1 . In February 1970, a group of activists gathered in Vancouver, Canada to discuss a planned nuclear test on the Alaskan island of Amchitka. They eventually agreed to sail to the test site and
Over the last 50 years, the
The human species, which emerged in the green forests and grasslands of Africa about 300, 000 years ago, has a special
With the rise of farming, we started to use green as a(n)
The ancient Egyptians, who were farming the banks of the Nile from about 8000 B.C.,
A.bump | B.protest | C.compete | D.insure |
A.objected | B.announced | C.responded | D.highlighted |
A.curious about | B.familiar with | C.shocked at | D.fascinated by |
A.environmental | B.revolutionary | C.multicultural | D.deliberate |
A.results | B.origins | C.extremes | D.streams |
A.identified | B.recognized | C.combined | D.illustrated |
A.physical | B.artificial | C.biological | D.physiological |
A.engaged | B.evolved | C.dominated | D.exchanged |
A.pioneers | B.seniors | C.ancestors | D.inspectors |
A.sensitive | B.available | C.equivalent | D.appropriate |
A.approach | B.symbol | C.alternative | D.signal |
A.crossing over | B.counting for | C.according to | D.dating back |
A.described | B.reflected | C.interpreted | D.resembled |
A.eventually | B.similarly | C.consequently | D.definitely |
A.agriculture | B.vegetation | C.cultivation | D.generation |
2 . During those barren winter months, with windows overlooking long-dead gardens, leafless trees, and lawns that seem to have an ashy look about them, nothing calms the uneasy nerves more than the vibrant green of plants surrounding the living spaces of one’s home. People browse through garden stores just to get a smell of chlorophyll (叶绿素) and to choose a plant or two to bring spring back into their winter-gray lives.
Now there is even more of a need for “the green,” in light of recent articles warning us of the dangers of chemicals that we, ourselves, introduce into our homes. Each time we bring clothes home from the cleaners, we release those chemicals into the closed-in air of our homes. Every cleanser releases its own kind of fumes.
Some of the chemicals are formaldehyde (甲醛), chlorine, benzene, styrene, etc. Read the labels on many home products, the ingredients aren’t even listed! During the winter, when those same windows are shut tight, we breathe in these chemicals—causing symptoms much like allergies (过敏). In fact, most people probably dismiss the effects of these chemicals simply as some allergy or other. The truth is that we are experiencing a syndrome that is called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Now, what has this got to do with green plants? Everything healthy! Research has been conducted with two types of plants that have actually removed much of these harmful chemicals from the air.
The two plants that seem to be the best bet for ridding one’s home of such chemicals are ferns (蕨类植物) and palms. These plants release moisture as part of photosynthesis and, as they do, pull chemicals from the air into their leaves. Even NASA has conducted some greenhouse experiments for long-term space exploration. Within hours, their plants [palms] had removed almost all traces of formaldehyde in the room. Both species of plants are ancient, dating back more than a hundred million years. Another trait they share is that they both live long lives, 100 years or more. This we expect from trees, but ferns and palms are plants; plants that can grow to 65 feet in the proper setting! Even their individual leaves live for one to two years [ferns] and one to nine years [palms]. Perhaps it is their primary qualities that have contributed to their ability to purify their environment.
1. Why does the author think we are in greater need of “the green” in our homes?A.To bring our long-dead gardens back to life. |
B.To get rid of harmful chemicals trapped there. |
C.To make us feel calmer and less worried. |
D.To serve as decorations as well as refresh us. |
A.The source of these chemicals released in our homes hasn’t been identified. |
B.The chemicals can be removed immediately the two plants are put into use. |
C.People tend to underestimate the effects of the chemical in the closed-in places. |
D.People usually buy household products without referring to the ingredients on them. |
A.the ability to absorb chemicals and live long |
B.their adaptability to indoor environment |
C.the fast growth and attractiveness of their leaves |
D.the release of their moisture and fumes |
A.Research in the New Millennium |
B.Common Houseplants May Purify Your Home |
C.Hidden Dangers in Your Home |
D.NASA Experiment Finds the Cure |
3 . The water off the coast of northwest Greenland is a glass-like calm, but the puddles (水坑) on the region’s icebergs are a sign that a transformation is underway higher on the ice sheet.
Several days of unusually warm weather in northern Greenland have caused rapid melting, made visible by the rivers of meltwater rushing into the ocean. Temperatures have been running around 60 degrees Fahrenheit — 10 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year, scientists said.
The amount of ice that melted in Greenland between July 15 and 17 this year alone — 6 billion tons of water per day — would be enough to fill 7.2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, according to data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Each summer, scientists worry that they will see a repeat of the record melting that occurred in 2019, when 532 billion tons of ice flowed out into the sea. An unexpectedly hot spring and a July heat wave that year caused almost the entire ice sheet’s surface to melt. Global sea level rose permanently by 1.5 millimeters as a result.
Greenland holds enough ice — if it all melted — to lift sea level by 7.5 meters around the world. The latest research points to a more and more threatening situation on the Northern Hemisphere’s iciest island.
“Unprecedented (史无前例的)” rates of melting have been observed at the bottom of the Greenland ice sheet, a study published in February found, caused by huge quantities of meltwater flowing down from the surface. This water is particularly concerning because it can destabilize the sheet above it and could lead to a massive, rapid loss of ice.
And in 2020, scientists found that Greenland’s ice sheet had melted beyond the point of no return. The rate of melting in recent years exceeds anything Greenland has experienced in the last 12,000 years, another study found — and enough to cause measurable change in the gravitational field over Greenland.
At the East Greenland Ice-core Project — or EastGRIP — research camp in northwest Greenland, the work of scientists to understand the impact of climate change is being affected by climate change itself.
Aslak Grinsted, a climate scientist at the University of Copenhagen’s Niels Bohr Institute, said that they have been trying to get flights into the camp but the warmth is destabilizing the landing site.
Before human-caused climate change kicked in, temperatures near 32 degrees Fahrenheit there were unheard of. But since the 1980s, this region has warmed by around 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit per decade — four times faster than the global pace — making it all the more likely that temperatures will cross the melting point.
1. The passage is mainly written to ________.A.alert people to the rapid melting of Greenland’s ice sheet |
B.arouse people’s awareness of protecting the environment |
C.inform people of the large amount of ice Greenland holds |
D.reveal to people the cause and effect of the rise in sea level |
A.Climate change. | B.A rise in sea level. |
C.Global warming. | D.The melting of ice. |
A.It repeated a record melting of the ice sheet several years ago. |
B.Its amount was the largest ever and lifted sea level permanently. |
C.It was enough to fill 7.2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools. |
D.Its melting rate was so rapid as to result in an unexpectedly hot spring. |
A.climate change is a result of human activities |
B.the study of climate change is being made easier |
C.the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet is reversible |
D.temperatures increase 1.5°F or so each decade globally |
Should Hand Feeding Dolphins Be Encouraged?
Some tourist centers train Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins to approach beachside public sighting areas or boats by hand-feeding them small amounts of fish every day. Because hand-fed males aggressively attack each other over the food, putting themselves and nearby humans in danger, tourist centers focus their hand feeding only on female dolphins, says Valerie Senigaglia at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia
But recent studies have shown that only 38% of the calves (崽) of hand-fed wild dolphins survive to three years of age, which is much lower than the average 77% survival rate for wild calves in general. To better understand why, Senigaglia and her colleagues evaluated the social behavior of dolphins around the Bunbury coast in Western Australia. In particular, they observed the individual behavior and movement of 35 dolphins, including 13 that had been hand-fed using a small boat. They regularly followed each dolphin for periods lasting from 20 minutes to 3 hours for two years in a row for a total of 180 hours.
They found that hand-fed dolphins swam in relatively large groups, but more readily broke away from them to join different ones. In general, they created weak ties with other group members. “You can feel lonely in a room full of people and it’s the same thing for dolphins,” says Senigaglia. Free-swimming dolphins that are fed by hand become less socially involved with their peers. As a result, their calves may grow up lacking vital social skills-which could explain, at least in part, why they are twice as likely to die before reaching adulthood as wild calves generally.
No wonder animal right activists are calling on the practice of hand-feeding dolphins to be stopped.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5 . Goodish News of Climate Change
Emissions of carbon dioxide (related to energy production) have stabilized, for now.
Is it a peak, a stutter or just a brief pause? Time will tell. But whatever it is, on February 11th the International Energy Agency (IEA), an intergovernmental
Energy-related emissions, which include those (produced by electricity generation), heating and transport,
As a result of this the CO₂-intensity of electricity generation—a(n)
This is not the first time energy related emissions have plateaued (保持稳定). Between 2013 and 2016 they hovered around 32.2bn tonnes a year, before rising again in 2017 as the use of coal to
A.circumstance | B.environment | C.contribution | D.organization |
A.available | B.similar | C.related | D.referred |
A.call for | B.account for | C.stand for | D.allow for |
A.decline | B.increase | C.promotion | D.recovery |
A.product | B.idea | C.measure | D.result |
A.floating | B.falling | C.disappearing | D.remaining |
A.outcome | B.change | C.effect | D.achievement |
A.fuel | B.regulate | C.handle | D.expand |
A.frequent | B.previous | C.natural | D.disastrous |
A.tips | B.plans | C.warnings | D.comments |
A.booming | B.dynamic | C.strong | D.depressed |
A.In addition | B.By contrast | C.In consequence | D.In fact |
A.accidentally | B.absolutely | C.historically | D.correctly |
A.prospect | B.ability | C.need | D.decision |
A.anger | B.hope | C.devotion | D.surprise |
6 . Though people have discussed the relationship between science and nature for many years, there is no consensual(统一的) explanation. While some view science as a powerful tool in
Despite the different presentations of the concepts, though time separated the two men, both pieces express a similar view on the relationship between science and nature. Both pieces suggest that nature is
As Commoner’s article suggests, nature only allows science to have limited power and success. Both men believe that complete trust in science is
Commoner’s article clearly represents science as weak and useless, but more importantly, dangerous. It gives evidence to support the suggested dangers
A.building | B.defining | C.showing | D.uncovering |
A.concerns | B.views | C.findings | D.achievements |
A.interests | B.ambitions | C.discoveries | D.thoughts |
A.preventing | B.earning | C.destroying | D.breaking |
A.mysterious | B.powerful | C.fantastic | D.special |
A.prosperity | B.perfection | C.improvement | D.integrity |
A.beliefs | B.experiences | C.actions | D.attempts |
A.disappointing | B.meaningful | C.useless | D.significant |
A.throws | B.expresses | C.holds | D.casts |
A.improper | B.unbelievable | C.dangerous | D.unwise |
A.reforms | B.failures | C.experiments | D.changes |
A.controlled | B.digested | C.shared | D.applied |
A.question | B.doubt | C.hope | D.use |
A.provided | B.supplied | C.associated | D.compared |
A.directly | B.especially | C.definitely | D.necessarily |
7 . Why we should spare parasites
Growing up, Chelsea Wood dreamed of becoming a marine biologist and studying large, exciting animals like sharks. Instead, she later found herself peering through a microscope at the organs of a snail. She had often plucked snails off rocks and collected them in buckets, but she had never looked inside of one. Seen through the microscope, they are surprisingly charming. “I couldn’t believe that I’d been looking at snails for as long as I had and missing all the cool stuff,” says wood. “I just totally fell in love with them.”
Nearly half of all known animals are parasites. One study projects that a tenth of them may be doomed to extinction because of climate change, loss of their hosts, and deliberate attempts at eradication. Though it seems few people care — or even notice.
Scientists warn of dire consequences if we continue to ignore the dangerous situation of parasites. Not only are some of them useful to humans [such as medicinal leeches, still employed in some surgeries], but they also play crucial roles in ecosystems, keeping some populations in check while helping to feed others.
Some experts say there’s an aesthetic argument for saving them.
We’ve barely begun to identify all the parasites. “That’s just not something that we’ve prioritized,” says Skylar Hopkins, an ecologist at North Carolina State University. So, Hopkins pulled together a group of scientists interested in parasites, and they started sharing what they knew.
Since parasites rely on other species, they can be easily hurt, Take, for example, the endangered pygmy hog-sucking louse. It only lives on another species that is itself endangered, the pygmy hog, which is disappearing fast. Then there’s the California condor louse. In the 1970s, desperate to save the California condor, biologists began raising them in captivity. Part of the protocol was to delouse every bird, on the assumption that parasites were bad for condors, though it’s not clear that they actually were.
While the death of parasites might seem like no big deal, ecologists caution that wiping them out could end up dooming the planet.
Even human health wouldn’t entirely benefit from wiping out parasites. The human immune system evolved alongside a group of parasites, and if we were to kill them off, our immune systems would then began attacking ourselves.
However, scientists aren’t out to save all parasites. The Guinea worm, for instance, should not be spared. It grows inside a person’s abdomen, causing harm to one’s health.
If anyone would want to get rid of all parasites, you’d think it would be Bobbi Pritt. As medical director for the Mayo Clinic’s human parasitology lab, Pritt identifies harmful parasites found all over the country and in every body part. Yet even Pritt has a soft spot for parasites. As a physician, she favors wiping out parasites that cause disease and suffering.
Ultimately, we do not want a war against all of them, because there’s still so much we don’t understand.
A.Without parasites keeping them in check, the populations of certain animals would explode. |
B.Beyond their aesthetic or scientific importance, parasites are an integral part of the biosphere. |
C.Parasites are sometimes rejected by the scientific communities that study the animal world because they rely on a host. |
D.“But as a biologist,” she says, “purposefully trying to make something extinct just doesn’t sit well with me.” |
E.Therefore, she has committed herself to finding more effective approaches to eliminate all harmful parasites. |
F.If you get past their “gross” appearance, you may find parasites’ way of living strangely charming. |
A.efficiency B.employ C.effective D.chemicals E.accelerating F.existing G.projected H.trapped I.power J.simultaneously K.artificially |
This past July was the hottest recorded month in human history. Heat waves smashed temperature records worldwide and even brought summer temperatures to Chile and Argentina during the Southern Hemisphere’s winter. It’s more than just a matter of sweaty discomfort. In the U.S. alone, it kills more people each year than floods, tornadoes and hurricanes combined. As climate change worsens, access to
Yet standard air-conditioning systems have
It’s becoming increasingly clear that humans cannot outrun climate change with the same air-conditioning technology we’ve been using. One well-known problem with current AC systems is their reliance on refrigerant
Standard air-conditioning systems
Even with some of the best technologies available, the gains in
9 . Each year, backed up by a growing anti-consumerist movement, people are using the holiday season to call on us all to shop less.
Driven by concerns about resource exhaustion, over recent years environmentalists have increasingly turned their sights on our “consumer culture”. Groups such as The Story of Stuff and Buy Nothing New Day are growing as a movement that increasingly blames all our ills on our desire to shop.
We clearly have a growing resource problem. The produces we make, buy, and use are often linked to the destruction of our waterways, biodiversity, climate and the land on which millions of people live. But to blame these issues on Christmas shoppers is misguided, and puts us in the old trap of blaming individuals for what is a systematic problem.
While we complain about environmental destruction over Christmas, environmentalists often forget what the holiday season actually means for many people. For most, Christmas isn’t an add-on to an already heavy shopping year. In fact, it is likely the only time of year many have the opportunity to spend on friends and family, or even just to buy the necessities needed for modern life.
This is particularly, true for Boxing Day, often the target of the strongest derision(嘲弄) by anti-consumerists. While we may laugh at the queues in front of the shops, for many, those sales provide the one chance to buy items they’ve needed all year. As Leigh Phillips argues, “this is one of the few times of the year that people can even hope to afford such ‘luxuries’, the Christmas presents their kids are asking for, or just an appliance that works.”
Indeed, the richest 7% of people are responsible for 50% of greenhouse gas emissions. This becomes particularly harmful when you take into account that those shopping on Boxing Day are only a small part of our consumption “problem” anyway. Why are environmentalists attacking these individuals, while ignoring such people as Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who has his own£1.5bn yacht with a missile defence system?
Anyway, anti-consumerism has become a movement of wealthy people talking down to the working class about their life choices, while ignoring the real cause of our environmental problems. It is no wonder one is changing their behaviours—or that environmental destruction continues without any reduction in intensity.
1. It is indicated in the 1st paragraph that during the holiday season, many consumers .A.ignore resource problems |
B.are fascinated with presents |
C.are encouraged to spend less |
D.show great interest in the movement. |
A.has targeted the wrong persons |
B.has achieved its intended purposes |
C.has taken environment-friendly measures |
D.has benefited both consumers and producers |
A.madness about life choices |
B.discontent with rich lifestyle |
C.ignorance about the real cause |
D.disrespect for holiday shoppers |
A.anything less than a responsibility | B.nothing more than a bias |
C.indicative of environmental awareness | D.unacceptable to ordinary people |
10 . For millions of years, Arctic sea ice has expanded and shrunk in a rhythmic dance with the summer sun. Humans evolved in this icy world, and civilization relied on it for climatic, ecological and political stability. But now the world comes ever closer to a future without ice. The National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that 2019’s minimum arctic sea ice extent was the second lowest on record. Arctic summers could become mostly ice-free in 30 years, and possibly sooner if current trends continue. As the northern sea ice declines, the world must unite to preserve what remains of the Arctic.
Although most people have never seen the sea ice, its effects are never far away. By reflecting sunlight, Arctic ice acts as Earth’s air conditioner. Once dark water replaces brilliant ice, Earth could warm substantially, equivalent to the warming caused by the additional release of a trillion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere and declining sea ice threatens wildlife, from the polar bear to algae that grow beneath the sea ice, supporting the large amount of marine life.
To avoid the consequences the scientific community should advocate not just for lowering greenhouse gas emissions, but also for protecting the Arctic from exploitation. The Antarctic shows the way. In the 1950s, countries raced to claim the Antarctic continent for resources and military installations. Enter the scientists. The 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year brought together scientists from competing countries to study Antarctica, and countries temporarily suspended their territorial disputes (争议). In 1959, 12 countries signed the Antarctic Treaty to preserve the continent for peaceful scientific discovery rather than territorial and military gain.
Sixty years later, we must now save the Arctic. A new Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS) Treaty would protect the Arctic Ocean as a scientific preserve for peaceful purposes only. Similar to Antarctica, MAPS would prohibit resource exploitation, commercial fishing and shipping, and military exercises. So far, only 2 non-Arctic countries have signed MAPS; 97 more need to sign on to enact it into law. Scientists can help—just as they did for the Antarctic—by giving statements of support, asking scientific organizations to endorse (支持) the treaty, communicating the importance of protecting the arctic to the public and policy-makers, and above all, by convincing national leaders to sign the treaty. In particular, Arctic nations must agree that recognizing the arctic as an international preserve is better than fighting over it. In 2018, these countries successfully negotiated a 16-year moratorium on commercial fishing in the Arctic high seas, demonstrating that such agreements are possible.
Humans have only ever lived in a world topped by ice. Can we now work together to protect Arctic ecosystems, keep the northern peace, and allow the sea ice to return?
1. What can be inferred from the passage?A.wildlife relies on sea ice for food and water. |
B.The Arctic would be ice-free in 30 years. |
C.Sea ice slows down the global warming. |
D.The melting of sea ice releases CO2. |
A.remind readers of the past of the Antarctic |
B.propose a feasible approach for the Arctic |
C.stress the importance of preserving sea ice |
D.recall how the Antarctic Treaty came into being |
A.battle | B.ban |
C.memo | D.protection |
A.Antarctic: a Successful Comeback? | B.Sea Ice and Global Warming |
C.Arctic: the Earth’s Future | D.Life Without Ice? |