Habitat loss, pesticides (农药) and climate change are threatening insect populations worldwide. In 2019, Biological Conservation reported that 40% of all insects species are declining (减少) globally and that a third of them are endangered.
And while it may sound nice to live in a world with fewer bad insects, environmental writer Oliver Milman says that human beings would be in big trouble without insects. That’s because insects play important roles in pollinating (给……授粉) plants we eat, breaking down waste in forest soil and forming the base of a food chain that other larger animals including- humans-rely upon.
“It would be an extremely terrible place to live in—and certainly not something we should ever aim for,” Milman says of an insect free existence. “You would certainly have mass starvation and social unrest…It’d be a place where there would be smelly waste and dead bodies everywhere because insects that break down those materials would be gone. ”
Milman charts the troubling decline of insects in his new book, The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World. He says that while it’s impossible to know exactly what’s happening with every insect species in the world, the overall trends are not good: The butterfly population in North America has declined quickly in the past 40 years, for example, and a U. N. assessment done in 2019 found that half a million insect species are under threat of extinction, some in the coming decades.
“The world, our surroundings, would be far quieter, far duller without insects,” he says. “When you start kind of digging down into these figures looking at the research, it’s clear that there’s something seriously wrong…There is a straight decline in most insect populations, and that spells major trouble for them but also for us.”
1. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us about insects?| A．Their classification. | B．Their importance. |
| C．Their development. | D．Their future. |
| A．It describes the worrying decline of insects. |
| B．It tells what’s happening with all insect species. |
| C．It shows half a million butterfly species will be in danger of extinction. |
| D．It explains why the number of butterflies in South America has increased. |
| A．Positive. | B．Worried. | C．Unconcerned | D．Doubtful. |
| A．The introduction of the endangered insects. | B．The ways of increasing insects’ population. |
| C．The effects of the declining insects’ population. | D．The reasons of threatening insects’ population. |
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【推荐1】What is citizen science? Citizen science generally involves groups of people or amateur scientists helping gather data for use in nature or wildlife studies to support conservation. So whether you give your time online, or sign up for a practical project with a wildlife or nature organization close to home, your generosity and kindness will not only help nature, but do you the world of good as well.
When we give we feel good. We experience what scientists describe as the’ warm glow effect’or ‘helper’s high’, now known to be caused by a release of endorphins(内啡肽) in the brain. Research into this effect discovered that giving to charities activates the areas of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection and trust.Put simply,altruism(利他行为)is a proven path to good mental health.
When our altruism is related to nature, and in particular when we give our time and effort, the rewards for our well being, or our health and happiness, are far-reaching. Whether we’re working to maintain freshwater ponds at the weekend, or contributing to a citizen science survey by monitoring wildlife in our back garden, our care and kindness has the power to lift our mood and strengthen our self-respect, especially when we learn new skills and earn the added satisfaction of accomplishing new tasks.
The hands-on aspect of taking part in nature and wildlife conservation projects has also been shown to reduce stress, anxiety and low mood. In 2020 a three-year study by the uk Wildlife Trusts found that 95 percent of participants who reported low mental well-being at the start of volunteering, recorded an improvement in their mental health after six weeks, which increased further after 12 weeks.
Alan Murray, head of volunteering at the RSPB, also agrees: “We believe our volunteers keep coming back because of nature’s power to restore, uplift and inspire and we’re confident that the more time people spend connecting with wildlife the more they feel moved to protect it."
1. We feel good when giving most probably due to ________.| A．warm glow. | B．altruism |
| C．endorphins. | D．anxiety |
| A．If you are an amateur scientist spending time online, you are conducting citizen science |
| B．Participants of nature conservation projects are likely to experience better mental health |
| C．Amateur scientists worked with some organizations close to their homes |
| D．When our altruism is related to nature, our health and happiness are hard to reach |
| A．To acknowledge the great power of nature. |
| B．To emphasis the significance of wildlife preservation |
| C．To encourage people to sign up for big projects. |
| D．To inform readers of a new concept and its advantage |
| A．Favorable. | B．Disapproving |
| C．Skeptical. | D．Concerned. |
【推荐2】Bottlenose dolphins simplify and raise the pitch (音高) of their whistles to be heard above underwater shipping noise. Christopher Intagliata reports.
The oceans are getting louder. And coastal areas are some of the noisiest, as in this underwater recording, covering 17 miles off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland.
The noise could be a problem for underwater animals, which, like us, use sound to communicate. “Just like if we’re in a raucous bar, we have to shout to each other. And they might have to do that too.” Helen Bailey is an underwater biologist at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
She and her colleagues recorded two months of underwater sounds, in that same area off the coast of Maryland. They used automated software to take out 200 bottlenose dolphin whistles from the noise, and visually compared the spectrograms (声谱图). Here’s a normal whistle.
But what they found was that dolphins simplified their whistles and raised their pitch when they were competing with shipping noise, which apparently helps, but could also hurt their ability to communicate.
“By using simpler calls, yes, there is a risk that they’re not communicating as much in-formation as they would if it was quieter. Also for younger dolphins they actually learn these sounds from hearing other dolphins. So they’re hearing this much simpler language.” The results and a few of those spectrograms are in the journal Biology Letters.
The survey site is the proposed future home of a wind farm - which could mean lots of noise as the huge towers are set up. Until then, it’s the long-lasting roar of ships and boats that Bailey wants people to think about carefully. “I think people think about boats in terms of the emissions (排放), just like with cars. And I think what we need to think about is that sound is also an emission.”
1. When will the bottlenose dolphins raise their pitch according to the text?| A．When they have to compete with ship noise. |
| B．When they want to catch more fish in the sea. |
| C．When they want to sing loud songs with others. |
| D．When they feel angry with the ships. |
| A．Narrow. | B．Noisy. | C．Unique. | D．Modern. |
| A．More bottlenose dolphins will love to make loud noise. |
| B．People will lose the bottlenose dolphins forever. |
| C．They will have to make long journeys in the ocean. |
| D．They will lose the ability to express much information. |
| A．How To Protect The Marine Mammals — Bottlenose Dolphins |
| B．Bottlenose Dolphins Raise The Tune To Help The Wind Farm |
| C．Bottlenose Dolphins Raise The Tune To Communicate With Ships |
| D．Bottlenose Dolphins Make Easy Calls Above Under Ship Noise |
Now, a new study has provided the best evidence of how the polar ice sheets are responding to our warming world. In the study, an international team of scientists looked at 20 years of' data in the ice sheets collected by 10 satellite missions. The team's conclusion: The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets both are losing ice overall. The researchers also found that between 1992 and 2011, melt water from those shrinking ice sheets caused sea levels to rise by about 11 millimeters.
Over the 19 years studied, the Greenland ice sheet lost 2.7 trillion metric tons of ice. The Antarctic ice sheet also shrank by about l.3 trillion metric tons. Previously, some scientists disagreed whether the Antarctic sheet, the largest mass of ice in the world, was shrinking or growing or neither.
While the Earth is warming overall, the effect of climate change varies from region to region. Over the last 15 years, for example, scientists have something disagreed over how climate change has affected the polar ice sheets. Many studies found that the sheets lost a lot of ice and that not enough snow fell on the sheets to compensate for the loss. But other studies found that the loss of ice was balanced by the gain in snowfall.
Richard Alley, a glacier scientist at Penn State University, said that many of those studies looked at different areas, and over different time periods. In addition, the studies didn't all use the satellite data in the same way. Those differences made, it difficult to compare the results.
The data in the new study matched time periods and areas. The study also combined measurements from kinds of satellites.
1. Why does the author use a common-sense phenomenon as the beginning?
| A．To present the reason for ice sheet melting. |
| B．To show us the result of a scientific experiment. |
| C．To give a simple example to introduce the topic. |
| D．To present a common daily finding obvious to the readers. |
| A．analyzing the findings of former studies |
| B．observing the Antarctic and Greenland |
| C．referring to the data from satellites |
| D．making measurements in the Antarctic and Greenland |
| A．Cut down. |
| B．Lead to． |
| C．Bring about. |
| D．Make up for. |
| A．Ice sheets are shrinking due to global warming. |
| B．People are suffering from climate change. |
| C．Rising sea levels makes people live in danger. |
| D．Shrinking ice has nothing to do with sea levels. |
When we haven’t taken the time to come up with another idea, all we know how to do is shut ourselves in a room with a book. It’s no surprise that we find revision boring and difficult. Just as children learn from playing, we can learn from doing, or at least from study techniques that interest us, rather than make us switch off.
Shutting yourself away can make you learn to hate studying. This leads to a situation where instead of being able to concentrate on your work, you are troubled by how unfair it is that you must study.
When you hate your work it’s very difficult to make yourself star, or approach it with any kind of structure or enthusiasm. This can be part of a vicious cycle(恶性循环) that traps you into ineffective revision, your poor progress fuelling further annoyance.
Just being around other people really helps fight against feelings of loneliness and, thankfully, it’s perfectly possible to work in the company of other people. We just need to learn how to deal with distractions(使人分心的事物).
It’s not necessary to avoid all company, just idle(懒散的) company. Studying in the same room as someone who is ironing or working out is perfectly possible. People who are bored and looking to be distracted, however, are terrible to work around. They constantly try to keep others in conversation.
It’s also a good idea to avoid the company of people involved in activities that you would rather be doing than studying.
If being around others means working in a noisy environment, a pair of headphones and some background music can block out even noisy children. They also act as a psychological barrier, so that people think twice before interrupting you.
When you’re studying for a big exam, it seems like your whole life is taken up with study. Friends and family can lessen feelings of isolation(孤立). And connecting with other people makes us happy, so it’s important not to give that up and to make sure that we take the time to socialize.
1. The author might believe that the phrase “no pains, no gains” ______.
| A．best describes how to study well |
| B．makes people treat study as a habit |
| C．encourages people to learn step by step |
| D．is not a good inspirational phrase for study |
| A．There is no royal road to learning. |
| B．It’s better to work behind closed door. |
| C．A positive motivation leads to good study results. |
| D．He who is ashamed of asking is ashamed of learning. |
| A．A correct goal. | B．A good teacher. |
| C．A favorable interest. | D．A hard task. |
| A．playing video games is helpful for an effective study |
| B．one shouldn’t let a video player to be his / her company |
| C．one should study from certain activities that he / she is interested in |
| D．the more time one spends in playing games, the higher marks he / she will get |
| A．give indication of not wanting to be interrupted |
| B．give up others’ company at one |
| C．think twice before taking any action |
| D．force yourself to be accustomed to the environment |
【推荐2】There is something to be said for being a generalist, even if you are a specialist. Knowing a little about a lot of things that interest you can add to the richness of a whole, well-lived life.
Society pushes us to specialize, to become experts. This requires commitment to a particular occupation, branch of study or research. The drawback to being specialists is we often come to know more and more about less and less. There is a great deal of pressure to master one’s field. You may pursue training, degrees, or increasing levels of responsibility at work. Then you discover the pressure of having to keep up.
Some people seem willing to work around the clock in their narrow specialty. But such commitment can also weaken a sense of freedom. These specialists could work at the office until ten each night, then look back and realize they would have loved to have gone home and enjoyed the sweetness of their family and friends, or traveled to exciting places, meeting interesting people. Mastering one thing to the exclusion (排除) of others can hold back your true spirit.
Generalists, on the other hand, know a lot about a wide range of subjects and view the whole with all its connections. They are people of ability, talent, and enthusiasm who can bring their broad perspective (视角) into specific fields of expertise (专长). The doctor who is also a poet and philosopher is a superior doctor, one who can give so much more to his patients than just good medical skills.
Things are connected. Let your expertise in one field fuel your passions in all related areas. Some of your interests may not appear to be connected but, once you explore their depths, you discover that they are. My editor Toni, who is also a writer, has edited several history books. She has decided to study Chinese history. Fascinated by the structural beauty of the Forbidden City as a painter, she is equally interested to learn more about Chinese philosophy. “I don’t know where it will lead, but I’m excited I’m on this pursuit.”
These expansions into new worlds help us by giving us new perspectives. We begin to see the interconnectedness of one thing to another in all aspects of our life, of ourselves and the universe. Develop broad, general knowledge and experience. The universe is all yours to explore and enjoy.
1. To become a specialist, one may have to .| A．narrow his range of knowledge |
| B．avoid responsibilities at work |
| C．know more about the society |
| D．broaden his perspective on life |
| A．treasure their freedom |
| B．travel around the world |
| C．spend most time working |
| D．enjoy meeting funny people |
| A．is fully aware of his talent and ability |
| B．is a pure specialist in medicine |
| C．should love poetry and philosophy |
| D．brings knowledge of other fields to work |
| A．Be More a Generalist Than a Specialist |
| B．Specialist or Generalist: Hard to Decide |
| C．Turn a Generalist into a Specialist |
| D．Ways to Become a Generalist |
【推荐3】When we think about happiness, we usually think of something surprising and unexpected, a top great delight.
For a child, happiness has a magic quality. I remember playing police and robbers in the woods, getting a speaking part in the school play. Of course, kids also experience lows, but their delight at tops of pleasure is easily seen, such as winning a race or getting a new bike.
For teenagers, or people under 20, the idea of happiness changes. Suddenly it’s conditional on such things as excitement, love, and popularity. I can still feel the pain of not being invited to a party that almost everyone else was going to. I also recall the great happiness of being invited at another event to dance with a very handsome young man.
In adulthood the things that bring great joy — birth, love, marriage — also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. Love may not last; loved ones die. For adults, happiness is complex.
My dictionary explains “happy” as “lucky” or “ fortunate”, but I think a better explanation of happiness is “ the ability to enjoy something”. The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It’s easy for us not to notice the pleasure we get from loving and being loved, the company of friends, the freedom to love where we please, and even good health. Nowadays, with so many choices and much pleasure, we have turned happiness into one more thing we have. We think we own the right to have it, which makes us extremely unhappy. So we try hard to get it and consider it to be the same as wealth and success, without noticing that the people who have those things aren’t necessarily happier.
While happiness may be more complex for us, the answer is the same as ever. Happiness isn’t about what happens to us. It’s the ability to find a positive for every negative, and view a difficulty as a challenge. Don’t be sad for what we don’t have, but enjoy what we do possess.
1. According to this passage, Middle School students look at happiness mainly in terms of _______.| A．academic achievement | B．spiritual satisfaction |
| C．friendship | D．material gains |
| A．can realize what happiness is | B．may consider it extreme happiness |
| C．may not end up with happiness | D．should not feel satisfied with himself |
| A．think of something pleasant | B．experience delight at an old age |
| C．feel the magic quality of pleasure | D．enjoy what one has at the moment |
| A．the constant dream of happiness | B．the great importance of happiness |
| C．the real meaning of happiness | D．the changing idea of happiness |
