1 . Garbage sorting (分类) has become a hot topic around China, especially after Shanghai began carrying out a regulation (规章) on July 1.
Beijing has been expected to do the same. At present the regulation gives garbage sorting responsibilities to government departments, property management groups and other organizations. It also gives rules for companies, explaining how they’re responsible for waste collection, transportation and treatment. Citizens are free of responsibilities for the moment.
The long-awaited revision will soon change the situation. “Taking out the trash without sorting it properly will be illegal,” said Sun Xinjun, director of the Beijing Commission of Urban Management. In Shanghai, violators (违背者) are now fined up to 200 yuan for trash-sorting violations. “The maximum fine in Beijing will not be less than that,” he said.
The Beijing city government first promoted garbage sorting in 2009. Authorities have since called on citizens to sort their household waste into four types—recyclable waste, kitchen trash, dangerous waste and others , and leave it in a colored dustbin or trash can. Blue-colored dustbins are for recyclable items, green for kitchen trash, red for dangerous materials and grey for other waste.
To promote the awareness of garbage sorting and expand the base of participants, authorities have employed workers to help citizens. With intelligent devices, those who throw in recyclable waste at given places will be rewarded with bonus points, which can be used to buy daily goods. At some communities, there are no color-coded dustbins. Instead, a scheduled garbage collection service is offered to help improve the environment. In other communities, workers offer a door-to-door service to collect recyclable or kitchen waste.
Beijing Environmental Sanitation Engineering Group has been promoting new garbage sorting facilities such as recycling cabinets and smart kitchen waste trash cans since 2016, Xinhua News Agency reported.
1. Which of the following shouldn’t be thrown into a blue dustbin?A.Coke cans. | B.Thrown-away batteries. |
C.Used books. | D.Broken iron pots. |
A.citizens are not responsible for garbage sorting in Beijing now |
B.recyclable waste like newspapers should be thrown in green dustbins. |
C.people sorting recyclable waste will be rewarded in Beijing |
D.Shanghai carried out garbage sorting later than Beijing |
A.An Example in Garbage Sorting in Shanghai |
B.Action to Be Taken to Sort Garbage in Shanghai |
C.New Garbage Sorting Regulation in Beijing |
D.Present Garbage Collection in Beijing |
A.A fashion magazine. | B.A science book. |
C.A newspaper. | D.A government report. |
2 . Kiwis are unique in a lot of interesting ways. They have many characteristics that are not found in any other bird.
It is assumed that the kiwi’s ancestor was able to fly and reached New Zealand. Once on the island, it lost its ability to fly and eventually became the kiwi known today. Kiwis have feathers that look like hair and very strong and muscular legs. They rule the ground instead of the air. They can smell very well. Kiwis are quite shy and usually only come out at night. Kiwis can live a long time, between 25 and 50 years.
A female kiwi carries a huge egg about its body size. The kiwi is about the same size as a chicken but its egg is actually six times as large as a chicken’s egg. The reason for this is that the kiwi doesn’t have to fly, so there aren’t any limits on its weight. The female has to eat three times as much as usual to help the egg develop. Right before the egg is laid she can’t eat anything because the egg presses against her stomach, leaving no room for food.
All kiwi species are endangered. On average, twenty-seven die each week. They have been affected most by deforestation and invasive mammals. Before humans came to New Zealand, the only mammals on the island were bats and seals. The kiwi never had to worry about predators before, but now since it cannot fly, and lays its eggs on the ground, it is pretty defenceless against invasive mammals such as rats and stoats. Stoats kill a lot of the chicks, while dogs kill a lot of adult birds, usually by accident, because they are quite delicate (脆弱的) .
1. Which is kiwis’ unique characteristic?A.They can’t fly with no wings. |
B.They can live more than 50 years. |
C.They rule the air instead of the ground. |
D.They seldom or never come out in the daytime. |
A.It eats three limes as much as usual. |
B.It focuses too much on developing its egg. |
C.Its body weight will increase without limit. |
D.The egg presses against her stomach. |
A.The bat. | B.The rat. |
C.The stoat. | D.The dog. |
A.Endangered Kiwi Species | B.Kiwis- Unique Birds |
C.Get Close to the Bird World | D.Why Can’t Kiwis Fly? |
3 . China is showing the world its great resolve in the global climate campaign with concrete and self-motivated efforts as well as serious commitment.
At the opening ceremony of the Paris climate summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping restated China’s plan made in June to cut its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60—65 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, and increase non-fossil fuel sources in primary energy consumption to about 20 per cent.
With a large population, China is facing increasing resource limits, severe environmental pollution and a worsening ecosystem, and its citizens are also becoming increasingly aware of environmental problems. Suffering environmental problems and considering the efforts important in order to transform its economic growth pattern, the country will have much at risk if climate change is left unattended.
Actually, climate change efforts have already been included in China’s medium-and long-term program of economic and social development, and ecological efforts are the clear characteristics in China’s 13th Five-Year Plan(2016—2020).
Although it is and will be a developing country for a long time, China has been actively involved in the global campaign against climate change, now topping the world in terms of energy conservation and the use of new and renewable energy.
However, China’s development rights need to be respected. It is unfair to overstress China’s status as one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters and regard it as the major part of responsibilities in the global fight against climate change.
It is worthy of notice that China’s emissions of greenhouse gases per person are far lower than those of developed countries, especially the United States, although rapid economic expansion and its population base have made it one of the biggest producers of the greenhouse gas.
To show its great resolve, China also announced the establishment of an independent South-South cooperation in September, investing RMB 20 billion to help developing countries affected by global warming.
While China is eagerly accomplishing its policy commitment, developed countries should stop questioning China’s commitment to fighting climate change and pointing fingers, and start shouldering their due responsibilities instead.
1. China is self-motivated to fight against climate change in order to .A.top the world |
B.transform its economic growth pattern |
C.solve its population problem |
D.respond to pressure from developed countries |
A.China | B.the United States |
C.economic expansion | D.the population base |
A.China will completely use non-fossil fuels by 2030 |
B.China will carry out its plan by stopping its development |
C.Chinese emit more greenhouse gases than Americans on average |
D.some developed countries are not taking on their responsibilities |
A.Expanding its economy. |
B.Using non-renewable energy. |
C.Making the fight against climate change part of China’s 13th Five-Year Plan. |
D.Donating money to developing countries. |
4 . Bertie knew there was something in the wind. His mother had been sad in recent days, not sick, just strangely sad. The lion had just lain down beside him, his head warm on Bertie’s feet, when Father cleared his throat and began, “You’ll soon be eight, Bertie. A boy needs a proper education. We’ve found the right place for you, a school near Salisbury in England.”
His heart filled with a terrible fear, all Bertie could think of was his white lion. “But the lion,” he cried, “What about the lion?”
“I’m afraid there’s something else I have to tell you,” his father said. Looking across at Bertie’s mother, he took a deep breath. Then he told Bertie he had met a circus owner from France, who was over in Africa looking for lions to buy. He would come to their farm in a few days.
“No! You can’t send him to a circus!” said Bertie. “He’ll be shut up behind bars. I promised him he never would be. And they will come to see him and laugh at him. He’d rather die. Any animal would!” But as he looked across the table at them, he knew their minds were quite made up.
Bertie felt completely betrayed. He waited until he heard his father’s deep breathing next door. With his white lion at his heels, he crept downstairs in his pyjamas, took down his father’s rifle from the rack and stepped out into the night. He ran and ran till his legs could run no more. As the sun came up over the grassland, he climbed to the top of a hill and sat down, his arms round the lion’s neck. The time had come. “Be wild now,” he whispered. “You’ve got to be wild. Don’t ever come home. All my life I’ll think of you, I promise I will.” He buried his head in the lion’s neck. Then, Bertie clambered down off the hill and walked away.
When he looked back, the lion was still sitting there watching him; but then he stood up, yawned, stretched, and sprang down after him. Bertie shouted at him, but he kept coming. He threw sticks. He threw stones. Nothing worked.
There was only one thing left to do. Tears filling his eyes and his mouth, he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired over the lion’s head.
1. Bertie’s mother was sad probably because she________.A.had lied about her good health condition | B.had decided to send Bertie to a new school |
C.knew selling the lion would upset Bertie | D.knew Bertie would hate to go to England |
A.some audience | B.other animals | C.Bertie’s friends | D.circus’s owners |
A.kill the lion out of helplessness | B.protect himself from being chased |
C.threaten the lion back to the wild | D.show his anger towards his father |
A.circuses are the last places for animals to live |
B.animals belonging to the wild should be set free |
C.parents are sometimes cruel to their children |
D.people and animals can be faithful to each other |
5 . My name is Miranda Gibson. I have been at the top of a tree for five months now. Some people might wonder
I have walked through this forest many times. On December 12, 2011,
Life in the tree top can be
Living on the tree has been inspiring. I am willing to
A.why | B.when | C.how | D.where |
A.water | B.animals | C.machinery | D.tourists |
A.bear | B.help | C.keep | D.spare |
A.sold | B.stolen | C.protected | D.lost |
A.grew out | B.fell short | C.ran out | D.let go |
A.refreshing | B.risky | C.challenging | D.rewarding |
A.get up | B.get away | C.give in | D.give up |
A.change | B.look | C.search | D.touch |
A.confused | B.nervous | C.sorry | D.lonely |
A.Beyond | B.Without | C.Despite | D.Unlike |
A.height | B.experience | C.background | D.position |
A.return | B.stop | C.stay | D.hide |
A.but | B.though | C.because | D.so |
A.soon | B.long | C.near | D.bad |
A.moved | B.logged | C.burned | D.missed |
6 . The latest in cat research reveals that the lovely animal seems to have a basic grasp on both the laws of physics and the ins and outs of cause and effect.
According to a newly published study, cats seem to be able to predict the location of hiding prey (猎物) using both their ears and an inborn (天生的) understanding of how the physical world works.
In a recent experiment, Japanese researchers taped 30 domestic cats reacting to a container that a team member shook. Some containers rattled (发出响声); others did not. When the container was tipped over, sometimes an object fell out and sometimes it didn’t.
It turns out that the cats were remarkably smart about what would happen when a container was tipped over. When an object did not drop out of the bottom of a rattling container, they looked at it for a longer time than they did when the container behaved as expected.
“Cats use a causal-logical understanding of noise or sounds to predict the appearance of invisible objects,” lead researcher Saho Takagi says in a press release. The researchers conclude that cats’ hunting style may have developed based on their common-sense abilities to infer where prey is, using their hearing.
Scientists have explored this idea with other lovely creatures: babies. Like cats, babies appear to engage in what’s called “preferential looking”—looking longer at things that are interesting or unusual than things they perceive as normal.
When babies’ expectations are not met in experiments like the ones performed with the cats, they react much like their animal friends. Psychologists have shown that babies apparently expect their world to obey the laws of physics and cause and effect as early as two months of age.
Does the study mean that cats will soon grasp the ins and outs of cause and effect? Maybe, Okay, so cats may not be the next physics faculty members at America’s most important research universities. But by demonstrating their common sense, they’ve shown that the divide between cats and humans may not be that great after all.
1. What do we learn from a newly published study about cats?A.They can be trained to understand the physical world. |
B.They know what kind of prey might be easier to hunt. |
C.They have a natural ability to locate animals they hunt. |
D.They are capable of telling which way their prey flees. |
A.Their inborn sensitivity (敏感) to noise. | B.Their unusual sense of direction. |
C.Their special ability to perceive. | D.Their understanding of cause and effect. |
A.They focus on what appears strange. | B.They view the world as normal. |
C.They do what they prefer to do | D.They are curious about everything. |
A.They rely on their instincts (本能) to hunt. |
B.They interact with the physical world much like humans. |
C.They display extraordinarily high intelligence in hunting. |
D.They can aid physics professors in their research work. |
7 . Urban Wildlife
Cities are diverse ecosystems. In addition to visitors, a large number of species share our urban areas. As our cities spread, we need to think about what it is like for other species to have human neighbors.
Cities are built for humans.
There are also structures built with the aim of bringing wildlife into the city. The Olympic Forest Park in Beijing is a good example. The park used native plants, and created open and natural spaces for wildlife. The result is a zone in Beijing with over 160 species of birds. In many ways, the park is the opposite of a zoo.
If we learn to share our space, we can become better neighbors of the wildlife around us.
A.They are built to protect birds. |
B.Our actions sometimes help other species. |
C.If we do not, more species will become extinct. |
D.They do not always provide suitable habitats for wildlife. |
E.Instead of being kept in cages, wildlife can move more freely. |
F.At first, people were afraid of the bats and tried to get rid of them. |
G.They would sit on it and their droppings would fall into the water. |
8 . In the UK, the government showed throwaway cups should be forbidden altogether by 2023 if they are not all being recycled. As a result, Starbucks said it would try out a 5p (5 pence) cup charge in 20 to 25 central London shops. “We will begin it next month and at first it will last for three months,” the company said, adding that it continued to offer a 25p (25 pence) discount to customers who brought their own reusable cups.
The government agrees plastic waste is a problem and will consider taxing disposable (一次性的) plastics. The committee’s chair, Mary Creagh, said, “The UK throws away 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups every year. Almost none are recycled. Coffee cup producers and shops haven’t taken action to change this. So we need to kick-start a change in recycling.”
The Liberal Democrats said they had been suggesting a charge on coffee cups since September 2016. The party’s spokesman, Tim Farron, said, “The result is clear that the tax works. The 5p charge on plastic bags has largely cut down the usage and helped protect our environment.”
The 5p tax is being against by the makers of paper cups. Mike Tuner, of the Paper Cup Alliance, said paper cups were the safest solution for drinks. “The paper cups we produce in the UK can be recycled, and are being recycled. We are trying to increase recycling rates. Taxing the morning coffee run won’t solve the problem, but it will hurt consumers,” he said.
Disposable coffee cups are technically recyclable, but most are not because the UK has just three machines that can split the paper and plastic parts for recycling. The committee has called on the government to require coffee cups from cafes without in-store recycling systems to carry “not recycled” marks to remind customers. Cafes with in-store recycling systems should print their cups with “recyclable in store only”.
1. About the throwaway cups, Starbucks will ________.A.offer a half-price discount to customers with their own cups |
B.support the idea of forbidding throwaway cups till 2023 |
C.charge customers 5p per throwaway cup in some shops |
D.stop to offer throwaway cups in its shops right now |
A.Coffee cup makers will take action to recycle the water. |
B.The use of the disposable plastics is a nationwide problem. |
C.Coffee cup users pay much attention to the plastic problem. |
D.The UK government will ban all disposable coffee cups by 2023. |
A.More people will fight against the charge. |
B.There will be little change in our environment. |
C.Fewer people will use the disposable coffee cups. |
D.There will be a competition between coffee shops. |
A.will be supported by the makers of the paper cups |
B.will affect the consumers instead of solving the problem |
C.can give a hand to increasing recycling rates of the makers |
D.can be the best solution for the government to cut down waste |
A.There are not enough professionals in this area. |
B.There is not enough professional equipment. |
C.Consumers don’t have recycling knowledge. |
D.Cafes don’t have recycling systems at all. |
A.Being a rare fish, the vaquita is at the edge of extinction. |
B.Generally, a vaquita’s life expectation is over two decades. |
C.Genetic modification could be the only way to save vaquitas. |
D.Vaquitas were first discovered by Spanish in 1958. |
A.It banned the fishermen from using fixed nets in the Gulf of California. |
B.It banned the fishermen from fishing vaquitas. |
C.Its police force worked with Sea Shepherd to feed vaquitas. |
D.It inspected local fishermen to stop illegal fishing. |
A.He founded the Natural Resources Defense Council. |
B.It was great to tell vaquitas good stories. |
C.All work would be meaningless without continuous efforts. |
D.The parties should record their actions with cameras. |
1. When will the first storm arrive?
A.Today. | B.This weekend. | C.Next week. |
A.New York City. | B.Saint Paul. | C.Boston. |
A.People traveling on foot. | B.People driving on the road. | C.People celebrating by the water. |
A.Sunny. | B.Snowy. | C.Windy. |