1 . In the world of water, 2021 was another year for the record books. Parts of Western Europe suffered from deadly floods while large areas of the southwestern United States remained locked in a massive drought.
One might think that our impressive water management would safeguard society from such catastrophic events. Yet when it comes to water, the past is no longer a good guide for the future and most of the water engineering is unprepared for consequences of increasingly occurring extreme weather. One of the most alarming wake-up calls came from the city of Cape Town, where the water taps of 4 million residents were nearly forced to be shut off after severe drought dried up its reservoir (水库).
Appealing as it might be, the solution is not to further build bigger and higher dams (水坝) that often result in more disastrous flooding. Rather, it is to work more with natural processes.
The Netherlands avoided major damage from the historic floods in July 2021 thanks to its recently completed project, which gives river room to spread out by redirecting floodwaters into wetlands, lowering parts of the stormy river by more than a foot. Agricultural practices offer another strategy. Scientists have found that boosting organic matter in the soil by 1% can increase the soil’s water-holding capacity by up to 18,000 gallons per acre, creating flexibility to both intense rains and dry periods. This means farmland practices such as the planting of cover crops can not only raise output but improve water management.
Solutions don’t come easily, but they are key to a livable future. While it’s too late to avoid the impacts of climate change, we can avoid the worst of those impacts by investing more in such nature-based water solutions.
1. Cape Town is mentioned to show__________.| A．the reservoir was of no use |
| B．new water management is in need |
| C．how awful it was without tap water |
| D．the existing water management is impressive |
| A．The Netherlands was spared from flood damage. |
| B．The river’s water level was reduced to over a foot. |
| C．Improving soil’s water-holding ability is practical. |
| D．Planting crops boosts organisms at the cost of production. |
① “Restoring Healthy Soil”
② “Filling Wetland”
③ “Strengthening Dam”
④ “Making Room for River”
| A．①② | B．②③ | C．③④ | D．①④ |
| A．Water disaster: way out of control |
| B．Investment in water: a key to the future |
| C．Nature-based solution: a way out for water |
| D．Good news: farming practices working well |
2 . Conservation scientist Kim Williams-Guillen was trying her best to come up with a way to save endangered sea turtles (海龟) from egg thieves when she had an “aha” moment: If she placed a fake (假的) egg containing a GPS tracker in the reptiles’ nests, she might be able to track the thieves.
Williams-Guillen found a flexible plastic material to mimic (仿造) the shell of real eggs. She and colleagues then used a 3D printer to produce the fakes of the same size, weight, and texture and put the smallest GPS tracking devices inside each. The researchers then went to four Costa Rican beaches, where green sea turtle come ashore to make their nests. As mothers laid their eggs under cover of night, the researchers slipped a fake egg into each nest. Once the fakes are covered in sand and mix with the real eggs, it’s very difficult to tell the difference between the two.
Of the 101 fake eggs, 25 were taken by thieves. The farthest moving egg traveled 137 kilometers inland. The fake egg sent its final signal the next day from a residential property, suggesting that the research team had tracked the eggs through “all of the players in the entire chain.”
By understanding that chain, Williams-Guillen says researchers can identify trading hot spots. She emphasizes that the tracker is not a way to catch local thieves, many of them living in poverty, but a tool to better understand their routes, which could help them and eventually law enforcement (执法部门) identify larger players in the chain.
In the meantime, Williams-Guillen and her colleagues are working to get their fake eggs to other sea turtle conservation organizations. Ultimately, though, scientists and nonprofits are going to engage communities with local outreach and education programs to save sea turtles. She says, “The real meat and potatoes of conservation isn’t going to come from deploying (布署) eggs.”
1. What can be learnt from paragraph 2?| A．Fake eggs are made and employed. | B．Sea turtles have become endangered. |
| C．Sea turtles lay eggs during the daytime. | D．The idea of fake eggs came into being. |
| A．To confirm whether the fake eggs really work. |
| B．To provide data for doing research on turtle eggs. |
| C．To arrest the locals stealing the turtle eggs from the beach. |
| D．To identify the trading routes and get the big players punished. |
| A．Deploying eggs needs advocating further. |
| B．Turtle conservation mainly relies on joint efforts. |
| C．She feels disappointed with the local communities. |
| D．Deploying eggs makes no difference in preserving turtles. |
| A．Saving endangered sea turtles is urgent |
| B．Endangered turtles can be traced with GPS |
| C．GPS eggs helps to save endangered sea turtles |
| D．A conservation scientist is devoted to protecting sea turtles |
Caught in a flood
Mary and her parents were downstairs in the living room. Mary was looking through the windows at the endless rain outside. It had been raining non-stop for three days. She had never seen a storm this bad. It was making her nervous. The wind roared and the rain beat on the roof and windows. Dad was listening to a weather report on the radio, while Mum was putting their important documents and disaster supplies into a bag.
“Mum, Dad,” said Mary suddenly, “I think we should leave here right away!”
“No,” said Dad. “It’s too late: The radio says the city has already been flooded.”
“We can drive our car through the floodwater. Let’s us leave! I’m really scared!” cried Mary. “We can’t do that, honey,” explained Mum, “otherwise the moving water could wash the car away!”
Mary walked to the door. She was curious to see how much water there was outside.
“Don’t open the door!” shouted Mum and Dad at the same time. “The water may flood in!”
Dad moved the dinner table against the door, in case the floodwater forced the door open. Mum waved to Mary to sit on the sofa. “Mary, don’t worry. Everything’s going to be OK,” she said softly, trying her best to comfort Mary. Her voice was calm, but Mary could tell she was worried too.
Without saying a single word, Dad walked to the sofa, sat down and hugged his wife and daughter. The sudden silence in the house seemed to make the wind and rain more frightening outside. What could they do?
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．续写部分分为两段，每段开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:
All of a sudden, the floodwater forced the door open.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
Being upstairs, they breathed a sigh of relief.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The giant panda
5 . When Malaika Vaz was a kid, living in Goa, India, she was constantly surrounded by nature. Among her childhood experiences, she recalls journeys to the Arctic and Antarctic, climbing mountains, diving, and windsurfing.
At some point in her late teens, Vaz realized adventure didn’t really mean anything if there wasn’t an intention to protect the natural spaces we were exploring in. Motivated by her passion for filmmaking, she began to seek a way that would both satisfy her appetite for adventure and allow her to advocate the protection of the species and ecosystems she interacted with.
Today Vaz wears many hats in the filmmaking world, as a documentary director, producer, and presenter. After falling in love with manta rays (蝠鲼), she discovered they were being hunted illegally and started to dress herself as a seafood trader to get as close as possible to the issue. She traced sellers to figure out why the threatened species were being killed. She shared the shocking details in Peng Yu Sai, her Green Oscar-nominated film on the matter.
The subjects that grab her attention, Vaz admits, run the gamut. When she was asked to define her focus, she replied that she preferred variety. She always argues that the issues she looks into are more interrelated than they may initially appear. “I think that it’s exciting to dive into the different aspects of environmental stories,” she says.
Her work doesn’t stop at recording important stories; she also ensures the message is heard. From Vaz’s viewpoint, real improvement in planetary protection lies in the hands of each of us rather than just those of several environmentalists. “If you’re an engineer and you care about the natural world, you can change the kind of construction materials you use. If you’re a teacher loving nature, you can bring that into the learning for your class.” she says.
As a filmmaker, Vaz believes it’s important to figure out ways that attract the audience who can push for the protection of the natural world.
1. What did Malaika Vaz decide to do in her late teens?| A．Motivate children to get close to nature. |
| B．Make a film about her childhood experiences. |
| C．Develop a passion for an adventurous lifestyle. |
| D．Combine nature exploration with nature conservation. |
| A．The role of manta rays in the local economy. | B．Vaz’s personal life as a seafood trader. |
| C．The threatened species in India. | D．The illegal trade in manta rays. |
| A．Are quite popular. | B．Cover a wide range. |
| C．Make little progress. | D．Are hard to deal with. |
| A．Human beings are closely linked to nature. |
| B．Stories are effective in changing people’s behavior. |
| C．Everyone can make a difference to the environment. |
| D．Environmentalists play a big part in solving environmental issues. |
6 . In 2016, Yu Yongguang, a teacher at the Jiangsu University, saw a Yangtze finless porpoise (江豚) for the first time in a newspaper. He found himself
In recent years, his efforts have
With the development of the association, its work has gone far beyond
In addition, he has also
Yu said he never imagined that the small association he
| A．attacked | B．frightened | C．attracted | D．cheated |
| A．safety | B．use | C．silence | D．danger |
| A．taken on | B．paid off | C．broken down | D．showed up |
| A．Also | B．Therefore | C．Otherwise | D．However |
| A．ordering | B．promising | C．encouraging | D．warning |
| A．performance | B．protection | C．action | D．popularity |
| A．organizing | B．announcing | C．shortening | D．canceling |
| A．lost | B．published | C．bought | D．read |
| A．observing | B．fooling | C．shaping | D．targeting |
| A．forced | B．limited | C．led | D．compared |
| A．research-based | B．narrow-minded | C．plant-related | D．imagination-focused |
| A．strangely | B．terribly | C．smoothly | D．dangerously |
| A．joined | B．trusted | C．missed | D．established |
| A．efforts | B．dreams | C．opinions | D．demands |
| A．pass | B．rise | C．drop | D．stay |
7 . Longing for the most amazing places on the planet? You can do no wrong with these lakes across the globe.
Five Flower Lake
Set in the striking karst landscape of the Jiuzhaigou Valley in Sichuan province, China, Five Flower Lake is extraordinarily clear, with visibility to a depth of 40 metres. Five Flower is one of a series of blue-, green-and sky-colored lakes blocked by rock falls, but it differs from the others as its waters change color, looking sometimes yellow, sometimes green, but usually diamond blue. In winter, Five Flower never freezes; in summer, it never dries up. Local wildlife living in the surrounding mountain forests include the rare giant panda and the golden snub-nose monkey.
Crater Lake
The deep-blue waters of Crater Lake in Oregon, US, fill the outlet of an ancient volcano that collapsed 7,700 years ago. Its strangest occupant is the “Old Man of the Lake”, a nine-metre-tall tree stump(树桩), which has stood upright in the water for more than a century. No rivers or streams enter the lake. Water loss in summer is compensated by winter snow and rain, the entire body of water being replaced every 250 years.
Lake Ohrid
Ancient Lake Ohrid has been around for about five million years and crosses the mountainous border between Macedonia and Albania. It has unique plants and wildlife, including the Ohrid “plashica”, a fish native to the lake, whose scales(鳞片) are used to make Ohrid pearls.
Lake Maggiore
Surrounded on three sides by the Lipontine Alps and touching the plain of Lombardy to the south, Lake Maggiore is Italy’s longest lake. Considered part of the country’s lake district, it is shared with Switzerland. Characterized by a Mediterranean-style climate, temperatures here are mild all year. This has given rise to some of northern Italy’s most wonderful gardens, which appear to float like flower-decked boats on the water.
1. What makes Five Flower Lake different from other lakes?| A．Its agreeable climate. | B．The rare local wildlife. |
| C．Its color-changing waters. | D．The visibility of waters. |
| A．By artificial rain. | B．By snow and rain. |
| C．From nearby streams. | D．From an ancient tree. |
| A．Five Flower Lake. | B．Crater Lake. |
| C．Lake Ohrid. | D．Lake Maggiore. |
Located in the north-cast of Italy, Venice is
But only time will tell if this project is the right solution. The important thing is that action is being taken
As Hurricane Lan bore down on Florida, many residents who stayed put found themselves unable to leave even if they tried. For hours they were forced to fight heavy winds and attempt to escape flooding inside long-loved homes that had become frightening, deadly traps. Within days, around 100 deaths in the state would be attributed to the hurricane, many of them were older residents who drowned.
When the water slipped in under the door of their home, it was just a glimmer on the floor, a sign that it was time to go. It was Wednesday, Sept.28, around noon, and Bishop woke up her two brothers, who had been resting after lunch. She pulled the wheelchair up to the oldest, Russell, 67. Her other brother, Todd, 63, could manage with a walker.
Both men had been born with cerebral palsy (脑瘫), and their mental development was like that of a young child. About 10 years ago, they started showing signs of Parkinson’s disease. But they found joy in their surroundings. Todd liked collecting cans at the beach. Russell loved riding the bus and going to parks. Bishop, 61, was their lifeline, their little sister who had long felt an obligation to keep them safe.
“We’ve got to get going!” she shouted to them. She went to open the front door. It would not move. The weight of the water on the other side had made it shut. She rushed to try the door to the garage. It, too, was stuck. That’s when the house began to flood. It went from ankle-deep to knee-deep in less than five minutes. Bishop knew that there was no way out.
Now Bishop and her brothers were trapped. At 12:34 p.m., she called 911 but couldn’t get through. There was no one she could get in touch with. To try her fortune, she texted a neighbor, Walters, who was always there when neighbors were in need, “Water’s coming in.” Around her, she could hear the dining room hutch (餐具柜) tipping and crashing, the china breaking, the refrigerator toppling over.
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。
The only way to go was up, so Bishop guided her two bothers to the stairs.
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Bishop sank into despair, but she noticed it seemed water stopped coming in.
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10 . Are you facing a situation that looks impossible to fix?
In 1969,the pollution was terrible along the Cuyahoga River Cleveland, Ohio. It
But the river wasn’t changed in a few days
Maybe you are facing an impossible situation. Maybe you have a habit
While there are
