Experts say that if food were a country, it would rank second behind the US as one of the biggest greenhouse gas polluters. The reason is the rising demand for meat. Animal farming is responsible for14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas methane(甲烷) emissions(排放). While cows are the worse contributors, pigs, sheep, donkeys and other animals play a part as well.
Animal agriculture also causes land to become damaged, water to be polluted and forests to get destroyed. With the world population forecast to rise to 9.8 billion by 2050, things are only looking worse for our already decreasing natural resources, While going vegetarian(素食的)would help meat consumption too deep - rooted in most western diets to allow for such a sharp, permanent change. That is why experts are advocating substituting some of the beef, chicken, or pork with ordinary insects！
Insects, which grow into adults within a matter of months, if not weeks, are ready for consumption much faster than domestic(驯养的) animals. They also require much less room，use less water and food, and produce far less greenhouse gas than animals
Of the 1.1 million insect species worldwide, scientists have identified 1.700 as eatable. Among them are ants, grasshoppers, grubs, and earthworms. Just like animals, each insect has a different taste. Tree worms taste just like pork, and grubs are similar to smoked meat
While eating insects might be a new concept for Western people, over 2 billion people worldwide consume insects as a regular part of their diet. Besides being delicious, insects are high in protein, have very few calories, and are free of the saturated(饱和)at found in animal meat. Insects can be prepared in many ways. Creative cooks can use them to cook protein-rich soup make baked treats, and even fry a few with vegetables. So eat insects -both your body and Mother Earth will thank you for it ！
1. Which of the following animals are responsible for the most global methane emissions?| A．Cows | B．Pigs | C．Sheep | D．Donkeys |
| A．By asking questions | B．By providing examples. |
| C．By listing the numbers | D．By making comparisons. |
| A．Pig meat | B．Tomato soup. | C．Fresh vegetables. | D．Fried chicken. |
| A．Few people eat insects regularly. | B．Ordinary insects are high in fat. |
| C．Saturated fat is harmful to health. | D．Insects contain various vitamins |
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【推荐1】“We thought dogs would behave like children under age 5, but now we guess that perhaps dogs can understand when someone is dishonest,” says Huber at the University of Vienna in Austria. “Maybe they think, ‘This person has the same knowledge as me, but is giving me the wrong information.’ It’s possible they could see that as intentionally misleading, which is lying.”
Once that trust was established, the team had the dogs witness another person move the food from the first to the second bowl. The communicators were either in the room, and also witnessed the switch, or were briefly absent and so apparently unaware that the food had been switched. In either case, the communicators would later recommend the first bowl, which was now empty.
In previous versions of this experiment with children under age 5, the participants reacted in particular ways. They would typically ignore the communicator who gave honest but misleading advice on where the food was. However, if the communicator had been in the room and witnessed the switch, but still recommended the first (now empty) bowl, young children were actually much more likely to follow the communicator’s knowingly misleading suggestion.
This may be because the children and non-human primates (灵长类) trusted the communicator over the evidence of their own eyes, says Huber.
The dogs in the new experiment, however, weren’t so trusting of lying communicators, much to the researchers’ surprise, says Huber. Half of the dogs would follow the communicator’s misleading advice if the communicator hadn’t witnessed the food switch. But about two-thirds of dogs ignored the communicator who had witnessed the food switch and still recommended the now-empty bowl. These dogs simply went to the bowl filled with food instead. “They did not rely on the communicator anymore,” says Huber.
1. What do Huber’s words in paragraph 1 imply?| A．Dogs won’t believe people any longer. |
| B．Dogs can be trained to act like children. |
| C．Dogs can understand everything humans mean. |
| D．Dogs are a lot cleverer than we thought. |
| A．To draw a conclusion. | B．To sum up the reason. |
| C．To make a comparison. | D．To lead in a new experiment. |
| A．The one who moved the food. |
| B．The one who didn’t see the food switch. |
| C．The one who moved the food and recommended the wrong bowl. |
| D．The one who saw the food switch and recommended the wrong bowl. |
| A．Dogs can sometimes tell when people are lying. |
| B．Dogs are cleverer than children under age 5. |
| C．We can train dogs to find food in different ways. |
| D．We should be honest like dogs. |
【推荐2】The chain of events began on May 6 when his owner, Tonia Mosteller, let Riley out in the backyard. But the pet had bigger plans than to relax and enjoy the warm spring afternoon. Earlier that day, Riley had run into his pals (朋友) who were spending the day at the Happy Dog Café & Boutique, and wanted to be with them. Therefore, as soon as he was alone, the dog lifted the gale latch (插销) and began the mile-long walk to the doggy daycare.
When Tonia returned a short time later, she found the backyard empty and the gate wide open. Fortunately, before she had time to fear, her husband called to let her know that Riley was safe and having the time of his lifeat his favorite daycare.
According to Teresa McCarter, owner of the centre, a customer had found Riley patiently sitting outside, just waiting to be let in. No sooner had Teresa opened the door than the golden retriever (猎犬) ran in to greet 26 of his best friends, who all seemed as thrilled to see him.
Tonia was not surprised that Riley knew exactly how to get to the daycare, given that he has been going there since he was a puppy. She was, however, amazed that he loved it enough to escape from the house. Though the Mostellers offered to pick Riley up, Teresa decided that if Riley had made the effort to get to the daycare on his own, the least she could do was allow him to enjoy a nice day with his pals.
1. What was Riley’s bigger plan?| A．To relax himself in the backyard. |
| B．To play with his friends at the centre. |
| C．To spend the warm afternoon alone. |
| D．To walk himself in the warm afternoon. |
| A．Riley was a very smart dog |
| B．Riley was badly treated at home |
| C．other dogs often came to visit Riley |
| D．Riley’s owner left the gate open |
| A．He was outside his backyard. |
| B．He was on the way to the centre. |
| C．He was playing with the other dogs. |
| D．He was waiting outside the daycare. |
| A．Riley knew the way to the doggy daycare |
| B．Riley was so thrilled to see the other dogs |
| C．Riley loved the centre so much to escape from home |
| D．Riley has been going there since he was a puppy |
【推荐3】Shipping a Major Threat to World’s Biggest Fish
Marine biologists have noticed that whale shark numbers have been falling in recent years. But people just take it for granted. A new international study suggests that collisions (碰撞) with shipping traffic could be a major reason for the decrease.
The study was led by the Marine Biological Association of the U.K. and the University of Southampton, along with experts in Australia and New Zealand. The study appeared in the publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers examined satellite data to observe about 350 whale sharks. They found that the world’s largest fish spend most of their time in waters used by large shipping boats.
The study showed that information from the devices used to track their movements often ended in busy shipping paths. The researchers believe many sharks are probably being hit and killed by boats before sinking to the ocean floor.
Mark Erdmann is with the University of Auckland in New Zealand and a scientist at the non-profit environmental organization Conservation International. He was one of the writers of the new study. Erdmann believes shipping is a major threat (威胁) to whale shark populations.
“...What the study found is that, indeed, there is a huge amount of overlap (重叠) between where whale sharks are moving and global shipping traffic. So, those are real collision-risk areas. Most deadly strikes between whale sharks and boats are likely to go unobserved or unreported. There are currently no laws to protect whale sharks against these kinds of collisions.” Erdmann said.
Whale sharks can grow up to 20 meters long. They play an important part in providing healthy ocean environments.
1. What is the finding of the new study?| A．Whale shark numbers have been falling. |
| B．People take the decrease in the number of sharks for granted. |
| C．Whaling ships mainly caused the decrease in the number of sharks. |
| D．Sharks could mostly die from crashes into ships. |
| A．The place where sharks’ movement ended. |
| B．Sharks’ unusual movement in the paths. |
| C．Ships’ unusual travelling manners. |
| D．Violent fight between sharks and ships. |
| A．Why sharks die is hard to find out. |
| B．The number of ships should be reduced. |
| C．Sharks are not important for reporters. |
| D．The current laws are not strict enough. |
| A．Sharks are the biggest animals. | B．The new finding is very important. |
| C．Sharks will die out soon. | D．It is hard to protect huge sharks. |
【推荐1】There’s nothing wrong with a tomato that isn’t perfectly rounded or a peach with an extra dimple (凹) or two; they still carry the same benefits and flavors as the versions we’re used to seeing in grocery stores. Farmers throw away these imperfect items, as many grocery chains won’t buy them for fear that they are unsellable. However, a growing group of grocery chains are fighting to make these discarded fruits and vegetables part of consumers’ buying habits.
One such business is Imperfect Produce, a start-up that delivers fresh ugly produce to consumers. Through this service, you can get up to 20 pounds of fruit and veggies for around $20 a week. This is about a 30 percent discount compared to what’s currently sold in stores. Recently, the company had a major breakthrough when Whole Foods accepted their partnership and agreed to sell the misshaped produce.
While this movement might be a new trend here in the US, it’s already gained serious momentum (势头) in Europe. In 2014, the E. U. announced the Year Against Food Waste, with French grocery chain Intermarché launching a very successful campaign called Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables and England’s Waitrose selling “weather blemished” apples. In Portugal, a similar company to Imperfect Produce called Fruta Feia has also taken off.
Buying these unfortunate-looking foods should be appealing to consumers not only because of the affordability, but also because of the support it gives to farmers and the direct impact it has on decreasing food waste and the environmental pollution. It is believed that when the discarded fruits and vegetables decompose (腐烂) they release methane (甲烷), a greenhouse gas that, when released into the atmosphere, is about 86 times as powerful as carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Waste is, in fact, the ugliest thing of all.
1. What does the underlined word “discarded” in paragraph one mean?| A．Thrown-away. | B．Harvested. |
| C．Consumed. | D．Sold-out. |
| A．Make better profits. | B．Sell imperfect produce. |
| C．Get discounts from farmers. | D．Compete with Whole Foods. |
| A．It has more successfully-run food chains. |
| B．It produces less misshaped fruits and vegetables. |
| C．It addresses the problem of misshaped produce earlier. |
| D．It faces a more serious problem of unfavorable weather. |
| A．It pollutes the farms. | B．It gives out a bad smell. |
| C．It contributes to global warming. | D．It produces lots of carbon dioxide. |
【推荐2】The amount of rubbish that piles on our shore lines is hugely worrying and a growing problem for the planet. It seems like no matter how remote you hike and how high you climb, there’s always a dropped plastic container there waiting for you.
Mariah Reading, an American artist, spends the majority of her time outdoors looking for inspiration for her art, based in nature and our natural surroundings. On noticing the amount of waste filling her natural areas, she decided she had to reflect it in her works.
For her latest project, Mariah is looking at both the problem of wasteful littering and the way that art itself can be wasteful in materials, taking the dropped items that fill her natural spaces and painting them to reflect the place in which they were left.
Applying paint to create her masterpieces, Mariah has collected trash (垃圾) from different mountains and parks. “I’ve been considering my relationship with art and the large amount of waste it can produce,” says Mariah. “I wanted to find ways I can confirm art and its important purpose by working with recycled materials found in landscape environments.”
“Since the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, I’ve especially appreciated and been inspired by the natural beauty the parks offer, and found how easily we can take these precious places for granted. I seek to gather as much trash as possible, sculpt it into a canvas (画布), and paint the scene where the trash originated onto the trash itself,” says Mariah.
As well as through this project, Mariah has explored nature in her art in various different ways and through exhibitions. Mariah’s work might not solve the litter problem, but it’s just another way that we can get people talking about the problem and the ways we can prevent it from growing any larger.
1. What gave Mariah the idea of the latest project?| A．The beauty of nearby scenery. |
| B．The rubbish-covered surroundings. |
| C．The potential security risks of beaches. |
| D．The high energy consumption of her artworks. |
| A．To keep people from wasting natural resources. |
| B．To remind people of the litter problem. |
| C．To encourage people to explore parks. |
| D．To make full use of rubbish. |
| A．They are made of oceanic rubbish. |
| B．They appear in the form of sculpture. |
| C．They reflect the trash places on trash itself. |
| D．They’re designed to inspire people’s love for painting. |
| A．The Growing Problem of Rubbish |
| B．Mariah Reading: a Sociable Artist |
| C．An Artist Turns Waste into Amazing Works |
| D．Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service |
【推荐3】There are more than 7 billion people on Earth. Imagine what will happen if each of us decides to do one thing — no matter how small — to protect wildlife every day. Even little actions can have a major influence when we all do something.
Raise an animal
From wild animals to wild places, there’s a choice for everyone.
Do some volunteer work
Speak up and join
Share your concern for wildlife protection with your family. Tell your friends how they can help. Ask everyone you know to do what they can to stop wildlife trafficking (非法交易).
Find new ways to use things you already own. If you can’t reuse them, recycle. The Minnesota Zoo encourages customers to recycle mobile phones to cut down a need for the mineral coltan (钶钽铁矿), which is mined from lowland gorillas’ living places.
| A．Develop a habit of recycling |
| B．Try to encourage others to do it |
| C．Whether you’re into protecting natural living places or preventing wildlife trafficking |
| D．If you don’t have money to give |
| E．Get together with classmates to raise an animal from a wildlife organization |
| F．Here are ways you can make a difference |
| G．If you are busy with your work or studying |
