1 . Artificial intelligence (AI) companies are power-hungry — in more ways than one. A new commentary published Tuesday in the journal Joule argues that AI bots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Bard may one day soon use as much energy as a small country. The increase in AI demand, as well as the resources necessary to power them, will further make climate change issues worse due to the greenhouse gas emissions (排放).

“Looking at the growing demand for AI service, I find it’s very likely that energy consumption related to AI will significantly increase in the coming years,” Alex De Vries, founder of digital trends watchdog Digiconomist and sustainability at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, said.

From the very beginning of its development, AI consumes a large amount of energy. Some research has estimated that simply training ChatGPT required 1,287 MWh of energy. That’s more than what 120 U.S. families use in an entire year. AI lab Hugging Face reported that training its own AI chatbot required roughly 433 MWh, which is the equivalent to 40 U.S. homes.

De Vries notes the energy consumption is likely to worsen as more and more companies begin to incorporate (使并入) AI models into their products. For example, Google recently announced a host of AI tools to its products such as Gmail. De Vries estimates Google alone will require 29.2 TWh of power annually—the equivalent of the annual power consumption of Ireland. By 2027, he says, AI power consumption will increase by as much as 134 TWh, meaning these systems will be consuming as much energy as countries like Argentina, the Netherlands and Sweden each year.

Interestingly, even though companies are attempting to make their AI systems more energy-efficient, demand will simply increase as a result. “The result of making these tools more efficient and accessible can be that we just allow more applications of it and more people to use it,” De Vries said.

“The potential growth highlights we need to be very mindful about what we use AI for,” he said. “It’s energy-intensive (密集的), so we don’t want to put it in all kinds of things where we don’t actually need it.”

1. How is paragraph 3 mainly developed?

A．By listing figures.	B．By analyzing causes.
C．By reasoning.	D．By comparing.

2. What does the author mainly stress in paragraph 4?

A．The development of the AI models.	B．The difficulty of using AI products.
C．AI’s large consumption of energy.	D．Many countries’ demands of energy.

3. What does the author suggest people do in the last paragraph?

A．Focus on the energy-efficiency of AI service.

B．Avoid working in energy-intensive industries.

C．Explore alternative sources of power.

D．Be cautious about using the AI system.

4. What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To appeal for revolution.	B．To show a crisis.
C．To promote AI companies.	D．To introduce AI.

2 . As I was standing in a long line to get into the grocery store waiting to buy fruits and vegetables, I realized I could turn my backyard into a garden.     1     Here are several expert tips to help you break ground on your garden.

Before you start your work, think about the space you’re changing. Is your space a yard? A rooftop? How much sunlight does it get? Watch out for the temperature and find out which plants adapt well in your region.     2    

Set the stage with healthy soil. It’s full of billions of bacteria and helps plant roots grow. Then consider the structure of the soil. Different plants require different soil.     3     Tomatoes want more clay for keeping water.

    4     The decision depends on your preferences, space, what you’re growing and your budget. Stay away from containers that have been used for poisonous materials. They can bring chemicals into the soil as they break down from sunlight.

Should I plant seeds or transplants? In general, a seed is like a baby. It needs tons of care, but not everyone knows how to get it to survive. Transplants are for starters.     5     They still need your love but they’re not going to fall down and kill themselves.

With a little planning, I was able to watch three adorable baby trees take root in my yard. One of them recently had its first fruit — sweet little peaches. The yard has totally transformed too.

A．It used to be a junkyard.

B．Just create a vision based on your location.

C．You can start a garden in pots or containers.

D．You can buy your garden soil at a hardware (五金) store.

E．It enables me to grow my own food and save waiting time.

F．Carrots want sandier soil, so their roots can more easily grow.

G．They are plants that are a few inches high grown in small pots.

3 . Imagine a world where nothing ends up in landfill. Instead, everything can be reused and recycled, creating products that never reach their “end of life”. According to a recent report by the Circle Economy Foundation, only 7.2% of all used materials are being cycled back to be reused and recycled without creating waste.

An Italian company aims to change this by creating furniture products made from a plastic-like biomaterial, which is fully organic and biodegradable (可生物降解的), and can be used over and over again. Using fruit peel, orange seeds and coffee grounds collected from businesses in Italy, the company can redistribute products to the same businesses for use in their offices, instead of furniture made from common plastic. If, by mistake, any of the material ends up in the ocean, it doesn’t produce any microplastics.

Each product is made through a four-step process. First, the food waste is dried and crushed into a very fine powder. Then, the powder is mixed with a biodegradable plastic alternative known as polyhydroxybutyrat (PHB), with the fruit waste making the PHB more study (坚固的). The material is then turned into a filament (细丝) and, using a spool, put into a 3D printer.

Because a lot of food waste would be buried and incinerated in the landfill, which would produce lots of carbon dioxide, Reusing fruit peel and coffee grounds decrease carbon dioxide from the production of plastic, according to the director of operations in the company. He adds that the biomaterial is as sturdy as wood, and won’t begin to break down unless it’s touched by water, bacteria or acidity.

Despite its eco-friendly benefits, the biomaterial is expensive. It costs probably six times more than common plastic, and it is a very difficult and expensive process, so this is why many companies aren’t doing it.

However, the director is hopeful that in a few years, as-more consumers and businesses are forced to face the damage that unsustainable plastic is doing to the planet, the biomaterial will be much more widely used. “We really believe this is the material of the future,” says the director. “Little by little, a step at a time.”

1. What is a problem faced by the current world according to paragraph 1?

A．Pollution is becoming milder.

B．The rate of recycling is too low.

C．Plastic poses a threat to the ocean.

D．New material needs to be improved.

2. What do we know about the biomaterial?

A．It is of benefit to the environment.

B．It is cheaper than common plastic.

C．It is given a welcome by businesses.

D．It has gradually replaced common plastic.

3. What does the underlined word “incinerated” in paragraph 4 refer to?

A．Damaged.

B．Burned.

C．Selected.

D．Recovered.

4. Which can be the best title for the text?

A．New Material: One Way To Regain Fruit Peel

B．From Landfill To Furniture: The Journey Of Furniture

C．Sustainable Material: The Future Of Eco-Friendly Furniture

D．Italian Businesses Using New Strategies To Manage Industrial Waste

4 . Maples are known for their autumn colors. Many species put on a display of oranges, browns, yellows, and reds every year. Here are four excellent species of maple for your landscape.

Bigleaf maple
Native Area: North America
Height: 50 to 100 feet

As the name suggests, the leaves are quite large on this tree. It has the biggest leaves of any maple; the classic palm-shape leaves can be over 12 inches wide. This large tree is an excellent shade tree for large landscapes and parks.

Hedge maple
Native Area: Europe and Asia
Height: 25 to 35 feet

The hedge maple is a great choice for the urban garden, as it does well in many severe environments: drought, salty soils, shady locations, and climates where there is ozone deficiency. It can also be used as a street tree if the power lines are high enough.

Norway maple
Native Area: Europe and Asia
Height: usually 40 to 50 feet

Known either as Norway maple or European maple, this popular species was brought to North America from Europe in the 18th century. It has since become one of the most common trees. In the right settings, this species may become invasive (侵入的), so before planting it, check to make sure it is not a problem in your region.

Hornbeam maple
Native Area: Japan
Height: 15 to 30 feet

Many species of plant within a genus have a similar appearance, but there can be surprises, as is the case with the hornbeam maple. Its leaves are nothing like what you expect from a maple. This can be a somewhat difficult plant to find for sale, but it can make a good   small tree or a large shrub (灌木) in the landscape.

1. What might the name of the first maple be based on?

A．Its height.	B．Its native area.
C．The size of its leaves.	D．The function it performs.

2. Which can adapt to various challenging environments?

A．The bigleaf maple.	B．The hedge maple.
C．The norway maple.	D．The hornbeam maple.

3. What can we learn about the hornbeam maple?

A．Its leaves look like hands.

B．It is larger than other maples.

C．It is easy to find for sale at the market.

D．Its leaves differ from those of typical maples.

5 . Aviation is a big polluter. Cutting the sector’s impact on global warming is high on the agenda. Although many governments are regulating emissions from cars and trucks, air transportation is technologically rooted in old patterns.

Facing the reality that the sector will keep emitting a lot, ICAO has established an international carbon-trading plan—Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, or CORSIA. This encourages wide use of offsets (抵消) : aviation companies can buy emissions credits or invest in sectors that store carbon, such as forestry, to allow them to carry on as normal. CORSIA aims to keep CO2 emissions at 2019 levels through such purchases for emissions over that year’s baseline. ICAO predicts that increasing demand might reach 1. 7 billion tons by 2035, potentially making aviation the largest offset market in the world.

Yet offsetting faces a fundamental challenge: the size of the offset requires estimating flows of warming pollution that would have occurred if the carbon-removal project hadn’t existed, and comparing them against flows with the project in place. The former — a baseline that is unobservable — is a hotbed for shady accounting.

The vast majority of offsets today and in the expected future come from forest-protection and regrowth projects. The track record of reliable accounting in these industries is poor, because they lack convincing baselines. Even with oversight, forest projects are often troubled by wild assumptions, for example that trees would disappear completely from these areas in the absence of those projects, even when there are other forest protections in place. Such assumptions drive up baselines and flood the market with huge volumes of offsets. They make it easier for accountants to claim a net reduction in emissions even though the atmosphere sees little or no benefit. These problems are essentially unfixable. Evidence is mounting that offsetting as a strategy for reaching net zero is a dead end.

In our view, this approach could prove dangerously narrow. Removing aviation’s impact on global warming means upending the industry. The longer that reality is overlooked, the harder it will be to find effective solutions.

1. What does aviation refer to in the passage?

A．A project which needs revising.	B．A resource which needs trading.
C．A market which needs expanding.	D．An industry which needs reforming.

2. Why should aviation companies buy emissions credits?

A．To support the development of forestry.	B．To earn the largest profit in offset market.
C．To keep the levels of emission unchanged.	D．To make up for emissions over the baseline.

3. What can we infer from paragraph 4?

A．Too many offsets are filling the market now.

B．Some projects may cheat to create more offsets.

C．Offsetting contributes a lot to reducing emissions.

D．Trees would totally disappear without the projects.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the CORSIA?

A．Disapproving.

B．Confused.

C．Favorable.

D．Unconcerned.

6 . We love our pets. In fact, for most people they are more than me re pets and become more like family members. It is likely then that their owners, at some point, are going to want photographs of their furry friends. However, pet photography presents its own special problems.     1     If you’re thinking of trying pet photography, here are a few pointers to get you started.

Find out about your subject’s personality and habits. Where does it nod off if the sun is out? What is its favourite toy?     2     It’s also worth spending a little time getting to know the animal yourself. Cats, dogs, horses, they all have personality, and you need to ensure they are comfortable being around you, and you around them.

    3     If the pet is comfortable with you, and if it isn’t too nervous, fill the frame with the pet’s face. Get the eyes nice and sharp. Just like humans, this is a natural point of focus, although focusing on the nose or mouth of a dog or cat can also make for an interesting image in its own right.

See the world from pets’ perspective. If you photograph a pet while you’re standing up, all you’re going to see is the top of their head and their backs, not what you want for a portrait. Get down to their eye level. Try pre-focusing your camera and just holding it at ground level so you can look up at the pet.     4    .

Bring a flash with the owner’s permission. While greeting or playing with a new pet, fire a couple of test flashes away from them to see their reaction. In daylight particularly, they never seem to mind the flash at all.     5    .

A．Think about getting in close to your subject.

B．It’s worth a try just for a new angle on things.

C．Animals can be unpredictable, lazy, aggressive and excitable.

D．A good photograph focuses on the subject and not the background.

E．If they do mind, then stick with natural light and use a white reflector.

F．The more you shoot, the greater your chances of hitting that perfect shot!

G．Take time to chat with the owner and observe your subject to gain some insight.

7 . With disastrous global warming already part of the climate system, today’s children face a future entirely unlike that of their parents. Unsurprisingly, children can have many feelings about climate change, such as being anxious, frightened, sad and angry. In a recent survey of American teenagers, 57 percent said that climate change made them feel scared and 52 percent said it made them feel angry.     1    .

The most important thing parents can give children is hope: there are solutions, and everyone has something to contribute, whatever their age. Parents can help them discover the facts, know that they are not alone and find ways to take action.     2    , which will help them manage their anxiety. It can also inspire constructive conversations that lead to collective action. However, that can feel hard for many parents.

    3    . But learning about the basics is “a critical first step in being able to talk”, according to Harriet Shugarman, who is the author of How to Talk to Your Kids About Climate Change. She is a nationally recognized influencer and trusted advisor to parents.     4    . Understanding the science equips them to make informed decisions.

Coverage includes:

·The realities of the climate emergency, where we are, and how we got here. It casts light on the historical progression of climate change.

·Strategies for talking to kids of different ages about the climate crisis. These include advice from experienced parents.

·How to keep our own hope and that of our children.

·A list of practical actions.     5    .

A．They tell families what they can do to deal with climate crisis

B．Use it as a chance to listen to their fears and hopes for the planet

C．Talking about climate change is key to preparing them for the future

D．Children can learn what a livable as well as green world looks like

E．These are very natural reactions to something uncertain and destructive

F．Parents needn’t be experts on climate science to explore the topic with children

G．This book offers both hope and practical ways to involve children in making a better world

8 . It takes almost two years to grow a pineapple before it’s ripe and ready for harvest. For rubber trees, it can take at least six years before latex (橡胶) can be collected. So you could imagine the frustration and heartbreak of seeing the fruits of a farmer’s patience and dedication destroyed in a matter of minutes. This has been the cruel reality for those living around Kui Buri National Park, where some of Thailand’s largest populations of Asian elephants hang out.

For years, these farmers have worked hard to make a living from their crops, only to witness it all damaged under the footsteps of the wild giants. But the elephants are not to blame; with their usual feeding spots now changed into farmland, there is little left for them to eat — except the massive fields of tempting, easily accessible juicy fruits, all lined up like a continental breakfast buffet.

While she felt angry about her damaged crops, farmer Nichakan Pongsarikit saw an opportunity that the mighty creatures offered. Embarking on a journey to become a local guide, she began learning more about the animals and their behavior, movement, and habitat, along with foreign language skills, with the support of the Kui Buri Conservation Association and WWF-Thailand.

“I used to never want to encounter the elephants,” she said, now entering her seventh year as a guide. “Now I want to see them every day.”

Like her, other affected farmers have also found innovative ways to embrace the situation. Some are now making handmade souvenirs from elephant-related products, such as natural dye (染料) and ‘poo poo’ paper from elephant dung (粪便), and selling them to tourists who come to visit the elephants in their natural habitat. While it does not come without challenges, this transformation demonstrates the economic benefits that conservation could bring to communities, and the vital role communities play in conservation.

1. What problem do the farmers face?

A．Asian elephants ruin their crops.

B．Domesticating elephants is challenging.

C．Kui Buri National Park gets damaged.

D．Thailand farmers have lost their land.

2. Why do the elephants come to the crop fields?

A．They are forced out of the park by the locals.

B．They have developed an appetite for crops.

C．They are fed by some local farmers.

D．They are losing their natural feeding grounds.

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．The farmers need to improve profits of their business.

B．No new elephant-related products will be launched.

C．Tourist-elephant conflicts will arise soon.

D．Economy goes hand in hand with ecological protection.

4. Which is most relevant to the message of the text?

A．Many hands make light work.	B．Misfortunes may be an actual blessing.
C．The early bird catches the worm.	D．Actions speak louder than words.

9 . A garden is a project that often requires a fairly large initial investment of both time and money from the start — as well as a commitment to maintain it.     1    . Those who like their home garden find it rewarding both as a place to relax, and as a fun and healthy hobby.

If you’re lucky enough to have a backyard, you can imagine the enjoyment you’d receive from changing that dusty, weedy dead space into a green, relaxing environment.     2    . With regular, low-level maintenance it will continue to thrive (茁壮成长）and provide you with pleasure.

So, how can you build a pleasant home garden? Some clever gardeners use drought-resistant plants such as cacti (仙人掌), and a little bit of watering and inspiration to produce spaces that are both relaxing and pleasing to the eye.     3    .

    4    . If you put in the plants and walkways yourself, it will be good for your health. Many people find that spending a while digging holes for trees or pulling weeds is easier to stomach than half an hour on a running machine, and who can blame them? It might take a while to see the fitness results, but a few days’ work can literally transform your yard.

There are many popular home garden books and magazines.     5    , as many books contain detailed plans for complex projects. Use these resources as a starting point and put together something uniquely yours — within the limits of your time and budget.

A．A trip to the library can help you get started

B．However, it is a deserving challenge for many people

C．A home garden can be a good workout as well as a place to relax

D．The shape of the space is often as important as its contents or size

E．Some do it for exercise and spend a little time outdoors on a sunny day

F．No matter what the circumstances, it’s possible to create a lovely home garden

G．Many gardeners also enjoy employing touches such as stone paths to create a nice atmosphere

10 . The Atacama Desert in northern Chile stretches from the Pacific to the Andes across an expanse of red-orange rock mountains and peaks. It’s a dream destination for tourists. But the Atacama Desert is also one of the world’s fast-growing dumps (垃圾场) of abandoned clothes. The scene in northern Chile has been shown in one online video-large amounts of abandoned clothes stretch as far as the eye can see.

Chile is home to one of South America’s largest duty-free ports-located in the coastal city of Iquique. The duty-free port was established in 1975 to help generate jobs and improve local economy. As fast fashion exploded, so did imports. Millions of tons of clothes arrive annually from all over the world.

“The free zone was a ’true transformation’ for the city’s residents,” says Bernardo Guerrero, a sociologist that studies Iquique’s history and culture. “They suddenly had access to things they could never have imagined.” Clothing began washing in and out of Iquique like waves as global fashions changed. Guerrero recalls a time when almost everybody in the city wore the same style of puffer jacket.

The free zone has also developed into a sorting site for abandoned clothes. Mehmet Yildiz, who operates a clothing import business, brings in clothes from the United States and Europe. Once the clothes reach Iquique, workers separate them into four categories according to quality. Yildiz then exports the best to other countries for resale. Clothing that the importers don’t want will be delivered a few miles outside Alto Hospicio, where it goes through another cycle of sorting and resale in street markets. Clothing that doesn’t sell at the market is sent to the desert, and much of it is made from materials that won’t biodegrade (生物降解).

As helpful as resale markets might have been in an earlier era, they’ve been flooded with the large amounts of the mounting discards. New efforts, large and small, are under way to deal with clothing waste, and attention to the mess in the desert may inspire additional projects.

1. What does the online video show about the Atacama Desert?

A．Its large area.	B．Its considerable fame.
C．Its natural beauty.	D．Its endless waste.

2. What does Guerrero think of the duty-free port?

A．It brought about disasters to Iquique.	B．It changed local people’s life rapidly.
C．It created lots of jobs for local people.	D．It was affected by the history of Iquique.

3. What can be inferred about the abandoned clothes from paragraph 4 ?

A．They are made in Iquique.	B．They are of excellent quality.
C．They may harm the environment.	D．They boost local economy greatly.

4. What does the underlined word "discards" in the last paragraph mean?

A．Things thrown away.	B．Clothes out of fashion.
C．Markets out of business.	D．Deserts occupied by waste.