Emissions Trading Systems—carbon pricing policy instruments for carbon emissions reduction—have become very popular in recent years. Under a typical ETS, a central authority allocates emissions permits to enterprises and requires them to submit permits equal to their emissions for compliance at the end of a “compliance cycle”. Enterprises that are short of permits can purchase them from the permit market, creating a carbon price signal that is crucial to reducing emissions cost-effectively.
Unlike a typical ETS in the developed countries that imposes a hard emissions cap, the main feature of China’s national ETS is its permit allocation rules that guarantee carbon policy stringency without introducing strong adverse shocks to economic growth. China’s national ETS is so far a rate-based system—the permit allocation in each sector is based on the companies’ actual output levels and a corresponding “benchmark” (emissions-output ratio) that matches an appropriate emissions intensity reduction target in that sector. For example, if a plant’s emissions intensity exceeds its predetermined benchmark, it will face an allowance deficit and need to buy permits for compliance. Conversely, a plant with relatively low emissions intensity can sell surplus permits.
China’s national ETS has been in operation for a year now. It has made progress on multiple fronts.
First, the institutional framework has been formed. The National Measures for the Administration of Carbon Emission Trading (Trial), released in December 2020, has provided a regulatory basis. It has been supplemented by additional technical documents for permit registration, trading, settlement, permit allocation, and emissions reporting for the power generation sector. All these directives have gradually formed a “1+N emissions trading policy system”.
Second, infrastructure for the system has been established. The National Carbon Emissions Permits Registry in Wuhan (responsible for recording permit holdings, modifications, payments, and retirements) and the National Carbon Emissions Exchange in Shanghai (serving as a permit exchange) have been operating smoothly.
Lastly, for the monitoring, reporting, and verification of emissions, enterprises have been encouraged to take “on-site” measurements of their coal consumption, significantly improving the integrity of China’s carbon emissions data.
Although there have been important milestones for China’s national ETS in its first year, several challenges were also encountered. There is still no official roadmap for future sectoral coverage. Trading was very much concentrated just ahead of the compliance date, which reveals a less active market which limits price discovery. Risk control regarding data quality still needs to be improved, given that some data manipulation cases were detected.
A medium-and long-term development roadmap is very much needed for China’s ETS. Higher-level legislative support to strengthen market supervision and penalties for non-compliance are also necessary. With regard to the permit allocation, China’s national ETS needs to continuously tighten the benchmarks under a rate-based design and carefully plan a transition to a mass-based system to introduce a clear cap for covered emissions. Moreover, auctioning needs to be introduced to reduce free permit allocation and facilitate price discovery. In the next few years, China’s national ETS is expected to expand from the power sector to multiple industries and eventually to cover more than 8,000 companies, whose emissions account for 70 percent of China’s energy-related emissions. We are confident that a full-fledged national ETS can help China achieve its “dual-carbon” goals and lead the development of a global carbon pricing regime in the near future.
1. Which of the following statements best describes ETS?| A．A market providing stage for emissions permits trade. |
| B．An approach encouraging alleviation of carbon emissions. |
| C．An implement marking the innovation of China’s ecological administration. |
| D．A system confining industries’ carbon emissions. |
| A．The ETS was first raised by China all around the world. |
| B．Industries cannot release carbon exceeding the allocated permits under the ETS. |
| C．In China the ETS is only adopted within the power sector for now. |
| D．The permit allocation for each company depends on its producing capability under the ETS. |
| A．It possesses more flexibility as opposed to western ones. |
| B．It shows great resilience before economic shocks. |
| C．It complies with the market principles. |
| D．It may bring more incomes to the companies. |
| A．The ETS: Insight And Outlook |
| B．The ETS: Reduce Carbon Emissions |
| C．The ETS: A Milestone Of Ecological Administration |
| D．The ETS: Permits Can Be Bought |
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【推荐1】A new study shows that rising levels of planet-warming gases may reduce important nutrients in food crops.
Researchers studied the effects of one such gas—carbon dioxide—on rice. The researchers grew rice plants in a controlled environment. They set carbon dioxide levels to what scientists are predicting for our planet by the end of the century. They found that the resulting rice crops had lower than normal levels of vitamins, minerals and protein. The researchers said the effects of planet-warming gases would be most severe for the poorest citizens in some of the least developed countries. These people generally eat the most rice and have the least complex diets, they noted.
In the experiment, scientists grew 18 kinds of rice in fields in China and Japan. They pumped carbon dioxide gas over the plants in an effort to create the atmosphere of the future. Rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions had, on average, 13 to 30 percent lower levels of four B vitamins and 10 percent less protein. The crops also had 8 percent less iron and 5 percent less zinc（锌）an rice grown under normal conditions. However, vitamin E levels increased by about 13 percent on average.
The results are bad news, “especially for the nutrition of the poorer population in less-developed countries,” said the University of Tokyo’s Kazuhiko Kobayashi, who helped to write the report. That includes about 600 million people in Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Laos and other nations, mainly in Southeast Asia, the report said.
One of the scientists is Sam Myers of Harvard University in the American state of Massachusetts. He said that findings like this are an example of the surprises climate change create. “My concern is there are many more surprises to come,” he said.
Myers noted that pollution, loss of some species, destruction of forests, and other human activities are likely to produce unexpected problems. He said that you cannot completely change all the natural systems that living organisms have grown to depend on over millions of years without having effects come back to affect our own health.
The new study suggests a way to lower the nutritional harm of climate change. One way, Kobayashi said, is grow different forms of rice that have shown to be more resistant to higher carbon dioxide levels.
1. Which county would be influenced most by planet-warming gases according to the text?| A．China | B．Britain | C．America | D．Myanmar |
| A．By comparison. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By analyzing causes. | D．By describing a process. |
| A．Climate change will be difficult to predict. |
| B．Climate change will lead to more good effects. |
| C．Climate change will be harmful to environment. |
| D．Climate change will cause more unexpected problems. |
| A．Myers said we could change all the natural systems for the sake of our health. |
| B．The poorest people in all the least developed countries would be influenced most. |
| C．The researchers grew 18 kinds of rice in China and Japan in a controlled environment. |
| D．Protein in rice grown under high carbon dioxide conditions is increased by 10 percent. |
【推荐2】When you walk on a sandy beach, it takes more energy than striding down a sidewalk — because the weight of your body pushes into the sand. Turns out, the same thing is true for vehicles driving on roads. The weight of the vehicles creates a very shallow indentation (凹陷) in the pavement (路面) — and it makes it such that it’s continuously driving up a very shallow hill.
Jeremy Gregory, a sustainability scientist at M.I.T. and his team modeled how much energy could be saved — and green-house gases avoided — by simply stiffening (硬化) the nation’s roads and highways. And they found that stiffening 10 percent of the nation’s roads every year could prevent 440 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions over the next five decades — enough to offset half a percent of projected transportation sector emissions over that time period. To put those emissions savings into context — that amount is equivalent to how much CO2 you’d spare the planet by keeping a billion barrels of oil in the ground — or by growing seven billion trees — for a decade.
The results are in the Transportation Research Record.
As for how to stiffen roads? Gregory says you could mix small amounts of synthetic fibers or carbon nanotubes into paving materials. Or you could pave with cement-based concrete, which is stiffer than asphalt (沥青).
This system could also be a way to shave carbon emissions without some of the usual hurdles. Usually, when it comes to reducing emissions in the transportation sector, you’re talking about changing policies related to vehicles and also driver behavior, which involves millions and millions of people — as opposed to changing the way we design and maintain our pavements. That’s just on the order of thousands of people who are working in transportation agencies. And when it comes to retrofitting (翻新) our streets and highways — those agencies are where the rubber meets the road.
1. Why does the author mention “walk on a sandy beach” in paragraph 1?| A．To present a fact. | B．To make a contrast. |
| C．To explain a rule. | D．To share an experience. |
| A．Hardening the road. | B．Keeping oil in the ground. |
| C．Growing trees for decades. | D．Improving the transportation. |
| A．Gaining more support. | B．Consuming less money. |
| C．Involving more people. | D．Facing fewer usual obstacles. |
| A．Those agencies are likely to make more rules. |
| B．Those agencies will change some related policies. |
| C．Those agencies might put more rubber tires on the roads. |
| D．Those agencies will play a key role in making this happen. |
【推荐3】BEIJING, China ---Pollution in China remains very serious as the country's rapid economic growth brings new environmental problems, a minister said Saturday.
Vice Environment Minister Zhang Lijun said China has made progress on environmental protection, but admitted that its rapid economic growth over the past decade has had a negative effect on the environment.
"Our rapid economic development has continuously brought our country new environmental problems, particularly dangerous chemicals, electronic waste and so on. These environmental pollutants (污染物) bring new problems and affect human health," Zhang told a news conference.
He said that emissions(排放)of traditional pollutants remain high and some areas have failed to meet government standards.
China has pledged to continue reducing emissions this year of three key air pollutants--- ammonia nitrogen, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. The government has also promised to bring down demand for chemical oxygen---a measure of water pollution by l.5 percent from the 2010 levels.
In the last five years, there were 912 "environmental emergencies" involving heavy metal pollution, including several well-publicized instances of mass contamination, Zhang said. Thousands of children were affected by lead poisoning in several provinces in 2009 and 2010 because they lived near metal smelters or battery factories.
The minister noted that rapid development in the next five years would increase the need for China to improve environmental protection and shift to a more sustainable(可持续的) model of economic development from its dependence on industries which consume huge quantities of energy.
China is focusing on clean energy, including solar, wind and nuclear power, as one way to reduce its dependence on coal, which generates three-quarters of its electricity and is also used for winter heating in northern cities. China also hopes the strategy will reduce its demand for oil and gas and increase economic growth and jobs.
Zhang told reporters there was no plan to adjust China's overall strategy for nuclear development but he said Beijing will learn lessons from Japan after a violent earthquake resulted in a radioactive leak(放射能泄露).
"Some lessons we learn from Japan will be considered in the making of China's nuclear power plans," he said. "But China will not change its determination and plan for developing nuclear power."
1. How can China do to solve the pollution problem according to the minister?| A．China must slow its economic development. |
| B．China require to ask industries to meet government standards. |
| C．China should tell people how to protect the environment. |
| D．China require to transform tis economic development model. |
| A．needs |
| B．transports |
| C．reduces |
| D．produces |
| A．Dangerous chemicals are one of the traditional pollutants. |
| B．The use of clean energy will help increase job opportunities. |
| C．Coal is used more in northern cities than in southern cities. |
| D．Rapid economic growth helps to improve the environment. |
| A．China’s economic development will shift to depend on clean energy. |
| B．China will learn to use nuclear power from Japan. |
| C．Japan had a violent earthquake recently. |
| D．Rapid economic growth caused some problems in China. |
【推荐1】China is using travel as an important tool to help strengthen its economy.At the recent First World Conference on Tourism a Chinese official spoke about the government’s plan for using tourists and the money they spend. The head of China’s National Tourism Administration, Li Jinzao, said that China plans to send 150million travelers along what he called the “One Belt, One Road”. In the next five years, these tourists are expected to spend $200 billion, he said. This spending estimate(估计) is likely to raise expectations among countries along the ancient Silk Road, which links China to its neighbors.
China has reasons to feel it can use tourism to influence the foreign policy. Governments across the world are changing their immigration rules to welcome the growing numbers of Chinese tourists. Chinese citizens are now going to places where in the past Chinese rarely went. Marketing expert Michel Gutsatz said that among Chinese travelers, South Korea and Thailand are popular destinations. Outside of Asia, he said, Chinese are more likely to visit Europe than North America. These changes, he said, are the result of young Chinese travelers, who spend more and travel independently.
Spending by Chinese tourists has lifted the economies of several Asian countries, including Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. It is expected that the number of Chinese traveling overseas to reach 242 million by 2024. In a single year, that number would be equal to the total number of tourists received by Germany, Iran, Indonesia and Egypt combined
China is now the biggest business travel market in the world, The Global Business Travel Association(GBTA) recently announced that China has overtaken the United States in business travel. Chinese spent just over$291 billion on business travel last year. Americans spent just over $290 billion. This year, GBTA predicts that the Chinese business travel market will grow over 10 percent, while the Us business travel market will grow less than 2 percent.
1. We can infer from the passage that foreign countries ________.| A．welcome Chinese immigration to their countries |
| B．take Chinese tourists as their supporting power |
| C．make policies to ban Chinese tourists |
| D．rely entirely on Chinese tourists to increase their economy |
| A．They want to visit the places they rarely visited in the past. |
| B．They spend more money and travel by their own. |
| C．They want to travel to farther places than just nearby countries. |
| D．They think Europe is a more fashionable and poplar destination. |
| A．Chinese tourists make great contribution to their economy. |
| B．Chinese tourists can widen their business travel market. |
| C．The number of Chinese tourists is larger than that of European tourists. |
| D．They have greater expectations from Chinese tourists |
| A．China’s “One Belt, One Road” plan |
| B．Foreign Countries Change Their Policies to Attract Chinese Tourists |
| C．China Has the Biggest Business Travel Market |
| D．Tourism Helps China Strengthen Its Economy |
【推荐2】Australian electronics and homewares retailers are preparing for the invasion (涌入) of American giant Amazon, but some have decided to take the fight up to the online-based store when it comes to local shores.
Last week, Amazon confirmed its rapid Australia expansion by announcing that it was searching for a site to build its “fulfillment center”—a large warehouse(仓库)for storing and shipping goods purchased online—but local retailer, including one of Harvey Norman’s founders Gerry Harvey, have said they will make it hard for Amazon to succeed in Australia.
Harvey Norman sells electronics, furniture and bedding—all markets in which Amazon hopes to hold a stake, but Harvey has said that he will happily go toe-to-toe with the American behemoth to hold his ground in the Australian market.
“In America and other parts of he world, they have just demolished (彻底打败) other retailers, no question about that, and they send a lot of retailers broke,” Harvey told News Corp on Monday. “There is no question they have one ambition and like Attila the Hun, or Alexander the Great, they just want to demolish everything in front of them and then at the end of the day claim to be victorious and make their own rules. So this is a company that is extraordinary by any measure and challenges every rule that has ever been written about a business.”
Some analysts have said that Amazon could take in as much as 3 billion U. S. dollars in sales in its first five years in Australia (around I percent of the total 225 billion U.S. dollar market), but Harvey has refuted those claims, saying that local retailers would be putting up “one hell of a fight” when Amazon launches is main retail services in Australia. “We will be ou there fighting them like no American retailer has ever fought them,” he said. “Any price that they put we will beat or equal.”
Meanwhile, Harvey’s thoughts were backed up by the former CEO of supermarket chain Woolworths. Roger Corbett, who said Amazon would struggle to keep its lower wages and claims of lightning fast delivery to rural parts when it opens in Australia. “Amazon will have an impact on the market place, but they are coming into an already very competitive market,” he told News Corp.
1. Why did Gerry Harvey react actively to Amazon’s expansion to Australia?| A．To support other national brands. |
| B．To maintain his own share in the market. |
| C．To realize the Australian market’s diversity. |
| D．To learn from Amazon’s immediate success. |
| A．Powerful and creative. |
| B．Aggressive but outdated. |
| C．Ambitious and reliable. |
| D．Promising but adventurous. |
| A．Amazon will take the lead in Australia soon. |
| B．Amazon has no access to the Australian market. |
| C．Amazon’s service quality needs improving urgently. |
| D．Amazon’s expansion to Australia will be challenging. |
【推荐3】When Columbus‘sailed the ocean blue in 1492’ he wasn't looking for America, he was searching for a route from Spain to China; America just got in the way.
The Spanish were after the riches of Asia: silk, dates,spices.Until later adventurers discovered how to sail to the Far East, trade with China depended on the Silk Road.The trade between China and Europe brought huge wealth, so the Spanish had a strong desire to find a new way to the East.Eventually a way appeared; as sea traffic developed from the 17th century onwards, the overland route diminished.
Now China is seeking to revive(复兴)the Silk Road and is preparing to invest 4 trillion pounds in new roads, rail links, oil pipelines and other basic facilities.It is hoped that goods can be shipped westwards by land far more quickly and economically than by sea.
But the plan is also to attract more tourists.Actually, China does pretty well for tourists already; it's the world's fourth most visited country.Two cities—Beijing and Shanghai—possess the tourism business, with significant interest in destinations such as Xi'an and Chengdu.While Beijing is modern，cities such as Lanzhou and Dunhuang have one foot planted firmly in old China.
Other places featured include Xi'an，the former capital of China，where you can come face to face with the Terracotta Army built to protect China's first emperor in the afterlife.From Lanzhou tour members take the train to Jiayuguan, China's western gateway and a key location on the Silk Road.
There is also a fourday coach journey along the original Silk Route through the Xinjiang region to Kashgar.Along the way, at Kurla, you can visit the ruins of the Iron Fortress.
1. What does the underlined word“diminished” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Discovered. | B．Disturbed. |
| C．Disappeared. | D．Displayed. |
| A．To make transportation westwards faster and cheaper. |
| B．To construct new roads and other basic structures. |
| C．To rebuild the ruins of the Iron Fortress. |
| D．To draw more inland tourists' attention to the western gateway. |
| A．The function of the Silk Road. | B．The charming of the Silk Road. |
| C．The origin of the Silk Road. | D．The future of the Silk Road. |
【推荐1】Norwegians would perhaps highlight their custom of “gå på tur” — going on a journey on foot or on skis. In Denmark, everyone knows what “hygge” is — to freely enjoy the good life with the people you love. They’re the issues of “intangible cultural heritage”, things that cannot be physically touched such as traditions, stories, music, dance, and craft skills.
In 2003, Unesco, the education, science and culture organization of the United Nations (UN), adopted an agreement to “preserve the intangible”, and many developing-world countries were quick to get their traditions included on the official list. But it would take almost 10 years for “Agreement for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage” to be approved by the Scandinavian countries.
Annika Sjöberg is responsible for managing the work of the agency in Sweden. She has been, and continues to be, flooded with suggestions of intangible cultural heritage worthy of protection, submitted by committed citizens and organizations wanting to see their particular traditions included on the list that should be ready sometime in the next couple of years.
Suggestions have also been received concerning various maritime traditions: old shipwright skills such as the building of wooden hulled vessels, are in decline and at risk of being lost forever.
“Our work has attracted considerable attention as it is regarded as being a little out in left field,” says Sjöberg. “In addition, it’s also opened people’s eyes to the fact that the things we can’t physically touch indeed have a major bearing on the way in which we live. Even in an urbanized society, there is knowledge we carry with us that we’ve inherited from previous generations — knowledge that’s important to preserve and take care of.”
Sjöberg explains that the point is not to preserve this cultural heritage in a stony, rigid form, as traditions must be allowed to change and evolve. She also emphasizes that her work should not be interpreted as a nationalistic project, rather as a means of multicultural spreading.
It’s actually a matter of documenting the knowledge that exists in the various traditions. What is most exciting is the diversity that now exists and the ways in which different cultures interact with each other.
1. Why are “gå på tur” and “hygge” mentioned at the beginning of the passage?| A．To remind people to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. |
| B．To introduce the main topic of the passage. |
| C．To appeal to the world to protect unseen cultures. |
| D．To highlight how special the northern European countries are. |
| A．She is working for the Unesco agency in Switzerland. |
| B．She monitors the protection of physical cultural heritage. |
| C．She tries her best to restore the world-wide particular traditions. |
| D．She has been managing the cases of the intangible cultural heritage. |
| A．Creation of the Unesco. |
| B．Annika Sjöberg’ daily routine. |
| C．Intangible cultural heritage of Unesco. |
| D．Safeguarding the cultures of the Scandinavian countries. |
| A．nationalistic |
| B．tiring but rewarding |
| C．important and necessary |
| D．demanding and meaningless |
【推荐2】Sometimes the simplest solution is the best one. That seems to be the case when it comes to the issue of wind turbines (涡轮机）killing birds.
According to a study conducted at a wind farm on the Norwegian archipelago of Smøla, changing the color of a single blade(叶片）on a turbine from white to black resulted in a 70-percent drop in the number of bird deaths.
In the past few years there has been a huge increase in global wind power, with more than 60 GW of new generating capacity(发电量）added worldwide in 2019. If the turbines are placed correctly, wind power is cheaper, cleaner and more sustainable(可持续的). Not to mention that a turbine farm is easier on the eye than a huge power plant.
But these farms aren’t good for everybody - especially not for local bat and bird populations. The US Fish and Wildlife Service calculated that nearly 300,000 birds were killed by wind turbines in 2015, which is a lot fewer than those that die as a result of hitting electrical power lines each year. Yet it still remains an environmental issue, even as bird deaths from turbines seem to be going down as the industry moves to larger turbine blades that move more slowly.
Studies have suggested that birds may not be skillful at noticing obstructions to their flight path, and adding different colored fan blades can increase birds’ chances of spotting a rapidly turning fan.
At the Smøla wind farm, regular checks of four particular wind turbines found the four turbines killed 18 birds that flew into the blades over six years. In 2013, on each of the turbines in the test group, a single blade was painted black. Over the next three years, only six birds were found dead due to hitting the wind turbines.
Researchers said the results are a step in the right direction toward better, more sustainable treatment of our flying friends.
1. Why have wind turbines killed birds?| A．Their blades are too large. | B．They are too high in the sky. |
| C．They are too close to each other. | D．Their colors are unnoticeable. |
| A．What future wind turbines will look like. |
| B．Why wind power is more and more popular. |
| C．How much wind power has been produced. |
| D．Which way of generating electricity is cheaper. |
| A．Ways. | B．Sights. |
| C．Guides. | D．Blocks. |
| A．Man is learning to protect nature. |
| B．Birds like colorful things. |
| C．Birds are good at choosing flight routes. |
| D．Human activities lead to environmental problems. |
【推荐3】Seen from the Earth, floating above us, clouds are the stuff of fairy tales, having inspired humans for centuries. But what exactly are clouds and why do they play such a vital role in our survival?
You need the right conditions and just two components to make a cloud: water vapour (蒸汽), and aerosols — tiny airborne particles (微粒) that act as seeds for cloud droplets. These particles come from sources such as dust, volcanoes and salt from sea spray, as well as from human activity, such as ash from burning fossil fuels.
It’s believed that clouds cover about two-thirds of the planet at any given moment and have a big influence on climate and weather. They do this by regulating temperature — for instance, by helping to spread the sun’s energy evenly over the Earth’s surface through storms, which transport heat from warm areas near the equator to colder regions. Clouds also have a thermostat (恒温调节) function, both keeping the Earth cool by reflecting solar energy back into space during the day, and heating it up by trapping thermal energy that rises from the Earth’s surface at night.
Climate scientists have recently turned their attention to this effect when modelling the impact of greenhouse gases on the Earth. Angeline Pendergrass, assistant professor at the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, tells US news platform, Vox: “How clouds change determines how warm it gets in response to a certain amount of greenhouse gas forcing.” It should be noted, however, that the influence of clouds on climate change is still a topic that’s much debated among scientists. This is because their effects are difficult to model accurately.
According to Angeline, greater accuracy might only be achieved after “large amounts of global warming” have occurred. In the meantime, scientists are paying close attention and will continue to carefully piece together records from the past and observations from the present to project models of various possible futures.
1. What are sufficient factors in making a cloud?| A．Seeds for cloud droplets and aerosols. |
| B．Dust, volcanoes and salt from sea spray. |
| C．Right conditions, water vapour and dust. |
| D．Water vapour and tiny airborne particles. |
| A．The function of clouds. |
| B．The transportation of heat. |
| C．The importance of the sun’s energy. |
| D．The changes of the Earth’s temperature. |
| A．The equator. | B．The Earth. |
| C．Solar energy. | D．Thermal energy. |
| A．Clouds can only keep the earth warm. |
| B．Our survival is at the mercy of clouds. |
| C．Accuracy in modelling is hard to achieve. |
| D．Large amounts of global warming have occurred. |
