Protect the night sky
As a nature photographer, stars have always been one of my favourite elements in the photos. They offer an connection to a universe that is mysterious and grand, connecting our earthly lives to the heavens. Since the earliest recorded history, the night sky has sparked our imaginations and become deeply rooted in our cultures, traditions, artwork, and in later years, has inspired the development of technology with the hope of reaching beyond our blue planet.
With the development of the industrial (工业的) world, though, we have begun to lose the clarity (清晰) that thousands of generations of people and wildlife before us have enjoyed. Because of excesssive (过度) use of lighting, stars have become fainter (模糊的). For photographers hoping to capture the magic of the night sky, they must seek new places. Dark places are far from the reach of a city, and those place are becoming harder and harder to find.
Thanks to conservation groups, led by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), we have an opportunity to improve our night skies and recapture ancient magic. By holding the International Dark-Sky week, a yearly celebration of the night sky, the IDA is helping cities, communities and families do their part in helping make skies darker. Dark skies benefit more than just nature photographers; they are important to many wildlife species that also depend on them.
Here are some simple steps we all can do that are easy and inexpensive:
* Change your light bulbs to a dark-sky-friendly color, the closer the light is similar to “firelight” and the further it is away from a blue or white color, the better it is for the environment.
* Use a light fixture that channels the light down and instead of wide and open.
* Turn your lights off before bed!
1. Why does the author prefer photographing stars so much?| A．They inspire the author to learn cultures and art. |
| B．They are often paid little attention to by most people. |
| C．They are hardly seen due to the industrial development. |
| D．They build a close relation between universe and humans. |
| A．By looking for places without light. |
| B．By turning to government for help |
| C．By avoiding using any light bulbs. |
| D．By promoting industrial development |
| A．Blue and white are the dark-sky-friendly colors. |
| B．Many species of wildlife depend on dark skies. |
| C．Little efforts are needed to protect the night sky. |
| D．Joint efforts are needed to regain the darker sky. |
| A．To highlight the value of protecting the night sky. |
| B．To inform people of the current situation of night sky. |
| C．To call on people to take action to protect the night sky |
| D．To show author's great concern for the use of lighting |
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【推荐1】The name sounds funny but the idea is no joke: it’s a personal toilet called the pee-pool, Anders Wilhelmson, a Swedish architect, is the inventor of the pee-pool.
He became interested in the idea of sanitation(卫生设施) after taking part in a research project on the social and political development of cities. One of the most common problems he found in developing countries was the lack of toilets. He wanted to do something to help. So working with others, he started the project in 2005, and the next year started a company called Peepoolple.
The toilet is a single—use bag made of environmentally friendly plastics. The inside is treated with urea(尿素), a chemical commonly used as fertilizer. The hotter the weather, the more quickly the waste turns into what is needed by plants. The sanitation process can be as soon as a couple of hours or as long as two to four weeks. You can just bury it in a pot and grow whatever you like.
The company expects to start selling the bags in August in Kenya and Bangladesh, but it is just beginning production and sales in Nairobi now. Full production could reach about half a million bags a day and people may be able to buy the pee-pool in countries Vietnam, Bangladesh, etc.
The United Nations says more than two and a half billion people around the world do not have good sanitation. Many have no choice but to use the outdoors, which is not only bad for the environment, but also harmful to people’s health. Each year, poor sanitation leads to three fifths of those people getting an infectious disease which on average causes one out of 1,000 patients to die.
Jack Smith, the founder of the World Toilet Organization, says “This is quite an unacceptable situation given the fact that we are living in the modern world. And strangely, many of them own televisions, phones but have no toilet.”
1. What can be learned about the pee-pool from the passage?| A．It can be used over again |
| B．Its sanitation process doesn’t last long |
| C．It works better in summer than in winter |
| D．It should be buried in a pot after being used |
| A．Nairobi | B．Vietnam | C．Sweden | D．Bangladesh |
| A．poor sanitation may cause many problems |
| B．many people don’t care for the environment |
| C．many people get ill from using the outdoors |
| D．quite a number of people died from poor sanitation |
| A．the outdoors being damaged |
| B．many places being short of toilets |
| C．many people having TVs and phones |
| D．many people getting an infection disease |
【推荐2】In order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius — a suggested safe threshold (阈值，界限) — carbon neutrality by mid-21st century is essential. This target is also laid down in the Paris agreement signed by 195 countries, including the EU, which aims to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and to undertake rapid reductions.
Carbon neutrality means having a balance between emitting carbon and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere in carbon sinks. Removing carbon oxide from the atmosphere and then storing it is known as carbon sequestration (碳封存). In order to achieve net zero emissions, all worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will have to be counterbalanced (抵消) by carbon sequestration.
Carbon sink is any system that absorbs more carbon than it emits. The main natural carbon sinks are soil, forests and oceans. According to estimates, natural sinks remove between 9.5 and 11 Gt of CO2 per year. Annual global CO2 emissions reached 38.0 Gt in 2019. Moreover, no artificial carbon sinks are able to remove carbon from the atmosphere on the necessary scale to fight global warming at present. The carbon stored in natural sinks such as forests is released into the atmosphere through forest fires, changes in land use or logging. This is why it is essential to reduce carbon emissions in order to reach climate neutrality.
Another way to reduce emissions and to pursue carbon neutrality is to offset (补偿) emissions made in one sector by reducing them somewhere else. This can be done through investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency or other clean, low-carbon technologies.
The European Union is committed to achieving the carbon neutrality by 2050. Under the Green Deal it aims to become the first continent that removes as many CO2 emissions as it produces by 2050. On 7 October 2020, the European Parliament backed climate neutrality by 2050 and a 60% emission reduction target by 2030 compared to 1990 levels — more than Commission’s proposal of 55%.
In addition, members called for all EU countries individually to become climate neutral and insisted that after 2050, more CO2 should be removed from atmosphere than is emitted. Also, all direct or indirect subsidies (补贴) to fossil fuels should be canceled by 2025 at the latest.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To present a fact. |
| C．To explain an agreement. | D．To define a concept. |
| A．There will be no carbon emission. |
| B．The carbon emission will reach its peak. |
| C．The temperature will rise within 1.5 degrees Celsius. |
| D．The amount of production of CO2 will equal its removal. |
| A．Because they release more CO2 than they take in. |
| B．Because man-made ones couldn’t replace natural ones. |
| C．Because there aren’t enough of them. |
| D．Because people are destroying them. |
| A．Pessimistic. | B．Indifferent. |
| C．Unclear. | D．Ambitious. |
【推荐3】A measure in the House’s $ 2 trillion economic bill would require states to cut greenhouse gas emissions (排放) promising rewards for transportation departments that post reductions and “consequences” for those that don’t.
Peter A. DeFazio, chairman of the Transportation Committee, said the proposal is designed to push states to act. “We’re going to give them very large motivation to actually make those meaningful targets and deliver on those targets,” he said. According to the proposal, states that cut emissions could get a $ 1 billion pot of money and potentially receive other bonus funding from the federal government. The bill doesn’t spell out potential consequences for not reducing emissions, leaving the decision to national transportation officials. Experts say they could include barriers to accessing highly prized grant funds (拨款).
Much of the attention on cutting emissions from the transport industry-the nation’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases-has focused on the adoption of electric vehicles by putting money in charging factories and supporting battery-powered cars. The new measure sides with environmental advocates who argue the nation can’t battle a changing climate without changing how Americans move around. Environmentalists say the nation’s changing to electric vehicles probably won’t happen quickly enough to limit temperature rises unless Americans can be convinced to drive less, and that would mean building new networks focused on walking, cycling and transit (运输).
Opposition to the emission measure is deep-seated. The heads of five western state transportation departments wrote a letter to Capitol’s committee last month saying the proposal would harm rural areas because options such as heavy-traffic pricing are not well-suited to places which are populated in few people, and it doesn’t make sense to target those state agencies when there are multiple reasons that influence emissions, including fuel economy standards for cars and local decisions about where to build stores and homes.
Kevin DeGood, a transportation researcher, said basic construction shape how people can get around. “It is funny that the state transportation departments suggest in the letter that they do not deeply influence greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation industry,” he said.
1. How does the government provide motivation?| A．By praising. | B．By punishing. |
| C．By financing. | D．By restricting. |
| A．Greatly changed climate. | B．More convenient stores. |
| C．Stable fuel economy standards. | D．Eco-friendly transport system. |
| A．To oppose the emission measure. | B．To introduce solutions to emission. |
| C．To call for attention to rural areas. | D．To list several reasons for emission. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Disapproving. |
| C．Shocked. | D．Confident. |
【推荐1】The icy waters surrounding Antarctica have long been called the Southern Ocean by scientists. However, it never received the official recognition it deserved—until now. On World Oceans Day, the National Geographic Society announced that from now on, there would be five oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Southern Ocean.
National Geographic’s map policy committee had been considering making the change for many years. However, it is on June 8, 2021 that it recognized the Southern Ocean as the world’s fifth ocean. “Our maps are updated. The Southern Ocean is treated the same as the traditional four, and the next quiz question about the number of oceans has an updated official answer from National Geographic—five!” the Society officials declared on Twitter.
The new ocean will include most of the waters around Antarctica out to 60 degrees south latitude(纬度), except the Drake Passage and the Scotia Sea. Unlike the other oceans, which are divided by the surrounding continents, the extent of the Southern Ocean is determined by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC)—the Earth’s longest and strongest oceanic current.
The ACC was set 34 million years ago when Antarctica broke off from South America, enabling the water to freely flow around Earth’s southernmost tip. Its water is colder and less salty than the ocean waters to the north and provides a unique habitat for thousands of species, including whales, penguins, and seals.
Alex Tait, a National Geographic Society geographer, says that the change reflects the Society’s desire to draw public attention to protecting the Southern Ocean’s unique marine ecosystem. Tait says the change will have a good impact on how children using maps in school to see the world. “Students acquire information about the ocean world through textbooks, maps as well as newspapers. So it is necessary for them to learn there is the fifth ocean around Antarctica.” he says.
1. Why did the Society officials say the map was updated again?| A．A new land was discovered. |
| B．A fifth ocean was officially recognized. |
| C．A new body of water appeared in the world. |
| D．The movement of the underwater updated the map. |
| A．By surrounding continents. | B．By a unique oceanic current. |
| C．By the 60 degrees south latitude. | D．By the habitat for unique species. |
| A．Conservative. | B．Skeptical. |
| C．Objective. | D．Favorable. |
| A．Earth Now Officially Has Five Oceans |
| B．The Ice in Antarctica Is Melting Rapidly |
| C．Action Should Be Taken to Protect Oceans |
| D．The World Map Needs Updating All the Time |
【推荐2】In 2015 I left London to volunteer in Nigeria for 7 months. My role was to set up youth clubs in primary and secondary schools. The sake of the youth clubs was to teach children life skills such as teamwork, science and math. Setting up youth clubs in Nigeria was a fantastic experience. I got to help other people and learn about Nigerian culture first-hand. In particular I learnt about Nigerian food, clothing and languages.
I discovered there is a wide variety of foods in Nigeria. Nigerian food has a lot of flavor, spice and color for you to consume. Rice, beans, meat, yam and cassava are main food items. The most common meats are goat, chicken, beef and pork. My favorite Nigerian food is beans and plantain porridge.
As well as wearing Western clothing, such as jeans and T-shirts, Nigerians also wear traditional clothing. Traditional clothing is bold with bright colors, eye-catching patterns and unique shapes. Nigerians wear traditional clothing on Fridays and Sundays and for special occasions such as weddings. Nigerians either make the clothes themselves or get them made at a tailor’s.
The official language in Nigeria was introduced to Nigeria when Nigeria became part of the British Empire in 1901, so while traveling in big cities, you can hear my mother tongue spoken. Outside of these cities people speak lots of other languages. In fact, there are over 521 languages that have been spoken in Nigeria. These languages came from different ethnic groups. There are on average two languages in every ethnic group in Nigeria. The most popular languages are Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. There is also Nigerian Pidgin, meaning a simplified language that developed between two or more ethnic groups that did not have a language in common.
1. Why were the youth clubs created in Nigeria?| A．To educate students something like science and maths. |
| B．To assist students in primary and secondary schools. |
| C．To give students a wonderful experience. |
| D．To introduce Nigerian clothing and languages to others. |
| A．Confused. | B．Indifferent. | C．Worried. | D．Positive. |
| A．Over 250. | B．Over 300. | C．Over 400. | D．Over 500. |
| A．It is a mixture of languages Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. |
| B．It is considered as the widely used language in Nigeria. |
| C．It is a language invented to be used for over two groups. |
| D．It is the second official language accepted by Nigerians. |
【推荐3】“Choose your friends wisely” may not only be good parental advice but also a way to do better in college, a research study finds.
The group of three researchers put that advice to the test at Berea College, a small liberal arts school in Kentucky, by looking at how much friends actually influence study habits and grades. They found that students who befriended studious (勤奋的) peers spent more hours studying themselves and posted higher grades during their freshman year.
“It’s no fun to study by yourself,” said Nirav Mehta, one of the study’s authors, explaining the intuition behind the study. “If you want to goof off, and your friends are at the library, then you’re going to go to the library, too. And while you’re there, you’re probably going to get some studying done too.”
Of course, it’s possible that studious people gravitate toward other studious people. They might have hit the books and got as many A’s no matter who their friends were. So the researchers checked to see if randomly assigned roommates also have a positive influence on study habits and grades. They found almost the same results: students who were assigned a studious roommate freshman year also studied more each day and had higher grade-point averages.
Unfortunately, the opposite is also true, the researchers found. If you have friends and roommates who don’t study a lot, you’re likely to get dragged down by their poor habits, studying less and earning lower grades.
Analyzing friends and study habits is usually difficult for researchers. But students at Berea College were asked to list their four best friends at the end of each semester and they kept careful daily logs of their time, including time spent studying. At the beginning of freshman year, the students were surveyed on their high school study habits. The researchers also had access to roommate assignments, high school grades and college grades.
From this information, the economists calculated the average amount of time each student’s college friends had reported studying in high school. They found that for every additional 10 hours a week that a student’s friends had spent studying, on average, the student’s own study time in college would likely increase by almost 25 minutes a day, and the student’s own GPA would likely rise by almost a tenth of a point during freshman year.
1. The phrase “goof off” (paragraph 3) most probably means ________.| A．achieve higher grades | B．choose your friends |
| C．go to the library | D．be lazy about studying |
| A．To further test the theory. | B．To figure out more study habits. |
| C．To put forward a new theory. | D．To get more students to work hard. |
| A．How many studious friends they have. |
| B．How they comment on their friends’ grades. |
| C．How much time they spent studying each day. |
| D．How they thought of their own college grades. |
| A．If you want to do well in study, you’d better pick a hardworking friend. |
| B．If you want to get on well with your roommates, you’d better work hard. |
| C．If you want to raise your GPA, you’d better keep track of your study time. |
| D．If you want to have a happy freshman year, you’d better care less about peer effects. |
