1 . The idea of billions of people going through a few masks a week during this pandemic definitely rings alarm bells, but a team of researchers in Melbourne may have the solution.
They’ve discovered that adding millions of discarded face masks to road-paving (铺路) mixtures would actually lower the cost of the road, while preventing billions of them from landfills. Just one kilometer of road would need three million masks, and the polypropylene(聚丙烯) plastic used to make single-use surgical face masks also increased the flexibility and durability of the road.
The new material is a mixture of about 2% torn masks and recycled concrete aggregate(RCA)—a material obtained from waste concrete and other minerals from destroyed buildings. This recycled material was found in the study to be ideal for two of the four layers generally required to create roadways. Paving a kilometer of two-way road with the RCA and three million face masks would result in a change of 93 tons of waste from landfills.
The final product then is more resistant to wear than asphalt(沥青), as well as being cheaper too, provided there was a method for collecting masks. The research team did a cost-analysis and found that, at $26 per ton, the RCA was about half the cost of mining raw materials, and as much as a third of the cost of shipping the used masks to a landfill.
The widespread application would be ideal for large infrastructure(基础设施) projects. For example, Washington has the 11th worst roads in terms of unaddressed repairs in the U.S. If the damaged roads in Washington state were repaired with the RCA/mask mixture, it would reuse nearly 10 billion masks, sparing American landfills hundreds of millions of tons of trash.
It’s said that the team is looking for private industry partners or governments willing to give their plastic mask road an opportunity for a large-scale test.
1. What does the underlined word “discarded” mean in paragraph 2?| A．Recycled | B．Produced | C．Abandoned | D．Mixed |
| A．2% torn masks, concrete and tons of trash. |
| B．Polypropylene plastic and building materials. |
| C．Waste concrete and other minerals from destroyed buildings. |
| D．Single-use surgical masks and recycled concrete aggregate. |
| A．To prove this material is cost-effective in paving roads. |
| B．To tell us what the team has found |
| C．To explain repairing roads costs a lot of materials |
| D．To praise the hard work the team has done. |
| A．The material used to pave roads is made of masks. |
| B．Generally speaking, it requires two layers to create roadways. |
| C．The damaged roads in Washington were repaired with the RCA. |
| D．It remains to be tested whether the solution is practical. |
2 . Arens, a driver of a delivery company, was making his rounds near a pond in Bozeman, Montana, when he heard an unearthly sound.
It was December 2018, and about 15 feet from the frozen banks was the source of that cry — a half-submerged brown-and-white wirehaired dog, struggling to hold on to a thin layer of ice.
How she got there no one knows, but an elderly man was already on the scene, determined to save her. The elderly man had entered the pond in a rowboat and was hacking away at the ice with a rock to create a path to the dog. It was slow going, and Arens, 44, thought he stood a better chance. He took off his clothes, even though the temperature was -30℃, and jumped into the rowboat.
His heart beating fast, Arens slid closer to the dog and used the other man’s rock to smash away at the ice. He gave himself a strong pull and slipped off the boat, crashing into 16 feet of freezing water. He resurfaced in time to see the dog going under. Using nervous energy to keep warm, he swam about five feet toward her, grabbed hold of her collar, and pulled her to the ice. He then boosted the dog into the boat and slid it back to the shore, where anxious bystanders carried the dog to the home of the rowboat owner.
Once in the house himself, Arens jumped into a warm shower with the dog until they both felt warmer.
A few more minutes in the pond, the vet (兽医) told Arens, and she would have likely suffered heart failure.
The next day, Arens was back working in the same neighborhood when the dog’s owner came over to thank him for saving Sadie.
Arens says, “That special delivery was the highlight of my career.”
1. What does the underlined word “hacking” in paragraph three most probably mean?| A．Finding. | B．Cutting. | C．Revising. | D．Adopting. |
| A．He had an advantage in age. | B．He was able to jump into the rowboat. |
| C．He had better nerves to keep warm. | D．He was a faster swimmer. |
| A．After saving the dog, Arens carried her home. |
| B．Arens jumped into the river on seeing the dog. |
| C．Without Aren’s help, the dog could hardly survive. |
| D．The dog was hunting when she fell into the water. |
| A．A special delivery of a driver. | B．A story of a pet lover. |
| C．A dog suffering from heart attack. | D．A fight against freezing waste. |
On one late-autumn day, Wang Ting,
“Autumn is usually the best season for Taiyuan,” Wang said. “But that was not necessarily true in the past for the city,
A change for the better, not only in Taiyuan but the entire Shanxi Province,
Statistics from the Shanxi Department of Ecology and Environment show that
During a recent news conference, Wang Yanfeng, head of the department, said that Shanxi has been holding the idea that green mountains and clear waters are
“Our initiatives include upgrading local industries to clean production,
After the industrial upgrades, Shanxi,
1. What does the man suggest?
| A．Warning drivers of air pollution. |
| B．Encouraging people to walk. |
| C．Limiting the use of cars. |
| A．The lack of the governments support. |
| B．More and more serious air pollution. |
| C．Peopled dependence on driving cars. |
| A．It’s interesting. | B．It’s impractical. | C．It’s worth trying. |
5 . Ice-coated vines (葡萄藤) stretched across hillsides around Chablis, France, as the region had a temperature of -5°C on Monday. Fruit growers are worried that the frost will kill off large numbers of early buds (花蕾) and disturb the whole growing season.
The frost is particularly disturbing after a similar phenomenon hit French vineyards last year, leading to some 2 billion euros in losses. Scientists later found that the damaging 2021 frost was more likely made by climate change.
Some growers tried to warm the vines with electrical lines, or set up special watering systems, or spray (喷洒) the buds with water to protect them from frost. The water creates a thin layer of ice that ensures the buds’ temperature remains around freezing point but does not drop much lower.
Daniel-Etienne Defaix, whose vineyard has been producing wine for 400 years and lived through many climate disasters, calls what’s happening now “a very, very serious frost”. He placed candles on the soil to protect about five hectares (亩) of his most valuable grapes, but had to leave the remaining 25 hectares to face the force of nature. At a cost of 10 euros per candle, and 600 candles per hectare, it was too costly to save the rest of the grapes.
The 2021 April frost led to what French government officials described as “probably the greatest agricultural disaster of the beginning of the 21st century”. The pattern was similar: an intense April 6-8 frost after a lengthy warm period in March.
The researchers concluded that the warming caused by humans had coaxed the plants so that they exposed their young leaves earlier than usual, before a burst of Arctic cold reached Europe in April.
1. What did Daniel-Etienne Defaix do to protect his vines?| A．Heat the vines with electrical lines. |
| B．Spray the buds with water. |
| C．Set up special watering systems. |
| D．Warm the vines with candles. |
| A．Growers can save most of their crops. |
| B．The 2022 frost is the worst in history. |
| C．Humans are to blame for the damage. |
| D．The weather was normal last March. |
| A．Protected. | B．Dried. | C．Tricked. | D．Delayed. |
| A．Causes for Early Budding |
| B．Late Frost Threatens Vine Crops |
| C．Creative Ways to Save Vines |
| D．Global Warming Brings Extreme Weather |
Against a backdrop of misty green forests and with its buildings on silts (桩) above the River Tuo, Fenghuang is a picturesque place to spend a day or two. Its winding alleys, lined with traditional shops and temples, lead
Ai though the town can get
Fenghuang itself does have a section of rebuilt Ming city walls
7 . Scientists near San Francisco work to identify a type of endangered fish using a tool that was originally made for treating cancer.
Currently, CRISPR is used to change the genetic material in specific cells. By changing the structure of immune cells, it helps recognize and fight cancer. The same technology is now used in a special machine called Sherlock, which, of course, is named after the famous investigator Sherlock Holmes. They do not, however, use Sherlock to change fish cells. Instead, the ocean researchers catch the fish, collect a small amount of mucus (黏液) and then test the cells to find the genetic makeup of the fish. It can be done in about 30 minutes. In the past, the researchers would have to wait weeks or months to get test results.
The researchers have found that the technology is extremely helpful when looking at different species of Chinook salmon, because they look nearly the same. However, some of them are endangered, and the scientists need to keep track of them.
In the past, the scientists would catch the Chinook salmon and measure them to tell them apart. “It’s not very accurate,” said Andrea Schreier, an associate professor at the University of California in Davis. Now she is working on the salmon. Schreier said when they catch the fish, the Sherlock machine can quickly tell them if they have one of the special salmon. It’s important because it allows the scientists to do things that will help the endangered salmon live longer. For example, they can catch them in lakes far away from the coast and take them by truck to the San Francisco Bay. In the past, the fish might have tried to make it to the Bay by swimming in rivers. However, due to climate change, the river water is sometimes too warm for the fish to make the trip safely.
Schreier said she feels good about the project because she likes being able to assist with conservation. “I really want to work to maintain our ecosystems and our native populations as much as possible, given all of the pressures that we humans place on them through our different activities.”
1. Which of the following best describe the technology?| A．Immature. | B．Efficient. | C．Inaccurate. | D．Economical. |
| A．They test the fish mucus to tell them apart. | B．They are carried out by researchers in the lab. |
| C．They help researchers tell different salmons apart. | D．They originally aimed at detecting cancer. |
| A．They will soon die out. | B．They are of the same size. |
| C．They are now well protected. | D．They are used to cool water. |
| A．She thinks humans are greatly pressured. | B．She can now spend less time on her work. |
| C．She is rather devoted to the conservation. | D．She thinks her work needs improvement. |
8 . Urban gardens are valuable property to communities. They provide green spaces to grow sustainable food, build community cohesion (凝聚力) make new friends, connect with the earth, and much no re. So, let’s check out our list of four inspiring urban gardens in the US.
Got ham Greens
Where: New York & Chicago
What: Got ham Greens first started in Brooklyn and now has four locations in New York City and Chicago. Their flagship farm in Brooklyn produced over 100,000 pounds of greens per year. But it doesn’t just produce healthy local vegetables. It is using high-teach green houses with solar panels to make sure the food grown is healthy and sustainable.
Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students
Where: Baltimore, Mary land
What: The Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students (BUGS) program encouraged students to get their hands dirty and plant vegetables through their after-school and summer programs. Many of these kids don’t have access to green spaces, and have never had the opportunity to grow food.
ReVision Urban Farm
Where: Boston, Massachusetts
What: ReVision Urban Farm in Boston works in partnership with the ReVision Family Home——a shelter for 22 homeless parents and their kids. The farm provided these families with information on healthy eating, and access to the farm’s fresh vegetables. The organization also provided job training to help families escape the cycle of poverty.
Swale
Where: New York
What: scale, a floating food forest located on a large boat, is an innovative project meant to inspire citizens to rethink the relationship between our cities and our food. This urban garden serves as both a living art exhibit and an educational farm, Food forests are sustainable gardens that include vegetables, fruit, nut trees, bushes, herbs, and vine——each one complementing the other in a symbiotic (共生的) relationship.
1. What is special about Got ham Greens?| A．It provides job training for students. |
| B．It offers homeless families formation on healthy eating |
| C．It creates a sustainable garden on a large boat. |
| D．It uses high-tech green houses to grow healthy food. |
| A．Got ham Greens. | B．Revision Urban Farm. |
| C．Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students | D．Scale. |
| A．They are inspirational multinational project. | B．They have educational and entertaining purpose. |
| C．They create job opportunities for farmers. | D．They are important for citizens. |
9 . While the situation may be improving, much of the world is still under the shadow of COVID-19 and its associated containment measures. But according to a study published in the scientific journal Cell, an unlikely friend could help defeat the virus.
Known for their long legs and beautiful eyelashes, llamas (美洲驼) — specifically their antibodies (抗体) — are believed to play an important role in the fight against the virus.
Having experimented with antibodies from a llama called Winter years ago, a small lab at Ghent University in Belgium had a eureka moment earlier this year. They found that llama antibodies were able to neutralize (中和) both the MERS and SARS viruses — two strains of the coronavirus that caused previous outbreaks in 2012 and 2003, respectively.
Done in cooperation with the University of Texas, US, studies showed their effectiveness against COVID-19.
Jason McLellan, from the University of Texas at Austin and co-author of the study, said, “This is one of the first antibodies known to neutralize SARS-CoV-2.”
Antibodies are like your body’s defense system. Similar to tiny soldiers, they protect your body from invaders (入侵者) and destroy them before they can spread. But what makes llama antibodies so special is their small size, which enables them to better fight the virus by sticking to its spikes (刺突) more easily. This will prevent attachment and entry, which effectively neutralizes the virus.
The encouraging results have led to rapid development and testing of the antibodies so that they can be tested on humans as soon as possible. However, the study’s co-author, Xavier Saelens, from Ghent University noted that “there is still a lot of work to do to bring this into the clinic”. But he added that “if it works, llama Winter deserves a statue”.
1. Who is the unlikely friend mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．A researcher. | B．A system. | C．A virus. | D．An animal. |
| A．It’s terrible. | B．I’m fed up. | C．I found it. | D．Let’s try harder. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Hopeful. | C．Negative. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．The MERS virus caused a previous outbreak in 2003. |
| B．The small size enables llama antibodies to better fight the virus. |
| C．The llama antibodies’ tying to the spikes is able to kill the spikes. |
| D．It won’t be long before llama antibodies are ready for clinical use. |
1.请求帮助；
2.修改要求。
注意：
1.词数80左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
参考词汇：解说词—narration
Dear Ophelia,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
