1 . Recent studies suggest global food production is responsible for one-third of all planet-heating emissions, with the use of animals for meat accounting for twice the pollution of producing plant based foods. Forests that absorb carbon dioxide are cut down for raising animals while fertilisers used for growing their feed are rich in nitrogen (氮), which can contribute to air and water pollution, climate change and ozone depletion (臭氧损耗). Livestock also produces large quantities of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
A Dutch city will become the first in the world to ban meat advertisements from public spaces in an effort to reduce consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Haarlem, which lies to the west of Amsterdam and has a population of about 160,000, will pass the prohibition from 2024 after meat was added to a list of products thought to contribute to the climate crisis. Ads will not be allowed on Haarlem’s buses, shelters and screens in public spaces, prompting the complaint from the meat sector that local authority is “going too far in telling people what’s best for them”.
Ziggy Klazes, who drafted the proposal banning meat advertising, said she had not known the city would be the world’s first to enforce such a policy when she proposed it. She told a radio channel: “We do not prohibit what people are baking and roasting in their own kitchen; if people wanted to continue eating meat, fine... We can’t tell people there’s a climate crisis and encourage them to buy products that are part of the cause.”
The ban also covers holiday flights, fossil fuels and cars that run on fossil fuels. The ban is delayed until 2024 due to existing contracts with companies that sell the products. Research suggests that to meet the EU target of net zero emissions by 2050, meat consumption must be reduced to 24kg per person per year, compared with the current average of 82kg.
1. Why does Haarlem intend to ban meat advertisements?| A．To take the lead in cutting emission. |
| B．To switch food to plant-based food. |
| C．To stop advocating eating meat publicly. |
| D．To contribute to the climate crisis. |
| A．The government have taken too much control of people. |
| B．The local authority is wrong about the best meat. |
| C．Meat sector complains for harming their interests. |
| D．Climate crisis has gone too far to be left untreated. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Opposing. | C．Guilty. | D．Understanding. |
| A．It won’t benefits the EU market. |
| B．It has a long way to go. |
| C．It is a short-sighted decision. |
| D．It can hardly meet the target. |
2 . The earth is warming. The past years are the warmest on record. Greenhouse gases from human activities are responsible for 1.1°C of average warming since 1900. What we’re experiencing is different from the global average. We experience extreme weather — historic droughts, serious heatwaves, violent storms and catastrophic (灾难性的) floods.
We won’t feel the impact of our efforts for decades. But we must know our future today so we can act now. To develop the best strategies for adaptation, we need climate models to predict the climate in different regions over decades. Unlike predicting the weather, climate models are multi-decade simulations (模拟) modeling the physics chemistry and biology of the atmosphere, waters, ice, land and human activities.
Greater resolution is needed to model changes in the global climate. Scientists estimate that these resolutions will demand billions of times more computing power than what’s currently available. It would take decades to achieve that through the ordinary course of computing advances.
For the first time, we have the technology to do that. We can achieve million-x speedups by combining three technologies: GPU-accelerated computing; breakthroughs in physics-informed neural (神经的) networks and AI supercomputers, along with vast quantities of data to learn from.
With these techniques, we may have within our grasp the billion-x leap needed to do ultra-high-resolution (超高分辨率) climate modeling. And with more accurate predictions people and nations will act with more urgency.
NVIDIA this week announced plans to build the world’s most powerful AI supercomputer used to predict climate change Named Earth-2, the system would create a digital twin of the Earth. The system would be the climate change to Cambridge-1 the world’s most powerful AI supercomputer for healthcare research.
1. What is one of the results mentioned in the text of global warming?| A．Water shortage. | B．Loss of coastal cities. |
| C．Rise of sea level. | D．More extreme weather. |
| A．It will cost billions of money. | B．The climate changes frequently. |
| C．Technology now can’t meet the needs. | D．The model of the earth is too difficult to build. |
| A．What advance AI has made recently. |
| B．What makes it hard to model the global climate. |
| C．What makes modelling the global climate possible. |
| D．What scientists’ plan to model the global climate is. |
| A．A travel guide. | B．A news report. |
| C．A short story. | D．A science fiction. |
3 . A group of wandering wild elephants have become an overnight Internet hit globally. While the original group is made up of 16 elephants, two decided to return home after a week. The rest continued their journey northward, stopping only for a short break in November 2020 to allow a newly-born elephant and its mother to recover.
Since leaving the reserve, the elephants have walked over 500 kilometers. Along the way, they entered farms for food and water, walked through urban streets and even paid a visit to a car dealership and a retirement home. No animals or people were hurt. However. they destroyed more than $ 1 million worth of crops.
Researchers are not sure why the elephants decided to leave or where they are headed. While they are known to leave their habitats in search of food. this is the longest migration of wild elephants recorded in China. Because of this, some guess that the elephants may be lost. However, others think the elephants were forced to move due to deforestation. Successful conservation efforts have almost doubled the elephant population in the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve. However. their natural habitat has been greatly reduced.
“As their populations increase, they search for more food,” Becky Shu Chen said. “You could say that the increase in agricultural land in their region is like finding a big sweet shop, right on their doorstep. ”
The wandering herd’s search for a suitable home was noticed by locals who eagerly followed their daily movements on social media. Adam Chang, assigned to deliver food to the elephants, says, “Before this meeting, I just felt curious about animals. Now, I think I would volunteer in animal rights groups to preserve those giant creatures.
1. Why did the wild elephants stop temporarily in November 2020?| A．To pay a visit to a car dealership. |
| B．To enjoy the food given by local people. |
| C．To wait for a baby elephant and its mom to recover. |
| D．To figure out whether they were in the right direction. |
| A．Elephants never leave their home. |
| B．The elephants couldn’t find their way home. |
| C．Elephants population has decreased for human activities. |
| D．Scientists don’t know why the elephants leave their home. |
| A．The elephants have the rights to move. |
| B．The elephants are annoyed of being followed. |
| C．The elephants are helped by locals to find a suitable home. |
| D．The elephants help to raise peopled awareness of animal protection. |
| A．China’s wild elephants are always on the move. |
| B．China.s wild elephants are touring through cities. |
| C．China’s wandering elephants are losing their way. |
| D．China’s wandering wild elephants attract the world. |
4 . Lucy Hughes, a 24-year-old English inventor, has used skin and scales (皮和鳞) from fish to create a new kind of plastic. Her invention won the James Dyson Award (奖) last year.
James Dyson is an English inventor, famous for his many practical designs. In 2004 he created the James Dyson Award, and he said that the award was about more than just rewarding. He wanted to encourage students to try to deal with problems in the real world with their inventions.
Lucy Hughes recently graduated from Sussex University in England, where she studied how to design products. As a designer, Hughes was very clear about how wasteful many products are. She decided to make something out of waste instead. Hughes spent some time studying the fishing business, and the things that were thrown away. After some tests, Hughes decided that the fish skin and scales seemed like the most likely parts for her product.
Hughes called her finished product “MarinaTex”. MarinaTex feels like plastic, but it’s stronger than common plastic that is the same thickness. MarinaTex is also cheap to make since it’s made from fish waste. It doesn’t use much energy to make MarinaTex. Most importantly, MarinaTex doesn’t take hundreds of years to break down. On its own, MarinaTex breaks down in four to six weeks.
“MarinaTex solves two problems: the ubiquity (普遍存在) of single-use plastic and fish waste,” James Dyson said. “With the further development of MarinaTex, I believe there will be less single-use plastic waste. As for the fish skin and scales, they are usually removed during processing and end up being burned or buried. MarinaTex is a great chance to make use of the fish waste.”
Hughes is looking forward to moving ahead with her idea. She wants to try to make her products even better.
1. What does the James Dyson Award award winners for?| A．Their creativity. | B．Their imagination. | C．Their determination. | D．Their hard work. |
| A．The graduation project. | B．The influence of James Dyson. |
| C．The ubiquity of single-use plastic. | D．The idea of making use of waste. |
| A．Facts are facts. | B．Better late than never. |
| C．Kill two birds with one stone. | D．Everything comes to him who waits. |
| A．Girl Wants to Enter the Fishing Business |
| B．Young Inventor Creates Plastic from Fish Waste |
| C．Inventor James Dyson Sets a Good Example to Hughes |
| D．Young Inventor Remakes Plastic Items with Her New Idea |
5 . “Where I grew up, there were not a lot of plants outside,” said Yolanda Palmer. “Some people had them; some people didn’t.”
Palmer, who is from Southwest Philadelphia, discovered her love for plants at the age of 10. Growing up, she developed great skills in growing plants and learned more about nature each and every day.
“As I got a little older, one block in my neighborhood would be filled with flowers and things in the yard,” she said. “But in another block there would be none.”
Since then, Palmer had wanted to share her love of plants with the community. But the dream remained just a seed (种子) while she worked an ordinary day job. Sitting in the company she often thought she had to do something else. Palmer then planted the seed. She started small, selling at a local outdoor market in Southwest Philadelphia and then coming to shows and festivals in Chestnut Hill.
By December 2021, she had her store on German town Avenue, “Foliage”. There, she sells common plants, rare (罕见的) plants, small plants, and large plants. “The goal is to sell them to homeowners to beautify their home and also to clean the air,” she said.
Palmer’s home is in Chestnut Hill, a central gardening center in the city. She hopes her message will be able to reach other communities in the Philadelphia area. “Everyone should buy houseplants. Everyone should want cleaner air,” she said. “And that way, in the future when our children grow up, we can make it better.”
Palmer plans on continuing to work hard to support not only her store, but her boys, four dogs, one cat and 128 plants at home.
1. What did Palmer find when she was young?| A．Her neighbors disliked plants. |
| B．People knew little about plants. |
| C．There were few kinds of plants. |
| D．Plants were not seen everywhere. |
| A．Managing a gardening center. | B．Running her own plant store. |
| C．Beautifying her block with plants. | D．Teaching communities about plants. |
| A．Everyone can protect the plants. |
| B．More locals will have houseplants. |
| C．Children can learn more about plants. |
| D．She will have an outdoor market for plants. |
| A．From hobby to job: Palmer has made it |
| B．From class to work: Palmer’s happy habit |
| C．From village to city: Palmer is on the road |
| D．From seed to flower: Palmer’s future dream |
The Jiaohe Ancient City Ruins,
Guri Bakri, a 39-year-old conservator of the Jiaohe Ruins, starts her daily inspection at the site as usual, ensuring the safety of tourists and
After graduating in 2013, Guri returned to her hometown and became one of her father’s
In recent years, the state cultural protection department has invested more than 100 million yuan ($ 14.8m) in the
7 . Forests might be the best tool humans have to fight climate change. Plants naturally absorb CO2 and release oxygen as part of photosynthesis (光合作用), but trees can process a lot more because of the size of their trunks, green leafy crown, and root structures. This filtering (过滤) and storage capacity is part of the United Nations’ Great Green Wall plan to plant an 8,000 km (5,000 mile) long tree belt across the African continent.
More recent projects like Trillion Trees, the World Economic Forum’s 1T, and the UN’s follow-up Great Green Wall for Cities highlight forest regeneration as the most effective nature-based solution for CO2. For example, the Great Green Wall for Cities project would create urban green areas. Once completed, the wall will capture an estimated 0.5~5 billion tons of CO2 every year. And, if well managed, its urban forests could also reduce air temperature, lower flood risk, and improve air quality.
City trees are actually sucking more CO2 out of the atmosphere than that was thought. Now Boston University studies show that forest edges grow almost twice as quickly and store carbon faster than trees deep inside the forest. Projects influenced by botanist Akira Miyawaki are now creating tiny community forests across the planet. Miyawaki's micro-forests are much denser (稠密) than traditional woods. They store 30 times more CO2 than common forests and offer 30 times better noise and dust reduction, say his followers.
Dave Nowak is a researcher at the US Forest Service who has studied using trees to reduce carbon for years. Trees not only cool their surroundings, they also recycle tiny pollutants. But figuring out which exact species work best to improve air quality depends on many factors including soil, local climate, and site conditions, says Nowak. Urban planners can start by using the US Forest Service iTree Tools to choose the best trees for each locality. Another tool, American Forests’ Tree Equity Score Analyzer, helps planners to target urban forests in disadvantaged areas.
1. What will happen based on Great Green Wall?| A．More rare plants will be grown. |
| B．A long tree belt will appear across Africa |
| C．Better tools will be used to battle climate change. |
| D．More projects will work together to reduce air temperature. |
| A．Cleaning the air. | B．Developing new tools. |
| C．Forest regeneration. | D．Air temperature control. |
| A．Effective. | B．Costly. | C．Helpless. | D．Questionable. |
| A．Great Green Wall Will Make Long Tree Belts |
| B．Planting More Trees Will Reduce Air Pollutants |
| C．Researchers Are Studying Climate Change Further |
| D．Forest Projects Will Help Rebalance Earth’s Climate |
8 . A gentleman was walking through an elephant camp, and he
The only reason that the elephants weren’t breaking free and escaping from the camp was that over time they adopted the
| A．noticed | B．stared | C．suspected | D．witnessed |
| A．ponds | B．fountains | C．cages | D．ceiling |
| A．chain | B．wire | C．towel | D．rope |
| A．Although | B．As | C．Since | D．Unless |
| A．sad | B．frustrated | C．sensitive | D．confused |
| A．power | B．strength | C．mind | D．energy |
| A．slightly | B．easily | C．lively | D．barely |
| A．Curious | B．Embarrassed | C．Ashamed | D．Delighted |
| A．assistant | B．keeper | C．leader | D．trainer |
| A．tackled | B．inquired | C．replied | D．convinced |
| A．solid | B．same | C．pure | D．regular |
| A．one | B．an | C．that | D．those |
| A．break away | B．break down | C．break in | D．break out |
| A．Nevertheless | B．Besides | C．Thus | D．Yet |
| A．assumption | B．expectation | C．blame | D．belief |
| A．Rainy. | B．Windy. | C．Sunny. |
10 . Wax (蜡) paper can’t be recycled with other paper items because the wax coating interferes with the recycling process. However, there are still plenty of different options to dispose of your wax paper in an environmentally friendly way.
Wax paper is parchment paper that’s been coated with a thin layer of wax on each side. This makes it resistant to wetness and provides a non-stick surface. The majority of wax paper is coated in a food-safe wax, which is made using vegetable oil. Some brands of wax paper also use soybean oil.
The coating in wax paper is water-resistant, and paper needs to be torn with water as one of the first steps in recycling. This makes it unsuitable to be processed alongside most other paper waste. It’s also often covered with additional oils from foods, which are not accepted by recycling facilities.
While it can’t be recycled, the good news is that some wax paper can be composted at home. If you use wax paper made with vegetable or soybean oil, it can be added in small quantities to your compost. The wax is quite hard for the microbes (微生物) in compost to break down, so rip your wax paper into small pieces and add it to your compost a little at a time. Wax paper should biodegrade at around the same rate as leaf mulch. If you do use wax paper, the best sort to buy is one with unbleached, natural paper, and a wax coating made using vegetable or soybean oil.
Reusing an item as many times as possible is always a good, environmentally friendly option, especially if it can’t be recycled afterward. Rather than throw away your wax paper after one use, you can sometimes use it multiple times to extend its useful life.
1. What does the author intend to show in paragraph 2?| A．What exactly wax paper is. | B．How functional wax paper is. |
| C．Why wax paper can’t be recycled. | D．How we can dispose wax paper. |
| A．Make. | B．Press. | C．Shake. | D．Tear. |
| A．Alternatives to wax paper. | B．Ideas for reusing wax paper. |
| C．Items wrapped with wax paper. | D．Ways to choose wax paper. |
| A．Deal with Wax Paper in Environmentally Friendly Ways |
| B．The Importance of Wax Paper’s Being Recycled |
| C．Is Wax Paper Environmentally Friendly? |
| D．What Can Be Used Instead of Wax Paper? |
