1. What do we know about the area?
| A．Lightning strikes mostly in December. |
| B．The people there worry about getting hit. |
| C．The area is near the Andes Mountains. |
| A．The Never-Ending Storm of Catatumbo. |
| B．The Lightning Capital of the World. |
| C．The Light of Venezuela. |
| A．One in three per year. | B．One in 12,000 per year. | C．80% of people who live there. |
| A．He’s scared of storms. |
| B．He’ll never visit Venezuela. |
| C．He’d be careful if he lived in the area. |
2 . Marathon runner Gerima Mustafa of Uganda walked some 664 kilometers across East Africa earlier this year to call attention to threats to the shea (乳木果) nut tree, a source of food, medical products and income for the many living from West Africa to Somalia.
Now research scientists studying the shea tree in Burkina Faso have found that it is the natural ecosystem that is getting degraded in this region that might do harm to the shea, which is often targeted by charcoal (木炭) traders who kill and sell the trees for far less than the long-term worth of their benefits. The habitats are lost to ever-increasing agricultural shifts too, with a clear overall link to the impacts of human activity.
Scientist Aoife Delaney of the UK, along with Burkinabe researchers and British ecologists, studied 10 different parkland locations in Burkina Faso where the trees are planted. They say the tree — able to produce nuts for 200 years — relies on pollinators (传粉者) that thrive when other trees and shrub (灌木) species around it create a habitat to support the pollinators, especially bees.
“Consequently, shea productions are likely to benefit from the preservation of a range of different tree and shrub species in parklands,” Delaney and the research team said. Their work was recently published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
The authors recommend maintaining a range of native woody species throughout their lifespans, and planting new ones into farmland when cleared. The idea is to be intentional and active about protecting the trees.
“Only separate parts of semi-natural habitat in the surrounding landscape may not be sufficient to provide the necessary pollination services,” they concluded. “In a region that is subject to nutritional poverty and where the fund required to supply local foods is lacking for most families, maintaining natural ecosystem services that support food provision must be a priority.”
1. Why is Gerima Mustafa mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．To describe a marathon runner’s experience. | B．To suggest the popularity of Gerima Mustafa. |
| C．To introduce the importance of shea nut trees. | D．To explain an approach to protecting the wildlife. |
| A．The agricultural development. | B．The illegal hunting of animals. |
| C．The disturbance of human activity. | D．The pollution in their natural habitat. |
| A．Increase. | B．Spread. | C．Escape. | D．Change. |
| A．Provide hand-pollination services. | B．Keep the biodiversity within ecosystem. |
| C．Replace the old shea trees with new ones. | D．Open up more natural habitats for pollinators. |
3 . Pet adoption is the perfect way to add a new family member. But if a pet is too young to be adopted, it must be fostered (寄养) first. That’s how a puppy named Maggie that was rescued by the North Shore Animal League America (NSALA), ended up being fostered by a sweet six-year-old boy.
The animal rescue organization in Port Washington needed to find a foster home for Maggie because she needed to be trained with basic obedience (顺从) skills and to become comfortable with a home environment. NSALA put out a call for a foster family.
Roman Duncan’s family was the lucky one chosen for the job. The boy fell in love with the puppy and was able to be part of her growth during those formative months. The family always made it clear to Roman that Maggie would eventually be adopted and move to a different home.
When it came time for Maggie to be adopted, Roman couldn’t hold his tears. He decided to write letters to the puppy’s future family. He wrote letters about his furry friend, saying “Maggie is so cute and loves to play fetch. She is the best dog ever,” and slipped the notes and some photos into Maggie’s paperwork.
The rescue team were surprised and then incredibly touched by the notes they found when opening Maggie’s file. NSALA made sure that Roman’s notes reached her adopted family. The boy’s gesture is exactly what pet fostering is about.
A dog or cat that has gone through terrible sufferings such as being abusing needs to learn what it means to live in a home. Fostering helps reduce the animal’s stress and makes it trust people again. It is also an opportunity for people who love pets but can’t have them full-time due to some restrictions. Pet fosters can get to enjoy helping a pet in need. If you are interested in pet fostering, contact a local shelter or animal rescue near you.
1. What happened to Maggie at first?| A．She was released into the wild. | B．She was settled in a new home. |
| C．She was saved by a rescue team. | D．She was fostered by Roman’s family. |
| A．To express his mixed feelings. | B．To preserve Maggie’s paperwork. |
| C．To choose Maggie’s future family. | D．To help Maggie adapt to new home. |
| A．The benefits of pet fostering. | B．The access to fostering a pet. |
| C．A homeless animal’s barriers. | D．The restrictions to adopting a pet. |
| A．Maggie Lives Happily in a Comforting Foster Home |
| B．A Boy Writes Sweet Letter to Puppy’s Forever Family |
| C．Pet fostering Plays Great Roles in Rescuing Lost Animals |
| D．Roman Duncan’s Family Adopts a new Family Member |
4 . 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 misshapen produce.
While this movement might be a new trend here in the US, it’s already gained serious moment um(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 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．Deserted. | B．Harvested. | C．Consumed. | D．Purchased. |
| 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. |
5 . A new study focused on birds examines how the movements of rivers in the Amazon have contributed to that area’s exceptional biological diversity.The research team, led by the American Museum of Natural History, found that as small river systems change over time, they spur the evolution of new species. The findings also reveal previously unknown bird species in the Amazon that are only found in small areas next to these dynamic river systems, putting them at high risk of extinction.
The lowland rainforests of the Amazon River basin harbor(藏匿) more diversity than any other ecosystem on the planet. It is also a globally important biome(生物群落) containing about 18 percent of all trees on Earth and carrying more fresh water than the next seven largest river basins combined. Researchers have long wondered and hotly debated how the Amazon’s rich biodiversity arose and accumulated.
“Early evolutionary biologists like Alfred Russel Wallace noticed that many species of primates and birds differ across opposite riverbanks in the Amazon,”said the study’s lead author Lukas Musher. “Moreover, accumulating geological evidence has suggested that these rivers are highly dynamic, moving around the South American landscape over relatively short time periods, on the order of thousands or tens of thousands of years.”
To investigate how the movement of rivers across the landscape has influenced the accumulation of bird species in the Amazon, the researchers sequenced the genomes(基因组) of six species of Amazonian birds.
Because these rivers move around the landscape at different time scales, their movements can have varying outcomes for bird species: when river rearrangements occur quickly, populations of birds on each side can combine before they’ve had time to differ; when river changes happen slowly, species have a longer time to diverge from one another.
1. What does the underlined word “spur” in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Stimulate. | B．Renew. | C．Pursue. | D．Interrupt. |
| A．What the Amazon’s biodiversity indicates. | B．How the Amazon’s biodiversity was formed. |
| C．Whether the Amazon has the richest biodiversity. | D．Why Amazon bird species are at risk of distinction. |
| A．There are six species of American birds. |
| B．Rivers move very slowly in South America. |
| C．Most species differ across opposite Amazon riverbanks. |
| D．River movement may lead to the Amazon’s biodiversity. |
| A．The location of river movement. | B．The populations of birds. |
| C．The speed of river movement. | D．The amount of the genomes. |
6 . The 2021 winners of a major international environmental award have just been announced, and the list includes a Vietnamese conservationist who’s known for his vital work helping protect the pangolin (穿山甲) — the world’s most trafficked animal.
Van Nguyen grew up near Cuc Phuong National Park and, as a child, watched poachers (偷猎者) removing pangolin from their holes. “I saw a mum (pangolin), rolling into a ball to protect her baby.” Nguyen decided to make pangolin conservation his life’s work.
Nguyen set out to stop poaching and educate the Vietnamese public on the importance of pangolin conservation in order to reverse the condition of the pangolins. His efforts began with an education campaign. Nguyen also opened the Carnivore and Pangolin Education Center, the first of its kind in Vietnam, in order to provide wildlife conservation courses for students and the general public. Nguyen didn’t stop there; he established Vietnam’s first Asian Pangolin Rehabilitation (康复) Center.
Nguyen even worked with poachers to ask them to take him into the forest and show him how they track and catch pangolins. He also visited markets, restaurants, and doctors of traditional medicine to learn more about the demand for pangolins. In 2018, Nguyen created Vietnam’s first-ever anti-poaching unit. Nguyen has also looked to global strategies and worked with the management authority of the CITES to ban international trade for animals most threatened with extinction.
As one of the few people in the world working on pangolin conservation and rehabilitation, Nguyen is filling a necessary and important space for understanding and protecting this critically endangered animal.
1. What made Nguyen start pangolin protection?| A．His love for pangolins. | B．A childhood experience. |
| C．Serious pangolin poaching. | D．The importance of pangolins. |
| A．Worsen. | B．Analyze. | C．Change. | D．Maintain. |
| A．To report them to the police. | B．To learn about the market demand. |
| C．To understand their tricks. | D．To get pangolins to safer places. |
| A．Taking Action: Stories of Pangolin |
| B．Pangolins: A Critically Endangered animal |
| C．Saving Pangolins: Van Nguyen’s Life Mission |
| D．Van Nguyen: An Environmental Award Winner |
7 . Leaf peeping, the practice of traveling to watch nature display the fall colors, is a beloved annual activity, especially in New England. Typically, by the end of September, leaves take on warmer colors throughout the U.S. But this year, many areas haven’t even shaken off the green shades of summer. In Maine, forest rangers reported less than 70% color change and modest leaf drop.
It’s commonly believed that trees, like people, must prepare for winter. When fall arrives, and day length and temperature drop, trees respond by ending green substance production and absorbing remaining nutrients, causing leaves to lose the original color. Greens give way to yellows, reds and oranges that make for dramatic autumn displays.
Warm fall temperatures can make the fall colors appear later. Worse, dry summers can cause leaves to miss the fall color turn altogether. Delay of the start of the fall colors, which has been moving later into the fall, could continue. “My observations in the last decade have had more years that were later than what we consider historical averages. It can be a trend as the planet warms,” said the expert Jim Salge.
It’s not just the plants that suffer. “Turning leaves offer an irresistible mass of color — which, by estimate, brings in as much as billions of dollars a year in tourism in New England,” said Andy Finton, a forest ecologist. That’s another good reason to focus on preserving forests. Leaf peeping can stay part of the area’s feature if forests are given enough protection. “If we can keep them unharmed, they’ll provide things we’ve depended on, as well as fall inspiration,” said Finton.
1. What is special about the leaves in Maine this year?| A．They take on warm colors. | B．They drop earlier than normal. |
| C．They stay green longer. | D．They totally miss the fall color turn. |
| A．Ways of trees surviving winter. | B．Explanation of leaves changing color. |
| C．Functions of the green substance. | D．Effect of climate change on fall leaves. |
| A．The earth gets drier. | B．The temperature gets higher. |
| C．The earth gets warmer. | D．The leaves delay color change. |
| A．To introduce leaf peeping. | B．To report the right time for leaf peeping. |
| C．To call on people to admire fall leaves. | D．To warn people to take care of forests. |
8 . The most relaxing colors are generally believed to be cool shades such as green and blue.
Home designers note that people often describe rooms painted blue and green as relaxing and comfortable. As a result, architects often use colors from the cool part of the color circle in bedrooms and bathrooms.
Driving down a highway. you’ll notice that some signs consist of white letters on a dark green background.
| A．There was research into colors in ancient times. |
| B．In contrast, hot colors cause these to rise. |
| C．Different colors can cause different psychological reactions. |
| D．Engineers determine such signs won’t get people’s eyes tired. |
| E．And painters often use blues and greens on walls and ceilings. |
| F．Scientists have found some evidence for the magic power of green. |
| G．It is agreed that the two can make us feel calm, balanced and less emotional. |
A visually-challenged man from Beijing recently hiked (徒步) 40 days to Xi’an, as a first step
On the 1,100 kilometer journey, the man Cao Shengkang,
Cao and Wu also collected garbage along the road, in order to promote environmental
In the last five years. Cao
Now, Cao has started the second part of his dream to walk along the Belt and Road route. He flew 4, 700 kilometers
Dongting Lake, the second
In the 1980s, there
He Daming gathered some of his fellow fishermen
From 2020 on, as fishing was not allowed in key areas of the Yangtze River basin, including Dongting Lake, many fishermen have gradually given up fishing and taken up jobs in many other
Thanks to their efforts, Dongting Lake ecology has taken on
