French company Airseas, has promised to help big goods ships reduce their fuel consumption (能源消耗), and cut their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (排放) by 20%. And they’re doing this with the Seawing — a 1,000 square meter kite that will fly 300 meters above the water’s surface. So the shipping industry is rediscovering the joy and efficiency of sails (帆).
The large, ship-sized kite is now being developed, and the company plans to open a factory to produce the Seawing in 2026. Once produced, Airseas has promised that launching and operating a Seawing on a goods ship will be automated (自动化), making it easy for crews (船员) to use. The crew can simply press some buttons and a large kite will rise into the sky. That’s not to say that the goods ships won’t use their engines at all, but the kite will take some pressure off of those engines and will reduce the need for fuel. The wind will move the ship, just like it did for hundreds of years in the old days before industrialization.
Lowering emissions by 20% may not seem like a big deal, but moving large amounts of goods back and forth on the high seas creates 3% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. That’s more than the airline industry, which produced about 2% of the world’s emissions in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency. Shipping is also a massive industry, and one worth focusing on for lowering emissions. About 90% of the world’s traded goods are moved around through ships, according to the International Chamber of Shipping.
Some companies are expecting this new version of sails. Japanese shipping company, “K” Line has placed orders for the Seawing kite, and the European Union has also invested more than $2 million in funding.
1. What is French company Airseas trying to do?| A．Take part in kite-flying competitions. | B．Make sea exploration easy and joyful. |
| C．Produce big kites to be used for sailing. | D．Ship goods with low fuel consumption. |
| A．It will completely replace engines. | B．It will be light in weight. |
| C．It will follow the goods ship at sea. | D．It will be easily operated by crews. |
| A．To stress a problem. | B．To make a comparison. |
| C．To introduce a new topic. | D．To explore a possibility. |
| A．The sail ships are getting popular again. | B．The GHG emissions are a big problem. |
| C．Seawing will be produced in factories. | D．Kites will help cut shipping emissions. |
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【推荐1】Jim Halsey, 83, has traveled to Japan and South Korea, through Europe and Central America. One recent day, he lowered his body by bending knees in a narrow, wooden boat and watched as an elephant walked heavily through a wetland in Botswana.
Halsey, who was a lawyer before he retired, didn't have to leave his wheelchair at Powhatan Nursing Home to make the trip. He and several other residents at the retirement home wore virtual-reality goggles（护目镜）and journeyed to the country in southern Africa, as well as to Antarctica.
Carleigh Berryman, 22, moved from side to side between wheelchairs to fit virual-reality goggle headsets（耳机）on the residents of the retirement home. Her company, VivaVita, was designed to bring virtual-reality experiences to men and women who are at an advanced age and with limited mobility.
Berryman created Viva Vita while still a student at George Washington University. She obtained $ 5,000 from the schools' New Venture Competition for budding entrepreneus（初露头角的企业家）.
Berryman entered the competition as a senior—advancing through several rounds while studying for exams and preparing for graduation—and won the runner-up（亚军）cash prize in April The money has helped pay for equipment and cover costs associated with registering the company. Since 2009, the university has given more than $ 2.3 million in cash prizes to about 2,000 student entrepreneurs, said Lex McCusker, director of student entrepreneurship programs at GWU.
Berryman's idea of setting up VivaVita didn't come out of nowhere. If you have a chance to be exposed to the high rates of anxiety and depression among older Americans, you will be surely surprised by the figures. Their symptoms of anxiety or depression go unnoticed and are an accepted part of aging. In 2017, adults aged 85 and older had one of the nation's highest suicide rates: 201 deaths per 1,000,000 people. The national average among all age groups is 140 deaths per 1,000,000 Americans.
1. Why does the author mention Jim Halsey in the first two paragraphs?| A．To present the good services of his nursing home. |
| B．To tell about his unique way of making his trip. |
| C．To show his passion for travelling. |
| D．To mark his outstanding achievement. |
| A．are enthusiastic about taking photos of natural scenery |
| B．are fond of self-driving tours |
| C．are energetic and enjoy travelling |
| D．are old and have trouble in touring around |
| A．Humorous and knowledgeable. | B．Cooperative and generous. |
| C．Competitive and caring. | D．Strict and responsible. |
| A．A magazine. | B．A biology textbook. |
| C．An economic newspaper. | D．A guidebook. |
【推荐2】Imagine if your clothes could pick up the sounds of everything going on around you. Scientists have created a fibre (纤维) which can pick up sounds and could be used as a hearing aid, to monitor heartbeats or even in spacecraft.
The new fibre works like a microphone. It picks up sounds and turns them into vibrations (震动) and then electrical signals, in a similar way to how ears work. When woven (编织) into a shirt, the researchers say the fibre can even detect a wearer’s heartbeat. The fibre can hear sounds as low as those in a quiet library to louder sounds like heavy road traffic. It can even accurately tell the direction of sudden sounds like handclaps.
The fibre was created by engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and researchers at Rhode Island School of Design. “Wearing a piece of clothing that can hear, you might talk through it to answer phone calls and communicate with others,” said lead author Yet Wan, who created the technology at MIT.
Once they had created the fibre, the team wove it into a more traditional piece of clothing which was much more flexible. When it was woven into the back of a shirt it was able to pick up the sound of people clapping, even picking up the direction the clapping was coming from. When woven into the shirt’s inner lining (内衬) it could pick up the person’s heartbeat, which the researchers think could be used in a pregnant woman’s clothes to monitor a baby’s heartbeat.
As well as wearable hearing aids, and clothes that track your heartbeat, the team says there are possibilities beyond clothing. “It can be integrated with spacecraft skin to listen to space dust, or embedded into (嵌入) buildings to detect cracks or strains,” Yet suggests. “It can even be woven into a smart net to monitor fish in the ocean.”
1. What is the scientists’ new invention?| A．A lightweight fibre. | B．A new spacecraft skin. |
| C．A fibre that can hear. | D．A microphone that can talk. |
| A．It is easily distracted by loud sounds. |
| B．It can even pick up faint sounds. |
| C．It works more accurately than human ears. |
| D．It fails to recognise the direction of sounds. |
| A．They wove it into babies’ clothes. | B．They turned it into a fishnet. |
| C．They put it into mass production. | D．They tested its performance. |
| A．The fibre has a wide range of applications. | B．The fibre can bring in a big profit. |
| C．The fibre needs to be improved. | D．The fibre is less flexible than traditional clothes. |
【推荐3】A vertical smart farm was established in a Seoul subway station. Opened on September 23, it's Korean's first urban, underground smart farm.
Sterilized(无菌的) outerwear is put on before entering the vertical farm. Vegetables are being cultivated(培育) under LED lighting, in trays of hydroponic(溶液栽培) that take the place of soil, “We are not pulling in dirty air from outside or from the subway. Thanks to this sealed sterile environment, the vertical farm has no need for pesticides( 杀虫剂 ) . Moreover, the vegetables grown possess slightly higher amounts of vitamins and minerals than regular vegetables, "said Kim Sung-un, a senior manager at a commercial smart farm company.
Still, Kim admits that smart farms are not suited to every kind of vegetable. “We can produce potatoes or tomatoes, but they are not cost effective,” Kim said. However, they are appropriate for lettuce-widely used in Korean cuisine as wraps for barbecued meat and fish-and herbs-widely used in Korean cuisine and medicine. Unlike traditional farming work, with its requirement for hard work and heavy machinery, smart farming labor is light. With all processes, —except for seeding and harvesting—fully automated or using robots, the main job is monitoring(监控), and disabled people were hired for the job. “The good thing about smart farming is that we can include those who are socially excluded,” Kim said. “And these systems are something woman can work on, there is no hard labor.” The farms are also applicable in environments where traditional farming is not feasible---such as deserts and arctic climate zones.
1. What do we know about vegetables grown in smart farms?| A．Potatoes and tomatoes cannot be planted. |
| B．Lettuce and herbs are cost effective to produce. |
| C．Vegetables are planted under LED lighting in soil. |
| D．Vegetables grown there are the same as regular vegetables. |
| A．All farming processes are fully automated. |
| B．Smart farms are equipped with heavy machinery. |
| C．The only job to do in a smart farm is monitoring |
| D．The disabled can be involved in the farming work |
| A．Practicable | B．Impossible |
| C．Popular | D．Acceptable. |
| A．Development of smart farms | B．Great changes in smart farm |
| C．An introduction to smart farms | D．Vegetables grown in smart farms |
【推荐1】In the UK, the government showed throwaway cups should be forbidden altogether by 2023 if they are not all being recycled. As a result, Starbucks said it would try out a 5p (5 pence) cup charge in 20 to 25 central London shops. “We will begin it next month and at first it will last for three months,” the company said, adding that it continued to offer a 25p (25 pence) discount to customers who brought their own reusable cups.
The government agrees plastic waste is a problem and will consider taxing disposable (一次性的) plastics. The committee’s chair, Mary Creagh, said, “The UK throws away 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups every year. Almost none are recycled. Coffee cup producers and shops haven’t taken action to change this. So we need to kick-start a change in recycling.”
The Liberal Democrats said they had been suggesting a charge on coffee cups since September 2016. The party’s spokesman, Tim Farron, said, “The result is clear that the tax works. The 5p charge on plastic bags has largely cut down the usage and helped protect our environment.”
The 5p tax is being against by the makers of paper cups. Mike Tuner, of the Paper Cup Alliance, said paper cups were the safest solution for drinks. “The paper cups we produce in the UK can be recycled, and are being recycled. We are trying to increase recycling rates. Taxing the morning coffee run won’t solve the problem, but it will hurt consumers,” he said.
Disposable coffee cups are technically recyclable, but most are not because the UK has just three machines that can split the paper and plastic parts for recycling. The committee has called on the government to require coffee cups from cafes without in-store recycling systems to carry “not recycled” marks to remind customers. Cafes with in-store recycling systems should print their cups with “recyclable in store only”.
1. About the throwaway cups, Starbucks will ________.| A．offer a half-price discount to customers with their own cups |
| B．support the idea of forbidding throwaway cups till 2023 |
| C．charge customers 5p per throwaway cup in some shops |
| D．stop to offer throwaway cups in its shops right now |
| A．Coffee cup makers will take action to recycle the water. |
| B．The use of the disposable plastics is a nationwide problem. |
| C．Coffee cup users pay much attention to the plastic problem. |
| D．The UK government will ban all disposable coffee cups by 2023. |
| A．More people will fight against the charge. |
| B．There will be little change in our environment. |
| C．Fewer people will use the disposable coffee cups. |
| D．There will be a competition between coffee shops. |
| A．will be supported by the makers of the paper cups |
| B．will affect the consumers instead of solving the problem |
| C．can give a hand to increasing recycling rates of the makers |
| D．can be the best solution for the government to cut down waste |
| A．There are not enough professionals in this area. |
| B．There is not enough professional equipment. |
| C．Consumers don’t have recycling knowledge. |
| D．Cafes don’t have recycling systems at all. |
【推荐2】Many Beijing residents go to great lengths to avoid breathing the city’s smoggy air, especially when it reaches critical pollution levels, but one local firm decided that canning (灌装) and selling this poor quality air as a souvenir (纪念品) would be a great idea. Believe it or not, he was right.
After seeing a number of companies achieve commercial success by canning fresh air from countries like France, Canada or Australia and selling it in China, Dominic Johnson-Hill, a British-born citizen of Beijing and owner of the Plastered 8 souvenir shop, decided to turn the idea on its head and sell canned Beijing air throughout China and abroad.
“I’d seen people going crazy to buy canned air from Canada and Australia, so I thought it was time to push business the other way,” the entrepreneur said. “They’re perfect gifts! What else are you going to take home when you go home from Beijing? A roast duck? A Plastered T-shirt? These cans are light, portable, you can just imagine someone’s face when they unwrap (打开) it for Christmas.”
The few mouth-fulls of Beijing air come in standard tin cans featuring a couple of city landmarks as well as a bitter description of the contents: “a unique mix of nitrogen, oxygen and some other stuff”. The ironic (讽刺的) souvenirs cost 28 RMB (US $4) and are available at the Plastered 8 shop, as well as on its online shop. But if you’re actually considering buying some, you’d better ask shop in advance, as they are virtually flying off the shelves. Johnson-Hill said that his shop is selling hundreds of Beijing air cans every day.
Personally, the well-sold can probably is an awakening for the public to be concerned about the living conditions. Yet one thing that’s not particularly clear is whether the air is really collected from Beijing, as the cans are labeled as “Made in Shenzhen”. There’s a big chance that’s just a kind of Plastered 8 humor, as they also list “Choking Hazard” and “May have unidentified objects inside.” as warnings.
Anyway, it is probably a unique way to make people realize the importance of protecting the environment.
1. What contributes to Dominic’s idea of canning and selling the poor quality air?| A．Try to get used to it. | B．Sell it all over the world. |
| C．Can it as a souvenir. | D．Try to push business the other way. |
| A．Satisfied. | B．Surprised. |
| C．Frightened. | D．Refreshed. |
| A．Liquids | B．Objects |
| C．Minerals | D．Risks |
| A．Do something opposite. | B．Give others a surprise. |
| C．Make a big profit. | D．Put forward a strange idea. |
| A．The canned Beijing air may harm people who buy it. |
| B．The Plastered 8 souvenir shop is famous for its humour. |
| C．People should make efforts to protect the environment. |
| D．Dominic Johnson-Hill likes the poor quality air in Beijing. |
【推荐3】Lagos, a big city in Nigeria, has a population of 20 million, and they can produce between 13, 000 and 15, 000 tonnes of waste every day including 2, 250 tonnes of plastic.
Despite a lot of cleaning, Lagos has no proper system to dispose of rubbish, and not having public awareness of pollution brings a huge environmental challenge. Litter gets washed away by the rains and waterways and ends up in mountains of rubbish on the beaches. Light- house Beach is one of the beaches. It stretches for about 100 kilometers along the Atlantic, all the way to neighboring Benin. Lined with palm trees, the beach could be beautiful if it weren’t for all the pollution.
“It is time that we should raise awareness of keeping the environment clean and clean up all the plastic,” says Chioma Chukwura, who helped pick up rubbish on Lighthouse Beach. At the end of a tiring day, 230 large bin bags were put together on the hot sand, filled with dirty plastic.
“Although the job is challenging,a company will come and pick them up tomorrow. All the plastic here will get reused. Sold for $500 a tonne, the plastic could bring $250 million to Lagos each year, and a cleaner environment could promote the development of the city,” says Owoade Yussuf, organiser of the cleanup.
As the volunteers leave at the end of the day,always just 100 meters is clean. “There is still a lot to do. Maybe we need two months, continuously, to get this cleaned up,” says another volunteer. “We have to find a way to prevent the plastic from coming back. After we’ve finished, I’m sure we may still see litter here when we come back.”
On Lighthouse Beach, the problem isn’t just plastic. Destroyed ships also pollute the beach. With that kind of pollution, even an army of volunteers may struggle. However, with more help, they can still make a difference.
1. How does the author show the severity of rubbish in Lagos in paragraph l?| A．By listing numbers. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By asking questions. | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．Pick out. | B．Deal with. | C．Bring about. | D．Adapt to, |
| A．There is no need to recycle the beach litter. |
| B．It is tough to clean all the plastic on the beach. |
| C．It is nccessary to sell the beach litter for money. |
| D．There is no fund to remove all the beach plastic. |
| A．Destroyed Lighthouse Beach in Lagos |
| B．Plastic Pollution is a Worldwide Problem |
| C．Lagos Faces Many Environmental Challenges |
| D．Cleanup Efforts on Lagos’Lighthouse Beach |
【推荐1】A characteristic of American culture that has become almost a tradition is to respect the self-made man — the man who has risen to the top through his own efforts, usually beginning by working with his hands. While the leader in business or industry or the college professor occupies a higher social position and commands greater respect in the community than the common laborer or even the skilled factory worker, he may take pains to point out that his father started life in America as farmer or laborer of some sort.
This attitude toward manual (体力的) labor is now still seen in many aspects of American life. One is invited to dinner at a home that is not only comfortably but even luxuriously (豪华地) furnished and in which there is every evidence of the fact that the family has been able to afford foreign travel, expensive hobbies, and college education for the children; yet the hostess probably will cook the dinner herself, will serve it herself and will wash dishes afterward; furthermore the dinner will not consist merely of something quickly and easily got from contents of various cans and a cake or a pie bought at the nearby bakery. On the contrary, the hostess usually takes pride in careful preparation of special dishes. A professional man may talk about washing the car, digging in his flowerbeds, painting the house. His wife may even help with these things, just as he often helps her with the dishwashing. The son who is away at college may wait on table and wash dishes for his living, or during the summer he may work with a construction gang on a highway in order to pay for his education.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?| A．In America, people tend to have a high opinion of the self-made man. |
| B．In America, people can always rise to the top through their own efforts. |
| C．In America, college professors win great respect from common workers. |
| D．In America, people feel painful to mention their fathers as labors. |
| A．Because servants in America are hard to get. |
| B．Because she takes pride in what she can do herself. |
| C．Because she can hardly afford servants. |
| D．Because it is easy to prepare a meal with canned food. |
| A．Work in a furniture shop. | B．Keep accounts for a bar. |
| C．Wait to lay the table. | D．Serve customers in a restaurant. |
| A．A respectable self-made family. |
| B．American attitude toward manual labor. |
| C．Characteristics of American culture |
| D．The development of manual labor. |
【推荐2】People hoping to shrink their waistlines may want to adopt three simple eating habits to help them get there, new research suggests. The study tracked nearly 60,000 people and discovered that how fast they ate and the timing of their evening meal and snacks appeared to be significant factors in whether they ended up obese or managed to lose weight.
Specifically, eating more slowly, avoiding snacks after dinner, and not eating within two hours before going to bed were all linked to weight loss.
The researchers, who published their findings in the journal BMJ Open, said they set out to analyze “the effects of changes in lifestyle habits on changes in obesity.”
They examined data on thousands of people with diabetes in Japan who submitted claims and had regular health checkups between 2008 and 2013, when measurements of their body mass index and waist circumference were taken. During the checkups, the patients also reported their lifestyle habits, including their eating and sleeping patterns, as well as alcohol and tobacco use.
Among other questions, the people were asked to report the speed at which they ate — categorized as fast, normal, or slow.
At the start of the study, 22,070 people—nearly a third of the group — admitted they normally gobbled down their food fast. More than 33,400 said they ate at “normal” speed. Only about 4,190 were self-professed slow eaters.
After taking into account other potential factors, the researchers found that those who said they ate at normal speed were 29 percent less likely to be obese than those who said they were fast eaters. The findings for slow eaters were even more striking: those who said they ate slowly were 42 percent less likely to be obese.
People who said they don’t usually snack after dinner and those who avoiding eating within two hours of bedtime also tended to see some weight loss, the researchers found.
Overall reductions in waist circumference were small, but they were greater among the slow and normal speed eaters in the study.
Other habits the researchers looked at — including whether people ate or skipped breakfast, and how much sleep they got — did not appear to have a significant impact on weight.
1. The underlined part “shrink their waistlines” in Paragraph 1 means_______________.| A．put up weight | B．lose weight | C．keep fit | D．train the waist |
| A．probably increase more weight | B．probably lose weight |
| C．probably eat less | D．probably eat more |
| A．Normal speed eaters are the mostly likely to be become fat. |
| B．Not eating anything within two hours of bedtime has little effect on people’ weight. |
| C．Whether people eat breakfast doesn’t affect people’s weight at all. |
| D．How much sleep people get doesn’t influence people’s weight greatly. |
| A．How fast people eat is linked to weight loss | B．Three Habits linked to weight loss |
| C．The cause of obesity | D．How to lose weight |
【推荐3】In the digital world of endless comparisons, a thought-inspiring study by a team at Ruhr University Bochum reveals a surprising truth: materialism (物质主义) on social media adds stress and reduces happiness. This research, conducted through an online survey of over 1,200 participants, highlights the unique way social media causes materialistic attitudes and the subsequent impact on mental health.
Conducted with a diverse group of participants, the survey analyzed the social media behaviors and psychological states of individuals, focusing on their materialistic posts. The study employed six questionnaires to understand the participants’ materialistic attitudes, social media habits, stress levels, and life satisfaction. The participants, averaging over two hours a day on social media, revealed a clear pattern: higher levels of materialism on social media are associated with lower life satisfaction, increased stress symptoms, and a higher risk of social media addiction.
The study’s implications extend beyond numbers and charts. It suggests a worrying trend where individuals seeking validation (肯定) through materialistic displays on social media might be sacrificing their mental peace and happiness. Social media addiction is characterized by frequent use of social media platforms, often at the expense of other activities. Stress symptoms can range from anxiety to physical signs like headaches or tiredness. What’s clear is that social media may cause far more harm to users than good.
While the study acknowledges the risks associated with social media, especially for materialistic individuals, Dr. Ozimek, a psychologist, advises against completely abandoning these platforms.
Instead, he suggests a balanced approach of various activities to avoid comparison. Researchers also propose incorporating materialism and social media usage assessments in mental health treatment. Recognizing these factors as potential starting points for interventions offers new methods for addressing modern-day mental health challenges.
1. What does the survey find about the materialistic posts?| A．They produce high life satisfaction. |
| B．They help to ease stress symptoms. |
| C．They lead to social media addiction. |
| D．They bring about high consumption patterns. |
| A．Some people avoid too much use of social media. |
| B．Some people try to seek the good of online displays. |
| C．Some people undervalue mental peace and happiness. |
| D．Some people pursue recognition through online material shows. |
| A．Abandoning social media platforms. | B．Keeping a balance among various activities. |
| C．Assessing social media posts objectively. | D．Searching for potential interventions. |
| A．Turn to Rich Life for Growth |
| B．Assess Real Life for Mental Health |
| C．Materialism on Social Media Decreases Happiness |
| D．Understanding of Materialism Differs among Individuals |
