1 . The Coral Sea is home to an amazing variety of turtles, sharks, whales, dolphins, large fish, birds, corals, plants, and many other species. Many of these species are endangered elsewhere in the world, but still survive in the healthy environment of the Coral Sea.
The Coral Sea is a large series of coral reefs located off the northeast coast of Australia. This area is three times larger than Australia’s famous Great Barrier Reef, which the Coral Sea borders.
The Coral Sea is one of the few coral reef environments that have remained largely undamaged by overfishing, oil and gas exploration and pollution. However, statistics show that coral reefs around the world are disappearing five times faster than rainforests. It is very likely that in the near future the Coral Sea will face the same threats to its existence.
The Australian government is currently looking at options for protecting the Coral Sea but has made no decisions. Environmentalists are pushing for laws to declare the Coral Sea area a marine protected area. This would mean a large “no-take zone” for fishermen, a no-exploration zone for gas and oil companies and a no-dump zone for pollution. This would make the Coral Sea a marine park larger than any in the world.
We can write letters to Australian leaders, Australian environmental protection agencies, and Australian friends, to let them know that people worldwide support this protection of the Coral Sea. To lose this last great marine wildness would be a loss for the whole world.
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1. What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?| A．To teach people how to protect the Coral Sea. |
| B．To call for the public awareness to protect the Coral Sea. |
| C．To show the amazing features of the Coral Sea. |
| D．To explain the function of the Coral Sea. |
| A．The reason for protecting the Coral Sea. |
| B．The way to protect the Coral Sea. |
| C．The location of the Coral Sea. |
| D．The money-raising for saving the Coral Sea. |
| A．In a guidebook. | B．On a website. |
| C．In a science textbook. | D．On a TV show. |
| A．Protect the Coral Sea. |
| B．Protect the endangered species. |
| C．The Coral Sea disappears soon. |
| D．The Coral Sea turns a marine park. |
| A．The weather. | B．The work. | C．The time |
3 . The use of color has a long history in human life. We live our lives in color from our earliest days.
And now look at the Huli villager in the photo, who is getting ready for a local festival. He’s applying the traditional colors of red, black and white to his own personal face pattern. Face-painting is an important part of the celebrations. These days people are starting to experiment with brightly colored paints as well as traditional colors. In fashion-conscious Europe, the “in” color changes every season.
Marketing experts understand the power of color very well. Packaging and labels in eye-catching colors stand out on the supermarket shelf.
| A．We are family. |
| B．We love this game. |
| C．People need a sense of group identity. |
| D．Color plays an important role in our daily life. |
| E．Different people have different understanding of colors. |
| F．And companies select the color of their brand very carefully. |
| G．For example, women are wearing shades of purple this autumn. |
4 . It is well known that male humpback whales(座头鲸)are skilled singers.Their songs are thought to attract females in high frequency sounds while to compete with other males in low frequency sounds.Research led by the Wildlife Conservation Society has now made a new discovery.
The study looked at the songs of two humpback whale populations, based on sound recordings collected from 2013 to 2018.One group was based in the South Atlantic, off the coast of Gabon, and the other in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar.Analysis of the recordings showed that the two groups picked up musical ideas from each other and borrowed phrases and themes into their latest song.This suggested that the males from the two groups came into contact with each other over the five years and shared songs.
To uncover this musical cooperation, researchers recorded the songs and transcribe them into more than 1,500 individual sounds and patterns, or song units.They found that the units were composed into larger phrases, which were then repeated to form themes.These themes were sung for hours at a time, or even days.By 2018, both populations have been singing largely the same songs.
"This similarity in the songs shows that these two populations come into closer contact than other southern populations, explains Dr Melinda Rekdahl, leading author of the study.As well as being an interesting phenomenon, she explains that those songs allow even greater insight into the workings of the humpback whale populations.
1. What do people usually think of the purpose of male humpback whales' songs?| A．To have fun. |
| B．To attract other fish. |
| C．To increase the population of their group. |
| D．To attract females and compete with other males. |
| A．They were born with those songs. |
| B．The researchers composed similar songs for them. |
| C．The male whales from the two groups learned singing from each other. |
| D．The male whales taught the females songs from the other group. |
| A．Change. | B．Describe. |
| C．Create. | D．Enjoy. |
| A．A Kind of Magic Whales. | B．Male Humpback Whales Share Songs. |
| C．The Biggest Ocean Animals. | D．The Workings of Humpback Whale Populations. |
5 . In a world with limited land, water and other natural resources, the harm from the traditional business model is on the rise. Actually, the past decades has seen more and more forests disappearing and globe becoming increasingly warm. People now realize that this unhealthy situation must be changed, and that we must be able to develop in sustainable (可持续的) ways. That means growth with low carbon or development of sustainable products. In other words, we should keep the earth healthy while using its supply of natural resources.
Today, sustainable development is a proper trend in many countries. According to a recent study, the global market for low-carbon energy will become three times bigger over the next decades. China, for example, has set its mind on leading that market, hoping to seize chances in the new round of the global energy revolution. It is now trying hard to make full use of wind and solar energy, and is spending a huge amount of money making electric cars and high-speed trains.
In addition, we are also seeing great growth in the global markets for sustainable products such as palm oil (棕榈油), which is produced without cutting down valuable rainforest. In recent years the markets for sustainable products have grown by more than 50%.
Governments can fully develop the potential of these new markets. First, they can set high targets for reducing carbon emissions (排放) and targets for saving and reusing energy. Besides, stronger arrangement of public resources like forests can also help to speed up the development.
Finally, governments can avoid the huge expenses that are taking us in the wrong direction, and redirecting some of those expenses can accelerate the change from traditional model to a sustainable one.
The major challenge of this century is to find ways to meet the needs of growing population within the limits if this single planet. That is no small task, but it offers abundant new chances for sustainable product industries.
1. The traditional business model is harmful because of all the following EXCEPT that____________.| A．it makes the world warmer |
| B．it consumes natural resources |
| C．it brings severe damage to forests |
| D．it makes growth hard to continue |
| A．China lacks wind and solar energy. |
| B．China is the leader of the low-carbon market. |
| C．High-speed trains are a low-carbon development. |
| D．Palm oil is made at the cost of valuable forests. |
| A．cut public expenses |
| B．forbid carbon emission |
| C．develop public resources |
| D．encourage energy conservation |
| A．develop sustainable products |
| B．explore new natural resources |
| C．make full use of natural resources |
| D．deal with the major challenge |
| A．To introduce a new business model. |
| B．To compare two business models. |
| C．To predict a change of the global market. |
| D．To advocate sustainable development. |
