In a street largely unchanged since it was built in the 1800s, Hobart’s Battery Point is probably the last place you would expect to find a farm.
In one corner of Peter Handy’s backyard is a controlled environment unit that houses vertical pastures (垂直牧场), the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere (半球). Mr. Handy is changing the definition of what it means to be a farmer. “I know it’s really funny, because when people say to me, ‘Where’s your farm?’, I’ll say ‘it’s in Battery Point’ and they’re like, ‘No, there’s no farms in Battery Point’,” he said “People think the Martians have landed because we’ve got this massive, big pink light that comes out of it from the bottom but other than that, they’d have no idea.”
Not just a backyard project, Mr. Handy is running a business. “It’s here because I need to be as close to my customers, the chefs and restaurants of Hobart,” he said. “I aim to use the least amount of food miles as possible and make this a super-efficient business.”
Using LED lights and hydroponic nutrients, the farm grows leafy greens, root vegetables and flowering plants. “I don’t have to worry about floods, wind, wild animals, electric fences, turning the soil over,” Mr .Handy said. Using 95 percent less water than traditional farming, the farm ticks the box environmentally. “I mean, this is definitely not the answer to food sustainability in the world. But it’s definitely a part of it.”
Science writer Julian Cribb believes a world food crisis is coming, due to a combination of loss of water, loss of topsoil, climate change and overuse of poisons. “We’re going to need to change the nature of the way we produce food and change the human diet at the same time,” he said, “and new urban farming methods would see most of the world’s great cities feeding themselves.”
Mr. Cribb said Australia was still quite a way off from adopting urban farming. But he believes that it poses a rather unique opportunity for Australian farmers to sell their expertise to cities, teaching people to grow food in urban environments.
1. What might people think of Mr. Handy’s farm?| A．Scared. | B．Impressed. |
| C．Disappointed. | D．Confused. |
| A．It is not affected by weather. |
| B．It mainly plants and sells flowers. |
| C．It serves customers from near and far. |
| D．It is the solution to food sustainability. |
| A．To praise his contribution to science. |
| B．To explain how urban farming works. |
| C．To stress the necessity of urban farming. |
| D．To present the seriousness of the food crisis. |
| A．Cities are struggling to get food. |
| B．Technology is changing people’s life. |
| C．Peter Handy is a successful businessman. |
| D．Food production is being moved into cities. |
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【推荐1】Dogs are often referred to as “man’s best friend”. But MacKenzie, a four-pound chihuahua, who was named winner of the 2020 American Hero Dog Competition on October 19, 2020, is making the world a better place for humans and animals alike.
In its tenth year in 2020, the annual contest is the brainchild of American Humane Association, the country’s first national charitable organization founded for the safety and well-being of animals. Often called the “Oscars for dogs”, the award recognizes dogs who make extremely great contributions (贡献) to society.
The competition of 2020 attracted over 400 entries from across the country. These heroic dogs have gone above the call of duty, saving lives, comforting the ill and aged and reminding us of the powerful, age-old ties between animals and people. While all were impressive, it was tiny MacKenzie who won the judges’ hearts.
MacKenzie’s path to stardom was not easy. Born with a mouth disability, she had to be fed through a tube (管子) for the first year of her life. Despite her own struggles, she always seemed to think more of other animals in need. “Never have I seen such a will to live. Though sick, she carefully looked after the baby animals at the rescue ( 救助) center,” said her caretaker.
A life-saving operation performed in 2014 gave MacKenzie the ability to eat independently. The seven-year-old chihuahua is now working for the Mia Foundation, a New York-based charitable organization that rescues and nurses animals with inborn disabilities. The chihuahua does an excellent job and has raised various animals. She nurses, cleans, comforts and hugs them, acting as their mother and teaching them how to socialize, play and have good manners.
In addition to her role as an animal caretaker, MacKenzie also visits schools to educate kids about the importance of accepting physical differences in both animals and people. Her heart-warming and inspiring story makes MacKenzie a worthy receiver of America’s top dog honor!
1. What can we infer about the American Hero Dog Competition?| A．It was started by a charitable organization. |
| B．It was meant to honor caretakers of dogs. |
| C．It takes place every ten years. |
| D．It was first held in 2010. |
| A．Talented and strong. |
| B．Courageous and selfless. |
| C．Funny and friendly. |
| D．Confident and picky. |
| A．Learning from failures. |
| B．Valuing physical health. |
| C．Understanding the disabled. |
| D．Developing practical ability. |
| A．Dogs Are Man’s Best Friends |
| B．Treat Dogs the Way We Want to Be Treated |
| C．2020 American Hero Dog: A Tiny Chihuahua |
| D．Touching Stories between MacKenzie and People |
【推荐2】More than 100 scientists from 25 countries have traveled to faraway places to collect wild crop seeds (种子) in an effort to help battle climate change.
The scientists, who have been compared to the heroes of the “Indiana Jones” movies, traveled on foot, four-wheeled vehicles, boats, horses and even elephants to reach faraway areas. They faced extreme heat, dust, and danger from wild animals. At last, they collected 4,644 seeds of 371 wild relatives of 28 world crops, many of which are said to be endangered.
The Crop Trust, an organization that works to save different kinds of crops, is directing the project. The group is working in partnership with Britain’s Royal Botanic Gardens and Millennium Seed Bank. Additional financial support comes from Norway. The project is believed to be the largest organized international effort yet to collect and protect crops’ wild relatives. Hannes Dempewolf is a scientist and the head at the Crop Trust. He said, “What these seed collectors went through in the field resembles scenes from an Indiana Jones movie.”
Some crops are threatened because of destruction of forests, climate change and expanded cities. The newly-found wild seeds have developed so plants can grow in extreme temperatures, poor soils, and even in low rainfall areas.
A United Nations report says that food production is at risk because of a shortage of rain and other weather extremes connected to climate change. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says that the number of plant species is quickly decreasing and people are depending on fewer species for food. Those wild seeds could be important in feeding a growing human population in some areas and offer a largely unused source of diversity (多样性) to crops.
1. What does the second paragraph show?| A．Collecting seeds is not an easy job. |
| B．The scientists’ story is made into a movie. |
| C．The wild seeds are in danger of extinction. |
| D．The scientists can choose from many vehicles. |
| A．Depends on. | B．Looks like. |
| C．Turns out. | D．Refers to. |
| A．They can increase green areas. |
| B．They can provide more nutrients. |
| C．They can survive bad conditions. |
| D．They can improve current crop seeds. |
| A．Bringing more plant species to the world. |
| B．Making sure of food supply and food diversity. |
| C．Knowing about the world’s farming practices. |
| D．Helping farmers improve their farming skills. |
【推荐3】Something’s happening at the lowest point on our planet,some 1,388 feet below sea level. The Dead Sea, a salt lake close to Israel, Jordan and the West Bank, is shrinking at an alarming rate—about 3.3 feet per year, according to the environmentalist group EcoPeace Middle East.
“It’s not just like one country is punishing the Dead Sea; it’s more like the whole region,” said photographer Moritz Küstner, who visited the area in February to work on his series “The Dying Dead Sea”.
The Dead Sea needs water from the other natural sources surrounding it, such as the Jordan River basin. But around the 1960s, the courses of some water sources it relied upon were diverted. Israel, for instance, built a pipeline during that time so it could supply water throughout the country.
Mineral extraction(提取) industries are another main reason why the water levels are declining, experts say. The Dead Sea’s minerals have been popular for their medical power and can often be found in cosmetics(化妆品) and other consumer products.
And then, of course, there’s the Middle East’s hot, dry climate, which makes it difficult for the lake to refill itself. Last year, Israel and Jordan signed a $900 million deal in an effort to stabilize the Dead Sea’s water levels. It involves building a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea which would be able to not only supply water to Israel and Jordan but also to pump much needed water—some 300 million cubic meters annually—into the Dead Sea.
“This is the most important and significant agreement since the peace treaty with Jordan (in 1994),” said Silvan Shalom, Israel’s energy and water resources minister at the time. Whether the canal—estimated to take three years to complete—will work out positively and as planned remains to be seen.
For now, Küstner shows us that the Dead Sea remains very much a place of interest, with people from all over the world going there to swim in its salty waters.
1. How many reasons for the Dead Sea’s shrinking does the author mention in the passage?| A．One. | B．Two. |
| C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．Switch. | B．Improve. |
| C．Accomplish. | D．Repair. |
| A．The Dead Sea is drying out causing water shortage to humans. |
| B．Küstner visited the Dead Sea to shoot TV series about people’s life. |
| C．The Dead Sea’s minerals have been used in some products. |
| D．The Dead Sea’s water levels have been stabilized by building a canal. |
| A．How the Dead Sea’s water levels’ decline influences human beings. |
| B．How important the Dead Sea is in Israel,Jordan and the West Bank. |
| C．What we should do to save the Dead Sea from being destroyed. |
| D．Why the Dead Sea is dying and the measure taken to save it. |
【推荐1】Over the past 40 years, China has helped more than 700 million rural residents out of being poor, and the poverty rate — the proportion of people living below the Chinese poverty line — had fallen among the rural population from 97.5 percent in 1978 to 3.1 percent at the end of 2017, official figures shows. China’s achievements in poverty alleviation (扶贫) made the world look at China with admiration.
“For me, it is unbelievable that over 40 years, that is, over the course of one working lifetime, China has gone from one of the poorest countries in the world to one that is about to eliminate(消除) absolute poverty,” said Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council.
Varaprasad Sekhar Dolla, a professor of Chinese studies at India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, also spoke highly of China’s achievements in poverty reduction. “If global poverty came down greatly in the last three or four decades, it’s partly because of the Chinese contribution to reducing poverty within its own national boundaries,” said the Indian scholar.
In the eyes of Khairy Tourk, a professor of economics with the Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, “many countries look up to China to learn from its experience.” “The Chinese experience is based on building a modern infrastructure (基础设施) and then on setting up special economic zones that would help underdeveloped countries to become more industrial,” he added.
In the government work report delivered at the opening of the annual NPC session (全国人大会议) on March 5, China promises to reduce its population of rural poor by over 10 million this year.
1. What’s the purpose of the numbers given in the first paragraph?| A．To show China has helped many rural residents out of poverty. |
| B．To imply many Chinese are suffering from poverty. |
| C．To show the great changes of China in the past 40 decades. |
| D．To indicate all Chinese will eliminate poverty this year. |
| A．surprised. | B．interested. | C．upset. | D．indifferent. |
| A．The global poverty has come down except China. |
| B．China should try its best to help the world out of poverty. |
| C．China has made great contributions to world poverty alleviation. |
| D．China has eliminated poverty completely. |
| A．China will make more progress in poverty alleviation. |
| B．China has done a lot in poverty alleviation. |
| C．China has realized its dream to help its people out of poverty. |
| D．The world speak well of China’s achievements in poverty alleviation. |
1. The purpose of making an anemometer in this way is to __.
| A．measure the unknown speed of winds on a certain day |
| B．develop the producer’s creative thinking |
| C．know better about the working principle of an anemometer |
| D．develop the practical ability to make handcrafts |
| A．An anemometer made in this way can only measure gentle winds. |
| B．The wind speed put next to the mark can be obtained from local media. |
| C．The end of the strip is taped into a loop to add support to the paper strip. |
| D．The cardboard and paper strip are used for measuring gusts and slow winds separately. |
【推荐3】In many-even most-space-themed films, whenever Earth faces a disaster, the solution is always leaving the planet in spaceships. But the latest Chinese sci-fi movie,“The Wandering Earth”，offers a different idea.
In the film, which is adapted from a short story by Chinese sci-fi writer Liu Cixin, Earth is in danger of being destroyed by the dying Sun. Humans around the world work together to build a huge engine system that will push Earth away from the Sun. Instead of leaving Earth-again-this time we’re taking it with us.
This idea didn't come from nowhere. For thousands of years, Chinese people have had a special emotion at their “homeland” in their hearts and minds. One old saying is “luo ye gui gen", which means returning to one’s homeland in old age, like fallen leaves returning to the roots of their tree. Or look to an ancient poem: “The season called the White Dew ( 白露) begins tonight/Nowhere as in our native place is the moon so bright.” These both show the strong relationship that Chinese people have had with their homeland.
This is probably what sets “The Wandering Earth" apart from Hollywood-style space films. “What is Chinese sci-fi?”Guo Fan. the film’s director, said in an interview. “Films that can really express Our cultural and spiritual core ( 精神核心) can be called Chinese sci-fi. Otherwise, we' re just copying others and telling the same American stories.
And the makers of “The Wandering Earth” may have chosen the best time to tell the Chinese sci-fi story. The film was screened on Feb 5, the first day of Chinese New Year. It was a time when many people had just made the hard journey back to their hometowns. So to them, there is only one possible way to tell the story: Earth goes wherever humans go, because it's our home.
1. What can we know about “The Wandering Earth” from the passage?| A．It follows the latest film fashion. |
| B．It is based on Liu Cixin' s book. |
| C．It is a film copying foreign movies. |
| D．It offers us a new experience of watching films. |
| A．The suitable season when the film was screened. |
| B．The famous poems mentioned in the film. |
| C．The common points between Chinese films and foreign films. |
| D．The cultural background of the film. |
| A．it was the Spring Festival and many people have time to see it. |
| B．many old people want to return to their hometown. |
| C．it can cause many people’s common feelings at this time. |
| D．Chinese people usually celebrate together on that day. |
| A．American sci-fi fails to express its culture. |
| B．“The Wandering Earth" tells a foreign story. |
| C．Chinese sci-fi should have its own features. |
| D．Science fiction films should express certain spiritual cores. |
