1 . Multiple actions have been taken to fight food waste, but one young man is making a big difference with technology. Liu Jichen, a student from Tsinghua University, has developed a WeChat mini-program called “Clear Your Plate”.
After a meal, users can open the mini-program and take a picture of their empty plates. Once the image is recognized by the AI, students can collect points and use them to buy gifts or purchase charity meals donated to children in poor areas.
The idea came from Liu’s experience in a canteen where he found that diners finishing their food could get a card and then small gifts with a certain number of cards collected.
“Technological innovation is a good way to reduce food waste and contribute to global food challenges.” Liu thought. With this in mind, he organized a team of 20 members to work on the project in 2017. To solve the AI’s problem of identifying photos of empty plates, the team spent half a year collecting over 100,000 samples in canteens and restaurants. In 2018, the mini-program was officially put into operation on Oct 16, World Food Day.
This year, the one-month campaign has attracted almost 1.6 million participants and collectively reduced food waste by 862 tons and carbon emissions by 3,337 tons.
“There were so many unknowns in research and development. For us, the biggest psychological challenge was whether we were confident enough to complete it,” Liu said. However, they not only achieved their goal, but now, the mini-program has more than 5 million registered users.
Thanks to his actions concerning social issues, Liu Jichen was inducted into the 2020 Class of Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals in September.
1. What is true about the “Clear Your Plate” mini-program?| A．It inspires people to make money. | B．It aims to encourage people to treasure food. |
| C．It has helped reduce food waste by 3,337 tons. | D．It offers people cards and small gifts as a reward. |
| A．They lacked professional technical support. | B．They found it tough to promote the campaign. |
| C．They had difficulty gathering enough samples. | D．They felt uncertain about completing the project. |
| A．Optimistic and cautious. | B．Generous and responsible. |
| C．Talented and humorous. | D．Creative and determined. |
| A．Learn from Liu Jichen | B．The Power of AI Technology |
| C．Clear Your Plate with Technology | D．Actions to Fight against Food Waste |
1. What is the conversation mainly about?
| A．Fighting fires. | B．Detecting fires. | C．Using fires. |
| A．Around 50. | B．About 400. | C．Over 8600. |
| A．Size of a car. | B．Size of a plane. | C．Size of a sports field. |
| A．Saving animals. | B．Saving the trees. | C．Saving humans. |
3 . What Your Dog Is Really Thinking
Reading a pup’s body language requires experience and expert guidance. Zazie Todd, a dog trainer and founder of the blog Companion Animal Psychology, considers how to figure out the dogs’ behaviour.
If your dog licks their mouth
They’re stressed. Recently, two European studies have highlighted the meaning of this licking. One found that it was a dogs’ response to seeing an angry or aggressive human face on a computer screen.
If there are fireworks and your dog is shaking
The noises are frightening.
They’re anxious. Obvious signs of an unhappy dog include hiding or trying to leave the exam room, but commonly missed signs range from a tucked tail and lowered ears to trembling. If your dog gets stressed at appointments, ask what can be done. Many vets now use food to make the experience more fun.
If your dog leans into you during a petting session.
| A．They hate it |
| B．They like it |
| C．This is a common reaction |
| D．If you’re at the vet and your dog’s tail is down |
| E．If your dog looks guilty when you walk in the door and see a mess |
| F．Preferred spots on their bodies are to either side of the chest and under the chin |
| G．The other determined that dogs lick their mouths—and also look away—in response to a mild threat |
4 . There’s nothing better than a walk in the countryside for lifting our spirits. Connecting with nature has been proven to help our mental health. For some, the best tonic is to wander through a forest, but as we admire the trees that surround us, it’s worth knowing these trees are doing more than just being nice things to look at.
We’re already aware of the healing properties of trees - they produce oxygen and clean the air we breathe by absorbing about a quarter of all human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. Deforestation isn’t helping with this which is why so many people want to save them. But there’s more to these impressive forms of vegetation than we might think. Researchers have discovered evidence that proves they are actually intelligent.
It’s thought that trees talk and share resources right under our feet, using a network of fungi (真菌). Under the ground are tree roots, and fixed among them, along with bacteria, are thousands of superfine threads of fungi. And research has shown that they are all interconnected. They can help each other by sharing nutrients, and they can even warn of approaching threats. Scientists say it’s like the trees are talking to one another.
Ecologist Suzanne Simard has called this network the Wood Wide Web. She discovered that parent trees use this network to help their offspring (后代). Speaking to the BBC, she said: “We found that the parent trees would favour those seedlings that were of their own family VS the strangers” by sending them more nutrients. She also found that trees are smart enough to change their behaviour and have managed to adapt and survive in a changing environment.
So it seems trees really are the stars of our natural world, and with around three trillion of them on our planet, it’s time to show them some respect if we want them to flourish.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 3?| A．Trees share information by talking. |
| B．Trees share nutrients through their roots. |
| C．Trees are connected by a network of fungi. |
| D．Trees communicate with each other through bacteria. |
| A．parent trees mistake strangers for their offspring |
| B．parent trees offer nutrients to all the seedlings fairly |
| C．trees can adjust themselves to a changing environment |
| D．trees are so smart that they can change the environment |
| A．A health report. |
| B．A science fiction. |
| C．A travel brochure. |
| D．A popular science magazine. |
5 . You must have heard about animal migration (迁徙),such as Wildebeests dash across Africa; Monarch butterflies fly across the Americas... But did you know that forests migrate, too?
In his new book The Journeys of Trees, science writer Zach St. George explores an extremely slow migration, as forests creep inch by inch to more pleasant places.
“The migration of a forest is just many trees sprouting (发芽) in the same direction,” St. George writes. “Through the fossils that ancient forests left behind, scientists can track their movement over thousands of years. They move back and forth across continents, sometimes following the same route more than once, like migrating birds or whales.” This has happened over thousands of years, and climate change tends to be the driving force.
Of course, today, climate change is speeding up, and trees can’ t keep pace. Take California for example: It’s getting hotter and drier and scientists estimate that before too long, Sequoia National Park may not be able to keep giant sequoias (巨杉).
“The scientists there had never seen anything like it” St. George says. “They worried, and I think at some point we will lose these ancient trees and that we will have to think about what we do with the places, and whether we should plant new groves where they are easy to grow.”
This is known as “assisted migration” —humans planting trees in other places where they’ re more likely to flourish. But this process carries risks—people can accidentally introduce insects and diseases to new places, where they may wipe out entire native populations. So, St. George writes, there’ s a debate among conservationists and foresters today: Should humans help the trees escape?
“There may be cases where people are probably going to step in and help species move to places where they’ll be more suitable in the future,”St. George says.“So far, there are no huge movements of citizen groups moving trees north. But that is kind of one vision of the future that the people I interview hope to see.”
1. What can be learned about the forest migration?| A．It is very difficult to track the migration. |
| B．It takes several decades to complete it. |
| C．It is mainly the result of climate change. |
| D．It often follows certain migrating species. |
| A．To prove the assisted migration carries risks. |
| B．To stress the park is able to keep giant sequoias. |
| C．To state scientists are hopeful about the environment. |
| D．To show trees fail to adapt to climate change. |
| A．Grow well. | B．Become valuable. |
| C．Develop rapidly. | D．Escape diseases. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Objective. |
| C．Skeptical. | D．Disapproving. |
More than 11,000 scientists from 153 countries have sounded the alarm on climate change. In a paper
The scientists also gave some instructions to fight against global warming,
The scientists say the climate crisis is
7 . A smoke bomb from a party started a major blaze (火焰) near Los Angeles in September,just one of many recent wildfires ignited (引燃) by people. Now, an analysis of satellite data shows human-caused blazes spread much faster and kill more trees than ones ignited by lightning.
Fire has always been a part of California’s natural history. But several centuries of human settlement have created new conditions that promote its spread.Studies have shown human ignition is to blame for 84% of all wildfires in the United States,and 97% of all those that threaten homes.
Human-caused fires always seemed more extreme, says Stijn Hantson,a fire ecologist at the University of California,Irvine,who led the new research. But measurements of how fast they spread and their impacts on ecosystems (生态系统) in California had not been explored, he notes.
To examine those differences, Hantson and his colleagues analyzed satellite data for 214 wildfires in California between 2012 and 2018.Human-caused fires typically spread about 1.83 kilometers per day, more than twice as fast as lightning-ignited burns,the team reports.The faster spreading fires also burned more violently and killed “double or triple” the trees as lightning-caused ones.
However, there is no fundamental difference in the chemistry of a human-caused blaze. “A fire is a fire” Hantson says. “It’s the surrounding things that matter.” Causes of fires ranging from improperly thrown cigarettes to sparking (冒火花) power lines could ignite a blaze on any given day, he says, while lightning strikes and dry thunderstorms only happen seasonally.
The researchers tracked meteorological data and found that human-caused fires were more likely to start on days with extreme weather conditions,and were more associated with drier,less-forested landscapes. This adds to scientists’ understanding of how humans are extending the fire season, says Nathan Mietkiewicz, an ecologist with the National Ecological Observation Network.
1. The author uses some data in paragraph 2 to show that ________.| A．wildfires are mostly caused by humans |
| B．most wildfires threaten people’s homes |
| C．wildfire is a part of California’s natural history |
| D．wildfires break out frequently in the United States |
| A．To prove how extreme human-caused fires are. |
| B．To find out the causes and solutions of wildfires. |
| C．To explore the speed and effects of wildfires caused by humans. |
| D．To examine the differences between a human-caused blaze and a nature-caused one. |
| A．By giving examples. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By analyzing cause and effect. |
| D．By giving definitions. |
| A．Human-caused fires and lightning-caused fires are basically different. |
| B．Lightning strikes and thunderstorms can always lead to wildfires. |
| C．Wildfires only happen in dry,less-forested areas. |
| D．Humans are to blame for the extended fire season. |
8 . Scotland is packed with beautiful places to visit and you could honestly spend months and months exploring everything this wonderful country has to offer! Next I’m going to take you through some of the best place to visit in Scotland, based on where we have personally visited so far!
Glen Coe
If you asked me where my favourite place to visit in all of Scotland is... I would say, Glen Coe. The whole area of Glen Coe constantly had my face in shock due to the beauty that I was witnessing1 was witnessing (亲眼看见). It’s just a stream of dramatic mountains, lakes, rugged (崎岖的) beauty and more.
Fort William
Fort William is probably one of the most well-known places to visit in Scotland. It’s a popular tourist destination thanks to being home to the UK’s tallest mountain: Ben Nevis. Fort William is also the starting point for one of the world’s most famous train rides: The Jacobite. Harry Potter fans will recognize it as the Hogwarts Express, and this train ride will take you through the beautiful countryside, crossing some iconic Harry Potter filming locations such as the Dumbledore’s Grave and the Glenfinnan Viaduct!
Isle Of Skye
This island feels totally different from other parts of Scotland and is truly rugged and ready! There are many hot spots to explore including the Old Man of Storr, the Fairy Glen. I even stayed on a private island with its very own lighthouse, which was one of the coolest places I’ve ever visited and one of the most romantic places stay in Scotland.
Cairngorms National Park
This is the largest national park in the UK so it’s another popular place to visit in Scotland and it’s no surprise why. It’s absolutely beautiful and there’s so much happening at the Cairngorms National Park! From skiing or meeting local reindeers, you’ll not go bored and you’ll be surrounded by beauty the entire time.
1. Which place probably attracts Harry Potter fans most?| A．Glen Coe. | B．Isle Of Skye. |
| C．Cairngorms National Park. | D．Fort William. |
| A．The Jacobite. | B．Local reindeers. |
| C．The UK’s tallest mountain. | D．A cool lighthouse. |
| A．A geography textbook | B．A science journal. |
| C．A travel blog. | D．A diary. |
9 . Elephant Conservation
Country:Thailand
This is a working vacation at a wildlife centre. Anyone can become a volunteer if he/she agrees to help the elephant keepers with tasks.
Daily tasks
Collect the elephants at 6:30 a.m. Take them to look for food in the forest. Clean the enclosure. Swim with the elephants in the lake in the afternoon. If volunteers want to relax after work, they can watch satellite television.
How this vacation helps
If these elephants hadn’t been rescued, they would still be living on the streets of Bangkok. A rural environment is much better for them than an urban environment where there is lots of pollution.
Gorilla Safari
Countries:Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda
Departures:Aug.—Dec., 2—3 departures per month
Extras:gorilla permit ￡220
If you’re lucky, you’ll see lions, elephants and rhinos on safari. The highlight of the trip is the opportunity to see gorillas in the mountain forests. However, you must be in good health—if a gorilla caught a cold, it would be extremely harmful to its whole family.
How this vacation helps
There are only about 600 mountain gorillas left in the world as human activity has reduced the area where they can live. When you buy a permit, this will pay for the protection of the national park.
Polar Bear Watching
Country:Canada
Departures:sixty trips between Oct. 1—Nov. 19
Every October and November, groups of polar bears gather in Hudson Bay. As they are normally lonely creatures, this is unusual. The bears wait for the ocean to freeze so they can hunt seals, so this is the perfect opportunity to see them.
How this vacation helps
If the Arctic ice cap melts due to global warming, polar bears will be in danger. We give a share of our profits to the Polar Bears Alive Charity.
Your comment
These awesome bears get all the liquid they need from their food.
1. What will an elephant volunteer do?| A．Take food for elephants at 6:30 a.m. |
| B．Sweep the houses of elephants. |
| C．Wash elephants in the lake in the afternoon. |
| D．Watch satellite television on elephants. |
| A．You can find gorillas in Kenya and Canada. |
| B．You might get a cold in the mountain forests. |
| C．Visitors need to pay $220 to see 600 gorillas. |
| D．There are about 10 trips to visit gorillas. |
| A．Polar bears don’t need to drink water. |
| B．Polar bears store the liquid in their food. |
| C．Polar bears drink all kinds of liquid. |
| D．Polar bears eat mainly liquid food. |
10 . I’ve been in an 18-year special feeling with the black walnut (黑胡桃) tree in my backyard. It’s a
Moreover, the black walnut gives away a chemical that is harmful to its neighboring plants. I brought many new plant varieties home with
Have I thought of
Sometimes I think about my life without the black walnut. I can’t
Would my garden be
| A．win-win | B．pure | C．love-hate | D．warm |
| A．guides | B．amazes | C．helps | D．attacks |
| A．chance | B．warning | C．gift | D．threat |
| A．requests | B．hopes | C．worries | D．doubts |
| A．survive | B．stand up | C．escape | D．socialize |
| A．recycling | B．reducing | C．giving up | D．protecting |
| A．important | B．impossible | C．doubtful | D．necessary |
| A．occupied | B．equal | C．balanced | D．disturbed |
| A．wait for | B．imagine | C．waste | D．schedule |
| A．lucky | B．lonely | C．busy | D．lazy |
| A．restored | B．unchanged | C．abandoned | D．accessible |
| A．expectations | B．plans | C．chances | D．choice |
| A．satisfied | B．struggling | C．strict | D．playing |
| A．Worse still | B．In return | C．By the way | D．As a result |
| A．acceptance | B．apology | C．patience | D．notice |
