Freedom and Jeff
Freedom and I have been together 10 years this summer. She came in as a baby in 2011 with two
She was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in on that Thursday afternoon. I didn't want to go to the center that Thursday,
In the spring of 2013, I was diagnosed
Fast forward to November 2013, I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer was not all gone after eight rounds of chemo, then my last option was
So the first thing I did was
2 . The last time CO2 levels were as high as today, ocean waters drowned the lands where big cities like Houston, Miami, and New York City now exist.
It’s a time called the Pliocene (上新世) or mid-Pliocene, some 3 million years ago, when sea levels were around 30 feet higher (but possibly much more) and giant camels dwelled in a forested high Arctic. The Pliocene was a significantly warmer world, likely at some 5 degrees Fahrenheit (around 3 degrees Celsius) warmer than pre-Industrial temperatures of the late 1800s. Much of the Arctic, which today is largely clad in ice, had melted. Heat-trapping carbon dioxide levels, a major temperature lever, hung around 400 parts per million, or ppm. Today, these levels are similar but relentlessly rising, at some 418 ppm.
Humanity is currently on track to warm Earth to Pliocene-like temperatures by this century’s end—unless nations ambitiously slash carbon emissions in the coming decades. Sea levels, of course, won’t instantly rise by tens of feet: Miles-thick ice sheets take many centuries to thousands of years to melt. However, critically, humanity is already setting the stage for a relatively quick return to Pliocene climes, or climates at least significantly warmer than now. It’s happening fast. When CO2 naturally increases in the atmosphere, pockets of ancient air preserved in ice show this CO2 rise happens gradually, over thousands of years. But today, carbon dioxide levels are skyrocketing as humans burn long-buried fossil fuels.
“CO2 in the atmosphere has gone up 100 ppm in my lifetime,” said Kathleen Benison. a geologist at West Virginia University who researches past climates. “That’s incredibly fast geologically.”
“You don’t have to be a scientist to realize something totally unusual is going on, and that unusual thing is humans,” noted Dan Lunt, a climate scientist at the University of Bristol who has researched the Pliocene.
1. What was the world like in the time of the Pliocene?| A．Its climate was much colder than what it is today. |
| B．The land where cities like Houston lie was under water. |
| C．Much of the Artic was covered in thick snow. |
| D．Heat-trapping carbon dioxide levels are lower than today. |
| A．Accelerate. | B．Accumulate. |
| C．Allocate. | D．Reduce. |
| A．By measuring the CO2 in the air. |
| B．By researching the long-buried fossil fuels. |
| C．By researching the ancient air locked in ice. |
| D．By measuring the CO2 in the Pliocene. |
| A．Measures should be taken to stop global warming. |
| B．The change of CO2 in the atmosphere is geological. |
| C．Climate changes is normal compared to past climates. |
| D．Humans are to blame for the unusual rise of CO2. |
3 . Walking around the world may seem impossible, but that didn't stop one American woman from putting one foot in front of the other.
In 2014, Angela Maxwell, then in her early 30s, began her walk around the world alone. After six-and-a-half years and over 32,000 kilometers, Maxwell's walk ended where it began.
Before she left on her journey, Maxwell's found inspiration from women explorers of the past. “I read their books in hopes of finding encouragement—and I did—by learning about their challenges and struggles as well as their triumphs. Each woman's story was vastly different and it gave me the confidence to give my walk a try.” Maxwell told the BBC.
After selling all of her belongings, Maxwell left her hometown of Bend, Oregon, with 50 kilograms of camping gear, dehydrated（脱水的）food, a water filter and clothing for all seasons.
Maxwell's worldwide walk wasn't easy. She suffered from sunburn and heatstroke in the Australian desert and dengue fever in Vietnam. She heard gunshots while camping in Turkey and was attacked in her tent in Mongolia. Still, she continued to walk. She learned beekeeping in the Republic of Georgia and camel-handling on the historical Silk Road in Mongolia. She helped a farmer renovate his house in Sardinia and handed out food to homeless people in Italy. She gathered countless stories that she'd go on to speak about at schools, universities and conferences.
When the BBC asked her what kind of person it takes to walk around the world, Maxwell said. "It's probably a combination of ambition, a little stubbornness and a pinch of passion—not for hiking as a sport, but for self-discovery and adventure."
"I didn't start walking because I was fearless—but rather because I was terrified. I was more afraid of not following my heart than I was of losing everything I owned and loved."
1. Where did Maxwell return after finishing her walking?| A．Bend Oregon. | B．Mongolia. |
| C．Australia. | D．The Republic of Georgia. |
| A．The beautiful scenery around the world. |
| B．The sufferings women explorers experienced. |
| C．The encouragement from women explorers. |
| D．The stories of those past women explorers. |
| A．Fearless and brave. | B．Caring and strong-willed. |
| C．Passionate and careful. | D．Cautious and ambitious. |
| A．She was so curious as to explore the world. |
| B．She was not frightened of anything unknown. |
| C．She was afraid of not following her heart. |
| D．She was afraid of losing what she owned and loved. |
4 . Taking in dirty air does great harm to our health. Air pollution lowers the average life spans by a year worldwide and in more polluted parts of Asia and Africa, dirty air shortens lives up to twice that much. Scientists shared their new findings in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The study used data gathered in 2016 as part of a project known as the Global Burden of Disease and was the first major country-by-country look at the connection between the length of life and what’s known as fine PM.
Air pollution has been linked to many health problems. Most earlier studies had looked at how tiny air pollutants affected rates of illness or death. Joshua Apte is an environmental scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. By looking at life expectancy (预期寿命), his team had hoped to make the threat easier to understand. PM2.5 is what scientists call tiny particles (颗粒) of pollution in the air. Higher levels of PM2.5 can cause health problems and cut months, if not years, from the average length of life. This analysis shows how pollution affects life expectancy in different parts of the world.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends limiting PM2.5 to 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Apte’s group calculated how holding pollution to this low level would help people. In countries with very dirty air, meeting this standard would lengthen people’s lives. However, in countries whose air already meets this standard, the study shows no gain in life expectancy. In other words, meeting the WHO standard won’t reduce health costs resulting from dirty air because even below 10 micrograms per cubic meter, pollution still causes serious risks. Meanwhile, the scientists compared how other threats including smoking and cancer shorten the length of life across the globe.
1. What is special about the study?| A．It won recognition from a professional journal. |
| B．It discussed health problems caused by air pollution. |
| C．It gathered lots of data for the Global Burden of Disease. |
| D．It analyzed the link between life spans and PM by country. |
| A．Help people better understand air pollution. |
| B．Study life expectancy in different countries. |
| C．Know how small air pollutants affect health. |
| D．Deal with different kinds of health problems. |
| A．People’s life spans will surely increase. |
| B．It will guarantee people clean air. |
| C．People’s health may not be much improved. |
| D．It will be awarded by the WHO. |
| A．How other threats shorten life expectancy. |
| B．How cleaning up the air can lengthen lives. |
| C．How air pollution shortens lives by country. |
| D．How all the countries deal with severe pollution. |
5 . The famous scientist Stephen Hawking spoke at a science festival in Norway in 2017, “We are running out of space and the only places to go to are other worlds... Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I’m convinced that humans need to leave Earth.”
Hawking was not alone in this view. Many experts feel that the only way for humanity to last far into the future is to colonize (移民于) other planets. That way, if a terrible disease, nuclear war or some other disaster strikes Earth, civilization as we know it would still have a chance. Mars is one of the most attractive destinations. NASA, the United Arab Emirates, the private company SpaceX, and the organization Mars One all have plans to send humans there. “Either we spread Earth to other planets, or we risk going extinct,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said at a conference in 2013.
But not everyone agrees that colonizing Mars or any other planet is such a great plan. The most common argument against going is that it’s just too expensive or dangerous. It will take huge amounts of money and other resources just to get people there, let alone set up a place for them to live. It’s not even clear if humans could survive on Mars. One of the biggest dangers there is deadly radiation that ruins the planet.
Maybe all the time and money people would pour into a Mars mission would be better spent on more urgent projects here on Earth, like dealing with poverty or climate change. Some experts argue that handling a problem like an asteroid (小行星) strike or disease outbreak while staying here on Earth would be much easier and less expensive than surviving on a new planet.
In addition, moving to a new planet could harm or destroy anything that already lives there. Mars seems uninhabited, but it could possibly host micro-organism like. Human visitors may destroy this life or permanently change or damage the Martian environment. Some feel that’s too much of a risk to take.
1. Why did the author mention NASA, the United Arab Emirates, SpaceX and Mars One?| A．To stress the risk of dying out on Earth. |
| B．To provide evidence for Hawking’s theory. |
| C．To show growing intention of moving to Mars. |
| D．To explain the advanced technology in astronomy. |
| A．Civilization is difficult to maintain on Earth. |
| B．It is costly and risky to colonize Mars. |
| C．Poverty is the most urgent problem to handle. |
| D．All the time and money should be spent on Earth. |
| A．Not fit to live on. | B．Not steady to keep. |
| C．Not easy to approach. | D．Not safe to set foot on. |
| A．Mars, Our Future Planet |
| B．Moving to A New Planet |
| C．Should We Colonize Mars? |
| D．Stay Home or Outer Space? |
6 . The Amazing Penguin Rescue
In the summer of 2016, the ship MV Treasure sunk, creating an oil spill. Thirteen hundred tons of fuel oil were flowing right in the middle of the African Penguins’ habitat. Soon the oil covered about 20,000 penguins. Without swift help, the seabirds would have no chance of survival. Volunteers were showing up by the thousands and I also took part in what was the largest animal rescue operation ever.
A warehouse was turned into a rescue center near the habitat and hundreds of pools were built to hold about 100 oiled birds each. When walking into the center, I couldn’t believe my ears. I had expected to walk into a chorus of honking and squawking(尖声叫). Instead, the center sounded like a library. The penguins were dead silent. My heart ached for the painful birds. Cleaning them all seemed like an impossible task. But we had to carry on like doctors in an emergency room. There was no time for doubt. Cleaning oil off a penguin wasn’t easy. Even with more than 12,500 volunteers, it took a month to bathe all 20,000 birds at the center.
While volunteers were busy bathing the oiled penguins, another crisis(危机) was developing. Oil from the spill had started moving north. Tens of thousands of penguins were in the oil’s path. But we already had our hands full with 20,000 recovering birds. If any more birds were oiled, we wouldn’t have enough resources to save them.
One researcher came up with an idea: What if the penguins were temporarily moved out of harm’s way? Experts decided to have a try. Volunteers rounded up the penguins and released them 500 miles away. The hope was that by the time the seabirds swam home, the oil would be gone. The plan worked! Another 20,000 penguins were saved.
The entire penguin rescue took about three months. More than 90% of the oiled penguins were successfully returned to the wild. Looking back on the rescue, I am still amazed by the work of the volunteers. What I could hardly believe was that we accomplished an impossible task.
1. The African penguins were in danger because of ________.| A．a knock by a ship | B．a change of habitats |
| C．a spill of oil | D．a lack of help |
| A．ambitious | B．shocked | C．hopeless | D．inspired |
| A．moving the penguins from home | B．cleaning the polluted habitat |
| C．asking more volunteers to help | D．stopping the flow of the oil |
| A．we should unite to make the earth pollution-free |
| B．where there is a will there is a way |
| C．the future of wildlife is in our hands |
| D．many hands make great work |
7 . In late May, storms flooded streets in Florida. The floods made cars sink and turned roads into brown rivers. Flash flooding can happen when storm drains get blocked up and, especially during hurricanes, overflow into streets. It’s the leading cause of weather-related deaths.
A team of local middle-school students has a plan to stop this ongoing problem. Alyssa, Bianca and Jose are sixth-graders. The Doral students designed a device to warn city workers when and where there is a danger of flooding. The team is one of five grand-prize winners of the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest. The contest asked for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) solutions to the biggest challenge facing a school community.
“I’ve been living here my entire life, and all of us have encountered problems with flooding,” says Bianca. “We knew that was the problem we were going to tackle.”
The students’ device uses a laser system called lidar, which stands for “light detection and ranging.” The device, if approved by the city government, could be attached to Doral’s 2,575 storm and manhole drains — one device per drain. If a drain gets blocked with sediment (沉积物), the device could send a warning message to the city’s stormwater management office. Then the stormwater manager could send someone to clean the drain.
Starting in March, the school was closed, so team meetings went virtual. Luckily, says Bianca, “We already had a prototype device, and we just had to adjust it some more ” They also had to pitch their idea virtually to contest judges.
Twenty finalist teams were cut down to the five grand-prize-winning teams. Each of the five teams won $100 000 for technology and supplies for their science classrooms. “We put m a lot of effort and had to trust each other and that each one knew what they were talking about,” says Alyssa.
1. How does the author start the text?| A．With an image. |
| B．With some figures. |
| C．By raising questions. |
| D．By stating a phenomenon. |
| A．It is made up of five middle school students. |
| B．Its aim is to solve the problem of the drain flooding, |
| C．It has won first prize in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest. |
| D．Its members are trained in science, technology, engineering and math. |
| A．To list their challenges. |
| B．To explore their motivation. |
| C．To express their determination. |
| D．To prove their responsibility. |
| A．To inform the authorities when a drain is blocked. |
| B．To arrange for someone to clean the drain. |
| C．To prevent the drain from being blocked. |
| D．To help clear away sediment in the drain. |
8 . Wildlife has been greatly threatened in the modern age. There are species that are disappearing every day. The white-naped crane is a typical example. So scientists are trying their best to save the species from going out of existence.
Chris and Tim work at a zoo, helping endangered cranes with — their reproduction. Emma, a female crane, has been in their care since she arrived in 2004.
Born at an international crane foundation, Emma was raised by human caretakers. This led to an unexpected consequence, though she had a wonderful time there. Emma had never taken herself as a crane and become attached to humans. She refused to live with male cranes, and even had a reputation for killing some of them, which made it impossible for her to become a mother.
However, the two zookeepers didn't want to see the extinction of this precious species. With their patience and efforts, they successfully developed a combination of artificial breeding and natural reproduction. This enabled Emma to give birth to five baby cranes.
The two keepers are proud of their productive work. But before they can be assured, more efforts must be made, because the population of the crane in the wild is on the decline, and many other species appear headed toward extinction. After all, not everyone has realized that wildlife has thoughts, feelings, and most importantly, equal rights to survive.
How can we bridge the ever-widening gap that separates us from other animals? Chris and Tim offered us the answer: human beings took it for granted that their brains held all the solutions, but maybe their hearts can be a better guide.
1. Which one is not true about Emma?| A．She was an endangered crane. | B．She was cared for by Chris and Tim in 2005. |
| C．She was unwilling to live with male cranes. | D．She was famous for protecting male cranes. |
| A．Had an affection for humans. | B．Become popular with humans. |
| C．Become familiar with humans. | D．Become concerned about humans. |
| A．Artificial breeding. | B．Natural reproduction. |
| C．Zookeepers’ patience and efforts. | D．Combining artificial breeding with natural reproduction. |
| A．Human beings are absolutely more powerful than animals. |
| B．No one has realized animals' equal rights to survive. |
| C．Two keepers have confirmed their success in protecting the crane from extinction. |
| D．People's love and efforts may help narrow the gap between them and animals. |
The Yangtze, China’s longest river,
In the Yangzte River Delta to the north of Yuantuojiao, abundant rivers carry huge
The Yangtze River Delta next to the Yellow Sea, is one of China’s most economically developed and densely populated regions.
10 . Recently I have taken a vacation at the eastern end of Ocean Isle Beach, a small town on North Carolina southern coast. It is
I passed a woman walking her dog and asked her about the
It
The case of Ocean Isle Beach
“Thanks to satellite
| A．connected with | B．far from | C．separated from | D．located in |
| A．clues | B．reason | C．symbol | D．difference |
| A．disappointed | B．friendly | C．embarrassed | D．horrible |
| A．Therefore | B．However | C．Moreover | D．Otherwise |
| A．consequence | B．solution | C．conclusion | D．insight |
| A．piled high | B．thrown around | C．taken away | D．broken up |
| A．stopped | B．insisted on | C．continued | D．hated |
| A．churches | B．villages | C．cottages | D．homes |
| A．turns out | B．breaks down | C．sets out | D．shows up |
| A．rare | B．plain | C．common | D．ordinary |
| A．collect | B．lose | C．accumulate | D．abandon |
| A．illustrates | B．interprets | C．indicates | D．imports |
| A．rapidly | B．fluently | C．effectively | D．slowly |
| A．taking place | B．bursting out | C．breaking down | D．putting up |
| A．hearing | B．seeing | C．proving | D．investigating |
| A．launch | B．operation | C．function | D．data |
| A．length | B．depth | C．rate | D．step |
| A．prove | B．foresee | C．eyeball | D．describe |
| A．bottom | B．ocean | C．street | D．sky |
| A．scenery | B．lesson | C．punishment | D．effects |
