During the annual political meetings, environmental protection was definitely among the biggest concerns. Actually, it was also an issue that ancient Chinese paid great attention to. In fact, the world’s earliest environmental protection concept, ministry and laws were all born in China. So, what did the ancient Chinese do to protect the environment?
In early ancient China, environmental protection was promoted to the political level. Xunzi, a famous thinker in Warring States Period, brought up the concept of managing state affairs through environmental protection. He stated in his book that vegetation (植被) should not be damaged at will. Guan Zhong, an official 400 years ahead of Xunzi, was also an environmental protection expert. During his term of office, he claimed that “a King who cannot protect his vegetation is not qualified to be a king”.
According to a record in Qing dynasty, the environmental protection ministry in early ancient China was called “Yu”, standing both for the institution and the official title. Although most functions were similar to such ministries today, the administration range of it was much larger, including the mountains, forests, rivers, lakes and so on.
The nine ministries established by Shun, an ancient Chinese king, already included “Yu”, the environmental protection ministry. The first “Yu” official was a man called Boyi, who was indeed an environmental protection expert. He was a capable assistant to Dayu, an ancient Chinese water-control expert. He invented wells, protecting people’s drinking water from pollution. He knew a lot about animals and also called for animal protection.
Environmental protection laws dated back to the ruling period of Dayu, which was more than 4,000 years ago. During his rule, he issued a ban, forbidding people to cut down wood in March or catch fish in June, the time when they were supposed to boom.
In Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period almost 3,000 years ago, “environmental protection laws” appeared in its true sense in Qin, which was recorded in Law of Fields and regarded as China’s earliest environmental protection laws.
1. Which statement would Xunzi probably agree with?A.Vegetation shouldn’t be damaged at all. |
B.Much attention should be paid to people’s drinking water. |
C.The king who failed to protect the environment should be removed. |
D.Running a country and environmental protection should be combined. |
A.The Qing dynasty. | B.The ministry of Yu. |
C.The official title. | D.The modern ministry. |
A.Fish didn’t taste delicious in June. |
B.It was too hot to catch fish in June. |
C.Fish had a period of rapid growth in June. |
D.Fish-catching time had already passed in June. |
A.Shun. | B.Boyi. | C.Xunzi. | D.Guan Zhong. |
A.How the Ancient Chinese Protect the Environment |
B.Famous Environmental Protection Experts in Ancient China |
C.Dayu — a Great Environmental Protector |
D.Measures of the World’s Earliest Environmental Protection |
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【推荐1】The earthworm is widely distributed, with 4000 species in the world and more than 300 species in China, where they are in demand as fishing bait, livestock feed, and components of traditional medicine. Known as “ecosystem engineers,” earthworms also play a vital role in the biogeochemical cycle. They can affect the biological, chemical, and physical processes of the ecosystem. In recent years, poachers in China have started using soil electrocution to capture earthworms, putting earthworm populations and ecosystems at risk. In February, China banned the practice.
In the past, earthworms in China were captured manually, which limited the number that could be caught in a short amount of time and did not threaten the earthworm population or the soil ecosystem. In contrast, applying electric current to the soil can catch about 150 kg of earthworms in a day. Removing earthworms at this scale threatens the species with local extinction and robs the targeted ecosystem of the benefits they provide.
This capture method threatens other species as well. The electric current may kill or harm soil organisms beyond earthworms. The changes could disrupt the food cycle or birds, arthropods, and mammals that depend on earthworms as a food source. The sharp decrease of earthworms in the soil may also affect soil fertility and productivity, reducing crop yields.
Electric earthworm capture has quickly become widespread, because earthworms are not included on the list of protected wild animals in China. There have been few legal punishments for using the approach, despite the damage it causes. In February, the Chinese government took a step to ban electric capture of earthworms and other activities that damage the soil ecosystem. However, the financial benefits of large-scale earthworm poaching may provide poachers with an motivation to continue using electric capture despite the ban. To carry out the ban effectively, China should pass laws that specify how poachers will be punished if they continue to use soil electrocution.
1. What does the author want to convey in the first paragraph?A.The earthworm is found everywhere. | B.The earthworm is used as fishing bait. |
C.The earthworm is captured. | D.The earthworm is endangered. |
A.To give an example | B.To explain a capture method |
C.To clarify a concept | D.To make a comparison |
A.Because they want to get a lot of money. | B.Because they like electric capture. |
C.Because they ignore the ban. | D.Because they hate earthworms. |
A.China Bans Electric Capture of Earthworms |
B.Electric Earthworm Capture Became Widespread |
C.Earthworms Play a Vital Role in the Ecosystem |
D.Earthworms Are Captured by Soil Electrocution |
【推荐2】Recently, more than 100 Asian elephants made their way across The Mall in front of London’s Buckingham Palace. They weren’t live animals, however, but life-sized elephant sculptures that were handmade by Indigenous community members from the jungles of Tamil Nadu in South India.
The environmental art exhibition is called CoExistence. It was headed by Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective, a British Charity and nonprofit socio-environmental enterprise aimed at raising awareness for the Indian elephant. Meant as a response to the increasing conflicts between humans and animals, the campaign’s goal is to start a movement of global empathy (共鸣) for members of the animal kingdom who, like the powerful elephant, have found themselves sharing natural habitats with fast-growing human populations.
The sculptures were made using an invasive(侵入式的) weed called lantana, whose removal coincides with benefits to wildlife in protected areas, where the elephants began their migration. Flying alongside the elephant are sculpted flocks of bird species that have been declared extinct or endangered in the UK.
The project helps demonstrate this unique time in history where the worldwide reduction in human activity from COVID-19 has had an overall positive effect on certain pockets of wildlife species around the planet.
“Today marks the first significant step on the herd’s 13,000 miles migration around the world. Over the past 18 months, many countries have gone into lockdown,” said Ruth Ganesh, Creative at The Real Elephant Collective and Elephant Family Trustee. “Brought about by sad circumstances, this great pause is providing crucial guidance on how to best share space with animals in our crowded planet. The elephants are here to tell their story about the inspiring ways we can coexist with all the other living beings that make our world magical—from tigers and monkeys, to nightingales and elephants.”
1. What’s Paragraph 1 mainly about?A.Life-sized elephant sculptures in London. |
B.The Mall before London’s Buckingham Palace. |
C.An analysis of the effect of COVID-19 on wildlife. |
D.Caring for London’s elephants during COVID-19. |
A.To warn people not to kill elephants. |
B.To call on humans to live peacefully with animals. |
C.To solve the problem about the extinction of wildlife. |
D.To raise the awareness of protecting wildlife during COVID-19. |
A.Some birds and kites. | B.Some live animals. |
C.Some sculptured birds. | D.Some volunteers saving endangered wildlife. |
A.COVID-19 has a negative effect on wildlife. |
B.Elephants are loved more than other living beings. |
C.The lockdown helps people realize how to coexist with wildlife. |
D.He is confused about the worrying circumstances during the lockdown. |
The number of gunners, however, grows rapidly. Children too young to develop proper judgments through independent thought are led a long way away by their gunning parents. They are subjected to advertisements of gun producers who describe shooting as good for their health and guncarrying as a way of putting redder blood in the veins (血管). They are persuaded by gunner magazines with stories honoring the chase and the kill. In school they view motion pictures which are supposedly meant to teach them how to deal with arms safely but which are actually designed to stimulate (刺激) a desire to own a gun. Wildlife is disappearing because of shooting and because of the loss of wildland habitat (栖息地). Habitat loss will continue with our increasing population, but can we slow the loss of wildlife caused by shooting? There doesn’t seem to be any chance if the serious condition of our birds is not improved.
Wildlife belongs to everyone and not to the gunners alone. Although most people do not shoot, they seem to forgive shooting for sport because they know little or nothing about it. The only answer, then, is to bring the truth about sport shooting to the great majority of people.
Now, it is time to realize that animals have the same right to life as we do and that there is nothing fair or right about a person with a gun shooting the harmless and beautiful creatures. The gunners like to describe what they do as character-building, but we know that to wound an animal and watch it go through the agony of dying can make nobody happy. If, as they would have you believe, gun-carrying and killing improve human-character, then perhaps we should encourage war.
1. According to the text, most people do not seem to be against hunting because ________.
A.they have little knowledge of it |
B.it helps to build human character |
C.it is too costly to stop killing wildlife |
D.they want to keep wildlife under control |
A.form | B.condition | C.pain | D.sadness |
A.teach them how to deal with guns safely |
B.praise hunting as character-building |
C.describe hunting as an exercise |
D.encourage them to have guns of their own |
A.blame the majority of people |
B.worry about the existence of wildlife |
C.be in favour of war |
D.be in support of character-building |
【推荐1】During the 15th century, spices (香料) from India were very popular in Europe, however, the only way to travel from Europe to India was over land. This was a long and expensive trip. The King of Portugal realized if he could find a way to get to India by sailing on the ocean, he would become rich by trading spices in Europe. An explorer (探险家) by the name of Bartolomeu Dias had discovered the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa. It was thought that there may be a way around the Cape and to the northeast towards India. However, many were skeptical and thought that the Indian Ocean did not connect with the Atlantic Ocean.
Vasco da Gama, who was born in 1460s to a wealthy Portuguese family in Sines, was given a fleet of ships by the king and told to discover a sea route (路线) around Africa to India. He was also told to look for other trading possibilities along the way.
Vasco da Gama left on his first voyage (航行) from Lisbon, Portugal, with four ships and 170 men on July 8, 1497. Gama and his men rounded the southern tip of Africa at the Cape of Good Hope on November 22. They then headed north up the coast of Africa. They stopped at trading ports along the way including Mombasa and Malindi. At Malindi (about 120 km northeast of Mombasa), they picked up a local pilot who knew the direction to India. With the help of a monsoon wind they were able to cross the Indian Ocean and arrive in Calicut, India in less than a month (on May 20, 1498). At Calicut, Vasco ran into serious trouble when trying to trade. He had brought little of value in his ships. This made the local traders doubtful of him and very soon he had to leave. The voyage back was disastrous. Around half of his men died from scurvy (坏血病) as the trip back took much longer because of the winds not blowing in his favor. However, when he returned home, he was still a hero. He had found the much needed trade route to India.
1. What does the underlined word “skeptical” in Paragraph 1 mean?A.Worried. | B.Doubtful. |
C.Hopeful. | D.Supportive. |
A.To take control of India. |
B.To control the spice trade. |
C.To find a trade route to India. |
D.To bring back spices from India. |
A.Sines→the Cape of Good Hope→Mombasa→Malindi Calicut. |
B.Sines→the Cape of Good Hope→Malindi→Mombasa→Calicut. |
C.Lisbon→the Cape of Good Hope→Malindi→Mombasa→Calicut. |
D.Lisbon→the Cape of Good Hope→Mombasa→Malindi→Calicut. |
A.Their trading was well-received. |
B.Half of them got a serious illness. |
C.They missed the best time to go back home. |
D.They were considered unwelcome by the local traders. |
【推荐2】The concept of planning entire communities before their construction is an ancient one. In fact, one of the earliest such cities on record is Miletus, Greece, which was built in the 4th century BC. Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance various planned communities (both theoretical and actual) were conceived (构思). Leonardo da Vinci designed several cities that were never constructed. Following the Great Fire of London in 1666, the architect Christopher Wren created a new master plan for the city, combining park land and urban space. Several 18th century cities, including Washington D.C., New York City, and St Petersburg, Russia, were built according to comprehensive planning.
One of the most important planned city concepts, the Garden City Movement, arose in the latter part of the 19th century as a reaction to the pollution and crowding of the Industrial Revolution. In 1898, Ebenezer Howard published the book To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path for Real Reform in which he laid out his ideas concerning the creation of new economically sustainable towns. Howard believed that these towns should be limited in size and density, and surrounded with a belt of undeveloped land. The idea gained enough attention and financial backing to lead to the creation of Letchworth, in Hertfordshire, England. This was the first such 'Garden City'. After the First World War, the second town built following Howard's ideas, Welwvn Garden City, was constructed.
In the early 1920s, American architects Clarence Stein and Henry Wright, inspired by Howard's ideas and the success of Letchworth and Welwyn, created the city of Radbum, New Jersey. Conceived as a community which would be safe for children, Radbum was intentionally designed so that the residents would not require automobiles. Several urban planning designs were pioneered at Radbum that would influence later planned communities, including the separation of pedestrians and vehicles, and the use of 'superblocks', each of which shared 23 acres of commonly held parkland.
In America, following the stock market crash of 1929, there was great demand for both affordable housing and employment for workers who had lost their jobs. In direct response to this, in 1935 President Roosevelt created the Resettlement Administration, which brought about a total of three greenbelt towns: Greenbelt, Maryland; Greenhills, Ohio; and Greendale, Wisconsin. These towns contained many of the elements of the Garden City Movement developments, including the use of superblocks and a 'green belt' of undeveloped land surrounding the community.
1. The first paragraph talks mainly about ________.A.famous urban planners | B.the history of urban planning |
C.the future examples of urban planning | D.problem associated with urban planning |
A.It came just before the Industrial Revolution. |
B.It was held back by a war and a lack of funds. |
C.It resulted in cities that were larger than they had been before. |
D.It was designed to address problems caused by modernization. |
A.To reduce the danger for families living in the area. |
B.To create something totally different from cities elsewhere. |
C.To make sure people could park their cars close to their home. |
D.To increase green spaces by designing houses with gardens. |
A.Their residents were affected by the stock market collapse. |
B.They were built for the wealthiest people in America. |
C.They were each surrounded by natural parkland. |
D.They were all constructed in the same year. |
【推荐3】We are all busy talking about and using the Internet, but how many of us know the history of the Internet?
Many people are surprised when they find that the Internet was set up in the 1960s. At that time, computers were large and expensive. Computer networks didn’t work well. If one computer in the network broke down, then the whole network stopped. So a new network system had to be set up. It should be good enough to be used by many different computers. If part of the network was not working, information could be sent through another part. In this way, computer network system would keep on working all the time.
At first the Internet was only used by the government, but in the early 1970s, universities, hospitals and banks were allowed to use it, too. However, computers were still very expensive and the Internet was difficult to use. By the start of the 1990s, computers had become cheaper and easier to use. Scientists had also developed software that made “surfing” the Internet more convenient.
Today it is easy to get online and it is said that millions of people use the Internet every day. Sending email is more and more popular among students.
The Internet has now become one of the most important parts of people’s life.
1. The Internet has a history of around ______ years.A.ten | B.twenty | C.fifty | D.seventy |
A.break down the whole network |
B.make itself keep on working all the time |
C.make computers cheaper |
D.make computers large and expensive |
A.Scientists | B.the government |
C.schools | D.hospitals and banks |
A.Software | B.Scientists | C.Information | D.Computers |
【推荐1】There are so many different methods claiming to predict marathon performance. But these are not always very accurate because predicting marathon performance is difficult. However, in our new study, we found it's possible to calculate a critical speed that we can use to predict a runner's marathon time with a good degree of accuracy.
Many things determine how fast you can run a marathon, your physical quality plays a huge role in your performance. For example, excellent marathon runners tend to be slim with long limbs. Fast marathon runners also tend to have a higher maximum rate of oxygen use (vo2 max) and can operate at a high percentage of this maximum for a long time without developing tiredness. The right shoes can make running more economical in terms of how much energy you use. And of course, choosing a flat course with ideal weather conditions can help too.
Endurance (耐久力) running is essentially determined by the fastest speed you can sustain for a given distance. or how long you can run at a given speed. This suggests there is a critical speed which, in theory, we can sustain for quite a long time. It is quite possible that the critical speed is useful for predicting endurance performance.
By analyzing training data from 25,000 athletes, we found we could estimate their critical speeds and predict their marathon performance with 92% accuracy.
We also found that, on average, runners ran the marathon at speeds around 85% of their critical speeds. Faster athletes ran their marathons at close to 93% of their critical speeds, but slower runners did so at 79% of their critical speeds. This means that using training data to estimate your critical speed, certain fitness apps on your smart watch or phone may soon be able to predict your finish time at an even higher degree of accuracy, as well as providing real-time advice about how best to pace your race.
1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly talk about?A.Differences between excellent runners and average runners |
B.Conditions to consider before running a marathon |
C.Characters of successful marathon runners. |
D.Factors affecting runners' performance. |
A.By listing key data | B.By telling personal stories |
C.By quoting famous runners | D.By explaining causes and effects |
A.Different marathon runners always run at different speeds. |
B.Marathon runners will run better with the help of some apps. |
C.Critical speeds for runners given by fitness apps are useful. |
D.It'll be easy to predict runners' performance with some app |
A.A standard critical speed for marathon runners. |
B.The inspiration gained from a marathon. |
C.A way to predict marathon runners' performance. |
D.The value of hard and scientific training. |
Around the world, people changed sleep patterns thanks to the start or end of daylight savings time. Russians, for example, began to wake up about a half-hour later each day after President Vladimir Putin shifted the country permanently to “winter time”starting on October 36.
Russia’s other late nights and early mornings generally correspond to public holidays. On New Year’s Eve, Russians have the world’s latest bedtime, hitting the hay at around 3:30 am.
Russians also get up an hour later on International Women’s Day, the day for treating and celebrating female relatives.
Similarly, Americans’ late nights late mornings, and longest sleeps fall on three-day weekends.
Canada got the least sleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic hockey(冰球)final.
The World Cup is also chiefly responsible for sleep deprivation(剥夺), The worst night for sleep in the U.K. was the night of the England-Italy match on June 15. Brits stayed up a half-hour later to watch it, and then they woke up earlier than usual the next morning thanks to summer nights, the phenomenon in which the sun barely sets in northern countries in the summertime. That was nothing, though, compared to Germans, Italians, and the French, who stayed up around an hour and a half later on various days throughout the summer to watch the Cup.
It should be made clear that not everyone has a device to record their sleep patterns, in some of these nations, it’s likely that only the richest people do. And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person. Even if that’s the case, though, the above findings are still striking, If the most health-conscious among us have such deep swings in our shut-eye levels throughout the year, how much sleep are the rest of us losing?
1. What does the author say about people’s sleeping habits?
A.They are culture-related . |
B.They affect people’s health |
C.They change with the seasons. |
D.They vary from person to person. |
A.They don’t sleep much on weekends. |
B.They get less sleep on public holidays |
C.They don’t fall asleep until very late. |
D.They sleep longer than people elsewhere. |
A.They are involved in a sleep research. |
B.They have trouble falling asleep. |
C.They want to get sufficient sleep. |
D.They want to go to bed on regular hours. |
A.Sleeplessness does harm to people’s health. |
B.Few people really know the importance of sleep. |
C.It is important to study our sleep patterns. |
D.Average people probably sleep less than the rich. |
“People today prefer living together to putting their signatures on a marriage certificate because they refuse to accept responsibility for the relationship,” said social worker Ken Yip, “and this is what is causing a lot of family problems.” When we sign a paper, for example, a business contract or a bank document, the signature is a seal of consent, an agreement to take the matter seriously. Most governments and many organizations will not process written complaints if they do not bear the writer’s signature. The absence of a signature, they explain, tells us that the writer cannot be too serious and therefore does not deserve a reply.
There are people who wish to remain anonymous for various reasons. Multi-billionaire Mr. King donates generously to charity several times a year. He gives simply because he wants to help but not for the publicity his donations may bring, and he does not want his good deeds to make news. In other cases, people insist on anonymity because they are afraid of the consequences of revealing their identity. Crime witnesses may be willing to assist the police, but most are unwilling to give their names when reporting a crime.
Name or no name? The answer is very personal and lies in how much we want to get involved. We all have a name. It is a matter of responsibility to use it when we make a statement, a claim or an accusation. We all want to honor our own name, and it is only by stamping our expression of an opinion with our own name that we honor what we say.
1. What does the writer mean by saying “Responsibility is the name of the game”?
A.Names are required to indicate writers’ responsibility for what they say |
B.Publication must bear the writer’s full name, address and phone number. |
C.Writers should be responsible for their names. |
D.Writers need to provide their personal information in the game. |
A.hesitant to make a donation |
B.afraid of an accusation |
C.unwilling to draw public attention |
D.ready for involvement |
A.honor and writers |
B.identity and signature |
C.anonymity and signature |
D.signature and responsibility |