During COVID’s first wave, the streets of New York and other major cities became empty. The sound of cars decreased, but urban citizens heard something new: an abundance of birdsong. During walks outside, they breathed cleaner air. Lockdowns had meant fewer cars on the roads, and the effects were unmissable. Levels of nitrogen dioxide-a by-product of fossil fuels burned in cars and in electricity generation—were 30 percent lower along the road from Washington D. C. to Boston in March 2020 compared with previous years. Summer coming, people sat at outdoor extensions of restaurants built in parking zones and moved around on newly added bike lanes. These incidental adaptations to the pandemic allowed citizens to experience the benefits of moving away from the “car is king“ situation in a way that policies for climate-friendly equipment never could, explains Christian Brand, an environmental scientist with the Transport Studies Unit at the University of Oxford. Now, he says, “they know what’s possible.”
Some fought to keep it that way. Paris has been a leader of this conversion. The French capital already had plans to press down car use and encourage cycling before COVID appeared, but in late spring 2020 some 50 kilometers of pop-up bike lanes, called coronapistes, were added almost overnight. They are now a permanent part of Paris’s cycling network, with more in the works.
These measures, Brand says, came in no small part because of political will. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo made climate change a focus of her reelection campaign. Besides providing subsidies(补贴)for purchasing and repairing bicycles, she emphasized the health benefits of reducing car emissions. In other cities, like New York, changes were more modest or temporary. Shutdowns may have presented the possibility of safer, healthier streets-but it was often a fleeting(飞逝的)vision.
1. What happened during COVID’s first wave?| A．Most people were infected with the virus: |
| B．City environment became better. |
| C．People drove cars instead of walking outside. |
| D．People no longer went to restaurants. |
| A．Condition. | B．Competition. |
| C．Change. | D．Struggle. |
| A．Protecting citizens’ safety. | B．Fighting the pandemic. |
| C．Measuring people’s political will. | D．Dealing with climate issues. |
| A．The Pandemic Led to Greener Cities Unexpectedly |
| B．More and More Bicycles Ended ”Car Is King“ Time |
| C．Political Leaders Took Measures to Reduce Pollution |
| D．Covid-19 Brought Benefits to People’s Health |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】The weather affects many aspects of people's daily life. Knowing and understanding what the weather is doing is useful.
However, the weather is also one of the most unpredictable elements in the world. Although many people watch the morning news and gather the information about the weather, this is often wrong. Whole days can be ruined by believing that the weather will be one thing, when it turns out to be another. However, owning wireless weather stations allows the owners to monitor the weather for themselves.
Not only will these weather stations allow the owners to see what the weather is doing, but it is personalized(个性化)to them and their area. Wireless weather, stations are specifically prepared for the immediate neighborhood. Plans will be able to be made, and important decisions will no longer be ruined by bad weather.
Although these weather stations are typically seen in homes, they can also be used very easily on farms and fishing boats. Both farmers and fishermen rely on the weather for their business and using up-to-date weather information is quite indispensable. By using the wireless weather stations, it can determine for them when to harvest crops and head back to the shore. Because of the size of the weather station, they can be moved very easily and used wherever necessary for people.
The wireless weather stations are great for all homes, especially for areas that suffer from extreme weather conditions. The up-to-date, instant weather reports will allow a person to monitor what the weather is doing and if the bad weather is heading in their direction. Extreme weather tends to come very quickly; therefore, any information that is received is helpful.
The weather stations are very simple to set up and are run by solar panels(太阳能板), ensuring they will work even if there is a power-cut. They are far smaller than those in previous years and give a couple of very simple read-outs for the owner. They are easy to use and fascinating to understand.
1. From paragraph 2, the author intends to .| A．show us how unpredictable the weather used to be |
| B．show how people got weather information in the past |
| C．make it clear how popular the morning news is |
| D．explain the value of having wireless weather stations |
| A．Necessary. | B．Indifferent. | C．Attractive. | D．Impossible |
| A．The information it provides is slow but more specific. |
| B．It is economical and saves money in the long run. |
| C．It's hard to set up but can be moved from one place to another. |
| D．It can continue to work even if there is a power failure. |
| A．The weather-the most unpredictable element in the world. |
| B．Good reasons for having wireless weather stations. |
| C．The weather and its effects on people's daily life. |
| D．The importance of knowing and understanding the weather. |
【推荐2】Living in a foreign culture can be exciting, but it can also be confusing(令人迷惑的). A group of Americans who taught English in other countries recently discussed their experiences. They found that miscommunication was always possible, even over something as simple as “yes” and “no”.
On her first day in Micronesia, an island in the Pacific, Lisa thought people weren’t paying any attention to her. The day was hot. She went into a store and asked, “Do you have cold drinks？” The woman there didn’t say anything. Lisa repeated the question. Still the woman said nothing. She later learned that the woman had answered her: She had raised her eyebrows(眉毛), which in Micronesia means “yes”.
Jan remembered an experience she had in Bulgaria, a country in Europe. She went to a restaurant that was famous for its cabbage. She asked the waiter, “Do you have cabbage today？” He nodded his head. Jan waited, but the cabbage never came. In that country, a nod means “no”.
Tom had a similar problem when he arrived in India. After explaining something in class, he asked his students if they understood. They answered with many different nods and shakes of the head. He thought some people had not understood, so he explained again. When he asked again, they did the same thing. He soon found out that his students did understand. In India, people nod and shake their heads in different ways depending on where they come from. You have to know where a person is from to understand whether they mean “yes” or “no”．
1. The Americans teaching English in other countries found that they ________.| A．had problems with communication | B．needed to learn foreign languages |
| C．should often discuss their experiences | D．should go abroad for vacations |
| A．nodding heads | B．raising eyebrows |
| C．shaking heads | D．saying “no” |
| A．he didn’t know where the students came from |
| B．he didn’t explain everything clearly enough |
| C．some students didn’t understand his questions |
| D．he did not know much about Indian culture |
| A．In Bulgaria, nodding heads means “no” |
| B．Jan taught English on a Pacific island. |
| C．Lisa was trying to buy some cabbage. |
| D．In India，only shaking heads means “yes”. |
【推荐3】Michelle Obama’s autobiography, Becoming is on track to become the most successful memoir (回忆录) in modern publishing history, selling more than 10m copies to date, as life after the White House continues to prove commercial gold for brand Obama.
Thomas Rabe, chief executive of the German media group Bertelsmann, said the title was the book giant’s biggest success of the last year. “We believe that these memoirs could well become the most successful memoir ever,” he said.
Penguin Random House won a bidding war for the rights to Barack and Michelle Obama’s autobiographies in 2017, paying more than $ 65 million, a record for US presidential memoirs.
Becoming has been a global sales juggernaut since being launched in 31 languages in mid-November. The audio-book (有声读物), read by the former first lady, has become the fastest-ever seller put out by Penguin Random House.
Obama has been promoting her memoir with a hugely popular global tour. Her tour has also taken in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Paris and Amsterdam as well as the US and Canada.
Tickets for her first live appearance in the UK, at the Royal Festival Hall in December, sold out in minutes. Overall UK sales of Obama’s book currently stand at more than 600,000, ranking it 11th on the list of the best selling memoir and biographies since sales records began in 1998, according to Nielsen BookScan.
While Becoming is proving a modern bestseller, it has some way to go to match the lifetime performance of The Diary of Anne Frank, which was first published in English in 1952 and is estimated to have sold more than 35m copies in 65 languages.
Life beyond the US presidency has proved profitable for the Obamas. Last year the former president and first lady struck a deal with Netflix to produce TV series and films for the streaming service.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph One to Paragraph Three?| A．Becoming is the most successful memoir in the publishing history. |
| B．Becoming is the most popular book released by Penguin Random House. |
| C．Michelle Obama’s autobiography gains its best sales in the UK. |
| D．Penguin Random House won the right for publication with its highest price for US presidential memories. |
| A．giant | B．controller |
| C．leader | D．operator |
| A．President Obamas' autobiographies. | B．The influence of Michelle Obama. |
| C．Barack and Michelle Obama. | D．A modern bestselling memoir. |
【推荐1】With the WHO no longer considering COVID-19 a global health emergency, it seems that the virus and its large number of deaths will soon fade from memory, along with N95 masks and PCR tests.
Our ability to forget a pandemic is partly a coping mechanism, reflecting the emotional immune system that enables us to move on with our daily lives. Every day, we receive massive information that our brains struggle to keep. Moreover, the process by which our brains assess risk is deeply personal and influenced by our own needs.
We are reminded why so many people were eager to forget the 1918 influenza pandemic and embrace the joys of the Roaring Twenties. But collective forgetting threatens to leave us unprepared for future airborne disease outbreaks, forcing us to re-learn fundamental lessons about the importance of masking and shifting activities outdoors to prevent transmission.
People often have a more positive view of the future than the past as a way of building psychological resilience (韧性). This is because, unlike the unchangeable past, the future offers endless possibilities. But our tendency to look forward also arrests progress on issues like pandemic preparedness, as it leads us to believe we are better equipped than we are.
Today, there’s still no comprehensive effort to carry out the detailed recommendations on how to improve pandemic preparedness. Today, we still lack clear explanations for why our public-health agencies are understaffed and undefended, why supply chains failed, why COVID-19 misinformation was allowed to overflow on media platforms, and why our public-health responses remain passive.
It has taken Ireland more than 150 years to build memorials and museums marking the impact of the disaster — the Great Famine of the 1840s. We cannot afford to let the same happen with COVID-19. Our ability to remember the past could affect billions of lives in the future.
1. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．The pandemic coping system. | B．The struggle of data memory. |
| C．The reasons for forgetting a pandemic. | D．The personal pandemic assessment. |
| A．To outline the astonishing parallel found in history. |
| B．To reveal the harmful effect of collective forgetting. |
| C．To uncover people’s collective loss of memory. |
| D．To reflect people’s interest in future possibilities. |
| A．good preparations for the next pandemic have been made |
| B．people’s ability to cope with a pandemic is underestimated |
| C．the suggestions on pandemic prevention are well adopted |
| D．a list of questions concerning the pandemic remain to be answered |
| A．Remember the pandemic. | B．Embrace the pandemic-free life. |
| C．Invest in the pandemic research. | D．Build memorials to the pandemic. |
【推荐2】Dynamic clearing
Dynamic clearing policy means stamping out an outbreak whenever it occurs and doing so in a relatively short time frame so it won’t lead to community spread.
Putting people first
China’s dynamic clearing approach is characterized by its adherence to the principle of “people and life first”. The number of deaths attributable to the Omicron variant of the virus is more than those caused by the Delta variant. The WHO has rightly called the death toll “beyond tragic”.
With the largest senior population in the world, China has a sizable number of people with chronic underlying diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.
A scientific approach
The dynamic clearing policy China has adopted is a scientific approach to fighting the novel coronavirus in line with its national conditions. It is wrong to consider the Omicron variant of the virus as no worse than the virus that causes the common flu.
It is irresponsible for some politicians to compare infections of the Omicron variant to a “flu”. It is not supported by any scientific evidence.
A timely strategy
Dynamic clearance measures change in accordance with the situation. If an outbreak is detected early, health workers only need to quarantine and treat patients while keeping an eye on quarantined close contacts.
Under the policy, so long as there is no community spread, it is acceptable for cases to exist in quarantine because they are temporarily isolated.
The dynamic clearing policy has so far proved successful in striking a delicate balance between maintaining economic and social development and controlling the spread of the virus.
| A．Changing the world |
| B．Supporting the global economy |
| C．It does not mean the whole country has no infected cases |
| D．They do so out of a cynical need to cover up their failure in responding to it |
| E．It is this policy that has made it possible for China to control the virus most rapidly |
| F．This has enabled China to continue to serve as the bedrock of the global supply chain |
| G．China’s public health system would face unbearable pressure from a nationwide outbreak |
【推荐3】After the Covid-19 pandemic began early in 2020, Traverso and his colleagues turned their attention toward new ways to reduce interactions between potentially sick patients and health care workers. To that end, they worked with Boston Dynamics to create a mobile robot that could interact with patients as they waited in the emergency department. The robots were equipped with sensors that allow them to measure signs of life. The robots also carried an iPad that allowed for remote video communication with a health care provider.
This kind of robot could reduce health care workers' risk of exposure to Covid-19 and help to conserve the personal protective equipment that is needed for each interaction. However, the question still remained whether patients would accept this type of interaction.
In Traverso's study they were trying to tide that up and understand if the population accepts a solution like this one. The researchers first conducted a nationwide survey of about 1, 000 people, working with a market research company called YouGov. They asked questions regarding the acceptability of robots in health care, including whether people would be comfortable with robots performing not only classification but also other tasks such as planting a tube, or turning a patient over in bed. On average, the subjects stated that they were open to these types of interactions.
The researchers then tested one of their robots in the emergency department at Brigham and Women's Hospital last spring, when Covid-19 cases were flooding in Massachusetts. Fifty-one patients were approached in the waiting room and asked if they would be willing to participate in the study, and 41 agreed. These patients were interviewed about their symptoms via video connection, using an iPad cared by a log-like robot developed by Boston Dynamics. More than 90 percent of the participants reported that they were satisfied with the robotic system.
"For the purposes of gathering quick classification information, the patients found the experience to be similar to what they would have experienced talking to a person," Traverso says.
1. What can the robots mentioned do?| A．Carry an iPad for the patients | B．Check patients' breathing rate. |
| C．Help plant a tube for the doctors. | D．Find new ways to talk with patients. |
| A．To summarize the previous paragraph. |
| B．To add some background information. |
| C．To provide some advice for the readers. |
| D．To introduce a new topic for discussion. |
| A．There are many Covid-19 sufferers. |
| B．People are willing to be in the study. |
| C．The robotic system is acceptable. |
| D．Patients are active in talking to the robot. |
| A．The Robotic Doctor Will See You Now |
| B．Health Care Workers Are Unavailable |
| C．The Covid-19 Patients Favor Robots |
| D．Robot Development Needs Human Support |
【推荐1】With the outbreak of the COVID-19, multiple kinds of protective medical equipment, such as disposable(一次性的)masks, have been consumed. Market research indicates a sharp increase rate of 53% in the mask market alone. People often use these types of protective equipment and then throw them without thinking of the consequences, both on the ecosystem and human beings.
Disposable surgical masks are severely affecting the ecosystem. When improperly-handled masks enter the water system, they break up into smaller pieces. Complete masks can trap marine animals, resulting in their impaired mobility and even death. Meanwhile, the poisonous plastic particles will cause marine animals to be poisoned to death or weakness when they consume plastic. Furthermore, these harmful pollutants can severely affect reproduction, growth, and the development of the young. Just like their effects on marine animals, these pollutants can also contribute to severe harm in human bodies, especially in the neuron system. Exposure to micro plastics may cause particle poisoning, cellular damage and neuro-degenerative (神经退化的) diseases like Alzheimer’s disease(阿尔茨海默症).
Despite the potential harm to the ocean system and human neuron system, improperly-handled disposable masks will likely become a dangerous public health threat under the environment of a global pandemic. Instead of helping us fight against the COVID-19, to some extent, micro plastic pollution also causes the potential risk of speeding up the spread of the virus. Micro plastic particles in the ocean can be mixed up with water vapour to form aerosols in the atmosphere because they are small enough to enter the water cycle, where they are transferred from the marine system to the atmosphere in vast amounts and become a source for the disease COVID-19. thus causing the virus to speed up the spread of the global pandemic.
Humans will eventually suffer from the wrongdoing in the ocean systems because humans are nothing but temporary residents of the planet. Just like what the famous English anthropologist, Jane Goodall, has said, “Every individual matters. Every individual makes a difference.”
1. The underlined word “impaired” in paragraph 2 probably means“_________”.| A．strengthened | B．damaged |
| C．completed | D．influenced |
| A．the impact on marine lives’ reproduction, growth and weakness |
| B．the destruction to human’s neuron system, cellular system |
| C．the huge economic loss for people living near the sea |
| D．the great burden of micro plastic particles on ecosystem |
| A．to describe the negative effects of disposed masks on nature and human beings. |
| B．to advise readers to deal with the improperly-handled masks. |
| C．how the improperly-handled masks help spread the virus. |
| D．how to deal with the virus. |
| A．To explain a serious phenomenon caused by the virus. |
| B．To advocate a proper solution to solving the disposable masks. |
| C．To compare the sufferings between marine animals and human beings. |
| D．To analyze the harmful results of the improperly-handled masks. |
【推荐2】The day will come when renewable energy such as wind, solar, geothermal and others replace fossil fuels as the major source of world energy. However, most analysts insist that this day will not arrive for many decades to come — certainly well past the middle of the century. Systems of fossil fuels have already been firmly set up, and it is too costly or impractical to replace the existing systems with renewables. But there are good reasons to believe that the transition (转变) to renewables will come much faster than previously thought.
It is hardly surprising that many experts say we will see a relatively slow transition from fossil fuels to renewables, given what is known about previous energy changes of this sort. “Energy transitions take a long time,” observed Vaclav Smil of the University of Manitoba. It took more than 50 years for coal to replace wood as the world’s leading source of energy and another 50 years for oil to replace coal; the change from fossil fuels to renewables, he argued, is not likely to come any faster.
Under ordinary circumstances, Smil’s forecast would no doubt prove accurate. But these are not ordinary times. Growing concern over climate change is leading to increasingly strict controls on CO2 and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (排放), while the development in renewables technology is lowering their price and speeding their installation (安装).
There are, of course, many difficulties in the effective control of carbon emissions, as demonstrated by coal companies to block the introduction of new rules by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Nevertheless, it is impossible to take no notice of the progress being made at the local and international levels to promote the use of renewables. The European Union (E.U.), for example, is well on the way to achieving a 20% reduction in GHG emissions from 1990 levels by 2025, along with a 20%increase in the use of renewable energy.
The transition to renewables will be faster due to dramatic US improvements in the pricing and performance of such systems. As a result of the steady increases in the efficiency of wind and solar systems, together with the savings achieved through large- scale manufacture, the price of renewables is falling globally. With prices dropping this fast, solar energy is now proving competitive with fossil fuels for generating electricity in many areas.
The change from fossil fuels to renewable energy will not come overnight, and it will not escape many setbacks. Nevertheless, renewables are likely to replace fossil fuels as the main source of electrical power well before mid-century.
1. Vaclav Smil believes that ________.| A．renewable energies are not very practical |
| B．the change to renewables will come slowly |
| C．systems of fossil fuels have been firmly set up |
| D．there are many setbacks of renewable energies |
| A．has cut down half of the carbon emissions |
| B．has failed to find a way to reduce GHG emissions |
| C．is trying its best to encourage the use of renewables |
| D．tries to stop the introduction of new rules on renewables |
| A．their falling prices | B．the decline in the coal industry |
| C．international trade | D．the new rules on CO2 emission |
| A．Smil’s forecast has proved to be inaccurate in all situations |
| B．Renewable energy serves as a major source of energy in today’s world |
| C．Companies supported the rules made by US Environmental Protection Agency |
| D．There has been a steady improvement in the efficiency of wind and solar systems |
| A．call on people to use fewer fossil fuels |
| B．give advice on how to promote renewables |
| C．argue that the energy transition will come sooner |
| D．prove that renewables will be the major source of energy |
Hadrian’s Wall was built, beginning in 122 AD, to keep Roman Britain safe from attacks from the Picts. The wall, starting from the North Sea to the Irish Sea (from the Tyne to the Solway), is about 73 miles long, 10 feet wide, and 15 feet high. In addition to the wall, the Romans built a system of small forts (堡垒) housing up to 60 men every Roman mile along its whole length, with e towers very 1/3 Roman mile. 16 larger forts holding from 500 to 1000 soldiers were built into the wall, with large gates on the north face.
Israeli West Bank barrier
The Israeli West Bank barrier is a barrier under construction by the State of Israel along and within the West Bank. Upon completion, the barrier’s total length will be nearly 700 kilometers. The barrier is built mainly in the West Bank.
The Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was the physical boundary between West Germany and East Germany. The Berlin Wall was built in the dead of night in 1961 and for 28 years kept East Germans from escaping to the West. Its destruction (in 1989) was celebrated around the world.
Conwy’s Town Walls
Conwy’s Town Walls are an ancient defensive (防御的) project around the town of Conwy in North Wales. The walls were built between 1283 and 1287. They are 1.3 kilometers long and include 21 towers and three gate houses. The project was completed by large quantities of workers and cost around ￡15,000. Today the walls form part of the UNESCO world heritage site (联合国教科文组织世界文化遗产).
1. We know from the passage that Hadrian’s Wall_______.
| A．is about 15 feet wide |
| B．has about 60 small forts |
| C．is seen from the Tyne to the North Sea |
| D．has 16 larger forts built into it |
| A．is a barrier being built by the Israeli state |
| B．is built completely in the West Bank |
| C．once made Israel separated |
| D．has a length of over 700 kilometers |
| A．the Israeli West Bank barrier |
| B．the Berlin Wall |
| C．Conwy’s Town Walls |
| D．Hadrian’s Wall |
| A．have 21 gatehouses |
| B．were built in the twelfth century |
| C．were built for the purpose of defense |
| D．will soon become a UNSCO world heritage site |
| A．They have the same length |
| B．They were built in the same age |
| C．They have towers on their walls. |
| D．They cost a huge amount of money |
