1 . It should be one of the main goals in today's society to reduce plastic consumption. Though many believe recycling will solve the problem, it's actually the opposite. In 2013,254 million tons of trash was produced in the U.S. alone, and only around 30% was recycled. This means the rest ended up in a landfill and will stay there for up to 1000 years.
Recently, China has stopped importing trash from all over the world. Before this, over 30% of the world's waste would end up in China, causing a popular belief that Asian countries are those responsible for creating the majority of the waste in the world. Now, Asian countries are looking for new ideas to avoid the plastic. One of those ideas was a new, eco-friendly way to pack their goods by avoiding plastic packaging.
One of Perfect Homes Chiangmai's team members, Sam, noticed a creative way to reduce plastic that a supermarket called Rimping Supermarket was using and decided to capture their shelves with his phone. Little did he know that people all around the world would absolutely love this idea. “I just stepped in to get a few items while we were waiting to sign some contracts with our lawyer, who was delayed. I noticed the vegetables wrapped in banana leaves and simply liked the idea. So I took a few pictures and posted them online,” he said. With more than 3.5million views and over 17 thousand shares, the idea becomes something people can encourage more supermarkets to implement.
Some have noticed that not everything on the shelves is completely plastic-free. Many products come to the supermarkets pre-packaged and many companies are interested in wrapping their products in plastic since it is the cheapest and the easiest option. It's now up to the shoppers to show the supermarket which they prefer. If everyone opts for the banana leaf packaging, they will probably stop storing the items in plastic.
1. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?| A．The majority of the trash produced in the U.S. was recycled. |
| B．Asian countries are to blame for creating most of the world's waste. |
| C．Nearly one third of the world's waste ended up in China until recently. |
| D．All of the U.S. trash will end up in a landfill and stay there for 1000 years. |
| A．To buy some items. | B．To post their shelves online. |
| C．To take photos of the vegetables. | D．To sign some contracts with the shopkeeper. |
| A．measures. | B．chooses. | C．conveys. | D．exchanges. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. | C．Subjective. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．The park. | B．The library. | C．The gym. |
3 . Despite these efforts to prevent the spread of invasive (入侵的) species, they keep increasing across the planet. For example, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has identified a list of the 100 “world’s worst” invaders that have spread across the planet, with little hope of controlling them. The list includes eight species of fish. They are highly valued by people for food or entertainment, and thus not only are they difficult to control, but people may not wish to control them. An example would be rainbow trout (虹鳟鱼). Although rainbow trout has demonstrated impacts on native species and ecosystems, this species is unlikely to be controlled soon.
The example highlights the difficult task in controlling biological invasions.Although control can work sometimes, this often can’t completely remove the invader. Furthermore, control isn’t always an option when invaders are species people desire, or control efforts harm native species.
Given the difficulty of preventing or controlling biological invasions, what should we do? One way is to focus on the impacts of invasions rather than the invaders themselves. For example, it may be possible to manage the undesirable impacts without fully controlling them. This approach is like managing undesirable symptoms of a disease that cannot be cured. For invasive species, undesirable symptoms are the negative impacts on native species or ecosystems.
Managing the impacts of invaders needn’t be the only method. It can be combined with more conventional measures of prevention and control to design more effective strategies. Adding the option of managing impacts without the need for control opens up new opportunities for dealing with the challenges of managing biological invasions. We hope this will inspire people to work more closely to understand ways to minimize the threat posed by invaders as there seems no choice but to learn how to live with them.
1. Why don’t some people want to control rainbow trout?| A．They value it for entertainment or food. |
| B．The rainbow trout is very clever. |
| C．They are short of advanced tools. |
| D．The rainbow trout is too strong. |
| A．People may be short of food. |
| B．Serious pollution may be caused. |
| C．Harmful species will grow quickly. |
| D．Native species can be harmed. |
| A．To show biological invasions are harmful. |
| B．To show biological invasions can spread diseases. |
| C．To tell us to treat biological invasions in a similar way. |
| D．To show biological invasions are unable to control. |
| A．Reducing the threat to the lowest level. |
| B．Taking good care of them. |
| C．Keeping away from them. |
| D．Getting rid of them completely. |
4 . I dropped off a bag of my children’s worn-out jeans to a local tailor and when she returned them with brightly colored, patterned patches(补丁) on all the knees, their lives unexpectedly became longer by several more years. Both my kids and I loved those pants, so unique and impossible to buy. This was my first experience with “visible mending”.
Visible mending(VM) is different from traditional mending in that it makes the repair a central point, rather than combining it into the original clothes. There are many reasons for this, from drawing attention to the fact that clothes’ lifetimes have become long and challenging the idea that secondhand clothes are only worn by the poor, to simply adding a personalized touch.
Kate Sekules is a well-known advocate for visible mending. The British-born, Brooklyn-based writer, clothes historian and mending instructor has a new book coming out in September. It is a call to action for clothes lovers of all skill levels to take needles and threads to their beloved clothes. She reassures readers that anyone can do it.
“The skills are easy to pick up: visible mending is for everyone. The only way to go wrong is to say, ‘I can’t. ’It is a skill, but of a modern way. There are many ways to create VM, and there will never be another one like yours. Though you will never sew two mends the same, you will develop a style of your own.”
Sekules spends the first several chapters explaining why practicing visible mending matters so much. She writes about the current fashion industry, and how destructive it is, from the vast quantities of textiles(纺织品) and plastic waste and poisonous runoff poisoning rivers around the world, to the terrible conditions in which clothes workers work. So, rather than waiting around for the companies to clean up their acts, we individuals can effect tiny yet meaningful changes by picking up our needles and threads and wearing our clothes for longer.
1. How did the author feel about visible mending?| A．A little puzzled. | B．Very satisfied. |
| C．Pretty shocked. | D．Rather disappointed. |
| A．Focusing on the repair. | B．Adding a personalized touch. |
| C．Combining it into the original one. | D．Looking for the original materials. |
| A．When we need to do visual mending. |
| B．How we can master the unusual skill. |
| C．What we should do when sewing. |
| D．Why visual mending is special and easy to learn. |
| A．It is difficult to keep up with the newest fashion. |
| B．Fashion connects with social development closely. |
| C．It is surprising how fashion changes over the years. |
| D．The fashion industry can be harmful to the environment. |
5 . On Sept. 21, 2020, scientists announced that Arctic sea ice has already lost two-thirds of its amount over the past four decades. It is part of a shocking trend in polar heating that is already seeing impacts across the globe.
Throughout the spring and summer, Arctic sea ice melted away faster than it usually does, causing the largest loss of Arctic sea ice cover since satellite records began in the 1970s. This year's minimum was reached on September 15, at 3.74 million m² compared with the previous low—4.17 million m²—set in 2007.
What's causing this loss of sea ice? The short answer is our heating climate. A recent study showed that the influence of heat has more than doubled over the past decade or so, which means the melting of nearly a meter thickness of sea ice each year.
The biggest effects of the loss of Arctic sea ice, of course, will be felt locally: from the more possible snowfall to more storms with stronger winds. These will also cause waves as well as rising temperatures. In fact, the increased temperatures transformed northern forests into tinderboxes ready to burn. That melt also means polar bears are losing critical habitat and Inuit hunters are losing ice to preserve their traditions and culture.
On a larger scale, the greatest impact may be the changes in the Arctic 's ability io function as a cooling system for the global ocean. A warmer Arctic will affect the temperature differences between the northern polar region and areas further south. That may, in turn, create stronger heat waves, droughts, floods and potential impacts on farming. And all of us will be more exposed to the disastrous effects of climate breakdown.
We need to hit the reset button right now on how we look after each other and Arctic sea ice to help our planet cope with the climate breakdown.
1. What do the figures in Paragraph 2 show us?| A．The ways of sea ice melting. | B．The reasons for sea ice melting. |
| C．The big fall in the amount of sea ice. | D．The great damage of sea ice melting. |
| A．The reduction of snowfall. | B．The global climate emergency. |
| C．The direct outbreak of forest fires. | D．The disappearance of Inuit hunters. |
| A．Stressing the importance of oceans. | B．Warning people of the possible risks. |
| C．Putting forward some useful measures. | D．Appealing to the public to protect Arctic sea ice. |
| A．The earth is facing a catastrophe. | B．Climate breakdown is on the way. |
| C．Global heating sees Arctic sea ice loss. | D．Arctic sea ice is important for mankind. |
6 . It's a popular belief that a fish's memory lasts for only seven seconds. It may seem sad to think that they don't remember what they've eaten or where they've been, and they don't identify you or any of their friends — every moment in their life would be like seeing the world for the first time.
But don't be so quick to feel sorry for them. A new study has found that fish have a much better memory than we used to think. In fact, certain kinds of fish can even remember events from as long as 12 days ago. In the study, researchers from Mac Ewan University in Canada trained a kind of fish called African cichlids to go to a certain area of their tank to get food. They then waited for 12 days before putting them back in the tank again. Researchers used computer software to monitor the fish's movements. They found that after such a long break the fish still went to the same place where they first got food. This suggested that they could remember their past experiences.
In fact, scientists had been thinking for a long time that African cichlids might have a good memory. An earlier study showed that they behaved aggressively in front of certain fish, perhaps because they remembered their past “fights”. But until the latest findings, there was no clear evidence.
Just as a good memory can make our lives easier, it also plays an important part when a fish is trying to survive in the wild." If fish are able to remember that a certain area contains safe food, they will be able to go back to that area without putting their lives at risks, “ lead researcher Trevor Hamilton told Live Science.
For a long time, fish were placed far below chimpanzees, dolphins and mice on the list of smart animals. But this study has given scientists a new understanding of their intelligence.
1. According to Paragraph 1, people commonly believe that .| A．fish can return to the area where they've been before |
| B．fish can remember things that happened long time ago |
| C．fish can remember things for only seven seconds |
| D．fish can well recognize their friends |
| A．They treat other fish gently. |
| B．They often forget the area for food. |
| C．They may remember things for 12 days. |
| D．They are on top of the list of smart animals. |
| A．Fish having very bad memories. | B．Fish being smarter than we thought. |
| C．How fish improve their memory. | D．What we can learn from fish. |
| A．A geography textbook. | B．A science magazine. |
| C．A travel brochure. | D．A medical journal. |
Two pandas, Da Mao and Er Shun, sent to Calgary Zoo in Canada in 2014, are being sent back to China two years ahead of schedule. The animals feed on fresh bamboo,
The pandas are
Our focus is on human welfare（人类幸福）all the time，
8 . The running buffalo clover(a plant) used to spread across eight states, from Virginia to Arkansas. The more it was walked on by the buffalo the better it grew.
When buffalo disappeared, the plant was gone, too. Researchers believed the plant was extinct, which had not been spotted since 1940s—until a population was found in West Virginia in 1983. Now, after decades of protection, the small plant stands to be removed from the list of species protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Biologist Rodney Bartgis came across a patch of running buffalo clover in 1983. He was recording plants in West Virginia and was wandering around a car road in the New River Gorge when he spotted some “unique-looking” leaves, which he recognized as running buffalo clover. After the finding was confirmed, the clover was considered no longer extinct and placed on the endangered-species list in 1987.
Part of the reason it took a while to start to find the clover in the wild is that, unlike other rare plants, this one won't grow in unspoiled areas. It likes being run over. When the clover was first discovered, US Fish and Wildlife Services(USFWS) forest managers were told to avoid driving in the area populated by the plant. But this made the clover there disappear. In the Fernow Forest in West Virginia, Gundy, a research forester, realized the skidders used to pull trees had helped ensure the clover's growth before anyone knew it was there. So in her work monitoring the population in Fernow, Gundy runs over the clover with a skidder. "You need to remember to agitate it,“ she says.
Since 1987, researchers have found 154 populations. But it's not out of the woods yet. The clover still faces threats from invasive species. The USFWS will have a public comment period, when the clover's case for delisting will be reviewed. Even if it is delisted, biologists from the USFWS will observe populations for years closely to ensure that the species is secure.
1. What do we know about the running buffalo clover from the first two paragraphs?| A．It has died out due to some human action. |
| B．It still needs careful protection from extinction. |
| C．It was considered extinct before its rediscovery. |
| D．It can grow better without buffalo stepping on it. |
| A．He discovered the clover by accident. |
| B．He noticed the clover in an unspoiled area. |
| C．He hardly recognized the clover when first seeing it. |
| D．He had searched for the clover for years before finding it. |
| A．She advised we should keep away from it. | B．She suggested we should disturb it. |
| C．She told us to remember to water it often. | D．She asked us to plant more and more buffalo clover. |
| A．The buffalo ate up the clover in the US. |
| B．The clover is almost free from natural enemies. |
| C．The USFWS is cautious of the protection of the clover. |
| D．The clover won't be removed from the protection list. |
9 . Rather than continue living a comfortable urban life, this British family has sold their London home in favor of launching the world's smallest nature reserve to save a nation's coral reef system. Karolina and Barry Seath— along with their two young daughters—are preparing to move to an island in the Seychelles（非洲塞舌尔群岛） measuring just 1,300 feet long by 980 feet wide（400 by 300 meters）.
They've launched a charity and teamed up with（与.....合作）local biologists in an effort to bring the coral reefs back to life in the smallest African country, which have been almost wiped out by rising sea temperatures. Their land-based coral farm will be only the second of its kind in the world, the other being on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, to specialize in regrowing coral to restore the reefs.
47-year-old Barry, who is a former policeman, said, “We are just a normal husband, wife and two kids, living the sort of life that most others do, but we felt the need to make a positive change for ourselves, our children, and the world we had largely taken for granted.”
Over the course of several vacations to the Seychelles, the Seaths witnessed the gradual deterioration（恶化） of the reefs. "Every time we visited, we noticed the coral was getting worse and worse," said Barry. "All the tourists say the same thing. They love the beaches but are really disappointed with the coral. "
Barry felt it was time to make a change and show his daughters an alternative way of eco-friendly living. He then teamed up with experts at the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles in order to develop the facility. Once it is complete, it will be the first large-scale, land-based coral farm in the Indian Ocean. The eco-warriors hope to use the facility to grow around 10,000 corals per year. Barry said, "Our long-term goal is to show everyone that—with just a relatively small investment—you can have a big positive influence on the marine （海的） environment."
1. Why have Karolina and Barry Seath sold their house?| A．They need to collect enough money to set up a charity. |
| B．They will move to an island in the Seychelles to save coral. |
| C．They think suburban life near the sea will be more comfortable. |
| D．They want to have a sea farm to grow coral for their daughters. |
| A．They often take other people's deeds for granted. |
| B．They have visited the Seychelles only once. |
| C．There are altogether six family members. |
| D．Barry Seath used to be a policeman. |
| A．It will be 1,300 meters long and 980 meters wide. |
| B．It will be the first of its kind in the Indian Ocean. |
| C．It will focus on fighting with rising sea temperatures. |
| D．It will be larger than the one on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. |
| A．To show everyone they can make a difference to the sea environment. |
| B．To make sure no one is disappointed with the coral in the Seychelles. |
| C．To try to grow around 10,000 corals per year on their coral farm. |
| D．To show his daughters a better life of eco-friendly living. |
10 . The Smilodon and the Tiger
The smilodon (剑齿虎) died out probably about ten thousand years ago.
Tigers are not
Another main difference between today’s tiger and the smilodon is the size of the smilodon’s
The smilodon lived in North and South America from about two million years ago until about ten thousand years ago. Tigers,
| A．Although | B．As | C．If | D．Or |
| A．close | B．beloved | C．young | D．healthy |
| A．watch | B．study | C．catch | D．save |
| A．fun | B．problems | C．danger | D．differences |
| A．cute | B．small | C．sociable | D．normal |
| A．arrived | B．lived | C．learned | D．waited |
| A．killing | B．sharing | C．hunting | D．frightening |
| A．older | B．thicker | C．brighter | D．shorter |
| A．low | B．top | C．similar | D．reduced |
| A．hiding | B．escaping | C．returning | D．practicing |
| A．follow | B．test | C．locate | D．surprise |
| A．tail | B．ears | C．teeth | D．head |
| A．except for | B．because of | C．instead of | D．along with |
| A．broken | B．replaced | C．found | D．cleaned |
| A．good | B．dirty | C．warm | D．soft |
| A．whiter | B．prettier | C．stronger | D．wider |
| A．at first | B．of course | C．as a result | D．at last |
| A．stopped | B．changed | C．developed | D．disappeared |
| A．dying out | B．coming back | C．running off | D．moving around |
| A．train | B．feed | C．protect | D．visit |
