many useful things.
Supported by WasteAid UK and the Gambia Women’s Initiative (GWI), among others, the project provides women with skills they can use to become self-sufficient (自给自足的). Women learning at the center come from five communities, and some of them travel as far as 12 miles to learn these important skills that will provide them with an income, according to The Guardian.
Isatou Ceesay, who now leads the GWI，highlighted the need to focus on economic equality in her country, telling The Guardian, “In terms of education, women are the ones who are always behind. Boys are chosen to go to school. When we conduct our training, we find women can do a lot，but don’t know who they are, or how to implement (实施）things. ”
According to the World Health Organization’s Country Cooperation Strategy 2008—2013 report, the main environmental issue facing Gambia is poor waste management in urban areas.
Ndey Sireng Bakurin, executive director of the National Environment Agency, has voiced concern over health and environmental risks, such as water pollution, the increase of insects as well as flooding that occur as a result of poor waste management.
1. What does the Waste Innovation Center try to do?| A．Develop local markets in Brikama. |
| B．Teach women how to invent new things. |
| C．Keep women away from dangerous waste. |
| D．Help women in Brikama benefit from waste. |
| A．Replace. | B．Transform. |
| C．Burn. | D．Reserve. |
| A．don’t learn new things fast |
| B．aren’t interested in education |
| C．really hope for economic equality |
| D．are not fairly treated in the country |
| A．To summarize the previous paragraphs. |
| B．To provide some advice for the readers. |
| C．To add some background information. |
| D．To introduce a new topic for discussion. |
【推荐2】Scientists have discovered more than 5,000 new species living on the seabed in an untouched area of the Pacific Ocean that has been identified as a future hotspot for deep-sea mining, according to a review of the environmental surveys carried out in the area.
It is the first time the previously unknown biodiversity of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a mineral-rich area of the ocean floor that spans 1.7m sq miles between Hawaii and Mexico in the Pacific, has been comprehensively documented. The research will be critical to assessing the risk of extinction of the species, given contracts for deep-sea mining in the near-pristine area appear imminent.
Most of the animals identified by researchers exploring the zone are new to science, and almost all are unique to the region: only six, including a carnivorous sponge and a sea cucumber, have been seen elsewhere.
Contracts for mining exploration in the CCZ have been granted to 17 deep-sea mining contractors in an area covering 745,000 sq miles. The companies, which are backed by countries including Britain, the US and China, want to dig for minerals including cobalt manganese and nickel in part to sell to the alternative energy sector.
To better understand the impact of mining this fragile ecosystem and its newly discovered inhabitants, an international team of scientists has built the first “CCZ checklist” by compiling all the records from expeditions to the region. Published in the journal Current Biology, it includes 5,578 different species, of which an estimated 88% to 92% had never before been seen.
To study and collect specimens (样品) from the ocean floor, biologists have joined research cruises in the Pacific that send remote-controlled vehicles to traverse (穿越) the seabed 4,000 to 6,000 meters below. Adrian Glover, a deep-sea biologist at the NHM and senior author of the study described it as an “incredible privilege”. The expedition, funded through the Natural Environment Research Council and others, is backed by UK Seabed Resources (UKSR), a deep-sea mining company that operates the UK’s exploration area. The scientists watch operations by video link direct from the boat as new species are gathered by remote control vehicles in the darkness below.
The seabed, Glover said, is an “amazing place” where, despite the extreme cold and dark, life thrives. “One of the characteristics of the abyssal plain is the lack of food, but life has a way of persisting down there,” he said, “It’s a mystery.” One of the deep-sea animals discovered was nicknamed the “gummy squirrel”, because of its huge tail and jelly-like appearance, he said. There are also glass sponges, some of which look like vases.
With approval for deep-sea mining looming, Glover said he believed it was “imperative that we work with the companies looking to mine these resources to ensure any such activity is done in a way that limits its impact upon the natural world”.
1. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “imminent”?| A．Easy to carry out. | B．Ready to take place. |
| C．Hard to cope with. | D．Important to look over. |
| A．Identifying new species living on the seabed. | B．Assessing the risk of extinction of species. |
| C．Documenting the biodiversity of the area. | D．Exploring the potential for deep-sea mining. |
| A．Abundance of food. | B．Extreme lifeless environment. |
| C．Presence of glass sponges. | D．Prosperous life despite challenging conditions. |
| A．A magic zone:available to mining companies |
| B．A mineral-rich area: Clarion-Clipperton Zone |
| C．An “amazing place”: new species booming |
| D．Deep-sea wonders: the new species found in a Pacific mining hotspot |
【推荐3】Space is where our future is — trips to the Moon, Mars and beyond. Most people would think that apart from comets (彗星) and stars, there is little else out there.
The first piece of space junk was created in the year of 1964, when the American satellite Vanguard I stopped operating.
The major problem with the space trash is that it may hit working satellites and damage travelling spaceship. In addition to this, many pieces of junk may crash with each other and break into pieces which fall back to the Earth.
| A．Future plans include a cooperative effort among many nations. |
| B．The junk floats slowly around the Earth. |
| C．However, since our space journey started, we have left much trash (垃圾) in space. |
| D．It is said that there are now over 500,000 pieces of man-made trash orbiting the Earth at speeds of up to 17, 500 miles per hour. |
| E．It lost its connection with the ground centre. |
| F．To avoid this, scientists have invented several ways for clearing the sky. |
| G．It hasn’t result in any serious problems up to now. |
【推荐1】These young men were a different kind of prisoner from those we had seen before. They were brave, hostile and aggressive they would not take orders, and shouted “Amandla！” at every opportunity. Their instinct was to confront rather than cooperate. The authorities① did not know how to handle them, and they turned the island upside down. During the Rivonia Trial, I remarked to a security policeman that if the government did not reform itself, the freedom fighters who would take our place② would some day make the authorities miss us. That day had indeed come on Robben Island.
In these young men we saw the angry revolutionary spirit of the times. I had had some warning. On a visit with Winnie a few months before, she had managed to tell me through our coded conversation that there was a rising class of discontented youths③ who were violent and Africanist in beliefs. She said they were changing the nature of the struggle and that I should be aware of them.
The new prisoners were shocked by what they considered the inhuman conditions of the island, and said that they could not understand how we could live in such a way. We told them that they should have seen the island in 1964. But they were almost as sceptical of us as they were of the authorities. They chose to ignore our calls for discipline and thought our advice weak and unassertive (不果断).
It was obvious that they regarded us, the Rivonia Trialists④, as moderates⑤. After so many years of being branded a radical revolutionary, to be seen as a moderate was a novel and not altogether pleasant feeling. I knew that I could react in one of two ways: I could scold them for their disrespect or I could listen to what they were saying. I chose the latter.
Then some of these men, such as Strini Moodley of the South African Students Organization and Saths Cooper of the Black People’s Convention, came into our section,
Shortly after their arrival on the island, the commanding officer came and asked me as a favour to address the young men. He wanted me to tell them to behave themselves, to recognize the fact that they were in prison and to accept the discipline of prison life. I told him that I was not prepared to do that. Under the circumstances, they would have regarded me as a follower of the authorities.
(---adapted from “Long walk to freedom: The autobiography of Nelson Mandela”)
1. We may infer from the passage all of the following EXCEPT that ___________.| A．an angry massive revolution was probably on its way |
| B．these young men were willing to cooperate in face of difficulties |
| C．many were concerned about the influence these young men could make |
| D．the author’s activities were strictly monitored |
| A．I tried to calm them down and talked them into behaving. |
| B．I reported to the officers about their dissatisfaction. |
| C．I asked them to tell us about their movement and beliefs. |
| D．I just turned a deaf ear to the young men. |
| A．①② | B．②③ | C．③④ | D．⑤① |
【推荐2】Eventually, the changes that will strengthen stepfamilies will likely come from shifts in cultural prejudices. Such change is slow, but there are signs that some movement along this line is beginning to take place. For instance, Roger Coleman, a clergyman in Kansas City, Mo., performs marriage ceremonies specifically designed to include children when a parent remarries. In years of officiating second marriages, he says, he became keenly aware of the confusion and insecurities of the children, and the ceremony — which includes a special medal worn by the child — aims to celebrate the “new family” and move the church beyond mere criticism of divorce. This year, Coleman says, over 10,000 families across the country will use the medal in their remarriage ceremony.
Similar changes are occurring in public schools around the country. One of the difficulties for stepfamilies is that schools and other public institutions have typically not recognized the stepparent as a valid parent; school registration forms, field trip permission slips, health emergency information — none of these required or acknowledged the stepparent. The message, whether intended or not, has been that only biological parents count. It’s a message that the stepparent and stepchild internalize, worsening what’s often an already difficult relationship, and one which the larger community takes as another sign that stepfamilies are not legally recognized in American society. Through the efforts of the Step-family Association of America and other advocates, schools around the country have begun changing their policies to acknowledge the increasingly important role of stepparents.
Change is also evident in a marketplace eager to exploit this wide social trend. In a particularly American sign of the times, the Hallmark greeting card company, is about to launch a line of cards devoted entirely to non- traditional families. The cards never use the word “step”, but most of the “Ties That Bind” line is clearly aimed at people who have come together by remarriage rather than biology — or, as one card puts it, “Thrown together without being asked, no chance of escape.” Some are straightforward (“There are so many different types and ways to be a family today”), while others are more indirect (“It’s like at a puzzle where the pieces aren’t where they used to be”). But all are aimed at the vast and growing market of people who don’t identify with the old definitions of family, and who are finding ways to make their new families work. Who knows — soon there may even be a card Tori La Londe can send to her former husband’s former mother-in-law.
1. The marriage ceremonies performed by Roger Coleman _________.| A．always make children feel confused and insecure |
| B．are more romantic than any other marriage ceremony |
| C．are designed to include some children to create an exciting atmosphere |
| D．are arranged to let children attend their parent’s remarriage ceremonies |
| A．biological parents are irreplaceable in the growth of a child |
| B．stepparents are no substitute for the biological ones |
| C．traditional views on the family structure still persist |
| D．efforts are made to facilitate the present situation |
| A．Businesses can benefit more from new patterns of families |
| B．People begin to be open to different new definitions of family |
| C．Sending cards is a good way to tie the bond of the family |
| D．Ex-husband’s ex-mother-in-law plays an important role in the family |
| A．The increasingly important role of stepparents. |
| B．The practical ways to strengthen the stepfamilies. |
| C．The difficulties that are facing the stepfamilies. |
| D．People’s gradual recognition towards stepfamilies. |
【推荐3】Thanks to in-depth reporting by the Wall Street Journal, we now know that Facebook has long been aware its product Instagram has harmful effects on the mental health of many adolescent users. Young girls, in particular, struggle with their body image thanks to a constant stream of photos and videos showing beautiful bodies that users don’t think they can attain.
While the information the Journal covered is essential and instructive, it does not tell the whole story. Deep down, this is not an Instagram problem; it’s a people problem. Understanding that distinction can make the difference between a failed attempt to contain a teen’s interest in an addictive app and successfully addressing the underlying problem leading to mental distress induced (诱发) by Instagram.
Critics were quick to shame Facebook for sitting on the data and not releasing it to researchers or academics who asked for it. Others criticize the social media giant for not using the research to create a safer experience for its teen users. The anger, while understandable, is misplaced.
While I’m reluctant to defend Facebook, I’m not sure it’s reasonable to blame the company for withholding data that would hurt its business. Have you ever binge-watched (狂看) a Netflix series? I assure you it wasn’t a healthy endeavor. You were in active, likely did nothing productive, mindlessly snacked and didn’t go outside for fresh air. It is an objectively harmful use of time to stare at a TV or laptop for a full weekend. Should we respond by shaming Netflix for not alerting us to how damaging an addictive product can be?
While it’s reasonable to say Instagram makes esteem issues worse, it strains credulity (夸张到难以置信) to believe it causes them in the first place. You create your own experiences on social media. For the most part, you choose which accounts to follow and engage. If you’re already vulnerable to insecurities and self-sabotage (自损) — as many teens are — you will find accounts to obsess over. And this isn’t a new phenomenon.
Before social media, there were similar issues fueling self-esteem issues. Whether the target be magazines, movies or television shows depicting difficult-to-attain bodies, there has been a relatively steady chorus (异口同声) of experts nothing the damage new media could cause young viewers.
Self-esteem issues have an underlying cause — one that’s independent of social media use. Instagram merely enhances those feelings because it provides infinitely more access to triggers than older forms of media. It’s more worthwhile to address those underlying factors rather than to attack Facebook.
1. The author thinks the criticisms against Instagram __________.| A．are successful attempts to change teens’ interest in addictive apps |
| B．address the Instagram - induced mental pain |
| C．are only based on the data released by Facebook |
| D．are not directed at the fundamental problem |
| A．compare the criticisms against it and Facebook |
| B．defend why Facebook is to blame |
| C．suggest the critics’ remarks are not to point |
| D．show Netflix does more harm to teens |
| A．it is human nature to get addicted to social media |
| B．users decide on their experiences on social media |
| C．people have a tendency to feel insecure online |
| D．people are keen on fabricating their self - profile |
| A．the unprecedented criticism facing Facebook |
| B．the alarming online habits of teenagers worldwide |
| C．the root cause of Instagram - induced mental strains |
| D．the harmful impact of Instagram on teenagers |
【推荐1】Food is energy for the body. Digestive enzymes （酶） in the mouth, stomach and intestines （肠） break up complex food molecules into simpler structures that travel through the bloodstream to all our tissues. We calculate the available energy in all foods with a unit known as the food calorie. Fats provide approximately nine calories per gram, while carbohydrates and proteins deliver just four.
Every calorie count on every food label you have ever seen is based on these estimates. Yet these approximations assume that the 19th-century laboratory experiments on which they are based accurately reflect how much energy different people with different bodies get from many different kinds of food. New research has revealed that this assumption is, at best, far too simplistic. To accurately calculate the total calories that someone gets out of a given food, you would have to take into account more factors, including whether that food has evolved to survive digestion; how boiling, baking or microwaving a food changes its structure and chemistry; how much energy the body consumes to break down different kinds of food; and the extent to which the billions of bacteria aid human digestion and, conversely, steal some calories for themselves.
Nutrition scientists are beginning to learn enough to improve calorie labels, but digestion turns out to be such a fantastically complex and messy affair that we will probably never find a formula for an infallible calorie count.
Consider how vegetables vary in their digestibility. We eat the stems, leaves and roots of hundreds of different plants. The walls of plant cells in the stems and leaves of some species are much tougher than those in other species. Even within a single plant, the durability of cell walls can differ. Generally speaking, the weaker or more degraded the cell walls in the plant material we eat, the more calories we get from it.
Some plant parts have evolved adaptations either to make themselves more appetizing to animals or to escape digestion altogether. Fruits and nuts first evolved between 145 and 65 million years ago. Evolution favored fruits that were both tasty and easy to digest to better attract animals that could help plants scatter seeds. It also favored nuts and seeds that were hard to digest, however.
Finally, some foods make the immune system to identify and deal with any hitchhiking pathogens （病原体）. No one has seriously evaluated just how many calories this process involves, but it is probably quite a few. Even if our immune system does not attack any of the pathogens in our food, it still uses up energy to take the first step of distinguishing friend from foe. This is not to mention the potentially enormous calorie loss if a pathogen in uncooked meat leads to illness.
1. According to the author, the traditional method of counting calories is _________.| A．widespread just because scientists have not developed a better method |
| B．easy to understand because it is based on a simple principle |
| C．wrong because it originated from a study on popular 19th century foods |
| D．inaccurate because it fails to account for the complex processes of digestion |
| A．an overview of the human digestive system to a report on how the stomach works |
| B．an explanation of one approach to calories to a discussion on the need for a new approach |
| C．a description of the evolution of plants to a list of different types of plant species |
| D．a theory about the chemical composition of food to examples supporting this theory |
| A．never wrong | B．absolutely complex |
| C．often challenged | D．much advanced |
| A．warn readers of the dangers of polluted foods |
| B．describe how the immune system identifies pathogens |
| C．present pathogens as a factor to consider when estimating calories |
| D．urge scientists to study how undercooked meat affects people’s health |
【推荐2】I read somewhere that we spend a full third of our lives waiting. But where are we doing all of this waiting, and what does it mean to an impatient society like ours? To understand the issue, let’s take a look at three types of “waits”.
The very purest form of waiting is the Watched-Pot Wait. It is without doubt the most annoying of all. Take filling up the kitchen sink(洗碗池) as an example. There is absolutely nothing you can do while this is going on but keep both eyes fixed on the sink until it’s full. During these waits, the brain slips away from the body and wanders about until the water runs over the edge of the counter and onto your socks. This kind of wait makes the waiter helpless and mindless.
A cousin to the Watched-Pot Wait is the Forced Wait. This one requires a bit of discipline. Properly preparing packaged noodle soup required a Forced Wait. Directions are very specific. “Bring three cups of water to boil, add mix, simmer three minutes, remove from heat, let stand five minutes.”I have my doubts that anyone has actually followed the procedures strictly. After all, Forced Waiting requires patience.
Perhaps the most powerful type of waiting is the Lucky-Break Wait. This type of wait is unusual in that it is for the most part voluntary. Unlike the Forced Wait, which is also voluntary, waiting for your lucky break does not necessarily mean that it will happen.
Turning one’s life into a waiting game requires faith and hope, and is strictly for the optimists among us. On the surface it seems as ridiculous as following the directions on soup mixes, but the Lucky-Break Wait well serves those who are willing to do it. As long as one doesn’t come to rely on it, wishing for a few good things to happen never hurts anybody.
We certainly do spend a good deal of our time waiting. The next time you’re standing at the sink waiting for it to fill while cooking noodle soup that you’ll have to eat until a large bag of cash falls out of the sky, don’t be desperate. You’re probably just as busy as the next guy.
1. While doing a Watched-Pot Wait, we tend to ___________.| A．keep ourselves busy |
| B．get absent-minded |
| C．grow anxious |
| D．stay focused |
| A．The Forced Wait requires some self-control. |
| B．The Forced Wait makes people passive. |
| C．The Watched-Pot Wait needs directions. |
| D．The Watched-Pot Wait engages body and brain. |
| A．It is less voluntary than the Forced Wait. |
| B．It doesn’t always bring the desired result. |
| C．It is more fruitful than the Forced Wait. |
| D．It doesn’t give people faith and hope. |
| A．Take it seriously. |
| B．Don’t rely on others. |
| C．Do something else. |
| D．Don’t lose heart. |
| A．exploring various causes of “waits”. |
| B．describing detailed processes of “waits”. |
| C．analyzing different categories of “waits” |
| D．revealing frustrating consequences of “waits” |
【推荐3】“YOU may smile, but it will come,” said Henry Ford in 1940, predicting the arrival of a machine that was part-automobile and part-aeroplane. For decades flying cars have obsessed technologists but eluded their mastery. Finally there is reason to believe. Several firms have offered hope that flying people in small pods for short trips might become a reality in the next decade. These are not cars, as most are not fit to drive on land, but rather small vehicles, which can rise and land vertically, like quiet helicopters.
There are at least a dozen firms experimenting with making small flying vehicles in different guises, including Airbus, an aerospace giant, in partnership with Italdesign Giugiaro, a division of Volkswagen, a carmaker. Many plan to have a certified pilot in command at the beginning and then move on to an autonomous set-up when regulations allow.
No matter which manufacturer is quickest to gain velocity, Uber, a ride-hailing firm, aims to be at the centre of things. On April 25th it held an event in Dallas to announce its plan to offer a service where people can hail an electric “vertical takeoff and landing” vehicle and ride it quickly to destinations that would otherwise take hours in heavy traffic. Uber does not want to build these aircraft or landing pads itself, just as it does not own its own cars. Instead, it plans to collaborate with other companies. But Jeff Holden, Uber’s chief product officer, does not exclude the possibility that the firm may at the outset own some aircraft, which he estimates will cost around $1m each.
The firm plans to have a prototype of its service ready by 2020. It will launch it first in Dallas and in Dubai, both cities where the authorities have deep aviation expertise and where people commute long distances. The firm rather optimistically promises that the cost per aerial mile for passengers will be roughly that of its low-cost car service, UberX.
There is plenty for manufacturers and services like Uber to overcome beyond gravity. For battery-powered models, range is limited and the charging rate remains slow. Manufacturers will need to ensure that vehicles can take off and land quietly, if this new form of transport is to stand a chance in cities. How to oversee and license the new aircraft, which are subject to much tougher rules than cars, will be a subject of intense debate among rule-makers, who tend to move slowly and are just getting to grips with drones. Drivers of flying vehicles are also likely to require a pilot’s license, albeit perhaps a simplified “sports” license. The journey ahead will be a long one.
1. By “ eluded their mastery” ( paragraph 1) , the author means that ___________.| A．technologists were unable to make flying cars a reality. |
| B．Flying cars were what technologists knew well. |
| C．technologists found it feasible to produce flying cars. |
| D．flying cars used to be something too good to be true. |
| A．It is looking for some substitute for Uber X. |
| B．It doesn’t own any car or aircraft at present. |
| C．It has launched its flying car service in Dubai |
| D．It plans to cut down on passengers’ pay for rides. |
| A．getting along well with |
| B．realizing the need to produce |
| C．becoming aware of the harm of |
| D．starting to take action to deal with |
| A．The noise they may make |
| B．The high cost of its production |
| C．The lack of popularity among users. |
| D．The effect that they have on the environment. |
