1 . Several years ago, Jason Box, a scientist from Ohio, flew 31 giant rolls of white plastic to a glacier (冰川) in Greenland. He and his team spread them across 10,000 feet of ice, then left. His idea was that the white blanket would reflect back the rays of the sun, keeping the ice cool below. When he came back to check the results, he found it worked. Exposed ice had melted faster than covered ice. He had not only saved two feet of glacier in a short time. No coal plants were shut down, no jobs were lost, and nobody was taxed or fired. Just the sort of fix we’re looking for.

“Thank you, but no thank you.” says Ralph King, a climate scientist. He told Grey Childs. author and commentator, that people think technology can save the planet, “but there are other things we need to deal with, like consumption. They burned $50,000 just for the helicopter” to bring the plastic to the glacier. This experiment, quote-unquote, gives people false hope that climate change can be fixed without changing human behavior. It can’t. Technology won’t give us a free ride.

Individuals respond to climate change differently. Climatologist Kelly Smith is hardly alone in her prediction that someday soon we won’t be climate victims, we will be climate Choosers. More scientists agree with her that if the human race survives. The engineers will get smarter, the tools will get better, and one day we will control the climate. but that then? “Just the mention of us controlling the climate sent a small shiver down my back, Grey writes.” “Something sounded wrong about stopping ice by our own will,” he says.

Me? I like it better when the earth takes care of itself, I guess one day we will have to run the place, but for the moment, sitting at my desk, looking out at the trees bending wildly and the wind howling, I’m happy not to be in charge.

1. Why does the author mention Jason Box’s experiment in the first paragraph?

A．To introduce a possible solution to climate change.

B．To describe a misleading attempt to fix the climate.

C．To report on a successful experiment on saving the glacier.

D．To arouse people’s attention to the problem of global warming.

2. Which statement would Ralph King most probably agree with?

A．The fight against climate change will not succeed.

B．Technology is not the final solution, let alone its high cost.

C．It’s best to deal with climate change without changing our behavior.

D．Jason’s experiment plays a significant role in fixing climate change.

3. What is Grey Childs’s attitude to human’s controlling the climate?

A．Favorable

B．Tolerant

C．Doubtful.

D．Unclear.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．But should we fix the climate?

B．Is climate change a real problem?

C．How can we take care of the earth?

D．What if all the glaciers disappeared?

2 . The world produces around 359 million tons of plastics each year. Plastics are certainly a big problem, but they don’t necessarily have to be. There are many ways we could set plastics on a different lifecycle. One that I have been working on is turning plastics into a hardy, reliable and sustainable building material.

Most people believe that plastics recycling is severely limited: only a few types can be recycled at all. This is unsurprising. The proportion(比例)of plastics that are recycled is minimal. But all polymers(聚合物)are, technologically, recyclable. Some of them can be used again and again to produce the same goods. Some can technically be reprocessed into new materials for different applications.

The problem is that recycling much of this plastic waste is currently unprofitable. But the amount of these materials all over the world is large and keeps on growing. What if this plastic waste could be used to produce something useful to the society? Many universities and business people are attempting to do this. Most solutions target mixed plastic waste and suggest applications different from the original ones. For example, several groups have developed building materials made of plastic waste. Plastics are strong, durable, waterproof, lightweight and recyclable—all key properties for construction materials. So what if all of this plastic waste could be turned into building materials for low-income populations? Existing initiatives are promising, but not yet reproducible on an industrial scale.

I study plastic waste with the aim of finding interesting ways to remove it from the environment. From agricultural waste to concrete waste, mixed with recycled plastics, there are many ways to obtain materials to produce bricks and other useful elements for buildings. So perhaps plastics are not necessarily the problem. They can be part of a pathway towards a more sustainable way of living.

1. What’s people’s common belief about plastic recycling?

A．Almost all plastic waste can be reused.	B．The methods are quite limited.
C．Not many kinds of plastics are recyclable.	D．The amount is unbelievably large.

2. What can be learned from paragraph 3?

A．Plastic waste is on the decline globally.

B．Recycling plastics doesn’t make money now.

C．Plastic buildings have been largely constructed.

D．New applications of plastics haven’t been found.

3. Why can plastics make good building materials?

A．They can resist water and won’t last long.

B．They can be reproduced in large quantity.

C．They satisfy the needs of low-income people.

D．They meet most demands of building materials.

4. What’s the author’s attitude to plastic recycling?

A．Positive.	B．Anxious.
C．Doubtful.	D．Critical.

3 . For breeding (繁殖) birds, timing is everything. Most species have just a narrow window to get the food they need to feed chicks. Now, after analyzing data that span from 1975 to 2017, a science team suggests that as the climate warms, birds are not only breeding earlier, but their breeding windows are also narrowed—some by as many as 4 to 5 days.

On average, the beginnings and ends of the breeding periods are occurring earlier in the year. However, the ends are shifting back faster than the beginnings, resulting in an average breeding window that is 1.7 days shorter in 2017 than it was in 1975. During that same period, Finland’s average temperature rose by 0.8℃, suggesting many bird species are actively responding to changing temperatures, Hällfors, who led the team, says.

“It’s good for the species if it’s able to follow the optimum conditions as the climate changes,” she says. However, the shorter breeding windows mean more birds are breeding earlier in the season—a risky time for chicks’ survival, especially if the weather turns suddenly cold. In addition, because many late-season species are shifting their breeding windows up, that could mean more competition for food and nesting sites early on, leaving some chicks to go hungry.

Lucyna Halupka, an ecologist at the University of Wroclaw, calls the study “a very important paper” because it’s one of the few ways to measure the breeding period duration. For 2 decades, she says, many scientists studying birds and climate change have looked only at the earliest, median (中间的), or mean laying dates for specific groups of birds. However, she reminds that because the study is limited to Finland, the findings may not apply universally; future studies should examine how breeding seasons move in other regions where the effect of climate change is different. They should also try to determine how shifting breeding windows affect population sizes, she says.

1. What did the scientists find?

A．The weather in Finland becomes warmer.

B．It is becoming more difficult for birds to breed.

C．The birds in Finland spend fewer days breeding.

D．There isn’t enough food for some chicks in Finland.

2. What does the underlined word “optimum” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Exact.

B．Proper.

C．Changeable.

D．Dangerous.

3. What is the significance of the study according to Lucyna?

A．It is carried out in a different way.

B．It is helpful for people to protect the birds.

C．It opens a window for people to learn about these birds.

D．It demonstrates the living situation of the birds on earth.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Scientists Revealed the Secrets of Birds’ Breeding

B．Scientists Take Steps to Protect the Birds in the Wild

C．Birds Play a Role in Fighting Against Global Warming

D．Birds’ Breeding Windows Are Affected by Global Warming

4 . China is one of the countries with the most serious natural disasters in the world. There are many kinds of disasters, with wide distribution, high frequency and heavy losses. In the background of global climate change, major natural disasters occur from time to time.     1     It makes China face even much severe and complex situation. In order to rase the awareness of disaster prevention and minimize the losses, warnings and instructions are give to the public.     2     Let’s have a look.

Fire

When a fire breaks out, smoke threatens mostly.     3     Roll on the ground if you find your clothes on fire. It is too dangerous to take the elevator in this situation, so it is better to use a bundle of rope and safely slide down from the balcony. Jumping off the building blindly will cause serious injuries.

Mud-rock flow

Rainstorm may cause mud-rock flow, an it’s really dangerous to stay downstream. When you try to escape from it, instead of going along the bottom of the ditch, it is much wiser to climb up the mountain horizontally quickly. Please escape from ditch when selecting camping field. It’s important to check the weather when going into the mountain

Flood

    4     We could use a wooden bed or table to make a raft and tie it to a big tree with a safety.   rope. We have to prepare food and warm clothes to get through it.

Lightning strike

On cloudy and rainy days, a lightning strike may happen.     5     Of course, you also should stay away from iron tower poles. We need to pay attention to it even when we stay at home. Close the doors, windows and cut off the power.

A．Cut off the power and shut off water sources.

B．Please don’t stand under the tree in such kind of weather.

C．Try to find a higher place, but staying on a roof isn’t a good choice.

D．First you need to take shelter, then find a gap under the table or bed.

E．Losses caused by natural disaster in China are continuously increasing.

F．They also play a part in popularizing the knowledge and self-rescue skills.

G．In that case, please cover your nose and your mouth with a wet towel.

5 . A 2020 study in the journal Science concluded that marine heat waves have increased more than 20-fold as a result of climate warming. The authors found that in the first decade after satellites began recording ocean temperatures (i.e., after 1981), there were 27 large marine heat waves, with an average duration of 32 days and an average peak temperature anomaly of 8.5°F; in the 2010s, there were 172, which lasted 48 days on average with an average peak temperature almost 10°F above normal.

Much remains unclear about marine heat waves. For example, explains Nicholas Bond, research scientist at the University of Washington and Washington’s state climatologist, there is the question of why so many persist for weeks or months. “There must be something else going on that helps maintain them,” he says. He notes that one explanation is that as the ocean surface warms, it radiates heat into the atmosphere that prevents cloud cover from forming, exposing the seawater to increased sunlight and further warming.

However, enough is known about marine heat waves for scientists to be gravely concerned about their potential impacts. Of special note is the fact that those impacts can last long after the heat waves have disappeared. After three years of the Blob, the waters of the northeastern Pacific began to cool in 2016; but years later, scientists are still determining the extent to which the region’s ecosystem is likely to return fully to its pre-Blob status. Similarly, notes Scannell, who is a data scientist with Jupiter Intelligence, Inc., following the 2010-11 Western Australia event, “lots of kelp(巨藻) forests died, and it takes literally decades for those ecosystems to bounce back”.

Eric Oliver, a scientist from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, expressed his own opinion about the potential impact of the heat waves in tropical waters. “I think that’s really a tough issue,” he says. Life in the tropics, he notes, is adapted to “quite a narrow range of temperatures. So that’s where things can get really messy. We can have complete shifts in tropical systems.”

1. What can we infer from the figures listed in para. 1?

A．The problem of marine heat waves is becoming worse.

B．The satellites enable scientists to record ocean temperature precisely.

C．Climate change is the main cause of the marine heat waves.

D．Marine heat waves have been found by scientists for about 30 years.

2. What does the 2nd paragraph mainly talk about?

A．Various factors that lead to marine heat waves.

B．The possible impacts of a warm ocean surface.

C．The possible reason why marine heat waves last long.

D．Scientists’ efforts in exploring the causes of heat waves.

3. What do we know about the impact of the marine heat waves?

A．The impact will disappear shortly after the sea water cools.

B．It takes long before the ecosystem makes a complete recovery.

C．Scientists have known enough to restore the impact.

D．The northeastern Pacific and Western Australia are the worst cases.

4. What is Eric Oliver’s attitude towards the heat waves in tropic waters?

A．Concerned.

B．Indifferent.

C．Doubtful.

D．Optimistic.

6 . The yogurt that’ s past its sell-by date. The banana in your lunch that turned brown. The leftovers in the fridge that you forgot to eat. For most people, all that food goes right into the garbage can.

Eight to ten percent of global greenhouse gas emissions (放) are related to food waste, according to a report by the U. N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “When you throw away an egg or a sandwich,” says Yvette Cabrera, food waste vice director at the Natural Resources Defense Council ( N. R. D. C. ) ,“you’ re also throwing away all the resources that went into producing those things.”

That includes not only all the water, land, and fertilizer (化肥) that went into producing that food, but also the massive amounts of fossil fuels used to power the farms, transport the food, and create the packaging.

Then there’s the issue of what happens to food after it’s thrown out. More food ends up in U.S. landfills than any other type of trash. Food rotting in landfills produces methane (甲烷), a greenhouse gas that’s roughly 25 times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, which is produced by burning fossil fuels.

Food waste is a difficult problem to solve, though, in part because it happens for different reasons depending on the country. In developing nations,40 percent of food is lost before it ever reaches people’s homes, because many of those countries lack the technology and tools to preserve food.

It's another story in wealthier countries, where most of the food is wasted in people’s kitchens. Americans, for example, throw out a quarter of their groceries each year, on average, according to the N. R. D. C. That's like going to the grocery store, leaving with four bags of groceries, and then throwing one of them into the garbage before you get home.

1. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．The problem of food waste.	B．The awareness of food saving.
C．The necessity of food diversity.	D．The ways of preservation.

2. What does the underlined word “That” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The leftovers in the fridge.	B．The packaging for products.
C．The thrown egg or sandwich.	D．The resources to produce food.

3. What does the author intend to do in Paragraph 4?

A．Provide a persuasive example.	B．Add more background information.
C．Discuss a more serious consequence.	D．Summarize the previous paragraphs.

4. In what stage does food waste mainly happen in developed countries?

A．Storage.	B．Transportation.
C．Processing.	D．Consumption.

7 . If you’re traveling to South America in summer, you should have Patagonia (at the southern end of South America) high up on your list of things to do. With this list, I show you the best places to visit in Patagonia. The climate down there is pretty rough, especially in the very south - if you plan to do hiking or camping, the best time for a trip is between the end of November and the beginning of March.

1. Bariloche, Argentina

The fact that Bariloche is well connected (airport, direct bus to and from Buenos Aires) makes it the perfect starting point of a round trip through Patagonia. But more than that: the combination of mountains, lakes and green forests results in its beautiful scenery.

2. Futaleufú, Chile

Further down south and a bit harder to access is the small Chilean village Futaleufú which is located at the border to Argentina. The reason which makes it worth it: the Futaleufú River is often referred to as one of the best white water spots for rafting in the world. The landscape along the river is unique and, due to its location, still pretty much untouched.

3. Puerto Rio Tranquilo, Chile

If you want to get there quickly, you should travel through Argentina and cross over to Chile Chico as this place is also very remote. The reason to do so: the marble caves in the General Carrera lake.

4. Torres del Paine, Chile

Personally the national park Torres del Paine is my number 1 attraction in Patagonia - you should take some time and do a multi-day trek to experience as much of it as possible: glaciers, forests, impressive mountain ranges, lagoons and rivers.

1. What is the best time for hiking in Patagonia?

A．October 1—November 1	B．December 25—January 15
C．March 5—April 1	D．November 5—June 7

2. Which of the following about the Futaleufú River is true?

A．It lies in an easily accessible village.	B．It is ignored due to rafting sports.
C．It is the best rafting river in the world.	D．It still has untouched landscapes.

3. Which place attracts the author most in Patagonia?

A．Bariloche.	B．Futaleufú.
C．Puerto Rio Tranquilo.	D．Torres del Paine.

8 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Traditionally, livestreamers(主播)sell delicious snacks or local goodies. But a recent livestream event in Tibet autonomous region did something different. Waste plastic bottles,       1     are regarded as a great damage to the local environment, were sold for 0.5 yuan each, with the     2     (intend)of raising people's awareness of Tibet's pollution issue.

According to the Sohu website, in 2019, about 40 million tourists visited Tibet, which     3     consequence left about 360 million plastic bottles     4     (abandon)in branches, on cliffs and in rivers. The white pollution causes serious threat to the delicate ecosystem     5     the death of local animals, such as yaks.

Over the past few years, more than 5,000 volunteers of different ages and from all walks of life     6     (participate)in the anti-white pollution campaign. They carry out over 2,000 clean-ups to collect 200, 000 bottles left by tourists each year. Then the bottles     7     (sort)by color and shipped inland     8     (make)raw materials. Roughly, each bottle costs about 0.5 yuan.

The livestream has successfully involved more people in the anti-white pollution campaign. People can scan QR code and donate money to encourage more people to collect bottles. It's really a meaningful event and helps to make     9     possible for us human beings to coexist with nature     10     (harmonious).

9 . Pet adoption is the perfect way to add a new family member. But if a pet is too young to be adopted, it must be fostered (寄养) first. That’s how a puppy named Maggie that was rescued by the North Shore Animal League America (NSALA), ended up being fostered by a sweet six-year-old boy.

The animal rescue organization in Port Washington needed to find a foster home for Maggie because she needed to be trained with basic obedience (顺从) skills and to become comfortable with a home environment. NSALA put out a call for a foster family.

Roman Duncan’s family was the lucky one chosen for the job. The boy fell in love with the puppy and was able to be part of her growth during those formative months. The family always made it clear to Roman that Maggie would eventually be adopted and move to a different home.

When it came time for Maggie to be adopted, Roman couldn’t hold his tears. He decided to write letters to the puppy’s future family. He wrote letters about his furry friend, saying “Maggie is so cute and loves to play fetch. She is the best dog ever,” and slipped the notes and some photos into Maggie’s paperwork.

The rescue team were surprised and then incredibly touched by the notes they found when opening Maggie’s file. NSALA made sure that Roman’s notes reached her adopted family. The boy’s gesture is exactly what pet fostering is about.

A dog or cat that has gone through terrible sufferings such as being abusing needs to learn what it means to live in a home. Fostering helps reduce the animal’s stress and makes it trust people again. It is also an opportunity for people who love pets but can’t have them full-time due to some restrictions. Pet fosters can get to enjoy helping a pet in need. If you are interested in pet fostering, contact a local shelter or animal rescue near you.

1. What happened to Maggie at first?

A．She was released into the wild.	B．She was settled in a new home.
C．She was saved by a rescue team.	D．She was fostered by Roman’s family.

2. Why did Roman write notes about Maggie?

A．To express his mixed feelings.	B．To preserve Maggie’s paperwork.
C．To choose Maggie’s future family.	D．To help Maggie adapt to new home.

3. What is mainly discussed in the last paragraph?

A．The benefits of pet fostering.	B．The access to fostering a pet.
C．A homeless animal’s barriers.	D．The restrictions to adopting a pet.

4. What is the best title of the text?

A．Maggie Lives Happily in a Comforting Foster Home

B．A Boy Writes Sweet Letter to Puppy’s Forever Family

C．Pet fostering Plays Great Roles in Rescuing Lost Animals

D．Roman Duncan’s Family Adopts a new Family Member

10 . The climate change in California has caused terrible damage to California’s marine ecosystems. Untold billions of sea stars, or starfish, from at least 20 species disappeared from the entire Pacific coast because of the marine heatwaves. In the absence of sunflower sea stars, a major predator for sea urchins (海胆), the urchin populations exploded. They laid waste to kelp forests (海草林) already weakened by high ocean temperatures.

However, Central California’s kelp ecosystems have done somewhat better than those in Northern California. A new study led by Joshua Smith, an ecologist at the University of California, examines the role sea otter (海獭) populations — a natural predator for urchins — play in preserving existing kelp forests in the Monterey Bay.

The research project spanned three years, during which intensive under-water surveys produced some very interesting data about sea otter behavior. Sea otters have very high metabolisms (新陈代谢) that keep them warm in icy waters and which also make them greedy consumers of shellfish, urchin, and fish — sea otters can eat 25 percent of their body weight in food in a day. At the observed sites, as the urchin population grew, the otter’s diet shifted to become more heavily dependent on urchins. In fact, the otters were eating three times as many urchins as they had been before 2014. As a result, they provided crucial protection from urchins to the kelp forests.

The fact that otters were able to contribute to the health of the surviving kelp forests by keeping urchin populations in check provides Smith with hope for the forests’ continued survival. “The important thing is that the urchins are ultimately reduced,” he says. “The sea otters have maintained patches of kelp forest that can then help refill the barren areas to enhance the recovery of forests.”

1. What influence does climate change have on California’s marine ecosystems?

A．A greater diversity of marine species.	B．The disappearance of urchins.
C．An explosive growth of sea stars.	D．The weakening of kelp forests.

2. What is the study led by Joshua Smith about?

A．Urchins’ response to ocean warming.

B．The reproduction of marine animals.

C．Otters’ role in protecting kelp forests.

D．The current condition of marine ecosystems.

3. What is a direct result of the shift in otters’ diet?

A．The otters are more likely to stay warm.

B．The shellfish populations have exploded.

C．Urchins’ threat to kelp forests is relieved.

D．The kelp forests have made a full recovery.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．Sea Otters to the Rescue

B．Marine Species in Danger

C．Urchins Are Destroying Kelp Forests

D．Otters Increase Kelp Forests’ Carbon Storage