1 . A team of leading environmental experts have warned that the current war on plastic is detracting from the bigger threats to the environment. In an article, they say that while plastic waste is an issue, its prominence in the general public’s concern for the environment is overshadowing greater threats, for example, climate change and biodiversity loss.
The team argue that much of the bad talk about plastic waste is based on data that is not always representative of the environments that have been sampled. The dislike of plastic associated with this could encourage the use of alternative materials with potentially harmful effects.
The authors warn that plastic pollution dominates the public’s concern for the environment and has been exploited politically, after capturing the attention of the world, for example, through the images of wildlife caught in plastic was alarmist headlines. They say small political gestures such as law banning cosmetic microplastics, taxing plastic bags, and financial rewards for using reusable containers, as well as the promotion of products as “green” for containing less plastic than alternatives, make people neglect other environmental problems that are not as noticeable as plastic pollution.
The article also highlights that plastic is not the only type of polluting materials, originating from human activity that pollutes the environment. Other examples include natural textile fibres such as cotton and wool, and brake-wear particles from vehicles — all of which are present in different places. The authors note that these materials are often much more abundant than microplastics and some are associated with “plastic alternatives” that are marketed as solutions to plastic pollution. The impacts of these materials are less well-known than plastic and microplastic pollution, yet they could have huge impacts.
The article states that solutions are likely to come from a greater focus on designing materials and products that can be recycled, that have their end-of-life, and that markets and facilities exist to recycle.
1. What’s the experts’ attitude towards the current war on plastic?| A．Indifferent. | B．Favorable. | C．Critical. | D．Objective. |
| A．The negative view of plastic. |
| B．The use of alternative materials. |
| C．The potential harmful effects. |
| D．The defense for plastic. |
| A．Explain a rule. | B．Make a comparison. |
| C．Clarify a point. | D．Offer a suggestion. |
| A．A response to plastic pollution. |
| B．A schedule to fight against pollution. |
| C．An argument against climate change. |
| D．A guide to plastic management. |
2 . Surely one of the world’s most attractive rivers as well as being its longest, the mighty Nile River runs constantly ever northwards 6,650 kilometre (4,132 miles) from its origins in Africa to its mouth on the Uat-Ur, the Egyptian word for the Mediterranean Sea. Along its passage, it gave life to the ancient Egyptians, nourishing (滋养) them with its annual deep layers of rich black earth providing the basis for the agriculture, which supported the flowering of their culture.
Seneca, the Roman philosopher and statesman, described the Nile as a “remarkable sight” and an amazing wonder. The surviving records indicate this is an opinion widely shared by ancient writers who visited Egypt’s “mother of all men”.
The river gains its name from the Greek “Neilos”, meaning valley, although the ancient Egyptians called their river Ar, or “black” after its rich earth. However, the story of the Nile River doesn’t begin in the expansive delta (三角洲) of marshes (沼泽) and lakes of its Mediterranean exit, but in two distinct sources, the Blue Nile, which falls down from the Abyssinian highlands and the White Nile, which springs from equatorial Africa.
The Nile’s broad fan-shaped Delta is flat and green. At its farthest reaches, Alexander the Great built Alexandria, a busy port city and home to the Library of Alexandria and the famed Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Beyond the expanse of the Nile Delta lies the Mediterranean and Europe. At the far end of the Nile, sat Aswan, the gateway city to Egypt, a small, hot, garrison town for Egypt’s armies as they hotly contested the territory with Nubia over the centuries.
1. How did the Nile River contribute to the ancient Egypt’s civilization?| A．By supplying enough drinking water. |
| B．By providing transport to the country. |
| C．By offering support to the agriculture. |
| D．By developing its tourism to other states. |
| A．The origins of the river are delta of marshes and lakes. |
| B．The White Nile flows from the Abyssinian highlands. |
| C．The Greek name of the river has something to do with soil. |
| D．The Nile River originated from two distinct destinations. |
| A．Local market. |
| B．Business area. |
| C．Military station. |
| D．Cultural center. |
| A．The Nile River in Ancient Egypt. |
| B．The Culture of Egypt and Its river. |
| C．The Great Function of the Nile River. |
| D．Important Places along the Nile River |
3 . Flora was playing with her new dog Stitch, while wearing a favourite second-hand sweater. Stitch jumped up and grabbed her sleeve-and tore several holes in it with her sharp teeth.
Flora wasn’t about to throw the item out. “I can’t bring myself to throw away nice clothing just because of a hole, ”she explains. She decided to tackle a new skill repairing. She began by reading a book called Make Do and Repair, about the innovative ways to avoid waste.
Instead of tying to make the repair as small as possible, she turned to “visible fixing, ”a fashion in repairing clothes that leaves an intentionally obvious fix. She added flowers, or other small designs to damaged clothes. “Every time you do a repair, it’s like getting a new piece of clothing, ”says Flora.
Sadly, we have been in the habit of replacing things instead of repairing them—and the garbage is piling up. Worldwide, we throw out 92 million tonnes of fabric every year.
The good news is that fixing things can help solve the waste problem. It’s part of a larger shift toward a circular economy -the idea that instead of throwing out items once they are broken or out of date, we reuse or repair them, keeping them out of the waste yard for as long as possible.
There was a time when people fixed things themselves or called their local repair shop, But as more items were produced and prices dropped, replacing even a big appliance became more convenient.
That’s changing, in part due to information now available online. The popular how-to site iFixit. com has enabled more than 100 million repairs.
“Companies have been designing products that break easily or become outdated quickly, forcing consumers to buy new ones or purchase upgrades. We’re now seeing some producers show interest in making it possible for users to repair things. Some companies are selling official parts and sharing their repair guides through iFixit. IFixit has grown into a database with over 100, 000 repair manuals. We have this vision of a world where repair is the expectation for all things that are made, ”says Chamberlain, director of iFixit.
1. Why did Flora read a book?| A．For innovation. | B．For repairing skills. |
| C．For a better life. | D．For dog-raising information. |
| A．People’s habit. | B．Repairing quality. |
| C．Fabric production. | D．Worldwide garbage. |
| A．To remove landfills. | B．To increase production. |
| C．To help exchange goods. | D．To realize resource cycle. |
| A．He expects more wiser users. |
| B．He supports purchase upgrades. |
| C．He creates the repairing database of iFixit. |
| D．He has a desire for companies and consumers. |
One of my favourite things about spring is the arrival of different species of birds. My grandfather was a bird lover, and I picked up the birdwatching hobby at a young age, thanks to his influence. My husband John and I found it a relaxing way to enjoy nature; we like birdwatching when we go camping or hiking. Plus, I have a great love of nature photography, so when we sit out in the backyard of our home, I always have my digital camera with me. John is an artist, and he often paints the birds I photograph.
Usually when the yellow warblers (莺) come back from the south in springtime, they pass us by; we don’t typically see them hanging around our home. But not on this particular sunny day in spring. As soon as I finished my workday, I put on a light jacket and went out to the backyard to relax in my favourite way: by watching the birds.
While taking some pictures of cardinals (红衣凤头鸟) and chickadees (北美山雀) at one of our feeders, I looked up and noticed this yellow warbler in our maple tree. The tree had recently begun to bud, and the bird’s yellow feathers looked striking against the yellow blooms, so I took this photo. Our backyard has a variety of trees and between my husband and me, we’ve documented almost 40 different species of birds. I’ve photographed most of them, but some can be a bit camera shy so I also keep a written list of what we see. Our more common visitors are cardinals, chickadees, hummingbirds and various sparrows.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
One day, I was watching the yellow warbler jumping among trees when a snake crawled towards it.
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At this time, I saw many small stones in the backyard.
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5 . UK summers are likely to regularly see temperatures above 40℃ even if humanity manages to limit global warming to 1.5℃, meteorologists (气象学家) have warned.
The UK is already seeing increasingly extreme weather, with 2022 the third warmest, fifth wettest and eighth sunniest year on record-the first to fall into the top 10 for all three variables. Data published in State of the UK Climate 2022 report revealed the average winter temperature for last year was 5.3℃, which is 1.6℃ higher than the 1981 to 2010 average.
That makes December 2021 to February 2022 the fifth warmest winter on record, while the average temperature last summer was 14.8℃, 0.4℃ above the 1981 to 2010 average.
Early August 2022 saw maximum temperatures hit 34℃ on six continuous days, with five “tropical nights” above 20℃, making it one of the most significant heatwaves to affect southern England in the past 60 years, the report’s authors said.
Comparing data from the Central England Temperature series, which goes back to 1772, the research found the early 21st century in this region has been 0.5℃ to 1℃ warmer than 1901 to 2000 and 0.5℃ to 1.5℃ warmer than 1801 to 1900.
Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, which publishes the report, said the world was already seeing extreme heat as a result of warming of 1.1℃ to 1.2℃ above pre-industrial levels.
“If you take that up by another 0.3℃, these (heatwaves) are just going to become much more intense—we’re likely to see 40℃ in the UK although we have never seen those kinds of temperatures (before),” she said.
“As we hit 1.5℃ of global warming, that’s going to not just become something that we see once or twice, it’ll start to become something that we see on a much more regular basis.” Mike Kendon, climate scientist at the Met Office and lead author of the report, said the figures indicated a new normal for the UK.
1. What does paragraph 2 intend to tell us?| A．The weather was not as wet as before. | B．The rise in temperature in winter is mild. |
| C．The weather has changed but not so serious. | D．Figures show signs of extreme weather. |
| A．Extremely hot weather appeared in southern England. |
| B．Early August 2022 had only a few days’ hot weather. |
| C．Six continuous days’ extreme weather brought little harm. |
| D．It became the wettest season in the past 60 years or so. |
| A．Periodic. | B．Normal. | C．Changeable. | D．Rare. |
| A．Extreme Weather Hit the UK | B．What Extreme Weather Looks Like |
| C．Where the Future Weather Will Go | D．What We Can Do with Extreme Weather |
The Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, and Gu Gong in Chinese, lies at the city center of Beijing, and once served
The Palace Museum is becoming waste-free as the 720,000-square-meter structure has managed to reduce
While
“By launching the campaign, the Palace Museum is taking a science-based and meticulous approach to waste. The target is to minimize the generation of waste that needs
So far, approximately 3,000 museum staff members, 40,000 tourist guides, and 21 million visitors
7 . Scientists have reported that the sea ice in Antarctica (南极) is at a record low level. Antarctica is a great, icy land, surrounded (围绕) by the huge Southern Ocean. The ice in Antarctica doesn’t just cover the land. There’s also a large area of sea ice on the ocean’s surface.
Every year, the sea ice at the South Pole goes through a cycle. In the summer, the huge sea ice melts (融化) to its smallest point. Over the colder winter months, the sea ice grows and grows until it covers a wide area. Usually, the sea ice covers the greatest area around September 23, as winter ends at the South Pole.
Scientists have been measuring the area of the sea ice in Antarctica since 1979. For most of this time, Antarctica has seemed to be almost unaffected by the changing weather conditions experienced in other parts of the globe. That began to change around 2016. Now, for several years, the area of Antartica’s sea ice has been shrinking.
This year, the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) reported that Antartica’s sea ice covered its greatest area on September 10 — almost two weeks earlier than normal. And the sea ice was at a new record low-not just by a little bit, but by a lot.
The last time Antartica’s low sea ice set a record at the end of winter was in 1986. And this year, there’s about 398, 000 square miles less sea ice than in 1986.
Scientists are still trying to understand what is driving the change in Antarctica. One likely direct cause for the change is the rising temperatures of the world’s oceans. Ted Scambos, a research scientist at the University of Colorado, says Antarctica’s ice levels have always changed some, but the sharp loss this year is “pointing towards warmer ocean conditions around the continent.”
The new low record has concerned the scientists. Scientists are working hard to better understand Antarctica. They don’t know yet if this is just a short-term problem, or part of a long-term shift (转变) towards less sea ice in Antarctica.
1. What does the underlined word “shrinking” mean in Paragraph 3?| A．Getting smaller. | B．Being flat. | C．Observed. | D．Measured. |
| A．To give an example. | B．To make a comparison. |
| C．To make a summary. | D．To offer an argument. |
| A．The changing weather conditions. | B．Human activities in Antarctica. |
| C．Increased volcanic activities in the area. | D．The increasing temperatures of the global oceans. |
| A．Worried. | B．Annoyed. | C．Excited. | D．Satisfied. |
8 . In the past few weeks, Richard Eckersley has noticed a change in the type of people who come into his shop. In 2017, the former Manchester United footballer set up Earth. Food. Love in Tones, Devon, with his wife, Nicola. It’s the UK’s first “zero waste” store—the food is in big jars and boxes and people bring their own containers. “A lot of new people are coming in-people who have not necessarily been interested in environmental issues before”, he says.
Recently, the government called for supermarkets to introduce plastic-free passageways. But Eckersley says many customers are already way ahead of politicians. He and Nicola have helped people set up similar stores in Wales, Birmingham, and Bristol. Ingrid Caldironi had a similar idea. She set up a plastic-free shop in London last year, which has been so popular that it is soon moving to a bigger site.
Eckersley and Caldironi are members of an anti-plastics movement in the UK that has been growing as a result of the BBC’s Blue Planet series and a general worry about the damage plastic is doing to the environment. But big supermarkets have so far not tried very hard to reduce their plastic waste. Sian Sutherland, founder of the movement “A Plastic Planet”, says, “The most exciting thing is that politicians and industry are no longer saying that recycling will solve the problem. Banning the use of plastic packaging for food and drink products is the only answer.” Walking down the passageways of the supermarket where everything from pizza to fresh fruit and vegetables is covered in plastic. Sutherland says immediate action is needed.
Plastic pollution is causing widespread global damage. More than one million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute, and most end up in landfill or the sea. The contamination is so wide that tap water around the world also contains plastic.
1. What is special about Earth. Food. Love?| A．It gives away boxes of food. | B．It is a store without plastic bags. |
| C．It has few new customers. | D．It is the UK’s first supermarket. |
| A．Its popularity. | B．Its products. | C．Its profits. | D．Its similarity. |
| A．Pollution. | B．Acceptance. | C．Influence. | D．Application. |
| A．The impact of BBC’s Blue Planet series on anti-plastics movements. |
| B．Rising anti-plastics movement alongside increasing environmental concerns. |
| C．A guide to setting up plastic-free stores to promote recycling in the whole UK. |
| D．Richard Eckersley’s personal journey in waste reduction and pollution prevention. |
9 . The “mark test” (or “mirror test”) is a way to test animal intelligence — whether an animal can recognize itself, especially animals with large brains. A mark is put on an animal, usually in a spot that can only be seen with a mirror. Then the animal is allowed to look in a mirror. If the animal seems to pay attention to the mark, scientists believe the animal has recognized itself.
But some scientists believe the mark test doesn’t work well for all animals. Roosters (公鸡) are a good example. Scientists at the University of Bonn recently ran the mark test on roosters. They put a pinkish triangle on the chest of the roosters. But when the roosters looked in a mirror, they didn’t seem to notice the mark.
The scientists needed a different way to test whether the roosters could recognize themselves. When there’s danger — like a hawk (鹰) flying above — roosters make loud calls to warn nearby chickens. But roosters only make the cries if other chickens can hear them. If they’re alone, they remain quiet so the hawk won’t see them. The scientists realized that they could use the shadow of a hawk to test if roosters could recognize themselves in a mirror.
First, the scientists let the roosters spend time getting used to being in a closed-in space and having a mirror around. Then, they ran several tests by making a hawk shadow appear above the bird and watching how the rooster reacted.
When there was no mirror, the roosters reacted as usual. They called out when they were near another rooster, but remained quiet when they were alone. But when a rooster was in a space where it could see itself in the mirror, it wasn’t fooled into thinking there was another rooster. It remained silent despite the hawk shadow.
It proves the roosters knew they were seeing themselves in the mirror, and not other roosters. That suggests that the mark test may not be a good test of whether an animal can recognize itself.
The scientists hope their results will encourage other scientists to look for better ways of testing self-recognition in animals.
1. What is the purpose of the “mark test”?| A．To test a bird’s ability to fly. |
| B．To measure an animal’s brain size. |
| C．To see if an animal can recognize itself. |
| D．To compare different animals’ intelligence. |
| A．By testing their eyesight with a mirror. |
| B．By putting a mark on the roosters’ chest. |
| C．By placing two roosters before the mirror. |
| D．By observing their reactions to a hawk shadow, |
| A．Roosters are not intelligent animals. |
| B．The mark test is a reliable measure of self-recognition. |
| C．The mark test may not accurately determine self-recognition. |
| D．Roosters can recognize themselves better than other animals. |
| A．Conducting more experiments on roosters. |
| B．Using the mark test on other bird species. |
| C．Studying self-recognition in dolphins and elephants. |
| D．Searching for better ways to test animal intelligence. |
10 . South Baltimore is surrounded by water, highways, and train tracks. It’s also often thought of as a place to avoid—folks are taught to be careful of or even avoid South Baltimore. “People think South Baltimore is a place filled with danger. It’s not. It’s just we’re surrounded by dangerous things,” says Taysia, 17.
Taysia is part of a group of student activists fighting against a very different kind of danger in their neighborhood: air pollution and climate change. Lots of trucks with their noise pass through the neighborhood. South Baltimore is also home to a junkyard where they crush (压碎)cars, an old landfill, chemical plants, and mountains of coal. These are not the communities anyone wants.
The residents of South Baltimore are breathing polluted air today. Coal releases a black dust that’s small enough to get into people’s lungs. It can cause disease and death if you’re breathing it day after day. The mountains of coal are the focus of a growing opposition movement called Free Your Voice, led by South Baltimore teenagers.
The teens of Free Your Voice are taking on a big opponent (对手): the massive transportation company CSX, which transports more than 8 million tons of coal through South Baltimore annually. CSX makes billions of dollars a year.
The teens went door to door, warning their neighbors about the dangers of the coal transportation. Not everyone was on board at first. “We were talking to people and that’s just like, ‘You’re a kid! Like this is not gonna change, it’s been happening forever.’” Taysia says.
Meanwhile, the students spent the summer using sticky paper to gather samples of dust from all over the neighborhood to prove that the dust was from coal and to pinpoint which parts of the neighborhood were most affected.
The goal is to eventually get the state regulators to deny the permit that CSX needs to operate, or at least require the company to enclose all the coal, or at the very least put water onto all of it so there’s less dust blowing around. And the state is considering all of those requests.
1. How did people describe South Baltimore according to Taysia?| A．Wealthy. | B．Dangerous. | C．Peaceful. | D．Inclusive. |
| A．The junkyard. | B．The old landfill. |
| C．The chemical plants. | D．The coal transportation. |
| A．They believed the pollution was harmless. |
| B．They trusted CSX’s environmental practices. |
| C．They had no awareness of the pollution and climate change. |
| D．They thought the students were too young to make a change. |
| A．Conducting surveys. | B．Distributing leaflets. |
| C．Using sticky paper for dust samples. | D．Organizing protests. |
