China’s First National Park
China’s first national park in Northwest of China’s Sanjiangyuan area,
Under the national park management, herders and
2 . Bred to be more sweeter, today’s cherries, bananas and apples taste different than they used — to but not necessarily better. Among fruit farmers, the word “quality” is now routinely used as a standard for “high in sugar”, though firmness, color and size are also considerations. In a recent study about ways to enhance the sweetness of fruit using “molecular (分子的) approaches”, a group of plant scientists wrote that, in general, the sugar content of many fruits are now higher than before owing to continuous selection and breeding. Modern apple varieties, the scientists stressed, were on average sweeter than older ones.
The sweetness of fruit depends not just on how it is bred but also on growing conditions, yield and harvest. The lead researcher, Sugiura, said, “If you could taste an apple harvested 30 years ago, you would feel the difference.” He believed that modern apples are picked so early that even if they are bred for sweetness, they often don’t develop their full character. The fragrance (香味) never develops in fruit that is harvested too early.
Jim Cooper, an apple farmer in England, is regretful to admit the fact that many people will never taste the “strawberry hint” in a really ripe Pearmain, a type of heritage apple. In a way, the rise of consistently sweeter fruit in our lifetimes has been a victory of plant breeding. After all, it’s a rare person who would seek out bitter grapes if they could have sweet ones instead.
But the sweetness of modern fruit is not without its problems, especially for people with diabetes (糖尿病), who have to reduce their intake of higher-sugar fruits. Fruit that is bred sweeter also tends to be lower in the chemicals that make it healthy. Considering health, maybe the real problem with modern fruit is that it has become yet another sweet thing in a world with sugar. Even grapefruits, which used to be quite bitter, are sometimes now as sweet as oranges. If you’ve never tasted a sour cherry, how can you fully appreciate a sweet one?
1. In what aspect is many fruits different from before?| A．Sugar content. | B．Soft skin. | C．Bright color. | D．High yield. |
| A．They are bred too early. | B．They taste so sweet. |
| C．They are losing a good flavor. | D．They need a higher yield. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Critical. | C．Ambiguous. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．It’s a wise choice to breed fruits for sweetness. |
| B．Breeding sweet fruits improves the quality of fruits. |
| C．Some fruits like grapes and cherries taste the same. |
| D．The sweetness of fruits will cause health issues. |
3 . During the 20th century, an estimated 3 million great whales were hunted to provide humans with oil, meat and rose fertiliser. Roger Payne, a biologist and environmentalist, spurred (推动) a worldwide environmental conservation movement with his discovery that whales could sing.
This discovery was made in 1967 during his research trip to Bermuda (百慕大) when a navy engineer provided him with a recording of curious underwater sounds documented. Payne identified the tones as songs whales sing to one another and he was conscious from the start that whale song was to get the public interested in protecting an animal previously considered little more than a resource, curiosity or nuisance.
Payne saw the discovery of whale song as a chance to spur interest in saving the giant animals, who were disappearing from the planet. In 1970, Payne released the album Songs of the Humpback Whale. The record, a surprise hit, fueled a global movement to end the practice of commercial whale hunting and save the whales from extinction. It remains the bestselling environmental album in history.
The impact of the whale song discovery on the early environmental movement was immense. Many antiwar protesters of the day took on saving animals and the environment as a new cause. The humpback whale became the icon of a new environmental awareness. And the whales entered pop culture, no longer the fearsome beasts. In 1977, the whale calls were loaded on to the Voyager probes and sent into outer space.
Payne, graduating from Harvard University and Cornell University with a doctor’s degree, authored or co authored dozens of scientific papers, gave hundreds of lectures, made countless television programmes and films, and led 100 oceanic expeditions. Payne had started an ambitious new project: CETI, a combination of scientists using new technology to interpret what whales might be “saying”.
1. What caused the decline of the whale population in the 20th century?| A．Habitat loss. | B．The climate change. |
| C．Uncontrolled hunting. | D．The ocean pollution. |
| A．To boost interest in protecting whales. | B．To satisfy people’s curiosity about sea. |
| C．To achieve great commercial success. | D．To earn a reputation as a researcher. |
| A．Considerate. | B．Accomplished. |
| C．Courageous. | D．Patient. |
| A．The conservation of ocean environment. |
| B．Efforts to awake public ocean awareness. |
| C．A high-tech way to document whale tones. |
| D．A whale protection campaign by a biologist. |
China’s accumulated experience in reducing food loss and waste is being shared with the world. This knowledge will help many countries improve their ability
About 14 percent of the world’s food is lost during from
According to the FAO, over 155 million people experienced serious food insecurity in 2020, the
Wu Laping,
5 . Researchers from The University of Queensland(UQ)have helped design a new app to protect birds at risk of extinction across the world by eliminating language barriers among scientists. The Bird Language Diversity web app will help provide a “birds eye view”, ensuring vital information is shared to improve worldwide conservation.
UQ’s Dr Pablo Negret said the research team analysed more than 10,000 bird species, and found that 1,587 species have 10 languages or more spoken within their distributions. “Scientific information on species can be spread across different languages, but valuable information can go missing or get lost in translation,” Dr Negret said. “Without enough sharing of information, this can affect the effectiveness of conservation measures.”
Take the common bird Pochard for example. It is classified as vulnerable species(易危种)and crosses 108 countries in Europe, Asia and north Africa, where a total of 75 official languages are spoken. The survival of the common Pochard, and so many other species, depends on effective cooperation and policy agreements among people with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
This app reveals where threatened and migratory birds exist geographically, in relation to the language spoken in those regions. ”We hope the app will encourage researchers and conservation organisations to interact with their peers in other regions, especially if they speak different languages, and be a starting point to allow everyone to work together to protect threatened species,” Dr Negret said.
Dr Tatsuya Amano, a researcher and the co-author of the paper, said this work could extend further than bird species. “Any species, whether they’re mammals, amphibians(两栖动物), or plants, with a range crossing multiple countries will be impacted by language barriers, as well as species that migrate across different countries, such as marine species and butterflies,” he said. ”The significance of the impact of poor communication on such an important issue is evident, and is the reason why we’re working hard to improve science communication across languages.”
1. What does the underlined word “eliminating“ in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Giving in to. | B．Coming across. | C．Putting up with. | D．Breaking down. |
| A．Ensuring the effectiveness of protective measures. |
| B．Helping people know more about scientists’ efforts. |
| C．Spreading knowledge of the diversity of birds worldwide. |
| D．Compromising the effectiveness of conservation measures. |
| A．The producer of the app. | B．The organizations involved. |
| C．The location of endangered birds. | D．The information of new geographers. |
| A．Birds Protection Is an Urgency | B．A New Bird App Spreads Its Wings |
| C．A New Bird App Helps Learn Languages | D．Poor Communication Impacts Cooperation |
6 . It happens in every disaster (灾难): For those in need, people often donate (捐赠) things that turn out to be more of a trouble.
Juanita Rilling remembers it happened in 1988 when she was a disaster expert trying to help people suffering from a hurricane (飓风) in Honduras. “One morning I received a call from one of our logistic operators (物流运营商), and he explained to me that there was a plane carrying medical supplies that needed to land,” says Rilling. “But the ground was full, with lots of donations that no one had required. The plane—full of needed supplies—had to find someplace else to go. And it ended up stopping everyone’s plans by about 48 hours, which is important time in a disaster.”
Rilling now runs the Center for International Disaster Information, which is trying to make sure things like that don’t happen again. So when Superstorm Sandy hit, Rilling’s group started a project to encourage money donation. “Even a small donation can make a big difference and can quickly become exactly what people affected by a disaster need most,” Rilling says. But despite this, donators do that over and over. About 60% of the things donated after a disaster couldn’t be used. Often it’s old clothing or food.
Meghan Hara, who deals with kind donations for the American Red Cross, says she knows that some people are careful with giving money. And she doesn’t think that the need to give something concrete (实物) should be completely stopped.
“Part of what people are doing is that they’re helping, and they’re trying to help. What we need to work out is how to effectively deal with that,” Hara says.
1. What caused needed supplies to be put off after the hurricane in 1988?| A．Workers on the plane. | B．A weather report. |
| C．Useless donations on the ground. | D．The call from the operator. |
| A．Clothing. | B．Money. | C．Medicine. | D．Food. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Uncaring. | D．Worried. |
| A．Studies on natural disasters. |
| B．The benefits of helping others. |
| C．Tips on choosing useful donations. |
| D．The ways of managing people’s donations. |
7 . It is late autumn—millions of gardeners across the northern hemisphere, pulled on their thickest sweaters, spent hours clearing large piles of leaves and packed them into plastic bags at the end of driveways.
In the US alone, nearly 10 million tonnes of garden waste go to landfill every year. That is a large amount of effort, not just from an environmental viewpoint but from that of our aching backs, too. So where does this advice come from? Well, it largely comes from the belief that thick fallen leaves can make plants under them unable to breathe, especially shorter grass. They shut down important photosynthesis (光合作用) and get in the way of the growth of the shorter grass. However, this received wisdom has recently been questioned by researchers at Wisconsin University.
The key finding of their new research was that although clearing fallen leaves is one of the most common gardening practices, it makes very little sense. In natural ecosystems, fallen leaves help return nutrients necessary for healthy plant growth to the soil, which greatly improves soil condition. Removing leaves year after year breaks this ecological (生态的) balance. Letting some leaves stick around to cover your garden is a great way to help your grass and the local ecosystem.
They further explained that if up to 50percent of your grass lawn (草坪) is covered by fallen leaves, you might as well go back indoors and put your feet up. The advantages of this light leaf coverage far outweigh the disadvantages—the leaves will quickly break down and help next year’s lawn grow far better than if you had cleared them. Only at over 50 percent coverage do the Wisconsin researchers recommend clearing.
So why not consider leaving the leaves? Save time, carbon and effort, and in exchange get a healthier lawn from this garden waste—that seems like a pretty good deal. And how many plastic bags could be saved by simply not binning fallen leaves every year? In the US alone, about 700 million.
1. What does the author describe in paragraph 1?| A．An amazing autumn game. | B．A common sight in gardens. |
| C．A hot attraction in the north. | D．An extreme weather event. |
| A．Fallen leaves need not be cleared. |
| B．Fallen leaves protect shorter grass. |
| C．Fallen leaves block photosynthesis. |
| D．Fallen leaves are hard to break down. |
| A．it ruins city image | B．it breaks gardening rules |
| C．it affects local economy | D．it causes ecological damage |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. | C．Unclear. | D．Worried. |
8 . Imagine being able to pop to your local park and pick some tomatoes, potatoes or even bananas to take home for dinner. Sounds too good to be true, right? For residents of Andernach, German, it’s not just a dream—it’s their reality.
In 2010, Andernach began its edible(可食用的)city project, planting 101 varieties of tomatoes in public green spaces around the city centre. Its 30,000 residents are free to help themselves to whatever grows, as are any other visitors. The town’s motto of sorts is “Picking is encouraged—help yourself!” Every year a new type of plant is highlighted. In 2011, 100 types of beans were planted, while 2012saw the introduction of 20 onion varieties.
It’s a community effort, as local citizens are encouraged to help plant and maintain the gardens. This offers an opportunity to socialise as well as to learn about planting, cultivating and harvesting food.
An Andernach resident spoke to DW,“I often drop by to pick some herbs that I’m missing at home. Everything is easily accessible. There aren’t any fences. You just take what you need. The only thing is that you have to be quick once the fruits are ripe or they’ll all be gone!”
Andernach may have been the first in German, but it isn’t the only edible city. It’s part of the Edible Cities Network, a project funded by European Union to connect green urban foot initiatives around the world. Other cities include Carthage in Tunisia, Havana in Cuba and Sempeter-Vrtojba in Slovenia. In February 2022, the first Edible Cities Network Conference took place. Dr Ina Saumel, principal investigator of the Edible Cities Network, called it “a unique opportunity to invite researchers of edible city solutions and practitioners to the same table.”
Ultimately, the Edible Cities Network aims to give people “greener, more edible and, above all, more livable cities.” It is a response to the pressures of global climate change, and a significant cause full of hope.
1. What can residents do in public green spaces according to the edible city project?| A．Sell the produce they grow there. |
| B．Learn knowledge about planting. |
| C．Grow whatever plant as they like. |
| D．Pay to pick some vegetables there. |
| A．Novel and popular. | B．Creative and costly. |
| C．Common and fundamental. | D．Rare and unacceptable. |
| A．Andernach is the only city to carry it out. |
| B．European Union originally established it. |
| C．It helps combine theories with practices. |
| D．It invites people to share meals together. |
| A．To help residents relieve their pressure. |
| B．To involve residents in urban planting. |
| C．To increase the produce supply in cities. |
| D．To create environmentally friendly cities. |
9 . Few sights fill you with nostalgia (怀旧) like the fireflies dancing at night.
Create a firefly habitat
Flashing lights are an important part in fireflies life. As the sun sets, male fireflies move around while flashing their lights to signal their interest. If a nearby female is interested, she flashes back from her position to the ground, and the males fly down to find her. “All of that has to happen for the next generation to survive,” says Lewis. “However, light pollution makes those scenes much harder to see. It’s like cutting a phone line. It really stops the romance.
Stop using pesticides (杀虫剂)
Using pesticides in your yard also poses an existential threat to fireflies, which are insects after all.
| A．Reduce light pollution |
| B．Make a fire in the open air |
| C．Luckily, there are some solutions |
| D．But these beloved insects are in trouble |
| E．The living conditions of fireflies are getting better |
| F．The biggest threat facing fireflies today is the loss of their habitats |
| G．Most of the pesticides will kill less-beloved insects as well as fireflies |
10 . Over the past three decades, an 81-year-old Chinese man has been operating a small zoo. The zoo in Enshi, Hubei Province, is called the “world’s loneliest zoo” because few people visit it. Most of the animals there are unhealthy.
Luo Yingjiu began keeping animals at home in the 1980s. After seeing wild animals kept in cages for sale at a market, Luo bought them and took them home to give them medical treatment. He released (释放) those able to live on their own into the wild and continued to raise those that could not live independently. There were so many animals in his house that the local government suggested he open a zoo. With the government’s financial aid, the zoo was opened in 1989, the only one in the city at that time. During its peak time, the zoo had some big animals, including a tiger and a lion. The business later became worse because visitors were not interested in the zoo’s “old, weak, sick and disabled” animals.
Using his pension (退休金) to operate the zoo, Mr. Luo refused to listen to other people’s advice to close it. “It is not just a zoo; it provides the habitat for the animals,” he explained. “If the zoo is closed, where can these animals go? They cannot even survive in the wild.”
As he operates the zoo, he keeps on rescuing animals. A black bear with one paw injured was saved 17 years ago. A dog named Dianzi was saved when its former owner planned to abandon (遗弃) it. A monkey that has been at the zoo for nearly 30 years is almost blind because of camera flashes from visitors who took photos. For those animals that died, Luo buried them on the nearby mountain.
Luo said he remembers every animal’s name. “Animals and humans are born equal,”he said. “We should respect their right to survive.”
1. Why is the zoo called the “world’s loneliest zoo”?| A．There are few animals in the zoo. |
| B．Few people know the old man. |
| C．There aren’t many people visiting the zoo. |
| D．The gatekeeper lost family members. |
| A．By buying some animals locked in cages. |
| B．By stealing or hunting some big animals. |
| C．By finding animals released from other zoos. |
| D．By picking up dying animals in the wild. |
| A．Visitors took no interest in the unhealthy animals. |
| B．Local government refused to offer financial support. |
| C．He used up all of his pension so that the zoo was closed. |
| D．Children were frightened by the wild tiger and lion. |
| A．Adventurous and humorous. | B．Warm-hearted and determined. |
| C．Creative and outgoing. | D．Generous and funny. |
