1 . Throughout history, many species of animals have been threatened with extinction. When Europeans first arrived in North America, more than 60 million buffalo (水牛) lived on the continent. Yet hunting the buffalo was so popular during the 19th century that by 1900 the animal’s population had fallen to about 400 before the government stepped in to protect the species. In some countries today, the elephant faces a similar challenge, as illegal hunters kill the animals for the ivory in their tusks.
Yet not all animals with commercial value face this threat (威胁).The cow, for example, is a valuable source of food, but no one worries that the cow will soon be extinct. Why does the commercial value of ivory threaten the elephant. while the commercial value of beef protects the cow?
The reason is that elephants are a common resource, while cows are private goods. Elephants wander freely without any owners. The hunter has a strong motivation to kill as many elephants as he can find. Because illegal hunters are numerous, each has only a slight motivation to preserve the elephant population. By contrast, cattle live on farms that are privately owned. Each farmer makes great effort to maintain the cattle population on his farm because he harvests the benefit of these efforts.
Governments have tried to solve the elephant’s problem in two ways. Some countries, such as Kenya and Uganda, have made it illegal to kill elephants and sell their ivory. Yet these laws have been hard to put into effect, and elephant populations have continued to dwindle. By contrast, other countries, such as Malawi and Namibia, have made elephants private goods and allowed people to kill elephants, but only those on their own property.
With private ownership and the profit motive now on its side, the African elephant might someday be as safe from extinction as the cow. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle pointed out the problem with common resources: “What is common to many is taken least care of, for all men have greater regard for what is their own than for what they possess in common with others.”
1. Why does the author mention buffalo in paragraph 1?| A．To introduce a similar threat to elephants. |
| B．To provide an example of species extinction. |
| C．To offer an explanation for government policies. |
| D．To present the statistics of the buffalo in America. |
| A．They are under different law protection |
| B．They attract different groups of hunters |
| C．They contain different commercial value |
| D．They represent different ownership types |
| A．Bans on killing elephants for ivory |
| B．Effective laws for elephant protection. |
| C．Methods of making elephants private goods |
| D．Government policies on the elephant’s problem |
| A．People hold little regard for others’ property |
| B．People want to profit from common resources |
| C．People care more about their own possession |
| D．People tend to take what they own for granted |
2 . Without sharp reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, climate change threatens future Winter Olympic Games because their locations would be too warm to host the events, a new study has found.
If the world’s high emissions continue their trend, by the 2080s all but one of the 21 cities that previously hosted the Winter Games - Sapporo, Japan - would not be able to do so again. Among them, 6 cities would be considered “marginal” while 14 would even be seen “unreliable”— meaning the right conditions for snow and athlete safety cannot be met.
But that won’t necessarily happen if the world takes urgent action and follows the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, according to Daniel Scott, the lead researcher for the University of Waterloo’s report. Under that deal, nearly 200 countries agreed to greatly cut their collective greenhouse emissions.
Athletes and coaches surveyed by the researchers said they re already seeing the effect climate change has on their sports. “Some of the coaches that did the survey have been coaches in the sport for 30 years,” Scott said. “They’ve traveled the world, back to the same competitions, and they’ve seen that certain competitions don’t happen, as regularly or uninterruptedly as they used to because of warmer temperatures.”
The Summer Olympics are also feeling the effects of climate change. Tokyo’s Olympic and Paralympic Games are likely one of—if not—the hottest and most humid Games on record. Daily temperatures reached 80F high with high humidity (湿度) that could make it feel like 100°F.
But winter sports seem more strongly influenced by the impact of a warmer world. During the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, skiers were overheating in the same way a marathon runner would at nearly 90F weather. Due to the great impact, the study makes us worry that outdoor games may have to move indoors or be held at a different time of year altogether in order to accommodate higher temperatures.
1. What does the underlined word “marginal” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Almost unqualified. |
| B．Pretty satisfactory. |
| C．Rather unpopular. |
| D．Quite suitable. |
| A．To show the spirit of the Olympics. |
| B．To stress the impact of climate change. |
| C．To reveal the cause of warmer climate. |
| D．To compare summer and winter Olympics |
| A．Conservative. |
| B．Tolerant. |
| C．Optimistic. |
| D．Concerned. |
| A．Global climate changes. |
| B．Greenhouse gas emissions. |
| C．The Winter Olympics crisis. |
| D．The future Olympic Games. |
3 . Gone are the days when humans covered themselves with blankets to keep warm. It’s now the time to put glaciers under blankets to keep them cool because at the rate climate is changing, this seems like a good idea to keep them from melting.
A ski resort in the Swiss Alps, Switzerland uses blankets to protect the glacier from the warm climate. Gian Darms, who handles snow conditions at the ski resort told about this unique procedure and said, “We lay the fleece over the glacier like a natural protective shield.” The blankets are being used to cover the top of the 10, 623-foot Mount Titlis whose glacier has already melted in the last few decades and it is expected to disappear completely in the next 50 years due to global warming.
To diminish the effect of climate change, resort employees have taken it upon themselves to protect the glacier from the heat and for this process, they spend about five to six weeks every summer covering parts of the glacier with protective polyester fleece. This helps to reflect the sun’s energy back into the atmosphere and prevent the glacier from melting, while also preserving the already fallen snow on the glacier in the previous winter season. After the season passes, the employees remove the coating and use the collected snow to fill in any gaps in the glacier’s surface.
This practice has been going on for a while and the amount of the glaciers covered has increased to almost 100 ,000 square meters now. “We’ve been covering more and more glaciers in the last few years. Almost 30, 000 square meters more this year alone. We will have to cover more glaciers in reaction to the climate change,” said Darms.
The ski resort’s actions show the intense effect of climate change on glaciers which have been melting at rapid rates in the past few years. Many different resorts have also started covering their glaciers because if there are no more glaciers, then there is no more business for these ski resorts.
1. What does the Swiss ski resort use blankets for?| A．Keeping the glacier from melting. | B．Preventing workers from feeling cold. |
| C．Protecting visitors from strong sunlight. | D．Stopping visitors from destroying glaciers. |
| A．Measure. | B．Reduce. | C．Accept. | D．Record. |
| A．The amount of the glaciers drops rapidly. | B．More ski resorts are gradually recovering. |
| C．Climate change is becoming more serious. | D．There is a better solution to global warming. |
| A．A travel brochure. | B．An advertisement. |
| C．A news report. | D．A geography text book. |
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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5 . Early last summer, I bought some yam（山药）roots for food but days later, a tuber （块茎）left was sprouting（发芽）. Thinking it was a waste of money to throw it away, I
In the following months, I
I pulled out the leaves of the yam and began to dig with my fingers carefully for I knew the yam could
In
The whole tuber,
The sight filled me with
| A．cooked | B．ruined | C．buried | D．cut |
| A．remove | B．produce | C．replace | D．protect |
| A．bought | B．threw | C．watered | D．ate |
| A．abandoned | B．forgotten | C．injured | D．potted |
| A．perform | B．attempt | C．harvest | D．withdraw |
| A．stand | B．grow | C．fall | D．break |
| A．touched | B．pulled | C．crashed | D．killed |
| A．earth | B．root | C．air | D．plant |
| A．excitement | B．shame | C．puzzlement | D．terror |
| A．in the sky | B．on the top | C．in the bottom | D．under the ground |
| A．picking out | B．consisting of | C．giving away | D．taking down |
| A．color | B．form | C．voice | D．size |
| A．flat | B．long | C．rough | D．weak |
| A．choice | B．contribution | C．wish | D．living |
| A．skinless | B．endless | C．useless | D．stainless |
| A．negotiation | B．struggle | C．cooperation | D．relationship |
| A．victory | B．regret | C．envy | D．respect |
| A．strengthened | B．changed | C．disappeared | D．remained |
| A．barely | B．temporarily | C．purposefully | D．seriously |
| A．tough | B．steady | C．common | D．gentle |
6 . 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. |
| A．advantage. | B．need. | C．hesitation. | D．emission. |
| 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. |
| 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 |
7 . My work started in 2003 at my local animal shelter’s Adoption Department. It seems like such a long time ago. In the 13 years that have passed, more than 50,000 animals have passed the doors of the shelter. Most of them, I do not remember. But occasionally there are animals who stand out. Tabby was one such animal.
Tabby was one of the many homeless dogs. What’s more, she was blind and deaf. Tabby’s chances at adoption seemed remote at best. But one day a woman named Loretta came to the shelter. Her son, Gary, who suffered from epilepsy (癫痫) had seen Tabby’s picture on the shelter’s website. They were interested in meeting her! Most boys would want a puppy, a dog who could grow with him and run through grassy fields on summer days. Tabby would never be able to do that. But as they say, "love is blind". After meeting her, they decided to adopt Tabby!
If Tabby’s story had simply ended with her successful adoption, it would still have been something very special indeed but it was what happened after her adoption that some might label as "magical" or perhaps even miraculous. As Gary and Tabby did everything together, they became so "in tune" with one another that Tabby began to telegraph Gary’s seizures (疾病发作) before they occurred, giving his family a warning that one was about to strike. What’s more, Gary seemed to be having fewer and fewer seizures since Tabby’s arrival.
How could it be? There are some things that happen in this world that challenge all logic and understanding. Sometimes, the best that we can do is to accept a miraculous thing, which we didn’t attempt to explain. Because when you try to explain it, you lose the beauty and wonder of it all.
1. Which sentence can be used to describe Tabby?| A．She was so lovely that she could be easily adopted. |
| B．She suffered a lot from the disease-epilepsy. |
| C．She was so strong that she could run very fast. |
| D．She was homeless and couldn’t see or hear. |
| A．Amazing. | B．Typical. | C．Interesting. | D．Special. |
| A．Gary learnt about Tabby from a magazine. |
| B．Gary was cured in the company of Tabby. |
| C．Tabby could indicate a seizure before it struck. |
| D．Most boys would have the same decision as Gary. |
| A．Love is Blind: a Miraculous Dog | B．Give Me Food: My Dear Master |
| C．Love is Everywhere: a Poor Dog | D．Take Me Home: My Dear Boy |
8 . I’ve always found that hiking in nature makes me feel happier, and of course decreased stress may be a big part of the reason why. But, Gregory Bratman, of Stanford University, has found evidence that nature may impact our mood (心情) in other ways, too.
In one 2015 study, Bratman and his colleagues chose 60 volunteers to take a 50-minute walk in either a natural setting or an urban setting. Before and after the walk, the volunteers were assessed on their emotional state and on cognitive (认知的) measures, such as how well they could perform tasks requiring short-term memory. Results showed that those who walked in nature experienced less anxiety and rumination (focused attention on unsatisfying side of oneself), as well as more positive emotions, in comparison to the urban walkers. They also improved their performance on the memory tasks.
In another study in 2017, he and his colleagues furthered these findings by focusing on how walking in nature affects rumination—which has been associated with the onset of anxiety—while also using fMRI technology to look at brain activity. Volunteers who took a 90-minute walk in either a natural setting or an urban setting had their brains scanned (扫描) before and after their walks and were surveyed on self-reported rumination levels.
Even so, volunteers who walked in a natural setting reported decreased rumination after the walk, and they showed increased activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain whose inactivity is related to depression and anxiety—a finding that suggests nature may have important impacts on mood.
Bratman believes results like these need to reach city planners and others whose decisions impact our natural spaces. “Ecosystem services are being included into decision making at all levels of public policy, land use planning, and urban design, and it’s very important to be sure to include findings from psychology into these decisions,” he says.
1. What did the 2015 study find about people walking in nature?| A．Their memory was improved. |
| B．Their mood remained the same. |
| C．They had more chance to succeed. |
| D．They preferred living in a natural setting. |
| A．Bratman’s theory. | B．The results of the 2017 study. |
| C．The process of the 2017 study. | D．The volunteers’ performance. |
| A．House designing. | B．City planning. |
| C．Physical training. | D．Health education. |
| A．Science Contributes to Better Health |
| B．Ways to Reduce Stress and Lift Mood |
| C．Studies Show Various Benefits of Hiking |
| D．Nature Makes You Happier and Less Anxious |
