1 . 现在全社会都在倡导“低碳生活（low-carbon life）”，即：减少二氧化碳的排放，低能量、低消耗、低开支的生活方式。请你写一篇以“On the Low-carbon Life”为题目的短文，向学校网站的英语专栏投稿。内容包括：
1. 目前人们很崇尚低碳生活；
2. 低碳生活的重要性；
3. 怎样创建低碳生活。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

On the Low-carbon Life

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2 . Now is the time to act on climate change. We need to cut carbon emissions (排放), and knowing this, it is easy to be pessimistic. Strangely, I’m feeling the opposite. And that’s mostly because of one factor: Batteries. It isn’t obvious but over the last decade or so, just as we’ve watched our computers get faster and screens get thinner, batteries have greatly improved too.

According to the European Patent Office, the number of battery patents filed grew by an average of 14 percent every year between 2005 and 2018. Energy storage is getting better and better, as more companies are discovering new chemistry and processes to make them work more efficiently.

And the results of all of this work are astonishing. Energy density—the amount of power that can be stored in the same sized battery—has doubled in the last decade. And the costs of batteries have fallen a lot too.

Brilliantly, because electric batteries are improving so noticeably, we can already see the results. Last September, 15 percent of all new vehicle registrations were pure electric vehicles. So the change is starting to happen.

It’s conceivable that in the not-too-distant future, alongside other essentials in our homes like a boiler and a fusebox, we might also have an enormous battery in the garage. This would take power from the grid (电网) or maybe even solar panels on the roof, and power appliances and lights in our homes at the times when demand for electricity is high.

So, given how much technology has improved batteries over the last decade, I can’t help but be strangely optimistic about the future. Batteries may not be as flashy (显眼的) as phones, rockets or other new technologies, but when it comes to technology to fight climate change, they’re definitely leading the charge.

1. What is the author’s attitude towards cutting carbon emissions?

A．Doubtful.

B．Favorable.

C．Unclear.

D．Anxious.

2. What is the possible result of batteries’ great improvement?

A．It’ll make them more environment-friendly.

B．It’ll make people use electricity at will.

C．It will slow the development of pure electric vehicles.

D．It’ll cause the prices of batteries to rise.

3. What does the underlined word “conceivable” in paragraph 5 mean?

A．Unacceptable.

B．Astonishing.

C．Possible.

D．Unreliable.

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

A．Carbon Emissions Result in Climate Change

B．Now Is the Time to Act on Climate Change

C．How Battery Technology Can Save the Planet

D．How Much Technology Has Improved Batteries

3 . Doing your laundry with cold water can help save the planet, and maybe save you some money along the way. That’s the message from Tide in a newly launched campaign to decarbonize laundry. The goal is for consumers in North America to do three out of every four loads of laundry with cold water instead of hot by 2030, up from about half today. That would eliminate the power consumption required to heat cold water.

If this goal is met, it will have the same impact on greenhouse gas emissions as removing about a million cars from the road for a year. “There is no tradeoff. You will save 150 a year in energy costs, your garments will last longer. And by the way, you’re helping to save the planet,” Shailesh Jejurikar, CEO of Procter & Gamble’s fabric and home care division, said in an interview. “It’s a beautiful win-win-win if we get this right.”

“This is going to be the defining decades for where we end up on climate change,” Jejurikar said. “If we don’t get this situation under control in the coming years, we are going to pay the price. There is a need to act now.” Beyond its focus on cold-water washing, Tide set a new goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions at its factories in half by 2030. That’s in addition to the progress it already has made cutting emissions by three-quarters over the past decade as the brand adopted 100% renewable energy at its manufacturing plants. Tide also plans to reduce its carbon footprint by using 100% recyclable packaging for all products by 2030 and by teaming up with Silicon Valley startup Opus12 to capture carbon from its factories.

Jejurikar said P&G does want to get to zero emissions in its factories, but added that how people use Tide products has 10 times more impact than what happens in its plants. “We are trying to give them chance to take their ordinary daily actions, and make them have an extraordinary impact,” Jejurikar said.

1. What can we learn from the passage?

A．We need to heat cold water before laundry.

B．Tide will remove a million cars from the road.

C．Hot water laundry could save energy and protect the planet.

D．Cold water laundry might increase by a quarter in North America.

2. Which word can be used to replace “tradeoff” in Paragraph 2?

A．advantage.

B．need.

C．hesitation.

D．emission.

3. Which measure has been taken by Tide to cut greenhouse emission so far?

A．Advertising for its new products.

B．Using 100% recyclable packaging for all products.

C．Adopting completely renewable energy in its factories.

D．Cooperating with a new High-Tech company to recycle carbon.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Cold Water Laundry—An Eco-friendly Campaign

B．Advanced Technology Being Applied to Cars

C．The Vital Decades for Climate Change

D．Cutting Emission to Protect Our Planet

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

For five years, the most famous clock tower in Britain was hidden behind an ugly fortress of scaffolding (脚手架) for restoration. This summer, a sound familiar     1     Londoners for more than a century and a half will again ring out across the British capital — Big Ben is back.

The clock tower stands tall over the Palace of Westminster     2     houses the British Parliament (议会). It is officially known as the Elizabeth Tower but commonly called by     3     nickname of the enormous bell in the belfry (钟楼): Big Ben. The bell’s bong is     4     (instant) recognizable to Britons.

The size of Big Ben,     5     (weigh) a little over 15 tons, is impressive, as is the complexity of a clock mechanism based on the most     6     (advance) technology available to its 19-century creators. Nobody had ever attempted     7     (build) a clock that size to the accuracy demanded.

During the restoration, the clock was serviced for the first time since it started ticking in 1859, when crowds lined the streets to greet Big Ben’s    8     (arrive). More than 3500 parts     9     (remove) from the 316-foot tower, including much of its iron roof. Now freshly     10     (paint), the tower stands as a monument to what can be achieved by modern restoration.

5 . If all goes well, a balloon will soon rise from Space Center in Sweden. It will float high into the upper atmosphere, where nothing will happen, and then return to Earth. Nevertheless, a collection of environmental groups is trying to stop it.

The campaigners are against the flight because of what comes next. The balloon is a test flight for a research being run by the University of Harvard. The research aims to test an idea called SAI, in which fine dust is added into the upper atmosphere to boost the amount of sunlight reflected back into space. A future flight will release a small amount of calcium carbonate dust into the upper atmosphere, in order to help researchers learn more about solar geoengineering — an excellent but theoretical idea of deliberately adjusting the Earth's systems to prevent the bad effects of climate change.

Opponents worry about two things. The first is the moral issue. If solar geoengineering works, it could reduce pressure to deal with climate change at its source by cutting greenhouse-gas emissions. Furthermore, in order to keep temperatures low, the reflective particles (颗粒) would have to be topped up continuously. A sudden stop could result in very rapid wanning. Raymond Pierrehumbert, a physicist at the University of Oxford, says solar geoengineering is too risky even to research outside of computer simulations (模拟).

Not all environmentalists are opposed. The world is likely to miss the target, set in the Paris agreement, of keeping warming to 1.5℃."We're not well-served by not understanding what these technologies represent," says Steven Hamburg. Mr Hamburg favours small-scale geoengineering research. Other green organisations have also hesitantly approved of exploring the idea.

Exploration is likely to carry on in any case. Once a taboo, geoengineering is being taken increasingly seriously. A recent report on climate change suggested that SAI could help keep warming below 1.5℃ America has developed a research plan for solar geoengineering. Both China and India have launched research programmes of their own. Activists will continue to oppose experiments. But balloons will likely fly anyway.

1. How does solar geoengineering work?

A．Dust is put into the upper atmosphere to trap more heat.

B．Measures are taken intentionally to tackle the climate change.

C．Steps are taken deliberately to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

D．Dust is emptied into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight into Earth.

2. Why do environmentalists argue against SAI?

A．It is to be implemented on a large scale.

B．It has led to global warming against the original intention.

C．It is probably to miss the target of keeping warming to 1.5℃.

D．It may cause people to care little about greenhouse-gas emissions.

3. What is the best title of the text?

A．Should balloons, flight be banned?

B．Should solar geoengineering exploration go ahead?

C．How do balloons threaten the earth's climate?

D．How has solar geoengineering changed Earth?

4. What is the author's attitude to solar geoengineering?

A．Critical.

B．Positive.

C．Doubtful.

D．Frightened.

6 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Many of us thought the world had four oceans— the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Arctic Oceans. That’s what we     1     (teach) in school. However, a search on the Internet will show that there is also     2     “Southern Ocean“ around the South Pole and Antarctica (南极洲) . The National Geographic Society has now     3     (official) accepted that this body of water around Antarctica is a real ocean. Alex Tait, a geographer, said, “We think it’s really important     4     an educational viewpoint, as well as from a map-labelling standpoint,       5     (bring) attention to the Southern Ocean as a fifth ocean.” Geography teachers will now have to teach their students that the world has five oceans.

National Geogra phic said its recognition of the world having a fifth ocean would have an impact on     6     children see the world. Mr Tait said, “Students learn information about the world through what     7     (ocean) they’re studying. If you don’t include the Southern Ocean, then they don’t learn how important it is.” He said that     8     (recognize) the Southern Ocean would help students understand more about climate change. He wrote, “Antarctica forms a distinct ecological region     9     (define) by ocean currents and temperatures.” National Geographic said, “The Southern Ocean has unique and fragile marine (海洋的) ecosystems that are home to     10     (wonder) marine life such as whales, penguins and seals. ”