2 . Today, you can buy a pair of sneakers (运动鞋) partially made from carbon dioxide pulled out of the atmosphere. But measuring the carbon-reduction benefits of making that pair of sneakers with carbon dioxide is complex. There’s the carbon dioxide that stayed in the ground, a definite carbon reduction. But what about the energy cost of cooling the carbon dioxide into liquid form and transporting it to a production facility? And what about when your kid outgrows the shoes in six months and they can’t be recycled into a new product because those systems aren’t in place yet?

Researchers are trying to help companies figure out how to account for each step in a product’s life.

As companies try to reduce their carbon footprint, many are doing life cycle assessments to measure the full carbon cost of products, from the obtaining of materials to energy use in manufacturing, from product transport to users’ behavior and end-of-life disposal (处理). It’s an impressively complex measurement, but such bean-counting is needed to hold the planet to a livable temperature, says low-carbon systems expert Andrea Ramirez Ramirez of the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

Carbon use can be reduced at many points along the production chain—by using renewable energy in the manufacturing process, for instance, or by adding atmospheric carbon dioxide to the product. But if other points along the chain like transporting consume more energy or give off more carbon dioxide, Andrea notes, the final record may show a decrease rather than a reduction. A product is carbon-reduction only when its production actually removes carbon from the environment, temporarily or permanently.

In the rush to create products that can fight climate change, however, some companies have been charged with “greenwashing”—making products appear more environmentally friendly than they really are. Examples include labeling (用标签表明) plastic garbage bags as recyclable when their whole purpose is to be thrown away; using labels such as “eco-friendly” or “100% Natural” without official certification; and claiming a better carbon footprint without acknowledging the existence of even better choices.

1. How does the author lead in the topic of the text?

A．By listing specific figures.	B．By putting up questions.
C．By referring to documents.	D．By offering some solutions.

2. What does Andrea think of measuring the carbon cost of products?

A．Difficult but meaningful.	B．Expensive but promising.
C．Energy-saving and affordable.	D．Time-consuming and valueless.

3. What can be defined as reducing carbon use in the production chain?

A．Using renewable energy in production.

B．Changing carbon dioxide into material.

C．Reducing carbon footprint in products’ life.

D．Cutting down carbon dioxide in transporting.

4. What can we know from the last paragraph?

A．Companies are sparing no efforts to reduce carbon use.

B．Plastic garbage bags must be labeled as “eco-friendly”.

C．Most products are less environmentally friendly than before.

D．There is a long way to cut some companies’ ”greenwashing“.

6 . At Sho Farm in northern Vermont, farmers Melissa Hoffman and Shawn Smith work hand in hand with the land and its inhabitants, and among them are hundreds of ducks. The ducks at Sho Farm are not being raised to be killed for food. Rather, they are naturally involved in farming operations, helping to manage pests and add fertilizer (肥料) to the soil.

In the beginning, Hoffman, who has a background in organic farming and ecology action, worked with ecologists and biologists to survey the plants and wildlife all around the area. This was “to understand who was living here, so that everything we did was in relationship to the life already here,” he says.

So, at Sho Farm, focus is placed on living harmoniously alongside other life and working with traditional ecological knowledge. Food is seen not as a commodity (商品) but as a relationship with land and life.

The methods of food production at Sho Farm, as well as the farmers’ philosophy of working with rather than against nature, are in sharp contrast to most modern agricultural systems. And that’s the point. “We’ve been talking a lot about the broken food system and the consequences of it to the environment, to wildlife, to the animals in animal agriculture and to human health,” says Hoffman, adding that it’s not just the food system that’s broken. “It’s the relationship between humans, non-human animals, land and nature.”

The ducks play a vital, integrated role on the farm, explains Hoffman, by naturally providing pest control, fertilizer and (fuel-free) land maintenance (维护), just as by-products of their existence. “We noticed where we summered groups of ducks and parts of the food system that were not doing very well. The following year, the food system was efficiently improved,” he says.

It’s a symbiotic relationship that works well. “Animals don’t have to be part of a farm in a commodity sense. They can be part of the farm as a partner,” Hoffman says. “They are wonderful partners.”

1. Why did Hoffman do a survey in the beginning?

A．To get familiar with the surroundings.

B．To have a good relationship with other people.

C．To live in harmony with other life on the farm.

D．To have a good understanding of organic farming.

2. What does the author intend to explain in paragraph 4?

A．The causes of the broken food system.

B．The reasons for Hoffman’s farming methods.

C．The changes in modern agricultural systems.

D．The process of food production at Sho Farm.

3. What does “a symbiotic relationship” in the last paragraph imply?

A．Animals are treated well at Sho Farm.

B．Animals are not to be sold for money.

C．People and animals play the same role in organic farming.

D．People and animals work together and benefit each other.

4. Which of the following best describes the farming at Sho Farm?

A．Efficient.

B．Modern.

C．Natural.

D．Economical.

8 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

China will establish a new batch of national parks, including Huanghekou, Qianjiangyuan-Baishanzu and Kalamayli, in a steady and     1     (order) manner, Guan Zhiou, head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said on Saturday.

Speaking at the second National Park Forum held in Xining, capital of Qinghai province, Guan said China has adopted the strictest measures     2     (strengthen) the protection of the authenticity and integrity of the ecosystem, and promote the continuous improvement of ecological functions.

China’s national parks are specific land or sea areas     3     main purpose is to preserve the     4     (national) representative natural ecosystems of the country and realize the scientific protection and reasonable use of natural resources.

In 2021, China established the first batch of national parks, with     5     protected land area of 230,000 square km. These parks, including the Sanjiangyuan National Park, the Giant Panda National Park, the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park and so on, are home to nearly 30 percent of the key terrestrial (陆生的) wildlife species     6     (find) in the country.

“The Sanjiangyuan park realized the full protection of the source of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang     7     (river) and the Tibetan antelope population has recovered to over 70,000. In the Giant Panda National Park, more than 70 percent of wild pandas are     8     good protection,” the official added.

“Efforts     9     (make) to promote high-level protection and facilitate the promulgation (颁布) of the National Park Law,” Guan said,     10     (add) that China will also increase the application of new technologies, build a world-class scientific research monitoring platform, and strengthen national park management capabilities.

9 . When micro-plastics end up in farm fields, the pollution can damage plant growth. But two young researchers now report that combining fungi (真菌) with certain farm wastes can partly overcome that problem.

May Shin, 20, and Jiwon Choi, 18, met in a research design class at the Fryeburg Academy, a high school in Maine. May had desired to explore how micro-plastics might affect the ecosystem. Jiwon was crazy about plants and fungi. The young scientists cooperated to test how long-lived plastics might affect farm crops.

Scientists have shown certain fungi can aid root growth and a plant’s nutrient uptake. Those organisms are named arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Certain farm wastes, like straw, can provide nutrients to plants and help stabilize their roots. Such wastes are also known as mushroom substrate (基质) and people often grow mushrooms in them.

May and Jiwon planted over 2,000 scallion (大葱) seeds in pots of soil. Half the seeds got soil polluted with micro-plastics. The rest grew in plastic-free soil. The plants then were further divided into four groups. The young scientists added AMF to the soil in one group. Another group had a top layer of mushroom substrate. A third group got both treatments. The last group got none. For three weeks, the pair tracked how many scallions sprouted (发芽) in each group and measured the plants’ height once each week.

About twice as many scallions sprouted in clean soil compared to that containing plastic bits. But among plants surviving in the polluted soil, a combination of AMF and mushroom substrate helped them out. Those getting both treatments grew 5.4 centimeters per week. That was faster than either of the treatments alone or those getting none.

Jiwon and May then looked at the plant roots with a microscope. Where AMF had been added, it grew into those roots. That increased the scallion roots’ surface area, May said, which should promote their uptake of nutrients. So “I see this project as coming up with a sustainable solution for plant growth in polluted soils,” said May.

1. Why did May and Jiwon work together?

A．To see the effects of long-lived plastics on farm crops.

B．To find the relationship between plants and fungi.

C．To design a research on the growth of plants.

D．To explore the way that the ecosystem works.

2. What is the author’s purpose in writing paragraph 3?

A．To prove the existence of micro-plastics.	B．To compare fungi with farm wastes.
C．To tell the advantages of farm wastes.	D．To provide some related information.

3. What aspect of the study is the fourth paragraph mainly about?

A．Its purpose.

B．Its design.

C．Its findings.

D．Its reasons.

4. How can AMF and mushroom substrate make plants grow faster?

A．By keeping the plants more resistant to pollution.	B．By allowing the plants’ deep area more freedom.
C．By making nutrients more available to the plants.	D．By exposing the roots to a larger surface area.

10 . Astronomers long thought that an odd star system observed by the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite was a simple case of a star orbiting a black hole. But two astronomers are challenging that claim, finding that the evidence suggests something far stranger: a never-before-seen type of star made of invisible dark matter. The system consists of a sun-like star, and its mysterious dark companion, which is much more massive.

What could that dark companion be? Maybe, as suggested, it’s a clump (团) of dark matter. Dark matter is an invisible form of matter that makes up the vast majority of the mass of every single galaxy (星系). We still don’t have a solid understanding of its identity. Most theoretical models assume that dark matter is smoothly distributed in each galaxy, but there are models that allow it to come together on itself.

One of these models supposes that dark matter in this case is a new kind of boson (玻色子). These bosons would have the ability to form clumps. Some of them could be the size of entire star systems, but some could be much smaller. The smallest ones could be as small as stars, and they get a new name: boson stars. Boson stars would be entirely invisible. Because dark matter doesn’t interact with other substances or light, we could detect them only through the gravitational influence on their surroundings. The researchers pointed out that a simple model of boson dark matter could produce enough boson stars to make the two astronomers’ finding reasonable.

While it’s unlikely that this is actually the discovery of a boson star, follow-up observations are still urged. Most importantly, this unique system gives us a rare opportunity to study the behaviour of strong gravity, allowing us to examine Einstein’s theory of general relativity to see if it holds. Secondly, if it is a boson star, this system is the perfect experimental set-up. We can keep studying our models of boson stars, see how well they can explain the orbital dynamics of this system and use that information to glimpse into the dark corners of the universe.

1. What does the evidence show about the odd star system?

A．Its mass is less than the sun.

B．It is a simple case for astronomers.

C．It is made of a star and a black hole.

D．Its star is made of invisible dark matter.

2. What can we infer about dark matter from paragraph 2?

A．It can be gathered.

B．It is solid and inactive.

C．It can be a clump of visible matter.

D．It makes up a minority of the galaxy’s mass.

3. What are boson stars?

A．The smallest dark matter.

B．The smallest boson clumps.

C．The smallest boson models.

D．The smallest star systems.

4. What does the author convey in the last paragraph?

A．Einstein’s theory holds true.

B．Boson stars have been confirmed.

C．More relevant studies will be needed.

D．A perfect model contains a boson star.