A worrying rise in social media posts, suggesting that people leave their Halloween pumpkins in the woods to feed wildlife after October 31, has made wildlife experts concerned. Thousands of pumpkins are discarded in woods across Britain. While well-meaning pumpkin carvers might think they are doing the local animals groups a kindness, leaving your leftover jack-o’-lantern in the woodland is actually doing more harm than good.
“A myth seems to have built up that leaving pumpkins in woods helps wildlife, but behind it are many hidden issues.” said Paul Bunton, engagement and communication officer at The Woodland Trust, according to The Telegraph.
One of the main issues is that the leftover of the Halloween pumpkins are often eaten by already struggling hedgehogs(刺猬). In early November, hedgehogs are looking to gain as much weight as possible to survive their winter hibernation. However, eating pumpkin is harmful to their little hedgehog stomachs, leading to diarrhea and dehydration. This means they may struggle to put on weight, and in some cases can even be fatal.
Moreover, leftover Halloween pumpkins can contain candles and plastic decorations which can also be fatal to wildlife if mistakenly eaten. The rotting leftover can also attract less popular wildlife, such as rats, to an area. According to The Woodland Trust, the additional nutrients in the pumpkins can negatively affect the soil balance as well. “Pumpkin flesh can have a really harmful effect on woodland soils,plants, and fungi(真菌),” Bunton pointed out.
So what should you do with your beautifully carved pumpkin creation after October 31? Most experts recommend composting (堆肥) it yourself at home if you can, or asking if a local farm will accept it as a donation. You could even try some scientific experiments to produce more energy from the throw-away wasted. Either way, the hedgehogs will thank vou.
1. What does the underlined word “discarded” mean in paragraph 1?| A．Processed. | B．Recycled. | C．Deserted. | D．Preserved. |
| A．To enjoy the sweet food. | B．To fill their stomachs. |
| C．To prepare for the winter. | D．To improve their health. |
| A．The additional nutrients in the leftover pumpkins. |
| B．The damages of candles and plastic in the pumpkins. |
| C．The attraction of the rotting leftovers to some wildlife. |
| D．Further explanation of the effect of leftover pumpkins. |
| A．Stop leaving your pumpkins in the woods. |
| B．Keep your beautiful pumpkin creations at home. |
| C．Feed the hedgehogs with the leftover pumpkins. |
| D．Bury the pumpkins leftover deep under the ground. |
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【推荐1】We’re often reminded of the importance of preserving the planet as we see it for future generations — and children at St Oswald’s Primary School in Chester certainly agree.
Nine-year-old Isobel Kelleher from the school’s Hummingbirds class thinks adults need to take notes. “Sometimes they can be busy and I don’t think they think they can make a difference, but if everyone does a little bit, it all adds up,” she tells HuffPost UK. “We started looking at plastic pollution in our oceans and the things like plastic bags and broken-down pieces of plastic that are polluting them,” she says. “Fish can eat the plastic and they can die, or we might even eat the fish ourselves.”
Mr. Timms, Isobel’s teacher, has been spearheading a new project at the school which lets children loose creatively to raise awareness of the need to be more environmentally friendly. The entire Hummingbirds class, which is made up of 9-and 10-year-old pupils, has been busy writing poems and creating online video adverts to warn adults about the serious situation of our oceans and wildlife.
Mr. Timms thinks children have an important role to play in teaching us how to take care of the things around us. “We sometimes overlook how much we can really learn from children,” he says. “It has been really hard to believe having parents come in saying that their children have been asking them to stop using plastic, and to recycle more, and even stopping them using plastic straws.”
Mr. Timms is proud of his Hummingbirds class. “The message that they would like to send to the world is simple: Stopping this isn’t someone else’s job, and it won’t be OK if we just leave it.”
1. What do we know about adults in Paragraph 2?| A．They haven’t done their part well. | B．They can do nothing to stop pollution. |
| C．They have started to care about oceans. | D．They are too busy to protect the environment. |
| A．To prohibit students from using plastic bags. |
| B．To persuade parents to relate to their children. |
| C．To remind adults to be friendly to environment. |
| D．To teach students how to write poems creatively. |
| A．To show the effects of the project. | B．To have adults care about education. |
| C．To attract people to support his work. | D．To prove kids are creative in teaching. |
| A．A lesson adults get from their children. |
| B．A school project to protect the environment. |
| C．The role teachers play in educating their students. |
| D．The enthusiasm a teacher has for the environment. |
【推荐2】Welcome to Youth Conservation Corps
We at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are now hiring four youths to serve on the Youth Conservation Corps located at the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center, part of the Fergus Falls Wetland Management District.
Application requirements:
·Ages 15 through 18 years old.
·All applicants must have a valid(有效的)social security number.
·Fill out a Youth Conservation Corps application and return it to the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center, 602 State Highway 210 East, Fergus Falls, MN 56537, no later than 4:00 pm on April 18, 2022.
Working conditions:
All members work on wildlife habitat improvement projects. They receive on-the-job training and work mainly outdoors, so exposure to weather conditions, insects, poison ivy and wildlife is expected. Proper personal protective equipment is provided by the district.
Schedule:
The summer work season starts from June 6, 2022 and runs through July 29, 2022. Work each day, Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm. Work 40 hours per week for 8 weeks.
Salary:
Each member is paid $10.08/hour.
Special notes:
·You can get application forms for pick-up at area high school career offices and at the visitor center of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center.
·We will select the members through a random(随机地)drawing process to be conducted on April 22, 2022.
·To receive an electronic copy, email your request with Youth Conservation Corps
Application as the subject line to joanne_ryan@fws.gov.
Contact Information:
If you have questions regarding the application or the Youth Conservation Corps program, please call Prairie Wetlands Learning Center information desk at 218-998-4480 or email prairiewet@fws.gov.
1. Who may have the chance to apply for the position?| A．Those over the age of 20. |
| B．Those working every weekday. |
| C．Those with a social security number. |
| D．Those paid by Youth Conservation Corps. |
| A．June 6, 2022.5.10 | B．July 29, 2022. |
| C．April 22, 2022. | D．April 18, 2022. |
| A．Email prairiewet@fws.gov. |
| B．Write to joanne_ryan@fws.gov. |
| C．Visit Prairie Wetlands Learning Center. |
| D．Call at 602 State Highway 210 East, Fergus Falls. |
【推荐3】Home to large numbers of elephants, India has some of the strictest elephant protection laws in Asia. Elephants have been granted (给予) the highest level of legal protection for wildlife. Strict bans exist on poaching (偷猎), and trading them, with heavy fines and prison sentences of up to seven years.
China had been making efforts to protect its small population of elephants since the 1980s. Local authorities in areas with elephants such as Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, have not only made efforts to move human populations away from elephant habitats but have also worked with private insurance companies to insure farmers’ crops against damage caused by the animals. According to one report, the population of elephants in China nearly doubled between the 1980s and 2021 to about 300.
While both India and China have made efforts to protect the elephant and some success had been achieved, danger still appears as conservation laws are often either flouted (轻视) or not implemented. Strengthening domestic (国内的) laws is not enough. The animals now face the much more dangerous threat of climate change which calls for united action by these two leading economies.
There are many opportunities for cooperation between New Delhi and Beijing on elephant protection. These could potentially include: formation of a cooperative institute for research on elephant conservation; joint efforts on reforestation to ensure the expansion of buffer zones (缓冲区) between animal populations and human settlements; the training of local populations that live near elephant habitats and have traditional knowledge of harmonious living with elephants; formation of a joint resource fund for building care facilities and to achieve set targets to increase the population of elephants through careful breeding.
By doing so, India and China would promote economic growth through an ecological path and responsible ecotourism in not just the two nations but in Asia at large. Such joint efforts would also lead to better relations between the two countries.
1. What is a measure taken by China to protect elephants according to paragraph 2?| A．Applying strict elephant protection laws. |
| B．Resetting humans in other places. |
| C．Growing crops to feed elephants. |
| D．Building natural reserves. |
| A．The threat of climate change. |
| B．The need of economic growth. |
| C．The focus on scientific research. |
| D．The rapid development of tourism. |
| A．By listing examples. | B．By stating arguments. |
| C．By explaining numbers. | D．By providing research results. |
| A．Future for Asian elephants |
| B．A bridge of elephant protection |
| C．Why are elephants under threat? |
| D．Can elephants and humans live together? |
【推荐1】Search “toxic parents”, and you’ll find more than 38,000 posts, largely urging young adults to cut ties with their families. The idea is to safeguard one’s mental health from abusive parents (虐待型父母). However, as a psychoanalyst (精神分析学家), I’ve seen that trend in recent years become a way to manage conflicts in the family, and the severe impacts estrangement (疏远) has on both sides of the divide. This is a self-help trend that creates much harm.
Today’s social justice values respond to this reality, calling on us to criticize oppressive (高压的) and harmful figures and to gain power for those who have been powerless. But when adult children use the most effective tool they have - themselves - to gain a sense of security and ban their parents from their lives, the roles are simply switched, and the pain only deepens.
Often, what I see in my practice are cases of family conflict mismanaged. I see the terrible effect of that trend: situations with no winners, only isolated (孤立的;孤独的) humans who long to be known and feel safe in the presence of the other.
The catch is that after estrangement, adult children feel abandoned and betrayed. They carry the ghosts of their childhood, tackling the emotional reality that those who raised us can never truly be left behind, no matter how hard we try.
What I have found is that most of these families need repair, not permanent break-up. How can one learn how to negotiate (谈判;协商) needs, to create boundaries and to trust? How can we love others, and ourselves, if not through accepting the limitations that come with being human? Good relationships are the result not of a perfect level of harmony but rather of successful adjustments.
To pursue (追求) dialogue instead of estrangement will be hard and painful work. It can’t be a single project of “self-help”, because at the end of the day, real intimacy (亲密关系) is achieved by working through the injuries of the past together. In most cases of family conflict, repair is possible and preferable to estrangement - and it’s worth the work.
1. Why do young people cut ties with the family?| A．To gain an independent life. | B．To restore harmony in the family. |
| C．To protect their psychological well-being. | D．To follow a tendency towards social justice. |
| A．Response. | B．Problem. | C．Operation. | D．Emphasis. |
| A．break down boundaries | B．gain power within the family |
| C．live up to their parents’ expectations | D．accept imperfection of family members |
| A．By offering causes and effects. | B．By analyzing the problem and solutions. |
| C．By comparing strengths and weaknesses. | D．By listing relevant examples and data. |
【推荐2】Kids Do More Sports After Tutoring Ban
China Central Television reported that 33,000 arts and sports stores were launched in just over a month after the government published its “Double Reduction” document in late July.
The government tutoring restriction is supposed to help improve the health of young people. Some China’s school children are short-sighted and nearly one in five between the ages of 6-17 is overweight or obese, National Health Commission data show.
Schools are taking action to provide a variety of PE classes and clubs for children. Some schools are providing ice and snow sports optional courses for students.
Parents hold positive attitudes towards the new policy. China’s Tiger moms used to find classes after school to give our children an advantage in the intensely competitive education.
| A．But now they aren’t enrolling their children just to give them something to do. |
| B．The Double Reduction policy also gives students time for exercise after school. |
| C．Some children are addicted to the video games and have no time to do homework. |
| D．Parents are busy enrolling their children to all kinds of classes after school to improve their scores. |
| E．So the government plans to get almost 20 million more people to participate in regular exercises within five years. |
| F．Some schools are organizing a variety of sports games like rope-skipping game, basketball, badminton, volleyball game and so on. |
| G．It banned academic tutoring during weekends and holidays and ordered schools to reduce both the amount and time needed for assignments. |
【推荐3】Despite gains in recent years，women still fall behind men in some areas of math achievement，and the question of why has caused heated argument. Now，a study of first and second graders suggests what may be part of the answer：Female primary school teachers who are concerned about their own skills could be passing that along to the little girls they teach.
Young students tend to model themselves after adults of the same sex，explained Beilock，an associate professor in psychology at the University of Chicago. Little girls may learn to fear math from the women who are their earliest teachers. Beilock and her colleagues studied 52 boys and 65 girls in classes taught by 17 different teachers. Ninety percent of the US primary school teachers are women，as was all of those in this study.
Students’ math ability was not related to teachers’ math anxiety at the start of the school year，but at the end of the year，the more anxious teachers were about their own skills，the more likely their female students—but not the boys—were to agree to that “boys are good at math and girls are good at reading”．In addition，the girls who answered that way scored lower on math tests than either the classes’ boys or the girls who had not developed such a belief，the researchers found.
After seeing the results，the researchers recommended that the math requirements for obtaining a primary education teaching degree should be rethought. “If the next generation of teachers，especially primary school teachers，is going to teach their students more effectively，more care needs to be taken to develop both strong math skills and positive math attitudes in these educators,” the researchers wrote.
“Girls who grow up believing females lack math skills wind up avoiding harder math classes. It keeps girls and women out of a lot of careers，particularly in science technology,” Beilock said.
1. We can learn from the first three paragraphs that ______.| A．teachers in US primary schools are mostly females |
| B．the students involved in the study are starters at primary school |
| C．young students usually follow example of their female teachers |
| D．it’s true that boys do well in math while girls do well in reading |
| A．Beilock’s study will bring about a primary education revolution. |
| B．Girls’ lack of confidence in math skills affects their future jobs. |
| C．The performance of the students changed little during the process of the study. |
| D．The researchers argued that current primary school education needed improving. |
| A．Using different approaches to excite students’ interest in math. |
| B．Reducing the number of situations that make teachers anxious. |
| C．Creating more chances for boys and girls to work together in class. |
| D．Improving teachers’ math skills and changing their math attitudes. |
| A．Girls may learn math anxiety from female teachers. |
| B．Boys are free from the math anxiety of female teachers. |
| C．Primary school teachers have a far-reaching influence on students. |
| D．Students should learn how to hold positive attitudes towards math. |
【推荐1】Smartphone apps certainly make our lives easier. However, sometimes they can also cause problems. In a recent announcement, the Ministry of Education said teachers should not use WeChat or QQ messaging apps to give homework or ask parents to grade students’ homework.
Many school teachers in China rely heavily on apps to give homework. The kids have to do their homework looking at a phone screen. For example, Liu Yanming, a sixth-grade student in Shanghai, usually has to use his mother’s mobile phone to do his homework. The homework is handwritten, photographed and then posted by his teacher to a parent-teacher group on WeChat.
Liu Yong, his father, is afraid that the apps could distract kids by encouraging them to watch something unrelated to homework.“He is just 12 years old, and I do not want to buy him a cellphone,” Liu told China Daily. “I also worry that my son’s eyesight will be damaged from staring at the phone for too long.”
However, Bai Yueping, president of Shanghai Tangzhen Middle School, defended using apps for homework. Parents can understand their kids’ learning situation and supervise them to finish the homework, Bai told Xinmin Evening News.
Zhang Siqi, a student from Renmin University of China, has a similar opinion to Bai. “The use of WeChat or QQ to give homework is convenient,” Zhang told Teens. “We’re living in an internet era. It’s unwise to refuse to take advantage of technology.”
Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, believed that it is impossible to ban the use of electronic devices in the internet era. However, students should use them when it’s necessary, such as when they do listening exercises.“We don’t want to ban online education models, but they must be used carefully. Modern technologies are good ... but they should not steal the show,” he told China Daily.
1. What is the Ministry of Education’s recent announcement about?| A．Students should not use smartphones at school. |
| B．Teachers should not use smartphone apps to give homework. |
| C．Students should not use smartphones to help with their homework. |
| D．Teachers should not ask parents to grade their children’s homework. |
| A．take kids’ attention away |
| B．improve kids’ interest |
| C．get kids more focused |
| D．make kids feel annoyed |
| A．It causes great trouble for parents. |
| B．It does great harm to students’ eyesight. |
| C．It helps parents know about their kids’ studies. |
| D．It’s a good way to keep up with technological development. |
| A．It’s better to stop using electronic devices in teaching. |
| B．We shouldn’t rely too much on technology in teaching. |
| C．Electronic devices should only be used for listening exercises. |
| D．Online education models have more advantages than disadvantages. |
【推荐2】Parents are an enormously powerful force in the lives of children. Whether Johnny can read, whether Johnny knows right from wrong, whether Johnny is a happy, well-adjusted kid or shy and bad-tempered, has a whole lot to do with the kind of parenting Johnny has received. If Johnny’s mom and dad have been able to come through with lasting, determining loving attention, the odds (可能性) are that Johnny is on track to become a productive, compassionate citizen. If they have not, Johnny is in trouble—and so is our nation.
Thirty years ago Chicago sociologist James S. Coleman showed that parental involvement mattered far more in determining school success than any quality of the formal education system. Across a wide range of subject areas, in literature, science and reading, Coleman estimated that the parent was twice as powerful as the school in determining achievement at age fourteen. Psychologist Lawrence Steinberg, who recently completed a six-year study of 20,000 teenagers in nine different communities, confirms the importance of parents. Steinberg shows that one out of three parents is “seriously disengaged” from his or her adolescent’s education, and this is the primary reason why so many American students perform below their potential—and below students in other rich countries.
A weight of evidence now shows obvious links between absent parents and a wide range of behavioral and emotional problems in children. A 2017 study of 90,000 teenagers—the Add Health Project undertaken by the Carolina Population Center and the Adolescent Health Program at the University of Minnesota—found that youngsters are less likely to get hopeless, use drugs or become involved in crime when they spent significant time with their parents. This study found that only the physical presence of a parent in the home after school at dinner and at bedtime significantly reduces the incidence of risky behavior among teenagers.
1. What can be inferred from paragraph 1?| A．Children should be taught to be successful in life. |
| B．Children are affected by many factors during the growth. |
| C．Parents’ character has a deep influence on children. |
| D．Parents should be strict with their children about behaviors. |
| A．Odds. | B．Parents. | C．Citizens. | D．Children. |
| A．To know the importance of parents’ company. | B．To find out why there are so many crimes. |
| C．To get ways to prevent teenagers’ bad behaviors. | D．To find links between parents’ education and crimes. |
| A．Dismissive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Favorable. | D．Unclear. |
【推荐3】Earthquake in Japan. Donald Trump is accused of planting story about actress’s height after she rejected him. Mexico arrests ex-police chief in case of 43 missing students. Do you really need to know all these things?
Three years ago, I began an experiment. I stopped reading all newspapers and magazines. Televisions and radios were rejected. I deleted title news apps from my iPhone. I didn’t touch a single free newspaper and deliberately looked the other way when someone tried to offer me any such reading material. The first weeks were hard. Very hard! I was constantly afraid of missing something. But after a while, I had a new understanding. The result after three years: clearer thoughts, more valuable ideas, better decisions, and much more time. And the best thing? I haven’t missed anything important.
A dozen reasons exist togive news a wide berth. Here are the top three: First, our brain reacts differently to different types of information. Shocking, people-based, fast-changing details all appeal to us. News producers capitalize on this. The result: Everything complex, abstract, and profound(深刻的) must be systematically singled out, even though such stories are much more relevant to our lives and to our understanding of the world. As a result, we walk around with a misrepresented mental map of the risks and threats we actually face.
Second, news is irrelevant. In the past year, you have probably consumed about ten thousand pieces of news. Be very honest: Name one of them, just one that helped you make a better decision－for your life, your career, or your business-compared with not having this piece of news. No one I have asked has been able to name more than two useful news stories—out of ten thousand. News organizations claim that their information gives you a competitive advantage. Too many fall for this. If news really helped people advance, journalists would be at the top of the income pyramid.
Third, news is a waste of time. An average human being spends half a day each week reading about current affairs. This is a huge loss of productivity. Take the 2008 terror attack in Mumbai. Let’s say a billion people viewed the minute-by-minute updates and listened to the chatter of a few “experts” and “commentators.” Thus our conservative calculation: One billion people multiplied by an hour’s distraction equals one billion hours of work stoppage. News wasted around two thousand lives—ten times more than the attack.
I would predict that turning your back on news will benefit you as much as removing any of the other ninety-eight errors we have covered in the pages of this book. Read long background articles and books. Nothing beats books for understanding the world.
1. What does the underlined phrase in Paragraph 3 probably mean?| A．Refuse to read news. | B．Select news carefully. |
| C．Question news. | D．Help spread news. |
| A．represents a competitive advantage | B．offers a mental map of the world |
| C．leads to a loss of productivity | D．brings journalists’ income up |
| A．To offer tips on choosing news. |
| B．To advocate(支持) giving up reading news. |
| C．To share experiences on avoiding news. |
| D．To criticize media's misleading choice of news. |
