All too often, a choice that seems sustainable (可持续的) turns out on closer examination to be problematic.Probably the best example is the rush to produce ethanol (乙醇) for fuel from corn.Corn is a renewable resource — you can harvest it and grow more, almost limitlessly.So replacing gas with corn ethanol seems like a great idea.
One might get a bit more energy out of the ethanol than that used to make it, which could still make ethanol more sustainable than gas generally, but that's not the end of the problem.Using corn to make ethanol means less corn is left to feed animals and people, which drives up the cost of food.That result leads to turning the fallow land — including, in some cases, rain forest in places such as Brazil — into farmland, which in turn gives off lots of carbon dioxide into the air.Finally, over many years, the energy benefit from burning ethanol would make up for the forest loss.But by then, climate change would have progressed so far that it might not help.
You cannot really declare any practice “sustainable” until you have done a complete lifecycle analysis of its environmental costs.Even then, technology and public policy keep developing, and that development can lead to unforeseen and undesired results.The admirable goal of living sustainably requires plenty of thought on an ongoing basis.
1. What might directly cause the loss of the forest according to the text?| A．The growing demand for energy to make ethanol. |
| B．The increasing carbon dioxide in the air. |
| C．The greater need for farmland. |
| D．The big change in weather. |
| A．the energy benefit |
| B．the forest loss |
| C．climate change |
| D．burning ethanol |
| A．Technology. |
| B．Sustainability. |
| C．Ethanol energy. |
| D．Environmental protection. |
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【推荐1】Music makes life better in many ways. The fact that music can make a difficult task more tolerable may be why students often choose to listen to it while doing their homework. But is listening to music the smart choice for students who want to optimize their learning? A new study suggests that for some students, listening to music is a wise strategy, but for others, it isn’t. The effect of music on cognitive(认知的) functioning appears to depend partly on your personality — specifically, on your need for external stimulation.
Researchers not only assessed listeners’ personality but also changed the difficulty of the task and the complexity of the music. Participants first completed a personality test used to determine the need for external stimulation. They then engaged in an easy cognitive task (searching for the letter A in lists of words) and a more challenging one (remembering word pairs). Participants finished both tasks under one of two sound conditions: (1) no music, (2) with music.
The data suggest that for those with a high need of external stimulation, on the simple task of finding A’s, such subjects’ scores for the music condition were significantly worse than those for the silent condition. On the complex task of learning word pairs, their performance was worse whenever music was played. For those with a low need of external stimulation, however, on the simple task of findings A’s, such participants’ scores for the music condition were dramatically better than those for the silent condition. On the complex task of learning word pairs, the participants showed a small but reliable benefit when listening to music.
According to the study, there are substantial individual differences in the impact of music on cognitive function, resulting in personalized recommendations regarding its presence in the classroom. Students who are easily bored and who seek out stimulation should be cautious of adding music to the mix. On the other hand, students with a low need for stimulation may benefit significantly from the presence of music.
With the right personality, the right music and the right task, the presence of music may significantly improve cognitive functioning. Given the benefits of music, subscription to Spotify just might pay for itself.
1. What can we learn about the study in paragraph 2?| A．It only involved the participants’ response to music. |
| B．The difficulty of the two tasks decreased in the experiment. |
| C．Participants completed two tasks when composing songs. |
| D．Participants were grouped by their need for external stimulation. |
| A．The complexity of tasks might reduce the benefit of music. |
| B．Students should listen to music when performing complex tasks. |
| C．Students with less external stimulation perform badly with music. |
| D．The presence of music suits students seeking for external stimulation. |
| A．A psychology journal. | B．A music platform. |
| C．A travel guide. | D．A personality test. |
| A．Why is music essential in your study? |
| B．Is music beneficial to your personality? |
| C．Does music boost your cognitive performance? |
| D．How can music affect your external stimulation? |
【推荐2】Spending beyond one’s means is becoming a national problem for Americans. Borrowing has become so easy that it takes great willpower for people to refuse it.“I received a number of gold MasterCard and gold Visa card offers in the mail during the past two months,” said one computer engineer at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Chicago. “I got three of them in one day last week.”
Lenders are providing easy credit (信贷) for borrowers. Many banks now offer every borrower a great variety of credit, a service once offered almost only to big companies. Norwest Bank Minneapolis offers lending programs for cars and boats that can cut monthly payments nearly in half. Carmakers, too, are lengthening easier terms. Ford Motor Credit states that 45% of its recent lending has been for sixty months, rather than the thirty-six-month period that was usual before.
The total consumer debt in the United States rose 173 percent between 1974 and 1984, as the debt for each man, woman, and child increased from $10,264 to $26,566. Huge debt now is present in our economy (经济) at all levels. As a nation, we are more than $7 trillion in debt, and the total keeps increasing astonishingly.
As we have overborrowed, so have we overspent. In late 1986, the share of after-tax income that Americans saved sank below 2 percent for a short time, less than half the figure at which we saved only 10 years ago. Americans now are buying from foreigners between about $50 and $100 billion more Mercedes and Toyotas, Paris fashions, and tours to Europe than the Boeing 747s, agriculture machinery, or Kansas wheat that the foreigners bought from America. The country could not produce and pay for all the things it wanted.
To make a long story, we Americans have serious problems in keeping down spending and keeping up personal saving. It is high time for us American people to learn the basics of long term money management.
1. According to the author, what is a main reason for Americans to overspend?| A．Americans buy a lot of foreign products. |
| B．It is easy for Americans to manage their debts. |
| C．Americans have more extra money than before. |
| D．Borrowing money has become a simple matter. |
| A．help more Americans to settle their debts |
| B．attract more customers |
| C．make better use of its money |
| D．encourage people to buy foreign cars |
| A．Limiting the use of credit cards. |
| B．Advising people on what to buy. |
| C．Teaching people how to manage money. |
| D．Reducing average incomes. |
| A．America should sell more of its products abroad. |
| B．Government should prevent people from over-borrowing. |
| C．People’s income determines their money management. |
| D．A healthy society has to learn to live within its means. |
【推荐3】“Selfie”, taking a picture of yourself to post on social media, became an official word in the Oxford dictionary in 2013. The idea seems simple, just pose and snap a photo of yourself with your cell phone camera. How difficult could that be?
But in 2014 a reported 15 people died while taking selfies. That number has risen each. year since then. Thirty-nine deaths connected to selfies were reported in 2015. And, this year has seen more than 70 such deaths.
Researchers from universities in the US and India have released findings from the first study of deaths due to selfies. The investigators examined the causes and characteristics of the deaths.
The researchers found that people who take selfies for sharing on social media often have a narcissistic tendency. The report says these people “use selfies as a form ‘of self-identification and expression”. They may take selfies in more dangerous settings because they seek greater attention. These dangerous situations can lead to injury, and even death. The researchers define a selfie death as “death of an individual or a group of people that could have been avoided had the individual(s) not been taking a selfie.”
One example of a dangerous selfie in the study involved bicycle races. People sometimes get on the track to take a picture of themselves with the racing bicycles behind them. Crashes and injuries have resulted. Another example described people standing on train tracks trying to get a selfie’ as a train moves toward them from behind. The most common cause of selfie death was falling from high places. It caused 32 of the 172 deaths during the last two and a half years. Drowning was another common cause of death.
And it might be more dangerous to be a man with a smartphone. Although women take more selfies, males were far more likely to die during selfies.75.5% of the reported deaths were of mien. About one-third of the 172 reported selfie deaths had a single death while 24 incidents involved the deaths of groups. Two of the incidents killed seven people each.
1. The passage is mainly about _________ .| A．selfie deaths on the rise | B．the danger of taking selfies |
| C．what a selfie death is | D．the causes of selfie deaths |
| A．A physical state. | B．A psychological state. | C．A difficulty. | D．A camera. |
| A．A man addicted to taking selfies died. |
| B．A taxi-driver died with one of his. passengers taking selfies. |
| C．A man fell off the cliff while taking a selfie and died. |
| D．An old lady. died from heart attack when taking a selfie. |
| A．selfie deaths are always single deaths |
| B．women are more likely to die during selfies |
| C．it is dangerous to participate in .bicycle races |
| D．selfie deaths happened in various ways |
【推荐1】Studies have shown that walking among trees makes us relaxed.
For the study, researchers worked with 296 children between the ages of 9 and 12. To measure how connected they were to nature, the kids were asked how much they enjoy activities like seeing wildflowers and wild animals, hearing sounds of nature and touching animals and plants.
So exposure to nature is related to active behaviors and happiness of children. What does that mean to adults? As we all know, children usually tend to follow adults, especially their parents’ behaviors.
Researchers say that children need role models who can guide them to nature with excitement and an attitude of a lifelong learner. Parents don’t have to be experts in environmental science or nature studies.
| A．It’s so good going for a walk around trees. |
| B．Even just smelling the trees helps reduce anxiety. |
| C．That’s to say, when adults are outside and appreciate nature, kids learn by example. |
| D．What’s more important is that they spend time together with children exploring nature. |
| E．They found that the kids connected to nature were more likely to behave actively. |
| F．In a new study, researchers wanted to see if kids get the same benefits from being outdoors. |
| G．Researchers will study more about the connection between children’s happiness and nature. |
【推荐2】On November 10, China’s deep-sea manned submersible (潜水艇) Fendouzhe set a new record of 10,909 meters in the Challenger Deep located at the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean.
For deep-sea exploration, the biggest challenge is the water pressure. The Mariana Trench, completely dark and extremely low in temperature, is one of the harshest areas on Earth. At the Challenger Deep, the water pressure is around 11,250 tons per square meter, which is equivalent to 2,000 African elephants stepping on person’s back.
Another threat is the seawater itself, which could corrode electronics and batteries. Underwater communication, navigation (航行) and tracking can also be extremely difficult.
To deal with these issues, Chinese scientists spent years creating a new titanium alloy (钛合金) that is lightweight, but strong enough for the job. The green, fish-shaped vehicle is the first manned submersible that can carry three people to dive and conduct full ocean survey in the world.
But why send humans instead of robots? Yang Ning, deputy director of the Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the “human touch” is important for underwater exploration.
“The ocean floor is dark and can be very cloudy due to sediment (沉淀物) and debris (废弃物), and cameras sometimes cannot detect things in these situations as effectively as human eyes,” Yang told China Daily.
In addition, humans may bring surprising discoveries, Yang pointed out. For example, on March 18, the submersible Shenhai Yongshi picked up a signal that was thought to be insignificant at the beginning. But Xie Wei, the marine microbiology expert on-board, suggested looking further into it. It turned out they had actually recorded a whale fall, an extremely rare occurrence, and the first one in the region.
1. What is the biggest challenge submersibles face when exploring the Mariana Trench?| A．Working in complete darkness. |
| B．Navigating the path underwater. |
| C．Communicating in extremely low temperatures. |
| D．Dealing with the extremely high water pressure. |
| A．Improve. | B．Destroy. |
| C．Press. | D．Remove. |
| A．The use of a new navigation system. |
| B．The use of an advanced tracking device. |
| C．The cabin made of a new titanium alloy. |
| D．The cabin designed in the shape of a giant fish. |
| A．Robots can pick up insignificant signals. |
| B．Robots can’t work well on the ocean floor. |
| C．Humans can conduct more complex ocean surveys. |
| D．Humans can detect things more effectively and flexibly. |
【推荐3】It is long known that there are benefits from being in nature. Living around trees can help you live longer. Walking in the woods is good for your mood. But it’s not just what you see that makes an impact. A group of scientists from the U. S. and Canada studied the advantages of nature using their ears instead of their eyes.
“Our research team studied the acoustic (声学的) environment for quite a few years, but from the view of the negative impacts of noise pollution,” Rachel Buxton, the post-doctoral researcher and bird expert says. “However, I’ve always been curious about what are the beneficial impacts of natural sounds.” Being a bird expert made him interested in sounds.
For their research, Buxton and her team identified three dozen studies that examined the health benefits of natural sound. Some examples they found reported in those studies included decreased pain, lowered stress, improved mood, and better cognitive (认知的) function. With these results in hand, they then listened to audio recordings from 251 sites in 68 national parks across the United States.
“We found many sites beneficial to health in parks—sites with abundant natural sounds and little disturbance from noise,” Buxton says. “Yet, parks that are more heavily visited or near urban areas are more likely to be flooded with noise. That means many park visitors are not gaining the health benefits found in more quiet spaces.”
Interestingly, Buxton says, there was also some evidence that natural sounds have benefits over silence. There was also evidence that more different types of natural sounds—more types of birds singing versus just one type of bird—have benefits over fewer sounds.
“Also, a really interesting result was that listening to natural sounds with road noise had more benefits than just listening to noise,” she says. “So although you might not be getting the same health benefits as a quiet environment with lots of natural sound, even in a city if you have noise in the background, listening to natural sounds still delivers some health benefits.”
1. How does the author introduce the topic of the text?| A．By listing examples. | B．By making a comment. |
| C．By providing some accurate data. | D．By presenting a widely held view. |
| A．The bad effects of noises. | B．Birds’ habitat environment. |
| C．The causes of noise pollution. | D．Humans’ visual interest in nature. |
| A．Paragraph 3. | B．Paragraph 4. | C．Paragraph 5. | D．Paragraph 6. |
| A．Advantages of being in nature. | B．Different types of natural sounds. |
| C．Well-being from sounds of nature. | D．Relationship between sounds and moods. |
【推荐1】New discoveries and technological breakthroughs are made every year. Yet, as the information industry moves forward, many people in society are looking back to their roots in terms of the way they eat. A “locavore” movement has emerged in the United States. The movement supports eating foods grown locally and sustainably (可持续的) , rather than prepackaged(预先包装的) foods shipped from other parts of the world.
Experts hold that eating local has many merits, and is expected to be accepted by an increasing number of people. Erin Barnett is the director of Local Harvest, a company that aims to help connect people to farms in their area. By eating local, she argues, people have a better and more personal understanding of the impact their food consumption has on the rest of the world. “There is a way of connecting the point, where eating locally is an act that raises our awareness of sustainable living,” Barnett says.
The United States’ agricultural output is one of the highest in the world, says Timothy Beach, a professor of geography and geoscience at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. “There’s just no other place on Earth where the amount of input is so productive,” Beach says of American agriculture. “Nobody can cut off the food we need.”
However, the US food system is not sustainable because of its dependency on fossil fuels(化石燃料) , says Beach. Equipment used on “extremely productive”, farms is quickly consuming Earth’s natural resources, particularly oil. Additionally, the production of agricultural supplements(补充剂), such as fertilizer, uses large amounts of energy.
The world has used close to half of the global oil supply, Beach says, and the second half will be consumed at an even faster rate because of growing population and economic development. Although many businesses are experimenting with wind, solar, and biofuel, Beach says there’s nothing that we see on the horizon that can replace it. “There is no way on Earth we are using fossil fuels sustainably. Then we have to reconsider the impact of eating local,” he says.
1. What does the underlined word “merits” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Aspects. | B．Advantages. | C．Challenges. | D．Explanations. |
| A．It consumes too many natural resources. |
| B．It has a relatively low agricultural output. |
| C．Large equipment is not widely employed. |
| D．Agricultural supplements aren’t available. |
| A．Dependency on oil is and will be a big problem. |
| B．People will use less and less oil in the future. |
| C．The use of fossil fuels features sustainability. |
| D．There are better replacements for fossil fuels. |
| A．Scientific Ways to Eat Local | B．Is Eating Local Sustainable? |
| C．Efforts to Promote Local Foods | D．Are Local Foods Enough? |
【推荐2】Seaweed farming, which has a long history in Asia, is spreading around the globe. Over the past 30 years, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, world production of seaweed has boomed more than six times to over 35 million tonnes, with emerging markets in the Americas, Europe and Africa. The most recent numbers, from 2019, show that North America produces some 23,000 tonnes of wet seaweed per year.
Cascadia, which was founded in 2019, claims to be the largest cultivator in North America, with a harvest of 200 wet tonnes so far this year. Farms, small and large, are popping up fast. Many see this expansion as a good news story. The Global Seaweed Coalition (GSC)—a research and industry group—says humanity could, and should, be harvesting 15 times more seaweed by 2050. Coalition member Vincent Doumeizel is a senior adviser on oceans to a United Nations program working toward corporate sustainability. He talks about a “seaweed revolution” to feed the growing global population—a transformation as dramatic as the ancient shift to land-based agriculture. “In the ocean, we are still hunter-gatherers,” he says.
The Global Seaweed Coalition estimates that seaweed (high in protein and other nutrients) could add 10 percent to the world’s food supply using just 0.03 percent of the ocean surface. One recent study concluded that substituting 10 percent of human food with seaweed by 2050 could spare 110 million hectares of land for purposes other than agriculture. That’s about two percent of all farmland today.
Advocates like Doumeizel cast seaweed as the solution to many social and environmental problems: The industry requires no fresh water, pesticides or fertilizers; it doesn’t take up any land; it can overlap (重叠) with other uses of the ocean like offshore wind farms; it can help to decrease poverty in the developing world; and some companies, including Cascadia, are collaborating with local communities.
Seaweed creates a rich habitat for sea life, soaks up carbon dioxide, counter-acts acid and absorbs run-off nutrients, although evidence quantifying how farms, specifically, help with such things remains scarce.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?| A．New seaweed farming markets increase in Africa. |
| B．Seaweed farming in Europe is earlier than in Asia. |
| C．Seaweed production is over 35 million in North America annually. |
| D．Seaweed production of Asia was about 6 million tonnes 30 years ago. |
| A．Saving two percent of agricultural land for other applications. |
| B．Adding 15 percent to the world’s food supply by 2050. |
| C．Bringing more nutritious food and greater profits to GSC. |
| D．Providing human beings with more high-fat food. |
| A．It helps increase the diversity of sea plants. |
| B．It solves the pollution problems of the ocean. |
| C．It prevents ocean plant species from dying out. |
| D．It can be combined with other uses of the ocean. |
| A．Obvious. | B．Insufficient. | C．Ambiguous. | D．Invalid. |
【推荐3】If you ask children the question, “Where does your food come from?” Their answer probably is “the kitchen” or “the grocery store”. Mahan Chandra Borah, a 41-year-old rice farmer, was concerned about this and aimed to educate young people about the importance of agriculture in his country.
“Hundreds of varieties of rice and other crops went extinct in India because of people’s unawareness and I wanted to do something about it,” Mahan says. The result was the formation of the Annapurna Rice Library — a center preserving native seeds and all things ‘rice’.
As a boy, Mahan was a curious reader. “I always had curiosity about things and wanted to get a PhD,” he recalls. Most of Mahan’s days were spent reading and helping his father out in the fields. “Working with him in the fields is how I learnt all I know about farming,” he says.
“Our family was humble. While I wanted to study more, the money was an issue,” he adds. Things became even harder when Mahan’s father passed away. “I was completing my graduation and was heartbroken. However, I also had to look after my family. Studying further was out of the question, so I decided to do agriculture like my father for a living,” he says.
Mahan could have decided to go for traditional farming, but instead, he decided to research alongside. “I went online to look for papers on farming and seed saving. For the library, I have 500 types of seeds preserved there,” he says. Mahan says his favorite rice variety is Bhao Dhan. It is very tough in nature and can adapt easily to the flood-prone (易发洪水的) nature of Assam. However, the lower yield (产量) per hectare has been the reason why the farmers do not prefer to grow the rice.
For the last 15 years, Mahan has operated his library on his own funds. “I run my household and maintain the library. Lack of funds has become an issue, but I am managing somehow and I am sure I will overcome the difficulties and keep it alive,” he says.
1. What inspired Mahan to set up the Annapurna Rice Library?| A．The expectation from his father. |
| B．The lack of grain varieties in India. |
| C．The great demand for more native seeds. |
| D．The public ignorance of rice seed protection. |
| A．He came from a family rich enough. |
| B．He graduated from college with a PhD. |
| C．He dreamed to be an agricultural expert. |
| D．He learned about farming from his father. |
| A．Its delicious taste. |
| B．Its high production. |
| C．Its growing popularity. |
| D．Its good adaptive ability. |
| A．Devoted and determined. | B．Generous and easygoing. |
| C．Courageous and humorous. | D．Sensitive and open-minded. |
