1 . The loss of housing due to floods is an undeniable issue. But now, Japanese housing developer Ichijo Komuten recently unveiled a “flood-resistant house” that can not only remain waterproof during floods, but also float off the ground.
Their new “flood-resistant house” was recently featured on a popular Japanese TV show and it has been getting a lot of attention online ever since. Japan’s TBS TV station recently visited one of Ichijo’s test sites where the company’s new flood-resistant house was being put through a simulated flood. Although it looked just like an ordinary house when the test began, by the time that water started rising around it, viewers could see the structure leave the ground and eventually float a few inches above it.
We’ve all seen floating houses being swept away in severe floods, but Ichijo’s newest invention features a system that prevents just that. The house is connected to a number of thick iron rod(杆)sticking out of the ground with thick cables(缆绳)that ensure it stays in place as the water floods past. When the water recedes, the floating house comes back down in its original position. The “flood-resistant house” also features special vents(通风口))hat close up in the event of flooding, and the plumbing also has special valves that prevent water from getting into the home. Electrical equipment like air conditioning is positioned on the upper half of the building to ensure that water doesn’t reach it.
According to engineers at Ichijo Komuten, most homes flood when water reaches the window level, but because their flood-resistant house can float up to five meters above ground, water is unlikely to reach the windows and everything else is sealed shut.
1. Why does Ichijo Komuten develop the “flood-resistant house”?| A．To make houses waterproof. | B．To get houses off the ground. |
| C．To keep houses forever floating. | D．To secure houses against floods. |
| A．Houses throughout the world are in danger of being flooded. |
| B．Electrical equipment will be safe in Ichijo Komuten’s flood-resistant house. |
| C．Thick iron rods and cables were invented by Ichijo Komuten. |
| D．Ichijo Komuten’s flood-resistant houses have been put into market successfully. |
| A．Positive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unclear. | D．Critical. |
| A．To assess the consequences of floods |
| B．To stress the necessity of a waterproof house. |
| C．To provide guidance on flood control. |
| D．To introduce a new invention and its functions. |
2 . In Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda, a non-profit organization Snares to Wares is helping local craftsmen make a living through selling sculptures made from the wiring in the traps of poachers(偷猎者)Located in northwest Uganda, the nation's largest national park is a poaching hotspot, with the most common method being a wire snare(钢丝套)that closes around an animal's foot.
Most poaching is done for meat, as the communities surrounding the park are some of the poorest in the country, and most of the animals poached are smaller herbivores(食草动物). Snares to Wares aids local people in developing their artists' eye and crafters' hand to weave hundreds of snares into wire sculptures of the park's wildlife. The initiative was started by Tutilo Mudumba, a national geographic explorer, and Robert Montgomery, a wildlife ecologist at Michigan State University, and now has 620 craftsmen onboard, who sell on average about 800 sculptures a month.
Mudumba was conducting research on the use and distribution of snares in the park some years ago when he came up with the idea. In an interview, he explained that for most of the poor villagers around the park, wildlife represents a threat. He was shocked to learn after starting Snares to Wares that many locals didn't know what the animals in the park looked like, so he helped sponsor field trips into Murchison Falls. There the locals study the animals, see how they behave, and allow their inner artist to take shape as they observe the park's lions, rhinos, elephants, buffalo, giraffes, leopards, warthogs, and more.
Murchison Falls has experienced a dramatic recovery over the last decade, with a significant upgrade in the policing capabilities of rangers(护林员), and the abilities of the medical units as well—all leading to a doubling of the herbivore numbers. Predator populations are also increasing with the conviction(定罪)rate of caught poachers at almost 97% due to another investment project in a wildlife legal department within the Ugandan Wildlife Authority.
1. What can local people do with the help of Snares to Wares?| A．Build more snares. | B．Poach more animals. |
| C．Make wire sculptures. | D．Sponsor field trips. |
| A．To survey population distribution. | B．To learn about traps. |
| C．To make interviews with the poor. | D．To study local animals. |
| A．Wildlife expert. | B．Local artist. |
| C．Potential artistic talent. | D．Infamous sculptor. |
| A．Improving impressively. | B．Heavily invested. |
| C．Declining dramatically. | D．Thinly populated. |
3 . The amount of plastic in our oceans-and thus in our seafood-is rising. A study says Europeans alone throw about 11,000 small pieces of plastic every year. And unless we make some very big changes, that number could reach 780,000 pieces per person within a few decades.
Microplastics are popular additives(添加剂)to a wide range of personal care products, from face wash to toothpaste. We wash them off and send them down the drain(下水道), where they head out into the water supply. And there they’ll stay, absorbing chemicals, until something or somebody comes along and eats them.
Studies have found that fish that consume microplastics are smaller than others. They refuse real food in favor of more plastic. Their eggs are less likely to hatch, and they are less likely to escape from other hunters.
Researchers at the University of Ghent in Belgium have been studying the effects of microplastics on shellfish(海贝). The average shellfish sucks(吮吸)in and spits(吐)out about 20 liters of water per day. Most of the plastic particles in that water will be sent back out into the ocean. Most, but not all; lead researcher Colin Janssen says the shellfish they examined had an average of one tiny plastic piece.
Janssen and his colleagues say the same process occurs in humans who consume shellfish. About 99 percent of the microplastics will pass through your system. That still leaves 1 percent to stay in the body, and we don’t yet know what that means for our health.
“We do need to know the fate of the plastics,” Janssen said. “Where do they go? Are they forgotten about by the body, or are they causing inflammation (炎症) or doing other things? Are chemicals coming out of these plastics and then causing damage? We don’t know.”
1. What does the underlined word “They” refer to in paragraph 3?| A．The researchers in the study. |
| B．The fish which eat the small fish in the ocean. |
| C．The common people who eat fish and seashell. |
| D．The small fish which eat plastic pieces. |
| A．It will be easier to catch them. |
| B．Their population will get smaller and smaller. |
| C．They will help reduce the amount of plastic pieces in the ocean. |
| D．People will find it an effective way to deal with water pollution. |
| A．It means developing a good taste in delicious food. |
| B．It means that eating sea creatures is dangerous. |
| C．It means storing plastic in the human bodies. |
| D．It means that plastic shellfish can take the place of real one. |
| A．No one will be sure of its effects. | B．They will lead to some strange diseases. |
| C．They will be forgotten. | D．They will give off some poisonous chemicals. |
1. Where did Erin meet Wolfgang first?
| A．In a street. | B．In a pet shop. | C．At an animal shelter. |
| A．He was too big. | B．He was unfriendly. | C．He had many diseases. |
| A．By putting him on a diet | B．By finding him a partner. | C．By taking him to the hospital. |
| A．His wisdom. | B．His appearance. | C．His personality. |
5 . Having been born along the shores of Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa, Rahmina Paulette said she has witnessed firsthand the effects of climate change leading to great difficulties like drought and floods.
The 15-year-old Kenyan teenager said East Africa is highly dependent on Lake Victoria, but high pollution has led to poisoning of the water, soil erosion and health problems in people living around the lake.
As Paulette grew older, she realized she was slowly turning from being a witness to a victim of lake degradation. So, she decided to take action and save the lake in her own little way.
“Being an Indigenous person from Lake Victoria, I would like to help restore the ecosystem for my community that has an ancestral connection to the lake and also for the future generations to enjoy the cool breeze, good smells and see the biodiversity within Lake Victoria,” Paulette said.
In her efforts to end pollution in the lake, Paulette started an environmental organization called Kisumu Environmental Champions.
The young environmental champions carry out their activities during the weekends, and the group focuses on environmental conservation, climate change awareness and wildlife conservation.
The group, with about 200 members so far, has taken up the removal of the invasive plant hyacinth from the lake to make eco-friendly products. This project has earned Paulette international recognition. The group has made furniture, paper, cards, folders, document holders, bags and carton boxes from the water hyacinth.
With help from her mother, Paulette is trying to increase activities as she urges all Kenyans to incorporate eco-friendly ways in their day-to-day lives.
Apart from activists like Paulette, other organizations are casting the net wider in their attempt to save the lake. One such group is nonprofit Osienala in western Kenya. The organization has been cooperating with international partners such as those from China to save Lake Victoria.
1. What causes the problems of Lake Victoria?| A．Soil erosion. | B．Drought and flood. |
| C．Poisoning water. | D．Climate change and pollution. |
| A．Disappearance. | B．Expansion. | C．Damage. | D．Restoration. |
| A．By planting more hyacinths. | B．By removing the hyacinths with her mother. |
| C．By building a factory to make products. | D．By setting up an organization. |
| A．It casts some nets over the lake. | B．It makes money while protecting the lake. |
| C．It seeks foreign cooperation to save the lake. | D．It’s another organization founded by Paulette. |
With few trees left to slow the wind in southern Madagascar, red sand is blowing everywhere: onto fields, villages and roads, and into the eyes of children
“There’s nothing to harvest. That’s
The world’ s fourth
7 . Every day we make choices that affect the environment and people living on the earth. From the clothes on our back and the food we eat to how we travel to work, every decision we make has an effect on the planet.
Sustainability doesn’t have to require huge, life-changing decisions.
Living sustainably simply requires a little more thought about our diets, what kind of toiletries and cosmetics(化妆品) we use, and how much waste we create in general.
One of the first things people tend to focus on when they first decide to live more sustainably is single-use plastic. Plastic bottles, bags, coffee cups and fresh produce wrappers are all non-recyclable.
Living sustainably brings many benefits. The most obvious one is that you’re less responsible for causing daily damage to the environment. Sustainable living also provides a handy opportunity to live healthier. In short, sustainable living is healthier and cheaper.
| A．Once we're aware of these things |
| B．Sustainable living is certainly possible |
| C．Although it may seem like a harmless act |
| D．And it's the most responsible choice for the planet |
| E．Since we know that having a positive effect on the planet is important |
| F．The present generations are the most environmentally conscious in history |
| G．It means reducing our demand for natural resources by making a few small daily changes |
8 . Mosquitoes see red when they look at your skin, and that brings them in for a bite, according to new research showing that these insects find certain colors more attractive.
The findings mean that what you wear can reduce your chances of being bitten, but there’s little you can do in terms of your skin. That’s because everyone’s skin gives off a strong red-orange signal that’s highly attractive to mosquitoes.
“I used to say there are three major signals that attract mosquitoes: your breath, your sweat and the temperature of your skin,” said senior study author Jeffrey Riffell, a professor of biology at the University of Washington in Seattle. “In this study, we found a fourth signal: the color red, which can be found not only on your clothes, but also in everyone’s skin. The shade of your skin doesn’t matter; we’re all giving off a strong red signal.”
Researchers found that when a common species of mosquito called Aedes aegypti detects carbon dioxide (CO2) from our breath, it then looks for specific colors—including red, orange and black—to find its meal of blood. But it ignores colors such as green, purple, blue and white.
“Mosquitoes appear to use smell to help them distinguish what is nearby, like a host to bite,” Riffell said.
“When they detect specific compounds, like CO2 from our breath, that smell stimulates the eyes to scan for specific colors and other visual patterns, which are associated with a potential host, and then they head to them.”
That process is similar to when a person smells something good. “Imagine you’re on a sidewalk and you smell pies,” Riffell said. “That’s probably a sign that there’ s a bakery nearby, and you might start looking around for it. Here, we started to learn what visual elements (要素) mosquitoes are looking for after smelling their own version of a bakery.”
Knowing which colors do or don’t tempt mosquitoes may lead to better repellents (驱虫剂), traps and other methods to prevent mosquitoes.
1. What does Jeffrey Riffell’s study find?| A．Mosquitoes tend to have a preference for bright colors. |
| B．Mosquito biting has something to do with your clothes. |
| C．The more you sweat, the less likely you will be bitten by mosquitoes. |
| D．Your skin color reduces your chances of being bitten by mosquitoes. |
| A．Hearing. | B．Sight. | C．Smell. | D．Touch. |
| A．appeal to | B．frighten away | C．calm down | D．wipe out |
| A．Education. | B．Entertainment. | C．Fashion. | D．Science. |
9 . Findings of an international team of researchers from Japan and China suggest that geese might have been the first poultry species to have been domesticated (驯养) by humans—as far back as 7,000 years ago.
Scientists have long held different opinions on the history of the domestication of birds, with a belief that it was chickens that were the first to be domesticated. In 2014, Chinese researchers reported ancient DNA taken from the earliest archaeological chicken bone discovery in China, suggesting chickens were domesticated in northern China as early as 10,000 years ago.
But the researchers behind the latest findings say that the 2014 study lacks firm evidence. In the new study, the team unearthed the archaeological site of Tianluoshan, a 7,000-year-old rice cultivation village in the lower Yangtze River valley in what is today known as East China’s Zhejiang province. They found a total of 232 goose bones at the site. The inhabitants of the village were hunter-gatherers.
The researchers used multiple approaches to study the bones, and found evidence of domestication.
Four bones were from goslings (幼鹅) ranging from eight to 16 weeks old, suggesting they hatched near the site. Geese were domesticated from wild geese. These migratory birds fly to northern Siberia to breed (繁殖) after the spring and then fly south for the winter, according to researchers from the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. They said the goslings were too young to have flown in from elsewhere. At the time, Tianluoshan did not have the conditions to be a natural breeding place for wild geese, so it follows that the goslings were born after domestication.
The researchers also analyzed the chemical makeup of adult goose bones, which contained evidence of the water they drank. Their analysis indicated that the adult geese also seemed to have been locally bred, for they were all roughly the same size. Carbon dating also showed that the bones belonged to geese that lived about 7,000 years ago.
Researchers say ancient DNA analysis is required in further studies to investigate which species were bred to become local geese populations.
1. Where did the researchers find the goose bones?| A．In Tianluoshan. | B．In northern China. |
| C．In northern Siberia. | D．In the upper Yangtze river valley. |
| A．Their parents were wild geese. |
| B．They were probably raised by humans. |
| C．They flew to Tianluoshan for winter. |
| D．They were too young and had to stay. |
| A．The result of the study. | B．The importance of the study. |
| C．The process of domestication. | D．The evidence of domestication. |
| A．To show how geese were domesticated by humans. |
| B．To prove that chickens were not the first to be domesticated. |
| C．To show a new study on the history of the birds’ domestication. |
| D．To introduce how the geese were domesticated from wild geese. |
10 . It is a well-known fact that plastic bottles, which take hundreds of years to rot, are harmful to our environment. However, efforts by environmentalists to encourage consumers to switch to alternatives, like water fountains or reusable bottles, have not been very effective. The U.S. alone uses over 50 million plastic bottles annually, 80% of which end up in landfills.
To try to stop that, Rodrigo García González, Pierre Paslier and Guillaume Couche from the Imperial College London have been working on a revolutionary solution — water wrapped inside an eatable container made mostly from seaweed. All the customer has to do to relieve his/her thirst is pop the entire drop into the mouth.
The inventors, who have been working on the Ooho bubble since 2014, use a simple two-step cooking process called spherification (球化) to create the delicate container. They begin by dipping a frozen ball of water or juice into a chemical solution (溶液). This helps form a layer around the liquid. The ball is then absorbed in a solution made from seaweed extract. This creates a second layer, helping strengthen the structure so that the water or juice does not leak. In addition to saving our environment, the biodegradable (可降解的) packaging costs just two cents each, making it cheaper to produce than plastic.
After three years of perfecting the design, the inventors, who recently raised over 1 million USD from a financial activity, are ready to bring the Ooho bubble to local market. However, there are a few challenges that still need to be overcome before the product’s launch. In addition to getting accustomed to the taste of the covering, each eatable container contains just a mouthful of water, requiring consumers to drink multiple bubbles to relieve their thirst. There is also the issue of finding an eco-friendly packaging to transport the bubbles so that they remain clean and do not burst. Hopefully, the inventors will find ways to handle the issues so that we can reduce, or perhaps even remove, plastic bottles.
1. Why was the Ooho bubble created?| A．To test a newly-designed material. | B．To change consumers’ drinking habit. |
| C．To reduce pollution caused by plastic. | D．To take a share of drinking water industry. |
| A．Solve some specific problems of the product. | B．Collect more money to expand production. |
| C．Distribute the Ooho bubble to global market. | D．Advertise the advantages of the Ooho bubble. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Doubtful. | C．Confident. | D．Opposed. |
| A．Scientists Work out a New Kind of Water |
| B．Plastic Bottles Will Be Replaced by the Ooho Bubble |
| C．Environmental Pollution is Expected to Be Solved |
| D．The Ooho Bubble Aims to Remove Plastic Bottles |
