1 . There is a kind of climate pollution that we can’t see clearly. It isn’t in our rivers, lands or skies, it is in our minds. When climate disinformation goes unchecked, it spreads like wildfire, undermining the existence of climate change and the need for urgent action.
Like the biosphere that sustains us, the health of our information ecosystems is vital to our survival. As an artist, I feel a responsibility to create new ways of seeing the disinformation that has come to define the age of fake news.
Social media sites are honed to grab our attention. Using sophisticated algorithms, the corporations behind them decide what billions of people see around the world, dictated by what keeps you hooked, but also by what the companies paying social media sites choose to put in front of you.
Powerful corporate actors deploy clever influence campaigns via ads targeted at specific users based on what social media firms know about those people. Major oil and gas companies have spent billions of dollars over the years persuading consumers about their green proofs, when only 1 per cent of their expenditure in 2019 was on renewable energy. This is known as corporate greenwashing. Still, fossil fuel firms maintain that their climate policies are “responsible” and “in line with the science”.
To expose the scale of corporate greenwashing online, I was part of a team that recently launched Eco-Bot.Net. Co-created with artist Rob “3D” Del Naja of the band Massive Attack and Dale Vince, a green entrepreneur, Eco-Bot. Net’s AI-powered website ran throughout the COP26 climate summit, exposing climate change misinformation by releasing a series of data drops for heavily polluting sectors, including energy, agribusiness and aviation.
Academic definitions of climate disinformation and greenwashing were used to unearth posts across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and visualize them on our website. Eco-Bot.Net then flagged greenwashing ads and posts on the original social media site with a public health warning.
By digging into our data, journalists have already revealed that companies are targeting specific demographics in order to influence public perceptions about climate change – and even alter government policy.
One data drop focused on the 100 biggest fossil fuel producers, companies that have been the source of 71 per cent of global carbon emissions. It found that 16 of these companies ran 1705 greenwashing and climate misinformation ads globally on Facebook and Instagram this year. In total, they spent more than £4 million creating influence campaigns that generated up to 155 million impressions.
Social media companies could end most of the harms from climate disinformation on their platforms if they wanted to. Flagging systems were swiftly introduced to warn users of posts containing disinformation about covid-19. The scientific consensus on human-caused global warming has been resolute for decades, so why can’t a similar flagging system be implemented for related disinformation?
It is true that Twitter and Facebook have both introduced climate science information hubs, but these are little more than PR exercises that fail to directly tackle climate disinformation on any kind of scale.
This epidemic of climate change disinformation on social media is eroding collective ideas of truth. In this post-truth age of disinformation, we hope that the public, the press and policy-makers will be able to use our data findings to see what is hidden by what we see online.
For the first time, we can witness the regional scale of corporate greenwashing. The era of climate denial and delay is largely over — except, as Eco-Bot.Net has revealed, on social media.
1. What does the word “undermine” in the first paragraph mean in the passage?| A．Dig holes in the ground. | B．Make sth weaker at the base. |
| C．Increase or further improve. | D．Put a stop to sth. |
| A．give the readers a precise definition of corporate greenwashing |
| B．show the dishonest claim by fossil fuel companies on their responsible climate policies |
| C．demonstrate the huge investment the corporations made to exert powerful influence on the targeted social media users based on algorithm |
| D．emphasize the tens of millions of dollars spent on renewable energy |
| A．energy | B．agribusiness | C．aviation | D．social media |
| A．They are willing to help but feel powerless to do so. |
| B．They have the ability to make a change but refuse to do so as there are controversies over climate changes. |
| C．They have the ability to make a change and have made some sincere but fruitless efforts on it. |
| D．They lose their integrity in face of the money from the big corporations. |
2 . Bioluminescence (生物发光) is a natural phenomenon wherein a chemical reaction within an organism’s body produces light. It can be found in many places in nature — fireflies, some mushrooms — but mostly in the deep sea.
Recently, Rambouillet, a small historic French town, has teamed up with a company called Glowee to turn the city into a full-scale bioluminescence laboratory. The goal is to change the way in which cities use light. The company uses marine (海的) bacteria harvested from the coast of France. It makes some of the town’s public light up in the cool blue of bioluminescence.
These bioluminescent bacteria are stored in a seawater filled tube, giving the bacteria room to float around and light up. The light provided by the bacteria is part of their natural metabolism, so producing the light requires no energy other than that which is needed to feed the organisms. This makes it much more environmentally friendly and sustainable than electric light, which consumes a huge amount of non-renewable energy.
“On the way to lighting up the world with bioluminescence, you have to feed the bacteria and add water as they grow. That’s not so easy. The phenomenon will be very temperature-dependent and I doubt that it will work in the winter. Also, bioluminescence is not very bright compared to electrical lighting, though they have improved the light intensity,” Carl Johnson, a professor from Vanderbilt University said.
One potential solution to these issues — and one that Glowee is looking into — is to remove the biological aspect of the whole process. Theoretically, luciferase (荧光素酶) can be removed from the bacteria and used to create light instead of the bacteria itself. Because luciferase is non-living, it doesn’t need to be fed. Creating new means of sustainable lighting is a way of being environmentally friendly without plunging the earth back into darkness.
1. What do we know about Glowee?| A．It is an ancient laboratory in France. |
| B．It solves power shortages in coastal cities. |
| C．It adopts bioluminescence as a light source. |
| D．It feeds marine organisms to produce chemicals. |
| A．The reasons for energy waste. |
| B．The advantages of the marine bacteria as light. |
| C．The living conditions of the bioluminescent bacteria. |
| D．The difficulties of storing bioluminescent organisms. |
| A．The bacteria work more efficiently under low temperatures. |
| B．It will cost too much to improve the luminescence intensity. |
| C．The application of bioluminescence enjoys a bright prospect. |
| D．The development of bioluminescence faces many challenges. |
| A．A Historic Town Lit up by Nature |
| B．The First Zero-carbon City in the World |
| C．A Reform of Producing Electricity in Cities |
| D．The Discovery of Luciferase in Marine Bacteria |
Polar bears are undergoing hunger in a world
Polar bears live in the environment too cold for most animals. For most of the year, they live and hunt on Arctic sea ice. Nature has prepared
Polar bears’ world is melting. Studies show that polar ice
4 . During the 20th century, an estimated 3 million great whales were hunted to provide humans with oil, meat and rose fertiliser. Roger Payne, a biologist and environmentalist, spurred (推动) a worldwide environmental conservation movement with his discovery that whales could sing.
This discovery was made in 1967 during his research trip to Bermuda (百慕大) when a navy engineer provided him with a recording of curious underwater sounds documented. Payne identified the tones as songs whales sing to one another and he was conscious from the start that whale song was to get the public interested in protecting an animal previously considered little more than a resource, curiosity or nuisance.
Payne saw the discovery of whale song as a chance to spur interest in saving the giant animals, who were disappearing from the planet. In 1970, Payne released the album Songs of the Humpback Whale. The record, a surprise hit, fueled a global movement to end the practice of commercial whale hunting and save the whales from extinction. It remains the bestselling environmental album in history.
The impact of the whale song discovery on the early environmental movement was immense. Many antiwar protesters of the day took on saving animals and the environment as a new cause. The humpback whale became the icon of a new environmental awareness. And the whales entered pop culture, no longer the fearsome beasts. In 1977, the whale calls were loaded on to the Voyager probes and sent into outer space.
Payne, graduating from Harvard University and Cornell University with a doctor’s degree, authored or co authored dozens of scientific papers, gave hundreds of lectures, made countless television programmes and films, and led 100 oceanic expeditions. Payne had started an ambitious new project: CETI, a combination of scientists using new technology to interpret what whales might be “saying”.
1. What caused the decline of the whale population in the 20th century?| A．Habitat loss. | B．The climate change. |
| C．Uncontrolled hunting. | D．The ocean pollution. |
| A．To boost interest in protecting whales. | B．To satisfy people’s curiosity about sea. |
| C．To achieve great commercial success. | D．To earn a reputation as a researcher. |
| A．Considerate. | B．Accomplished. |
| C．Courageous. | D．Patient. |
| A．The conservation of ocean environment. |
| B．Efforts to awake public ocean awareness. |
| C．A high-tech way to document whale tones. |
| D．A whale protection campaign by a biologist. |
5 . From the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the orange gardens of Seville, urban planners down the ages have taken inspiration from nature. And those living in the concrete and brick jungle have perhaps never appreciated green space more than during the covid-19 pandemic. During lockdowns, citizens have found parks and gardens an unexpected source of calm and joy.
The evidence of positive effects from nature includes studies on specific psychological conditions.
The evolving understanding of nature’s broad health benefits, plus our ongoing pandemic experience, is a big urge to build the green cities.
| A．How to build green cities is a problem. |
| B．What does an ideal green city of tomorrow look like? |
| C．Actually, the trend for urban greening has already begun. |
| D．This isn’t just a phenomenon in developed countries, either. |
| E．Clean air and water, nutrient recycling and flood defence are the bonuses. |
| F．Access to nature can improve sleep, reduce stress and increase happiness. |
| G．It has a huge impact on people’s perceptions of their health and well-being. |
6 . It is late autumn—millions of gardeners across the northern hemisphere, pulled on their thickest sweaters, spent hours clearing large piles of leaves and packed them into plastic bags at the end of driveways.
In the US alone, nearly 10 million tonnes of garden waste go to landfill every year. That is a large amount of effort, not just from an environmental viewpoint but from that of our aching backs, too. So where does this advice come from? Well, it largely comes from the belief that thick fallen leaves can make plants under them unable to breathe, especially shorter grass. They shut down important photosynthesis (光合作用) and get in the way of the growth of the shorter grass. However, this received wisdom has recently been questioned by researchers at Wisconsin University.
The key finding of their new research was that although clearing fallen leaves is one of the most common gardening practices, it makes very little sense. In natural ecosystems, fallen leaves help return nutrients necessary for healthy plant growth to the soil, which greatly improves soil condition. Removing leaves year after year breaks this ecological (生态的) balance. Letting some leaves stick around to cover your garden is a great way to help your grass and the local ecosystem.
They further explained that if up to 50percent of your grass lawn (草坪) is covered by fallen leaves, you might as well go back indoors and put your feet up. The advantages of this light leaf coverage far outweigh the disadvantages—the leaves will quickly break down and help next year’s lawn grow far better than if you had cleared them. Only at over 50 percent coverage do the Wisconsin researchers recommend clearing.
So why not consider leaving the leaves? Save time, carbon and effort, and in exchange get a healthier lawn from this garden waste—that seems like a pretty good deal. And how many plastic bags could be saved by simply not binning fallen leaves every year? In the US alone, about 700 million.
1. What does the author describe in paragraph 1?| A．An amazing autumn game. | B．A common sight in gardens. |
| C．A hot attraction in the north. | D．An extreme weather event. |
| A．Fallen leaves need not be cleared. |
| B．Fallen leaves protect shorter grass. |
| C．Fallen leaves block photosynthesis. |
| D．Fallen leaves are hard to break down. |
| A．it ruins city image | B．it breaks gardening rules |
| C．it affects local economy | D．it causes ecological damage |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. | C．Unclear. | D．Worried. |
7 . This past summer I set out on a journey to Canada’s Arctic. When I left I was wrapped in a blanket of uncertainty and
But when I first met the group members, I knew I didn’t have anything to
Approaching the Arctic, I was repeatedly
However, I also learned the pollutants carried by ocean from far away have a negative
During the journey, I talked with some
The Arctic is a land of incredible beauty which
| A．relief | B．anxiety | C．pride | D．argument |
| A．put up | B．prepare for | C．give up | D．worry about |
| A．easy-going | B．well-behaved | C．sensitive | D．flexible |
| A．failure | B．performance | C．adventure | D．conflict |
| A．embarrassed | B．ashamed | C．amused | D．shocked |
| A．watching | B．organizing | C．noticing | D．guessing |
| A．painfully | B．patiently | C．unconsciously | D．doubtfully |
| A．source | B．reaction | C．effect | D．development |
| A．rest | B．ease | C．peace | D．risk |
| A．hunt | B．explore | C．help | D．meet |
| A．demanding | B．learned | C．modest | D．rigid |
| A．classified | B．decorated | C．confused | D．occupied |
| A．promises | B．benefits | C．deserves | D．intends |
| A．take care of | B．make use of | C．run out of | D．became tired of |
| A．deny | B．ensure | C．argue | D．overlook |
8 . A powerful earthquake hit Morocco, killing thousands of people and causing huge damage over a large area.
The earthquake struck around 11 pm on Friday night. It was not only one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded in Morocco, but also the country’s deadliest earthquake in over 60 years. So far, the earthquake is reported to have killed over 2,900 people. The earthquake was especially precarious as it happened at night, when most people were asleep at home.
The center of the earthquake was in the Atlas Mountains, about 72 kilometers southwest of Marrakesh, a large city popular with tourists in the center of Morocco. Fortunately, many of its modern buildings survived the earthquake. However, the old part of the city, called the Medina, whose buildings are over 1,000 years old, was hit hard, leaving many of those buildings in ruins.
Outside of Marrakesh, the earthquake caused even more damage. In the Atlas Mountains, the earthquake’s center, there were many small villages. Many people in the area lived in simple houses made of mud, a traditional way of building in Morocco. But they’ re not strong enough to survive earthquakes and many of these houses simply fell apart, turning into sand. The Moroccan government has laws requiring buildings to be built more safely, yet these rules were often overlooked.
In larger cities, rescue efforts seemed to be going well. But it took a lot longer for help to reach remote (偏远的) areas in the mountains. That meant the local people in those areas had to deal with the situation on their own. They had to dig through the ruins with their hands, searching for survivors who were trapped. Moreover, many people were sleeping outside, unsure if their houses were safe enough.
More help was on the way. Many outside countries offered teams of experts and emergency supplies. But the government said too many different rescue teams could make the situation more confusing.
1. Why did the earthquake lead to the most deaths on record in Morocco?| A．It struck a large and tourist city. | B．It was powerful and happened at night. |
| C．The rescue teams arrived too late. | D．The traditional houses were not strong enough. |
| A．Dangerous. | B．Powerful. | C．Unique. | D．Impressive. |
| A．They had no shelter to stay. | B．They ran out of food supplies. |
| C．They lost contact with the outside world. | D．They couldn’t get necessary rescue in time. |
| A．A science magazine. | B．A travel journal. |
| C．A news report. | D．A cultural website. |
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
10 . The scientists who re-engineered the plastic-eating enzyme(酶) PETase have now created a new enzyme called “cocktail” , which can digest plastic up to six times faster.
PETase breaks down PET back into its building blocks, creating an opportunity to recycle plastic and reduce plastic pollution. PET is the most common thermoplastic(热塑性塑料) used to make single-use drinks bottles, which takes hundreds of years to break down in the environment, but PETase can shorten this time to days. The initial discovery set up the prospect of a revolution in plastic recycling, creating a potential low-energy solution to tackle plastic waste.
Now, the same trans-Atlantic team have combined PETase and its “partner”, a second enzyme called MHETase, to generate much bigger improvements: simply mixing PETase with MHETase doubled the speed of PET breakdown, and engineering a connection between the two enzymes to create a “super-enzyme”, increased this activity by a further three times.
The team was co-led by the scientists who engineered PETase, Professor John McGeehan and Dr Gregg Beckham. Professor McGeehan said: “Gregg and I were chatting about how PETase attacks the surface of the plastics and MHETase chops things up further, so it seemed natural to see if we could use them together. Our first experiments showed that they did work better together, so we decided to physically link them. It took a great deal of work, but it was worth the effort — we were delighted to see that our new enzyme is up to three times faster than the separate enzymes.”
The original PETase enzyme discovery indicated the first hope that a solution to the global plastic pollution problem might be within grasp, though PETase alone is not yet fast enough to handle the tons of PET bottles. Combining it with a second enzyme, and finding together they work even faster, means another leap forward has been taken towards finding a solution to plastic waste. PETase and the new combined MHETase-PETase both work by digesting PET plastic. This allows for plastics to be made and reused endlessly, reducing our reliance on fossil(化石) resources.
1. What can we learn about “cocktail” from the text?| A．It doubles the breakdown of plastics. |
| B．It takes hundreds of years to break down. |
| C．It contributes to breaking down plastic quickly. |
| D．It deals with the plastic waste three times faster. |
| A．A new study of PET. | B．The breakdown of PET. |
| C．The discovery of PETase. | D．The functions of PETase. |
| A．Co-leading the trans-Atlantic team. | B．Combining PETase and MHETase. |
| C．Attacking the surface of the plastics. | D．Talking about conducting experiments. |
| A．PET pollution is no longer a difficult problem to deal with. |
| B．New enzyme is speeding up our reliance on fossil resources. |
| C．MHETase-PETase makes the world free from plastic pollution. |
| D．Plastic-eating enzyme “cocktail” promises new hope for plastic waste. |
