An environmental group in Colombia is leading a project to save wild areas in the San Lucas Mountains with the help of coffee growers.
Since 2016, San Lucas areas have been threatened by mining and coca (古柯) planting Gold miners and coca growers make more money than coffee farms. Now the group WebConserva helps link coffee farmers with coffee processors from around the country in order that they can earn more. At the same time coffee farms can serve as boarders around the forests to protect the biodiversity within.
To date, the project includes 10 families who farm 400 hectares of coffee plants. WebConserva said it hopes, in time, 200 families will be included. At that level. 20,000 hectares of untouched forest could be protected. The families promise not to cut down trees to expand their crops or to hunt wild animals. In return, they receive $300 for 125 kilograms of coffee.
Arcadio Barajas is among those taking part. His coffee farm sets up a barrier between cattle farms and forests where wild animals live, thus reducing the possibility of conflict between cattle farmers and wild animals. “Cutting down the forest to plant coca and killing wildlife were against my faith, and now I feel that growing coffee lets me be a good guard of the land,” he said.
Amnobis Romero is a former coca grower and miner. “Many families depended on illegal activities to support their children years ago. Now, we feel it a duty to look after this biodiversity and leave it for future generations,” he said. Activists want San Lucas to be protected as a national park, but the process has been slow. Carlos Valderrama, director of Webconserva, hopes the project can build production system that will last far into the future. “It protects forests, biodiversity and ecosystems at the same time as improving coffee growers’ quality of life,” he said.
1. What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Coffee farmers. |
| B．WebConserva members. |
| C．Gold miners. |
| D．Coca growers. |
| A．By increasing cattle farms. |
| B．By setting up a barrier. |
| C．Ry developing gold mining. |
| D．By encouraging coffee farming. |
| A．Families have enough money for their kids. |
| B．Coffee planting will last for several generations. |
| C．Coffee farming changed the former coca growers’ lives. |
| D．The project benefit the forests more than the local farmers. |
| A．Families protecting wildlife will get very rich. |
| B．WebConserva benefits ecosystems and local people’s life. |
| C．Gold mining and coca farming have been replaced rapidly. |
| D．San Lucas will develop into a national park in the near future. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】The endangered pandas in the Qinling Mountains might face a new threat: the loss of their food, bamboo, which makes up 99% of their meals.
Adult pandas spend most part of the day eating bamboo and have to take in at least 40 pounds a day to stay healthy. However, a new study published in Nature Climate Change warned that they may soon find their food gone because most of the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains might disappear by the end of the century as a result of rising temperature worldwide.
A team made up of researchers from Michigan State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has studied the effects of climate change on the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains. They have found that bamboo is very sensitive to climate changes. “80% to 100% of the bamboo would be gone if the average temperature rises 3.5 degrees worldwide by the end of the century,” said Liu Jianguo, one of the report’s authors.
He added, “This is how much the temperature would rise by 2100 even if all countries will keep their promises in the Paris Agreement. But you know what is happening all around the world.”
In recent years, China has been trying its best to protect the endangered pandas by setting up more and bigger natural reserves.
“But it is far from enough and the endangered pandas need cooperation from the rest of the world, because their future is not just in the hands of the Chinese,” said Shirley Martin from the World Wildlife Fund but not a member of the team.
The Qinling Mountains, in the southwest of China, are home to about 260 pandas. That is about 13% of China’s wild panda population. In addition, about 375 are living in research centers and zoos in China.
1. How many wild pandas are there in China?| A．About 260. | B．About 635. |
| C．About 2,635. | D．About 2,000. |
| A．China needs more help from the World Wildlife Fund. |
| B．It is difficult to control the temperature rise within 3.5℃. |
| C．Bamboo is sensitive to the changes of temperature. |
| D．China is making great efforts to protect the pandas. |
| A．The Qinling Mountains can provide enough bamboo for the pandas. |
| B．Pandas in the Qinling Mountains are only threatened by the loss of food. |
| C．Lots of the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains will probably disappear. |
| D．Pandas have already eaten 99% of the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains. |
| A．The Disappearance of Bamboo |
| B．Necessity to Change Pandas’ Food |
| C．A New Threat Faced by the Pandas |
| D．Efforts Made to Save Pandas |
【推荐2】What’s the furthest you have ever cycled? Perhaps you cycle to school or to work, or maybe at most a short cycling trip with friends? How would you feel about spending months on the road travelling solo from the UK to China，by bike?
As an experienced British cyclist and adventure lover, Pete Jones is at present making a long trip across the Eurasian Continent from Britain to China alone. For Pete, camping in the wild and cycling for long distances through inhospitable terrain (不适合人居住的地带) are his second nature.
Mr Jones is currently taking a great journey. Having lived on and off (断断续续地) in Xinjiang for three years, and having visited the country many times since 1992, Pete Jones is no stranger to China. But he says many people there are puzzled by his strong love for cycling, and they ask why he chooses to cycle when he can afford a car. Indeed, while there are about 400 million bicycles in China, where it has long been the preferred means of transport, rapid economic growth has caused an rapid development in car ownership.
Edward Genochio, another British cyclist who completed a 41,000 km trip to China and back, said one of his goals was to tell people cycling is a safe, sustainable and environmentally friendly means of getting about.
In the UK, the last few years have seen a rise in the number of people choosing two wheels over four, with some estimates (估计) saying the number of people cycling to work has almost doubled in the last five years.
Politicians also see cycling as a way to prove that they are concerned about the environment, with people such as London mayor Boris Johnson often riding to work by himself. But we may have to wait some time before we see him emulating (效仿) Pete Jones in attempting to cycle all the way to China.
1. What is the meaning of the underlined word “solo” in the first paragraph?| A．Alone. | B．Lonely. |
| C．Happily. | D．Hard. |
| A．cycling is good for health |
| B．cycling around the world is interesting |
| C．cycling is not polluting the environment |
| D．bicycles are a kind of safe transportation |
| A．Pete Jones’s desire for cycling led to his staying in China for three years |
| B．now the number of Chinese people owning cars is larger than those owning bikes |
| C．London mayor Boris Johnson will emulate Pete Jones to cycle to China in the future |
| D．both British common people and politicians see riding bikes as a good means of transport |
| A．An Adventure Lover | B．Cycling to China |
| C．What’s the Use of Bicycles | D．Three British People |
【推荐3】Climate change is known to negatively affect agriculture and livestock, but there has been little scientific knowledge on which regions of the planet would be touched or what the biggest risks may be. New research led by Aalto University assesses just how global food production will be affected if greenhouse gas emissions are left uncut.
The researchers assessed how climate change would affect 27 of the most important food crops and seven different livestock, accounting for societies' varying capacities to adapt to changes. The results show that threats affect countries and continents in different ways; in 52 of the 177 countries studied, the entire food production would remain in the safe climatic space in the future. These include Finland and most other European countries.
Already vulnerable countries such as Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana and Suriname will be hit hard if no changes are made; up to 95 percent of current food production would fall outside of safe climatic space. Alarmingly, these nations also have significantly less capacity to adapt to changes brought on by climate change when compared to rich western countries. In all, 20% of the world's crop production and 18% of livestock production under threat are located in countries with low capacities to adapt to changes.
“If we let emissions grow, the increase in desert areas is especially troubling because in these conditions barely anything can grow without irrigation. By the end of this century, we could see more than 4 million square kilometres of new desert around the globe,” Matti Kummu, professor of global water and food issues at Aalto University says. “We need to lighten climate change and, at the same time, improve our food systems and societies' capacities to adapt to changes—we cannot leave the vulnerable behind. Food production must be sustainable.”
1. How does the author show the effect of climate change on the food production in paragraph 2?| A．By raising questions. | B．By stating arguments. |
| C．By analyzing research data. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．The measures to be taken. | B．The threat to the vulnerable countries. |
| C．The assistance of rich countries. | D．The damage to crop production. |
| A．He feels very desperate. | B．He cares more about others. |
| C．He was in charge of the study. | D．He is worried about the vulnerable. |
| A．Environment. | B．Technology. | C．Culture. | D．Politics. |
【推荐1】A Guide to the University
Food
The TWU Cafeteria is open 7 am to 8 pm. It serves snacks, drinks, ice cram bars and meals. You can pay with cash or your ID cards. You can add meal money to your ID cards at the Front Desk. Even if you do not buy your food in the cafeteria, you can use the table to eat your lunch, to have meetings and to study.
If you are on campus in the evening or late at night, you can buy snacks, fast food and drinks in the Lower Café located in the bottom level of the Douglas Centre. This area is often used for entertainment such as concerts, games or TV watching.
Relaxation
The Globe, located in the bottom level of McMillan Hall, is available for relaxing ,studying, cooking and eating. Monthly activities are held here for all international students. Hours are 10 am to 10 pm, closed on Sundays.
Health
Located on the top floor of Douglas Hall, the Wellness Center is committed to physical, emotional and social health. A doctor and nurse is available if you have health questions or need immediate medical help or personal advice. The cost of this is included in your medical insurance. Hours are Monday to Friday, 9 am to noon and 1:00 to 4:30 pm.
Academic Support
All students have access to the Writing Center on the upper floor of Douglas Hall. Here, qualified volunteers will work with you on written work, grammar, vocabulary, and other academic skills. You can sign up for an appointment on the sign-up sheet outside the door: two 30-minute appointments per week maximum. This service if free.
Transportation
The TWU Express is a shuttle service. The shuttle transports students between campus and the shopping center, leaving from the Mattson Center. Operation hours are between 9 am and 3 pm, Saturdays only. Round trip fare is $1.
1. What can you do in the TWU Cafeteria?| A．Do homework and watch TV | B．Buy drinks and enjoy concerts |
| C．Have meals and meet with friends | D．Add money to your ID and play chess |
| A．The Globe, Friday | B．The Lower Café, Sunday |
| C．The TWU Cafeteria, Friday | D．The McMillan Hall, Sunday |
| A．is open six days a week | B．offers services free of charge |
| C．trains students in medical care | D．gives advice on mental health |
| A．To carry students to the lecture halls |
| B．To provide students with campus tours |
| C．To take students to the Mattson Center |
| D．To transport students to and from the stores |
【推荐2】About 50 years ago, the famous British band The Beatles sang that “money can’t buy me love”. Today, British economists are saying that it perhaps can’t buy you happiness either. This is showed by the happy planet index (HPI, 快乐指数) published recently by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in London.
The index is about how well countries are using their resources. It shows how well they provide people with better health and longer and happier lives, and at what cost to their environment.
It would seem to be common sense that people in richer countries live happier lives, while those in developing countries are having a harder time of it. But the results are surprising, even shocking. The numbers show that some of the so-called developed countries are performing very badly. The United States, for example, comes in at an unbelievable 150th. On the other hand, some little-known developing countries are doing a much better job. A tiny island in the Pacific, Vanuatu, comes in first. There are 178 countries and areas in the index. China ranks 31.
Countries are graded on the basis of information supplied in response to the following questions. How do people feel about their lives? How long does the average person live? How greatly does a country need to use its natural resources—such as oil, land and water—to maintain standards? This is what the index calls the “ecological footprint”.
The NEF found that the people of island nations enjoy the highest HPI rankings. Their populations live happier and longer lives, and use fewer resources.
The results also seem to show that it is possible to live longer, happier lives with a much smaller environmental impact. The index points out that people in the US and Germany enjoy similar lives.
“However, Germany’s ecological footprint is only about half that of the US. This means that Germany is around twice as efficient as the US at producing happy lives,” says Nic Marks, head of NEF’s Center for well-being.
So the happy planet index (HPl) tells us a brand-new concept of understanding “being happy”. HPI figures out different countries or individuals’ HPI through their “Ecological Footprint” and “Life Satisfaction Level” or “Life Expectancy”. Clearly, people’s HPI is related to their consumption of the resources on the earth.
You can find out your own HPI by visiting http://www.happyplanetindex.org
1. The passage is mainly about ______________.| A．why money can’t buy you happiness |
| B．in which country people feel the happiest |
| C．the happy planet index published recently |
| D．what index can influence people's happiness |
| A．wealth, education, resources and health |
| B．lives, health, resources and the environment |
| C．pressure, accommodation, resources and health |
| D．education, money, the environment and resources |
| A．have far fewer happy people | B．are only developing countries |
| C．do not enjoy plenty of resources | D．have a greater impact on the environment |
| A．history and culture play an important role in people’s lives |
| B．not all the people in developed countries enjoy happy lives |
| C．it is possible to live happier and longer lives with fewer resources |
| D．some of the so-called developed countries are performing very badly |
【推荐3】Positive body language supports your points, helps you convey ideas more clearly, and avoids sending mixed messages.
Here are some basic postures that you can adopt to show self-confidence and openness.
Body Language for a Good First Impression
Have an open posture. Be relaxed but don’t slouch (耷拉)! Sit or stand upright and place your hands by your sides.
Use a firm handshake. But don’t get carried away! You don’t want it to become awkward, aggressive, or painful for the other person.
Maintain good eye contact. Try to hold the other person’s gaze for a few seconds at a time. This will show them that you’re sincere and engaged.
Avoid touching your face. If you do while answering questions, it can be seen as a sign of dishonesty.
Body Language Examples for Effective Public Speaking
Positive body language can help you to engage people, mask any presentation nerves (紧张), and show confidence when you speak in public. Here are a few tips to help you do this:
Have a positive posture. Sit or stand upright, with your shoulders back and your arms unfolded by your sides or in front of you.
Keep your head up. Your head should be upright and level. Leaning too far forward or backward can make you look aggressive or arrogant (傲慢).
Practice and perfect your posture. Stand in a relaxed manner, with your weight evenly distributed. Keep one foot slightly in front of the other to help hold your posture.
Use open hand gestures. Spread your hands apart, in front of you, with your palms facing slightly toward your audience. This indicates a willingness to communicate and share ideas.
1. What body language can be regarded to be dishonest?| A．Having an open posture. | B．Using a firm handshake. |
| C．Maintaining good eye contact. | D．Touching the face. |
| A．Wear. | B．Hide. | C．Prevent. | D．Show. |
| A．Sit with arms folded by the sides | B．Lean the head forward. |
| C．Stand in an easy manner. | D．Spread your arms apart. |
| A．What Is Positive Body Language | B．How to Read Body Language |
| C．The Body Language of a Bored Audience | D．Body Language Analysis—Expressing Positivity |
【推荐1】Both humans and animals possess the ability to cry out for help when endangered or threatened. Plants, as it turns out, can too.
“We found that plants usually emit (发出) sounds when they are under stress and that each plant and each type of stress is associated with a specific identifiable sound,” researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel wrote in their findings, published in the scientific journal Cell. “While undetectable to the human ear, the sounds emitted by plants can probably be heard by various animals, such as bats, mice, and insects.”
Stressors like dehydration (脱水) and damage to leaves gave rise to the plants’ high-pitched (尖声的) cries, which ranged from 20 to 250 kHz. The bigger the danger, the more frequent a plant’s signals. “Unstressed plants emitted less than one sound per hour, on average,” researcher Lilach Hadany said, “while the stressed plants — both dehydrated and injured — emitted dozens of sounds every hour.”
To catch these sounds, Hadany’s team surrounded tomato and tobacco plants with super-sensitive microphones. They then fed the data into an artificial intelligence program that could tell the difference between the species of plant and the types of sounds produced.
“Our findings suggest that the world around us is full of plant sounds, and that these sounds contain information,” Hadany wrote. She added that to translate that information, we just need the “right tools such as sensors that tell growers when plants need watering.” Doing so, researchers noted, may allow farmers to judge exactly when and where to water crops. Saving water, increasing harvests, and lowering stress for both plant and humankind.
1. What did researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel find?| A．Creatures tend to cry out for help when in danger. |
| B．Plants can give off sounds when they are stressed. |
| C．Plant sounds can be heard by both animals and humans. |
| D．Plants make the same sound whatever type of stress they have. |
| A．The influence of stress on plants. |
| B．The urgency of relieving stress of plants. |
| C．The possibility of plants emitting sounds. |
| D．The importance of conducting the research. |
| A．To help get rid of plant stress. |
| B．To identify the types of stress. |
| C．To collect sounds emitted by plants. |
| D．To analyze the collected sounds of plants. |
| A．The research is of practical value. |
| B．It’s difficult to understand plant sounds. |
| C．Further research is needed in the future. |
| D．It’s as easy as pie for farmers to grow crops. |
【推荐2】Fashion house Alabama Chanin has a new line of organic cotton clothing made from its own cotton field. It’s not just an experiment in keeping production local but also an attempt to bring back to life the tradition of clothes-making in the Deep South.
Alabama Chanin, the fashion and lifestyle company founded by Natalie Chanin and Billy Reid, is best known for her flowing, made-to-order organic garments (衣服), entirely hand-made and inspired by the rural South of the 1930s and ‘40s’. “It’s not just ‘factory work’,” Chanin says. “This is a skill that’s dying out in this country. ” “It’s part of the nation’s ‘cultural sustainability to preserve these things’,” Chanin says, “to be able to make our clothes.”
Her business partner, K. P. McNeill, is the one who first thought about growing their own cotton. The ideas of going from field to garment made Chanin think of how generations ago, manufacturing was of a vertical (纵向的) affair. Could that be done today? And organically? They came up with a plan to test it. Reid says it meant no artificial chemicals. “A lot of the weeds had to be pulled by hand. It’s not just your normal cotton operation that’s automated,” Reid says.
Chanin holds a piece of ivory-colored cloth made from the hand-picked cotton grown in the Alabama field. “I’ve never seen cotton quite as clean and clear as this,” Chanin says, “I don’t think people have seen that since cotton was really a driving factor of destruction in this country.”
Chanin says this project is about transforming cotton into something more modern. “I mean, cotton has an ugly history. It has built fortunes, it’s destroyed nations, it’s enslaved people,” says Chanin. “But to me this cotton is part of making a new story for cotton.”
1. What do we know about Alabama Chanin?| A．It just focuses on the ready-made suits. |
| B．It preserves traditional craftsmanship. |
| C．It leads the way in the fashion industry. |
| D．It ensures sustainable economic growth. |
| A．To highlight production efficiency. |
| B．To question the cotton’s cleanliness. |
| C．To contrast cotton’s historical image. |
| D．To praise the cotton of high quality. |
| A．Fashion keeps changing all the time. |
| B．A bad reputation often ruins tradition. |
| C．Honoring the past builds the future. |
| D．Modernization easily beats tradition. |
| A．From Cotton Field to Garment |
| B．Creating Clothes That Do Matter |
| C．From Old Times to Modern Days |
| D．Launching a Fashion Movement |
【推荐3】Few fruits carry more health-promoting antioxidants (抗氧化剂) than blackcurrants (黑加仑). Widely grown in cooler parts of Europe, they are in high demand from consumers seeking chemical-free juices made from the berries. Farmers, though, can struggle to increase productions without relying on chemicals. That could change, not just for blackcurrants but other fruit too, with the careful use of probiotics (益生菌).
Probiotics is mostly known for its use of tiny living things, including certain bacteria, to restore or improve the digestion in people and animals. But plants can benefit from bacteria too. Among other things, bacteria help plants produce things that keep disease-causing viruses off their leaves, support them in collecting nutrition from the environment and help them melt minerals found in the soil.
Knowing all this, Virgilija Gaveliene and Sigita Jurkoniene, of the Institute of Botany Nature Research Centre in Lithuania, set out 10 find a way to use probiotics to increase the production of blackcurrant bushes, which are grown in that country. The researchers also knew from other work that the production of strawberries and raspberries could be increased by exposing plants to a carefully selected mix of bacteria.
As they report in Agricultural Science and Technology, the results were impressive. While thousand blackcurrants collected randomly weighed just over 538 grams, the same number from the field exposed to bacteria treatments weighed nearly 783 grams. A similar increase was also true for the field using the probiotics.
Drs. Jurkoniene and Gaveliene are convinced that the right mix of bacteria can help blackcurrant farmers meet demand without using chemicals. And it could help other growers. What works for berries should, in theory, work for other fruit, like apples, pears and oranges. More experiments are needed to be sure.
1. Blackcurrants are in high demand mainly because _____________.| A．they are widely grown in cooler parts of Europe |
| B．consumers are looking for berry juices free from chemicals |
| C．farmers increase production of blackcurrants using probiotics |
| D．few other fruits are more nutritious than blackcurrants |
| A．improve their digestion and nutrition | B．get rid of harmful viruses from their leaves |
| C．collect nutrition from the environment | D．melt minerals obtained from the soil |
| A．probiotics can only be used to prevent growth of plants |
| B．blackcurrants grown in Lithuania are more impressive |
| C．blackcurrant production is increased due to probiotics |
| D．bacteria must be removed from plants to promote production |
| A．an online novel | B．a science magazine | C．a travel brochure | D．a fashion website |
