1. Which areas are most at risk in the storm?
| A．Downtown areas. | B．Coastal neighborhoods. | C．Suburban towns. |
| A．Protect window glass. | B．Avoid driving cars. | C．Leave the city. |
| A．An emergency rescuer. | B．A weather reporter. | C．A traffic reporter. |
2 . An ancient, interdependent relationship that contributes to food systems and ecosystem stability across the globe could be changing.
Many flowering plants can self-pollinate (自花传粉), or transfer pollen between their own blossoms for seed generation and reproduction, but most of these plants have relied on pollinators such as butterflies and bees to reproduce. Now — during declines reported in many pollinator populations — a new study on the evolution of one flower species’ mating system has revealed a remarkable change that could worsen the challenges faced by the plants’ insect partners.
The flowers reproductive evolution may be linked to environmental changes such as habitat destruction and rapid ongoing decreases in pollinator biodiversity, according to Samson Acoca-Pidolle, who led the study published December 19 in the journal New Phytologist.
Comparing seeds of wild field pansies (三色堇) collected decades ago in France with the plants’ modern descendants. Acoca-Pidolle and his colleagues discovered that today’s flowers are smaller and produce less nectar (花蜜) as a result of increased self-pollination, which has direct impacts on pollinator behavior.The pansies of the past self-fertilized less and attracted far more pollinators than those of the present, according to the study.
“It seems that it’s only traits (特性) that are involved in plant-pollinator interaction that are evolving, ” said Acoca-Pidolle. The changes could restrict the plants’ ability to adapt to future environmental changes and have implications for “all of floral biodiversity” — potentially decreasing flowering plants’ genetic, species and ecosystem variation.
“This may increase the pollinator decline and cause a negative feedback cycle,” study coauthor Pierre-Olivier Cheptou told CNN.” If plants produce less nectar, there will be less food available to pollinators, which will in turn accelerate the rate at which the animals’ numbers decrease“, he explained.
“The major message is that we are currently seeing the evolutionary breakdown of plant pollinators in the wild,” said Cheptou, an evolutionary ecologist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research and professor at the University of Montpellier.
1. Which of the following may contribute to the flowers’ reproductive evolution?| A．Changed behaviour of pollinators. | B．Severe pollution to the habitats. |
| C．Continuing decline in pollinator biodiversity. | D．Increased plant-pollinator interaction. |
| A．They self-pollinated less. | B．They had a better mating system. |
| C．They attracted less pollinators. | D．They were fertilized by themselves. |
| A．The flowering plants may have more variations. |
| B．The evolution of wild plant pollinators is collapsing. |
| C．The numbers of the animals will increase more rapidly. |
| D．The plants will adapt to the environmental changes better. |
| A．Pollinator Populations: Declining. | B．Flowering Plants: Selfing. |
| C．Interdependent Relationship: Maintaining. | D．Floral Diversity: Increasing. |
3 . “Renewable energy development is a critically important component of the transition away from fossil fuels, making our air cleaner. However, bird death has become an unintended consequence of renewable energy development,” said Hannah Vander Zanden, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Florida. Birds can be killed when they hit wind turbines (涡轮机), fly into solar panels they mistake for bodies of water or get burned by the intense heat from concentrating solar power plants. While the death rate of birds due to these energy facilities is far less than deaths due to domestic cats and crashes with buildings, efforts to deal with this new problem are important, scientists say.
Vander Zanden and her colleagues performed geospatial (地理空间的) analyses of stable hydrogen isotope (氢同位素) data obtained from feathers of 871 individual birds found dead at these renewable energy facilities in California, which represented 24 species. Results from the study show that the birds killed at the facilities were from a broad area across the continent. Their geographical origins varied among species and included a mix of local and nonlocal birds. Researchers found most birds killed at solar facilities were nonlocal and peaked during the migratory periods of April and September through October. The percentage of migratory birds found at wind facilities nearly matched that of local birds, at 51%.
“The data can help inform us about the best strategies to use to minimize the deaths,”Vander Zanden said. “For example, facilities management could work with conservationists to improve the local habitat to help protect local birds or improve other parts of the species’ range where the migratory birds originate.” The results also illustrate the power of stable isotope data to assess future population growth or decline patterns for birds due to a variety of reasons.
“Studying the remains of animals like what we did is a noninvasive approach to get information that is otherwise hard to track and apply to conservation,” Vander Zanden said. “It’s a great way to understand the mysteries about animals.”
1. What is the new threat to birds according to Vander Zanden?| A．The high-rise buildings. | B．The loss of natural habitats. |
| C．The devastating climate change. | D．The rise of renewable energy facilities. |
| A．Solar facilities were primarily responsible for bird death. |
| B．Non-migratory birds faced a greater death risk at wind facilities. |
| C．Migratory birds were more affected by solar facilities than local ones. |
| D．The bird death rate was closely associated with migration patterns. |
| A．Animals hold many mysteries to humans. |
| B．The research possesses scientific significance. |
| C．Keeping track of and analyzing birds is challenging. |
| D．The remains of dead birds should be well conserved. |
| A．Renewable energy is a two-edged sword. |
| B．Solar energy is a major cause of birds’ death. |
| C．Studying birds promotes energy development. |
| D．Birds are threatened by renewable energy facilities. |
4 . The humble beaver could hold the key to saving our water, according to a new research that has found how their dam building skills protect the rivers threatened by climate change.
The research, done on rivers in Colorado, found the wooden barriers built by beavers raise water level upstream. As it builds up, the water flows into surrounding soils and secondary waterways. These acts separate out extra nutrients and pollutants before water reenters the main channel downstream.
Extreme weather events, such as severe storms, impact water quality in major river systems. Droughts and floods are becoming more frequent, and the scientists have also found they are contributing to an increase in the American be aver in the US, and consequently an explosion of dam building.
The team chose to monitor a 40-kilometer stretch of the East River. They reviewed data on water levels gathered hourly by sensors fixed in the river and the areas along the river.
They also collected water samples, including from below the ground’s surface to monitor nutrient and pollutant levels. The researchers compared water quality along the stretch during a historically dry year, to water quality the following year when water levels were unusually high. They also compared these year-long datasets to water quality during the nearly three- month period, starting in late July 2018, when the be aver dam blocked the river.
The study revealed the dams increased nitrate (硝酸盐) by nearly 50% by increasing the pressure of the water flow upstream 10 times over, which pushed more water out into the surrounding areas. This decrease in nitrates, which are absorbed and digested by tiny organisms in the soil, helped increase the oxygen content and quality in the rivers.
Beavers’ handiwork is responsible for the land they love.
1. What do the wooden barriers created by beavers act as?| A．Waterways. | B．Samples. | C．Dams. | D．Sensors. |
| A．More dams emerge on the river. |
| B．More American beavers appear in the US. |
| C．More pollutants are removed from the river. |
| D．More oxygen is created in the river. |
| A．To keep an eye on the water quality. | B．To compare water quality of the stretch. |
| C．To reveal the damage caused by floods. | D．To save the river from drying up. |
| A．Organisms help decrease nitrate. |
| B．Beavers contribute to climate change. |
| C．Extreme weather catches researcher’s eyes. |
| D．Beavers help protect rivers against climate change. |
5 . OH1, a crow-sized seabird, touched down just off the Maryland coast on April 18, completing a migration from Argentina. Soon, more terns (燕鸥) joined OH1, and nesting season was officially underway.
The common terns had become uncommon in Maryland until conservationists and scientists gave the birds, listed as endangered in the state, an artificial wooden raft (筏子). This is one of the birds’ last toeholds in the state.
Every spring for the last three years, staff at the Maryland Coastal Bays Program (MCBP), have pulled the nesting raft into the water of Chincoteague Bay, a narrow slice of ocean situated between the state’s mainland and a chain of barrier islands. The bay was once rich with the kind of nesting habitat seabirds need: small sandy islands where predators (捕食者) are rare and bushes provide shade to flightless chicks on hot summer days. But over the last century, due to coastal development and sea level rise, those islands have disappeared. And so did the terns. By 2020, there were only 60 nesting pairs left.
Initially intended as a temporary solution, the rafts have not only stopped the common tern’s population decline — they’ve completely reversed it. In 2021, 23 pairs of tern s nested on the platform; in 2022, 155 sets of parents hatched 140 chicks.
Figuring out the formula for the birds’ success has been an ongoing process. Dave Brinker, a regional ecologist, says that observing the birds each year “helps us get more terns on the rafts.”
For example, during the first year the raft contained only some tiny wooden shelves intended to provide shade to the baby birds. But the adult terns used the chick shelters like fence lines, outlining their territory. “A natural habitat will have grass to provide that natural geographic separation,” Brinker says. “So the next year we added plastic grass to break up the visual landscape.”
While the nesting platform has become a life raft for the tern population, it remains a temporary solution. The team hopes ultimately to convince the state to rebuild the lost islands.
1. Why did scientists put the nesting raft into the water of Chincoteague Bay?| A．The weather there is warmer. |
| B．It is the only bay left for seabirds. |
| C．There are visitors waiting to see terns. |
| D．The environment is suitable for terns to produce. |
| A．Recorded. | B．Changed. | C．Ended. | D．Employed. |
| A．To introduce terns’ natural habitat. | B．To explain ecologists’ ongoing work. |
| C．To point out the living habits of terns. | D．To show the construction of rafts. |
| A．Terns in Maryland Are in Danger |
| B．Various Measures Are Taken to Save Seabirds |
| C．Threatened Seabirds Get a Life Raft in Maryland |
| D．Rafts Are Becoming Terns’ Permanent Settlements |
6 . While many cats love to go outdoors, they usually do not venture far from home. But some cats are the
Although Nala, a four-year-old cat has a home in Hertfordshire and a loving owner, she always loves
She comes in every day to greet hundreds of commuters. Ambler says that Nala goes to the station when it is the busiest because she enjoys the
The staff at the station have grown very
Nala wears a collar with
Nala is so popular that Ambler
| A．competitors | B．cases | C．negotiators | D．exceptions |
| A．circus | B．zoo | C．home | D．workplace |
| A．eating | B．wandering | C．hunting | D．sleeping |
| A．visit | B．skip | C．monitor | D．advocate |
| A．challenges | B．delights | C．guides | D．disturbs |
| A．debate | B．news | C．space | D．attention |
| A．worthy | B．free | C．fond | D．proud |
| A．presence | B．request | C．performance | D．trick |
| A．qualifications | B．diaries | C．details | D．recommendations |
| A．found | B．released | C．struck | D．adopted |
| A．business | B．adventure | C．exhibition | D．diet |
| A．looked for | B．referred to | C．learned from | D．set up |
| A．encounters | B．fights | C．quarrels | D．comparisons |
| A．experiences | B．makes | C．explores | D．examines |
| A．directly | B．relatively | C．frequently | D．definitely |
7 . The hottest year on record is coming to a close, emissions of planet-warming gases are still rising globally, and the most ambitious climate goal set by world leaders is all but impossible to meet, according to a new analysis by the United Nations.
Between 2021 and 2022, global greenhouse gas emissions grew about 1%, the analysis finds. Emissions need to fall as quickly as possible to avoid catastrophic climate impacts such as uncontrollable sea level rise, unsurvivable heat in some areas and mass extinction of plants and animals.
Right now, the world is headed for at least 4.5℉ of warming this century compared to global temperatures in the late 1800s. It is assumed that countries will do everything they have currently promised under the Paris Agreement, including things that some governments have said they’ll only do if wealthy countries follow through on promises to help foot the bill, for example, helping to pay for renewable energy infrastructure in less wealthy nations. If such conditions aren’t met, the planet is headed for more than 5°F of warming, the analysis finds.
The new range is ever so slightly lower than predicted in last year’s analysis, which reflects the very slow progress that humanity is making on slowing emissions and controlling future warming. Even the lower end of the current projected temperature range — 4.5°F of warming — is extremely high. And the lower target is likely out of reach entirely at this point — a finding that is backed up by another recent study.
The new analysis emphasizes once again that controlling oil, gas and coal operations is key to controlling global warming. It finds that, if humans extract (提取) and burn all the oil, gas and coal currently in development worldwide, countries would collectively emit enough greenhouse gases to basically hit the higher temperature target under the Paris Agreement. That means all new oil, gas and coal extraction is essentially incompatible (对立的) with avoiding harmful warming later this century. Right now, many countries including the United States are still allowing new fossil fuel extraction.
1. What does the underlined word “catastrophic” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Limited. | B．Invisible. | C．Ruinous. | D．Controllable. |
| A．Solutions to global warming aren’t clear. |
| B．The world is heading to a warmer future. |
| C．Countries are unwilling to make promises. |
| D．The temperature target is unrealistically high. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Optimistic. | C．Cautious. | D．Critical. |
| A．A new analysis is calling for all the countries to reach an agreement. |
| B．Fossil fuel extraction control is far from a solution to pollution. |
| C．The huge impacts of global warming are predictable but uncontrollable. |
| D．The world is far behind on controlling planet-warming pollution. |
8 . To save the environment, we must all join in — and nobody knows this better than 70-year-old grandmother Pat Smith who spent 2018 cleaning up litter from 52 beaches in Cornwall on the United Kingdom’s south coast.
Smith set out in January, 2018 to carry out her New Year’s resolution of making her community a better and cleaner place. The ambitious goal came to her after she watched a documentary on plastic pollution the previous year, and she knew she couldn’t just sit by.
Often, volunteers would join her in her efforts, including her grandchildren, or she would join hands with other campaigners such as Wayne Dixon, who is walking around the UK coast as an ambassador for Keep Britain Tidy.
During her beach cleans, Smith was sometimes mistaken for doing community service! She said, “People don’t understand I’ve been doing this voluntarily. We should all take responsibility for picking up the litter as well as ensuring we don’t drop litter in the first place.
Even before her beach cleanups, Smith had begun her first environmental campaign to eliminate plastic straws (吸管) in her city of Cornwall . To date, she has encouraged 600 local companies to stop using unnecessary plastic. In an effort to make her hometown an example for the plastic-free movement in the United Kingdom, she founded The Final Straw Cornwall in the summer of 2017. “I founded the Final Straw to try and raise awareness of the disastrous damage we are doing to our oceans from our casual consumption of single-use plastics. I feel I have a responsibility to my children and grandchildren to do something about it.” She said.
Her resolution year may be over but this environmentally conscious grandma continues her quest (追求). “A lot of the rubbish I’ve picked up consists of everyday items,” said Smith. “These things are used by all of us and it is shocking to find them polluting our beautiful beaches. Please let’s try to be more thoughtful in this coming year. I’m driven to try and protect our living planet for my children and grandchildren and I will continue to do everything in my power to achieve that.”
1. What led to Smith’s New Year’s resolution of cleaning her community?| A．Community service. |
| B．A film or television program. |
| C．Various ocean protection campaigns. |
| D．Serious pollution in her community. |
| A．She was forced to do that. |
| B．She just pretended to be caring. |
| C．She actually did only a little work. |
| D．She wouldn’t stick to the work for long. |
| A．set an example to other aged people |
| B．stop her local companies from producing plastic straws |
| C．keep her promise to her children and grandchildren |
| D．make people conscious of the plastic-related environmental problem |
| A．It’s everyone’s duty. |
| B．It’s as hard as people think. |
| C．Prevention is more important than protection. |
| D．The younger generation don’t care about it enough. |
| A．Proud. | B．Happy. | C．Stressed. | D．Determined. |
| A．The weather in London is excellent. |
| B．People hold different attitudes toward the sun. |
| C．London is worth visiting with friends. |
10 . Every spring, in regions at high altitudes around the world, one of Earth’s tiniest migrations takes place. The migrants are single-celled green algae (海藻); they are relatives to plants growing in the sea, but instead of living in the sea they live in snow. They spend the winter deep in the snow. In the spring, they wake and swim up through flowing streams of melted snow to the surface, dividing and photosynthesizing (进行光合作用) as they go. Then, at the top, they turn red. This creates what scientists call pink snow.
The color comes from astaxanthin (虾青素), a substance that gives some living things their reddish color. The algae produce astaxanthin as a form of sun protection; it absorbs UV light, thereby warming the organisms and thus melting the surrounding snow. “The melting helps them a lot,” said Roman Dial, a biologist at Alaska Pacific University. “The moment there is liquid water on the snow, the algae start growing.”
Pink snow is a perfectly natural phenomenon, but in an age of disappearing glaciers (冰川), it is also problematic. Last year, scientists discovered that the algae turned the snow surface dark, reducing the amount of sunlight reflected by some glaciers in Scandinavia—and increasing the amount of sunlight absorbed—by 30%. The result, as Dial and his colleagues demonstrated in this month’s issue of Nature Geoscience, is faster melting. As in other parts of the warming planet—particularly the Arctic, where scientists fear that melting permafrost (永冻土层) may lead to further climatic changes. Ice sheets are already being darkened by dust and ash, which makes the process of melting faster and provides nutrients for algae growth. As the organisms multiply, they melt even more snow, which allows them to increase in their population again. “It spreads more rapidly than people realize, once it gets established,” Dial said.
Snow algae need snow; when that’s gone, which seems to be the direction of things, the snow algae will go, too. Before the snow algae disappear, though, and while there’s still some glacier left, it’s entirely possible that the last snow we’ll see on Earth will be pink or even red, a wound on Earth.
1. What causes the color of pink snow?| A．The migration that involves the algae and other plants. |
| B．The flowing streams that the algae travel through. |
| C．The algae that turn red at the snow’s surface. |
| D．The sunlight that directly reflects on the algae. |
| A．It absorbs UV light to cool down the algae. | B．It prevents the algae from photosynthesizing. |
| C．It colors the algae for the purpose of decoration. | D．It helps protect the algae from the sun. |
| A．It increases the reflection of sunlight. | B．It speeds up the melting of glaciers. |
| C．It leads to a decrease in algae populations. | D．It reduces the amount of liquid water available. |
| A．The rapid melting of glaciers may lead to an increase in permafrost. |
| B．The darkening of ice sheets may slow down the process of melting. |
| C．The warming climate may result in the extinction of algae in the region. |
| D．Darkening ice sheets and multiplied algae may worsen climate change. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Indifferent. | C．Neutral. | D．Optimistic. |
