1 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A.   banned F.   regularly

B. imperfect G. reusing

C. delivered H. throw

D. growing I. victim

E. embrace J. relatively

K. keep

Tips for More Sustainable Living

Making some small changes to your routine can pay off big in various ways:helping the planet while saving your time, money, or both. You will be surprised by how big a difference you can make with     1     little effort. Here’s some suggestions:

Give up throwing certain items. Your coffee grounds, and used tea leaves can be fertilizer (肥料) instead of being thrown in the trash. If you don’t have access to a fertilizer factory, you can hire a company to    2    pick up your leftover food for a fee.

Try to     3     the ugly. The fruit and vegetables that are odd-looking or    4     are actually good to use. It is easy to hide them in soups and yogurt. Don’t     5    away from these foods at the store and do sign up to have them    6     straight to your door through service such as Misfit Market, which offers ugly produce at discounted prices.

Forget fast fashion. The average American throws away 82 pounds of fast fashion clothing each year. Thankfully, there’s a(n)     7    number of companies that prioritize sustainability, producing fewer but longer-lasting articles, often made with organic fabrics and eco-friendly dyes. When clothing is truly at its end, consider     8     it as cleaning duster.

Don’t get cheated. Because of the consumer trend toward more eco-friendly products, many companies make exaggerated (夸张的) claims about their own efforts. For instance, a brand might boast that its products are free of a certain chemical, even though that chemical has been     9     for decades. This is called green-washing. Avoid falling    10    to it by looking for certifications such as “Fair Trade Certified” or “Rainforest Alliance Certified.”

2 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Throughout the world, only 15% of the material that are used to make clothing is properly recycled, according to the Alle SacUrthur Club, an organization in Liverpool, UK, that boosts the circular economy. Most clothing waste—an     1    (estimate) 82 million tonnes from the fashion industry alone-produced every year ends up buried or burnt.

    2    (handle) all that waste, methods to recover and reuse the material are intended as an active response to the future risks by researchers and start-up companies. Much of their focus is on chemical recycling,     3     the material is broken down into its building blocks and applied to create new materials, including fibres that     4     (weave) into new clothes. The challenges lie in     5     (develop) the processes for such treatment. They have to be practical, but they also have to be at least as cost-effective as simply making new fibres.

    6     the natural cellulose fibres from cotton, some other materials include human-made cellulosic fibres. They are derived from wood-pulp cellulose and may be used to produce materials such as viscose (rayon) and a similar material called lyocell.

A change in the manufacturing process is being applied to the textile-waste problem by Essen, a start-up in Seattle, Washington.     7     the company has fundamentally devoted to the process is that it uses discarded textiles, instead of wood, as the source of its cellulose. It has also adjusted the process to produce a fibre that the firm’s co-founder and president Christo Stan says is superior to     8     other cellulosics and cotton, and that can be recycled more times.

Although there are abundant technical challenges, the main barrier     9     widespread textile recycling could be economic, says materials engineer Lijiang Jiang at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Atlanta. “Most of the materials are not that invaluable,” Jiang says. So cheap it is to produce polyester, cotton and other fabrics     10     there’s little profit margin unless the recycling processes themselves are very inexpensive.

3 . Choose the suitable word or phrase from A--O to fill in the blanks to make the passage grammatically and coherently correct.

A. down       B. across       C. make       D. pull       E. set out F. terrible       G. explorer       H. strategies       I. carried       J. ran out of K. determined       L. expedition       M. achievement       N. disappointed       O. a pair of

The race to the South Pole is a famous story. Captain Scott and a Norwegian     1     called Ronald Amundsen both wanted to get there first. They both prepared for many months, but in the end their    2     for reaching the pole were very different：Amundsen used dogs to    3     his sleds and Scott used motorized sleds and horses. Amundsen had good weather during his     4    , but Scott had bad weather. When Scott’s team     5     from the hut on 1 November 1911, there were     6     snowstorms and the sleds broke     7    . After a few weeks, the horse died and most of his team turned back. In the end, only five men     8    on to the South Pole: Scott, Oates, Evans, Bowers and Wilson.

On 17 January 1912, Scott’s team reached the Pole and came     9     the Norwegian flag——Amundsen’s team were there before them and were already racing back to tell the world. Tired and     10    , Scott’s team made their way back home, but they     11     food and got lost in snowstorms; they did not     12     it.

In Scott’s Hut, there is still    13     old explorer’s boots. Scott wore these boots for years and they are dirty and broken, but they’re very special too. They tell us Scott’s story--that he was hard-working, ambitious and     14    , and that he pushed himself to the limit. Although the attempt was unsuccessful, Scott never gave up, and that’s an amazing     15    .

4 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A.catches B.combined C. contributors D. demand E. driver F.mere G.pressing H.prosperity I. speeds J.thirstiest K. trends

Feeding nine billion

When we think about threats to the environment, we tend to picture cars-not dinner. But the truth is, our     1    for food causes one of the biggest dangers to the planet.

Agriculture is among the greatest     2     to global warming. It emits more greenhouse gases than all our cars, trucks, trains, and airplane     3    —largely from methane released by cattle and rice farms, nitrous oxide from fertilized fields and carbon dioxide from the cutting of rain forests to grow crops or raise livestock. Farming is the     4     user of our precious water supplies and a major polluter, as runoff from fertilizers and manure pollute lakes, rivers, and coastal ecosystems across the globe. Agriculture also     5    up the loss of biodiversity: As we’ve cleared areas of grassland and forest for farms, we’ve lost crucial habitat making agriculture a major     6     of wildlife extinction

The environmental challenges caused by agriculture are huge, and they’ll only become more     7     as we try to meet the growing need for food worldwide. We’ll likely have 2 billion more mouths to feed by mid-century-more than 9 billion people. But population growth isn’t the     8     reason we’ll need more food. The spread of     9     across the world is driving an increased need for meat, eggs, and dairy, boosting pressure to grow more corn and soybeans to feed more cattle, pigs, and chickens. If these     10     continue, the population growth and meat-and-dairy-intensive diets will require us to roughly double the amount of crops we grow by 2050.

5 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. respectively       B. vision                 C. rebounded       D. decoupling       E. respectably F. promoting          G. commitments       H. emitters          I. peak                 J. remaining            K. urgent

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Asean (东盟) region are estimated to increase in the same period, based on the latest Nationally determined contributions (NDC) targets up to 2030.

To keep the Paris Agreement temperature goal within reach, Dr Beni Suryadi, Centre for Energy Manager at the Asean Secretariat, stated that ASEAN needs to achieve     1    emissions as soon as possible after 2030 and net-zero GHG emissions as soon as possible after 2050.

However,     2    of the growth in GDP and energy-related CO2 emissions is observed only in a handful of the Asean member states.

“It is vital to reduce energy intensity through lower energy demand and further energy savings and to reduce emission intensity by     3    renewable energy expansion,” he said.

“Current policies need to be enhanced to achieve the NDC targets. The     4    under the NDCs will provide Asean with a better perspective of the need for a more ambitious course of action on mitigation（缓解） in the future. Ambitious energy policies can significantly reduce GHG emission and helps our     5    towards low carbon economies and climate resilient nations.”

Earlier in his presentation, Dr Beni highlighted, “a brief record-breaking drop in climate change – causing carbon emissions during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. However, nowadays we continue to hear the news and read reports that say that global emissions have already     6    to near pre-pandemic levels”.

“While we are grateful to learn that the economy is reviving and we see economic activities taking place everywhere, there is a(n)     7    need for us to limit the growth of emissions. Global GHG emissions continue to rise, at a time when they need to be rapidly falling.”

At the global level, he said, “It is recorded that almost three-quarters of the GHG emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use; and the     8    eight per cent from industry and waste”.

He also noted that the electricity and transport sectors start out as and remain the biggest     9    of GHGs and air pollution in Asean.

“If the Asean member states do what is needed to fully achieve their own national energy efficiency and renewable energy targets, as well as their climate commitments, Asean’s total energy- related GHG emissions in 2040 will be 3,002 MtCO2-eq, 28 per cent lower than in the baseline scenario.

“Power generation remains the largest sectoral contributor, accounting for about 40 per cent and 46 per cent of total GHG emissions from energy in 2025 and 2040,     10    .

“Furthermore, if Asean fulfilled its regional aspirational targets on the energy efficiency and renewable energy, Asean will be able to reduce GHG emissions more sharply to only 2,264 Mt CO2-eq in 2040,” he said.

6 . In the Death Zone of Mount Everest

Mountain climbers call the part of a mountain over 7,000 meters the Death Zone. The human body can’t live for very long at this height, because the air is too thin and there isn’t enough oxygen. Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, is 8,848 meters high. What happens to the bodies of people who climb it?

Their lungs have to work very hard. Normally, people breathe about 20 times every minute when they are resting. On top of Everest, climbers must breathe 70 to 80 times a minute to get enough oxygen.     1     Other parts of the body work very slowly, to save energy. For example, the stomach stops digesting food.

    2     They have insomnia (失眠), so they always feel tired. They get very bad headaches. The sun burns their skin through the thin air, and the bright light from the snow hurts their eyes. Because they have nausea (恶心) and indigestion, they don’t want to eat, and that makes them weaker. In the dry air, they feel thirsty all the time.

Climbing on Everest also affects the brain.     3     Scientists have tested this by speaking to climbers with radios. They ask questions like, “If John is taller than Tom, who is shorter?” This is probably very easy for you to answer. But at the top of Everest, climbers have to think a long time to find the answer, and they often make mistakes. Because the climbers can’t think well, they sometimes make bad decisions and get into accidents.

Even with all these difficulties, more than 2,500 people have reached the top of Mount Everest.     4     Now, almost all climbers breathe from oxygen tanks. They use radios to communicate with people at the bottom, so they can get advice if they’re not thinking clearly. There are medicines to help them with headaches and lung problems.

A．But Mount Everest is still one of the most difficult and dangerous environments on Earth.

B．As they get closer to the top of the mountain, climbers feel worse and worse.

C．Your brain thinks very slowly, because it doesn’t have enough oxygen.

D．Scientists have found ways to solve some of their problems.

E．Only the strongest bodies can survive up there in the Death Zone.

F．The heart must beat faster to move the blood through the body.

7 . In 2004, Pen Hadow became the first person to trek (跋涉) to the North Pole alone, without being resupplied on the way. That meant swimming through unimaginably cold waters, and risking encounters with polar bears. Just eight months later, he made a similar trip to the South Pole. Now he is back in the Arctic again, preparing for an expedition (远征) he says is even more ambitious. Explorers are confident, driven individuals. They have to be. This time, however, more significance is attached. Pen and two colleagues will set out on a three-month, 1000-kilometre trek to the North Pole, taking detailed measurements of the thickness and density of the ice. Nobody has ever done this before, and he knows the results will be of vital significance to the scientific community. This will be the truest picture yet of what global warming is doing to the ice that covers the polar region.

Pen and his wife, Mary, live in the country with their two children. “It’s much harder to be away from them this time,” he admits. They were one and five when I last went, and I made a mistake in the way I said goodbye. I thought it would be a good idea to say to my son, “You’re the man of the house now, look after your mum and your sister.” He absolutely took it to heart, asking his mum how she was all the time, but the stress eventually became too much. While it was well intentioned, it was an unfair thing to do.

He is spending these last days before departure preparing his things. “Out on the ice, one is virtually unable to mend things or do anything that isn’t absolutely straightforward,” he says. With him will be Ann Daniels, one of the world’s leading polar explorers, and the photographer, Martin Hartley. They will be supported by a crew of six, flying in supplies. Being part of a team is actually more stressful to someone with his mentality, says Pen, and something else is on his mind too. “I’m going to be 47 on Thursday. I’ve done far less training than I’m comfortable with.” Why? “Organisational things always seem more urgent. So I’m almost fearful of what I’m going to ask of myself.”

Pen believes his mission reconnects exploration with the search for knowledge that drove previous generations into the unknown. “Making it to the North Pole was a personal ambition,’”he admits, “and of limited value to anyone beyond the polar adventuring community. This time, scientists will profit from the data, and we’re creating a platform in which to engage as many people as possible in what’s happening in the Arctic Ocean. This is important work, and nobody can do it but us,” he says. “Our skills, which are otherwise not that necessary, have become really relevant. Suddenly, we’re socially useful again.”

1. In the first paragraph, what do we learn about Pen Hadow’s opinion of the new expedition?

A．He feels certain that it will be stressful.

B．He is aware of the huge importance of its aims.

C．He thinks it may be harder than his previous journeys.

D．He is less than confident of the scientific work it involves.

2. What does “took it to heart” (in paragraph 2) mean?

A．He started to feel unwell.	B．He memorised his father’s words.
C．He was afraid of the responsibility.	D．He carried out his father’s words carefully.

3. What is worrying Pen about the new expedition?

A．Whether he will be mentally prepared

B．Whether he will still be fit enough to take part.

C．Whether the arrangements he has made will turn out well.

D．Whether the equipment will work properly in icy conditions.

4. When he compares the new expedition to his previous ones, Pen feels ________.

A．uncertain if it will collect information.

B．doubtful about its long-term usefulness

C．pleased that more people will benefit from it

D．relieved that the general public will be more supportive

8 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. confused       B. adaptable       C floating       D. decaying       E. attempts F. imitated       G. attached       H. signs       I. samples       J. relatively       K. steady

Though it is not unusual to find marine animals under the Antarctica seafloor, researchers had always assumed that there would be few     1     of life farther away from open water and sunlight. However, the discovery of filter-feeding (滤食的) organisms— 160 miles away from the open ocean, with temperatures of -2.2℃ and under complete darkness— suggests that life in the world’s harshest environment may be more     2     than previously thought.

In 2017, BAS geologist James Smith and his colleagues conducted a three-month expedition to the middle of Antarctica’s Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, to collect     3     of the seafloor deposits. The team drilled through the half-mile of ice by pumping almost 20,000 liters of hot water through a pipe. After about 20 hours of painstaking work, they were finally able to reach the seabed underneath.

However, when the scientists lowered the instrument, along with a camera, to collect the soil, it came up empty. After multiple failed     4    — each round trip taking about an hour— the researchers took a closer look at the footage and noticed a massive stone sitting amid the     5     flat seabed. Even more surprisingly, the rock was covered with stationary animals, like sponges (海绵) and potentially unknown species.

The finding has     6     many scientists given that certain organisms, such as sponges and coral polyps (珊瑚虫), which live their entire lives     7     to rocks, or other hard surfaces, need food supplies. In the open water, the “marine snow,” as the food is called, comes from     8     organic matter, which drifts down from the upper waters to the deep ocean. However, the species in such depth are too far from the open sea to receive     9     supplies of nutrients. To make matters worse, due to the area’s strong ocean currents, the food has to travel anywhere from 370 to 930 miles to get to them.

“This is by far the furthest under an ice shelf that we’ve seen any of these filter-feeding animals,” said Smith. “These things are stuck on a rock and only get fed if something comes     10     along.”