Edward Davis was a professor who worked on ocean research. However, bored with writing death records of ocean species, he quit his job in 2007. Rather than spend any more of his life recording the dying. Edward decided to try to protect the living creatures in the few remaining areas of the ocean.
These areas are the last wild places of the sea still undamaged by overfishing, pollution and climate change. “It is necessary for us to go to places that still look like the ocean as it was 500 years ago.” Edward says. “These areas, like Palau, are the examples of sustainable (可持续的) development. Maybe we can’t bring all of the ocean back to this state, but these places show us what the potential is.” Beneath the surface of a stormy sea off Palau in the western Pacific live various lively corals. The tiny island nation has protected 80 percent of its waters as a no-fishing area—the largest percentage of protected ocean area in the world. The remaining 20 percent can be fished only by Palauans.
To protect these places, Edward and his team started a project on ocean protection in 2008. Over the past years, the project has helped create 22 ocean reserves. These make up two-thirds of the world’s fully protected ocean areas. Now Edward and his team have set an even bigger goal—to protect more than a third of the world’s oceans for the purpose of keeping biological diversity.
For Edward, one of the most satisfying aspects of his job is working with local communities in the places he and his team are seeking to protect. The team worked closely with about 50 local people on the island. “We showed them an underwater world they had never seen,” Edward recalls. “Huge schools of fish will surely swim in some of the clearest waters ever measured in the Pacific.”
1. Why did Edward quit his previous job?| A．To record the dying. | B．To increase land species. |
| C．To protect the sea creatures. | D．To write a book on sea protection. |
| A．20 percent of it is covered by the sea. |
| B．It is an area open to fishermen worldwide. |
| C．It is an example of sustainable development. |
| D．The surface of it is destroyed by water pollution. |
| A．Edward’s project. | B．Edward’s team members. |
| C．The ways of keeping biodiversity. | D．The ways of creating ocean reserves. |
| A．Stressed. | B．Positive. |
| C．Curious. | D．Confused. |
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【推荐1】THE WORLD’S RAREST LEOPARD
THESE BIG CATS GET A NEW CHANCE AT SURVIVAL.
Slowly stalking down the snowy hillside, the Amur leopard watches its prey through the trees. In the clearing below, a sika deer munches on tree bark, one of its few remaining food sources during the cold Russian winter. The leopard crouches, its body so low to the ground that its belly fur brushes the snow. Suddenly it bounds and springs forward, tackling the deer from 10 feet away. With a deadly combination of speed, strength, and stealth, the Amur leopard seems like it has everything it needs for survival. But not long ago — after decades of habitat loss and poaching — these endangered cats almost went extinct. Thanks in part to a newly established national park, however, Amur leopards are clawing their way back from the brink.
Disappearing Act
Most people think of leopards prowling African savannas, but the spotted predators are found in many different countries and habitats. They’ve adjusted to life in grasslands, jungles, deserts, and freezing, hilly landscapes. It’s there — along the Russian-Chinese border — that Amur leopards live, adapting to their chilly climate with bushier fur and longer legs to trudge through the deep snow.
Although Amur leopards thrive in freezing temperatures, by the late 20th century the human population moving into their habitat shrunk their California-size range by a huge 98 percent, trapping the animals in a stretch of land less than half the size of Puerto Rico. Poachers roamed the space that remained, killing the cats to sell their coats. In 2000, conservationists were stunned when a new count of Amur leopards estimated that only 30 were left in the world (though it was based on a study done by counting tracks, which isn’t the most reliable method). “These animals were going extinct,” biologist Dale Miquelle says. “Some of us were afraid it was too late to save them.”
Their solution? A new national park dedicated to protecting the endangered cat. But first, scientists had to convince the government that this was something worth doing — and that it could be done.
1. In paragraph 1, the Amur Leopard will be almost extinct because ________.| A．the sika deer had moved their habitat to snowy hillside |
| B．human have hunted the leopard for decade |
| C．they can’t endure the chilly cold environment |
| D．the national park established |
| A．The leopards. | B．Human beings. | C．The poachers. | D．Leopards’ nature enemies. |
| A．It’s too late to save them. |
| B．They should convince the government to get human far from the habitat. |
| C．They should hurry to establish a national park. |
| D．They should let the government legislate to stop poaching. |
【推荐2】The owner of a dog has received a message saying her dog would be killed unless she paid 1,000 pounds. Cathryn Hussain said her Christmas had been “a washout” of “sick” prank (恶作剧) calls about her dog.
Five days before Christmas, Waffle, a six-month-old labradoodle, was stolen in St Austell while the owner Cathryn took him for a walk in Belmont. Cathryn said she was approached by a male holding what she believed to be a knife. The suspect was dressed in black and spoke with a foreign accent.
Sergeant Steve White from Devon and Cornwall Police said: “The family of Waffle are very upset at the theft of their pet dog. All of the officers at the police station dealing with this crime also feel very sad for the family over what is a cruel and mean-spirited crime, especially during the Christmas period.” Officers have been checking local CCTV and making enquiries into the theft of Waffle.
Waffle still hasn’t been found. Police are trawling through lots of CCTV.
“We are all just a bit fed up of the prank calls that all seem to go through to my daughter’s phone. We received a text from someone saying they wanted 1, 000 pounds or Waffle would be beheaded.” Police have traced the person who was a male and not from Cornwall. “How dare someone use Waffle’s disappearance to make money. ”
“Christmas was difficult as I’ve got a five-year-old grandson so I had to force a smile for him. We haven’t told him exactly what happened to Waffle yet. Christmas really was a washout and was extremely upsetting for us. We just want Waffle to go home and things to go back to normal.”
1. What does the underlined word “washout” mean?| A．Failure. | B．Surprise. | C．Shock. | D．Fortune. |
| A．A man stole the dog from the owner’s house. |
| B．The owner walked the dog and it ran away by itself. |
| C．The dog lost its way when wandering around. |
| D．Someone threatened the owner and the dog was stolen. |
| A．The family have been troubled by prank calls during Christmas. |
| B．The police have traced the person who was a female from Cornwall. |
| C．The grandson was upset when he knew the dog’s disappearance. |
| D．The family wanted to pay 1000 pounds to let the dog back. |
| A．A sad owner of a pet dog | B．A valuable pet dog stolen at Christmas |
| C．Prank calls about a pet dog during Christmas | D．A lost pet dog found during Christmas |
【推荐3】Extreme heat can kill people, even though most of the deaths are preventable. It is reported that in the 24 years between 1979 and 2003 more people died in the United States of extreme heat than from hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes.
| A．How can we survive it? |
| B．Extreme heat can also bring wildfires. |
| C．It is clear that the world is getting warmer. |
| D．Very often you can see such a terrible circle! |
| E．It is also reasonable to realize the man’s effect on the world’s weather. |
| F．How can people predict extreme heat according to the climate change? |
| G．Great damage can be caused in a short time if quick action is not taken. |
【推荐1】New York-based Ecovative has been creating environmentally friendly packaging made from mushrooms and agricultural waste since 2009. Now, the company wants to bring their amazing material into homes and offices with a new line of compostable (可堆肥的) furnishings that are grown using just three materials: mycelium (the vegetative part of mushrooms), hemp (麻类植物), and salt.
While creating hard material from mushrooms might sound magical, the company’s CEO Eben Bayer says it is a relatively low-tech process and compares it to “making bread”. The company begins by adding a few mycelium cells to damp hemp or other agricultural waste.
The mycelium that grows like little hairs is allowed to twist with the waste until everything is ”glued“ together. The combination is then mixed again and placed into the desired mold (模具) where it continues to grow and harden. The resulting material is then baked in the oven. In addition to making it as strong as wood, the heat also kills the mycelium, thus giving the compostable material a similar shelf life to wood.
Also, though the table tops of the stylish Tafl and King’s tables released at the recently held Biofabricate 2016 conference in New York City resemble marble, they are far from it. The perfectly carved blocks are made of a material grown by a North Carolina-based company named bioMASON using grains of sands and bacteria.
As you have probably guessed, this waste-free furniture does not come cheap. Customers can expect to pay anywhere from $249 USD for the Tafl to $699 USD for the King’s table, both of which are only available in limited quantities. Those that cannot afford those prices can choose cheaper GIY (grow it yourself) ones made of various products ranging from Christmas tree decorations to lamp shades.
1. Why did Eben compare making hard materials to making bread?| A．Their raw materials are the same. | B．Their product appearances are alike. |
| C．Their production processes are simple. | D．Their production costs are relatively low. |
| A．The method of making mushrooms hard. | B．How to make mushroom furniture materials. |
| C．What are needed to make mushroom furniture. | D．The difficulties of making mushroom furniture. |
| A．They are in limited supply. | B．They are offered in GIY forms. |
| C．They consist mainly of marble. | D．They are designed by bioMASON. |
| A．The Invention of New Kinds of Furniture |
| B．The First Sale of Furniture Made of Mushrooms |
| C．Scientists Found New Material to Make Furniture |
| D．Future Furniture May Be Grown from Mushrooms |
【推荐2】During the annual political sessions, environmental protection was definitely among the biggest concerns. Actually, it was also an issue that ancient Chinese paid great attention to. In fact, the world’s earliest environmental protection concept, ministry and laws were all born in China. So how did the ancient Chinese protect the environment?
In early ancient China, environmental protection was promoted to the political level. Xunzi, a famous thinker in Warring States Period, brought up the concept of “managing state affairs through environmental protection”. He stated in his book that vegetation should not be damaged at will. Guan Zhong, an official 400 years ahead of Xunzi, was also an environmental protection expert. During his term of office, he claimed that “a King who cannot protect his vegetation is not qualified to be a king”.
According to a record in Qing dynasty, the environmental protection ministry in early ancient China was called “Yu”, standing both for the institution and the official title. Although most of its functions were similar to such ministries today, the administration range of it was much larger, including the mountains, forests, rivers, lakes and so on.
The nine ministries established by Shun, an ancient Chinese emperor, already included “Yu”, the environmental protection ministry. The first “Yu” official was a man called Boyi, who was indeed an environmental protection expert. He was a capable assistant to Dayu, an ancient Chinese water-control expert. He invented wells, protecting people’s drinking water from pollution. He knew a lot about animals and also called for animal protection.
Environmental protection laws dated back to the ruling period of Dayu, which was more than 4,000 years ago. During his rule, he issued a ban, forbidding people to cut down wood in March or catch fish in June, the time when they were supposed to boom.
In Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period almost 3,000 years ago, “environmental protection laws” appeared in its true sense in Qin, which was recorded in Law of Fields and regarded as China’s earliest “environmental protection laws”.
1. What can we know about Xunzi?| A．He was against any destruction of vegetate on. |
| B．He was an environmental protection expert. |
| C．He removed the disqualified king from the position. |
| D．He brought up the thought of environmental protection. |
| A．The ministry of Yu. | B．The Qing dynasty. |
| C．The term of office of Yu. | D．The modern environmental ministry. |
| A．Shun. | B．Boyi. | C．Xunzi. | D．Guan Zhong. |
| A．Politics and Environment | B．The Earliest Environmental Laws |
| C．Dayu — a Great Environmental Protector | D．How the Ancient Chinese Protect the Environment |
【推荐3】In mid-2019, an Indonesian design team submitted a plan to an international design competition for a new type of submarine (潜艇). It wasn't designed for military purposes or for exploring the ocean. The main purpose of this submarine was to create ice blocks to replace sea ice in the Polar Regions.
In the summer months of 2019, a massive heat wave shocked Europe and broke a number of high temperature records. As the hot air moved north over the Arctic, the ice sheet covering Greenland melted at an unexpected rate. Ice melt at the poles is normal in the summer months. Lost ice is often regained by refreezing in winter. But the fast melting rate could mean a permanent loss of polar ice, which would have global consequences.
Dealing with such a large-scale problem requires large-scale solutions. While many solutions look at reducing the greenhouse gases, few are aimed at repairing the effects of climate change. The ice-making submarine proposed to do just that.
The ice-making submarine's basic design involves forming a large hexagonal (六边形的) ice block of roughly 25 meters across and 5 meters thick. A large container in the submarine would be filled when submerged under water. Then the slow process of desalination (脱盐) and freezing would begin. After about a month, the submarine would discharge (卸下) the ice block and begin the process all over again. The overall vision would be to have multiple submarines working together, so that the hexagonal blocks could be pushed together to form a single large ice sheet.
The design was beautifully presented and won second place. However, the science behind the design came under criticism. One criticism was how the massive amounts of energy needed to desalinate and freeze the water would be provided. Another was that the amount of heat generated by the freezing process would result in a net warming effect. Additionally, the ice would be too thin to stay frozen for a significant amount of time. The designers couldn't sufficiently answer many of the scientific criticisms. Their inventive idea does, however, indicate the need for creative solutions in repairing the loss of polar ice.
1. The ice-making submarine was designed to ________.| A．explore the ocean | B．achieve military purposes |
| C．record rates of melting polar ice | D．make up for the decrease of polar ice |
| A．the limitation of the new design | B．the process of making ice blocks |
| C．the features of the ice-making submarines | D．the challenges that the designers encountered |
| A．The design introduces a unique angle for dealing with climate crisis. |
| B．The designers are confident about the effectiveness of the submarine. |
| C．The lost ice can be regained by refreezing in spite of fast melting rate. |
| D．The ice-making submarine is one of the solutions to reduce greenhouse gases. |
| A．doubtful | B．disapproving | C．supportive | D．unconcerned |
【推荐1】Every year, the Palace of Fine. Arts Theatre in San Francisco fills up with dance lovers. They come to take in experimental works of art that all have one thing in common — hip hop. This weekend the San Francisco International Hip Hop DanceFest, the mission of which is to encourage the evolution of hip hop dance culture while preserving its legacy, celebrates 20 years of presenting exciting hip hop performances.
Each DanceFest has diversity of style and group size, and a balance of local and out-of-town companies. The festival has drawn impressive international talents. In fact, outstanding technical dance skills are only a basic standard that the festival organizers are looking for. They look for much more groups or solo artists that think outside the box. Artists that use hip hop in a theatrical way or use it to address social issues are sure to stand out. For instance, the 2010 performance “Tables and Chairs” served to highlight the negative effects of alcoholism on society, warning people against the addiction to alcohol.
It would be terribly irresponsible not to mention the founder, Micaya, in any introduction to DanceFest. A popular hip hop dance instructor, Micaya began producing high energy dance shows in the heart of San Francisco in 1993. Students love her classes so much that a San Francisco newspaper once called her “Best Dance Instructor”.
However, Micaya was concerned about the doubtful reputation of hip hop. She made it her goal to get hip hop the same recognition and respect as other dance forms. In 1999 she started DanceFest. It was the first festival of its kind to honor the creativity of hip hop dance in a non-competitive atmosphere. To Micaya, competitive formats leave little room for the magic that comes from true expression. One review said, Micaya's festival challenges us “to reconsider just how diverse ... and embracing hip hop can now be.” Indeed, Micaya brings out the best in dancers, and has given San Francisco one of its finest festivals.
1. Why is the San Francisco International Hip Hop DanceFest held?| A．To attract international talents. |
| B．To encourage people to play hip hop. |
| C．To show the diversity of hip hop style. |
| D．To promote the development of hip hop dance culture. |
| A．Handle. | B．Discuss. |
| C．Recognize. | D．Record. |
| A．She was a popular hip hop composer in 1993. |
| B．She made hip hop dance less diverse in 1999. |
| C．She popularizes hip hop dance through the DanceFest. |
| D．She contributes to the increasing competition of hip hop dance. |
| A．The Rise and Fall of Hip Hop | B．A Unique Hip Hop DanceFest |
| C．A Famous Hip Hop Dancer | D．The Development of Hip Hop DanceFest |
【推荐2】How good are you at maths? Some people love the challenge of algebra (代数) or enjoy working out number puzzles such as Sudoko. Maths is all around us, from working out how to split the bill after a meal, to calculating your household bills. But many dread the moment when they have to deal with numbers and figures and feel a real sense of worry and confusion. It can seem discouraging, but this “maths anxiety” is perfectly normal, and you’re definitely not alone. And anyway, our worries and fears don’t necessarily reflect our ability.
The problem really starts in childhood, at school. Research has found that maths teachers who are nervous about teaching the subject can pass on their anxiety to the pupils, and girls may be more likely to be affected. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found around 31% of 15 and 16-year-olds across 34 countries said they got very nervous doing maths problems, 33% said they got tense doing maths homework, and nearly 60% said they worried maths classes would be difficult. Shulamit Kahn, a professor from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, said she believes giving students, particularly girls, good role models is “critical, especially at a young age”. She thinks the key is to get people, especially women who loves maths, to younger children.
Writing for BBC Future, David Robson says “It’s not clear why maths arouses so much fear compared to geography. But the fact that there’s a right or wrong answer — there’s no room for tricks — might make you more worried about underperforming.” And once we assume we’re not a “maths person” , we avoid solving things that we probably could do.
Psychologists have been trying to work out why mental arithmetic (算术) can bring us out in a sweat. That seed of fear may come from many sources, but some suggest that expressing your fears can loosen their hold on you, and encourage children to see a maths test as a challenge, not a threat. Ideally, we need to think positively about maths and give it a second chance.
1. What does the underlined word “dread” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Take. | B．Fear. | C．Expect. | D．Enjoy. |
| A．All girls thought maths classes more challenging. |
| B．Many pupils had chances to have maths anxiety. |
| C．Some teens felt stressed in doing maths homework. |
| D．Few students could solve maths problems confidently. |
| A．It is quite uncommon for people to have maths anxiety. |
| B．Experts have worked out what caused our maths anxiety. |
| C．We are unable to solve maths problems because we do not like maths. |
| D．We keep away from maths problems because we doubt our maths ability. |
| A．Speak out your maths anxiety. |
| B．Leave maths homework alone. |
| C．Try twice more in maths tests. |
| D．Turn to math teachers for help. |
【推荐3】It happens all the time. You set something down and then for the life of you, you can’t remember where you left it. To assist absent-minded people, Apple came out with a handy device last year called an AirTag.
This small circular tag can be attached to your keys, your wallet or just about anything. The tag can then be tracked using Bluetooth in the Find My app. In the app, the AirTag displays its location on a map. If you have misplaced something in your house with an AirTag attached, the tag’s built-in speakers will play a sound. Follow the sound to locate it. You can also set up a separation alert in the Find My app. Using that, you can make sure your phone is always with you or you don’t leave your keys or wallet behind. You can track multiple items, too.
As is true of many technologies, this one too, can be used for good or evil. Its purpose is to help you keep track of things — or people. Parents have put AirTags on their children’s cars to track their whereabouts. However, people are posting on social media about finding unknown AirTags on their ears or among their belongings. It’s scary to know someone is tracking you, and you don’t know who it is. Because of stories like these, concern is growing that AirTags are making a new kind of stalking or stealing possible. Police in Canada have investigated cases in which car thieves put AirTags on high-end vehicles. The thieves then found the cars later and stole them.
Apple is fighting back. If an AirTag that is not registered to you starts moving with you, you will be notified. An alert will appear on your iPhone when you get home. If you find a foreign AirTag among your belongings, you can easily disable it by taking out the battery.
AirTags can be extremely helpful, but perhaps they should be used with care as well.
1. Who are the Airtags probably designed for?| A．People who easily get lost. |
| B．People who tend to forget things. |
| C．People who are often absent from work. |
| D．People who are interested in handy devices. |
| A．Why people use Airtags. | B．How Airtags can be used. |
| C．The advantages of Airtags. | D．The applications of Airtags. |
| A．Tracking. | B．Driving. | C．Robbing. | D．Cheating. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. | C．Cautious. | D．Indifferent. |
