【推荐1】What is the single most effective way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions? Go vegetarian (素食)？ Replant the Amazon? Cycle to work? None of the above. The answer is: make air-conditioners better. On one calculation， replacing refrigerants (制冷剂) damaging the atmosphere would reduce total greenhouse gases equaling 90bn tonnes of CO₂ by 2050. Making the units more energy-efficient could double that. By contrast, if half the world’s population gave up meat, it would save 66bn tonnes. Replanting two-thirds of tropical forests would save 61 bn tonnes. A one-third increase in global bicycle journeys, just 2.3bn tonnes.

Air-conditioning is one of the world's great overlooked industries. Automobiles and air-conditioners were invented at roughly the same time, and both have had a huge impact on where people live and Work. Unlike cars, though， air-conditioners have drawn little criticism for their social impact, emissions or energy efficiency. Most hot countries do not have rules to govern their energy use. There is not even a common English word for “coolth” (the opposite of warmth).

Yet air-conditioning has done more than most things to benefit humankind. Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of Singapore, called it “perhaps one of the signal inventions of history”. It has transformed productivity in the tropics(热带地区)and helped turn southern China into the workshop of the World. In Europe, its spread has pushed down heat-related deaths to 10% since 2003, Men 70,000 people than usual, most of them elderly, died in a heatwave. For children, air-conditioned classrooms are associated with better grades at school.

Environmentalists who call air-conditioning“a luxury we cannot afford” have half a point, however. In the next ten years, as many air-conditioners will be installed(安装)around the world as were put in between 1902(invention time)and 2005.Unless energy can be produced without carbon emissions, these extra machines will warm the world. At the moment, therefore, air-conditioners create a vicious cycle. The more the Earth warms, the more people need them. But the more there are, the warmer the world will be.

Cutting the impact of cooling requires three things. First, air-conditioners must become much more efficient. The most energy-efficient models on the market today consume only about one-third as much electricity as average ones, Minimum energy-performance standards need to be raised raised, orintroduced in countries that lack them altogether, to push the average unit's performance closer to the standard of the best.

Next, manufacturers should stop using damaging refrigerants. One type called hydrofluoro-carbons, is over 1,000 times worse than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere. An international agreement to knock out these pollutants will come into force in 2019.

Last, more could. be done to design offices, malls and even cities so they do not need as many air-conditioners in the first place. More buildings should be built with overhanging roofs orbalconies for shade, or with natural ventilation (自然通风).Simply painting roofs white can help keep temperatures down. Providing indoor air-conditioned comfort need not come at the expense of an overheating world.

1. What’s the most effective way to reduce carbon gases?

A．Planting more trees.	B．Leading green lifestyles.
C．Improving cooling systems.	D．Buying new air-conditioners.

2. What can we learn from Paragraphs 2 and 3?

A．Air-conditioning enables factories to produce more in hot areas.

B．The heat-related deaths have dropped by 10% since 2003 in Europe.

C．There are many factories producing air-conditioners in southern China.

D．Air-conditioners have received little criticism for they have no negative impact.

3. Why do environmentalists call air-conditioning “a luxury we cannot afford” in Paragraph 4?

A．Because the price of air-conditioning is too high.

B．Because you can’t afford the time for installation.

C．Because the cost of energy consumption is too high.

D．Because the earth will suffer from its carbon emissions.

4. Which of the following measures can reduce the impact of cooling?
a.design natural cooling buildings
b.raise standards for energy-performance
c.make laws for international cooperation
d.stop applying harmful refrigerants to production

A．abc

B．abd

C．acd

D．bed

【推荐2】Human is struggling to contain two major crises: Skyrocketing global temperatures and deep-diving biodiversity (生物多样性). But people tend to solve each problem on its own, for instance by using green energies and carbon-eating machines, while surrounding ecosystems to preserve them. But a new report argues that treating each crisis in isolation (孤立地) means missing out on solutions that resolve both. Human can't solve one without also solving the other.

So what might these solutions look like? Say, for instance, you turn a heavily logged forest into a national park. As the trees grow back, they would provide habitat for the return of animals. Letting a forest come back naturally, rather than planting a single species of tree to balance up some corporation's carbon emissions (排放), makes it recover faster. This is known as a nature-based solution, a campaign that both absorb carbon and provides an extra ecological or economic benefit.

Stopping human's attacks on ecosystems can also help fight climate change, the study's authors write. Even cities can get in on the action, the report notes. Urban areas turn into "heat islands" because they absorb the sun's energy during the day and slowly release it at night. They are therefore much hotter than surrounding rural areas. Planting more trees cools cities and provides habitats for birds and shade for humans, which will be even more critical as global temperatures rise.

The big threat, the authors stress, is that nature-based solutions alone can't stop climate change. As temperatures climb and droughts get more severe, it'll be harder for forests, wetlands, and mangroves to survive, even with our help. First and foremost, human has to dramatically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. “Nature is not going to save us." the authors say. “We can only use nature to support efforts.”

“Still, governments and corporations are becoming more conscious of the importance of maintaining biodiversity while also fighting climate change," says Beymer-Farris, from the University of Kentucky. “I myself, as a professor who has been working in this for 20 years, I see a lot of hope, because I see a lot of change on the horizon."

1. How should people deal with the two crises?

A．By using carbon-eating machines.

B．By giving priority to one of them.

C．By tackling them in the meanwhile.

D．By establishing more nature reserves.

2. What is the most effective way to stop climate change according to the author?

A．Plant more trees in urban areas.

B．Adopt nature- based solutions.

C．Send out less greenhouse gas.

D．Provide habitats for animals.

3. What is Beymer- Farris's attitude to the future of the ecology?

A．Optimistic.

B．Doubtful.

C．Critical.

D．Concerned.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．Why we care about climate change

B．How to live in harmony with nature

C．Why urban areas become “heat islands"

D．How to protect species and save the planet

【推荐3】Ecuador may have a new tourism jingle (广告歌). But they don’t want anyone to actually sing it. Indeed, the country’s latest national park is built on the belief that silence is golden. The South American country has become the first in the world to build a “quiet park” beside the Zabalo River where silence is protected like a natural resource.

There are no transport routes here. Nor residential and commercial developments. You can’t even hear the sound of power lines.

Named as Wilderness Quiet Park, the land is owned by the Cofán people of Ecuador. But hopes are high that this unique space in a world increasingly affected by noise will kickstart (启动) tourism in the region — quiet tourism, that is.

These days, it’s almost impossible to escape the human noise. And it’s a serious effect on the health of animals, including humans.

“Science has made it clear that noise pollution is not just an annoyance, it causes health loss and impacts wildlife’s ability to survive. By recognizing the Zabalo River as the world’s first quiet park, we are paving the way for many more quiet parks around the globe.” says Gordon Hempton, an ecologist and co-founder of Quiet Parks International, an organization which aims at spreading quiet across the globe.

So, what’s it actually like when nature is the only soundtrack? Here’s how Sam Goldman, a journalist, describes it: “The monkeys roar; insects buzz; and birdsong cackles …”

But the park not only gives nature a chance to find its voice. The people who own the land — the Cofán people — have long regarded themselves as caretakers of the rivers and rainforests in the region but their numbers have decreased to fewer than 2,000. Quiet Parks International will help the Cofan Nation “defend their lands and preserve their culture.”

1. What’s the purpose of this text?

A．To introduce a special park.

B．To explain a new living concept.

C．To warn people of noise pollution.

D．To recommend a travel destination.

2. What do we know about Wilderness Quiet Park?

A．It vaules natural quiet much.

B．It develops rapidly in business.

C．It can easily get rid of the human noise.

D．It provides tourists with various transport routes.

3. According to Gordon Hempton,       .

A．wildlife in Ecuador are in danger of extinction

B．noise pollution has become a serious problem

C．the Zabalo River is the best quiet park in the world

D．there are already many quiet parks around the globe now

4. What can we infer about the Cofán people from the last paragraph?

A．They care little about environmental protection.

B．They are in need of help to protect their safety.

C．Their numbers have decreased due to noise pollution.

D．They have long been protecting their living surroundings.

【推荐1】I really love my job because I enjoy working with small children and like the challenges and awards from the job. I also think my work is important. There was a time when I thought I would never have that sort of career．

I wasn’t an excellent student because I didn’t do much schoolwork. In my final term I started thinking what I might do and found I didn’t have much to offer. I just accepted that I wasn’t the type to have a career．

I then found myself a job — looking after two little girls. It wasn’t too bad at first. But the problems began when I agreed to live in so that I would be there if my boss had to go out for business in the evening. We agreed that if I had to work extra hours one week, she’d give me time off the next. But unfortunately, it didn’t often work out. I was getting extremely tired and fed up, because I had too many late nights and early mornings with the children.

One Sunday, I was in the park with the children, and met Megan who used to go to school with me. I told her about my situation. She suggested that I should do a course and get a qualification (资格证书) if I wanted to work with children. I didn’t think I would be accepted because I didn’t take many exams in school. She persuaded me to phone the local college and they were really helpful. My experience meant a lot and I got on a part-time course. I had to leave my job with the family, and got work helping out at a kindergarten whenever available.

Now I’ve got a full-time job there. I shall always be thankful to Megan. I wish I had known earlier that you could have a career, even if you aren’t top of the class at school.

1. What is the author’s present job?

A．Working part-time in a college.

B．Taking care of children for a family.

C．Attending children at a kindergarten.

D．Helping children with their schoolwork.

2. When staying with the two girls’ family, the author______.

A．frequently worked extra hours

B．was paid for long-time work

C．got much help from her boss

D．took a day off every other week

3. Why did the author leave her first job?

A．She found a full-time job.

B．She was fed up with children.

C．She needed a rest after overworking.

D．She decided to take a part-time course.

4. What has the author learned from her own experiences?

A．Qualifications are necessary for a career.

B．Average students can still have a career.

C．Hard work makes an excellent student.

D．One must choose the job one likes.