1 . A major new facility to pull CO2 out of the atmosphere has started operating in Iceland, which is a boost to an emerging technology that experts say could eventually play an important role in reducing greenhouse gases.
The plant in southwest Iceland is the biggest of its kind, its builder says. It is able to capture(捕获) 900 tons of CO2 every year but it needs heat and electricity to work. It is using energy produced from waste and is built on the roof of a waste incineration plant, and through the burning of rubbish, energy is generated.
Human-sized fans are built into a series of boxes. They take CO2 out of the air, catching it in spongelike filters(过滤器). The filters are blasted with heat, freeing the gas, which is then mixed with water and pumped deep into deep underground basalt caves(玄武岩洞穴), where over time it turns into dark-gray stone. Pumping CO2 into the ground is just one way to deal with it. The makers are also selling the gas to be used again. The CO2 can be captured just a few 100 miles away. It is pumped through an underground pipeline directly into a greenhouse. Vegetables and plants love CO2 and higher concentrations of the gas within the greenhouse improve the growth of plants.
By 2050, humanity will need to pull nearly a billion metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere every year through direct air capture technology to achieve carbon neutral goals, according to International Energy Agency recommendations. The plant in Iceland will be able to capture 4, 000 metric tons annually — just a small amount of what will be necessary, but one that Climeworks, the company that built it, says can grow rapidly as efficiency improves and costs decrease.
“This is a market that does not yet exist, but a market that urgently needs to be built,” said Christoph Gebald who co-founded Climeworks. “This plant that we have here is really the blueprint to further increase the size and really industrialize.”
1. What do we know about the carbon capture facility from paragraph 2?| A．It is built at high altitudes. | B．It uses waste to produce power. |
| C．It makes Iceland free of air pollution. | D．It produces lots of heat during operation. |
| A．The methods of breaking down CO2. | B．The approaches to reusing waste gas. |
| C．The necessity of building greenhouses. | D．The workings of the carbon-catching plant. |
| A．It will decrease the cost of energy production. |
| B．It can help reach the carbon neutral goals in advance. |
| C．It will speed up the reduction of CO2 levels in the air. |
| D．It may replace the traditional carbon storage system. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Neutral. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Uncaring. |
2 . Creative Vacation Travel Ideas
Couch Surfing
Those who are bohemians(豪放的人) at heart can travel the world and make new friends using the couch-surfing system. Couch-surfing networking sites allow travelers to research and connect with people in cities around the world who offer up their couch or guest room to strangers. Staying with the people is free of charge, though you will be expected to pay for your own food and entertainment. Most hosts will accommodate a pair of travelers, and the system is safer for inexperienced couch surfers.
Roaming African Hotel
The Shongololo Express is best described as a cruise(邮轮) on land. A fleet of air-conditioned, luxury trains transport travelers through Africa from south to north. The Express stops at prearranged locations of interests, similar to a cruise ship stopping at a port, and allows travelers a chance to get out and explore with the security of a group behind them. Meals and drinks are served on the trains, and there are common areas for socializing.
Underground Motel
Go under Down Under with a stay in the White Cliffs Underground Motel in New South Wales, Australia. The 30 guest rooms called dugouts are carved from supportive soft sandstone and ventilated(通风) with drilled vertical passages. The temperature is naturally regulated year round for a comfortable stay. The hotel includes an on-site restaurant. Guests may even request a personal tour of dugouts local citizens have built for their own homes.
Adventure Vacations
Adventure vacations are travel ideas that suit travelers who want to truly interact with the environment. The National Geographic compiles lists of the best adventure vacations around the world and also helps travelers book the vacations. You don't have to leave the country to have an adventure. The Florida Everglades, Glacier National Park in Montana, The Grand Canyon and The Gila Wilderness in Nevada are adventure vacations to suit the young and the young at heart.
1. What is one of the advantages of Couch Surfing?| A．Couch surfers can travel the world on the Internet. |
| B．Travelers need to share guest room with strangers. |
| C．Hosts will charge the guests nothing for accommodation. |
| D．The system is fit for those who have less travel experience. |
| A．The hotels offer free meal service to travelers. |
| B．Travelers are provided comfortable guest rooms. |
| C．Security staff accompanies travelers when getting out. |
| D．Guests have common areas for social events on the trip. |
| A．Couch Surfing. | B．Roaming African Hotel. |
| C．Underground Motel. | D．Adventure Vacations. |
3 . Lawn Games for Adults That’ll Make You Feel Like a Kid Again
Experts say that engaging in playful activities through adulthood can help lower stress, improve cognitive (认知的) functions, and build social bonds with others, which is so much more than what your phone can do for you. So what are you waiting for? Round up the family, grab one of these lawn games for adults, and let the good time stroll.
Spikeball Game Set $ 59.99
The flexible, hula-hoop-sized net stands on its foldable legs and can be taken to the beach or the park to give four players plenty of space to run around. Start the two-on-two game by bouncing a ball off the net, sending it flying toward your opponents—they have three passes between them to send the ball back over to your team. When they miss, you score, and the first one to get to 21 wins.
The Pocket Shot $ 25.00
Who doesn’t love lining up cans and shooting them down with a slingshot? It’s demanding yet thrilling. The Pocket Shot is a super powerful slingshot that shoots at two or three times the rate of a regular slingshot. It’s super tiny, so it fits in your pocket.
Giant 4-Connect-In-A-Row $ 79.99
Two players at a time try to insert their red or blue coins into the wooden frame to form a vertical or horizontal line of all the same color. It’s way more challenging than you’d think.
1. According to the first paragraph, in what way can lawn games benefit adults?| A．Helping with pressure relief. |
| B．Improving their strength and flexibility. |
| C．Stopping their phone use. |
| D．Helping them gain strong build. |
| A．Two. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
| A．They need two players. | B．They are cheap to buy. |
| C．They take skills to play. | D．They are of pocket size. |
4 . Different countries celebrate Christmas in different ways. We asked some of our friends to explain what happens in their countries. This is what they told us:
France
In France, Christmas is always called Noël. Everyone has a Christmas tree, sometimes decorated in the old way with red ribbons and real white wax candles. Fir trees in the garden are often decorated too with lights on all night.
Father Christmas is called Père Noël. The Christmas meal is an important family gathering with good meat and the best wine. Few people send Christmas cards. More people send New Year cards to wish everyone good luck and joy for the New Year. These days Christmas lunch is a starter of foie gras (a strong tasting pate made from goose liver) followed by lunch of seafood — usually including lobsters and oysters.
New Zealand
Christmas starts for us with gifts under the tree, to be opened on Christmas morning. Then it’s onto a Christmas lunch either at home or at one’s parents place. Turkey or chicken with all the trimmings (佐料) is eaten. Then comes tea time. It is a BBQ for friends and family to get together, and have a few beers or wines with the meal!
Russia
In the days of the Soviet Union, Christmas was not celebrated very much. New Year was the important time — when “Father Frost” brought presents to children. With the fall of Communism, Christmas can be openly celebrated either on December 25th; or more often on January 7th. This unusual date is because the Russian Orthodox church uses the old “Julian” calendar for religious celebration days. Special Christmas food includes cakes, pies and “meat dumplings”.
Sweden
The most important day is Christmas Eve. A special Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve — ham (pork), herring fish, and brown beans — and this is the time when families give presents to each other. Many people attend a church meeting early on Christmas Day.
1. Why do people in France send New Year cards?| A．To tell their friends the New Year is coming. |
| B．To ask for some special presents. |
| C．To invite their friends to family gathering. |
| D．To send their friends best wishes and happiness for the New Year. |
| A．A special meal is prepared. |
| B．Everyone has a Christmas tree. |
| C．Parents give gifts to their children. |
| D．People attend a church gathering. |
| A．France. | B．New Zealand. | C．Sweden. | D．Russia. |
5 . How does a person become an Olympic champion? In reality, a combination of biological, environmental, and psychological elements, as well as training and practice, all go into making a super athlete.
Perhaps the most important element involved in becoming an outstanding athlete is genetic. Most Olympic competitors are equipped with certain physical characteristics that make them different from the average person. Olympic weightlifters, for example, have a large number of fast- twitch fibers (快速收缩肌肉纤维) in their muscles. These allow them to lift hundreds of kilos from the ground and over their heads in seconds. Surprisingly, a large, muscular body is not the main requirement to do well in this sport. It is more important to have a large number of fast-twitch fibers in the muscles.
The legs of an outstanding marathon runner, on the other hand, might contain up to 90 percent slow-twitch muscle fibers. When we exercise long or hard, it’s common to experience tiredness, muscle pain, and difficulty breathing. These feelings are caused when the muscles produce high amounts of a substance called lactate and can’t remove it quickly enough. Athletes with many slow-twitch muscle fibers seem to be able to clear the lactate from their muscles faster as they move.
Some athletes’ abilities are naturally enhanced by their environment. Those raised at high altitudes (海拔高地) in countries such as Kenya have blood rich in hemoglobin (血红素). Large amounts of hemoglobin carry oxygen around the body faster, enabling these athletes to run better. Although genes, environment, and even culture play a part in becoming an outstanding athlete, training and practice are needed to succeed. Marathon runners may be able to control tiredness and keep moving for long periods of time, but they must train to reach their goals. Weightlifters and gymnasts perfect their skills by repeating the same motions again and again until they become automatic. Greg Louganis, winner of four Olympic diving gold medals, says divers must train the same way to be successful: “You have less than three seconds from takeoff until you hit the water, so it has to be reflex (对刺激的本能反应). You have to repeat the dives hundreds, maybe thousands, of times.” Training this way requires an athlete to be not only physically fit but psychologically healthy as well. Otherwise, they couldn’t handle the training loads.
1. Having a lot of slow-twitch muscle fibers is particularly important for ________.| A．long-distance cyclists | B．gymnasts |
| C．table-tennis players | D．weightlifters |
| A．strength | B．pain | C．excitement | D．dizziness |
| A．Athletes cannot perform well unless they are under pressure. |
| B．A professional athlete should think carefully about each movement. |
| C．It’s important to practice and train hard, but not take things too seriously. |
| D．It’s important to joke with your teammates before you perform any sport. |
| A．The size of a super athlete. |
| B．Ways to qualify for the Olympics. |
| C．Different muscle types of a super athlete. |
| D．Factors that make someone a super athlete. |
6 . My grandfather was a rigid perfectionist. Everything had to be orderly, precise and punctual. I was frightened of him until the day he died. Growing up, my mother desperately wanted to please him. She probably thought he might leave if she didn’t.
In fact, I now think the fear of being left alone, abandoned, was a current throughout much of her life. A few years into my father suffering from Alzheimer, my mother’s voice on the phone sounded so upset that I had to tell her, “Just be with yourself for a little while.”
“No, I can’t do that. I don’t want to do that,” she said abruptly, closing the door on the subject. A while after my father died, she told me that she kept the television on all the time because it made her feel less lonely. “It makes the house seem more lived in,” she said. I had given in to my annoyance and either turned the volume down or turned it off. But after she told me that it filled in some of the loneliness, I never reached for the remote again.
We have had a long journey together, she and I. Over a half-century of memories, now that the journey has ended, I have a choice which ones to study which ones to turn over in my hands and dust off.
I choose to look at the ones that ache with a sweet truth not told often enough: there was love between us. It was just hard to find sometimes. I choose to remember her face on that winter day in Manhattan, when I came to her with a broken heart. I choose to remember walking on the shore with her in summers when we rented a beach house; somehow the sea always transformed us. And how she looked on my wedding day when she handed me a bracelet that had belonged to my grandmother. “Something old,” she said.
1. From the author’s point of view, what did her mother feel in her much time of life?| A．A sense of relief. | B．A sense of excitement. |
| C．A sense of being deserted. | D．A sense of being pleased. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By stating arguments. |
| C．By interviewing her father. | D．By visiting her grandfather. |
| A．express regret for her grandfather |
| B．show her sympathy toward her mother |
| C．reveal her deep feelings for her mother |
| D．emphasize her concern about the generation gap |
7 . Barbara, 70, and me, at 71, have swum together for at least 50 years. We swim in a quiet cove (小海湾). It’s home to seagulls, a duck or two, and kayaks (独木舟) on occasion. The difficult summer drought of 2021 brought a burning sun that warmed the water. As the drought eased and the water cooled in late August, we decided to keep swimming. We have both read Bonnie Tsui’s Why We Swim, a fine book about cold-water swimming. We challenged ourselves to swim for as long as possible through September and into October.
I have long loved swimming, though the fear of being seen as fat has dogged me. I am one of those female bodies poorly displayed in bathing suits. Cold-water swimming deepened my sense of well-being and let me use my body. It became a ritual Barbara and I embraced as swimming sisters. When she returned to the United States immediately after our Canadian Thanksgiving, I did not know how I could continue our cold-water tradition. I wasn’t prepared to freeze alone.
But, I had to swim; there were larger commitments I should stick to. In the summer, we planned to cross from the cove to an island across the lake. I had to stay fit. We also planned to host a cold-water swimming race for locals in the fall. We would make it an annual event, improving our strength and endurance (耐力) so that, in our 80s, we might swim through October and into November.
With these plans in mind, I joined my local city pool. I had not been in a public pool for about 30 years. But my body said swim, my brain said swim and my heart, could not let go. So I went anyway.
I am swimming. I am alive to my love of the water, alive to my promise for the spring and the summer that will come. I intend to step back into the lake in May, and through September and October with Barbara. We are perfectly matched in our devotion, and increasingly aware of the miracle of being able-bodied enough to share the cold-water wonder side by side.
1. Why was the book Why We Swim mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．It guided the author to learn to swim. |
| B．It analyzes the advantages of swimming. |
| C．It is the author’s favorite book about swimming. |
| D．It partly contributed to the author and Barbara’s common interest. |
| A．Promises . | B．Preparations . | C．Requirements . | D．Opportunities . |
| A．She went to a gym to improve her strength. |
| B．She became a member of the local public pool. |
| C．She swam across the lake to the island on her own. |
| D．She participated in a local cold-water swimming race. |
| A．To describe her friendship with Barbara. |
| B．To express her passion for cold-water swimming. |
| C．To recommend people to go swimming to keep fit. |
| D．To explain how she overcame her fear of swimming in public places. |
8 . A professor was teaching his class. All the students were listening to his
The professor took notice of this student on the first day but did not say anything. But when this
“Sir, that...” the student said. “... something has happened in my past,
The professor was a(n)
When the student
“No, sir, this is not the
Upon hearing this, the professor became serious and said, “You are right. That’s what I want to
To his relief, the student
| A．custom | B．lecture | C．request | D．arrangement |
| A．absence | B．attitude | C．presence | D．target |
| A．held on | B．lived on | C．went on | D．moved on |
| A．along | B．away | C．up | D．down |
| A．due to | B．in spite of | C．in addition to | D．far from |
| A．hardly | B．extremely | C．informally | D．previously |
| A．arrived at | B．searched for | C．took over | D．escaped from |
| A．rude | B．romantic | C．cold | D．warm |
| A．purposely | B．absolutely | C．sadly | D．gratefully |
| A．So long as | B．As soon as | C．Unless | D．Even if |
| A．Feeling | B．Hearing | C．Seeing | D．Smelling |
| A．deal | B．amount | C．luck | D．case |
| A．reached | B．removed | C．released | D．relaxed |
| A．salt | B．sugar | C．oil | D．wine |
| A．suffer from | B．get through | C．get across | D．break up |
| A．result from | B．be separated from | C．recover from | D．be saved from |
| A．ultimate | B．natural | C．original | D．similar |
| A．energy | B．advice | C．account | D．effort |
| A．confused | B．warned | C．understood | D．rejected |
| A．mass | B．majority | C．duty | D．past |
9 . Japanese researchers placed electronic devices(装置)on seals(海豹)in Antarctic waters to collect surprising information about the environment there. Japan’s National Institute of Polar Research started the research project in 2017. The team recently reported its results in a study in the publication Limnology and Oceanography.
Eight Weddell seals were fitted with the devices,which have antennas(天线)to send electronic signals.The 580-gram monitoring devices were attached(缚上;系上)to the animals’heads. They were designed to measure data such as water temperatures and sea salt levels.
Investigative teams on ships have difficulty reaching important research areas in Antarctica. These include areas along continental shelf formations where ice is attached to the shore, the National Institute of Polar Research said in a statement. Nobuo Kokubun led the project. Since the seals are active year-round, Kokubun added, “I thought we should have them collect the data.”
He told Reuters that the research also helps scientists follow the seals’ behaviors and learn about their relationship to the environment. “During the summer, we can go to Antarctica on icebreakers to conduct actual research activities, so that we can collect data there.” Kokubun said. ”But during the winter. such things cannot be done in so many places.“
Information gathered from the seals showed that one of the animals traveled as far as 633kilometers from Japan’s Showa Station in Antarctica. Another dove to a depth of 700 meters.Kokubun said the scientists learned from the data that warm seawater from the upper levels of the open sea reached Antarctica from March through the winter of 2017. The water flowed below the ice, bringing in sea creatures like Antarctic krill, an important food for seals.
Kokubun and his team plan to keep finding new ways to further examine the effects of climate change on Antarctic coastal areas. Next, he hopes to make the device small enough to fit on other animals at the South Pole, such as penguins,“The advantage with penguins is that they come back to the same place and we can collect data from them immediately,”Kokubun said.
1. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?| A．The reasons why seals are a good pick. |
| B．The difficulties the researchers met with. |
| C．The disadvantages of the research. |
| D．The formation of Antarctic waters. |
| A．It challenges some traditional views. |
| B．It is an eye-opener for the researchers. |
| C．It is in urgent need of improvement. |
| D．It simply focuses on the seals’ behavior. |
| A．They will further study the penguins. |
| B．They will make use of the same device. |
| C．They intend to expand the research further. |
| D．They plan to help the endangered penguins. |
| A．Increasing Temperature of Antarctic Waters |
| B．Seals Help Researchers Study Antarctic Environment |
| C．Seals Are in Danger of Dying out Due to Global Warming |
| D．Climate Change and Its Far-reaching Consequences |
10 . Chen Yuzhu, a 29-year-old young man, opened his first Chinese beef rice noodles restaurant in 2014 in the neighborhood of New York City’s Queens borough. He then took the flavor of his childhood memory to three other states in the US, building a recognized brand.
Actually, he started his own catering (餐饮) business after he lost his job and found noway out. It was at that time that beef rice noodles of his home village flashed in his mind.
However, the early days of setting up his business were not that easy. He frequently worked 18 hours a day, transported food at 2 am and promoted (推销) the restaurant near the New York City subway entrance by yelling, “Special noodles from my hometown, Guizhou!” But it didn’t work well. During the first two weeks. daily sales were only $200 at most, which wasn’t enough to pay the rent. He felt so anxious that he tried every possible means. Two months later, his Chinese beef rice noodles finally gained great popularity. His store has become hot spots for vloggers (视频博主) and he has made himself famous among locals as the“Rice Noodle Prince”.
“At first, running restaurants was for survival, but then I felt a sense of achievements. I became more open, inclusive and made a lot of friends. And the process to learn, make efforts and get inspired was really cool.” Chen said.
1. For what purpose did Chen Yuzhu plan to open the restaurant at first?| A．To make a living. | B．To promote special Chinese food. |
| C．To become very wealthy. | D．To gain popularity. |
| A．Shy. | B．Cautious. | C．Generous. | D．Determined. |
| A．Chen Yuzhu sold noodles at the New York City subway entrance. |
| B．The noodles were rather welcome during the first two weeks. |
| C．Chen Yuzhu met with a lot of difficulties when he started his business. |
| D．The noodles Chen Yuzhu sold were delivered from Guizhou. |
| A．Chen Yuzhu has made a lot of Chinese friends. |
| B．Making a lot of money is due to his family’s support. |
| C．Chen Yuzhu has really benefited a lot from his business. |
| D．Chen Yuzhu wants to open more restaurants in the future. |
