1 . The UK’s planned ban on sales of new petrol, diesel (柴油) or hybrid (混合动力) cars could start as early as 2032, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said. Last week, the government raised industry concern after bringing the date forward from 2040 to 2035 in order to hit zero-carbon emission targets. But Mr. Shapps told BBC Radio 5 live it would happen by 2035, “or even 2032,” adding there would be consultation.
The main car trade body had previously said the 2035 figure was “concerning”.
The government is setting out its proposals in a United Nations climate summit in November. A Department for Transport spokesperson said, “We are consulting on a range of possible dates to bring forward the end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars.”
“The proposal for this is 2035 — or earlier if a faster transition appears reasonable — as well as including hybrids for the first time.” The UK has set a target of emitting zero carbon by 2050. Experts warned that the original target date of 2040 would still leave old conventional cars on the roads 10 years later. Once the ban comes into effect, only electric cars will be available. Hybrid vehicles are now included in the proposals, which were originally announced in July 2017.
Despite this, Royal Automobile club spokesman Simon Williams said, “While the government appears to be constantly moving forward for ending the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles, drivers should not be worried about choosing a hybrid car now.” “They are potentially the perfect stepping stone for those who want to go electric but have concerns about range (续航), as they aren’t as expensive as a battery electric vehicle. At the moment, they give drivers the best of both worlds.”
How attached are British people to their petrol vehicles? How long until conventional cars go the way of steam engine cars and horse coaches?
1. What is the car industry's attitude towards the ban on the sale of conventional cars?| A．Ambiguous. | B．Indifferent. | C．Worried. | D．Approving. |
| A．To remove the concern of main car trade body. |
| B．To hold back the development of pure battery electric cars. |
| C．To hold a United Nations climate summit in November. |
| D．To meet the zero carbon emission target as planned. |
| A．It's still a wise choice to choose a hybrid car nowadays. |
| B．Battery electric cars should be widely used immediately. |
| C．Drivers should consider about range when choosing a car. |
| D．People should abandon petrol vehicles as soon as possible. |
| A．They will fall out of use some day. | B．They are as important as horse coaches. |
| C．They will remain as a family necessity. | D．They may increase your daily expenses. |
2 . There are patches of green taking root in European cities. It is part of a popular movement that started in Asia to clean the air, cool down temperatures, and improve the quality of life of city residents.
This movement began in India with Indian eco- entrepreneur Shubhendu Sharma who was inspired by the tiny forests in Japan created by Akira Miyawak, a botanist who saw this as a solution to regenerate the land. In 2014, Sharma gave a Ted Talk about how valuable the mini ecosystems he was planting across India are. Sharma planted them anywhere he could, near schools, factories, and houses. These mini ecosystems grow ten times faster than conventional forests and are considerably more biodiverse.
Now, Europeans are following his example and tiny forests are springing up across the continent. But first, Europeans had to adapt his methods to the different soil conditions, species and climate, while taking into account the effects of climate change. “Species growing here are more likely to do well and be able to adapt to climate change,” said Belgian biologist Nicolas. “So, I contacted scholars and tree nurseries to identify suitable native tree species and locally sourced materials to improve the soil.”
The first tiny forest was planted in the UK in 2020 in a programme run by ecologist Victor Beumer for Earth-watch. He said that the organization plans to collect data about biodiversity and carbon sequestration (碳封存) so that the environmental influence of the forests can be tracked in the long term. There are 17 of these forests now and 21 will be planted by 2022. These mini forests are seen as an asset that can help residents weather heat waves, improve water retention, remove carbon from the air, and the best benefit.
While these European forests are still relatively young and the full impact of them on the environment is still unknown, one thing is a given. Bringing more nature into cities will have a positive impact on the life of urban residents. Being in nature is good for your health, and wellbeing.
1. What can we learn about Sharma from the text?| A．He likes giving a talk about tiny forests. |
| B．He started the tiny forest movement in Europe. |
| C．He has planted tiny forests everywhere he liked. |
| D．He is a leading figure of the movement of tiny forests. |
| A．He used native species to grow small forests. |
| B．It’s difficult to carry on the movement in Belgium. |
| C．He chose some natural fertilizers to improve the soil. |
| D．He has improved Sharma’s methods of growing forests. |
| A．They have been taken seriously by the governments. |
| B．They have benefited local residents physically and mentally. |
| C．Their influence on the environment arouses the public’s curiosity. |
| D．The further studies on their connection with nature are to be carried out. |
| A．Europeans Have Struggled to Improve Air Quality |
| B．Tiny Forests Become More Diverse in Europe |
| C．Tiny Forests Are Dotting European Countries |
| D．Europeans Decide to Change Their Environment |
When you hear the word “shapeshifting” (变身), you may think of sci-fi movies, and not the climate. But that’s
Although the changes are still small, Ryding said they could be
4 . The author, Lewis Caroll, describes an amazing creature in the famous fairy tale Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It
Dodo were
As the bird is
Finally, in 1662 the last dodo closed its eyes, and they are thought to have
| A．comes up with | B．looks forward to | C．sets down to | D．lives up to |
| A．Besides | B．Therefore | C．Instead | D．However |
| A．disappointed | B．embarrassed | C．motivated | D．challenged |
| A．faraway | B．blank | C．extinct | D．lost |
| A．special | B．native | C．own | D．independent |
| A．linked to | B．concerned about | C．based on | D．faced with |
| A．gradually | B．finally | C．usually | D．rapidly |
| A．flightless | B．meaningless | C．thoughtless | D．wordless |
| A．bargains | B．chains | C．stores | D．resources |
| A．dare | B．need | C．like | D．long |
| A．Tragedy | B．Comedy | C．News | D．Broadcast |
| A．memory | B．drawing | C．setting | D．record |
| A．raised | B．honored | C．preferred | D．hunted |
| A．painted | B．introduced | C．sheltered | D．found |
| A．places | B．spots | C．nests | D．scenes |
| A．minus | B．decline | C．drawback | D．increase |
| A．died away | B．passed down | C．passed on | D．died out |
| A．discovery | B．adoption | C．recognition | D．realization |
| A．attracting | B．persuading | C．warming | D．denying |
| A．light | B．fatal | C．slight | D．mild |
5 . A Guangzhou-based company that runs the world's largest factory of mosquitoes used to control the species signed agreements Tuesday to control mosquitoes in Beitun, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
Guangzhou Wolbaki Biotech Co will help Beitun city in Xinjiang's Altay prefecture(地区) fight mosquitoes. The Altay region is one of the world's four places with the largest mosquito population, said Xu Longquan, deputy mayor of Beitun.
In spring and summer, when the snow on the Altay Mountains melts, water from reservoirs (水库)runs into forests and meadows（草地）and forms swarms(沼泽) and pools that become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, Xu said.
Between May and August, which is a local tourism peak season, the number of mosquitoes soars（激增）, annoying local residents and tourists, he said.
Although efforts are made every year to control mosquitoes, it is hard to tackle the problem at the root.
Guangzhou Wolbaki chairman Xi Zhiyong, who is also director of the Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control and Prevention at Guangzhou-based Sun Yat-sen University, has led the research on using mosquitoes to eliminate mosquitoes.
In the research, male mosquitoes are infected with Wolbachia, a bacterium that exists widely in many insects, including mosquitoes.The eggs produced by female mosquitoes that mate with Wolbachia-infected male are infertile(不能生殖的) and that helps lead to reduced mosquito numbers.
Xi also said :“ The company will apply this kind of method to the control of mosquitoes in Beitun, hopefully, we will help improve the life of locals and tourists’experience.”
1. What does the underlined words “breeding grounds” mean?| A．Fields that have swarms and pools. . |
| B．Places to reproduce. |
| C．Someplace near water. |
| D．Places mosquitoes like. |
| A．Altay region has the largest mosquito population. |
| B．Mosquitoes have become a problem because of climate change. |
| C．The mosquito problem may not have affected the local tourism. |
| D．Water and temperature are the factors for the thriving（兴盛）of mosquitoes. |
| A．a biological method. |
| B．other animals. |
| C．some chemicals. |
| D．whatever they can. |
| A．Mosquitoes－a major problem in Xinjiang, |
| B．Wolbaki Biotech Co －a mosquito control company. |
| C．A mosquito control company gets contracts in Xinjiang. |
| D．Efforts to control mosquitoes in Beitun,Xinjiang. |
6 . Being caught in a flood is incredibly dangerous. Like many other natural disasters, floods can occur with little to no warning.
● If a flood warning has been issued, seek shelter immediately,
● Watch out for damaged areas.
●
● Stay inside a car trapped by fast-moving water. Only get out if the water begins to flood the car itself. then move to the roof of the vehicle.
● If trapped within a flooding building. move to the highest floor. Do not go into the attic, as it is possible to become trapped there without a way to escape. Only relocate to the roof if necessary.
● Avoid power lines, as they are often damaged or knocked down during strong storms and flooding. A downed power line can cause surrounding water to become charged. leading to electrocution.
| A．Roads and other paths will have been destroyed. |
| B．Sit down with your family to establish a plan of action. |
| C．Listen to emergency broadcasts for further instructions. |
| D．Once there, signal for help, such as drawing SOS on it. |
| E．Here are some tips on how to survive a flood. |
| F．If you have to go through water, bring a stick. |
| G．Never attempt to walk, swim or drive through floodwaters. |
7 . In a remote corner of Brazil's Amazon tropical（热带的）rainforest, researchers have spent decades catching and measuring birds. Over 40 years, dozens of Amazonian bird species have declined in mass（质量）. Many species have lost nearly 2% of their average body weight each decade, researchers report November 12 in Science Advances. Some species have grown longer wings. The changes could help birds stay cool in a hotter, more changeable climate, the researchers say.
"Climate change isn't something of the future. It has been happening and has effects we haven't thought of," says Ben Winger, an ornithologist（鸟类专家）at the University of Michigan, who wasn't involved in the research but has documented similar shrinkage（缩水）in migratory birds.
To see if non-migratory birds have also been shrinking, Jirinec and colleagues analyzed data collected from 1979 to 2019 in a remote region in the Amazon that spans 43km. The data include over 11,000 individual birds of 77 species as well as climate for the region.
All species declined in mass over this period, the researchers found. Species lost from about 0.1% to nearly 2% of their average body weight each decade. The motmot, for example, shrunk from 133g to about 127g over the study period.
These changes coincided with an overall increase in the average temperature of 1℃ in the wet season and 1.65%℃ in the dry season. Birds' mass decreased the most in a year or two after especially hot and dry seasons, which tracks with the idea that birds are getting smaller to deal with heat stress.
Wing length also grew for 61 species, with a maximum increase of 1% per decade. Jirinec thinks longer wings make for more efficient, and thus cooler, fliers.
"The Amazon rainforest is mysterious, remote and full of biodiversity," Jirined says. "This study suggests that even in places like this, far removed from civilization, you can see signatures of climate change."
1. What changes have happened to Amazonian birds over 40 years?| A．They have lost weight. | B．They have grown prettier. |
| C．They have become fewer. un | D．They have become larger. |
| A．Contrasted with. | B．Compared with. | C．Corresponded to | D．Contributed to. |
| A．Climate change | B．Food shortage. | C．Massive hunting | D．Scientific research |
| A．Researchers measuring birds in Amazon | B．Climate change shrinking tropical birds |
| C．Longer wings improving flying efficiency | D．Human activities damaging Amazon rainforest |
8 . Some parents may have had trouble getting their kids away from electronics and outside this summer. But for one Virginia family, this wasn’t the case. Josh and Cassie Sutton recently completed a full-length hike of the Appalachian Trail with their son, Harvey.
At just 5 years old, Harvey, who earned the nickname “Little Man” from fellow hikers, is one of the youngest people known to have completed the roughly 2, 100-mile trail that stretches across 14 states in 209 days.
When Harvey was 2 years old, his parents began training him for hiking by going on mini walks. They slowly increased their mileage day by day—eventually making him adapt to his big adventure. “A lot of people are surprised at how well he did. They’re like, ‘How did you get your 5-year-old to do that because my 5-year-old won’t even walk half a mile without com-plaining?’” Mom Cassie Sutton said.
The Suttons said that while the adventure of the 2, 100-mile hike was fun as a family, it did have its challenges—especially when it came to keeping Harvey entertained. “We learned that he is gifted in hiking, but as long as we’re playing make-believe with him all day long, then he moves quickly and hikes a lot faster than a lot of us imagine,” Josh Sutton said.
While the Suttons have plans for more hikes and family adventures ahead, the family is getting adjusted to life at home again as Harvey begins his latest adventure: kindergarten.
1. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?| A．A 5-year-old hiked 2, 100 miles in about 7 months. |
| B．Josh earned the nickname “Little Man” because of his son. |
| C．Harvey is the youngest person to cover the 2, 100-mile trail. |
| D．One Virginia family had trouble getting away from electronics. |
| A．Playing make-believe. | B．Keeping him amused. |
| C．Hiking fast enough. | D．Having meals as a family. |
| A．Negative. | B．Naughty. | C．Talented. | D．Normal. |
| A．To have more games. | B．To get adjusted to family life. |
| C．To have more hikes with his family. | D．To receive pre-school education. |
9 . “Best space tacos(玉米卷饼) yet,” American astronaut Megan McArthur wrote on social media Twitter on Oct 30, with a photo of her smiling from ear to ear. The taco feast celebrated the first time peppers were successfully grown on the International Space Station.
Life as an astronaut is exciting, but that doesn’t include food. Astronauts have endured packaged food for decades. “If you store packaged food for a long duration, the quality, flavor and nutritional quality decrease, the vitamins degrade,” Gioia Massa of NASA Kennedy Space Center in the US told The Guardian. Growing food in space could be crucial for astronauts on long-duration missions.
“Growing colorful vegetables in space can have long-term benefits for physical and psychological health,” said Mat Romeyn, project scientist at NASA, in a statement. The benefits of growing vegetables in space are obvious, but how are they grown?
Though astronauts have been growing plants in space for decades , cultivating edible(可食用的) food without the benefits of gravity and natural light has been difficult . A plant growth system called Veggie has been used to grow plants on the space station since 2014, according to The New York Times.
The Veggie garden is about the size of a piece of luggage and typically holds six plants. Each plant grows in a “pillow” filled with clay and fertilizer. The “pillows” are important for distributing water, nutrients and air in a healthy balance around the roots.
In the absence of gravity, plants use other environmental factors, such as light, to guide growth. LEDs above the plants produce a light suited for the plants’ growth. According to NASA, Veggie typically glows pink, which enables plants to use both blue and red wavelengths more efficiently. Other spectrums(光谱) of light, like greens, yellows or oranges, are less useful for plants.
So far, US astronauts have successfully grown 10 different crops, including lettuce and radish, on the space station since 2015, according to CNN.
1. Which word can best describe the food consumed by astronauts in space?| A．Low-nutrition | B．Tasty-flavor | C．Poor-package | D．High-calorie |
| A．The shortage of crop varieties |
| B．The objection of the International Space Station |
| C．The lack of gravity and natural light |
| D．The long-duration missions |
| A．It can hold 10 different crops for a piece of garden. |
| B．It has been used to grow plants on the space station for nearly six years. |
| C．The “pillows” can provide plants with balanced water, nutrients and air. |
| D．Blue, red and orange lights are important for the growth of plants. |
| A．Life of American Astronauts on the Space Station |
| B．Success of Planting in Space |
| C．Benefits of Growing Vegetables in Space |
| D．Varieties of crops on the Space Station |
10 . Chung Sun-hee breaks eggshells into a powder, dries and saves her coffee grounds, and cuts large vegetable offcuts into smaller pieces. Later, the 5-year-old professional translator will bury them in her backyard, in plots of earth that are given plenty of time to compost before being reused. She will plant tomatoes and corn in the resulting soil. When we lived in an apartment, I would throw away all my food waste into the shared collection containers," Chung said. “But now, I compost almost all of it."
Chung is one of a growing number of city residents who are getting into urban farming, not just to grow their own vegetables, but also as an exercise in waste reduction. “Reducing food waste and the urban farming movement are very closely linked," said Chung. Her new habits reflect a larger change that is taking place in South Korea's heavily populated capital. The country's government banned sending food to landfills in 2005 and, in 2013, also prohibited pouring liquid garbage into the sea. Today, 95 percent food waste is recycled—a remarkable progress from less than 2 percent in 1995. Seoul has managed to cut the amount of food waste produced by 400 tons per day.
Walk along any residential street in Seoul and you'll see why. On Chung’ s street residents emerge at dusk to put small yellow bags in special waste collection containers. Since 2013, South Koreans have been required by law to throw food waste in these bags, priced according to volume and costing the average four person family about $6 a month. By purchasing them from the local convenience store or supermarket, residents are effectively paying a tax on their food waste ahead. In Seoul, this tax pays for about 60 percent of the cost of collecting and processing the city's food waste.
1. What does Chung do with her food waste now?| A．She buries it in her backyard. | B．She throws it into a container. |
| C．She uses it directly to plant crops. | D．She deals with it in a recyclable way. |
| A．South Koreans are accustomed to urban farming. |
| B．Chung's habits have great impacts on people in Seoul. |
| C．South Korea has made a big success in waste reduction. |
| D．Chung has to take further action to deal with food waste. |
| A．By buying small yellow bags. | B．By giving it to tax departments. |
| C．By purchasing food from supermarkets. | D．By spending money on collection containers. |
| A．How to Reduce Food Waste | B．Why We Shouldn’t Waste Food |
| C．The Woman Composting Food Waste | D．The Country Winning the Battle on Food Waste |
