An art exhibition themed on the bird Zhuhuan is being held in Shanghai as part of efforts
Zhuhuan is known as a
“People from the three countries have deep affection for the bird, which has become a symbol of
Since 1985, these birds from China have been settling down in Japan and South Korea. This has not only created conditions for the protection and rebuilding of the bird community in the two countries,
A seminar of
2 . After taking a few steps back, Hadj Benhalima rushed toward the building, pushed himself upward with his foot against the wall and stretched out his arm. At the peak of his jump, he flipped off a light switch, and the bright lights of a nearby barbershop went off immediately.
This is what Hadj and his friends have been doing for the past two years: swinging around Paris and switching off wasteful shop signs at night, in an effort to fight against light pollution and save energy. And they are all enthusiastic about Parkour — a sport that consists of running and jumping over urban obstacles.
While climbing other people’s property to turn off their lights may strike some as a form of trespassing (非法入侵), the Parkour athletes insist their activities are only about enforcing seldom-respected rules.
More than a decade ago, Paris City Hall issued orders requiring stores to turn off all signs and window displays from 1 am to 6 am, but they are widely ignored with little consequence. “for 10 years there has been no follow-up, no control, no punishment,” said Anne-Marie Ducroux, the head of the National Association for the Protection of the Sky and the Night Environment.
That is why Hadj and his friends have taken matters into their own hands. The group often gathers in the so-called Golden Triangle neighborhood, in western Paris, which is the center of French luxury.
Enforcing the orders in place of the authorities certainly enters a legal grey area. But the Parkour athletes say all the police officers they have met during their rounds have allowed their action — as long as it causes no damage.
And it seems that their efforts have produced the desired result, because Hadj says he has noticed that in recent months, several shops have stopped leaving their lights on after his group targeted them. He hopes others will follow suit. “At least, I’ll sleep better,” he said.
1. What are Hadj Benhalima and his friends trying to do at night?| A．To practice their Parkour skills. |
| B．To remove possible urban obstacles. |
| C．To turn off unnecessary store lights. |
| D．To ensure the safety of their neighborhood. |
| A．They are too strict to follow. |
| B．They have achieved the desired effect. |
| C．They put great pressure on stores. |
| D．They are not carried out effectively. |
| A．Worried. | B．Supportive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．Why Parkour is so popular among young people in Paris. |
| B．Why it is difficult to fight against light pollution in Paris. |
| C．How the lighting of shop signs affects the night view of Paris. |
| D．How young people in Paris help save energy through Parkour. |
| A．Sunny. | B．Rainy. | C．Cloudy. |
1. Where are the two speakers?
| A．On the street. | B．In a park. | C．At a square. |
| A．Golden retriever. | B．Chihuahua. | C．Samoyed. |
| A．He’s cute. | B．He’s shy. | C．He’s dangerous. |
| A．A large-sized dog. | B．A brave dog. | C．A smart dog. |
5 . Since the 1950s, some 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced globally, of which only about 10% has ever been recycled. Yet environmentally conscious companies and consumers continue to look to recycling as a way to ease the plastic problem. Manufacturing giants claim to be committed to making more of their products and packaging from recycled materials. However, this confidence masks (掩饰) a complex web of issues around plastic recycling. Recycling rates remain extremely low and critics argue that we should look at alternative ways to tackle plastic pollution.
While many plastics have the potential to be recycled, most are not because the process is costly, complicated and the resulting product of a lower quality than the original. Despite rising demand for recycled plastic, few waste companies turn a profit. Part of this is because virgin plastic-linked to oil prices - is often cheaper than recycled plastic, meaning there is little economic incentive to use it. Worse yet, much of our plastic waste is difficult to recycle. Lightweight food packaging, like a mozzarella packet, contains different plastics, dyes and toxic additives (添加剂). This dirty mix means plastic recycled through mechanical methods- the most common form- can only be melted down and moulded (浇铸,塑造) again a couple of times before it becomes too fragile to be reused. And the nature of the process means plastic recycling has a carbon footprint of its own.
Given all of these difficulties, environmental critics say recycling is not the solution-and argue that creating more products from recycled material to attract environmental consciousness merely worsens the problem. “The solution is to use less plastic and to stop misleading the public about the recyclability,” says Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, a US campaign group with a mission to end single-use plastic. “They should stop making false claims about the recyclability of plastics since they know most will either be littered (乱扔) or burned or landfilled (填埋). Using less plastics means shifting to reusable products and relying more on paper, cardboard, glass and metal- -all of which should be made from recycled content.”
1. What is an environmentally conscious customer’s attitude towards recycling plastics?| A．Suspicious. | B．Favorable. | C．Indifferent. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．motive. | B．issue. | C．crisis. | D．policy. |
| A．The recycling process of plastics. | B．Pollutants contained in recycled plastics. |
| C．Reasons why users dislike recycled plastics. | D．Contributing factors to low plastic recycling rates. |
| A．Using metal or glass food containers. | B．Littering recycled plastics in a landfill. |
| C．Processing plastics in a mechanical way. | D．Launching campaigns to promote recyclability. |
1. When did the earthquake happen?
| A．On Wednesday night. | B．On Thursday morning. | C．On Thursday afternoon. |
| A．Forty people lost their lives. |
| B．At least 110 people were injured. |
| C．A railway was nearly destroyed. |
| A．Help the victims. | B．Tell some survival skills. | C．Check the highways. |
7 . Scientists have shown how plants can protect themselves against genetic (基因的) damage caused by environmental stresses. The growing tips of plant roots and shoots have an in-built mechanism (机制) that spells cell death if DNA damage is detected, avoiding passing on faulty DNA.
Plants have small populations of stem cells (干细胞) at the tips of their roots and shoots, which enable them to continuously grow and produce new tissues throughout their lifetime. These stem cells serve as ancestors for plant tissues and organs. However, any genetic faults present in the stem cells will continue to exist and be passed on permanently throughout the plant’s life, which could last thousands of years.
Given the critical role of stem cells and their exposure to potentially dangerous environments at the growing tips of roots and shoots, safeguards are necessary to prevent stem cell faults from becoming fixed. Researchers Nick Fulcher and Robert Sablowski, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, aimed to uncover these protective mechanisms. Through experiments involving X-rays and chemicals, they discovered that stem cells were more sensitive to DNA damage compared to other cells.
When DNA damage occurs, the cells have the capacity to detect it and cause programmed cells to die, preventing the propagation of the damaged genetic code to the rest of the plant tissues. This process has similarities to the safeguard mechanism found in animal cells, which has been broadly studied due to its relevance in preventing cancer.
The identification of a similar protective system in plants is of great interest in the field of plant development. It also helps scientists develop plants that can better handle environmental stress. So knowledge of how plants deal with these stresses is of fundamental significance to agricultural science’s response to climate change.
1. What is the function of the in-built mechanism in plants?| A．To produce more roots and shoots. | B．To increase the overall lifetime of the plant. |
| C．To enhance plant growth and nutrient intake. | D．To stop genetic faults in stem cells passing on. |
| A．They are relatively abundant in quantity. | B．They are resistant to environmental stresses. |
| C．They make quick response to DNA damage. | D．They have the ability to repair damaged DNA. |
| A．Spread. | B．Change. | C．Existence. | D．Self-repair. |
| A．The way of dealing with climate change on the earth. |
| B．The significance of identifying the protective system in plants. |
| C．The method of ensuring plant survival under environmental stress. |
| D．The urgency of developing plants that can handle environmental stress. |
8 . In recent years, lots of American companies have gotten behind a potential climate solution called carbon capture and storage, and the government has backed it with billions of dollars in tax preferences and direct investments. The idea is to trap planet-heating carbon dioxide from the smokestacks of factories and power plants and ship it to sites via thousands of miles of new pipelines. Communities nationwide are pushing back against these pipeline construction and underground sites, arguing they don’t want the pollution running through their land.
Now the U. S. Forest Service is proposing to change a rule to allow storing this carbon dioxide pollution under the country’s national forests and grasslands. “Authorizing carbon capture and storage on National Forest System (NFS) lands would support the Administration’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent below the 2005 levels by 2030,” the proposed rule change says.
Some experts, like June Sekera, a research fellow with Boston University, question the timing of the proposed rule change, given community pushback across the country to pipelines planned on private land. Yet she says the Forest Service proposal to open up national parks for CO2 storage is “an end run around local towns and counties. And it’s a much simpler and way less expensive route.”
In an email, Scott Owen, press officer for the Forest Service, writes that the proposed rule change would allow the Forest Service to consider proposals for carbon capture and storage projects. He writes that any proposals must still pass through a secondary screening, adding, “The Forest Service has been ‘screening’ proposals for use of NFS lands for over 20 years as a means to be increasingly consistent in our processes and also be able to reject those uses that are inconsistent with the management of the public’s land. ” He notes the Forest Service currently does not have any carbon capture project proposals under consideration. The Forest Service has opened public comments on the proposed rule change until Jan. 2, 2024.
1. What does the Forest Service intend to do by changing a rule?| A．Answer the appeals of communities. | B．Provide legal space for carbon storage. |
| C．Enlarge national pipeline storage capacity. | D．Loosen tax burden on American companies. |
| A．An eventful act. | B．A desperate try. |
| C．An alternative way. | D．A breathtaking race. |
| A．It is still up in the air. | B．It is dead in the water. |
| C．It is widely recognized. | D．It is far from satisfactory. |
| A．A fruitful research. | B．A timely rule change. |
| C．An authorized project. | D．A controversial proposal. |
9 . Cancer-fighting genes in elephants could help tackle one of the biggest killers of people, according to research. Despite their large bodies and long lifespans, elephants are much less likely to die from cancer than humans, with death rates of less than 5 percent.
The paradox has puzzled scientists because more cells lead to greater replications (复制), which increases the possibility of the body failing to detect damaged DNA or a faulty cell that can result in tumors(肿瘤). Elephants live for almost as long as humans and weigh up to five tons.
However, a group of British and European scientists say they have taken a big step towards solving Peto’s paradox, named after the British epidemiologist Sir Richard Peto. Elephants, they say, carry a much larger more diverse group of tumor-fighting proteins.
The findings, published last week in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, raise hopes that the cancer fighting genes in elephants could be the key to tackling cancer, which kills about 167, 000 Britons yearly. Cells keep dividing throughout an organism’s life, each carrying the risk of producing a tumor. One of the body’s weapons is a gene called p53 known as the “guardian of the genome”, which hunts cells with faulty DNA. It encourages the cell to repair itself or self-destruct, keeping the cell from combining with others and producing tumors.
Humans have two versions of p53 but elephants have 40, said the researchers. Biochemical analysis and computer simulations also showed that an elephant’s p53 genes are structurally slightly different, providing a much larger anti-cancer toolkit. The researchers suspect that while faulty cells might be able to skirt two p53 versions, they cannot combine with other cells as easily in the face of dozens.
The findings will open the way for research on how p53 genes of elephants are activated and on medical treatment for humans.
1. What has puzzled scientists?| A．Few elephants end up dying from cancer. | B．Elephants live long and weigh enormously. |
| C．More cells lead to higher chances of tumors. | D．A larger body is less likely to discover faulty cells. |
| A．How many Britons die each year. | B．How the anti-cancer gene works. |
| C．How the research was carried out. | D．What the findings have been applied to. |
| A．Strengthen. | B．Detect. | C．Escaped. | D．Cure. |
| A．Scientists find elephants live longer than humans. | B．P53 genes play essential role in preventing cancer. |
| C．Elephant genes could be key to fighting cancer. | D．Groundbreaking treatment for cancer is on the way. |
10 . The streets, sidewalks and roofs of cities all absorb heat during the day, making some urban areas across the United States up to 6 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than rural ones during the day—and 22 degrees F hotter at night. These “urban heat islands” can also develop underground as the city heat spreads downward, beneath the surface. And basements, subway tunnels and other underground infrastructure also constantly bleed heat into the surrounding earth, creating hotspots. Now the underground heat is building up as the planet warms.
According to a new study of downtown Chicago, underground hotspots may threaten the very same structures that emit the heat in the first place. Such temperature changes make the ground around them expand and contract (收缩) enough to cause potential damage. “Without anyone realizing it, the city of Chicago’s downtown was deforming,” says the study’s author Alessandro F. Rotta Loria, a civil and environmental engineer at Northwestern University.
The findings, published in Communications Engineering, expose a “silent hazard (危险)” to civil infrastructure in cities with soft er ground — especially those near water — Rotta Loria says. “There might have been structural issues caused by this underground climate change that happened, and we didn’t even realize,” he adds. While not an immediate or direct danger to human lives, this previously unknown effect highlights the impacts of a lesser-known component of climate change.
Similar to climate change above the surface, these underground changes occur over long periods of time. “These effects took decades, a century, to develop,” Rotta Loria says, adding that elevated underground temperatures would likewise take a long time to dissipate (逐渐消失) on their own.
But other researchers interviewed for this story all say this wasted energy could also be recycled, presenting an opportunity to both cool the subsurface and save on energy costs. Subway tunnels and basements could be updated with technologies to recapture the heat. For example, water pipes could be installed to run through underground hotspots and pick up some of the heat energy.
1. What can we learn about the “urban heat islands”?| A．They can develop underground structures. |
| B．They are impacted by global warming. |
| C．They can destroy the ground around. |
| D．They only exist in the United States. |
| A．To discuss structural issues. |
| B．To categorize climate change. |
| C．To explain underground heat. |
| D．To emphasize the neglected reality. |
| A．The future of tunnels and basements. |
| B．The reusing approaches of heat energy. |
| C．The cost of maintaining structures. |
| D．The evolution of underground environment. |
| A．Warming Underground, Weakening Surface |
| B．A Silver Lining of Global Warming |
| C．Urban Silent Islands in the Making |
| D．A Silent Crisis in Downtown Chicago |
