1 . Deserts could be the best places on Earth for harvesting solar power. They are spacious, relatively flat, and never short of sunlight. So researchers imagine it might be possible to transform the world’s largest desert, the Sahara, into a large solar farm, capable of meeting four times the world’s current energy demand.
While the black surfaces of solar panels absorb most of the sunlight that reaches them, only around 15% of that incoming energy gets turned into electricity. The rest is returned to the environment as heat, affecting the climate. If these effects were only local, they might not matter in a thinly populated desert. But the area of the installations in the Sahara would be vast, covering thousands of square miles. Heat released from an area this size will be redistributed by the flow of air in the atmosphere, having regional and even global effects on the climate.
A 2018 study used a climate model to assess the effects of building massive solar farms in the Sahara. The model revealed that when the size of the solar farm reaches 20% of the total area of the Sahara, the heat released by the darker solar panels creates a big temperature difference between the land and the surrounding oceans that ultimately lowers surface air pressure and causes wet air to rise and condense (凝结) into raindrops. With more rainfall, plants grow and the desert reflects less of the sun’s energy since vegetation absorbs light better than sand and soil. With more plants present, more water is evaporated (蒸发), creating a better environment that causes vegetation to spread.
So, a large solar farm could generate enough energy and at the same time turn one of the most abominable environments on Earth into a habitable place. Sounds perfect, right? Not quite. In a recent study, we used an advanced Earth system model to closely examine how Saharan solar farms interact with the climate. It showed there could be unintended effects in remote parts of the land and ocean.
We are only beginning to understand the potential consequences of establishing massive solar farms in deserts. Solutions like this may help society reduce the use of fossil energy, but Earth system studies like ours underscore the importance of considering the numerous coupled responses of the atmosphere, oceans, and land surface when examining their benefits and risks.
1. What can be learned about solar farms?| A．They are mainly located in deserts. |
| B．They can affect the local and even global climate. |
| C．They can make the best use of incoming energy. |
| D．They satisfy the world’s current energy demand. |
| A．It might become greener. |
| B．It might reflect more sunlight. |
| C．Its surface air pressure will increase. |
| D．Its temperature difference between day and night will decrease. |
| A．Addictive. | B．Dynamic. | C．Sensitive. | D．Unpleasant. |
| A．It is an impossible task. |
| B．It will do more good than harm. |
| C．It calls for more consideration. |
| D．It might be the solution to fossil fuel pollution. |
2 . In 2011, artist Grimanesa Amorós stepped off a boat made of totora reeds (芦苇) onto an island—also made of totora reeds — in the northwest portion of Lake Titicaca. It’s home to one of the world’s most innovative achievement of human engineering: the Uros Islands.
The man-made floating islands, which are home to the native Uros people, are created by putting layers upon layers of totora roots and reeds. This water-resistant plant grows in the lake and is the lifeblood of the Uros community. It is used to make boats, houses, roofs, mattresses (床垫) and more. The plant is also eaten and serves as medicine, and its flowers are used to make tea.
However, the Uros weren’t always dependent on the totora. More than 500 years ago, the growing Inca Empire began to invade the Uros’ mainland villages. To beat this threat, the Uros began to build the islands, which could be launched deep into Lake Titicaca, away from danger. Hundreds of years later, there are now about 120 of these constructed islands, with around 1,300 people living on them.
To build the islands, the Uros first gather large blocks of totora roots. Multiple blocks are pulled together, and the roots and reeds mix naturally to form a layer about 1 to 2m thick. The totora reed is laid on top of this floating base. The Uros use a long tool to reach deep down into the water and cut the plant above the base. Then, the reeds are dried in the sun for one to four weeks and bundled (捆绑) together using a rope. Once dried, totora reeds are placed in alternating directions on top of the root blocks and become the ground that the Uros walk and build their homes on.
Today, urban influences are evident on the islands: Solar panels power bedroom lights and small TVs; a radio station operates on the main island. It’s evident that these modern changes and tourism have changed the Uros’ life on the lake. One thing remains certain, though. As long as there is totora growing at Lake Titicaca, the islands’ rooted foundation will stay the same.
1. Which word can best describe the role totora reeds play in the Uro’s life?| A．Essential. | B．Symbolic. | C．Protective. | D．Sustainable. |
| A．To develop tourism. | B．To maintain their lifestyle. |
| C．To escape from enemies’ attack. | D．To be separated from the world. |
| A．The key to selecting building materials. | B．The procedure of building the islands. |
| C．The difficulty of living on the island. | D．The method of spotting reeds. |
| A．Fancy Lifestyles of the Uros | B．Innovative Building Materials |
| C．Floating Homes on Lake Titicaca | D．A Must-see Tourist Attraction of Lake Titicaca |
3 . Would you know what to do during a big earthquake? Scientists have some advice for us.
If the ground begins shaking while you are driving stop your car on the roadside and stay in it. If you are in a tall building, don’t use the lift and never jump out of the windows. When you are in a living room, find a strong table or rush into a smaller room like washroom. Then lie down your body. Take care of your head. When you are in a public place, like supermarket or cinema don’t crowding jam (拥挤), or you may fall over and get hurt. Cross your arms to protect yourself . You can also find a place to hide.
After the main shake quickly run out of the dangerous building for there will be small earthquakes. If you are safe, remember not to engage the phone line, keep it free for rescue (援救) using. Don’t go to the hospital if you are not badly hurt, others will really need help. Take part in the rescue action if you can.
1. What should people do if they are driving when an earthquake happens?| A．Drive on quickly. | B．Take care of the car. |
| C．Stop the car on the roadside. | D．Jump out of the windows. |
| A．Because people can lie down easily. |
| B．Because people may get help quickly. |
| C．Because it can help avoid falling over. |
| D．Because it can help find a place to hide. |
| A．占用 | B．触摸 | C．接通 | D．修理 |
| A．Try to help the others if you can. |
| B．Stay in the dangerous building after the main shake |
| C．Go to a doctor even though you are not badly hurt. |
| D．Keep making phone calls to tell your family that you are safe. |
| A．after the main shake | B．while the main shake |
| C．before the main shake | D．before the small shake |
4 . One day when Jack was walking in the park, he saw a woman, who lived a few miles away, sitting on a bench (凳子) with a dog beside her. The dog was looking up at the woman.
Jack walked up to the woman and said, “Hello, Sue how are you? May I sit and talk with you for a while?” “Of course, please sit down,” Sue said. Jack sat down next to Sue on the bench, and they talked quietly together. The dog continued to look up at Sue as if waiting to be fed.
“That’s a nice dog, isn’t he?” Jack said pointing at the animal.
“Yes, he is. He’s handsome. He’s a bit of a mixture but that’s not a bad thing. He’s strong and healthy.”
“And hungry,” Jack said.
“He hasn’t taken his eyes off you. He thinks you’ve got some food for him.”
“That’s true.” Sue said.
“But I haven’t.”
They both laughed and then Jack said, “Does your dog bite (咬人)?”
“No,” Sue said. “He’s never bitten anyone. He’s always gentle and friendly.”
Hearing this, Jack decided to hold out his hand and touched the animals head. Suddenly it jumped up and bit him.
“Hey!” Jack shouted. “ You said your dog didn’t bite.”
Sue replied in surprise, “Yeah, I did. But this is not my dog. My dog’s at home.”
1. The dog looked at the woman because ________.| A．the woman wanted to feed him | B．the woman was friendly |
| C．he was strong and healthy | D．he was hungry |
| A．friends | B．next-door neighbors |
| C．strangers | D．in the same family |
| A．the dog was handsome | B．Sue’s dog was unfriendly |
| C．the dog was Sue’s | D．Sue’s dog was at home |
| A．Sue gave a wrong answer | B．Jack made a mistake |
| C．Jack known the dog well | D．The dog waited for the food |
| A．he didn’t took food | B．he didn’t know him |
| C．he didn’t take his dog | D．the dog didn’t find his master |
One sunny Saturday morning, I got ready for a hike with my classmates. I was so excited about it since it was my first time to go hiking. I ate a light breakfast just a few slices of bread and an egg. After that I grabbed my backpack and hurriedly ran out of my house and then met my classmates at the school gate. At that time I didn’t think that there would be a terrible disaster ahead.
The jungle (丛林) that we are going to was far from our area. Its name was Salymbia Jungle. The drive was 3 hours long but it was not a dull ride as we were all eager about the hike and we bad each other’s company. We appointed a guide and his name was Thomas. He said that he had hiked in the Salymbia Jungle lots of times, and he was familiar with the pathways. When we arrived, Thomas allowed us to begin. There were a wide variety of plants which I had never seen before. The smell of the jungle was so earthy. All of us were amazed by the beauty of the scenery and the sound of the creatures.
After a while we were walking and then I looked at my wrist (手腕) to check the time but then I realized my watch had fallen off. Then I walked back without telling anyone. I did not worry about getting lost since there were other persons behind and I thought I would have been able to catch up with my classmates. I went back searching the pathway and I lost track of time and lost sight of my classmates. I immediately realized that I was alone.
After I realized I was lost, the first thing I did was to check my phone to see how far away I was from my companions. However, I was having no luck because there was no network in my phone, which made my phone practically useless.
Paragraph 1: The sky started to become darker.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2: As I was falling asleep, I heard a human voice.
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6 . With climate change continuing to worsen, our situation is beginning to feel increasingly serious.
Techno-optimism is one of the greatest misconceptions when it comes to solutions to ensure our future. It can be defined as a belief that future technologies will solve all of our current problems. This definition reinforces (强化) the idea that there’s no reason to panic or change our current energy-intensive lifestyle. All society needs to do is look to green technology to work its magic.
One of the best examples of this optimistic misconception is the electric car. Despite being highly regarded as an eco-friendly way to get around, electric cars are not the end for the future of transport. Batteries in electric cars use chemical elements which we could be seeing a shortage of by the midcentury.
Techno-optimism puts too much emphasis on technology and not enough on what we can do right this minute. Unfortunately, people seem to like the picture that techno-optimism paints.
| A．So where should we look for answers instead? |
| B．The modern world’s simple solution is technology. |
| C．Moreover, they are more energy intensive to produce. |
| D．Is it a trap that many people have fallen into in recent years? |
| E．Unfortunately, this is an incredibly dangerous opinion to hold. |
| F．Despite any technology, we as a whole are not living sustainably. |
| G．Nevertheless, the truth is, we need a widespread change in our lifestyles. |
7 . GREAT BOOKS TO TEACH CHILDREN ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE
Here is a shortened list of books sponsored by the magazines TIME and TIME for Kids that are suitable for primary schoolers. To make the list, we considered how age-appropriate the material was, and whether the tone and story line left the reader feeling engaged and empowered rather than anxious or confused.
Experts recommend the youngest kids to read books that explore the beauty and fragility (脆弱) of nature. When developing an appreciation for the world around them, they can switch to books that show the cause and effect of how humans treat our planet, and why it’s important to respect the environment. For older primary school kids, picture books can illustrate how our use of fossil (化石) fuels contributes to global warming. Most of the books on the list also offer lessons about how children, families, schools, and communities can make a difference.
 THANK YOU, EARTH: A LOVE LETTER TO OUR PLANET By April Pulley Sayre This photography book shows to us plants, animals and landscapes in vivid colors and descriptions. From up-close images of insects to pictures of mountain ranges, the pages introduce children to the planets’ diversity in a simple but effective way. |  THE LORAX By Dr. Seuss Thanks to its rhyme, and whimsical illustration, this classic tale is suitable for young children who can grasp the scarcity of natural resources, and also older kids who can see a danger in valuing profits over long-term environmental harm. |
 WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS By Carole Lindstrom A tribute to native tribes that are protecting the planet, this book vividly shows the harms of oil pipelines. Kids will see the value of community action, while adults will recognize the story of the native tribes Standing Rock Sioux’s fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. |  POLAR BEAR, WHY IS YOUR WORLD MELTING? By Robert E. Wells This book introduces the greenhouse effect with illustrations showing how sunlight gets trapped. It then explains fossil-fuel energy, and our reliance on it for electricity and transportation. The pages are full of science. |
| A．Confusing story line. | B．The tone of anxiety. |
| C．The books sponsorship. | D．Age-appropriate content. |
| A．They can see the value of community action. |
| B．They can know how to protect the native tribes. |
| C．They can recognize the story of the native tribes. |
| D．They can understand the importance of oil pipelines. |
| A．THE LORAX |
| B．WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS |
| C．POLAR BEAR, WHY IS YOUR WORLD MELTING? |
| D．THANK YOU, EARTH: A LOVE LETTER TO OUR PLANET |
Alexis Langlois, who manages a large farm, heard her neighbor crazily knocking on her front door on a Monday afternoon.
“There’s an emergency”, Amber Countryman yelled. “The horses are stuck in the water.” Langlois was struck with “absolute panic”. She threw on her winter boots — without socks — and rushed toward the small pond on the 80-acre property. She was surprised by what she saw: four horses were in the water up to their necks in 10 feet of ice water.
She immediately called 911.While waiting for help to arrive, “people just started showing up,” she said. “Neighbors were pouring in. People came with ropes, chainsaws, shovels and pick axes.”
“I grabbed a bunch of supplies,” said Countryman, whose two teenagers and their friend also as sited with the effort.
“It was-8℃that day,” she said, adding that she brought out handwarmers and water for the helpers.
Everyone was determined to get the horses out of the pond — which is about 15feetwide.
Beneath a six-inch layer of ice, the water was “just barely above freezing”, said Chris Yerkes, the South Kalispell Fire Department chief who rushed to the pond with about a dozen volunteer personnel.
When the firefighters arrived, neighbors had already attempted to pave a path through the ice toward the edge of the pond using pick axes, sledgehammers and shovels, and “we continued with that effort.” Yerkes said. Unfortunately, “as we got closer to the edge, we realized there was about three to four inches of mud.”
The thick layer of mud — which the rescuers couldn’t cut through — blocked the horses from climbing out. Firefighters enlisted additional support from Flathead County Animal Control, as well as staff from local equestrian organization Rebecca Farm.
“There had to have been at least 60 people here,” Langlois said. “It was very swift action on everybody’s part.”
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。
Paragraph 1
It took nearly two hours to find a workable solution that could bring all four horses to safety.
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Paragraph 2
To get the horses out, they used a powerful tractor (拖拉机) to get the animals out of the mud and ropes to pull them over the edge.
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9 . We humans have an outsize influence on this planet, and our winged, finned, and four-legged neighbors are in their tough time. Many animals have died out in response to the pressures, but some survivors are adapting. Some animals are showing off never-before-seen behaviors, shifting their diets, and even evolving different shapes, sizes, and colors.
The shifts can’t be avoided and are likely permanent: There’s no going back to when wildlife was still completely wild. “There’s no place anywhere on the planet in its original condition. There are micro plastics at the bottom of the ocean, and Antarctica is melting. The world has changed because we’re in it,” says Tag Engstrom, a biologist at California State University.
African elephants in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park are some daring members of the animal kingdom, who have found a will and a way to change right along with it.
Normally elephants use their 6-foot-long tusks to dig wells in search of water, lift objects, rip bark off trees, and even battle lions. In other words, the ivory appendages (附属品) are not just impressive to look at — they are highly useful tools. So it might seem strange that a significant number of African elephants in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, once an illegal hunting wildlife area, are now being born without tusks.
According to a 2021 DNA analysis published in the journal Science, that the elephants are born without tusks is no coincidence. After decades of being shot by ivory brokers, the leading elephants in some herds have passed down a trait that prevents the females’ prize possessions from growing in — and helps them avoid being hunted. No one knows yet how widespread these genes might be in the greater population of African elephants, or how the loss of tusks might affect the mammals’ survival overall. But the findings are a powerful, if depressing, reminder of the extremes a species might endure to escape from extinction.
1. How do the animals respond to humans influence?| A．Many animals have evolved four legs. |
| B．Animals can survive despite the tough time. |
| C．Some animals are developing different shapes. |
| D．Animals live in harmony with human beings. |
| A．We human beings are evolving. |
| B．Wildlife are not going back to the wild. |
| C．Plastics appear at the bottom of the ocean. |
| D．The planet is no longer what it was like before. |
| A．The elephants evolve the new trait by chance. |
| B．Elephants in some herds are all born without tusks. |
| C．Genes will be widespread in the greater population. |
| D．The new trait may help elephants survive the extinction. |
| A．Travel. | B．Science. | C．Puzzles. | D．Well-being. |
10 . Do you see a bird right now? Can you hear one singing? If so, you might be getting a mental health boost. A recent study found that being in the presence of birds made people feel more positive.
Andrea Mechelli, a psychologist at King’s College London and one of the paper’s authors, admitted himself studying the natural world by accident. “I don’t have a particular agenda focused on nature myself. I wasn’t thinking we were going to demonstrate nature has a strong effect,” says Mechelli. Instead, he was searching for answers to why people who live in cities seem to be more likely to suffer from mental illness, particularly psychosis(精神病).
In 2015, he created the smartphone app Urban Mind to search for patterns in users’ environments. How crowded was their city? Did they feel safe in their neighborhood? Could they see trees? “Our first finding was that nature has a very powerful effect,” says Mechelli. He and his colleagues then wondered if some aspects of nature were more beneficial than others.
Their latest study included 1,292 participants, mainly in the United Kingdom and Europe, some of whom revealed a professional mental health diagnosis such as depression. For two weeks, study participants using Urban Mind were reminded to fill out a questionnaire three times a day. They were asked questions about their surrounding environment and their mental state. The data were recorded at the same time.
With the data collected, Mechelli performed a statistical analysis that found an obvious improvement in well-being when birds were present, even when removing other factors like the presence of trees or waterways. The mental health benefit was true both for people with diagnosed depression and those without any diagnosed mental health conditions.
Nature, Mechelli notes, isn’t a cure all. The presence of trees and birds, for example, didn’t result in a better sense of well-being if participants also noted their neighborhood felt unsafe.
1. Why does the author ask questions in the first paragraph?| A．To offer examples. | B．To make comparisons. |
| C．To introduce the topic. | D．To support the conclusion. |
| A．The process of the research. | B．The purpose of the research. |
| C．The findings of the research. | D．The influence of the research. |
| A．the sight of trees | B．the crowdedness of a city |
| C．the pressure from their work | D．the security of a neighborhood |
| A．They all came from the UK. |
| B．They were diagnosed with depression. |
| C．They recorded their feelings by themselves. |
| D．They were required to answer different questions. |
