Coca-Cola
The annual audit(审计)，
“The world's top polluting corporations claim to be working hard to solve plastic pollution,
Coca-Cola came under fire from environmental campaigners earlier this year when it announced it would not abandon plastic bottles, saying they
A vegetarian diet is often praised for its health benefits. Studies have shown that vegetarians usually have lower levels of heart disease and a risk of diabetes（糖尿病）than people who eat meat. What most people are less aware of, however, are the effects that a vegetarian diet can have on the environment.
Researchers from the Union of Concerned Scientists in the US recently studied how consumer behavior affects the environment. The study showed that meat consumption is one of the main ways that humans can damage the environment, second only to the use of motor vehicle.
Then, how can eating meat have a negative effect on the environment? For a start, all farm animals such as cows, pigs, and sheep give off methane gas（沼气）by expelling（排出）wind from their bodies. One cow can produce up to 60 liters of methane each day. Methane gas is the second most common greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. Many environmental experts now believe that it is more responsible for global warming than carbon dioxide. It is estimated that 25% of all methane released into the atmosphere comes from farm animals.
Another way that meat production affects the environment is through the use of water and land. 2,500 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of beef, whereas 20 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of wheat. One acre of farmland used for crop production can produce 40,000 pounds of potatoes, 30,000 pounds of carrots, or 50,000 pounds of tomatoes.
Many people now see the benefits of switching to a vegetarian diet, not just for health reasons, but also because it plays a vital role in protecting the environment. However, some nutritionists advise against switching to a totally strict vegetarian, or vegan diet. They believe a vegan diet, which excludes（拒绝）all products from animal sources, such as cheese, eggs, and milk. can be short of many necessary vitamins and minerals our bodies need.
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After traveling
The name Tianwen,
The mission
4 . Lizard (蜥蜴) species may already have declined past the point of no return in the world. What is the reason? Rising temperatures. Researchers estimate that as much as 40 percent of lizard species worldwide will die out by 2080. The problem is that temperatures in many regions where lizards live have changed too fast for the animals to keep pace.
Barry Sinervo from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California in Santa Cruz, along with colleagues from across the globe, reached that conclusion by taking current data on Mexican lizards. They also estimated that 4 percent of local species have already disappeared worldwide. That number could jump to 20 percent by 2080 if carbon dioxide levels aren’t lowered to reduce warming.
The team looked 48 species of Sceloporus lizard at 200 sites around Mexico. The sites were first sampled from 1975 to 1995. By 2010, research could not find lizards at 12 percent of those sites.
Lizards that bear live young are especially at risk of dying out, the researchers point out, compared to that lay eggs. “Live-bearers have lower body temperatures that heighten the risk of dying,” Sinervo said in a statement. We are watching these species disappear before our eyes.”
Although current evidence shows that climate change is affecting the habitat ranges of many species, there is still a lot of uncertainty about how much climate change will affect species, researchers say.
Many Mexican lizard species live in high altitude “islands”, where climate change happens the fastest. The lizards cannot adjust fast enough to survive. The scientists say they do not think the animals are likely to save themselves just by moving somewhere else either.
“How quickly can Earth’s lizards adapt to the rising global temperatures? That’s the important question,” Sinervo said in a press release. "We are actually seeing lowland species moving upward, slowly driving upland species out of their habitats. If the upland species can’t evolve fast enough, they will die out.”
1. Which of the following lizards face a higher risk of dying out?| A．Lizards at low altitudes. | B．Lizards that bear their young. |
| C．Lizards that lay eggs. | D．Lizards in a stable environment. |
| A．their conclusion is based on current data on various kinds of lizards |
| B．20 percent of local species have already disappeared worldwide |
| C．they are uncertain about how much climate change will affect species |
| D．they are seeing highland species moving downward |
| A．their living habitats’ destruction | B．their living skills |
| C．highland species moving downward | D．their adaptive capacity |
| A．prove that earth is not suitable for lizards |
| B．warn that lizards may die out quickly due to the climate change |
| C．explain why no more lizards will be found by 2080 |
| D．emphasize that the habitat of lizards is changing greatly |
5 . Though leaders from the International Olympic Committee(IOC)have announced a first-of-its-kind postponement of the Tokyo Summer Olympics because of the corona virus epidemic,people all over the world are still concerned about its preparations.Officials from the Tokyo Olympic Committee say they are sparing no effort and announce the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021 is going green.The 5,000 medals Japan has made are more special than most.
One novel focus of the Tokyo Olympics is to be"sustainable”－to avoid using too many natural resources,so that the games are easy on the environment.As part of this goal,the organizers decided to make all of the Olympic medals out of metal recycled from old electronics.
Almost all electronics are made with small amounts of"precious metals",like gold and silver.But collecting enough of these metals to make 5,000 medals was a huge challenge.That's because the amount of metal in each device is tiny.It would take about 20,000 cell phones to get just l kilogram of gold.
Beginning in April 2017,the organizers placed collection boxes around the country,and asked people to turn in their old electronic devices.Soon people began to respond to the initiative(倡导），turning in smart phones,digital cameras,handheld games,and laptops.At first,collection went slowly,but soon more and more areas began to take part.By the end,1,621 local governments had helped out with the collection process.
Then came the job of breaking those devices down into smaller pieces.After eing taken apart and sorted, the small electronics were smelted(熔炼）to get all the gold,silver,and bronze elements.This is a tricky job, which calls for careful attention and good skill.It's also dangerous,because some of the metals and other things aren't safe for people to touch or breathe.
By the end of March,2019,the organizers had hit their targets of getting enough metal for the medals. They had collected around 32 kilograms of gold,4,100 kilograms of silver and 2,200 kilograms of bronze.And now all the 5,000 medals are available for the would-be winners.
1. What can we know about the Tokyo Olympics medals?| A．They are hugely valuable. |
| B．They are of high quality. |
| C．They are made from e-waste. |
| D．They are designed uniquely. |
| A．The difficulty of making the medals. |
| B．The initiative to recycle used smart phones. |
| C．The classification of the collected devices. |
| D．The process of collecting old electronics. |
| A．creative | B．demanding | C．well-paid | D．time-consuming |
| A．To advocate sustainable use of resources. |
| B．To promote the spirit of Olympic Games. |
| C．To introduce a new technique to make medals. |
| D．To show the gravity of environmental damage. |
The development of science and technology can not be separated from time. A Spanish businessman spent over 8 years
People are usually attracted to Pinatex at first sight and most of the time they mistake
In addition to clothing, the company is entering more new markets
7 . Long before "digital" and "native" were words that could reasonably fit into the same sentence, kids had adventures in the great outdoors-the sort of nature-filled adventures filmmaker Paul Ward experienced as a child growing up on a farm.
"Unfortunately, children today don't have the same exposure to nature," says the father of Estella, nine, and Sylvie, seven. "Instead, these digital natives are often glued to their screens."
Wanting to reconnect this young generation with the outside world-via a medium that they're familiar with-Ward teamed up with film producer Vicky Pope to create Wild Eyes, a website that uses technology to help children to get in touch with nature.
Ward and Pope spent two years developing Wild Eyes, which requires users to complete interesting tasks in nature, such as setting up camp or finding a certain kind of bird. Once a challenge is complete, the player uploads a photo to the website to earn online encouragement and "likes" from other players.
"It's all about interacting with kids on their own terms," says Ward.
Ward, who spent almost two years working as a producer for the Discovery Channel in Los Angeles, says the response so far has been positive. "We've had more than 15, 000 site visitors to date, which is really encouraging."
Both Ward and Pope are working hard to ensure all the tasks are affordable and adaptable for both the home and classroom. They believe there's also a future benefit to turning square eyes into wild eyes.
"As David Attenborough says, people will only protect what they care about and they'll only care about what they've experienced," he says. "Given so much of our lives are lived online, if we care about looking after our natural world, it's important we provide attractive digital experiences that engage young kids with nature."
1. How was Ward's childhood different from his children's?| A．He did a lot of outdoor activities. | B．His vocabulary was limited. |
| C．He seldom played in the wild. | D．He had no computer or TV set. |
| A．Expand their knowledge about nature. | B．Complete their tasks given by the website. |
| C．Share their outdoor activities with others. | D．Participate in activities organized by the website. |
| A．An activity that requires hard work. | B．An activity that is affordable and adaptable. |
| C．A person spending a lot of time in nature. | D．A person spending too much time on the screen. |
| A．Experiencing the Great Outdoors | B．Keeping away from the Screen |
| C．Combining the Screen with Nature | D．Looking after the Natural World |
8 . Most of the new diseases we humans have faced in the past several decades have come from animals. The more we come into contact with wild animals, the more we risk a so-called disease “spillover” from animals to humans.
“As people move and wildlife move in response to a changing environment, humans and wildlife and animals will come in contact more regularly,” said Jeanne Fair from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Fair argues that by shifting animal habitats, climate change will also make the opportunities for disease spillover more frequent. “Everything is sort of shifting and will shift into the future as the environment changes through climate change,” Fair said.
Scientists, including climatologists and epidemiologists (流行病学家) on Fair’s team at Los Alamos, are beginning to model how changes to the climate will impact the spread of infectious diseases. It’s early days for this kind of research, but previous studies suggest that extreme weather has already played a role in at least one outbreak. Scientists say drought and deforestation have combined to force bats out of rain forests and into orchards (果园) in Malaysia to find food. Those bats, a common disease reservoir, then passed the Nipah virus through pigs to humans for the first time in the late 1990s.
“We’re going by the past data to really predict what’s going to happen in the future,” Fair said, “And so, anytime you increase that wildlife-human interface, that’s sort of an emerging disease hot spot. And so, that’s just increasing as we go forward.”
Jeffrey Shaman, head of the climate and health program at Columbia University’s public health school, argues we don’t yet know whether climate change will cause a net increase in infectious disease rates globally. For example, mosquitoes carry disease that affects millions of people across the world every year. As their habitats expand in some parts of the world, they might contract diseases elsewhere. Shaman says what we know for certain about climate change is that it will make it harder to predict where disease outbreaks will pop up.
1. How does climate change affect the spread of disease according to Fair?| A．By breaking animals’habits. | B．By increasing animals’varieties. |
| C．By promoting animals’breeding. | D．By changing animals’living environment. |
| A．Explaining the influence of Nipah virus. |
| B．Proving the harm of bats to human beings. |
| C．Showing the effects of climate change on disease. |
| D．Presenting scientists’early study about the cause of disease. |
| A．Humans should give up studying animals. |
| B．Frequent contact with animals can cause disease outbreaks. |
| C．Disease hot spots will disappear if animals die out. |
| D．Past data can solve the problems in the future. |
| A．Climate Change and Disease Spillover |
| B．Animals’Interaction with Humans |
| C．Early Studies about Extreme Weather |
| D．Scientists’Prediction for Disease Outbreaks |
9 . Nature soothes(抚慰)our stressed-out souls. We know that nature is the best prescription, and new research suggests we can gain benefits while visiting parks.
"In general,we found park visitors reported an improvement in emotional well-being(幸福感)after the park visit.”the study's lead author and University of Alabama at Birmingham professor Hon K. Yuen said in a statement.“
For the study, 94 adults visited three city parks in Mountain Brook, Alabama, completing a questionnaire about their subjective well-being before and after their visit.
The study group was truly small. as the study's co-author and another UAB professor, Gavin Jenkins, acknowledges.
| A．Something was used to track their physical activity. |
| B．You usually visit a small green space in your neighborhood. |
| C．However, its findings pointed out the importance of city parks. |
| D．If you want to feel happier, you just need to exercise for 20 minutes in a park. |
| E．The best part is that you needn't visit a national park or go far out of your way. |
| F．This means people can benefit from visiting a nearby park, regardless of physical ability. |
| G．But we didn't find levels of physical activity are linked to improved emotional well-being. |
10 . Plants are living things. So can they feel pain? Plants don't feel pain the same way animals and people do, says Anke Steppuhn. She is a scientist at the Free University of Berlin in Germany. “What we define as pain usually has to do with a nervous system，” Steppuhn explains. When you put your hand too close to a hot stove, nerve cells send a signal to your brain. Your brain decodes(解码) that signal as pain. This causes you to pull your hand away before any serious damage is done.
Plants don't have nerves or brains, so they can't feel pain like we do. “But plants do recognize when something is hurting them，” Steppuhn says. Because they are rooted to the ground, they can't escape a dangerous situation. So they need other ways of fighting back.
The biggest threat to a plant's life is getting eaten. Some plants grow sharp little hairs. Other plants produce bad－tasting or even harmful chemicals. These force an attacker to abandon its meal. A plant called bittersweet nightshade does something even smarter, Steppuhn found. When a slug(蛞蝓) chews holes in a nightshade' s leaf, liquid begins dripping(滴) around the wound. It is almost as if the plant were bleeding. The liquid is sugary nectar(花蜜), and it happens to be a favorite food of ants. In their effort to collect the nectar, the ants swarm(蜂拥而至) all over the injured plant. They will attack anything that stands in their way. That includes the slug that damaged the plant in the first place. It's a very clever trick. Whenever a slug attacks a plant, the plant calls an army of ants to kill the slug.
Nectar isn't the only way plants attract bodyguards. They also release certain chemicals into the air when they are being eaten. People usually can't detect these smells. But wasps(黄蜂) can. When a wasp detects this cry for help, it races to the scene of the crime. If it finds the right kind of insect chewing down on the plant, the wasp will interrupt the attacker's meal. It will do this by laying eggs inside the insect’s body!
1. Why do plants feel pain differently from us?| A．They don’t know whether they're hurt. |
| B．They face different kinds of danger. |
| C．They don’t have nervous systems. |
| D．They have slow response to pain. |
| A．Ants. | B．Slugs. | C．Plants. | D．Wasps. |
| A．To help them call bodyguards. |
| B．To keep them safe from attackers. |
| C．To let wasps lay eggs on their leaves. |
| D．To let their smells spread into the air. |
| A．How plants feel pain. |
| B．How plants attract insects. |
| C．How plants defend themselves. |
| D．How plants attack small animals. |
