1 . The ocean is home to more than 200,000 known species and as many as 2 million that we have yet to discover. And, it is also home to 24.4 trillion pieces of microplastics. In 2022, researchers spotlighted how bad marine microplastic pollution, is getting: The total amount of microplastics on the bottom of oceans has greatly increased. in the past two decades.
Microplastic particles don’t just end up at the bottom of the ocean. Animals are eating them — at least 1,500 species have been reported to ingest plastic. And a lot of it. For example, whales in New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf consume roughly three million microplastics daily, according to research published in Science of the Total Environment, which analyzed whale waste to see how much microplastics were present.
“Other research has shown that if plastics are small enough, they can cross the gut(肠道) wall and get into internal organs though the long-term effects are still unclear. Plastics can also release chemicals that are harmful to digestive system,” says Kahane-Rapport. “This is concerning, and while we do not yet understand the long-term health-effects, it is likely not a good sign for whales and their prey(猎物) to eat a man-made material like plastic.”
This is obviously bad for whales, but it also has effects on humans and the ocean at large. We are also part of these food chains and are consuming microplastics regularly. They are in our bottled water, in our table salt — they are even in our house dust and in the air we breathe. And we still don’t know what the health effects are. Meanwhile, the impact on whales — and what it indicates — is troubling on many fronts. “Whales are ecosystem engineers,” says Kahane-Rapport. “They can spread the nutrients that they consumed and serve as ecosystem guards — when whales are not healthy, other parts of the system will suffer.”
Kahane-Rapport says more research is needed. “The next research step will be to determine how much plastic the whales excrete(排出) and how much is left in their bodies. Following that, we would be able to determine the direct health effects on their tissues.”
1. What does the underlined word “ingest” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Deal with. | B．Bring up. | C．Take in. | D．Spread out. |
| A．Researches show contradictory results. |
| B．Digestive system is the most affected part. |
| C．Small plastics are more harmful than big ones. |
| D．Much about microplastics’ harm remains unclear. |
| A．The various sources of pollution. |
| B．Tab chain reaction of microplastics. |
| C．Possible solutions to plastic pollution. |
| D．Growing awareness of ocean protection |
| A．Microplastic pollution to the ocean bottom |
| B．The sufferings of other ocean creatures. |
| C．Whales’ contributions to the ecosystem. |
| D．The amount of plastic in whales bodies. |
2 . The Amazon
The Amazon River, the basin of which covers 2.3 million square miles, is incredibly biodiverse with over 30,000 species of plants and 1,800 species of birds. It plays an important role in adjusting the climate in North and South America. The River and its forests are threatened by human activity, primary pollution and rapid resource depletion (损耗). The Office of the American States Department of Sustainable Development is working to manage the threats.
The Mississippi
The Mississippi rises in western Minnesota and flows south for 2,530 miles into the Gulf of Mexico. Millions of people in over 50 cities use water from the Mississippi, and the river is also used for shipping and agriculture. Hundreds of animal species, including 60% of North America’s birds, call the area around the Mississippi River home, but river pollution and shoreline habitat destruction threaten to displace them. Fortunately, many projects and organizations are devoted to its conservation.
The Danube
The Danube River begins in western Germany, flowing over 1,775 miles into the Black Sea. It spans 19 countries. The Danube features a richly diverse ecosystem, hosting 55 different species of fish. Cities across Europe use the Danube for power generation and agriculture, and there are more than 700 dams in total. Unfortunately, this river is overfished and heavily polluted. The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River was established in 1998 to manage its conservation.
The Mekong
The Mekong River is a necessary part of Southeast Asia’s landscape, culture, and economy. Also called the Lancang River, it starts in China, stretching over 2,850 miles through Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Its basin provides more than 65 million people with food, drinking water, power, and transportation. Dams and power plants are harming Mekong’s ecosystems. Organizations such as Conservation International are working to protect the river by advocating for its sustainable development.
1. Birds are affected most around________.| A．The Amazon | B．The Mississippi | C．The Danube | D．The Mekong |
| A．70. | B．65. | C．55. | D．50. |
| A．They contribute to power production. |
| B．They How through multiple countries. |
| C．They are troubled by dam constructions. |
| D．They are under protection of organizations. |
3 . Off Australia’s northern coast, the remains of ancient coral reefs (珊瑚礁) form the bedrock of wooded islands, which are home to diverse animals and plants, including mangrove (红树林) forests that blanket their coasts and serve as vital habitats and carbon storers. A recent survey shows that expanding seas might have led to a massive mangrove increase, researchers report November 1 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Mangroves absorb carbon dioxide and store it as “blue carbon”, a term for carbon that is hidden away in ocean environments. “There’s a lot of interest in using mangrove blue carbon to lessen climate change,” says Kerrylee Rogers, an environmental scientist at the University of Wollongong in Australia. But there remain a lot of questions around their capacity to adapt to sea level rise.
In 2021,a team led by Wollongong environmental scientist Sarah Hamylton visited the Howick Islands to do a related research. They walked through the seawater to assess the plant diversity and measure individual trees. Using the measured widths and heights of several mangroves, the team calculated tree widths for the rest of the forest from the data to estimate the total mangrove quantity. The islands host nearly 54,000 metric tons of mangroves, the team estimates, which is roughly 10,000 more metric tons than there was in 1973.
The Howick Islands are uniquely suited to supporting mangroves as the ocean rises. At the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, around 12,000 years ago, water levels rose around northern Australia, and coral reefs grew upward to fill the space that had opened for them.
When sea levels fell thousands of years later, the exposed reefs became sediment (沉积物). With sea levels now rising again, the mixture of saltwater and sediment makes a perfect home for the salt-tolerant mangroves.
Rogers and Hamylton are now working on a bigger effort to study mangoves around Australia. “If we’re going to invest in mangroves to provide us blue carbon and to protect shorelines, we need to understand how dynamic they are,” Rogers says.
1. What can be known about blue carbon?| A．It is produced by ocean water. | B．It is massively present in the air. |
| C．It is friendly environment. | D．It is nutritious for mangroves. |
| A．To measure the size of mangroves. |
| B．To figure out where to plant mangroves. |
| C．To confirm whether local natural environment is polluted. |
| D．To see how the mangroves respond to sea level rise. |
| A．The diversity of ocean life. |
| B．The increase of coral reefs. |
| C．The combination of salt water and sediment. |
| D．The formation of the bedrock of wooded islands. |
| A．Climate Change Causes Sea Level Rise |
| B．Sea Level Rise Helps Mangroves Boost |
| C．Environment on Australia Islands Is Improving |
| D．Climate Warming Poses Dangers To Mangroves |
4 . People have long watched moths (飞蛾) and other flying insects flock to streetlamps, lights and flames. These insects appear attracted by the light. But a new study suggests they may just lose track of which way is up.
Previous theories say light probably blinds flying insects so that they get trapped by the light, or maybe they interpret light at night as a place to fly for a quick escape. Now the new study suggests flying insects instead turn their backs to the sky’s light to keep their feet pointing toward the ground. Insects naturally turn their backs toward light. But when that light is from an artificial source, it may affect their sense of direction, leading to them flying in circles or diving toward the ground.
At a field station in Costa Rica, Samuel Fabian, an entomologist from Imperial College London in England and his teammates set up hanging and standing lights, and then used high-speed cameras to track wild, flying insects including moths and flies. Some circled the lights endlessly, and others flew sharply upward, losing speed until they couldn’t fly any higher. When the light source pointed up, some insects turned around and headed for the ground. During the flight, the insects always kept the lights at their back even if they’d end up crashing. Crash landings were common when the team lit up a white sheet on the floor. But not when a white sheet — stretched into a height above the floor—was bathed in diffuse (漫射) light, much as the sky would be, insects flew through the area without getting trapped by the light.
The team also observed some species in a lab. Moths and dragonflies generally behaved like the wild insects, and they kept the light at their backs. However, in the lab, fruit flies, like oleander hawk moths — which can fly in the dark — could fly over LED lights without being thrown off course. In the wild, though, the moths still crashed. Maybe this is because, Fabian says, the insects can sometimes control their response to light, or over time, they might learn to avoid artificial light.
1. Why do insects naturally turn their backs toward light?| A．To get close to the light. | B．To escape being caught quickly. |
| C．To protect their feet better. | D．To track where the ground is. |
| A．Artificial light at night could put insects on a crash course. |
| B．Artificial light signaled an escape route for the insects. |
| C．The insects had a better sense of direction. |
| D．The insects were flying toward the light. |
| A．To stress the importance of the study. | B．To prove the previous theory. |
| C．To tell the existence of the exception. | D．To explain the flight pattern. |
| A．Artificial Light Makes Insects More Adaptable | B．Insects May Lose Track near Artificial Light |
| C．The Ways to Get Rid of Light Pollution | D．Insects Learn to Fly for a Quick Escape |
5 . A new study led by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health finds air pollution may negatively impact standardized test scores. Using data from the North Carolina Education Research Data Center, the researchers tracked 2.8 million public school students in North Carolina from 2001 to 2018 and measured their exposure to PM2.5 found in polluted air. While previous research has shown negative effects on academic performance, it has relied on relatively small or less representative samples. “The biggest strength of this study is that we tracked every student in North Carolina in those years, for the whole time period that they were in the public schools,” said Emma Zang, coauthor of the study.
The study also finds that test scores of ethnic minorities and girls are disproportionately (不成比例地) impacted by PM2.5 levels. “Females and ethnic minorities face sexism and racism,” said Zang. “There are a lot of policies that are not friendly towards them. So, when they’re exposed to the same level of air pollution, they don’t have the resources to lessen the negative influences.” More privileged populations, however, might have more resources that allow them to live in a better environment, such as in houses with air purifiers.
“The level of PM2.5 pollution in the US is relatively low, but students living in areas below the current air quality standard of annual PM2.5 concentration are still negatively impacted by air pollution when it comes to their test scores,” said Zang. “We should aim to strengthen the annual PM2.5 standard to better protect our children.”
Air pollution is known to contribute to disease and death, and it also negatively affects students’ academic performance even at low levels of pollution. The subsequent studies, the researchers said, would involve looking at whether the findings hold true in different areas, and also the reasons behind the ethnic and sexual differences.
1. What’s the greatest advantage of the study?| A．Tracking each student for 18 years. | B．Collecting more comprehensive data. |
| C．Measuring students’ PM2.5 exposure precisely. | D．Building links between air pollution and test scores. |
| A．benefit from current policies on PM2.5 pollution |
| B．have the lowest test scores due to their identities |
| C．lack resources to reduce the impact of air pollution |
| D．suffer from educational inequalities owing to their background |
| A．Offering a suggestion. | B．Raising a doubt. |
| C．Making a comparison. | D．Giving a prediction. |
| A．Applicability of the findings to other regions. | B．Ways to address racial and sexual differences. |
| C．Long-term impacts of air pollution on children. | D．Establishment of PM2.5 standard fit for children. |
1. What is the purpose of the speaker?
| A．To forecast the weather. | B．To keep people informed. | C．To make an advertisement. |
| A．A terrible storm. | B．Heavy air traffic. | C．Mechanical problems. |
| A．Allow them to change flight routes. |
| B．Offer them free hotels. |
| C．Return all their money. |
| A．Cairo. | B．Panama. | C．Buenos Aires. |
7 . Floods can come from multiple sources. It can be a hurricane, failed dam, or overflowing river. The disasters can move quickly.
A flood is simply an event where water overflows a natural area and covers normally dry places. In general, there are two types.
A flood can be caused by many things.
There is no specific flood season.
| A．The rising river threatens people’s lives. |
| B．Floods can be preventable and predictable. |
| C．Flash floods are more common in dry areas. |
| D．And sometimes they come with little warning. |
| E．The weather forecast accurately predicts all disasters. |
| F．They include severe weather, geography, and other man-made factors. |
| G．Generally, the period from spring to fall is considered a heightened risk for floods. |
8 . The axolotl is a unique Mexican salamander (蝾螈), but unfortunately, it is endangered. Aiming at protecting this endangered species, scientists have developed a programme called “AdoptAxolotl”.
The axolotl is known for its ability to heal itself. If an axolotl loses a leg or even part of its heart, brain, or lungs, it can regrow them. This remarkable ability has long fascinated (吸引) scientists who want to know more about how the animal does this.
There are several different species of axolotls in Mexico, and all of them are seriously endangered. The Mexican axolotl, which is the best-known, is only found naturally in Lake Xochimilco near Mexico City. Unfortunately, the number of axolotls in the lake has dropped by 99.5% in less than 20 years.
Scientists believe that there are several reasons for this decline. The most important one is that the water in the canals has become more and more polluted, which harms the axolotl’s habitat. Another reason is that invasive (入侵的) fish in the lake are eating the axolotl’s food and even their babies, which further threatens the species’ survival.
To help protect the axolotl, scientists at Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM) have been working for years. Last year, they started a programme called “AdoptAxolotl” to ask people to donate money to help pay for efforts to save the species. The programme was a big hit, raising more than $26,000. The money was used to help clean up some of Xochimilco’s canals and for a programme to raise axolotls in a safe environment. This year, the scientists are trying AdoptAxolotl again. The hope is that the new programme will raise even more money than last year.
The money raised will be used to support the scientists’ work and help restore the axolotl’s natural home in the canals of Xochimilco. By protecting these amazing creatures, we can ensure their survival for future generations to enjoy.
1. What is the purpose of “AdoptAxolotl” programme?| A．To raise money to help axolotl reproduce. |
| B．To study the axolotl’s ability to heal itself. |
| C．To protect the Mexican axolotl from extinction. |
| D．To improve the habitat of fish in Lake Xochimilco. |
| A．Pollution of the canals. |
| B．Overhunting by human beings. |
| C．Habitat loss due to urbanization. |
| D．Their babies’ dying of lack of food. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Content. | C．Worried. | D．Regretful. |
| A．Scientists Are Working to Save Mexico’s Axolotl |
| B．Several Different Species of Axolotls Live in Mexico |
| C．Supportive Efforts Are Made to Save Endangered Animals |
| D．Solutions to Preventing Axolotl Being Eaten Have Been Found |
9 . Few dogs are as energetic as Sedze, a white Shih Tzu whose name means “my heart” in the Dogrib language. Last summer, the little dog went through a life
On August 13, Louise, the owner of Sedze, was
The group
Later that evening, the group finally arrived. Louise called her daughter, Jilaine, who lived in Calgary, and
Sedze was alive and well. And as it turned out, Ryan had also evacuated to High Level. While talking, they discovered that they were standing on opposite sides of a street. “It was the greatest feeling when he brought her over,” she said. Today, Louise still
| A．experiment | B．competition | C．trial | D．game |
| A．putting away | B．packing up | C．setting aside | D．reaching into |
| A．mild | B．massive | C．controllable | D．avoidable |
| A．crashed | B．marched | C．jumped | D．looked |
| A．exhausted | B．satisfied | C．fascinated | D．annoyed |
| A．building | B．hitting | C．crossing | D．blocking |
| A．nightmares | B．memories | C．enemies | D．challenges |
| A．held | B．walked | C．wrote | D．sped |
| A．deliberately | B．accidentally | C．carefully | D．randomly |
| A．evidence | B．impression | C．sign | D．point |
| A．delighted | B．injured | C．frozen | D．heartbroken |
| A．ignored | B．broke | C．covered | D．received |
| A．burst | B．idea | C．update | D．improvement |
| A．protected | B．confirmed | C．stole | D．hid |
| A．looks | B．laughs | C．wonders | D．aims |
10 . When Mark Twain first set eyes on Honolulu in 1866, he observed that the trees were so thick that they blocked the sunlight, rocks from past volcanic eruptions covered the corals — and lovely cats were everywhere.
Nearly 160 years later, however, the descendants (后代) of the cats that so pleased Twain are now widely seen as a threat to the islands. The wild cat, explains the Hawaii Invasive (侵入的) Species Council (HISC), has become one of the state’s most “disastrous” animals.
Cats were first brought to Hawaii aboard European colonists’ ships, where they killed rats and mice. As their number in their new home grew during the 19th century, birds started to disappear. At least 30 types of native bird became rarer or went extinct between 1870 and 1930 as they were exposed to their new enemies, according to the US Geological Survey.
Toxoplasmosis (弓形虫病) is a disease caused by a parasite (寄生虫) that reproduces in the digestive systems of cats, and then pollutes soil and water through their faces (粪便). A new study determined that two spinner dolphins found on the Hawaiian coast died of toxoplasmosis. From these findings the authors suggest that at least 60 spinner dolphins have died of the parasite over the past 30 years.
A bill that could have directed the HISC to kill cats using poisoned food, as Australia has done, died in the state legislature earlier this year. Animal-lovers prefer to focus on catching wild cats, removing their sex organs and releasing them so that they have no kittens. But HISC contends that such programmes do not actually help control cat numbers. Ms West suggests that people are too quick to blame the cats, when there is another cruel animal. “People have to stop abandoning these poor cats,” she says. “It’s not really a cat problem. It’s a human problem.”
1. What’s the purpose of Paragraph 1?| A．To stress Mark Twain’s impression on cats. | B．To urge people to show love to cats. |
| C．To indicate the change of cats in the history. | D．To lead in the topic of the wild cats in Hawaii. |
| A．The loss of habitat. | B．The infectious disease. |
| C．The increase of cats. | D．The polluted food. |
| A．Solutions to the problem. | B．Influence on the society. |
| C．Discovery of the phenomenon. | D．Outcome of the situation. |
| A．Species Invasion Is Common in Hawaii | B．Wild Cats Have Invaded Hawaii |
| C．Humans Caused the Increase of Cats | D．Getting Rid of Wild Cats in Hawaii |
