根据以上现象，思考自己认同哪一方？以“Getting a Pet：From Breeders or Shelters？”为题，写一篇120-150字的文章。
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2 . Bringing Mosquitoes Under Control
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people die of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue fever. Drug treatments are
It is better, then, to stop these infections happening in the first place by
Craig Montell, of the University of California, and his colleagues have used CRISPR to
SIT has been tried on mosquitoes, too, but with less
Montell and his colleagues hoped that CRISPR might offer a(n)
There is more work to be done before field trials, but having established the
| A．available | B．imperfect | C．necessary | D．painful |
| A．completely | B．instantly | C．simply | D．suddenly |
| A．enhance | B．establish | C．identify | D．test |
| A．Delayed | B．Limited | C．Planned | D．Repeated |
| A．complexity | B．frequency | C．risk | D．success |
| A．choose | B．continue | C．learn | D．struggle |
| A．alternative | B．combination | C．explanation | D．guarantee |
| A．inserted | B．removed | C．signaled | D．updated |
| A．abnormal | B．altered | C．equivalent | D．original |
| A．Crucially | B．Evidently | C．Inevitably | D．Shockingly |
| A．healthiness | B．matureness | C．productivity | D．safety |
| A．Although | B．As if | C．Because | D．If only |
| A．uncivilized | B．unengineered | C．unprepared | D．unrecovered |
| A．environment | B．principle | C．rule | D．standard |
| A．direct | B．lasting | C．social | D．unintended |
3 . Southern long-finned pilot whales are marine mammals with a lot to say—and they may use vocalizations (发声) to outsmart a deadly enemy.
Cetaceans (鲸类动物) such as whales and dolphins communicate through sound to find food and mates, to navigate and to interact socially. Their vocalizations
Researchers listened to 2,028 vocalizations of long-finned pilot whales off the coast of Australia, the first time sounds from the species in this region have been
Pilot whales and orcas, the two largest species of cetaceans, are often seen in the same
Mimicry could serve as an
Additional work would
| A．range | B．vary | C．rise | D．drop |
| A．distracting | B．separating | C．forecasting | D．matching |
| A．critically | B．considerately | C．conveniently | D．comprehensively |
| A．partners | B．species | C．enemies | D．mates |
| A．identical | B．responsive | C．contrary | D．inferior |
| A．boundaries | B．societies | C．environments | D．facilities |
| A．initially | B．eventually | C．potentially | D．accidentally |
| A．Motion | B．Emission | C．Conclusion | D．Evidence |
| A．splitting | B．defending | C．dismissing | D．preventing |
| A．accessible | B．additional | C．accurate | D．adequate |
| A．unnoticed | B．uninterested | C．untouched | D．unarmed |
| A．apply to | B．turn up | C．rely on | D．put out |
| A．pursue | B．distinguish | C．demonstrate | D．struggle |
| A．claim | B．calculate | C．confirm | D．clarify |
| A．reflections | B．receptions | C．relations | D．reactions |
Most of us know to stay low to the floor if we are caught in a fire, or head to the basement if a tornado’s coming, or board up the window in a hurricane. But, the massive earthquake that hit Haiti this month was a reminder that we are far
Given how many of us travel in quake-prone regions today, even folks
The most conventional and widely accepted by the disaster-response community, is the “drop, cover and hold on” approach,
Over the past decade, an agreement has been reached
5 . “It’s a windy day in Laguna San Ignacio, and the waves seem to come from all directions,” said Sara Clemence in Bloomberg Businessweek. My children and I are riding on a 18-foot boat—small enough that we can reach down into the water if a gray whale swims up alongside. And then we see what we’ve come for: a heart-shaped shower of water and a dark mass rushing below it. As instructed, we splash (溅泼) the water strongly to signal the huge whale, which turns out to be a mother with her weeks-old baby. The baby soon swims beneath our boat, emerges to blow mist in my face, then “lies onto its side like a 2-ton puppy.” Leaning down, I touched its skin gently. “It feels electric. Also, a bit like petting a hard-boiled egg.”
San Ignacio is one of very few places where a person can pet a whale. The whales come each year to the coast of Baja California to give birth and to mate. If you’re lucky, you can “shake hands with a leatheryfin (鳍)” or even “plant a kiss on a cold, salty cheek.” I usually worry about such interactions, because wild creatures can become deeply stressed by human contact. But boat numbers are strictly limited in these protected waters. And any whale that approaches a boat does so on its own terms. Like that baby whale: “We see him a few times, and he seems to like being petted and splashed.”
So we are two species, connecting through touch, but also through eye contact: “More than once, after nosing around our boat, a young gray turns on its side so one dark, baseball-size eye is looking up at us.” Whalers used to call gray whales “devil fish” because these magnificent creatures turn violent when threatened—“or, say, when their babies are harmed.” That makes it feel even more of a blessing when, on our third day there, a large mama whale approaches the boat. “I’m splashing when I feel her nose press up into my hand.” Though she’s “wiser and apparently more alert” than her child, “she still decides to trust us.”
1. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?| A．The writer was on a whale-touching trip. |
| B．The writer’s boat went down with a huge wave. |
| C．The baby whale splashed water all over the writer. |
| D．The mother whale’s skin felt as hard as a boiled egg. |
| A．mad with too many visitors | B．ready for hands-on attention |
| C．restricted in swimming routes | D．enclosed in their safety zones |
| A．strange appearance | B．inborn violence |
| C．surprisingly enormous size | D．fierceness in danger |
| A．popularize the knowledge of whales | B．show admiration for whales’ motherhood |
| C．share an experience of the sea voyage | D．advocate harmony between man and nature |
6 . The Arctic is on Fire
Dozens of wildfires have been raging across the Arctic circle for the past few weeks, releasing as much carbon dioxide in just one month as Sweden’s total annual emissions.
Fires in the region aren’t unknown, but the scale of the blazes, predominantly in northern peatlands (泥炭地) across Siberia, is unprecedented.
“It's quite striking. It does really stand out,” says Mark Parrington at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. The last time the region had such big fires was 15 years ago.
The size of the burning area isn’t clear. Thomas Smith at the London School of Economics says satellite photos suggest that some fires are bigger than 100,000 hectares, which would classify them as megafires.
The fires seem to be mostly on carbon-rich peatland. Parrington calculates that the wildfires in June released about 50 megatonnes of CO2, as much as Sweden’s total emissions in 2017. That CO2 will lead to more warming, in a feedback loop.
What started these fires isn’t known, but given how sparsely inhabited the region is, lightning is thought to be a likely cause.
| A．There are signs they are still burning, although detection is blocked by cloud cover. |
| B．Satellite measurements show that the energy released by the fires in June is more than that produced during the previous nine Junes combined. |
| C．The blazes also seem to be accelerating climate change by depositing soot and ash on sea ice. |
| D．Meanwhile, at least 18 people were killed in the Siberian region of Irkutsk after severe flooding caused by heavy rainfall. |
| E．The Arctic wildfires are in line with predictions made a decade ago, when researchers said they expected the region to see some of the biggest increases in fires. |
| F．The driver for the fires seems to be the unusually high temperatures in June, the hottest one on record in Europe. |
7 . In just a few decades the United States could eliminate fossil fuels（矿物燃料）and rely 100 percent on clean, renewable energy. That's the vision of, a Stanford engineering professor who has produced a state-by-state road map of how the country could rid itself of coal oil, natural gas, and nuclear power.
By 2050, Jacobson expects the nation's transportation network - cars, ships, airplanes - to run on batteries or hydrogen produced from electricity. He sees the winds blowing across the Great Plains powering vast stretches of the country's middle while the burning sun helps electrify the Southwest. "There's no state that can't do this," Jacobson says.
Today only 13% of U. S. electricity comes from renewables（再生性能源）. Jacobson's goal would be one of the nation's most ambitious undertakings. This transformation would cost roughly $15 trillion, or $47,000 for each American, for building and installing systems that produce and store renewable energy.
What would it take? Seventy-eight million rooftop solar systems, nearly 49,000 commercial solar plants, 156,000 offshore wind turbines（风力涡轮机）, plus wave-energy systems. Land-based wind farms would need 328,000 turbines, each with blades longer than a football field,. These farms would occupy as much land as North Carolina.
For now, he says, prospects are encouraging. Thanks in part to government funding and large-scale production, costs are falling. The amount of power generated nationwide by wind and solar increased 15-fold each between 2003 and 2013. This summer Barack Obama moved to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants, and Hawaii committed to having all its electricity provided by renewables by 2045.
Still, many experts aren't convinced. “It has zero chance,”Stephen Brick, an energy fellow with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, says of Jacobson's plan. Political, regulatory, and social barriers are huge, especially in a nation where the energy systems - and much of its political influence - is rooted in the oil, gas, and coal industries. Some critics are concerned about whether the resulting grid（输电网）would be reliable. And neighborhood battles would likely occur over wind farms and solar plants. Even outspoken scientist James Hansen, who warned the government a quarter century ago about climate change, insists that nuclear power is essential to rid the country of fossil fuels.
Yet Jacobson’s work at least offers a starting point. Scientists and policymakers may keep arguing about solutions, but as Obama points out, the nation must continue its march toward a clean-energy future even if it's not yet clear how that will look in 35 years. “If we don't do it,” he said this summer, “nobody will.”
1. Which of the following does Professor Mark Jacobson engage in?| A．Organizing projects to build and install solar energy systems state by state. |
| B．Persuading the U. S. President to realize his renewable energy goal. |
| C．Outlining a plan detailing how energy in the U. S. could be carbon free by 2050. |
| D．Arguing about opportunities and obstacles of his plan. |
| A．The huge investment in solar and wind projects. |
| B．The unshakeable foundation of traditional energy systems. |
| C．The job losses in oil and coal industries. |
| D．The inevitable land-use battles between states. |
| A．one state of the U. S. will be first to become carbon free before 2050 |
| B．developing clean-energy industry will drive the world's market |
| C．fossil fuels will soon be eliminated in the U. S. |
| D．there will be no vacant land for wind farms |
| A．has no scientific grounds | B．unreasonably excludes nuclear power |
| C．will be eventually lacking in funds | D．is not feasible in some aspects |
| A．The Coexistence of Fossil Fuels and Renewables |
| B．A Blueprint for a Carbon Free America |
| C．One Man's Dream: Determination and Innovation in Energy Future |
| D．Professor and his Solar and Wind Technology |
The problem of electronic waste
We have gradually come to realise that in two ways in particular, modern hi-tech can be bad for the planet. The first is its energy use; the worldwide scale of information technology is so enormous that electronics now produce fully two percent of global carbon emissions, which is about the same as the highly controversial emissions of aeroplanes. The other is the hardware, when it comes to the end of its natural life. This, increasingly, is pretty short. We have hardly noticed this important stream of waste, so much so that a Greenpeace report on the untraced and unreported e-waste two years ago referred to it as “the hidden flow”. We need to be aware of it.
The latest United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report estimates that worldwide, electronic waste is mounting by about 40 million tons a year. So what can we do about it?
The European Union has recognised the problem by adopting a key principle: producer responsibility. In other words, making it the duty of manufacturers of electronic goods to ensure their safe disposal at the end of their lives. In practice, an EU regulation now means that electronics dealers must either take back the equipment they sold you, or help to finance a network of drop-off points, such as public recycling sites. Its main feature is quite ambitious: it aims to deal with “everything with a plug”.
The new UN report suggests that all countries could do something about the problem with a change in design. Groups such as Greenpeace have led the way in putting pressure on major manufacturing companies to find substitutes for the toxic chemicals inside their products. Encouragingly, they have had some success in forcing them to develop non-poisonous alternatives to these. This may be the real way forward.
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| A. monumental B. violated C. aroused D. drawn E. divorced F. luxurious G. existing H. appealing I. approved J. bronze K. surpassed |
Many people honor Guan Yu (or Guan Gong), a hero during the Three Kingdoms period. But recently, a statue of the ancient general has
In October, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said on its website that the construction of the Guan Yu statue in Jingzhou, Hubei province,
The
Even the cost of building the statue, about 170 million yuan, far exceeds the
Due to recent media reports, the issue caught the public's attention and
On Nov 17, the local authorities responded that experts have been organized to make a plan to relocate the statue. This announcement once again stirred discussion online.
Many asked to keep the statue, considering the cost and effort that had gone into the project. One internet user commented that “relocation would cost a lot of money. Why not just keep it and explore further development using
According to Hui Ming, from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, this should be a lesson for local decision-makers. Before going about building statues, there should be adequate research and work. Also, public money and resources should not be wasted in this fashion.
This is not the only case of such a/an
Limit size of structures
The MOHURD has issued a notice on strengthening the management of large-scale urban statue construction, which says that large statues with a height of more than 10 meters or a width of more than 30 meters must be managed as important urban construction projects.
To protect historical and traditional buildings, the MOHURD announced in April that urban architectures cannot be built taller than 500 meters unless their plans are approved.
10 . Life in the Clear
Transparent animals let light pass through their bodies the same way light passes through a window. These animals typically live between the surface of the ocean and a depth of about 3,300 feet---as far as most light can reach. Most of them are extremely delicate and can be damaged by a simple touch. Sonke Johnsen, a scientist in biology, says, “These animals live through their life alone. They never touch anything unless they’re eating it, or unless something is eating them.”
And they are as clear as glass. How does an animal become see-through? It s trickier than you might think.
The objects around you are visible because they interact with light. Light typically travels in a straight line. But some materials slow and scatter (散射) light, bouncing it away from its original path. Others absorb light, stopping it dead in its tracks. Both scattering and absorption make an object look different from other objects around it, so you can see it easily.
But a transparent object doesn’t absorb or scatter light, at least not very much. Light can pass through it without bending or stopping. That means a transparent object doesn’t look very different from the surrounding air or water. You don’t see it you see the things behind it.
To become transparent, an animal needs to keep its body from absorbing or scattering light. Living materials can stop light because they contain pigments (色素) that absorb specific colors of light. But a transparent animal doesn’t have pigments, so its tissues won’t absorb light. According to Johnsen, avoiding absorption is actually easy. The real challenge is preventing light from scattering.
Animals are built of many different materials---skin, fat, and more---and light moves through each at a different speed. Every time light moves into a material with a new speed, it bends and scatters. Transparent animals use different tricks to fight scattering. Some animals are simply very small or extremely flat. Without much tissue to scatter light, it is easier to be see-through. Others build a large, clear mass of non-living jelly-like (果冻状的) material and spread themselves over it.
Larger transparent animals have the biggest challenge, because they have to make all the different tissues in their bodies slow down light exactly as much as water does. They need to look uniform. But how they’re doing it is still unknown. One thing is clear: for these larger animals, staying transparent is an active process. When they die, they turn a non-transparent milky white.
1. According to Paragraph 1,transparent animals .| A．stay in groups | B．can be easily damaged |
| C．appear only in deep ocean | D．are beautiful creatures |
| A．silently | B．gradually |
| C．regularly | D．completely |
| A．change the direction of light travel | B．gather materials to scatter light |
| C．avoid the absorption of light | D．grow bigger to stop light |
| A．move more slowly in deep water |
| B．stay see-through even after death |
| C．produce more tissues for their survival |
| D．take effective action to reduce light spreading |
