1 . Coffee is probably the world’s least expensive success power tool. Coffee builds better teams and increases your leadership ability. Coffee also increases your immunity. It increases focus and drive and may even increase your lifespan.
Unfortunately, we may not be enjoying the benefits or pleasures of coffee too much longer. According to ecologists, there’s a good chance that in 20 or 30 years, the varieties of coffee that we drink today will be extinct. And we’ll be drinking either a coffee substitute or some almost-coffee hybrid that vaguely resembles the drink we enjoy today.
The problem, of course, is the pace of climate change. Successful coffee cultivation has three preconditions: 1) a warm, highly stable tropical climate with altitudes that keep air temperature between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius, 2) rich soil full of natural nutrients, and 3) an ecological environment that’s pest and disease resistant.
Coffee is a crop that is only grown in a thin band called the “coffee belt” close to the equator. It simply won’t grow anywhere else. Unfortunately, the “coffee belt” is extremely vulnerable to climate change. If the air is too cold or too hot, it prevents the growth of the coffee plant.
Climate change also creates environmental stress, which spreads parasites, pests and plant diseases. All of these increase the fragility of the coffee crop and create the possibility of a species-destroying rot.
Almost all the coffee cultivated in the world today is one of two species, arabica or robusta, either of which might be wiped out in this way. There are other species of coffee, and scientists are hoping that, if worse comes to worst, a different species can be bred into coffee.
Unfortunately, almost all of these species exist only in Ethiopia, a country that climate change is already hammering. As the environmental nonprofit USAID points out:
“Ethiopia is one of the world’s most drought-prone countries. The country is confronted with numerous development challenges that exacerbate its weakness facing climate change including increases in temperature, unstable rainfall and unpredictability of seasonal rain, and increased incidences of drought and other extreme events.”
In other words, even as climate change threatens coffee as it exists today, climate change is also eating away at the root source to which we might turn to for replacement species.
What to do? Well, take the time to savor each cup of coffee you drink. Beyond that, stop electing and enabling climate change deniers.
1. What is the author’s feeling about the future of coffee?| A．Helpless. | B．Bored. | C．Happy. | D．Worried. |
| A．A tropical climate. | B．Rich soil. |
| C．Increasing temperature. | D．Stable rainfall. |
| A．remove | B．worsen | C．decrease | D．accept |
| A．Change Climate for Coffee |
| B．Enjoy Coffee While You Can |
| C．Benefits from Coffee Drinking |
| D．Conditions for Coffee Planting |
2 . What is the most shocking about heatwaves is not merely that they have hit a usually temperate area, nor that so many long-standing temperature records are being broken. It is that those records are being broken by such large margins (幅度). In Portland, Oregon, the temperature reached 46.6℃(116℃)— making it one of several cities in the region where previous records have been beaten by a full 5℃(9℃).
Heatwaves may generate headlines, but less attention is paid to them than they deserve. In 2018 roughly 300,000 people over the age of 65 died as a result of extreme heat, a 54% increase since 2000. Unlike storms and floods, heat does not lead to dramatic before-and-after pictures. Its victims are often apparent only when statisticians add up excess deaths and hospital admissions. The fact that as many as 70,000 people died as a result of a heatwave in Europe in 2003, for example, became apparent only in 2008. Heat also worsens conditions such as heart problems, so not all the deaths it causes may be directly attributed to it.
To protect people against extreme heat, governments can set up early-warning systems to alert health workers, shut down schools and suspend outdoor activities. They can provide the public with forecasts of coming heatwaves, explanations of the dangers and detailed advice on what to do. Whatever our strategy, we should get to it, because the prognosis is not good. According to a report by NRDC, the total number of excessive heat days in the United States will increase to more than eight times the baseline level by the end of the century.
The world is, understandably, focused on a different health crisis right now. But heatwaves pose an entirely foreseeable threat in the decades to come. The timing and severity of the coronavirus pandemic(新冠疫情)could not have been foreseen. These other far more predictable and preventable crises are different. There is no excuse for failing to take them more seriously.
1. What is the most surprising about heatwaves?| A．How large the affected regions are. |
| B．How greatly human health is impacted. |
| C．How much higher the temperature records go. |
| D．How many temperature records have been beaten. |
| A．It is a mild headache. | B．It is an underrated problem. |
| C．It causes apparent destruction. | D．It causes widespread concern. |
| A．Forecast. | B．Intention. | C．Harvest. | D．Response. |
| A．To warn people of unforeseen health risks. |
| B．To illustrate how extreme heat threatens us. |
| C．To stress the necessity of addressing the heat. |
| D．To draw attention to the severity of health crises. |
3 . China has successfully landed a spacecraft on Mars, stale media announced early on Saturday. The six-wheeled Zhurong robot was targeting Utopia Planitia, a vast land in the planet's northern hemisphere.
Zhurong, which means God of Fire, was carried to Mars on the Tianwen-1 orbiter, which arrived above the planet in February. The vehicle used a combination of a protective capsule, a parachute and a rocket platform to make the descent landing. A heat shield (保护盾) protected be spacecraft during the fiery descent (降落) , after which Zhurong safely parachuted down to the Utopia Planitia. Tianwen-1's landing platform then fired some small, downward-facing rocket engines to slow down during the last few seconds of its descent. The successful touchdown is a remarkable achievement, given the difficult nature of the task. Only few countries have really mastered landing on Mars until now. America put down its largest rover (巡视器), Perseverance, in February Europe, which has twice failed with landing attempts, will send a rover to Mars next year hand in hand with the Russians. All other countries that have tried have either crushed or lost contact soon after reaching the surface.
Now that Zhurong has got down successfully, scientists will try to get at least 90 Martian days of service out of it, studying the local geology. The robot Zhurong, weighs some 240kg and is powered by fold-out solar panels. Zhurong caries cameras to take pictures and assist navigation (巡航); five additional instruments will investigate the mineral resources of local rocks and the general nature of the environment, including the weather.
Dean Chang, a Chinese scientist said that the success would be an enormous fillip to the the exploration of the universe, “Space always benefits diplomacy and technology, and it demonstrates that China can contribute to the global pool of human knowledge.”
1. Why was Zhurong sent to land on Mars?| A．to discover living species on Mars |
| B．to explore a specific area of Mars |
| C．to enable more people to visit remote parts of space |
| D．to exploit resources on Mars |
| A．The American rover Perseverance coded up with failure, |
| B．Few countries master landing on the Moon. |
| C．Europe plans to launch its next rover with combined efforts. |
| D．Tianwen-1 helped to speed Zhurong up before landing. |
| A．research into geology |
| B．find directions |
| C．take images |
| D．forecast the weather |
| A．solution | B．relief | C．promotion | D．honor |
4 . Food miles are the total distance food travels before being sold. Our food tends to be less tasty and less healthy after traveling long distances. What’s more, the farther food travels, the more it contributes to emitting greenhouse gases. Cape Eleuthera Island School in the Bahamas shows us a delicious way to cut food miles.
Food on campus travels just steps from the gardens to the plates. The school uses an aquaponic system on campus for growing vegetables, which are served in its dining hall. Under this system, the plants get their nutrition from recycled fish waste, while fish swim around in big tanks of water and dirty water gets pumped to the vegetable. Fish waste feeds the plants and the plants purify the water, returning clean H2O to the tank. The aquaponic system uses much less water than traditional farming and is less dependent on good weather.
Students from around the world spend a semester learning hands-on experiences here. Digging in the dirt, doing fieldwork on the farm, students are taught at the aquaponic garden to harvest the lettuce and put it in buckets ready for delivery. No trucks or cars needed for transport. It’s only a bicycle ride or a short walk along the bridge made from recycled rubber and plastics to the dining hall kitchen. All the fruits, vegetables, and fish grown, harvested on campus stay on campus.
The students will leave the Island School as confident teens to lead an eco-aware life at home. “When I returned home, I threw myself into sustainability-related projects.” says Anna, a spring 2020 student. Anna and her friends use cloth napkins and reusable straws. “We usually walk and bike,” she adds. “When the weather is terrible, we carpool.”
Students at the Island School are helping to change the planet by living what they’ve learned and reducing their food miles, one meal at a time.
1. Why does Cape Eleuthera Island School grow its own food?| A．To reduce food miles. | B．To grow more tasty food. |
| C．To feed the students on campus. | D．To teach students hand-on skills. |
| A．They provide food for the plants. | B．They can be sold in the market. |
| C．They clean water for the plants. | D．They are used to decorate the big tanks. |
| A．Using the water-saving aquaponic system. |
| B．Building bridges from recycled rubber. |
| C．Serving campus-grown vegetables in its dining hall. |
| D．Teaching students to work at the aquaponic garden. |
| A．It showed her how poorly she was eating before. |
| B．It caused her to change her habits to be more sustainable. |
| C．It showed her how to make connections with her friends. |
| D．It taught her to set up an aquaponic system back home. |
5 . “It has nothing in common with anything else on the Bund(外滩) "said Ben Wood, the American architect behind Shanghai's famous Xintiandi District, commenting on the Fosun Foundationafter its completion in 2016. "The great thing about the Bund is that it'sgrand. Perhaps a building that can stand out is needed here to show that acompany is progressive. But it's not grand.”
For now, however, the FosunFoundation ---a new theatre ---is proving popular with riverside tourists.
Located in the Bund FinanceCenter, the theatre was designed by co-operation of two world-known Britishdesign firms: Foster+ Partners and Heatherwick Studio. The architecturalhighlight is the outward appearance ---a golden, three-layered(层) steel bamboo curtain that hangs fromthe third floor. But what makes the architecture really unique is that it"dances" : repeatedly each day, the curtain slowly moves ---opens andcloses--- with music. This visual element, combining East and West, looks likeboth an ancient Chinese crown and a Western harp (竖琴). The building's ground floor entrancelooks unclear, but once inside, you'll see the space reveal a hall and cafe, and traditional Chinese theatres on the upper floors. Although there're onlyfour stories above ground, the building houses several music halls on its threeunderground floors.
“The opportunity to makesomething new in this culturally historic location was extraordinary, "said Thomas Heatherwick, Heatherwick Studio founder. "We tried to make itan interesting addition to show Shanghais mix of modern and historicarchitecture.”
The Fosun Foundation is only part of a bigger plan for this economicand cultural center in China. Along the Huangpu River, a massive waterfront artarea is being built. Shanghai hopes to play a larger role in the global artindustry in the coming years.
What Shanghai makes of thisnew riverside project remains to be seen. But with the Fosun Foundation open tothe public, the area's rapid transformation is bringing up discussions inChina's arts scene and beyond.
1. What did Ben Wood mainly talk about?| A．How to keep the Bund area progressive. |
| B．Why the Bund area doesn't stand out. |
| C．How to make the Fosun Foundation grand. |
| D．Why the Fosun Foundation doesn’t fit the area. |
| A．The colour of its appearance. |
| B．The material of the building |
| C．The movement of its curtain. |
| D．The music of a different type. |
| A．To improve its influence in arts. |
| B．To bring up more traditional buildings. |
| C．To strengthen its economic role. |
| D．To mix modern and historic elements. |
| A．Worried | B．Pessimistic | C．Cautious | D．Confident |
6 . This year's hottest destination is Mars. On 23 July, China launched the Tianwen-1 mission to the Red Planet — one of three spacecrafts' planning to head there in 2020. This is China's second interplanetary mission, but the first that the nation has launched on its own. The other, Phobos-Grunt, was a cooperation with Russia that didn't make it out of Earth's orbit after blasting off in 2011.
The new mission, called Tianwen, translated as "questions to heaven" — consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover, the last of which will be named via a public competition. "It's very ambitious because it's a four-part mission: there's the launch, getting into orbit, the landing and the rover, and every single step has to go right, says space consultant Laura Forczyk. All those steps must work on the first try, an achievement no other space program me has accomplished on a Mars mission because of the difficulty of landing there.
If all goes well, Tianwen-1 will arrive at Mars in February 2021 and the lander and rover will touch down two or three months later. They will take pictures from the surface, measure the soil composition, make radar observations of the planet's underground structure and observe Mars's magnetic field. Due to the harsh environment on Mars, the rover is expected to last about 90 Martian days. It weighs around 240 kilograms, about the same as China's Yutu-2 rover, which is currently roaming the moon. "The Chinese mission to the far side of the moon has been hugely successful, so they are building on that success now," says Forczyk.
The orbiter, which will relay data from the lander and rover back to scientists on Earth, also carries a suite of scientific instruments. It has two cameras and a spectrometer (光谱仪), which it will use to create a map of the mineral composition of Mars's surface, as well as radar and detectors to examine particles in the Martian atmosphere. It will also look for deposits of water ice that could be helpful for future explorers.
Tianwen-1 won't be alone in Mars orbit. The United Arab Emirates has just launched its first mission to Mars, and NASA's Perseverance rover is set to launch on 30 July. These missions are all leaving now because Mars is at its closest point to Earth, which happens once every two years.
1. Which statement is true according to the first two paragraphs?| A．On 23 July, three countries launched space crafts to Mars. |
| B．Every step of Tianwen mission can be completed at several attempts. |
| C．The mission, Phobos-Grunt, cooperated with Russia was a great success. |
| D．Tianwen mission shows the pioneering efforts of China's space exploration. |
| A．Travelling around. | B．Floating past. | C．Wandering aimlessly. | D．Moving swiftly. |
| A．act as a detector to examine particles on the earth |
| B．search for a substance useful for future exploration |
| C．send information back to the earth collected from Mars |
| D．identify the position of minerals possibly lying on Mars |
| A．China's Successful Space Explorations |
| B．China Launching Missions to Mars |
| C．Tianwen, the First Interplanetary Mission |
| D．Mars, the Hottest Destination to Explore |
7 . An international group of electronic music composers is taking beats from the dance club to jungles and forests and back, all to help save nature's greatest singers. A Guide to the Birdsong of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean is a new album that includes the sounds of endangered birds. The album will come out next month, whose proceeds will go directly towards efforts to save birds.
The whole project was born out of this idea of trying to combine birdsong, electronic music and conservation. A Guide to the Birdsong of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean was organized by activist, music producer, Robin Perkins. He invited artists from each of the endangered birds 'homelands to build their own songs around the birds’ songs. There are contributions from ten artists in eight different countries.
First single Black Catbird was created by The Garifuna Collective, from Belize. Al Obando, guitarist and producer of the group, always took in national parks and viewed birds when on the road with the band. “There are no trails, and there are no signs there to tell you about what you reseeing,” Obando says. “So we're trying to do something for the birds and nature tourism.”
Another musician who responded to Robin's call is Tamara Montenegro, an artist from Nicaragua. She was shocked to hear of the serious situation of the Guardabarranco after being approached: “This beautiful creature I grew up adoring also faced the influence of the systematic human activities”. In response, she created a song inspired by this bird and the challenges it faces to live naturally.
The new album is the second edition, following on from A Guide to the Birdsong of South America, produced by Robin in 2015. That first album has raised, to date, over $15,000 benefitting conservation projects in South America. As with the first album, all of the money from the sales of the new album will support specific organizations, including Birds Caribbean.
1. What does the underlined word “proceeds” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Profits. | B．Budgets. | C．Challenges. | D．Effects. |
| A．He created a hit single himself. |
| B．He was fond of observing birds. |
| C．He was the organizer of the new album. |
| D．He did a lot for birds in South America. |
| A．It was friendly to humans. |
| B．It was beautiful in appearance. |
| C．It was losing its living environment. |
| D．It was facing challenges from other birds. |
| A．To collect money for a project. |
| B．To popularize electronic music. |
| C．To recommend some famous artists. |
| D．To introduce a new album of electronic music. |
