You are sitting in a restaurant and a server brings over a glass of water and drops a plastic straw (吸管) next to the glass. Any idea how many plastic straws are thrown away in the US everyday? Around 500 million! Plastic straws were the seventh most common type of litter found during beach cleanups this year! Last year, a diver diving in Australia collected 319 plastic straws in just 20 minutes. The next day, she returned to the same location and found another 294 straws.
Very few single-use plastic straws are recycled. They break down into tiny bits of plastic, and are eaten by sea life. Luckily, thousands of people have gotten involved (参与) with the cause, including kids!
In 2011, 9-year-old Milo Cress made an interesting observation after ordering a drink of juice in a restaurant, “I noticed the servers automatically placed a plastic straw by my drink.” Milo thought this was a real waste and thought there had to be something he could do about it. Milo talked with plastic producers to get an estimate of just how many straws we use. He learned that 500 million plastic straws are used every day! This inspired him to start a project called Be Straw Free. Milo encouraged restaurants not to hand straws out so freely. “Actually,” remembers Milo, “businesses liked the idea as it would save them money.”
Milo was one of many kids to become involved with the cause. Earlier this year, a group of third-and-fourth-graders from Seattle, Washington, spoke with local lawmakers about the harm plastic straws have on sea life and our environment. The group, calling themselves the Straw Kids, would like cities to ban their use, and would like other kids to rethink the use of single-use plastic straws. Megan O’Reilly, 9, says, “We are making a website, strawkids.org, which will help us get the word out that plastic straws are bad, and help us get more supporters.”
1. The data in paragraph 1 is used to show ______.| A．divers enjoy doing beach cleanups | B．restaurants always provide plastic straws |
| C．plastic straws are causing an environmental problem | D．Australia’s environment is getting worse and worse |
| A．It was unacceptable. | B．It was difficult to carry out. |
| C．It was quite effective. | D．It was favorable to their business. |
| A．Intelligent and sensitive. | B．Caring and humorous. |
| C．Creative and responsible. | D．Courageous and demanding. |
| A．One good turn deserves another. | B．One is never too young to change. |
| C．Kids can also make a difference. | D．Kids should be prepared for the future. |
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【推荐1】Lce Hui Ling was exposed to environmental and social issues at a young age. Born into a family of artists, she was impressed by the environmental subjects of her mother’s art works and thus developed a pasion for the environment. “As a child, would worry about the ozone layer (臭氧层) expanding, rubbish pollution, and animals going extinct. Very serious topics for a little girl!”
After graduating from the Sarah Lawrence College in New York and moving back to Malaysia, Hui Ling’s conceras for the environment grew. She set up a Greenpeace Malaysia online community on various social media platforms. This was instrumental in the eventual setting up of the Malaysian office in 2017.
Hui Ling helped to organise and lead at meet-ups, as well as run workshops and training. An artist and educator, Hui Ling organised participatory art projects in line with Greenpeace Malaysia campaigns on deforestation, plastic pollution and consumerism. One of them was the Wings of Paradise project, where she led a team of 30 youth volunteers in creating a 64-meter long mural (壁画), showing the essence of the brightly coloured feathers, crazy dances and fantastic behaviours of birds of paradise (天堂鸟). The project aimed to remind the public of the constant threat to this Indonesian wildlife, and inspire people to act to protect it.
“Environmental activism has taught me that doing good is not a sprint, but a marathon, and we need to make ourselves tougher and stronger to keep going through the difficult times,” Hui Ling said. “There is a ray of hope in the youth activism of the last few years. The youths of today are well organised and passionate in expressing their desire for positive change and a green and sustainable future for all.” said Hui Ling.
1. What do we know about Lee Hui Ling?| A．She grew up in a family of educators. |
| B．She joined Greenpeace out of curiosity. |
| C．She studied environmental science in college. |
| D．She was environmentally aware since childhood. |
| A．Beautifying local city streets. |
| B．Furthering researches on the local wildlife. |
| C．Preserving the beauty of birds of paradise. |
| D．Training young artists of bird paintings. |
| A．It is a long-term commitment. |
| B．It lacks involvement from the youth. |
| C．It is a reflection of social well-being. |
| D．It allows free expressions about future. |
| A．Journey to the Wild |
| B．Art for Change |
| C．The Founding of Greenpeace Malaysia |
| D．A Green and Sustainable Future |
【推荐2】Nearly gone are the days when humans covered themselves with blankets to keep warm, and it’s now the age of covering glaciers (冰川) with blankets to keep them cool because with the climate changing rapidly, this seems like a workable idea to keep them from melting.
At a ski resort (度假胜地) in the Swiss Alps, the Swiss use blankets to protect the glacier
from the warm climate. Gian Darms, who handles snow conditions at the ski resort, introduced this unique procedure. The blankets are being used to cover the top of the 10,623-foot Mount Titlis whose glacier has already melted in the last few decades and it is expected to disappear completely in the next 50 years due to global warming.
Facing the great effect of climate change, resort employees have taken it upon themselves to protect the glacier from the heat and for this process, they spend about five to six weeks every summer covering parts of the glacier with specially protective wool. This helps to reflect the Sun’s energy back into the atmosphere and prevent the glacier from melting, while also preserving the already fallen snow on the glacier in the previous winter season. After the season passes, the employees remove the coating and fill in the gaps in the glacier’s surface with the snow — now that is some commitment to Mother Nature!
This practice has been going on for a while now and the area of the glacier has increased to almost 100,000 square meters now. “We’ve been covering more and more in the last few years. Almost 30,000 square meters more is covered this year alone,” said Darms.
The ski resort’s actions show how severe the effect of climate change is on glaciers which have been melting at rapid rates in the past few years. Many different resorts have also started following suit to try to prevent them from melting. Saving an entire glacier is a completely different story. It is actually costly and potentially unfavorable to surrounding ecosystems. As a result, such blankets have only been applied mostly in an effort to preserve profitable ski runs.
1. How is the topic introduced?| A．By giving an example. | B．By analyzing causes. |
| C．By describing a process. | D．By making a comparison. |
| A．Coating the glacier with special wool. |
| B．Using collected snow for the glacier’s openings. |
| C．Taking action to slow down climate change. |
| D．Covering the glacier with a blanket. |
| A．Worried. | B．Opposed. | C．Indifferent. | D．Skeptical. |
| A．Blankets Cover an Entire Glacier | B．Global Warming Threatens Glaciers |
| C．Resort Cools Its Glacier with Blankets | D．Glaciers Enter a Different Age Now |
【推荐3】In most parts of the world, many students help their schools make less pollution. They join “environment clubs”. In an environment club, people work together to make our environment clean.
● No-garbage lunches. How much do you throw away after lunch? Environment clubs ask students to bring their lunches in bags that can be used again. Every week they will choose the classes that make the least garbage and report them to the whole school!
● No-car day. On the no-car day, nobody comes to school by car--not the students and not the teachers! Cars give pollution to the air, so remember:
Walk, jump, bike or run.
Use your legs! It’s lots of fun!
● Turn off the water! Did you know that some toilets can waste twenty to forty m3 of water an hour? In a year that would fill a small river! In environment clubs, students mend those broken toilets.
We love our environment. Let’s work together to make it clean.
1. Environment clubs ask students ________.| A．not to forget to take cars | B．to go to school by car every day |
| C．not to throw away lunch bags | D．to do exercise every day |
| A．much water | B．a lot of money | C．a long river | D．a toilet |
| A．walk to school every day | B．help teachers |
| C．bring their lunches in bags | D．make less pollution |
【推荐1】China Media Group, the country’s state broadcaster, released the country’s top 4 science and technology news stories in 2021 on Monday.
1. China’s “artificial sun” sets new world record
China’s “artificial sun” nuclear fusion reactor in Hefei, capital of east China’s Anhui Province, has set a new world record after running at the temperature of 120 million degrees Celsius for 101 seconds in May, laying the foundation for the country to build its own nuclear fusion energy station in the future. Click here to read more.
2. China’s first self-operated deep-water gas exploration platform starts production
China’s first self-operated 1.5-kilometer deep-water gas exploration platform, “Deep Sea No. 1,” started production on June 25. Located in south China’s Hainan Province, it is expected to supply 3 billion m3 of deep-sea natural gas each year to Guangdong, Hainan and Hong Kong. Click here to read more.
3. China Space Station now able to host long stay for astronauts
China’s unfinished space station has welcomed two groups of astronauts for months-long stay. The Shenzhou-12 crew, including three astronauts, entered the space station’s core module Tianhe in mid-June and lived there for three months till mid-September. The Shenzhou-13 crew, including a female astronaut and her two male coworkers, arrived at Tianhe in mid-October and will stay there for six months. Click here to read more.
4. China’s unmanned submersible explores deepest sea on Earth
China’s self-developed unmanned submersible “Haidou-1” has realized full detection exploration in Mariana Trench-the deepest point known on Earth-for the first time with a max diving depth of 10, 908 meters and a non-stop working time of over eight hours. Click here to read more.
1. Which two pieces of news are related to energy?| A．1 and 2. | B．2 and 3. | C．3 and 4. | D．4 and 1. |
| A．In 2019. | B．In 2020. | C．In 2021. | D．In 2022. |
| A．On a web page. | B．In a storybook. |
| C．In a newspaper. | D．In a sci-fi movie |
【推荐2】Li Bai holds a wine cup in his hand, while Du Fu sits in front of a desk, writing poems on the paper in front of him. It’s not that we have traveled to the past. Modern technology has brought them “back to life”.
The two great poets, along with other humanoid robots—robots who look similar to real human beings, were presented at the World Robot Conference 2023 in late August in Beijing. “The skin is made of medical-grade bionic silicone (仿生硅胶), which is why the skin looks soft and even the veins (血管) can be seen through it,” CGTN explained in a video about Liaoning-based producer EXBOBOTS.
Researchers are also trying hard to create other features of humans on robots. A US robotics startup Apptronik brought out its humanoid robot called Apollo on Aug 23. Apollo has around 30 muscles. However, “humans have around 300 muscles in our bodies,” Nick Paine, the co-founder of the company, told CNN. For now, engineers can only reduce the number of the muscles, allowing them to do basic movements like holding objects and walking. “Apollo still has a long way to go,” said Nick.
The robot also contains cameras and sensors in its head, helping it map out a 360-degree view of its environment. They also help the robot keep balance when walking on uncertain surfaces.
Nowadays, bionic human-like robots mostly work with humans, as tour guides or by helping visitors at front desks. There are also robots that share the work of nurses, such as handing out medicine. This could be because people are comfortable living and working with machines that look or act like them. They can “arouse strong feelings with people,” a US robotics scientist Marc Raibert told New Yorker.
As more humanoid robots come out, safety will be the key, according to the Robot Report website. When a 70-kilogram robot breaks down and falls, humans nearby may be hurt.
1. What do we know about the robots of Li Bai and Du Fu?| A．They are able to compose original poems. | B．They can communicate with visitors. |
| C．They look lifelike in many aspects. | D．They can learn from each other. |
| A．It cannot perform complex movements. | B．It cannot keep balance on some surfaces. |
| C．It moves very slowly when holding objects. | D．It lacks the ability to tell directions. |
| A．They are as clever as humans. | B．They understand human needs very well. |
| C．People feel comfortable with them. | D．People see them as trustworthy friends. |
| A．They can easily break. | B．They sometimes become uncontrollable. |
| C．They might intentionally cause harm. | D．They could cause safety risks. |
【推荐3】The victims were carried in one by one, their paws burned and fur charred, suffering from heavy loss of water and fear. Their caretakers bandaged their wounds and laid them in baskets with the only thing that was familiar — the leaves of eucalyptus trees.
As destructive fires have burned more than 2 million acres in Australia, dozens of koalas have been rescued from burning trees and ashen ground.
“They are terrified,” said Cheyne Flanagan, clinical director of the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, the only one in the world.
Koalas, unlike kangaroos, birds or snakes, do not flee from fires but instead climb trees to the top, where they can roll themselves up into a ball for protection and wait for the danger to pass. But during the destructive fires, such as those that have burned in recent weeks, the animals are far less likely to survive. Even if the fire itself does not reach the tree top, the animals may overheat and fall to the ground, where they can be burned to death.
While koalas have evolved to exist alongside wildfires, the animals are facing new threats not just from climate change but also from human development, which will impair their ability to survive fires.
“We have these unique animals not found anywhere else on this planet, and we’re killing them,” Flanagan said. “This is a big wake-up call.”
1. What do we learn about Koalas from this passage?| A．They are good at climbing trees. |
| B．Their population drops for illegal hunting. |
| C．They are less adaptable than birds and snakes. |
| D．They protect themselves from fires by remaining high up on the trees. |
| A．weaken | B．strengthen | C．shorten | D．sharpen |
| A．A textbook. | B．A journal. | C．A news report. | D．A guidebook. |
