A tree-planting initiative in Kenya has seen over 30,000 trees being planted. The Green Generation Initiative is a Kenyan charity that has been planting trees to counter climate change and the reduction in forest in the East African nation since 2016.
Founded by climate activist Elizabeth Wathuti when she was fifteen years old, the initiative’s primary focus is on developing young climate activists through environmental education in schools and addressing food insecurity in the region through planting fruit trees. Since its foundation, over 30,000 trees have been planted in Kenya, while thousands of school children have not just planted trees but adopted them to ensure that young people learn the importance of acting as a guardian over the health of the environment. The trees have recorded a survival rate of over 98 percent, as they remain tended to from young trees to maturity.
Speaking to world leaders at the recent United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow (COP26), Elizabeth issued a serious warning on the threat of climate change. Over two million of Kenyans are facing climate related starvation. In 2025, half of the world’s population will be facing water shortage. The climate crisis will displace 80 million people in sub-Saharan Africa alone.
Elizabeth said, “I have been doing what I can. Inspired by the great Wangari Maathai, I founded a tree growing initiative that enhances food security for young Kenyans.” So far, they have grown 30,000 fruit trees to maturity, providing desperately needed nutrition for thousands of children. “Every day we see that when we look after the trees, they look after us. We are the adults on this Earth right now, and it is our responsibility to ensure that the children have food and water,” she added.
1. What is the initiative intended for?| A．Making policies. | B．Raising money. |
| C．Educating adults. | D．Fighting climate change. |
| A．Hunger. | B．Sickness | C．Water shortage. | D．Economic risks. |
| A．3,000 trees have been planted. |
| B．Green awareness has been raised. |
| C．80 million people have been saved. |
| D．School education has been guaranteed. |
| A．Friendly and talented. | B．Caring and responsible. |
| C．Honest and determined. | D．Ambitious and humorous. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】It all started with a tweet from a social media influencer Jérôme Jarre on March 15 after he was on a call with a volunteer in Somalia who had just seen a 6-year-old girl die after walking 90 miles with her mother in search of water. In Somalia alone, 6.2 million people are in need of help.
In his video, Jarre says that everyone is on social media from food and water companies to airlines. What if they could find an airline willing to send food and water to Somalia?
With Turkish Airlines being the only airline that flies to Somalia, he started a GoFundMe campaign (活动) called “Love Army for Somalia” and challenged viewers to post on social media #TurkishAirlinesHelpSomalia to get them to set aside one of their flights to Somalia for food.
The campaign took off, and other social media influencers joined the movement to help spread the word. Within days, many famous people joined the cause. Turkish Airlines listened and came back with an answer, saying they would keep donating (捐赠) a plane to be filled with food until the end of the famine (饥荒). This campaign received $1 million, within 24 hours with the average (平均的) donation being around $28 — the highest donation of $50,000 came from Alex and Ani, a jewelry company.
The goal was to reach $1 million in 10 days and the amount (数量) of money raised in such a short time by so many people surprised Jarre. However, they don’t want this to be a one-off campaign, and to keep the campaign going, they’ve come up with another hashtag, #NominatedForSomalia to ask each donor to encourage three friends to donate through social media.
Jérôme Jarre is in Somalia right now and sharing wonderful images that will put a smile on your face and make sure help is reaching the right people.
1. What happened to the 6-year-old girl according to the first paragraph?| A．She lost her life. | B．She lost her way. |
| C．She failed to be a volunteer. | D．She failed to stay close to her mother. |
| A．To set up an organization. | B．To raise money from the public. |
| C．To give up using social media. | D．To apply for a job in an airline. |
| A．Paragraph 2. | B．Paragraph 3. | C．Paragraph 4. | D．Paragraph 5. |
| A．It fell short of its goal. | B．It drew little attention. |
| C．It was a great success. | D．It was questioned by viewers. |
【推荐2】If you want your life to stand for peace and kindness, it’s helpful to do kind, peaceful things. One of my favorite ways to do this is by developing my own helping actions. These little acts of kindness are opportunities to be of service and reminders of how good it feels to be kind and helpful.
We live in a rural area of the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of what we see is beauty of nature. One of the exceptions to the beauty is the litter that some people throw out of their windows as they are driving on the rural roads. One of the few shortcomings to live in the mountainous area is that public services, such as litter collection, are less available than those are closer to the city.
A helping action that I practice regularly with my two children is picking up litter in our surrounding area. We’ve become so used to doing this that my daughters will often say to me in exciting voices, “There’s some litter, Daddy, stop the car!” And if we have time, we will often pull over and pick it up. It may seem strange, but we actually enjoy it. We pick up litter in parks, on sidewalks, practically anywhere. Once I even saw a complete stranger picking up litter close to where we live. He smiled at me and said, “I saw you doing it, and it seemed like a good idea.”
Picking up litter is only one of endless supplies of possible helping actions. You might like holding a door open for people, visiting lonely elderly people in nursing homes, or removing snow off someone else’s driveway. Think of something that seems effortless yet helpful .It’s fun, personally rewarding, and sets a good example. Everyone wins.
1. What does the author think of developing helping actions?| A．It helps us to be winners. | B．It is very difficult. |
| C．It requires lots of effort. | D．It makes us feel good about ourselves. |
| A．It’s in the center of San Francisco. | B．People can see beautiful sceneries here. |
| C．It’s very easy to find litter collection. | D．Few people drive on the rural roads. |
| A．By sharing his own experience. | B．By listing reasons for giving help. |
| C．By explaining different methods to be helpful. | D．By making a comparison with others. |
| A．Parents are the best teachers to their children. | B．Everyone should set good examples to others. |
| C．Small kind acts make the world a better place. | D．Protecting the environment will benefit all of us. |
【推荐3】The Importance of a Child’s Gift
On the first day of fourth grade, my teacher, Mrs. Brown, told my class a story about her husband Rob, who is a brain cancer survivor. She talked about their journey through his treatment and recovery. After what Mrs. Brown experienced with Rob’s illness, she decided to devote part of her life to helping people in similar situations. She told us about a local organization she was a part of called Be Head Strong (BHS), which works to support and comfort families with a member suffering from brain cancer. Her strength and attitude toward her situation inspired me and led me to realize some significant lessons about love and hope.
One day, when I was looking at the money that I had saved, I thought about the stories Mrs. Brown had told us, about Rob and all the other remarkable people she worked with through BHS. I decided that was where I wanted my money to go.
As the last day of school approached, I wrapped the heart-shaped box full of dollars and coins. After all the other kids had left on the last day of school, I handed Mrs. Brown the present. As she opened it, I told her that I wanted the money to go to BHS to help people like Rob. She broke into tears and hugged me tightly.
I was invited to BHS’s annual fundraiser and auction. The night’s theme was hope and giving. The auctioneer told everyone the story of my gift to Mrs. Brown, the $131.30. At the end, he asked, “How many of you are willing to do what a fourth grade girl did and donate $131.30?” At that point nearly everyone in the room raised their bidding numbers. At that moment I realized that the money I had donated had become something bigger than that.
Inspired by Mrs. Brown, I continued my fundraising through the years, starting fundraisers and helping with BHS events. The joy that I found in this organization never came from any recognition that I received for my action. I gained belief and hope from the people that I met and worked with in BHS. These events and experiences have shown me what love can bring in bad situations. I want to spend much of my life volunteering.
People may not always realize how big of an impact one kind gesture can make. Mrs. Brown sparked a decision in my life that has changed how I live.
1. What made the author better understand love and hope?| A．Mrs. Brown’s love for her students. |
| B．The local organization’s contribution. |
| C．Mrs. Brown’s positive attitude towards hardship. |
| D．Rob’s journey through his treatment and recovery. |
| A．She presented the auctioneer with his gifts. |
| B．She participated in an auction and became a winner. |
| C．She donated her money and raised fund for the organization. |
| D．She made lectures to inspire those who lived with brain cancer. |
| A．Belief and hope. | B．Comfort and joy. |
| C．Love and recognition. | D．Respect and confidence. |
| A．Great hopes make great man. | B．Actions speak louder than words. |
| C．A friend in need is a friend indeed. | D．A small decision can make a big difference. |
【推荐1】Fast fashion has been on the rise since the early 2000s.
●100 billion pieces of clothing are produced each year. To keep up with changing fashions, a large amount of clothing is produced every year — 100 billion pieces to be exact.
●
●Fast, cheap clothes mean poor working conditions for workers. Fast fashion is made by factory workers in developing countries. Often working conditions are poor:
As consumers (消费者), we can all play our part in reducing the environmental influence of the fashion industry. We should take care of our clothes to make sure that they last as long as possible.
| A．That’s almost 12 pieces for every human being on the planet. |
| B．There are low pay, poor safety rules, and long working hours. |
| C．Fast fashion has made new fashionable clothes more affordable. |
| D．The fashion industry uses a lot of water, about 93 billion m³ every year. |
| E．Where possible, we can repair our clothes instead of buying new clothes. |
| F．The fashion industry has become the second largest polluter of clean water. |
| G．Consumers keep buying and throwing away clothes and create unnecessary waste. |
【推荐2】It is important to learn how to protect our environment. Here is a 5R rule for us:
Reduce: If you want to reduce the waste, you should use things wisely. A large number of trees are being cut down to make paper. If everyone uses paper wastefully, soon we would not have any trees left. Other things are also being wasted, and people don’t know what to do with the waste in big cities. So it is necessary to reduce the waste.
Reuse: You should always think of reusing the usable things before throwing them away. Give your clothes you do not use or the ones which are too small to the poor. In a family, you may pass on such clothes to younger brothers or sisters.
Recycle: Bottles, cans and paper cups can be easily recycled. By doing so, we can save lots of money. For example, coke cans are sent to a factory, where they are smashed (粉碎) and melted and the metal things are made for new coke cans.
Recover: When you buy a box of apples, there may be a few rotten ones, you have two choices: one is to throw the whole apple away, or you could cut off the rotten parts and eat the good parts.
Repair: If one of the legs of your table is broken, you can repair it. If you want to change for better ones, it is better for you to sell the old things or give them to other people who can use them after repairing them. It is true that North America is a “throw away” society, but the time has come to change our way of life so that we can protect our environment. Every one of us should try our best.
1. The “Reduce” rule mainly require us ________.| A．to use things wisely | B．to cut down many trees |
| C．to use a lot of paper | D．to throw away our old clothes |
| A．throwing them away |
| B．giving them to the poor |
| C．passing them on to younger brothers or sisters |
| D．both B and C |
①melt them ②collect the used cans
③smash them flat ④send them to a factory
| A．①②③④ | B．①④③② | C．②④③① | D．③①②④ |
| A．to cover waste things with earth | B．to throw the whole things away |
| C．to throw waste things away | D．to get back the useful parts |
| A．selling them | B．putting them away |
| C．repairing them | D．throwing them away |
【推荐3】Electric vehicles are close to the "turning point" of rapid mass adoption thanks to the decreasing cost of batteries, experts say.
Global sales of electric vehicles rose 43% in 2020, but even faster growth is expected when continuing falls in battery prices result in the price of electric cars under the same petrol and diesel (柴油) models, which may happen between 2023 and 2025. According to a study by Prof. Tim Lonton, at the University of Exeter, the turning point has already been passed in Norway, where tax breaks (税收减免) mean electric cars are cheaper and the market share of battery-powered cars increased to 54% in 2020 in Norway, compared with less than 5% in most European nations.
The falls in battery prices in the last decade have been dramatic and faster than predicted thanks to a massive production and cuts in costs, such as reducing the amount of expensive cobalt (钴) required. BloombergNEF's analysis predicts lithium-ion (锂离子) battery costs will fall so sharply that electric cars can match the price of petrol and diesel cars by 2023. McKin-sey's Global Energy Perspective 2021, published on 15 January, forecasts that "electric vehicles are likely to become the most economic choice in the next five years worldwide".
Electric cars, vital in efforts to fight climate crisis, are quieter and start to go faster, so people do not want to return to a petrol or diesel vehicle once they have one. A survey of 2,000 electric car owners found 91% said they did not want to go back.
"The survey shows the strong and lasting impact of switching to a clean car. The evidence in favour of electric vehicles grows more convincing even in a year as destructive as 2020," said Melanie Shufflebotham, at Zap-Map, which maps charging points.
1. What leads to the growing sales of electric vehicles?| A．The rise in petrol prices. | B．The desire for a lower tax. |
| C．The drop in battery costs. | D．The need for a cleaner life. |
| A．Policies in Norway support electric vehicles |
| B．Economy in Norway outgrows other nations |
| C．The market share of electric vehicles will decline. |
| D．The tax breaks in Europe will continue to increase. |
| A．By increasing the demand for cobalt. |
| B．By boosting the sales of electric cars. |
| C．By reducing the production of batteries. |
| D．By cutting the costs of lithium-ion batteries. |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Positive. | C．Unwilling. | D．Opposed. |
【推荐1】Keeping a busy social life among lots of friends may keep people thinner than spending hours doing some exercises, according to scientists. They say that socializing and meeting with friends help increase levels of brown fat in the body which burns calories to produce heat.
Living in an exciting social environment was found to reduce fat in mice's belly by half over four weeks, even if they ate more. US researchers say that social excitement aids weight loss by turning white fat into brown. White fat stores calories and makes us fatter, while brown burns energy to produce heat. Turning white fat into brown is extremely difficult, normally requiring long- term stay in cold conditions or exciting part of the body's nervous system.
However, scientists from Ohio State University now think that having a busy social life is an even more effective way of changing white fat into brown. The team came up with their theory by studying the effects of various living environments on mice. Those, who lived alongside a greater number of mice, had more space and toys to excite themselves and then lost far more weight over the course of the study than their “couch potato" fellows.
Study author, Dr Matthew During, whose team's findings appear in the journal Cell Metabolism, said, "I'm still amazed at the degree of fat loss that occurs." Explaining how new technology had threatened face-to-face socializing, he added, "It's not just a sedentary (久坐的) lifestyle and high calorie foods, but an increasing lack of social activities." Co-author Dr Lei Cao said，"Loneliness is a potential factor for cancer and death; it's equal to cigarette smoking to a certain extent. Social activities are very vital.
1. What information can we get from the first two paragraphs?| A．Brown fat stores calories and makes us fatter |
| B．It doesn't take long to turn white fat into brown. |
| C．Social excitement helps gain more weight |
| D．Brown fat can burn energy to produce heat. |
| A．Levels of brown fat can be increased by socializing. |
| B．The mice lacking social life lose more weight. |
| C．The research findings haven't been published so far. |
| D．Dr Matthew During wasn't convinced of the result. |
| A．the fat in mice's belly was reduced because of the relaxing environment |
| B．a sedentary lifestyle and high calories foods influence people's social life |
| C．surfing the Internet may influence people's face-to-face communication |
| D．cancer and death are mainly caused for lack of social life |
【推荐2】How can we use scientific design to change the world and take better care of our environment? In this course, you will learn about our natural resources and explore renewable energy through problem solving in a multi-science class.
________
Solving any problem begins with recognizing it! But where do you begin? In this multi-science class, you will investigate global issues facing the world today and how people make changes in their communities. You will both discuss and put into practice creative and persuasive ways to influence policymakers and community organizations. Furthermore, you will create your own political community at the Harkness table that will inspire you to learn by doing.
Energy and Innovation
In this multi-science class, you will investigate biological, physical, and chemical aspects of Earth’s working systems and how they relate to climate change. Its impacts are far reaching and thus will require forward thinking and planning. Your ideas and creativity will be needed to compare and contrast the benefits and costs of energy alternatives as we discuss and problem solve our planet’s path into the future.
Art: Transform the World
In this studio class we will develop our creative powers. Drawing on natural sciences, we will engage with perspectives of life on Earth. Our materials will be newspapers, recycled cardboard, and other things that are often thrown away. Working with our hands and tools, we will transform wastes into objects useful. In this class you will discover your artistic talent, learn about form, image and technique, and cooperate to create pieces for the final Student Art Exhibit.
1. Which of the following might be the name of the class?| A．Political Science | B．Green Organizations |
| C．Global Changes | D．Practical Policymaker |
| A．solve political problems | B．make a plan for their future |
| C．change the world through pictures | D．explore the Earth’s working system |
| A．They conduct scientific experiments. |
| B．They develop personal interests. |
| C．They need creative design. |
| D．They use renewable energy. |
【推荐3】Scientists recently discovered that pictures on cave walls at Creswell Crags are the oldest know in Great Britain. But they didn’t find in the usual way.
Archaeologists often dale cave art with a process called radiocarbon dating. The technique can measure the age of carbon found in charcoal (木炭) drawings or painted pictures. Carbon is an element found in many things, including charcoal and even people. But in this case, there was no paint things or charcoal to test. People carve the pictures of animal and figure into the rock using stone tools. The scientists had an “aha!” moment when they noticed small rocks stuck to the top of the drawings. The small rocks must have formed after the drawings were made. “It is rare to be able to scientifically date rock art,” said Alistair Pike, an archaeological scientist at Britain’s University of Bristol. “We were very fortunate that some of the engravings (雕刻) were covered by stalagmites (石笋).”
When a test proved that the stalagmites formed 12,800 years ago, the scientists knew the art underneath them had to beat least that old. And some of the animals shown, like the European bison, are now extinct, another tip-off(征兆) that the art is quite old.
The artists came to Creswell Crags. This places one of the farthest points north reached by our ancient ancestors during the Ice Age. At that time, much of the North Sea was dry, so people could move about more easily.
Some tools and bones found there are 13, 000 to 15, 0000 years old. They show that the travelers hunted horses, reindeer, and artwork is similar to art in France and Germany. It tells scientists that the Creswell Crags artists must have had a close connection to people several thousand kilometers away—another important evidence of understanding how humans spread out across the world.
1. When the scientists found rocks stuck to the top of the drawing, they .| A．felt pleased and surprised | B．dated the pictures with radiocarbon dating |
| C．found carbon in the cave pictures | D．carved some pictures of animals into the rock |
| A．The art was carved into the stone with stone tools. |
| B．All animals carved into the stone are extinct. |
| C．The cave is one of the farthest points in the world. |
| D．Some engravings were covered by stalagmites 12,800 years old. |
| A．when ancient people crossed the North Sea | B．how humans spread out across the world |
| C．why some of the animals have died out | D．what ancient people had for food at that time |
| A．Cave Art About Animals Is Most Beautiful | B．Cave Art Turns Out to Be Britain’s Oldest |
| C．Cave Art Is Found in an Usual Way | D．Cave Art Has a Great Influence on Britain |
【推荐1】Back from the beach I found an envelope on the doorstep. It was the fifth envelope with my latest photographs. This time I decided to check with the hotel reception.
At the reception desk, a middle aged man introduced himself, “Hello, Ms. Drew. I am Benson... residing at Room No. 14...I put the envelopes...”
“What the hell? How can you click my snap... ” I was interrupted by him signaling to walk with him. We silently arrived at Room No.14. A fair, curly haired, ten year old girl opened the door.
“This is my daughter Agnes ... She snapped your photographs.”
She smiled bitterly at me and told me I reminded her of her lost mom.
I replied, “ It’s all right honey, if that can make you happy ....”
Day-to-day evening walks made the bond warmer and stronger. Agnes saw her mother in me and I reverted (回复) the feelings abundantly. After a week I left as my work in the city had got over. A tearful Agnes bid me goodbye promising in touch.
Each season Agnes greeted me with long mails about “her school”, “her vacation with dad”, “her new year” and much more. The maternal (母亲般的) bond sustained for three years until all my letters were suddenly unanswered. I wondered what could be the reason.
One day my husband came with a plan for the weekend. Then unconsciously we drove down to the beach road heading to the hut where I met Agnes. A group of girls walled to the seaside accompanied by two elderly ladies who looked like their caretakers. A little girl who sat all alone caught my attention. She looked familiar but thin, dark and her face was full of scars (伤疤).
“Agnes... how come? What happened to you?”
Her tearful blue eyes looked sunken with grief. One of the caretakers told me that a car accident had killed her dad and this was the first time she responded to any other individual.
Agnes lay on my chest deep asleep as I inquired about ‘orphan (孤儿) adoption formalities’. The little angel hugged, tightly on my shoulders. The sun finally fully emerged out of the vast water expanse to shine brightly over us...
1. What was the author’s initial reaction to Benson’s explanation?| A．She remained calm. | B．She showed no interest. |
| C．She became annoyed. | D．She expressed sympathy. |
| A．To enlarge her social circle. | B．To satisfy her great curiosity. |
| C．To remove her bitter memory. | D．To meet her emotional needs. |
| A．She arranged the meeting. | B．It was a pure chance. |
| C．Her husband planned it. | D．A caretaker helped her. |
| A．Agnes would recover from her face injuries. |
| B．Agnes would care for orphans like an angel. |
| C．Agnes would be adopted by a loving family. |
| D．Agnes would be sponsored for her orphan life. |
The child's mother was very much obliged（感谢的） to the doctor, and she called on him to thank him for what he had done for her child. "Doctor," she said, "you have saved my little son. I don't know how to thank you enough. I feel that money alone cannot repay（回报） you, so I have made this little purse with my own hands, as a sign of my gratitude. I hope you will accept it." The doctor stood up and said coldly, "Madam, a little present like that is very nice between friends, but a doctor needs to be paid properly for what he has done." The lady was so surprised and hurt so much that she could not reply for a moment. Then she said quietly, "Perhaps you will tell me how much your fee is?"
"Fifty pounds", he answered.
The lady opened the little purse and took out four fifty-pound bank notes. She handed one of them to the doctor, and put the other three back into the purse. She put the purse into her handbag and, saying good bye to the doctor, went out of the room.
1. The lady was thankful to the doctor because ________.
| A．he had saved her life |
| B．he had saved her son's life |
| C．he had lent her some money |
| D．he often called on her |
| A．the purse should be given between friends |
| B．the purse was too small |
| C．the lady was not kind to him |
| D．the lady just gave him that purse and wouldn't give him the medical fee |
| A．was only 150 pounds |
| B．was less than 200 pounds |
| C．was much more than the medical fee |
| D．was not enough for the medical fee |
【推荐3】Even when natural disasters happen far away, we feel for the people who are going through them. It can be more stressful if they happen close to home or affect people you know.
You can find out what kind of help people need on the Internet. Check the website of groups like the Red Cross.
Plan what you'll do, and make it happen. For example, if you plan to collect supplies, you need to post a list of what to bring and when and where to drop it off. After the event, you'll need to decide how to group the things and send them to the charity (慈善机构).
No matter which way you choose, your action helps others.
| A．Work out all the steps. |
| B．It's good to plan a fundraiser event. |
| C．You can also get others to join you. |
| D．It's good to talk about what's going on. |
| E．You can also talk about your plan with others. |
| F．Even small acts of kindness and giving have an effect. |
| G．They know what people need most and the best ways to help. |
