1 . Mapping Antarctica
Antarctica was on the map long before anyone ever laid eyes on it. Nearly 2,400 years ago, ancient Greek philosophers such as Aristotle believed that a great continent must exist at the bottom of the world. They though it was needed to balance out the continents at the top of the world. In the 1500s, mapmakers often included a fanciful continent they referred to as Terra Incognita(Latin for “unknown land”) at the bottom of their maps. But it was not until the 1800s -----after explorers had sighted and set foot on Antarctica----- that mapmakers got down to the business of really mapping the continent, which is one—and—a –half times rhe size of the U.S..
While the coastline could be mapped by ships sailing around the continent, it took airplanes—and later, satellites---to chart Antarctica’s vast interior(内陆). That job continues today. And it is a job that still require a mapmaker, or cartographer, to put on boots and head out into the wild.
Cole Kelleher is familiar with that. He is a cartographer with the Polar Geospatial Center(PGC), which is based at the University of Minnesota and has a staff at McMurdo Station. PGC teamed up with Google to use the company’s Trekker technology to capture images of Antarctica for the Internet giant’s popular feature, Street View. A Trekker camera, which is the size of a basketball, is set about two feet above a backpack. The camera records image in all directions. “It weighs about 50 pounds. I was out for two and a half days, hiking 10 to 12 hours each day,” says Kelleher. It was hard work, but really an incredible experience.” According to Kelleher there are plans to use the technology to create educational apps for museums.
The PGC staff at McMurdo Station provides highly specialized mapmaking services for the U.S. Antarctic Program. For one project, Kelleher used satellite images to map huge cracks in the ice. That helped a team of researchers know whether they could safely approach their field camp on snowmobiles. Another recent project was to help recover a giant, high—tech helium(氦气) balloon used to carry scientific instruments high into the atmosphere. These balloons are launched in Antarctica because there is no danger that they will hurt anyone when they fall back down to Earth. Using satellite images, Kelleher and colleagues created maps of where the balloon could be found.
Antarctica may no longer be Terra Incognita, but it still holds countless mysteries. Cartographers and the maps they make will continue to be essential in helping scientists unlock those secrets.
1. From the passage, we can infer that Antarctica was on the map in the 1500s when________.| A．mapmakers knew it was much larger than the U.S. |
| B．Aristotle named the continent Terra Incognita |
| C．no one had ever seen or been to the continent |
| D．it was such an interesting continent as was often referred to |
| A．It needs much work for the mapmakers to head out into the wild. |
| B．The interior can only be mapped by planes and satellites. |
| C．It is relatively easy to map Antarctica’s coastline by ship. |
| D．Antarctic is a vast but still mysterious continent. |
| A．to capture images of Antarctica for Street View |
| B．to test the company’s Trekker technology |
| C．to create educational apps for museums |
| D．to hike for an incredible experience |
| A．satellite images which are used to map huge cracks in the ice |
| B．a high-tech helium balloon for carrying scientific instruments |
| C．how to safely approach the researcher’s field camp and the balloon |
| D．the specialized mapmaking services provided by the PGC staff |
2 . Coral Refugees
As the planet and oceans continue to heat up, sites where coral (珊瑚) has recently boomed are becoming less and less habitable. For instance, thanks to extreme ocean temperatures, much of Australia's Great Barrier Reef suffered mass bleaching in 2016 and 2017 that turned parades of colorful coral into dull, white masses.
"We showed that the higher-latitude reefs up around China did grow during earlier warm periods," says Tara Clark, a paleontologist at the University of Wollongong in Australia.
Although the fossil evidence suggests that Daya Bay could one day provide a heaven for corals, there are some hurdles in the way of making the refuge an inviting place, Clark says.
| A．This trend suggests that some of today's reefs may be able to set up shop in places such as Daya Bay in the decades to come, as temperatures climb. |
| B．Such change often occurs on broader time scales than those of humans. |
| C．In 2015 Clark led a group of scientists on an expedition to Daya Bay. |
| D．It's absolutely fundamental to understanding the dynamics of ecological communities and their responses to ecological change. |
| E．Not all corals, for instance, are equally fit to journey across the ocean to a new home. |
| F．But paleontologist (古生物学家) have now discovered a haven (港口) to which one region's reefs might relocate to escape overheating. |
3 . Are Food Miles Really Important?
A popular narrative with food is simple: “eating local” is one of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint. It seems quite reasonable intuitively, but how reliable is it? Well, it is indeed true that the food sector uses a lot of energy, contributing 20 to 30 percent of all greenhouse gases. But how much of this is directly connected to moving food around the globe from farm to fork? Perhaps less than you might think.
In one of the most comprehensive studies, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania have reported that the shipment of food around the world only contributes around 4 percent of global carbon emissions. The report is in line with much research from around the world, which suggests that transportation only generates between 4 to 6 percent of the food system’s carbon footprint. Many studies revealed that most emissions were actually generated from other aspects of food production, such as agriculture, processing and cooking. In fact, it is the end consumer that used by far the most energy. Transport? The least.
One UK government study found that tomatoes trucked hundreds of kilometers from sunny Spain had a carbon footprint that was less than a third of that of those grown in heated glasshouses in chilly UK. In contrast to the simple “local=more eco-friendly” narrative, the authors therefore concluded that: “A single indicator based on total food kilometers travelled would not be a valid indicator of sustainability.”
When it comes to our carbon footprint, transport methods vary enormously too. For example, as air freight produces more than 75 times more emissions than sea freight, shipping food to the UK all the way from South-East Asia would involve far less carbon than the same product popped on a short flight from Italy. In this context, the emissions that come from shipping food by air freight one mile, is equal to the emissions from shipping food for more than 9 miles by road, and 75 miles by sea, making the concept of distance as a direct indicator of emissions highly problematic.
So is eating local really a better option? It depends. There are many reasons why you might be choosing to do so, aside from environmental concerns. Indeed, there are many other ways to measure environmental impact other than carbon emissions. But when we look at the evidence, only one thing is clear: food miles alone really aren’t a good proxy(指标)for sustainability. In fact, sometimes they are incredibly misleading. While we can’t disregard them entirely, we should view them in the context of a suite of other factors, recognizing that they often make up a tiny fraction of food’s carbon impact.
1. The data mentioned in the second paragraph are used to ______ .| A．illustrate that “food miles” has nothing to do with carbon emissions |
| B．encourage readers to consume imported food without guilt |
| C．prove that blaming carbon emissions on “food miles” only is unwise |
| D．warn readers that food transport is to blame for global warming |
| A．eating local actually doesn’t help cut down on the carbon footprint of food |
| B．cutting transport distance always helps to cut down on food’s carbon footprint |
| C．food transport has more to do with carbon emissions than food processing does |
| D．food’s carbon footprint depends both on the distance and the method of transport |
| A．neutral | B．serious | C．opposing | D．supportive |
4 . Nature Therapy
We need the tonic of wildness... At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.
—Thoreau
One major difference between our current lifestyle and those of our evolutionary past is an increasing
We are now far
Dr. Gregory Bratman’s group at Stanford has published a couple of papers following a small group of healthy volunteers told to for a 5 kilometer walk in the San Francisco Bay area. Half walked along a busy street while the other half went for a/an
So there we have it in a world and environment where our brains are working overtime and we think and
| A．resistance | B．isolation | C．interruption | D．distance |
| A．Currently | B．Generally | C．Historically | D．Fortunately |
| A．local | B．imposing | C．fascinating | D．standard |
| A．assistance | B．evidence | C．belief | D．approach |
| A．cycling | B．swimming | C．adventure | D．hike |
| A．removed | B．rid | C．driven | D．dropped |
| A．more | B．less | C．similar | D．negative |
| A．dominantly | B．lively | C．merely | D．significantly |
| A．exposure | B．link | C．availability | D．necessity |
| A．tolerate | B．unwind | C．swing | D．resolve |
| A．causal | B．earnest | C．upright | D．scenic |
| A．reduced | B．increased | C．intensified | D．balanced |
| A．turn on | B．get over | C．draw on | D．roll over |
| A．communities | B．facilities | C．greenspaces | D．transportations |
| A．In a word | B．For instance | C．In the meantime | D．In particular |
Green Spring Renews Life’s Promise
For me, two of the loveliest words in the English language are “Life persists”. I came across them years ago as a college freshman, sitting in the library on a beautiful spring day, bored, working on a history paper. I don’t recall
After those words
I love spring. And this year, I was especially hungry to see it. Flying home last weekend to Las Vegas, after 10 days in California, I looked down on hills that were so green that I
But the next morning, to my surprise, I
Sometimes we need the chance
Life persists, and so do
6 . I am not a morning person, but as I stand on the boulder (巨大的砾石) in the early dawn, my mind is sharp and alert. I am more than awake, concentrating on the vast endlessness below.
There is a noticeable lack of early birdsong here; no hiss of offshore wind fanning the waves. The only sound is my breath, heavy after the scramble to the top. It is by no means a difficult climb, but I had to hurry to beat the sun.
“If you stand at the top of Kubu Island just before sunrise,” said one of the returning visitors, “You can see the arc (弧线) of the Earth.”
He was right.
From up here the horizon cuts not so much a line as an arc.
Soon my feeling of being in the moment is replaced with something as strange and ancient as this place itself. My breathing calms and becomes shallow. My heartbeat slows. I am first surrounded by in silence. I am a tiny, shrinking spot. Then I disappear completely.
They say that astronauts looking down on Earth gain a sense of perspective that changes them forever. They begin to understand how much we are a part of our planet, and how much it is a part of us. The astronauts are 400 kilometres off the surface of Earth, and while the top of Kubu Island is only 10 metres high, there is something about this pile of boulders that sends you into orbit.
Kubu Island isn’t actually an island, but rather, an outcrop of ancient rocks that are up to two billions year old. It was once rested on the edge of a vast lake. As the water evaporated, it created the huge Makgadikgadi Pan (马卡迪卡迪盐沼盆地), one of the world’s largest salt pans.
Ancient tribes and civilizations have migrated and lived here, first to fish from its rocks and then to commune with nature and its spirits. Today, adventurers and tourists come here to marvel at this strange pile of boulders with baobab trees (猴面包树) growing out of it. These trees are estimated to be 3,000 or 4,000 years old; they are really impressive not only for their size but also because they seem to have so much to tell about the history of this island.
This is the gift that Kubu Island gives and the power that it has. This tiny, weird outcrop — if not in the middle of nowhere, then certainly on the edge of it — can give you a sense of yourself that very few places can. A sense of yourself as a person on this planet and, somehow, way beyond it.
1. Which of the following can best describe Kubu Island?| A．It is a “small” island, surrounded by waves and water. |
| B．It is an “ancient” island, featuring recreational activities. |
| C．It is a “dry” island, surrounded by a sea of salt. |
| D．It is a “remote” island, resting on the edge of a vast lake. |
| A．feel anxious for | B．pose danger to |
| C．be grateful to | D．be amazed at |
| A．recommend a unique travel route to a peaceful and silent island |
| B．encourage readers to reflect more on themselves while travelling |
| C．inform readers of a mysterious place that deserves to be explored |
| D．advise readers to visit an island which is peculiar in its original state |
Most of us know to stay low to the floor if we're caught in a fire, or head to the basement if a tornado's coming, or board up the windows in hurricane. But the massive earthquake that hit Haiti last year was a reminder that we're for
Given how many of us travel in quake-prone regions today, even folks who don't reside in California should know
The most conventional and widely accepted by the disaster-response community, is the "drop, cover and hold on" approach,
Over the past decade, an agreement has been reach that "drop, cover and hold on" is a more appropriate method for developed countries like the U.S, where improved construction
| A．The air will be cleaner if they go to another city. |
| B．It'll soon be too late to control the pollution. |
| C．Society will not pay attention to the new laws. |
| D．The situation will improve if changes are made. |
Meal kits(餐具)cut food waste but packaging is a problem
Home delivery meal kits can slash(大幅消减)food waste by more than two-thirds, but suppliers need to switch to reusable packaging to make them environmentally friendly.
Beyond the cost of the waste itself, thrown-away food generates methane(甲烷)that contributes to climate change.
Meal kits can reduce transport emissions if they mean people take fewer trips to the supermarket. If people only went to buy goods that are unlikely to decay such as soap and toilet paper, they might only have to visit the supermarket once every couple of months. That delivery truck can carry meals for you and dozens of neighbors.
The study found that even if delivered meal kits reduced food waste to zero, they would still use up more energy overall than buying the same food from the supermarket unless the energy used for the meal kit packaging was cut by a fifth.
| A．However, meal kits are likely heading for the mainstream. |
| B．If it’s single-use and thrown away, the packaging is a killer. |
| C．In that case, you might replace dozens of car trips with one truck trip. |
| D．Meal knits arrive on your doorstep by truck filled with every ingredient you need. |
| E．Tailor-made meal kits save waste by providing precise quantities of fresh ingredients. |
| F．If food waste was a country, it would rank third in emissions behind the US and China. |
Zoos are hugely popular attractions for adults and children alike. But are they a good thing?
Critics of zoos would argue that animals often suffer physically and mentally as a result of being caged. Even the best artificial environments can’t match the space, diversity and freedom that animals have in their natural habitats. This deprivation causes many zoo animals to become stressed or mentally ill. It is common that marine parks often force dolphins and whales to perform tricks. These mammals may die decades earlier than their wild relatives, and some may try to commit suicide.
On the other hand, by bringing people and animals together, zoos have the potential to educate the public about conservation issues and inspire people to protect animals and their habitats. Zoos also carry out important research into subjects like animal behavior and how to treat illness. One of the most important modern functions of zoos is supporting international breeding programs, especially those for endangered species. A good zoo will enable these species to live and breed in a secure environment. Furthermore, as the number of some wild species drops, there is an increasing danger of populations becoming too genetically similar. Zoo-bred animals can be released into the wild to increase genetic diversity.
However, opponents of zoos say that the vast majority of breeding programs do not release animals back into the wild. Extra animals are sold not only to other zoos and circuses but also to hunting ranches in the US or South Africa, where some people are willing to pay a lot of money for the chance to kill an animal in a fenced enclosure.
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