1 . Do you know how much India struggles to gather the waste plastic water bottles? According to a Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report from 2012, India generates 15, 000 tonnes of plastics a day, of which the gathered ones only achieve 60%. The trashed-but-not-gathered plastic waste leads to land and water pollution. posing serious threat to the environment.
After seeing that, Ankur Chawla, a drink expert, undertook research to find a solution, after which he realised the biggest problem the country faced was disposing of plastic waste. To address it, he wanted to come up with a solution where they do not add to the problem of waste. Fortunately, Ankur was not alone. He met Bhrigu Seth who was into green farming. Both of them found that they shared a common goal and it didn’t take long for them to draft a plan of action. It is estimated that over 90 percent of aluminium(铝) drink cans in India are recycled. Instead, 70 percent of the cans are manufactured through recycled waste. After going through challenges at hand, the pair made up their minds.
Before taking the next step. both co-founders visited five-star hotels and took samples of water in aluminium cans, asking them whether they would give it a shot if something like that comes in the market. The pair received an overwhelmingly positive response. They then determined to launch Responsible Whatr, natural spring water drink packed in an aluminium can to solve the problem of waste plastic water bottles.
As one of India’s first natural spring water drink, Responsible Whatr offered an environmentally friendly and endlessly recyclable aluminium can. It’s a non-alcoholic drink that was launched with a vision for an eco-friendly future and an agenda to reduce single-use plastic pollution.
Going forward, Ankur and Bhrigu aim to cooperate with airports and ecommerce gates which would help them in directly reaching the homes of high networth individuals (HNIs). They also plan to tie up with corporate firms and cinema halls and join hands with NGOs that are fighting for the conservation of beaches and oceans.
1. What inspired Ankur to conduct his research?A.Plastics remained the major bottle material. |
B.Uncollected plastics caused severe pollution. |
C.Plastics accounted for most of the daily waste. |
D.The amount of plastic waste was beyond control. |
A.Creating a new packaging design. | B.Developing an alternative to plastics. |
C.Launching a rubbish sorting program. | D.Increasing the recycling of plastic cans. |
A.Removing plastic pollution. | B.Promoting aluminium cans. |
C.Advertising non-alcoholic drinks. | D.Advocating a sustainable approach. |
A.By cooperating with NHIs. | B.By introducing new products. |
C.By targeting profitable NGOs. | D.By establishing diverse channels. |
1. How does the woman feel at first?
A.Curious. | B.Surprised. | C.Excited. |
A.Flowers. | B.Mushrooms. | C.Trees. |
A.Two. | B.Three. | C.Four. |
A.On Thursday. | B.On Friday. | C.On Saturday. |
1. What was the main topic of the meeting?
A.Politics. | B.Green development. | C.The latest technology trends. |
A.Making a wider variety of foods. |
B.Developing sustainable agriculture. |
C.Driving cars less. |
A.Global teamwork. | B.Energy exploration. | C.More job opportunities. |
1. Where did the man learn about the new planet?
A.From TV news. | B.From the website. | C.From the newspaper. |
A.By researching into the star’s light. |
B.By building a universe model. |
C.By analyzing the star’s life. |
A.Rainy. | B.Snowy. | C.Sunny. |
A.At a pet clinic. | B.At Bob’s home | C.At Mr. Johnson’s office. |
It was Christmas Eve morning, and I a woke with a mission: to find my lost cat, Baby-Girl. The icy rain was beating against the windows. I said a prayer for Baby-Girl. It had been six months since she’d gone missing, but I still had faith. It was the season for miracles, after all!
That summer, my sweet cat disappeared from my parents’ house. She had been staying with them while I was between apartments. I lived and worked in Washington DC then. Baby-Girl had got out of my parents’ house three days before I was flew back home to pick her up. Dad and I spent that entire visit searching for her. Dad was the family’s “realist”, meaning he was always trying to prepare me for the worst. “She’s either been hit by a car or been taken in by someone who found her,” he said. Dad always supported me, but he was so uncertain.
Baby-Girl had been a stray cat when I found her. Though I couldn’t explain it, I knew I’d see her again, even after I returned to Washington DC without her and the weeks stretched into months, deep down I had this feeling that we’d be reunited.
Now, home again for the holidays, I was determined to pick up my search. I grabbed Baby-Girl’s cat carrier and loaded it into the car, then asked my dad to drive me to the shelter, hoping I’d find her there. “Sharon, you have to be realistic,” Dad said as we headed to the garage. “She’s been gone too long. You’re not going to find her.” “Well, I just have a feeling,” I said. Dad raised an eyebrow as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “Don’t you believe in Christmas miracles?” I asked. “Bah humbug,” he said. It was his favorite Christmas saying and an inside joke in our family. He even had a shirt with decorations across the front, which he wore every Christmas morning.
注意:
1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
At the shelter, the woman at the front desk greeted my dad warmly. “Hi, Mr. Dillon! Still looking for your cat?”
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Back home, the rest of the family welcomed Baby-Girl. Dad remained stubbornly uncertain.
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8 . Biologists Slagsvold and Wiebe have spent years studying tits, flycatchers, and other birds that lay their eggs into holes in trees, walls and even human-made boxes. “Holes are rare, so there’s great competition,” Wiebe said. Birds will sometimes get into fights. Even after a bird gets a hole, it has to watch out: There’s always a chance that a passerby tries to possess it. Owners don’t have many options to wait for and stop thieves. Some police their nest’s entrance hole, but preparing for parenthood is hungry work, and eventually the birds have to leave to get food. So Slagsvold and Wiebe started to look for alternative home-defense systems the birds might be using.
They noticed feathers, usually helping animals keep warm, but that doesn’t seem to be how these particular birds are using them. Blue tits, for instance, get feathers on top of the nest, rather than putting them in. Some other birds dump feathers into holes before gathering other materials. “They’re white, and often noticeable,” Wiebe said, “as if the birds want to send a message.”
To find out, they built nest boxes — some feathery, some not — in Europe and America, and recorded how tits, flycatchers and swallows reacted. The birds entered feather-free boxes quickly. But they froze at the sight of white feathers, sometimes hesitating outside for an hour. Black feathers scared them less, perhaps because they were harder to see. The feathers didn’t stop the birds as most eventually went inside. But even a brief delay can make a huge difference, Wiebe said. “Even 20 minutes can give the owner enough time to circle back, and fight off their competitors.”
The birds’ behavior shows their high-risk lifestyle. They have to think twice as the holes may be hiding danger. The feathers represent possible violence, showing a predator might be inside.
The experiment reflects the lies animals tell where nest sites are rare. They build a scene so horrible to discourage nest stealers. Birds are terrified of death. And they can exploit that reality to safeguard what’s theirs.
1. What inspired Slagsvold and Wiebe to seek birds’ other possible ways to protect homes?A.Birds have to fight to get the limited holes. | B.Birds get tired from watching out in nests. |
C.Birds face many nest stealers on their own. | D.Birds leave their nests unattended sometimes. |
A.To show a friendly welcome. | B.To help stealers avoid danger. |
C.To buy time for the nest owners. | D.To confirm this place is occupied. |
A.Understandable. | B.Confusing. | C.Possible. | D.Worrying. |
A.Some birds refuse to build their nests | B.It’s important for birds to have feathers |
C.High risks of life lead birds to turn to lies | D.Birds create a false scene to protect their nests |
9 . When wind blows through a bigleaf maple (大叶枫), paper-thin, wing-like seeds called samaras gently spin towards the ground. The fruit’s tissue allows the wind to guide it further away from the tree. Inspired by the seeds, researchers designed a tiny, winged microchip, no larger than a grain of sand, that is powerful enough to monitor environmental pollution and airborne disease.
Called the microflier, the microchip has no motor to push it forward in the air but instead was designed to catch the wind. To perfect the microchip’s flying capability and shape, scientists took inspiration from the forms of various airborne seeds. The research team improved various designs until the microfliers flew slowly and more steadily than nature’s samara seeds. The slower falling rate allows the microchip to keep flying for longer, which gives it more time to collect data and monitor air pollutants and airborne diseases.
To perfect the microflier’s flight, researchers took inspiration from children’s pop-up books to create the three-dimensional wings. Usually, electronic microchips are flat, two-dimensional objects, but something flat won’t take flight. To make the 3-D shape, John A. Rogers and his team built a stretched rubber base that the microchip rests on. The wings pop into flight mode when the rubber base is relaxed.
The chip gathers data with sensors across its surface that can sense and monitor pH levels, test for heavy metals or chemicals, and track air pollution. An antenna (天线) on the microflier then sends all the collected data to a computer or phone. Rogers and his team are planning to test out the electronic chips soon by dropping thousands of the chips in a field. The microfliers will change color depending on the number of heavy metals present in the field where they land. A drone will then fly over the area and take photos of the microflier’s colors, allowing researchers to map out the pollutants.
Rogers and his team also designed the microchips to break down over time to prevent environmental pollution.
1. What is the winged microchip designed to do?A.Guide seeds from the tree. | B.Prevent airborne diseases. |
C.Keep track of air qualities. | D.Catch the wind to fly away. |
A.Where researchers draw inspiration. | B.How the microflier has improved. |
C.What the microchip does for humans. | D.Why the microflier flies more stably. |
A.Drop chips in the field. | B.Monitor the soil color. |
C.Map out air pollutants. | D.Handle soil pollution. |
A.Winged microchips for monitoring environment |
B.Microflier: A flying device of spreading seeds |
C.Drone: A photographer of microflier’s colors |
D.Electronic chips for finding airborne diseases |
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