1 . My community and state are still recovering from the disaster that hit the area recently. A wall of storms with hurricane force winds
The most
Life’s disasters strike all of us from time to time. No one is
A.drew | B.arose | C.struck | D.faded |
A.closing | B.wiping | C.narrowing | D.blocking |
A.devoted | B.found | C.pictured | D.patted |
A.cut off | B.called off | C.torn down | D.taken off |
A.where | B.why | C.how | D.when |
A.decent | B.terrible | C.amazing | D.accidental |
A.distance | B.enthusiasm | C.prejudice | D.selfishness |
A.hatred | B.love | C.respect | D.belief |
A.confidence | B.power | C.guidance | D.virtue |
A.destroy | B.move | C.clear | D.build |
A.restore | B.remove | C.return | D.reduce |
A.saved | B.spared | C.punished | D.forgiven |
A.cheated | B.removed | C.challenged | D.arranged |
A.weigh on | B.react to | C.take in | D.care for |
A.throw | B.shoot | C.aim | D.glance |
2 . Most people have already heard we are facing an era of massive species extinction, that we run out of insect pollinators (传粉者) for our plantations and that springs are silent now. It is also agreed that a diverse nature is essential for our economic and emotional well-being and for human health. But how to achieve this?
Buildings produce dangerous emissions (排放物) polluting the air. The nation’s buildings are responsible for 40% of all US carbon emissions. Designing buildings that put the environment first is essential. Daniel Jaconetti, the National Sustainable Design Leader for the architecture firm HED tells Gb&d Magazine, “Our first responsibility is to educate and then to design for clients the best possible building that meets their needs.”
The best buildings are designed to be resilient (能复原的) , energy efficient, comfortable, and without poisonous chemicals. They are probably the ones-that make the most sense to people—being as efficient as possible. “You’re putting out fewer emissions.” Daniel Jaconetti tells Gb&d.
Eco-conscious design can be found-in a number of ways. The application of solar power is just one common design trend. Choosing eco-friendly building materials can also help. This can include a wide variety of materials, from bamboo to those recycled.
When looking for ways to cater to eco-friendly design, biophilia (热爱生物) has been used in architectural design to unite nature into the environment. With common elements of biophilic design in buildings including indoor trees and plants and living walls creatures, we can enjoy the various benefits associated with the presence of nature indoors. For already constructed homes, biophilic design element can help create an environmentally friendly atmosphere. Bringing in plants is just one major way to make an eco-friendly statement. Properly styling the greenery can be the difference between showcasing the tree itself and allowing it to complement the surrounding design.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?A.To introduce the topic of the text. | B.To raise people’s awareness of pollution. |
C.To call on people to protect wildlife. | D.To draw people’s attention to emotional well-being. |
A.We need new buildings to be comfortable. | B.Buildings are to blame for serious emissions. |
C.Buildings are where we spend most of our time. | D.We need different buildings to cheer ourselves up. |
A.Luxury. | B.Splendid. | C.Eco-friendly. | D.Life-changing. |
A.Redecorate it. | B.Give it a thorough clean. |
C.Change its design style. | D.Add some green plants to it. |
China’s first overpass for wildlife migration has already come into use. The bridge
It has been about two years since the national highway
Those passageways,with a total
While there is growing consumer
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in 2020 over 12 million tons of furniture
With growing calls for sustainability, many brands are announcing to change though it remains
5 . If you haven’t taken down your Christmas tree yet, no worries. Here’s an idea: have you ever thought about eating it?
Julia Georgallis has some recipes. Over the last five years, she’s been preparing carefully for Christmas dinners in London with a friend. “How can we make something sustainable around Christmas time? What can we cat? What’s the thing that no one eats and that somehow represents Christmas? And then we just decided on Christmas trees,” Georgallis says.
She turned it into a book, How to Eat Your Christmas Tree. And her idea is that it’s not that odd. Some people enjoy Christmas wine. Some people like to go shopping and most people can get behind saving the planet.
“What I aimed for this book to do, really, was to get people thinking about the odd ways that they can be more sustainable in their daily lives,” Georgallis says.
“Eating Christmas trees isn’t going to save any animals in danger or freeze any ice caps. But if we start to think about everything that we do as a whole, then that builds up, you know, and that helps,” she says.
Most of the recipes in her book use the needles from the tree. “You’d use the needles like a herb,” she says.
“And different Christmas trees kind of have different flavors. They’re quite subtle, but they do have different flavors. So fir (冷杉), which is a really popular choice of Christmas trees, gives people better feeling and atmosphere. And then you have pine, which is a little bit more delicate.”
A warning: some Christmas trees are poisonous if eaten — like cypress and cedars. And be sure your tree wasn’t sprayed with pesticides (杀虫剂) and other chemicals. “So if you have any doubt that your Christmas tree might not have been grown to eat, then maybe don’t eat it,” Georgallis says.
And, of course, don’t even think about eating your artificial tree!
So, with all those instructions and with the appropriate tree, what could we cook? Well, Georgallis’ book has all sorts of recipes for different foods and drinks. Let’s open up the world’s cuisine with simple ingredients!
1. What’s the main purpose of Georgallis’ book?A.To tell people not to buy real trees. | B.To inspire people to be more eco-friendly. |
C.To teach people how to enjoy Christmas wine. | D.To encourage people to throw away odd traditions. |
A.Artificial trees can also be cooked. |
B.Eating Christmas trees does good to saving animals. |
C.Different trees have different features and tastes. |
D.All Christmas trees have their own ways to be cooked. |
A.Tips for choosing Christmas trees. | B.Warnings for cooking Christmas meals. |
C.Comparison between real and artificial trees. | D.Recipes for different foods with Christmas trees. |
A.A diary. | B.A novel. | C.A scientific report. | D.A lifestyle magazine. |
1. 森林的重要性;
2. 保护森林的倡议。
注意:1. 写作词数应为80个左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
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7 . Health officials in Canada are very busy these days. They are placing chickens at fixed points all along their border with the United States of America. That’s an enormous distance of 2,500 km.
It’s not a practical joke, nor have the Canadians gone mad. They are using these chickens to see if the deadly West Nile virus is lurking around. The virus infects birds, so they think that the chickens have a good chance of catching the virus. Or the virus will catch the chickens.
Countries around the world are realizing something important. That it may just be possible to stop certain kinds of people from entering their land, but it is very difficult to try and stop viruses that travel from one end of the earth to another. When they travel to new places, they adjust very easily to those climates and sometimes start destroying the local plant and animal life. These biological polluters are called smart polluters.
These smart polluters can be carried across borders of countries unknowingly. Just as we humans are travelling across the globe more often than earlier, these biological polluters have also started journeying much more. They slide into aircraft through their wheels. They bore their way into objects that air travelers may be carrying from one country to another.
Suddenly, a lot of things become clearer. Like why the customs officials in many foreign countries prevent you from bringing in a small plant, or a decorative item made of wood that is in its natural form… They tell you that it’s in the rules.
They have these rules because they know that these varieties of plants that are special to specific places have the power to spread new diseases among native plants and animals. They are called biological polluters and they always create problems in places where they do not belong. They could be special varieties of plants, bugs or even animals.
1. Why did the author talk about what Canadian officials’ are doing?A.To introduce a successful case | B.To arouse readers’ curiosity |
C.To describe a phenomenon | D.To introduce the topic |
A.Tiger mosquitoes from Asia are busy biting Americans. |
B.Pandas from China are wining millions of American’s hearts. |
C.The small lobsters from Mexico are taking over most of lakes in America. |
D.Tree snakes from New Guinea are busy eating up bird varieties in the country of Guam. |
A.A lot of profit can be made from introducing foreign species. |
B.People want to add more species to their surroundings. |
C.People nowadays travel overseas more frequently. |
D.There are more domestic flights than before. |
A.To convince | B.To warn | C.To inform | D.To entertain |
8 . Researchers in Australia have identified enzymes (酶) in the body of certain beetle larvae (甲虫幼虫) that can degrade or break down plastic. In a study published in Microbial Genomics, they write that these “superworms” could help reduce plastic waste in the future.
“Superworms are like mini recycling plants, cutting up the polysyrene (聚苯乙烯) with their mouths and then feeding it to the bacteria in their stomach,” said Chris Rinke from the University of Queensland in Australia. “The breakdown products from this reaction can then be used by other microbes to create high-value chemicals.”
In the study, scientists divided beetle larvae into three groups, feeding one group wheat bran, one polystyrene and one nothing. Over three weeks, they monitored their growth. “We found that superworms fed a diet of just polystyrene not only survived, but even had marginal weight gains,” said Rinke. “This suggests the worms can get energy from the polystyrene, most likely with the help of their stomach bacteria.”
On the other hand, the plastic-fed worms gained much less weight and were overall much less healthy than the bran-fed ones, though better off than the starvation group. After three weeks, some larvae were also set aside to grow into beetles, according to the study. About 93% of the bran-fed larvae formed adult worms, while about 67% of the plastic-fed larvae and 10% of the starved larvae formed adult worms.
The researchers investigated the superworm’s stomach bacteria to find the specific enzymes linked to plastic degradation, writes Fionna M. D. Samuels for Scientific American. The enzyme that degrades the polystyrene appears to live with the stomach bacteria, not the worm itself.
Polystyrene is one of the most common plastics used today. But it’s not very chemically reactive, and breaking it down with industrial recycling methods takes high heat. So, researchers have been looking for plastic-degrading enzymes and bacteria for years.
Further research will still need to be done to figure out how to employ these worms, bacteria and enzymes in recycling facilities.
1. What does Chris Rinke compare superworms to?A.Small plants. | B.Beetle larvae. | C.Stomach bacteria. | D.High-value chemicals. |
A.Few. | B.Tiny. | C.Obvious. | D.Normal. |
A.The damage of plastic to life. |
B.Possible causes of plastic pollution. |
C.Researchers’ efforts over the years to recycle plastic. |
D.The necessity of finding out a way to degrade plastic. |
A.To report a new way to recycle plastic. | B.To call on people to reduce plastic waste. |
C.To explain how larvae can degrade plastic. | D.To introduce the findings of a new research. |
9 . For Cruz, who grew up in Peru’s mountainous region of Cuzco, fog represents a massive opportunity. As a boy, he had to hike for more than an hour every day across hills to collect water from the nearest source. But over time, he realized that during the rainy season, droplets of water would gather in the large leaves of banana trees. So one day he and his father tried to build a canal system with the leaves to collect water and it turned out a success. But afterwards, he moved to Lima at the age of 25.
There, shocked by the water shortages and expensive water supply that some of the city’s poorest residents were faced with, Cruz set up El Movimiento Peruanos sin Agua in 2005. The idea was to deploy the method he learned in his hometown on a larger scale, which would provide free, independently sourced and easily accessible water to those who needed it most. He began installing (安装) a traditional fog catcher model developed in the 1980s.
At the highest point of Los Tres Miradores, there is a curious set of large structures that resemble a fleet of ships in the sky. They are so-called “fog catchers”. Netted devices, made of high density Raschel polyethylene and spanning several meters wide, are lined up at the top of a misty mound and linked by a network of tubes that lead to storage containers. The 40 fog catchers there provide enough water for 180 families, whether to bathe, clean, drink or to irrigate crops on small garden patches.
Supporters believe that fog catchers have the potential to improve water supply for communities around the world among the ever-challenging circumstances. German researcher Lummerich says, “They are cheap, easy to construct.” In a world searching for water supply systems, it is one important puzzle piece that can make an essential difference locally.
However, there are some issues. For one, fog catchers require space, which is not always easy to come by in cities, let alone urban slums. At the same time, fog catchers must be properly cleaned and maintained to stay effective. Most crucially, appropriate climate conditions are required. Fog isn’t everywhere.
1. What does the underlined word “deploy” probably mean in paragraph 2?A.Employ. | B.Adjust. | C.Design. | D.Study. |
A.The reason why Cruz installed fog catchers. |
B.The difficulties of constructing a canal system. |
C.The installation and benefits of fog catchers. |
D.The inspiration Cruz gained to build a canal system. |
A.High costs. | B.Public opposition. |
C.Space limitation. | D.Climate conditions. |
A.Urban Areas: A Struggle for Sufficient Water |
B.Innovative Water Collection Techniques in Peru |
C.The Global Water Crisis and Possible Solutions |
D.Fog Catchers: A Local Solution with Global Potential |
Earthquakes are one of the most destructive natural disasters. They can happen just about anywhere. Earthquakes cannot be stopped,
If you are in
Remember that aftershocks are possible at any time and are