1 . Best Parks to See Wildlife
A recent report from a vacation site listed the total number of species and sizes of several well-known national parks. Here are some of them to see the widest variety of animals.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio
Number of species per square meter: 317
Located 20 miles southwest of Cleveland, Ohio, Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a mixed ecosystem of forest and wetlands sheltering a variety of animals. From the boardwalk at Beaver Marsh, watch for water-loving mammals or snapping turtles (鳄龟) that can weigh as much as 55 pounds each. More than 200 bird species live in the park.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico
Number of species per square meter: 286
The representative for Carlsbad Caverns is the Brazilian free-tailed bat. Every summer, hundreds of thousands of the furry, big-eared creatures live in these caves in southeastern New Mexico, attracting crowds at sunset with their spectacular out flight. The Brazilians are one of the 17 bat species that nest at Carlsbad. You might also encounter wild pigs and cave swallows.
Acadia National Park, Maine
Number of species per square meter: 242
The Atlantic Ocean meets the Maine coast at this popular park on Mount Desert Island, providing habitat for wildlife with feet and flippers (鳍状肢). From the shore, scan the water for the heads of harbor porpoises (鼠海豚) and gray seals.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
Number of species per square meter: 219
In western Colorado, the 2, 722 feet between this park s canyon edge and the Gunnison River below support numerous wildlife habitats. Experienced climbers and hikers who adventure into the inner canyon find collared lizards and mule deer.
1. Which park has the largest number of species per square meter?A.Acadia National Park. | B.Carlsbad Caverns National Park. |
C.Cuyahoga Valley National Park. | D.Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park |
A.Watch crowds of flying bats at sunset. |
B.Observe 17 swallow species nesting in the city. |
C.Play with turtles weighing over 55 pounds. |
D.Meet wild pigs in forests and wetlands. |
A.Cave swallows. | B.Gray seals. | C.Mule deer. | D.Free-tailed bats. |
2 . As a young girl growing up in France, Sarah Toumi dreamed of becoming a leader who could make the world a better place. Her passion to help others was awakened when, from the age of nine, she accompanied her Tunisian father to his birthplace in the east of the country during holidays. There she organized homework clubs and activities for children.
Toumi witnessed first-hand the destructive effect of desertification (沙漠化). “Within 10 years rich farmers became worse off, and in 10 years from now they will be poor. I wanted to stop the Sahara Desert in its tracks.” A decrease in average rainfall and an increase in the severity of droughts have led to an estimated 75 percent of Tunisia’s agricultural lands being threatened by desertification.
Toumi recognized that farming practices needed to change. She is confident that small land areas can bring large returns if farmers are able to adapt by planting sustainable crops, using new technologies for water treatment and focusing on natural products and fertilizers rather than chemicals.
In 2012, Toumi consolidated (巩固) her dream of fighting the desert. She moved to Tunisia, and set up a programme named Acacias for All to put her sustainable farming philosophy (理念) into action. “I want to show young people in rural areas that they can create opportunities where they are. Nobody is better able to understand the impact of desertification and climate change than somebody who is living with no access to water.”
By September 2016, more than 130, 000 acacia trees had been planted on 20 pilot farms, with farmers recording a 60 percent survival rate. Toumi estimates that some 3 million acacia trees are needed to protect Tunisia’s farmland. She expects to plant 1 million trees by 2018. In the next couple of years, Toumi hopes to extend the programme to Algeria and Morocco.
1. How did Toumi’s holiday trips to Tunisia influence her?A.They made her decide to leave the country. |
B.They helped her better understand her father. |
C.They aroused her enthusiasm for helping others. |
D.They destroyed her dream of being a teacher. |
A.Low rainfall. | B.Soil pollution. | C.Cold weather. | D.Forest damage. |
A.To create job opportunities for young people. |
B.To help the children obtain a basic education. |
C.To persuade the farmers not to use fertilizers. |
D.To promote the protection of their farmland. |
A.Saving Water in Tunisia | B.Holding back the Sahara |
C.Planting Trees of Native Species | D.Fighting Poverty in North Africa |
3 . Rainforests provide much of the world’s oxygen. People have been trying to protect them for years. But another type of forest, the cloud forest, is just as important to humans.
These forests are at the tops of mountains, generally near the equator (赤道). These wet, wooded mountaintops are mainly in African and Central and South American countries. They are called “cloud forests” because their height allows for the formation of clouds among the trees. The trees in these forests pull water out of the clouds. The water gathers on the leaves and falls into small rivers below, which flow into towns at the bottom of the mountain. The yearly rainfall in these areas is about 180 centimetres. Cloud forests can pull in up to 60 percent of that. The water is important to the plants and the people in the area. It helps them survive.
Cloud forests are also home to countless species of plants that can’t be found anywhere else. One small cloud forest has as many types of plants as there are in all of Europe. In fact, there are so many that scientists haven’t made a complete list of them yet.
These forests are being destroyed at an increasing speed. Trees are being cut down, and roads are being built in their place. Some people have a goal to get government money to protect the forests. But they have had little success so far. Another way is to take the place of the destroyed plants with new ones. That, too, has been difficult because the plants are so special. There’s plenty of work to be done, but saving the cloud forests is still possible with creative solutions.
1. Where can you probably find cloud forests?A.In North America. | B.Far from the equator. |
C.In an African country. | D.At the foot of mountains. |
A.Europe is short of plant types. |
B.Scientists are working on a list. |
C.Cloud forests are getting smaller. |
D.Cloud forests house many plants. |
A.Ways to protect cloud forests. |
B.Goals of cloud forest protectors. |
C.Difficulties in planting new trees. |
D.Successes of getting wide support. |
A.In a storybook. | B.In a travel guide. |
C.In a chemistry textbook. | D.In a geography magazine. |
4 . This past July was the hottest recorded month in human history. Heat waves brake temperature records worldwide. It’s more than just a matter of sweaty discomfort. As climate change worsens, access to artificially cooled spaces is rapidly becoming a health necessity.
Yet standard air-conditioning systems leave us trapped in a negative feedback cycle: the hotter it is, the more people use the air condition er and the more energy is consumed as a result. Cooling is the fastest-growing single source of energy use in buildings, according to the International Energy Agency. Breaking the cycle requires new innovations that will help bring cooler air to more people with less environmental impact.
Standard air-conditioning systems cool and dehumidify (除湿) through a relatively inefficient mechanism: in order to condense (冷凝) water out of the air, they overcool that air past the point of comfort. Many new designs therefore separate the dehumidification and cooling processes, which avoids the need to overcool. For example, some new air conditioner designs pull water from the air with desiccant (干燥剂) materials. The dried air can then be cooled to a more reasonable temperature. Massachusetts-based start-up Transaera claims that the system it is developing could use 35 percent less energy than the average standard air-conditioning unit.
However, the gains in efficiency might not help us get rid of the impact of air-conditioning. “It won’t work to simply replace every existing air conditioner with a better model and call it a day,” says Nicole Miranda, an engineer at the University of Oxford. “Instead, a truly coder future will have to employ other strategies. It’s critical to bring greenery and water bodies into cities to take advantage of natural airflow.”
“Cooling is a challenge involving many aspects,” says Sneha Sachar, an expert at the nonprofit organization ClimateWorks. “There isn’t one strategy or one answer. We need a combination of better buildings and cities, better technologies and a better understanding that the true cost of air-conditioning extends beyond electric bills.”
1. Why does the author talk about record heat in the first paragraph?A.To make comparisons. | B.To support his theory. |
C.To introduce the topic. | D.To show cooled places. |
A.It’s available in the market. | B.It’s time-honoured. |
C.It’s the most efficient model. | D.It’s energy-saving. |
A.Favorable. | B.Tolerant. | C.Negative. | D.Uncaring. |
A.Companies will offer various options. |
B.A comprehensive approach is required. |
C.We can address the issue once and for all. |
D.Our first priority is to lower electric bills. |
5 . When micro-plastics end up in farm fields, the pollution can damage plant growth. But two young researchers now report that combining fungi (真菌) with certain farm wastes can partly overcome that problem.
May Shin, 20, and Jiwon Choi, 18, met in a research design class at the Fryeburg Academy, a high school in Maine. May had desired to explore how micro-plastics might affect the ecosystem. Jiwon was crazy about plants and fungi. The young scientists cooperated to test how long-lived plastics might affect farm crops.
Scientists have shown certain fungi can aid root growth and a plant’s nutrient uptake. Those organisms are named arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Certain farm wastes, like straw, can provide nutrients to plants and help stabilize their roots. Such wastes are also known as mushroom substrate (基质) and people often grow mushrooms in them.
May and Jiwon planted over 2,000 scallion (大葱) seeds in pots of soil. Half the seeds got soil polluted with micro-plastics. The rest grew in plastic-free soil. The plants then were further divided into four groups. The young scientists added AMF to the soil in one group. Another group had a top layer of mushroom substrate. A third group got both treatments. The last group got none. For three weeks, the pair tracked how many scallions sprouted (发芽) in each group and measured the plants’ height once each week.
About twice as many scallions sprouted in clean soil compared to that containing plastic bits. But among plants surviving in the polluted soil, a combination of AMF and mushroom substrate helped them out. Those getting both treatments grew 5.4 centimeters per week. That was faster than either of the treatments alone or those getting none.
Jiwon and May then looked at the plant roots with a microscope. Where AMF had been added, it grew into those roots. That increased the scallion roots’ surface area, May said, which should promote their uptake of nutrients. So “I see this project as coming up with a sustainable solution for plant growth in polluted soils,” said May.
1. Why did May and Jiwon work together?A.To see the effects of long-lived plastics on farm crops. |
B.To find the relationship between plants and fungi. |
C.To design a research on the growth of plants. |
D.To explore the way that the ecosystem works. |
A.To prove the existence of micro-plastics. | B.To compare fungi with farm wastes. |
C.To tell the advantages of farm wastes. | D.To provide some related information. |
A.Its purpose. | B.Its design. | C.Its findings. | D.Its reasons. |
A.By keeping the plants more resistant to pollution. | B.By allowing the plants’ deep area more freedom. |
C.By making nutrients more available to the plants. | D.By exposing the roots to a larger surface area. |
6 . People have different ways of dealing with waste paper, specifically used newspapers. Some put them in the recycling area, while others keep them as wrappers (包装纸). While these are both good measures, a Japanese publishing company had a better idea for their end use.
The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd. invented the “Green Newspaper”, which allows people to grow plants with it. This unique newspaper was published on Greenery Day, which is focused on environmental news and made of green paper with seeds placed into it. What makes it even more special is the ink (油墨) used to print words and photos, which is made from plants. The publisher advises readers to tear the used newspaper into small pieces and plant them in a container with soil. They should water them, like they would do for any plant. Within a few weeks, the seeds will grow into plants.
This brilliant concept was invented by Dentsu Inc., one of Japan’s most famous advertising agencies, which works with the publishing company on the initiative (倡议). The publisher’s belief is environmental sustainability (持续性). As its mission statement says, “The Mainichi doesn’t take action only through information, but also by solving global issues.” With joint efforts, this initiative has reached the corners of Japan and sold around millions of copies daily. Other such initiatives producing plantable paper are also seen in India and the US.
About 95 million trees are lost for producing newspapers every year. The Internet, the number of whose users stands for 62.5 percent of the population worldwide, has influenced how people read news and the print readership has dropped greatly. However, the reinvention and reimagination of this newspaper will bring about a change in the publishing industry as well as having an environmental influence.
1. What do we know about the “Green Newspaper”?A.It uses high-tech materials. |
B.It provides energy for seeds. |
C.It’s printed with plant-based ink. |
D.It’s published to celebrate Greenery Day. |
A.It’s easier said than done. |
B.Everything comes to him who waits. |
C.Many hands make light work. |
D.Actions speak louder than words. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Supportive. |
C.Indifferent. | D.Negative. |
A.About 59 million trees are lost for producing newspapers. |
B.The Internet has changed the way people read news totally. |
C.The popularity of the Internet leads to the fall of the print readership. |
D.The “Green Newspaper” will encourage more people to protect the environment. |
7 . How to prepare for a wildfire
Before you can effectively prepare, it’s very important to understand how wildfires operate. Many think wildfires destroy homes because a wall of flames(火焰)moves across the landscape.
Creating a defensible space around your home acts as a barrier against wildfire flames. Home hardening involves constructing with fire-resistant materials. Investing $10,000 to $20,000 in these measures significantly reduces the chance of a home being ravaged by a wildfire, lowering risk by 75%.
Remove dead tree branches
Similar to dry or bagged leaves, dead tree branches are dry, which means they, too, can catch fire quickly. If you have any hanging from trees or laying in your yard, remove them ASAP. The same rule applies when removing dead tree branches:
Create an evacuation (撤离)plan
Families should go over an evacuation plan and practice it well before an emergency actually occurs. Knowing when to leave and being able to go quickly is crucial during an evacuation scenario.
Make sure gutters(水槽)are made of metal
A.Do not store them close to the house |
B.Replace plastic gutters with metal ones |
C.Things we all have are around our homes |
D.It’s important to keep away from wildfire |
E.Build defensible space s and harden your home |
F.Set a meet up destination for all family members first |
G.Actually, it’s tiny wind-blown things that destroy most of them |
8 . My wife and I just moved into a new home. One day I found a heartwarming
Amy wrote, “You might be new
The next day Amy
I promised I wouldn’t call animal control because he should
What an amazing person. Such a selfless
A.flower | B.note | C.bag | D.book |
A.checked | B.agreed | C.ordered | D.explained |
A.raising | B.watching | C.understanding | D.praising |
A.discussion | B.comment | C.request | D.promise |
A.parents | B.couples | C.drivers | D.owners |
A.noticed | B.bought | C.placed | D.took |
A.left | B.asked | C.told | D.sold |
A.cleaning | B.feeding | C.meeting | D.sheltering |
A.helpless | B.happy | C.trapped | D.hidden |
A.Usually | B.Still | C.Besides | D.However |
A.powerful | B.smart | C.obvious | D.weak |
A.puts off | B.drops off | C.cuts off | D.turns off |
A.waste | B.make | C.spend | D.cost |
A.turn up | B.show off | C.come on | D.go away |
A.experience | B.excuse | C.practice | D.act |
9 . The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication means. Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it.
Man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man moved to another place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It’s bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air. Pollution by S02 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. We are sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.
The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must care about the rise in pollution at the same time.
1. Why is our world becoming much smaller?A.Thanks to the development of science. |
B.Because of the rise in pollution. |
C.Because the earth is being polluted day and night. |
D.Because the earth is blown away by the wind every year. |
A.Rubbish. | B.Water pollution. |
C.Air pollution. | D.Noise pollution. |
A.Because it’s bad for all living things in the world. |
B.Because it makes much noise. |
C.Because it has made our rivers and lakes dirty. |
D.Because it makes us become angry more easily. |
A.Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. |
B.The problem of pollution is not so serious because there are not so many people living on the earth. |
C.The pollution of the earth grows as fast as the world population does. |
D.If people could go to work by bus or bike instead of car or motorbike, it would be helpful in fighting against the problem of S02. |
10 . As a result of pollution, Lake Erie, on the borders of the USA and Canada, is now without any living things.
Pollution in water is not simply a matter of “poisons” killing large numbers of fish overnight. Very often the effects of pollution are not noticed for many months or years because the first organisms (生物体) to be affected are either plants or plankton. But these organisms are the food of fish and birds and other creatures. When this food disappears, the fish and birds die too. In this way a whole food chain can be wiped out, and it’s not until dead fish and water birds are seen at the river’s edge or on the seashore that people realize what is happening.
Where do the substances which pollute the water come from? There are two main sources—sewage (污水) and industrial waste. As more detergent (洗涤剂) is used in the home, so more of it is finally put into our rivers, lakes and seas. Detergents harm water birds, dissolving the natural substances which keep their feathers waterproof. Sewage itself, if not properly treated, makes the water dirty and prevents all forms of life in rivers and the sea from receiving the oxygen they need. Industrial waste is even more harmful as there are many highly poisonous things in it, such as copper and lead (铅).
So, if we want to stop this pollution, the answer is simple: sewage and industrial waste must be made clear before flowing into the water. It may already be too late to save some rivers and lakes, but others can still be saved if the correct action is taken at once.
1. When do the people notice the pollution of water according to Paragraph 2?A.The first organisms are affected. | B.A good many fish and birds die. |
C.Poisonous things are poured into water. | D.The balance of nature is destroyed. |
A.There is no water. | B.There is no fish. |
C.There is no poison. | D.There is no oxygen. |
A.Organisms. |
B.Plants and plankton in the water. |
C.Waste water from cities. |
D.Industrial waste made clear before flowing into the water. |
A.To realize the serious situation clearly. |
B.To put oxygen into the river. |
C.To make the waste material harmless before flowing into the water. |
D.To make special room in the sea for our rubbish. |