1 . We've got to do a better job of stopping global warming, a new report says.
The report, released Wednesday by the United Nations, says the world isn't doing nearly enough to control fossil fuel production to the level that's needed to stop "catastrophic" levels of global warming, pointing fingers at both developed countries and developing countries.
However, developing countries currently cannot sustain (维持) themselves, let alone grow, without relying heavily on fossil fuels. To them, fossil fuels are still the cheapest, most reliable energy resources available. India, for example, is home to one-third of the world's 1. 2 billion citizens living in poverty. That's 400 million people in one country without sufficient food or shelter. India hopes to shift to renewable energy as its economy grows, but the investment needed to meet its renewable energy goals “is over ten times the country's annual spending on agriculture and infrastructure (基础设施).” Unless something changes, developing countries like India cannot fight climate change.
Yet the weather changes and consequences of global warming, like tons of droughts and poverty are already impacting economic growth in many countries. Is there a solution?
According to a World Bank report, “poor and middle-income countries account for just over half of total carbon emissions.” And this percentage will only rise as developing countries grow. In Sub-Sabaran Africa, the number of people living in poverty increased by 98% in the thirty years, while carbon dioxide on average decreased by 17%. Given the current energy situation, if sub-Saharan Africans are to escape extreme poverty, they will have to increase their carbon use unless developed countries step in to offer clean alternatives and financial aid.
After all, global warming is, by definition, a global crisis. Reducing this threat will require global cooperation and global solutions.
1. What does the writer want to convey in paragraph three?| A．India has difficulty in feeding itself. |
| B．India has the largest number of poverty. |
| C．India cannot afford to develop clean energy. |
| D．India relies heavier on fossil fuels than USA |
| A．They'll be rid of extreme poverty. | B．They'll stop developing economy. |
| C．They'll care much for carbon emissions. | D．They'll pursue economic growth at heavy cost. |
| A．Poverty is the root of global warming. |
| B．Huge gap does exist between countries. |
| C．Developing countries cannot afford global warming. |
| D．Global warming demands global effort and solutions. |
| A．Conflicts between countries. | B．Ways of global cooperation. |
| C．Potential crises on the earth. | D．The importance of clean alternatives. |
2 . Twelve-year-old Lydia Denton was recently named the winner of CITGO's Fueling Education Student Challenge, where she earned $20,000 after creating the Beat the Heat Car Seat, which is a portable device placed in the car seat that not only senses weight over five pounds but monitors temperature when the baby is in the seat.
The soon-to-be seventh grader says she became inspired to make the invention after watching the news that babies were being left in hot cars, often by accident.“At first, I thought about raising money for the families, but that wouldn't fix the problem: I wanted to invent something that could prevent the deaths from happening.”
Lydia's device is started when it senses the weight of the child and the temperature setting reaches over 100 F (38℃). At that point, an alarm goes off and a warning is sent via SMS to the parents. If the parents don't reset the device within 60 seconds, a built-in GPS chip sends a message to local authorities with the vehicle's location. After many rounds of testing with her local 911, Lydia is proud to say that Beat the Heat Car Seat is a success.
Though many newer vehicles come with warning systems and smart seat systems, Lydia's goal was to create a device that would reach more people and that could also transfer from car seat to car seat as the child grew. She decided to use her prize money to continue making improvements on the device, which would sell for only about $40.
Lydia is now working with an instructor who is helping her with production and teaching her about business. Lydia hopes that her work will inspire more kids of her age to make their ideas come true. “Don't think that you have to accept things in the world. If there is something that bothers you, think of ways to make it better!”
1. Why did Lydia make the invention?| A．To win 20,000-dollar prize. |
| B．To raise money for unlucky families. |
| C．To help stop babies dying in hot cars. |
| D．To guarantee babies' safety in a car crash. |
| A．How it works. | B．What it consists of. |
| C．Why it raises the alarm. | D．How parents respond to it. |
| A．It will be much stronger. | B．It will be more affordable. |
| C．It will be less problematic. | D．It will be more effective on older kids. |
| A．No competition, no progress. |
| B．It's never too late to go into business. |
| C．One should be open to any suggestion. |
| D．Creative thinking is the key to success. |
3 . Even while saving a species, “slow and steady” can win the race. The Espanola tortoise program on the Galapagos Islands has become one of the most successful captive (被俘获的) breeding programs ever undertaken in the world. Created in the mid-1960s to save that species from extinction, it collected the last remaining 14 tortoises on Espanola island — the only place in the world they are found.
Now, they’ve all made the trip back home, 55 years later, to spend the rest of their days in retirement on their island’s restored ecosystem. The 14 giant Espanola tortoises (plus one that had been at the San Diego Zoo) produced 1,900 babies over the decades which have slowly been reintroduced on the island—many of which have survived to adulthood and have bred (繁殖) later, creating a population of roughly 2,300 children and grandchildren of the original 15.
One giant tortoise titled “Diego” managed to contribute to approximately 40% of the baby tortoises sent back to the island before two weeks ago joining his species where he was taken almost 80 years ago. The dramatic decline of the tortoise population was due mainly to over-exploitation by sailors in the 1800’s who gathered hundreds for food on their long voyages. They also introduced invasive species, particularly goats, which were finally wiped out from the island in 1978.
In the program’s first period, the Galapagos Conservancy conducted a worldwide search to determine if there were more individuals, especially males, that could contribute to the genetic variability (遗传变异) of this unique species. The search paid off, and one adult male (Diego) was found at the San Diego Zoo, having been collected on the island by a research team in the mid-1930s. Diego is now 100 years old, and because tortoises can live to be 150, he may be enjoying a retirement for decades, watching his great, great, great grand nephews and nieces grow up.
1. What was the Espanola tortoise program designed to do?| A．Gain the remaining 14 tortoises. |
| B．Rescue that species from dying out. |
| C．Look for a good place to save tortoises. |
| D．Build up a safe and successful habitat. |
| A．A lot has been done to save the tortoises. |
| B．Many baby tortoises have been born on the island. |
| C．The original tortoises have made the trip back home. |
| D．Great achievement has been made to save the tortoises. |
| A．Those sailors collected too much food on the island. |
| B．Many goats were introduced to the island. |
| C．There were too many human activities on the island. |
| D．They died because of some unknown diseases on the island. |
| A．Diego is female and deliver many tortoises. |
| B．Diego will live on the island with his later generations. |
| C．Diego was born in the San Diego Zoo in the mid-1930s. |
| D．Diego was once collected by sailors and then kept in a zoo. |
4 . A number of people hold an optimistic attitude toward artificial intelligence's ability to reshape education nowadays. However, many feel such claims are overblown.
Kentaro Toyama, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, is one of those doubtful about the idea of using AI in the classroom.
Toyama mentioned a situation he encountered while working in an after-school program in digital literacy（数字技术素养）. He said, “In trying to teach students to use technology, the greatest difficulty is the technology itself." As soon as he looked away from the students, they would “very quickly find the most fun games they could find on the computer and start playing them”. That reveals the problem with putting too much faith in Al for teaching. “There is great potential for it to be a distraction." he said.
Toyama once surveyed a large group of people about their preference for the following educational situations: a school with no teachers but powerful AI, one with bad teachers but strong computers, one with good teachers but no computers, or one with great teachers and many computers. The result showed that nobody would send their children to a school with powerful AI but no teachers, or one with bad teachers but strong computers. Toyama concluded, "Good teachers are what matters; everything else is secondary compared to that."
Toyama is also concerned that AI and technology may widen the gap between disadvantaged schools and wealthier schools. He said, "In the case of schools, well-resourced schools will find the best ways to use technology. But if you' re in a school district that is underfunded and parents are not involved, it doesn't make a difference how good the technology is, and it will not turn that situation around."
When asked when schools should adopt AI, Toyama suggested that they should wait until the basics are in place, teachers want it, and the technology is proved to have positive educational values.
1. What does the underlined word "it" in Paragraph 3 probably refer to?| A．AI. | B．Faith. | C．Teaching. | D．Computer. |
| A．To emphasize the key factor in education. |
| B．To recommend his favorite school for parents. |
| C．To compare the differences between AI and teachers. |
| D．To prove that preference for schools varies among people. |
| A．Al has the potential to reshape teaching and learning. |
| B．A good school should put students and technology first. |
| C．AI will be able to educate students as well as real teachers. |
| D．Al and technology may unbalance educational resources. |
| A．Al Reshapes Education | B．Using Al in the Classroom? |
| C．Will AI Dominate School? | D．AI and Technology |
5 . Researchers at CU Boulder have developed a wearable device that changes the human body into a biological battery. The device is stretchy(弹性的) enough that you can wear it like a ring, sport band or any other thing that touches your skin. It also taps into a person's natural heat-employing thermoelectric generators to change the body's internal temperature into electricity. "In the future, we want to be able to power your wearable electronics without having to include a battery," said Jianliang Xiao, an associate professor at CU Boulder.
The concept may sound like something out of The Matrix film series, in which a race of robots have enslaved humans to harvest their precious organic energy. Xiao and his colleagues aren't that ambitious: Their devices can generate about 1 volt (伏特) of energy for every square centimeter of skin space-less volt per area than what most existing batteries provide but still enough to power electronics like watches or fitness trackers.
Scientists have previously experimented with similar wearable devices, but Xiao's is stretchy, can heal itself when damaged and is fully recyclable-making it a cleaner alternative to traditional electronics. "Whenever you use a battery, you're depleting(消耗) that battery and will, eventually, need to replace it," Xiao said. "The nice thing about our device is that you can wear it, and it provides you with constant power."
Just pretend that you're out for a jog. As you exercise, your body heats up, and that heat will radiate out to the cool air around you. Xiao's device captures that flow of energy rather than let it go to waste. "The thermoelectric generators are in close contact with the human body, and they can use the heat that would normally be sent into the environment," Xiao said.
1. What does Xiao expect of his device at present?| A．It will be used for medical purposes. |
| B．It will be made smaller and wearable. |
| C．It will change natural power into electricity. |
| D．It will supply constant power to wearable devices. |
| A．To give an explanation. | B．To make a comparison. |
| C．To introduce a topic. | D．To analyze the cause. |
| A．The strengths of Xiao's device. |
| B．The convenience of using a battery. |
| C．The replacement of wearable devices. |
| D．The development of traditional electronics. |
| A．It operates with plenty of power. |
| B．It is designed for practical use. |
| C．It benefits people's health in a way. |
| D．It's based on traditional electronics. |
6 . Two women going on a journey to green their city is the best way to describe the founders of Utility, Portland's low-waste and reuse company. It started in January 2019 and opened its first retail shop in April. Its founders, Rebecca Rottman and Nadine Appenbrink, are deeply committed to sustainability and supporters of zero waste.
They started Utility as a second job for both and as a personal journey, looking for clean products that didn't come in plastic. Their goal is to reduce the amount of single-use plastics by allowing people to bring their own reusable containers when they buy environmental friendly home and personal care items.
Every week the women teamed up with local stores to sell their goods and to refill products for returning customers. Now they are operating only online for pickup or local delivery in the Portland area. It is really easy, the company said. Just shop online and choose a container. Then select pickup or delivery. The products include all-natural dish bar soap and a wide variety of plastic-free kitchen tools.
While not completely zero waste, Utility is striving to get extremely close. Appenbrink said, “We are all on a journey. And we want to be as approachable as possible. Utility is to raise awareness about this lifestyle.” They are focused on careful growth because Utility will never ship products because of the carbon footprint involved in shipping.
There are zero waste stores in other communities, like Clean Kilo in Birmingham UK, but they are real brick and mortar (实体的) buildings. Utility's concept is so simple that it can be followed almost anywhere. Zero waste markets are the way to the circular economy that is needed to stop plastic waste, reduce our carbon footprint and have a sustainable future.
1. Why did Rebecca and Nadine found Utility?| A．To satisfy people's basic needs. | B．To offer job chances to local people. |
| C．To raise money for a personal journey. | D．To promote the use of reusable containers. |
| A．Reducing their carbon footprint. | B．Offering more home-made products. |
| C．Providing low-price shipping service. | D．Expanding their market internationally. |
| A．It is a hard job to stop plastic waste. | B．It is easy to copy Utility's practice. |
| C．Zero waste stores should run offline. | D．Traditional shops produce more waste. |
| A．Two women are going on an eco-travel |
| B．Single-use plastics are replaced in Portland |
| C．A community online shop helps Portland go zero waste |
| D．A Portland company is changing plastic into green products |
