The answer is that your way of life, wherever you live in the world, is tied to the tropics in many ways. If you live in a house, wash your hair, eat fruits and vegetables, drink soda, or drive a car, you can be certain that you are affected by the loss of tropical forests.
Take rubber(橡胶) for example. For many uses, only natural rubber from trees will do. Synthetics are not good enough. Today over half the world's commercial(商业的)rubber is produced in Malaysia and Indonesia, while the Amazon's rubber industry produces much of the world's four million tons. And rubber is an important material in making gloves, balloons, footwear and many sporting goods. Thousands of other tropical plants are valuable for their industrial use.
Many scientists strongly believe that deforestation contributes to the greenhouse effect—or heating of the earth from increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As we destroy forests, we lose their ability to change carbon dioxide into oxygen.
Carbon dioxide levels could double within the next half-century, warming the earth by as much as 4.5 degrees. The result? A partial melt-down of polar ice caps, raising sea levels as much as 24 feet; even 15 feet could threaten anyone living within 35 miles of the coast. Unbelievable? Maybe. But scientists warn that by the time we realize the severe effects of tropical deforestation, it will be 20 years too late.
Can tropical deforestation affect our everyday lives? Now, you should have got the answer.
1. The underlined word "synthetics" probably means a kind of __________.
A.natural rubber | B.tropical grass |
C.man-made material | D.tropical tree |
A.tell people how to avoid the tropical deforestation |
B.show us how important it is to protect the tropical forests |
C.persuade people to buy something synthetic |
D.let people realize the good effect of tropical deforestation |
A.puzzling | B.cold |
C.supporting | D.opposed |
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【推荐1】During the annual political meetings, environmental protection was definitely among the biggest concerns. Actually, it was also an issue that ancient Chinese paid great attention to. In fact, the world’s earliest environmental protection concept, ministry and laws were all born in China. So, what did the ancient Chinese do to protect the environment?
In early ancient China, environmental protection was promoted to the political level. Xunzi, a famous thinker in Warring States Period, brought up the concept of “managing state affairs through environmental protection”. He stated in his book that vegetations (植被) should not be damaged at will. Guan Zhong, an official 400 years ahead of Xunzi, was also an environmental protection expert. During his term of office, he claimed that “a King who cannot protect his vegetations is not qualified to be a king”.
According to a record in Qing dynasty, the environmental protection ministry in early ancient China was called “Yu”, standing both for the institution and the official title. Although most functions were similar to such ministries today, the administration range of it was much larger, including the mountains, forests, rivers, lakes and so on.
The nine ministries established by Shun, an ancient Chinese king, already included “Yu”, the environmental protection ministry. The first “Yu” official was a man called Boyi, who was indeed an environmental protection expert. He was a capable assistant to Dayu, an ancient Chinese water-control expert. He invented wells, protecting people’s drinking water from pollution. He knew a lot about animals and also called for animal protection.
Environmental protection laws dated back to the ruling period of Dayu, which was more than 4,000 years ago. During his rule, he issued a ban, forbidding people to cut down wood in March or catch fish in June, the time when they were supposed to boom.
In Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period almost 3,000 years ago, “environmental protection laws” appeared in its true sense in Qin, which was recorded in Law of Fields and regarded as China’s earliest “environmental protection laws”.
1. Which statement would Xunzi probably agree with?A.Vegetations shouldn’t be damaged at all. |
B.Much attention should be paid to people’s drinking water. |
C.The king who failed to protect the environment should be removed. |
D.Ruling a country and environmental protection should be combined. |
A.The Qing dynasty. | B.The ministry of Yu. |
C.The official title. | D.The modern ministry. |
A.Fish didn’t taste delicious in June. |
B.It was too hot to catch fish in June. |
C.Fish had a period of rapid growth in June. |
D.Fish-catching time had already passed in June. |
A.How the Chinese Protect the Environment |
B.Famous Environmental Protection Experts in Ancient China |
C.Three Aspects of Environmental Protection in Ancient China |
D.Measures of the World’s Earliest Environmental Protection |
【推荐2】“I can’t turn the desert into an oasis, but I’m working hard to prevent any oasis from degrading (退化) into desert,” says 78-yearold Wang Tianchang in Wuwei city, in Northwest China’s Gansu province.
Sticking to the belief that “only by containing the sand, our children and grandchildren will survive and thrive”, Wang and his wife Li Lanying have been stationed in the Tengger Desert for 22 years, voluntarily dealing with sand encroachment (侵蚀) and planting more than 8,000 acres. They have helped turn the once endless desert into an oasis.
In the spring of 1999, the then 56-year-old Wang put forward the idea of afforestation (造林) in the Tengger Desert. Strongly opposed by his family and ridiculed by the villagers, Wang secretly sold the family’s cattle, sheep and camels. With the collected money, the couple brought their tents and sand control tools to the desert.
“It’s not easy to plant trees, especially in the desert. To improve the survival rate of sand-grown seedlings (幼苗) in the desert, Wang observed the flow of sand dunes (沙丘) in areas where it was most severe in the 12th lunar month in winter. He also explored the best spots for planting grass and trees, and gradually found effective methods for planting saplings in the desert. In order to solve the problem of water scarcity, Wang bought two-humped camels. His wife led the camels to transport water on a route of more than 3 kilometers between their home and the desert back and forth every four and five hours.
Over the past 22 years, Wang and his family have invested more than 1.2 million yuan ($ 187,770) to the task of containing the sand and planting trees in the Tengger Desert. During this period, in order to improve the progress of sand suppression (抑制), the couple spent more than 6,000 days in achieving more than 8,000 acres of sand afforestation, and used camels to transport 5,000 tons of water on the sand line. The round-trip journey was more than 12,000 kilometers.
Wang’s spirit of living in the desert for decades has moved many people. Every year, volunteers from all over the country and tens of thousands of local people come here to fight the sands with the couple and protect their home.
1. How did Wang manage to get the money he needed?A.He borrowed some from his relatives. |
B.The local government provided it for him. |
C.Charity organizations donated much to him. |
D.He sold the family’s cattle, sheep and camels. |
A.Research. | B.Pollution. | C.Shortage. | D.Control |
A.5,000. | B.6,000. | C.8,000. | D.12,000. |
A.The sands of time blow toward a greener world |
B.Wang observes flow of sand dunes in the desert |
C.Wang’s spirit of living in the desert moves people |
D.Planting trees and grass leads to success of afforestation |
【推荐3】Mr. Fang is now the owner of 36 greenhouses producing organic vegetables in the Gobi desert in Northwest China’s Gansu province. He is one of the beneficiaries of the Gobi Farming Program of Gansu province that is building rows of greenhouses in the desert to help transform local farming and alleviate poverty.
Grain production in Gansu is greatly affected by the climate and the output is unstable. Agricultural production there relies heavily on rivers, oases and groundwater irrigation. If traditional extensive agricultural production continued, it could gradually narrow the living space.
In 1995, a local entrepreneur ventured to use Israeli technologies to build greenhouses for vegetables growing in the desert. Such individual pilot projects encouraged the Gansu government to launch a provincial-level Gobi farming program in 2017 with a target to build up a controlled-environment agriculture of about 20,000 hectares by 2022. Some cities in the province, which include Fang’s village, have already been experimenting with Gobi farming for several years.
Despite the harsh environment, farming in the Gobi desert has its advantages: the extended amount of sunlight provides adequate energy for crops, a significant temperature difference between day and night helps crops accumulate nutrients and the Gobi’s hot and dry air means fewer pests and crop diseases. The Gobi greenhouses popping up in Gansu use drip and spray irrigation, which can cut water consumption by almost 50 percent compared to a normal farm. The greenhouses are also eco-friendly, as they use substrates for soilless cultivation recycled from rotten leaves, straw and cow and sheep feces.
With the greenhouses, Fang earns around 70,000 yuan annually. Data from Suzhou. district of Jiuquan showed the greenhouse program has helped bring an average revenue of about $ 72,300 per hectare to local farmers. Large scale greenhouse farming is an investment-intensive project and cannot be sustained only by government financial support. Therefore, the local government has been encouraging villagers such as Fang to take the lead to rent greenhouses or build their own.
It is not an easy task, and many villagers still want to wait and see. However, more and more are starting to join in, either to rum their own greenhouses or work as hired workers for greenhouse owners. Starting from managing four greenhouses in 2009, Fang now is also a partner of a greenhouse farming cooperative running 120 greenhouses.
The relatively low cost of large-scale land use in the Gobi desert have also encouraged large firms to start their Gobi farming pilot projects in Gansu. If the Gobi farming proves successful, it could provide experiences for countries in Central Asia linked with Gansu both by the ancient Silk Road as well as its modern version of the Belt and Road Initiative.
1. What affects grain production in Gansu most?A.Money. | B.Sunlight. | C.Air | D.Water. |
A.1n 1995. | B.In 2009. | C.In 2017. | D.In 2022. |
A.The harsh environment is good for crops . |
B.At first, Fang only ran four greenhouses. |
C.With the greenhouses, Fang earns around $ 70,000 annually. |
D.Mr. Fang now owns 120 greenhouses producing organic vegetables. |
A.The Belt and Road Initiative |
B.A Great Adventurer — Mr. Fang |
C.The Gobi Farming Program of Gansu |
D.The Advantages of Farming in the Gobi Desert |
【推荐1】Children who spend more time reading with their parents have a greater chance of becoming better readers than those who don’t. With the help from their parents, children can learn techniques to improve their reading skills.
“A lot of parents think after their child learns to read, they should stop reading to them,” Donna George said. “They are sadly mistaken.”
George offers her services to parents at the Title I Learning Centers. She said reading aloud to children may be the most valuable thing parents can do. “It is better for children to hear things at a higher level than where they are,” George said. “Parents are their child’s first teacher.” Parents help their children build listening, phonics, comprehension and vocabulary skills when they read aloud to them.
Before parents can identify reading problems, they should escape the enemy —television and limit the time their children spend watching television. George suggested not allowing kids to have a TV in their bedrooms, setting a schedule of when kids can watch or keeping a list of how many programs children watch. Louise Joines said while her 14-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son enjoy reading, the television sometimes becomes a distraction. So she tries to build the situation by suggesting books the entire family will enjoy reading together, like the Harry Potter series.
Parents who do not read themselves should not count on their children being interested in it. If parents would read to their children at least 15 minutes every day, children would not have so many problems in school. It is the parents’ job to help build that desire in their children, and of course to know what kind of books to read is also important.
1. According to George, reading aloud to children_______________.A.helps them correct mistakes |
B.is helpful to their reading |
C.is parents’ first duty to their children |
D.can get children out of television’s attraction |
A.can improve children’s reading |
B.can help children’s right way of reading |
C.can make children interested in reading |
D.stop children from concentrating on reading |
A.Reading skills. |
B.Reading speed. |
C.Reading materials. |
D.Reading environment. |
A.Parents choose reading materials for their children. |
B.Advice is given to control their children. |
C.What TV programs children can watch during reading. |
D.How children improve their reading by themselves. |
【推荐2】Basketball Statistician Help Wanted
The Athletic Department is looking for students to help assist staff during the Fall 2016, Winter 2016-17 and Spring 2017 semesters. Students in this position will be keeping live statistics during basketball games. Students must meet all of the following requirements:
•Good computer skills
•Available evenings and weekends
•Knowing basketball rules and statistics
Students interested in working for the Athletic Department should contact the Athletic Coordinator at their respective(各自的) campuses.
•TP/SS Athletic Coordinator, Michael Simone, 240-567-1308
•Rockville Athletic Coordinator, Jorge Zuniga, 240-567-7589
•Springfield Athletic Coordinator, Gary Miller, 240-567-2273
•Germantown Athletic Coordinator, Gauri Chavan, 240-567-6915
1. When will the job start?A.In May 2016. | B.In May 2017. |
C.In September 2016. | D.In September 2017. |
A.Sam, English major, member of the college basketball team. |
B.Judy, IT staff with night classes, children’s basketball team coach. |
C.Ted, computer major, basketball fan, free on evenings and weekends. |
D.Molly, part-time programmer, high school basketball player, new mother. |
A.Michael. | B.Jorge. |
C.Gauri. | D.Gary. |
【推荐3】No matter where you usually hear today’s top hits, you’ve probably noticed that they tend to be around three minutes long.
As Vox explains, the custom dates back to the early 20th century, when shellac (虫胶) records first appeared in the market. The rates at which these records spun varied, but 78 revolutions (旋转) per minute (RPM) quickly became the norm. The most popular record sizes were 10 inches which could hold about three minutes of music per side, and 12 inches which held roughly four to five minutes per side. To get radio stations to broadcast their music and get people to buy it, musicians pretty much had to accommodate those time limits.
As music technology developed over the years, from records to cassette tapes to CDs, three minutes didn’t fall out of fashion. According to Classic FM, this was partly because radio stations could fit more commercials into a program if the songs stayed relatively short. It’s also likely that pop music listeners just preferred briefness; after all, it’s what the last several decades had taught them to expect. As Thomas Tierney said, “It’s implanted in our DNA.”
Today, many tracks come in under three minutes long. Shorter attention spans and social media’s influence might explain the trend toward briefness, but it’s not the only factor: The reward model matters, too. “Instead of getting paid by physical sales, you’re getting paid in a stream, which only counts if someone listens to 30 seconds of a song,” songwriter Charlie Harding told The Verge. “It actually makes sense if you can have more songs streamed at a time, which means that you want to pack your album full of much shorter songs.”
In other words, success is now less about sales but more about the number of streams. Today’s pop stars are making music that reflects the shift—not unlike how 20th-century musicians learned to work within the original three-minute limits.
1. Why did some songs in the early 20th century tend to be about three minutes long?A.To keep up with the development of society. |
B.To follow the musicians’ steps. |
C.To be in memory of shellac records. |
D.To meet the market demand. |
A.Fewer media. | B.Fewer listeners. | C.More profits. | D.More programs. |
A.Its songwriter. | B.Its physical sales. |
C.The number of its streams. | D.The album’s packaging. |
A.Why are many pop songs about three minutes long? |
B.What kind of pop songs do people like? |
C.How did music technology develop gradually? |
D.Why are pop songs getting shorter now? |