1 . Does your family buy the week’s groceries including many bottled drinks into your home? Because after having sports or hanging out under the sun, it’s so cool to get a cold one right out of the fridge, right?

But all those plastic bottles use a lot of oil and pollute the environment. Americans buy more bottled water than any other nation in the world with 29 billion water bottles a year. In order to make all these bottles, 17 million barrels (桶) of oil will be used up. That is enough oil to keep a million cars going for twelve months.

Most people choose to throw the bottles away after having the bottled drinks. In fact, instead of going out with the trash, plastic bottles can be turned into carpeting or clothing. Remember this: Recycling one plastic bottle can save enough energy to power a 60-watt (瓦特) light bulb for six hours.

Unfortunately, for every six water bottles we use, only one is made recycling. The rest are sent as garbage. Or, even worse, they end up as trash on the land or in rivers, oceans. Plastic bottles take many hundreds of years to disintegrate (分解).

So why don’t more people drink water from the kitchen? Some people drink bottled water because they think it is better for them, but that’s not true. The chemicals in the bottles themselves may get into the water which can do harm to people.

So next time when you have drinks or water, please try to use a glass at home or carry water in a steel bottle. And if you want to do something more, try to collect plastic bottles and send them for recycling.

1. What does the underlined “That” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．A million cars.	B．29 billion water bottles.
C．A 60-watt light bulb.	D．17 million barrels of oil.

2. We can recycle plastic bottles to produce ________.

A．housing and furniture	B．hats and shoes
C．carpeting or clothing	D．pots and bowls

3. What does the fourth paragraph mainly talk about?

A．Many water bottles end up as trash.

B．Many water bottles are used again.

C．The bottles are easy to break down.

D．Being sent as garbageis generous.

4. What’s the author’s attitude towards bottled drinks?

A．Supportive.	B．Puzzled.
C．Opposed.	D．Unconcerned.

5. What does the author suggest when we have drinks or water?

A．Buying bottled drinks.	B．Using a glass or steel bottle.
C．Using plastic bottles.	D．Recycling glass and steel.

2 . Learning about Rainfall around the World

We all need rain

Rain is a necessity around the world. Whatever your feelings, we all need rain. On other planets, it may rain methane (甲烷), iron or sulphuric acid (硫酸).     1    

Wettest and driest

    2     It’s difficult to work out precisely which place on Earth is the wettest, but some contenders (竞争者) include the Indian Himalayas, Hawaii and the town of Tutunendo in Colombia, which can receive 25 meters of rain per year. At the other extreme, the driest place on Earth is the Antarctic, where rainfall is rare and winds are cold, strong and dry.

It’s going to rain

    3     In different cultures, owls, blackbirds, swallows and peacocks and in the US state of Texas, even toads can predict weather change.

    4    

It’s not surprising that ancient people respected the rain and developed myths (神话) connected to animals to explain it. The San people of South Africa say stormy weather is brought by the dangerous rain-bull escaping from his cave, but that soft rain the gift of the gentle rain-cow.     5     Its wings cause thunder as it carries messages across the sky. And the strangest rain myth? In Thailand, a breed of cat called the cloud cat is carried out into the fields and water is sprinkled on its face to bring rain. With global warming making many parts of the world drier, those cats could come in handy!

A．Rain and animals.

B．Animals and ancient people.

C．Animals are believed to predict rain.

D．Rain has different functions and meanings.

E．Some places are luckier than others when it comes to rain.

F．Peoples in North America use strong images of the powerful rain-bird.

G．But, in our universe, only on Earth does fresh water fall from the sky to sustain life.

3 . Climate change is making people sick, according to a pair of influential reports on the connections between global warming and health.

Dr. Renee Sala, an emergency room physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, says governments who want to support public health must stop financially supporting the fossil fuel industry. “Climate change and air pollution have the same root cause—the burning of fossil fuels,” she says.

Longer, more intense heat waves are a particularly deadly effect of global warming around the world, and older people are most at risk. Over the past 20 years, the number of people over 65 who have died as a result of extreme heat has increased more than 50%, the Lancet report says. At least 296,000 people died because of heat in 2018, the most recent year for which global data are available.

According to the same survey, more countries are providing climate and weather information to doctors and hospitals. Helping hospitals and doctors prepare for climate-driven disasters is increasingly important. Sala says the 2020 pandemic (疫情) made clear how ill-equipped the public health equipment is to handle major disasters. She says the failures of the health system this year in the US should be a wake-up call to spend more money protecting health, especially in communities where poor people have been exposed to pollution and denied adequate health care.

Dr. Georges Benjamin, director of the American Public Health Association, says the global economic recovery from the pandemic is an opportunity to adapt to climate change. For example, urban areas without green space are increasingly dangerous heat islands that trap hot air and pollution. Planting trees, reducing highway and industrial pollution and investing in new housing are all ways to address (应对) climate change, he argues. “It’s preventable,” Benjamin says. “We don’t have to live this way.”

1. How does the author develop the third paragraph?

A．By giving examples.	B．By listing figures.
C．By making comparisons.	D．By proving causes and effects.

2. Why is climate and weather information provided to doctors and hospitals?

A．It improves health care for doctors.

B．It helps them to prevent climate change.

C．It is a wake-up call to improve the health system.

D．It can prepare them for the climate-related disasters.

3. What can we mainly know from the last paragraph?

A．People’s health is connected with climate change.

B．Economic developments threaten the environment.

C．Action should be taken to deal with climate change.

D．The 2020 pandemic offers a chance to adapt to climate change.

4. Which part of a newspaper is this text probably taken from?

A．Society.

B．Technology.

C．Health.

D．Economy.

4 . Crocodiles are suitable for climbing. But do you know that they can climb trees? Indeed, how well many crocs climb trees is surprising scientists.

Although living crocs are considered largely water animals, some reports had suggested ancient croc relatives might be able to climb trees. A new report finds that at least four species of living crocodiles can certainly ascend trees.

Researchers from the United States, Australia and Africa studied reports on the behavior of crocodiles. Some of those eyewitness reports came from the author themselves. Their data largely come from croc sightings associated with research on unrelated topics. These reptiles have been seen as tall as 4 meters up a tree and about 5 meters out along a branch.

Adam Britton of Big Gecko in Howard Springs, Australia, was part of the research team. He personally witnessed local crocs attempting to climb a 1.8-meter chain-link fence. Smaller crocs prove the best climbers. Rarely in trees were those more than 1.5-meter long, although Britton has spied at lease one 2-meter croc in a tree. Babies with strong claws can climb brick walls. That actually explains reports of them escaping from croc “farms”.

The scientists think that crocodiles use tree branches to sunbathe. Sunbathing helps the reptiles control their body temperature. Crocs usually were seen in trees only where there were few nearby ground sites on which they could have basked in the sun.

Climbing, as the scientists note, also should give crocs a better view of potential prey. When they spy any, the crocs can quickly drop down into the water.

The new observations may even help scientists better understand how well extinct species of crocodiles behaved, the author say.

1. Which of the following words can replace the underlined word “ascend” in Paragraph 2?

A．Fall.

B．Knock.

C．Bite.

D．Climb

2. What does the third paragraph imply about the findings?

A．They are based on believable evidence.	B．They need to be proved further.
C．They are considered to be doubtful.	D．They are proved with scientific experiments.

3. What’s the main reason for crocodiles to climb the trees?

A．Catching their preys.	B．Enjoying the sunshine.
C．Escaping being attacked.	D．Having a good rest.

4. Crocodiles are best climbers when ________

A．they are more than 1.5 meters.	B．they are heavy enough.
C．they are still young.	D．they are old enough.

5 . British sculptor Jason Taylor has made it his mission to use his talent to conserve our ecosystems by creating underwater museums. Over the years, the environmentalist has put over 850 massive artworks underwater worldwide. On February 1, 2021, Taylor launched his latest work---The Underwater Museum of Cannes.

“The main goal was to bring attention to the fact that our oceans need our help,” Taylor told Dezeen. “Ocean ecologies have been destroyed by human activity in the Mediterranean over the past few decades, and it is not obvious what is taking place when observing the sea from afar.”

The Underwater Museum of Cannes contains 6 sculptures featuring local residents of various ages. They range from Maurice, an 80-year-old fisherman, to Anouk, a 9-year-old student. Towering over 6-feet-tall and weighing 10 tons, the faces are sectioned into two parts, with the outer part like a mask. The mask indicates that the world’s oceans appear powerful and unbeatable from the surface but house an ecosystem that is extremely fragile to careless human activities.

Though the waters surrounding the sculptures now appear a pristine blue, the seabed was filled with old boat engines, pipes, and other human-made trash when the project began about four years ago. Besides removing the trash, Taylor also restored the area’s seagrass. Just one square meter of the seagrass can generate up to 10 liters of oxygen daily. The seagrass also helps prevent coastal erosion and provides habitats for many ocean creatures.

“The idea of creating an underwater museum was to draw more people underwater and develop a sense of care and protection,” Taylor told Dezeen. “If we threw unwanted waste near a forest, there would be a public outcry. But this is happening every day in our surrounding waters and it largely goes unnoticed.”

1. What are the underwater museums intended to do?

A．To make huge profits.	B．To raise awareness of protecting the ocean.
C．To show Jason Taylor’s talent.	D．To draw attention to endangered sea animals.

2. Why does the outer part of the sculptures look like a mask?

A．To popularize the features of the locals.

B．To remind people to protect themselves.

C．To reflect people’s protection of the ocean.

D．To stress the sensitiveness of the ecosystem.

3. What’s Paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．How the project was started.	B．How the seagrass was restored.
C．What recovery effort the project made.	D．Why the surroundings were improved.

4. What can we infer from what Jason Taylor said in the last paragraph?

A．The situation of the ocean is easily ignored.

B．The destruction caused to the ocean is noticeable.

C．Forests play a more important role in ecosystems.

D．People have zero tolerance to damage done to nature.

6 . Nowadays, many of us are working long hours at home, so more than ever, we are in need of a pet to help relieve anxiety and provide company for the lonely days.     1     There are simply too many benefits to list, so we've gathered only our top reasons.

    2     Working long hours from home can never be a nice thing. Without all the human contact we would normally get in the office, we can often find ourselves feeling lonely and isolated. However, with a pet at home we're likely to feel much better.

A call to head outdoors. For those who have an animal that enjoys going outdoors, pets can serve as a great reminder of heading outdoors to get some fresh air.     3     However, often owners will return from their walks feeling calmer, more relaxed and more energized. Whatever the weather, getting outside is beneficial to us.

Caring for something else. Often, when we feel loneliness or anxiety, we tend to be focusing inwards, to our own worries and self-doubts.     4     Therefore, it's advisable to invest time in our pet's well-being by giving them the best care we can.

Motivation (动力) and routine. Pets are a source of motivation for their owners simply because they rely on us so heavily. Without a pet, we'll find it hard to keep our daily routine while working at home.     5    . But when we have a pet to look after, we have to get up early and be ready for the day ahead. This is going to benefit both the pet and ourselves.

A．An end to loneliness.

B．A time killer in daily life.

C．We tend to skip meals or sleep late.

D．Pets often walk here and there and make our house dirty.

E．The positive effects a pet can have on our mental health are amazing.

F．The task of heading out for a walk on a rainy day may not seem attractive.

G．Directing our attention to the outside world helps relieve those negative feelings.

7 . Ocean sounds may help people sleep at night, but marine animals depend on them for survival. For example, dolphins rely on echolocation to hunt and communicate with their companions. Such species are in trouble, because human generated ocean noise has increased significantly since the Industrial Revolution.

Ships alone always generate low-frequency volume along shipping routes by an estimated 32 times. That along with tones from sonar, seismic surveys, pile driving. and even motorboats, all of which can be heard easily by marine animals in the water, can trap whales in ice by delaying their migration, according to a review published last week in Science.

The paper notes that climate change also threatens the sound track of the sea. The Great Barrier Reef has quieted over the years, but it has become smaller in size and become less habitable because of climate change. Animals that rely on the sounds of coral reefs to locate food and settlements may struggle to adapt.

Earlier this year, whale scientist and National Geographic Explorer Jansen Greenwood found an unusual scene. He returned from studying whales in Antarctica to find few cars on the road, virtually no ships on the sea, and humpbacks arriving at one of the Golden State's most popular coastal recreation spots from their winter habitats in Mexico. He believed the reason may be that the place was suddenly free of the human noises.

The experts argue that making the sea quiet should be a core component of environmental policy. And they say it can be done: A study conducted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, found that a reduction in shipping traffic coincided with an average decrease of 1.5 decibels in waters along shipping routes near the Port of Vancouver.

1. What does paragraph 2 mainly talk about?

A．The research on ships.	B．The major threat to whales.
C．The popularity of shipping.	D．The harm of ocean noise.

2. What dose the author intend to do in paragraph 3?

A．Add more relative information.	B．Introduce a new topic for discussion.
C．Provide some advice for the renders	D．Summarize the previous paragraphs.

3. Why did the humpbacks arrive at the recreation spot according to Jansen?

A．It became quiet.	B．It was their winter habitat.
C．They wanted to look for food.	D．They adapted to climate change.

4. What should environmental policy focus on?

A．Producing fewer ships.	B．Reducing ocean noise.
C．Changing shipping routes.	D．Stopping human activity.

8 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或用括号内单词的正确形式填空。

The iceberg    1    was for a time the biggest in the world is no more. A68, as it was known,     2    (cover) an area of nearly 6,000 square kms when it broke away    3     Antarctica in 2017. That's like    4    small country.     5    satellites show the mega-berg has now virtually(实际上) gone, broken into    6    (count) small fragments(碎片) that the US National Ice Center says are no longer worth tracking . Most glaciologists(冰川学家) regard A68 as the product of a very natural process, and it has nothing to do with human-induced climate change.

British Antarctic Survey also put a couple of robots in the ocean in February    7    (study) up close some of A68's latter-day segments(碎片). One went missing soon after, and the other    8    (actual) got stuck under the ice for two weeks before managing to free    9    (it) and continue its observations. This robot will be recovered in May to pull down(收集) its data. It should reveal information about    10    icebergs affect their surroundings by, for example, dumping fresh water into the ocean as they melt.

9 . Few people would name their favorite color as gray or cream, yet our homes are often filled with these neutral tones. When I studied color and its effect on joy, I wondered: Why is there such a gap between the colors that make us feel energetic, and the colors that surround us?

“Chromophobia,” was the immediate answer I received when I posed this question to Peter Stamberg and Paul Aferiat, architects of Saguaro Hotel in California. “People are afraid of color. It’s the fear of making a choice, of making a mistake and having to live with it.”

I could relate. I used to be such a person, so afraid of color that the spectrum of my entire apartment fell between white and cream. Then one day I moved into another apartment—everything was to my taste except that the walls were a buttery yellow which gave me an urge to repaint it. But something funny happened. Each day I’d come home to that apartment, it felt like the sun was shining, even in the dead of winter. In ever again thought about repainting after the first week.

If you’d like a more energized space, experts agree the best first step is to start with white walls, bringing color into the space through furniture and decorative objects. This approach of using tiny bursts of bright color can be an appealing strategy for people who are afraid of color and it’s surprisingly effective.

It takes a little practice to become confident with color, especially when it comes to putting different ones together. But here’s a clever shortcut for finding joyful combinations. Once, when Stamberg and Aferiat were stuck on choosing a color for a house they were designing, they turned to painter David Hockney who suggested, “Look at Matisse.” Not only did the brilliant paintings of Henri Matisse inspire them to choose the right blue, but they also began to use this approach with clients. When people see striking colors coexisting kindly on a canvas, it gives them confidence that they will also work in their homes.

1. What does the underlined word “Chromophobia” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．A mental state of fearing color.	B．A social phenomenon of rejecting changes.
C．An attitude to pursuing a simple lifestyle.	D．An awareness of making the right choice.

2. How did the author feel about the walls after he moved into another apartment?

A．Depressed.

B．Calm.

C．Dissatisfied.

D．In different.

3. How can people create a more energized home?

A．By painting the wall colorful.	B．By hanging a painting of Matisse.
C．By relying on a good decoration company.	D．By putting in some bright-colored furniture.

4. What’s the main purpose of the text?

A．To present the findings of a study on joy.

B．To explain the relationship between color and joy.

C．To uncover the reasons why people prefer mild colors.

D．To encourage people to live happier with bright colors.

10 . Bangladesh's floating gardens, built to grow food during flood seasons, could offer a continuous solution for parts of the world which are likely to suffer from flooding because of climate change, a new study has found.

Bangladesh's floating gardens began hundreds of years ago. The gardens are made from native plants that float in the rivers and operate almost like rafts (筏), rising and filling with the waters. Historically, they were used to continue growing food during rainy seasons when rivers were filled with water.

The farmers layer the plants about three feet deep, creating a version of raised-bed gardens that float in the water. Then, they plant vegetables inside those rafts. As the raft-plants rot away, they release nutrients, which help feed the vegetable plants.

But as climate change affected the volume of water in those rivers, the researchers wanted to understand whether Bangladesh's floating gardens could be a continuous farming practice. They interviewed farming families and found strong evidence that floating gardens provide stability, both in the amount of food available to feed rural populations and in a farming family's income.

They found that farmers typically use hybrid (杂交) seeds, which must be repurchased each year, to grow a diverse range of vegetables in the floating gardens. The gardens are also sensitive to pests, so farmers end up spending some money on both pesticides and fertilizers. But even with those expenses, they found, benefits outweighed costs. One farmer told the research team that he earns up to four times as much money from the gardens as from traditional rice fields.

However, before gaining profits, farmers often take out high-interest loans (贷款) to cover the investment costs of filling the beds and stocking them with plants. Luckily; there are also lower-interest loans from responsible government or non-governmental organizations, which could ease that burden.

1. How do vegetable plants grow according to the text?

A．By absorbing nutrition from raft-plants.	B．By taking shelter from climate change.
C．By living together with hybrid seeds.	D．By moving up and down with raised beds.

2. What might be a reply from farming families interviewed?

A．“Our life becomes tough when rivers flood.”	B．“Fewer vegetables are planted when water rises.”
C．“We harvest much more food during rainy seasons.”	D．“Climate change has little influence on our income.”

3. What does the underlined word “outweighed” in paragraph 5 mean?

A．Affected.

B．Brought.

C．Beat.

D．Equaled.

4. What can be inferred from the text?

A．A solution to climate problem has been found.	B．The gardens are built with rotted native plants.
C．Farmers earn more from traditional rice fields.	D．Low-interest loans lighten the stress of farmers.