1 . How to Improve Climate Literacy

Climate literacy is the ability to identify, understand and explain information associated with climate science.     1    

Over the past few years, many young people and educators have pushed for the inclusion of climate literacy in national curricula. So what are the best ways in which this can be embedded within already packed school timetables?

True climate literacy must address not only the science of climate change, but also issues of climate (in)justice, including how climate change affects people and places unevenly and contributes to inequalities within and across nations.

    2     Many people in developed countries like the UK therefore see climate change happening elsewhere and to other people, with less relevance to their own lives.

    3     We need to start highlighting the local effects of climate change to ground abstract understanding in reality.

One way to do this is through visual storytelling. Storytelling, often involving drawings and paintings, has been used by human communities to pass on knowledge or tales of caution for at least 30,000 years — as you can see from the cave painting.

One effect of storytelling is its ability to create cognitive dissonance: the mental conflict and discomfort felt when a person’s behaviour isn’t in line with their beliefs. Stories that demonstrate the consequences of not acting eco-consciously — especially if those consequences are shown visually — can be a good way to do this, leading to individuals being more likely to take climate action in their own lives or by confronting corporate activities.

A．Therefore, the teachers we worked with remarked that lessons are typically focused on the physical processes of climate change.

B．However, at present, much of climate change education is focused on the physical aspects of climate change, often at a global scale.

C．The next stages of our research will reflect how a separated community has come together through this journey towards climate literacy.

D．Being climate literate allows individuals to become active participants in the fight against climate change.

E．This collective psychological distancing means many fail to recognise the urgency of the climate crisis.

2 . The Last Straw?

Every second, the world uses 160,000 plastic bags — that is a total of over five trillion per year. Up to 99 percent of these plastic bags hang around for at least 1,000 years and pollute Earth. And yet, plastic bags are hardly a necessity in our lives. Of all the changes we could make to create a more sustainable lifestyle, a total ban on plastic bags should be simple.

At the beginning of 2021, Shanghai put in effect a ban on all plastic bags in shopping malls and supermarkets, as well as a ban on non-degradable plastics in many other areas. Over the years, individuals and companies have worked to replace plastic items, such as cups and straws, with paper ones.     1    .

Customers complain that paper straws often become soft and break before they can finish their hot drinks. Experts, however, have repeatedly stressed plastic substitutes (替代品) are not the ultimate solution, and that our consumption habits need a bigger change.

In college, one of my environmental science professors promoted a type of waste-free living. She carried around a small glass jar with her, and in it was all her trash she collected for the entire year. She was able to do this by bringing her own cup to Starbucks, her own bags to the shops, and never buying anything that came wrapped in plastic. Her food waste also became compost.     2    .

Plastic bags are incredibly easy to forget about when they become increasingly common.     3    . Once they are in the trash, we take it for granted that they are someone else’s problem. The sad fact is that plastic bags break down into microplastics which then get mixed into the air, soil and water, and eventually end up in plants, animals, and our very own human bodies. So what are you going to do about them?

A．Clearly she demonstrated our ability to live a completely healthy life without creating a great deal of plastic waste.

B．Plastic bag litter has even caused great problems in some areas.

C．If they’re free to use and easily disposed of, they’re a mere tool that we don’t have to think about.

D．Some of these decisions have been met with criticism.

E．Unfortunately, such a high level of pollution doesn’t come without consequences.

3 . So far, the world has relied on wood, oil, coal, and natural gas to produce energy for heating, lighting, transportation, and manufacturing. Since the 1950s, world consumption has been increasing persistently. In the year 2000, 80 percent of commercial energy was generated from the combustion of fossil fuels, and every day, 50 million barrels of oil are reined (支配) and converted to gasoline and other fuels. In addition to the rapid exhaustion of fossil fuels, the consequences of high consumption rates are pollution and global warming.
How long has the world been in high speed of burning fossil fuel for energy?

A．For half a century.	B．For nearly sixty years.
C．For over 70 years.	D．For more than a century.

4 . The population of rare Atlantic puffins in Maine, US, took a hit this year, as the number of chicks to survive a tough summer collapsed. The state’s coastal bays and the Gulf of Maine are among the fastest warming large water bodies on the planet, making the puffins’ fate a test-case for how climate change could disrupt marine ecosystems worldwide.

The phrase “took a hit” (in the 1^st paragraph) probably mean “________”.

A．suffer heavy losses	B．escape bad fortune
C．increase on a large-scale	D．decline moderately

5 . China’s policy of planting trees is likely playing a significant role in tempering its climate impacts. An international team has identified two areas in the country where the scale of carbon dioxide absorption by new forests has been underestimated. Taken together, these areas account for a little over 35% of China’s entire land carbon “sink”, the group says.
Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A．Greenhouse Gas Emission Largely Reduced

B．Roles of Carbon Sinks Proved by New Study

C．China’s Forest Carbon Absorption Underestimated

D．Climate Impacts Balanced Due to China’s Afforestation

6 . Even before they became fashionable companions for humans, Asia’s wild otters faced plenty of threats. Their habitats are disappearing. They have long been hunted for their coats, or killed by farmers who wish to prevent them consuming fishes. The pet trade, which began picking up in the early 2000s but appeared to speed up a few years ago, has made things worse. The numbers of wild Asian small-clawed otters and smooth-coated otters, two species that are in highest demand, have declined by at least 30% in the three decades to 2019.

The international agreement that governs trade in wildlife, known as CITES, now prohibits cross-border trade in these species. But laws banning ownership are often poorly implemented, as in Thailand, or full of holes, as in Indonesia. And the otter-keeping craze has been dramatically improved by the internet, says Vincent Nijman of Oxford Brookes University.

The purpose of the writing is to ________.

A．advertise for a photo-sharing app

B．introduce the popularity of pet otters

C．discourage the illegal otter pet trade

D．describe the characteristics of otters

7 . Otters, are cute, this no one can deny. They have big eyes, short and flat noses and claws (爪子) like tiny hands. They look even cuter when they wear hats and throw food balls into their mouths as if they were bar snacks, like Takechiyo, a pet otter in Japan. Documenting Takechiyo’s funny behavior has earned his owner nearly 230,000 followers on Instagram, a photo-sharing app.

The function of the first paragraph is to ________.

A．present the main idea	B．introduce the main topic
C．set readers thinking	D．illustrate the writer’s point