1. How long did Mike work on his school paper?
A.3 hours. | B.2 hours. | C.1 hour. |
A.It got injured. | B.It became trapped. | C.It was lost. |
A.He fed it. |
B.He saved it by himself. |
C.He called for help. |
A.Opposed. | B.Supportive. | C.Indifferent. |
2 . Have you ever observed how a family runs smoothly? It’s the balance that plays a role in a family. But a family where there is too much chaos (混乱), argument, and one-sided communication has no balance. As a result, such a chaotic family suffers consequences like divorced parents, distances between children.
In the same way, nature needs balance, harmony and protection. You are already aware of the phrase — too much of everything is bad. That’s why the sensibility to bring balance in nature is every human’s responsibility.
The community of living species interacts with the environment’s non-living components in a healthy ecosystem. Rainfall, temperature, sunlight, soil, and water chemistry are the main examples of abiotic (无生命的) aspects of ecosystems that need to be in a stable manner.
To survive, plants need a certain combination of temperature, moisture, and soil chemistry. Protecting plants is also important because it provides food for the animals.What you see above are the natural phenomena that have been happening since the beginning of the universe. That’s how nature has been functioning. But indulgent human activities in using natural resources has created poor habitation in the natural environment. In fact, here are the human actions that have broken the balance in nature for so many years now.
People cut down trees to make space for new companies owing to an increase in population, which has decreased the amount of oxygen in the air. Global warming has resulted in the melting of the ice caps, leading to rising sea levels and other natural disasters like cyclones and tsunamis. As a result of habitat loss, it is getting harder for species to survive.To bring the Earth to its original form is impossible. But there is always a potential for bringing awareness. Hence, if the above human activities are lessened or changed with recycling activities, the next generation can still live a healthy life.
1. Why is a chaotic family mentioned in paragraph 1?A.To bring up a new topic. |
B.To come to a conclusion. |
C.To complain about family chaos. |
D.To admire the balance of a family. |
A.Limit human activities to the fullest. |
B.Control a certain amount of everything. |
C.Don’t cut down trees for new companies. |
D.Don’t use energy for economic development. |
A.Responsible. | B.Controlled. | C.Romantic. | D.Unlimited. |
A.Worried. | B.Doubtful. | C.Confident. | D.Uncertain. |
3 . “Eco-mermaid” Merle Liivand wove a remarkable story with her attachment to the ocean. On March 7, she
That
Since 2022, she’s broken records, swimming vast distances — first in California, then in Florida, and this time swimming the
During her
A.planned | B.kept | C.broke | D.prepared |
A.stronger | B.cleaner | C.lighter | D.cooler |
A.water | B.plastic | C.sand | D.metal |
A.situation | B.cleanup | C.disaster | D.experience |
A.different | B.visible | C.similar | D.challenging |
A.attached to | B.referred to | C.applied to | D.devoted to |
A.connecting | B.removing | C.kicking | D.wiping |
A.hides | B.marks | C.finds | D.carries |
A.depth | B.length | C.width | D.height |
A.continued | B.relaxed | C.faced | D.paused |
A.accomplishment | B.betterment | C.management | D.agreement |
A.training | B.adventure | C.travel | D.marathon |
A.gathered | B.shared | C.sorted | D.pushed |
A.miss | B.review | C.break | D.reach |
A.various | B.lasting | C.positive | D.side |
4 . Sustainability was a hot topic at the Paris Air Show, the world’s largest event for the aviation industry, which faces increasing pressure to reduce the climate-changing greenhouse gases that aircraft emit. Even the massive orders at the show got an emission-reduction perspective: Airlines and producers said the new planes would be more fuel-efficient than the ones they replaced. However, most of those planes will burn conventional kerosene-based jet fuel.
Some companies are working on electric-powered aircraft, which are seen as a way to reduce the environmental effects of the aviation industry, providing zero emissions and quieter flights. However, they are still some way off from widespread commercial use. That means sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has become the industry’s best hope of achieving its promise of net zero emissions by 2050. SAF, however, accounts for just 0.1% of all jet fuel. Made from sources like used cooking oil and plant waste, SAF can be mixed with conventional jet fuel but costs much more.
With such a limited supply of SAF, critics say airlines are making overly ambitious promises and exaggerating how quickly they can ramp up the use of SAF. The industry even has skeptics: Nearly one-third of aviation sustainability officers in a GE Aerospace survey doubt whether the industry will hit its net zero goal by 2050.
Across the Atlantic, a consumer group called BEUC filed a complaint against the European Union’s executive arm, accusing 17 airlines of greenwashing. The group says airlines are misleading consumers and breaking rules on commercial practices by encouraging customers to pay extra to help finance the development of SAF and offset future carbon emissions created by flying. In one case, the group’s researchers found Air France charging up to 138 euros for the green option.
“SAF is indeed the biggest technological potential to decarbonize the aviation sector, but the main problem is that it isn’t available. We know that before the end of the next decade — at least — it won’t be available in massive quantities,” said Dimitri Vergnc, a senior policy officer at BEUC.
1. What did airlines and producers emphasize at the Paris Air Show?A.Ways of reducing fuel consumption. |
B.Improvement in planes’ safety performance. |
C.Environmental friendliness of their new planes. |
D.Efficiency of conventional kerosene-based jet fuel. |
A.To stress the necessity of developing SAF. |
B.To highlight the future of the aviation industry. |
C.To show efforts made to achieve net zero emissions. |
D.To explain their advantages over traditional aircraft. |
A.Stop. | B.Limit. | C.Balance. | D.Increase. |
A.An airline ad. | B.A study result. | C.A news report. | D.A science paper. |
5 .
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B.To attract donations to National Geographic Society. |
C.To appeal to people to preserve ancient heritage sites. |
D.To publicize the mission of National Geographic Society. |
A.Make it a gift in the name of your friend. |
B.Support the most pressing employer. |
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C.It is dedicated to protecting nature. | D.Its employees needn’t pay income tax. |
6 . Clean water might not grow on trees, but the trees might do the next best thing—provide a cheap and easy way of filtering (过滤) it.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have been able to use wood from tree branches to filter water both in the laboratory and in the field. Compared to other water filters, the new way of filtering water gets an edge. This could provide an inexpensive and low-tech alternative to costly methods of getting clean water in places that need it the most.
In a new study, researchers show that the natural structure of wood from non-flowering plants like pine provides enough filtration to remove bacteria from water. This method was already proven to work in a lab in 2014, but now the researchers have found, through interviews with potential users and tests of local water sources, that the tree-based purification system works just as well in the field in India and that the locals are willing to use it.
The branches of non-flowering plants are built of thin, straw-like tubes called x ylem in the layer of wood under the skin. The unique structure of the xylem tissue in the branches allows it to work as a water filter because these channels are connected to each other through porous membranes (多孔薄膜). These membranes can catch water pollutants, similar to a water filter membrane.
The researchers were even able to extend the shelf life of dry wood filters to around two years by dipping (浸泡) them in a protective mix of hot water and ethanol (乙醇). To make this potentially life-saving technology be reachable to those who need it, the construction of the filter is open to the public and instructions can be found on their website detailing how anyone can try to construct their own wood water filter.
1. What does the underlined “gets an edge” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?A.Has a limitation. | B.Has an advantage. |
C.Faces a challenge. | D.Produces an effect. |
A.To call on people to protect local water sources. |
B.To show the consequences of lacking pure water. |
C.To explain why water filters are in great demand. |
D.To prove the water filter is effective and welcomed. |
A.They are thinner than other plants' branches. |
B.They have wide straw-like tubes in the xylem tissue. |
C.The tiny holes of membranes can trap water pollutants. |
D.The layer of wood under their skin carries plenty of water. |
A.A unique way of obtaining water from plants. |
B.The working principle of tree-based water filters. |
C.MIT creates a high-tech water purification system. |
D.MIT's wooden water filter comes into practical use. |
7 . If carbon dioxide (CO2) were a politician, it would be worried about its bad comments. This greenhouse gas is the primary pollutant responsible for global warming. Scientists, leaders, and activists are trying to stop its production. This gas, however, also plays a key role in life on Earth.
Carbon helps form the protein and DNA found in living things. In the atmosphere, it combines with two oxygen atoms (原子) to form carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is necessary for photosynthesis (光合作用) . In the process, plants use energy from the sun to turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar. In return, plants give off oxygen. As carbon dioxide concentrations increase in the atmosphere, scientists are trying to employ photosynthesis to promote plant growth. Laboratory studies show a higher concentration of the gas is making some plants grow more quickly in certain conditions, but in the wild and on outdoor farms the overall benefit is unclear. In the Netherlands, some commercial greenhouses are experimenting with ways to send carbon dioxide released from industry into greenhouses along a particular way where plants use the extra gas as fertilizer (肥料).
The first person to assume the existence of carbon dioxide was 16th-century Belgian scientist Jan Baptist van Helmont. After coal was burned, he noted, the weight of the remains was lower than the coal’s initial weight, which means some mass had been lost in the process. He was the first scientist to recognize different gases present in the air we breathe. It wasn’t until 1896 that Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius linked the carbon dioxide released from burning coal and oil to atmospheric warming.
Yet, despite its being plentiful in the atmosphere, we have been light on commercially produced carbon dioxide because of rising energy costs. As a result, carbonated drink (碳酸饮料) companies have had to raise prices or reduce production.
1. What can we infer about carbon dioxide from paragraph two?A.It helps form protein and DNA. |
B.It plays a necessary role in photosynthesis. |
C.It supercharges plant growth in any condition. |
D.It makes crops on outdoor farms more productive. |
A.To compare him with the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius. |
B.To show an early discovery of carbon dioxide . |
C.To explain the applications of CO2. |
D.To tell an unknown story. |
A.It’s difficult to increase their production. |
B.Sales of their drinks are extremely poor. |
C.Commercial CO2 is in short supply. |
D.There’s too much CO2 in the atmosphere. |
A.Climate Change: Affected by CO2. |
B.Greenhouse Gas:an Enemy to Nature. |
C.CO2: Both an Enemy and Friend. |
D.Carbon: Misunderstood Substance. |
8 . Two and a half months before the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season officially begins, and almost six months before it enters its peak (高峰), weathermen are already predicting (预测) that it could be particularly active.
Officially, hurricane season begins from June 1 and runs through November. One reason is that sea surface temperatures in the tropical (热带的) Atlantic are already at record highs.
Meanwhile, another significant potential factor in this year’s hurricane season is taking shape thousands of miles away in the Pacific. Over periods ranging from three to seven years, the waters of the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean warm and cool in turn as a result of a repeating climate pattern called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). El Niño makes Atlantic hurricanes less likely to form but La Niña does.
During the 2023 season, ENSO was in an El Niño period. However, by the time the 2024 season starts, it will have changed into a “neutral(中立)” period, but that by the peak months, it is likely to have changed fully into a La Niña.
“How quickly that change occurs can affect everything as well,” says DaSilva, a lead hurricane weatherman. “There’s a lag time. So, while we expect the change to occur in mid-summer, it may not be until late summer or fall where we really see those effects across the Atlantic basin.” As a result, he says, this year’s hurricane season could remain particularly active deep into November.
Of course, no report can predict when individual storms will come or the paths they will take, but DaSilva warns that those who live in areas likely to suffer hurricanes, especially around the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, should prepare. “If a tropical storm system comes into this area, it could rapidly strengthen, potentially close to land,” he also warns. “And that’s why people need to be careful and have their hurricane plans ready. Because any system with these kinds of conditions can explode very quickly. That’s what we’re concerned about.”
1. What is the function of Paragraph 1?A.To give advice. | B.To explain the season. |
C.To introduce the topic. | D.To inform a weather report. |
A.The hurricane season has entered its peak. |
B.A repeating climate has changed weather in summer. |
C.The sea surface temperatures are the highest of all time. |
D.El Niño makes Atlantic hurricanes more likely to form. |
A.A time delay. | B.A time in a zone. |
C.A time waste. | D.A time in advance. |
A.It can be exactly predicted ahead of time. |
B.People needn’t worry about hurricane season. |
C.It may be eventually controlled by weathermen. |
D.People can’t be more careful about hurricane season. |
The Grand Canal is the longest and oldest canal in the world. It forms a vast inland waterway system in China, running from the capital Beijing in the north
The Grand Canal bears witness to a remarkable and early development of hydraulic engineering (水利工程). It is an essential technological achievement
10 . As my husband and I drove down a country road, we passed a fire station with a sign that read. “Are you ready for the next storm?” Our area had just been in the path of Hurricane Irma, causing downed trees and power off.
We have had our share of storms in the past — a snowstorm and other heavy snows that knocked down trees, sometimes up to a week at a time. Those days weren’t fun, but we learned so much from those early storms. It made later storms easier to bear.
We’re ready for the next storm, but we wouldn’t have learned to do all those things if we hadn’t faced a storm in the past. The same is true spiritually. Those little storms in our lives are never fun, but they prepare us for the big trials coming to us.
Are you ready for the next storm?
A.Thanks to all those storms. |
B.They can teach us some valuable lessons. |
C.Now is the time to get ready. |
D.How long do you think this storm will last? |
E.We were stuck in the dark and cut off from the outside world. |
F.Now we have stored as many necessities as possible in case of potential storms. |
G.And we don’t forget to buy emergency chocolate! |