1 . The loss of natural land isn’t just a problem for the Amazon or the rainforests of Southeast Asia. The United States is losing its forests, grasslands, wetlands, and deserts at a truly startling pace.
Between 2001 and 2017, some 97,124 square kilometers of natural land-around the size of Indiana-were destroyed in the US to make way for roads, industry, farms, and other signs of human civilization. That’s equal to a football field-sized piece of land being lost every 30 seconds. Some of the most serious losses have been experienced in the South and Midwest, where human development took over 47 percent and 59 percent of all land area, respectively, in the 16 years studied.
These findings come from a report published by The Center for American Progress Using available satellite data and open-source databases, they calculated the rate of loss of natural lands and its relationship to oil and gas extraction（开采）, road construction, urban development, agriculture, and other human-related activities. If national trends continue, a South Dakota-sized expanse of forests, wetlands, and wild places in the continental United States will disappear by 2050.
Now only 12 percent of the country’s land area has been conserved as national parks, wilderness areas, national monuments, or other protected areas, while 26 percent of ocean area is safeguarded from oil and gas extraction. According to this report, it’s now time to extend this level of protection even further. Keeping in line with present scientific recommendations, they conclude that the US should aim to protect at least 30 percent of lands and oceans in a natural state by 2030.
However, it isn’t all about desperation. The authors conclude on a remarkably optimistic note（well, relatively optimistic for an environmental report, at least）. “The United States is entering new times when it will rely more than ever on the integrity（完整）and stability of the natural world to provide economic boom, safeguard the health of communities, and weather（平安渡过）the effects of a changing climate,” they write.
1. What does the underlined word “startling” in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Slow. | B．Steady. | C．Fixed. | D．Astonishing. |
| A．The authors’ own experience. |
| B．The history of human civilization. |
| C．Satellite data and open-source databases. |
| D．Comparison of America’s past and present natural land. |
| A．To protect all America’s forests and wetlands. |
| B．To protect at least 30% of America’s lands and oceans. |
| C．To protect 12 percent of America’s land area. |
| D．To protect 26 percent of America’s ocean area. |
| A．To appeal to people to protect forest and natural land. |
| B．To present the problems faced by the Amazon. |
| C．To state the necessity of building national parks. |
| D．To criticize some practices of the US government. |
A librarian in Indonesia’s Java island is lending books to children in exchange for rubbish they collect in a novel way to clean up the environment and get the kids to read more.
Each weekday Raden Roro Hendarti rides her three-wheeler with books
She told Reuters she is helping develop reading in the children as well make
They are all carrying rubbish bags and Raden's three-wheeler
Let us build a culture of literacy from young age to
She
3 . High on the top of California's White Mountains, the hard conditions make it difficult for life to take root. But for a certain type of tree — and for those who have travelled here to study it — this place is a perfect place.
These bristlecone pines are the oldest individual trees in the world. Researchers like Andy Bunn have come to learn from the ancients. "It's remarkable to sit here and have your hand on one of these trees and know that it was growing when the Pyramids were built." Bunn added.
"By studying samples (样本) from the trunks, it's possible to discover their hidden history. Each annual tree ring is like a time capsule of the environment for that year from which it was formed," said Matt Salzer, a scientist at the University of Arizona's Laboratory of Tree Ring Research. "And it contains many different types of information — chemical information, the information on growth, and climate information."
"If you're trying to look at people in the past through time, tree rings give you a way to do it in a way that makes sense in a human life," said University of Arizona Professor Charlotte Pearson. She first became fascinated with the bristlecones after reading about an ancient volcanic eruption on the Greek island of Santorini. "It blew my mind that trees on the other side of the world could possibly be used to date this thing within a single year," she said excitedly.
The oldest known living bristlecone is estimated to be over 4, 800 years old. For Bunn, the climate record written in the rings offers guidance for how we might think about what's happening in the present as we plan for the future. "What we're seeing increasingly is that a lot of the climate events that we are experiencing and living through right now have no example in the paleoclimate (古气候) record," he said. “So, we really are moving into unknown field."
1. Why does Bunn mention the Pyramids in Paragraph 2?| A．To state the trees' age is very old. | B．To prove his discovery is important. |
| C．To attract readers' attention. | D．To stress the hard living condition of the trees. |
| A．The result of the research. | B．The process of the research. |
| C．The method of the research. | D．The significance of the research. |
| A．It confused me. | B．It surprised me. |
| C．It defeated me. | D．It disappointed me. |
| A．Paleoclimate record is hard to find. |
| B．There are lots of unknown things about pines. |
| C．Studying the tree rings is important for climate research. |
| D．There were frequent occurrences of the extreme climate events. |
4 . What is your favorite color? Do you like yellow, orange, red? If you do, you must be an optimist, a leader, an active person who enjoys life, people and excitement. Do you prefer grey and blue? Then you are probably quiet, shy, and you would rather follow than lead.
| A．You tend to be pessimist. |
| B．The rooms are painted in different colors as you like. |
| C．Life is like a picture or a poem, full of different colors. |
| D．Colors do influence our moods—there is no doubt about it. |
| E．Light and bright colors make people not only happier but more active. |
| F．Perhaps it would have fallen even more if the bridge had been done in pink or baby blue. |
| G．They tell us, among other facts, that we do not choose our favorite color as we grow up—we are born with our preference. |
5 . When Mina was just nine months old, she was deserted by her parents. But she was
From an early age, Mina began to play with animals and
One day while
“I love the Senior Dog Rescue,” she said. “The dogs may be old, but they’re so friendly and not
Up to now, she has already
She said “I took care of my grandpa very
| A．adopted | B．raised | C．encountered | D．educated |
| A．finally | B．gradually | C．eventually | D．frequently |
| A．living | B．drawing | C．visiting | D．finding |
| A．sent | B．presented | C．told | D．taught |
| A．feeding | B．walking | C．dressing | D．training |
| A．old | B．sick | C．ugly | D．friendly |
| A．Scared | B．Bored | C．Moved | D．Changed |
| A．mistake | B．difference | C．decision | D．schedule |
| A．violent | B．wise | C．joyful | D．neat |
| A．team | B．business | C．advertisement | D．factory |
| A．foods | B．fortune | C．attitudes | D．earnings |
| A．put up | B．given away | C．given out | D．picked up |
| A．sad | B．terrible | C．happy | D．final |
| A．cave | B．home | C．nest | D．host |
| A．urgently | B．extraordinarily | C．carefully | D．gratefully |
6 . The warm coast of California is a place where many western monarch butterflies(帝王蝶) stay during the cold winter months in the United States. Researchers fear the record low number of monarchs this year could mean the insects are in danger of disappearing in the near future.
Researchers from the Xerces Society said they found fewer than 2,000 orange-and-black butterflies in the yearly count this January. That number showed a big drop from the tens of thousands in recent years. In the 1980s, there were millions of them in trees from Northern California's Marin County to San Diego County near the Mexico border. Last winter, it recorded around 29,000 butterflies in its yearly survey. That was similar to the winter before,when an all-time low of 27,000 monarchs was counted.
Every winter, western monarch butterflies fly south from the northwestern U. S. to California. At the start of November, they arrive in California, often going to the same places and even the same trees. Once warmer weather arrives in March, the monarchs begin their journey back north, stopping somewhere along the route to lay eggs. After egg-laying, the adult butterflies die and the northward migration(迁徙)is continued by their new generations. Thus the monarch butterflies disperse across the country.
Scientists say there are several causes for the extremely low numbers of butterflies in the western states. Homebuilding and chemical use have destroyed milkweed (马利筋) plants along their migratory path. The plants are needed for monarch butterflies to grow and develop, which is the only food monarchs will eat and the only place they will lay their eggs on. Climate change influences the growth of wild plants. And huge wildfires in the west may also have influenced their migration.
Luckily, some public campaigns have encouraged people to plant milkweed in their yards and cities. People can also help scientists collect data, which is critical for developing conservation policies to protect monarchs. Then there are many larger—scale efforts to protect habitats and better manage land for reproduction.
1. How does the author develop paragraph 2?| A．By listing figures. | B．By making classifications. |
| C．By explaining definitions. | D．By analyzing cause and effect. |
| A．Spread. | B．Gather. | C．Disappear. | D．Hide. |
| A．Independent. | B．Inseparable. | C．Unstable. | D．Unfriendly. |
| A．Monarch butterflies' life habits. |
| B．Monarch butterflies' living habitats. |
| C．Threats to monarch butterflies' survival. |
| D．Efforts to preserve monarch butterflies. |
7 . Doing your laundry with cold water can help save the planet, and maybe save you some money along the way. That’s the message from Tide in a newly launched campaign to decarbonize laundry. The goal is for consumers in North America to do three out of every four loads of laundry with cold water instead of hot by 2030, up from about half today. That would eliminate the power consumption required to heat cold water.
If this goal is met, it will have the same impact on greenhouse gas emissions as removing about a million cars from the road for a year. “There is no tradeoff. You will save 150 a year in energy costs, your garments will last longer. And by the way, you’re helping to save the planet,” Shailesh Jejurikar, CEO of Procter & Gamble’s fabric and home care division, said in an interview. “It’s a beautiful win-win-win if we get this right.”
“This is going to be the defining decades for where we end up on climate change,” Jejurikar said. “If we don’t get this situation under control in the coming years, we are going to pay the price. There is a need to act now.” Beyond its focus on cold-water washing, Tide set a new goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions at its factories in half by 2030. That’s in addition to the progress it already has made cutting emissions by three-quarters over the past decade as the brand adopted 100% renewable energy at its manufacturing plants. Tide also plans to reduce its carbon footprint by using 100% recyclable packaging for all products by 2030 and by teaming up with Silicon Valley startup Opus12 to capture carbon from its factories.
Jejurikar said P&G does want to get to zero emissions in its factories, but added that how people use Tide products has 10 times more impact than what happens in its plants. “We are trying to give them chance to take their ordinary daily actions, and make them have an extraordinary impact,” Jejurikar said.
1. What can we learn from the passage?| A．We need to heat cold water before laundry. |
| B．Tide will remove a million cars from the road. |
| C．Hot water laundry could save energy and protect the planet. |
| D．Cold water laundry might increase by a quarter in North America. |
| A．advantage. | B．need. | C．hesitation. | D．emission. |
| A．Advertising for its new products. |
| B．Using 100% recyclable packaging for all products. |
| C．Adopting completely renewable energy in its factories. |
| D．Cooperating with a new High-Tech company to recycle carbon. |
| A．Cold Water Laundry—An Eco-friendly Campaign |
| B．Advanced Technology Being Applied to Cars |
| C．The Vital Decades for Climate Change |
| D．Cutting Emission to Protect Our Planet |
8 . Masks that helped save lives are proving a deadly danger to wildlife, with birds and sea creatures trapped in the shocking number of thrown-away facial coverings. Single-use masks have been found around pavements, waterways and beaches worldwide. Worn once, the thin protective materials can take hundreds of years to decompose. “Face masks aren’t going away any time soon — but when we throw them away, these items can harm the environment and the animals,” Ashley Fruno of animal rights group PETA said.
In Britain, a gull was rescued by the RSPCA after its legs became tangled in the straps of a mask for up to a week. The animal welfare charity took it to a wildlife hospital for treatment before its release.
The biggest effect may be in the water. More than 1.5 billion masks made their way into the world’s oceans last year, accounting for around 6,200 extra tonnes of ocean plastic pollution, according to environmental group Oceans Asia.
Conservationists in Brazil found one mask inside the stomach of a penguin after its body was washed up on a beach, while a dead puffer fish was discovered caught inside another off the coast of Miami. French campaigners found a dead crab trapped in a mask near the Mediterranean.
Masks and gloves are “particularly problematic” for sea creatures, says George Leonard, chief scientist from NGO Ocean Conservancy. “When those plastics break down in the environment, they then enter the food chain and impact the entire ecosystems,” he added.
There has been a shift towards greater use of reusable cloth masks as the pandemic has worn on, but many are still using the lighter single-use varieties. Campaigners have urged people to bin them properly and cut the straps to reduce the risk of animals becoming trapped. Oceans Asia has also called on governments to increase fines for littering and encourage the use of washable masks.
1. What does the underlined word “decompose” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Burn away. | B．Produce. | C．Break down. | D．Improve. |
| A．The environmental group saves many animals. |
| B．Sea wildlife is fond of feeding on face masks. |
| C．Measures should be taken to protect sea wildlife. |
| D．Masks thrown around finally do harm to human. |
| A．By increasing fines for throwing masks. | B．By preventing the public using single-use masks. |
| C．By working with campaigners’ groups. | D．By washing face masks frequently. |
| A．Wildlife Faces a Threat from Face Masks | B．Face Masks can Harm the Environment |
| C．Animal Protection Organizations Matter | D．Government should Ban Littering Face Masks |
9 . The fiddler crab is a living clock. It indicates the time of day by the colour of its skin, which is dark by day and pale by night. The crab’s changing colour follows a regular twenty-four hour plan that exactly matches the daily rhythm of the sun.
Does the crab actually keep time, or does its skin simply answer to the sun’s rays, changing colour according to the amount of light strikes it? To find out, biologists kept crabs in a dark room for two months. Even without daylight, the crab’s skin colour continued to change exactly on time.
This characteristic probably developed gradually in answer to the daily rising and setting of the sun, to help protect the crab from sunlight and enemies. After millions of years it has become completely regulated (受控制) inside the living body of the crab.
The biologists noticed that once each day the colour of the fiddler crab is especially dark, and that each day this happens fifty minutes later than on the day before. From this they discovered that each crab follows not only the rhythm of the sun but also that of the tides. The crab’s period of greatest darkening is exactly the time of low tide on the beach where it was cought!
1. The fiddler crab is like a clock because it changes colour ________.| A．in a regular 24-hour rhythm | B．in answer to the sun’s rays |
| C．at low tide | D．every fifty minutes |
| A．did not change colour | B．changed colour more quickly |
| C．changed colour more slowly | D．changed colour on the same timetable |
| A．in the process of evolution (进化) | B．over millions of years |
| C．by the work of biologists | D．both A and B |
| A．The Sun and the Tides | B．Discoveries in Biology |
| C．A Scientific Study | D．A Living Clock |
1. Where will the recycling campaign be held?
| A．In a school. | B．In a radio station. | C．In a recycling center. |
| A．At 8:00 am on July 8th. | B．At 10:00 am on July 10th. | C．At 10:00 am on July 18th. |
| A．To use them to play games. |
| B．To put them in the special recycling bins. |
| C．To learn how to sort household rubbish. |
| A．By making a call. | B．By listening to the radio. | C．By reading the newspapers. |
